Mary Beth

MaryBethF

Mary Beth

Hello everyone! I just created this blog as a convienient way for you to take a quick glance on any updates on my life, travels, adventures, etc. As you all know, I am currently living in Taichung, Taiwan and will be here until the end of July/beginning of August. It's been an amazing experience thus far, meeting all expectations that I had of a completely different culture, and then some. In addition to living in Taiwan and taking full advantage of many of the wonderful and interesting encounters and episodes, I found and am still finding that Taiwan offers a wonderful homebase for traveling around Asia. So far this year, I have been able to travel to Thailand and Cambodia over Chinese New Year, in the near future to Malaysia, and I'm hoping for a little visit to Bali, if possible. I'm just so excited and blessed for this opportunity to have this opportunity, and I want to share as many of the fantastic (and at times questionable) experiences as possible with all of you. Enjoy what you read and if you have any comments or questions about anything, don't hesitate to ask! I also will still keep all of my photos and videos updated on Photobucket, as they offer greater storage space, but I will be sure to post the link so you can view at your leisure. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

Taiwanese Haircut

Asia » Taiwan » Taichung March 13th 2011

MaryBethF

Went for a haicut yesterday (Saturday)...was not the first time either going to this place. It is located directly below our apartment, and I particularly enjoy getting my haircut here because the people are always friendly, prices are cheap, they pay attention to the tiniest detail of the provided picture I bring in, and it is family owned - which I found out yesterday. They are quite busy too, with no exception on a Saturday night. I made my appointment for 6, catching the tail end of their hours. When I walked in, an elderly woman greeted me, remembering me from the one previous time I've been in there, way back in October (at least, I would like to think so, I don't understand Taiwanese, but she was certainly friendly enough) I was ushered to a ... read more

Landed in Bangkok, Thailand

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok January 26th 2011

Bangkok, Thailand

MaryBethF

Carinna and I have been planning this trip since late November. Between numerous quotes on hotels, hostels, airline tickets, etc., we felt quite prepared when the day arrived for our departure on our 16 day journey. I had done something I had never done before - carry my bags on board so nothing was checked. Let me just say, this is the way to travel. So nice to be able to skip the baggage claim and walk right off the plane with everything already in your hands (not to mention, if we ever were stuck anywhere, there would be no loss). We landed in Bangkok approximately at 10:40 p.m. There is just a one hour time difference our bodies had to adjust to so nothing horrible. We flew KLM - a Dutch airline and a huge ... read more

Holidays in Taichung

Asia » Taiwan » Taichung January 2nd 2011

Cornel Christmas Party

MaryBethF

Hello all! Just wanted to give you a few photos to view of the Cornel Christmas/Thanksgiving Party. Although neither holiday is widely accepted in Taiwan - the main religion here is Buddism - as a way to completly immerse the students into American culture, holidays that are celebrated in America are also adapted. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day and held a party for all the students. The day was filled with activities, such as a "Pilgrim and Native American hat making" project, a reading paralleled with a reenactment of the First Thanksgiving, and finally ending in a Thanksgiving feast of Turkey and corn soup with showing of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. The students, although not quite understanding the significance of the holiday, every year look forward to this day, as it is also a break ... read more

4 Month Update

Asia » Taiwan December 13th 2010

Lukang

MaryBethF

Ni hao everyone! (Hello in Chinese!) I know it’s been quite a while since my last update, and I apologize for this. It’s so astounding to me how fast time flies! As you can imagine, it’s just been go, go, go all the time. Well, I would say it’s time for a massive update. Hold onto your hats everyone, grab some coffee and be prepared for the longest update known to man-kind (at least the longest one I’ve written!) Let’s start way way way back in October when Cornel hosted its annual Halloween Carnival. Halloween is not celebrated here the way it is in America, with door-to-door jokes and treats, with well put-together costumes. But I do have to say, that this holiday has become increasingly more and more popular in Taiwan. Although aisles in the ... read more

First Trip to Kenting/World Gym Experiences

Asia » Taiwan » Kenting September 6th 2010

White Sands Beach

MaryBethF

Ni hao! (hello in Chinese) Or I suppose I should say zao an (Good Morning! in Chinese) I hope life is finding you well. I know it's been a bit since my last update, much has happened since I last emailed you. A few weekends ago, I went to Kenting National Park with a couple of new teachers from Cornel as well as members of the church I've been attending. Just a few facts about Kenting that I found which you might be interested in hearing: "Kenting National Park is a national park located in the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan...it is Taiwan's oldest and southernmost national park, covering the southernmost area of the Taiwan island. this national park is well-known for its tropical climate and sunshine, scenic mountain and beach...and has long been one ... read more

Stray Kittens, New Classes, and Storytellings

Asia » Taiwan » Taichung August 2nd 2010

Stray Kitten

MaryBethF

Hello everyone! I hope the day (or possibly night?) is treating you well! Phew, many things have sporadically happend this past week, it's just so hard to even remember all of them! First, my roommate Kelli and I decided to adopt a little stray kitten...and I'm not kidding with the word little! It was only 3 weeks old! The poor thing kept wondering into the shoe/coat/umbrella/scooter helmet/just-everything room at the Nan Men campus, crying for food, warmth, and love. Oh, and to top it off, we had been experiancing torrential down pours at this point that hadn't been letting up for 48 hours. So of course my sappy heart went out to this little kitten! Prior to taking it home, we found that other teachers had tried the same thing, but wound up bringing it back ... read more

Trip to Taipei/Scooter Fun

Asia » Taiwan » Taipei July 25th 2010

HSR to Taipei

MaryBethF

Hello everyone!! I know it's been awhile since my last little update, much has happened since then. Last weekend, I went to Taipei with a coworker/friend of mine. We visited the church she attends and sings, and stayed with a really nice Malaysian family for the night. We went by High Speed Rail (HSR) which takes 50 minutes instead of the normal 2 and 1/2 hours by regular train or bus. It is a little more expensive, but worth it if you'd like to spend more time there. The HSR is much nicer than Amtrack as well. More room and no crazy people (at least none that I ran into!) While in Taipei, I tried Peking Duck for the first time. I didn't think I'd like it, but it was actually very delicious. We ate our ... read more

School and Leisure Time

Asia » Taiwan » Taichung July 11th 2010

Cornel Cranes Class

MaryBethF

Hello all! I know it's been awhile since my last update. It's just been a wild and crazy week so far! We've started our summer program at Cornel school, I'm incharge of 11 wonderful 4th graders as well as the 8th and 9th grade graduates program. Between setting up the classroom, discovering the ins and outs of the curriculum, and trying to figure a routine that works, let's just say this past week has been a frenzy! The first day of school went well. I love all the students I have, all with wonderful personalities. Setting ground rules has been a bit tough. They also attend Chinese School everyday, so it's understandable that at times they need a little break from memorization and notes to play a game (educational of course!). The students I have are ... read more

Arrival in Taichung, Taiwan

Asia » Taiwan » Taichung June 27th 2010

Around Taichung

MaryBethF

I am entering my email updates as a way bring this new blog up-to-speed, which means that I have about 7 months to copy and paste. Many of you have already read these updates, but just in case you would like to refresh your memory (as I find it fun and enlightening to reread my past experiences), you certainly can. Let's just say that after my year is up here, I cannot wait to go back and relive these wonderful and crazy encounters! First Email: Hello all! Well, it's been an adventure so far, but I've finally made it into Taichung, Taiwan. First, I was to leave Wednesday, June 23rd. My flight to Chicago from STL was cancelled upon arrival at the airport due to storms (yikes!) but they booked me for the next day with ... read more

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