“Theresa, you changed my life,” I said dramatically one day in Taiwan. Then she looked at me like I was crazy. I laughed and said, “No seriously, you did.” When I tried to make the lonely exchange student feel more welcome at a high school football game, I never dreamed of all of the amazing experiences that would follow; I just wanted to make a new friend. The more we talked, the closer we became, and at the same time, her current host family situation became even more uncomfortable. My parents and I decided to take action and invite her into [View Full Entry]

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I was so filled with mixed emotions on my return home, I forgot to write about the last time that I went to Shane English Schools. I went on a Saturday from 2:30 until 5:00, and I saw a classroom of 5,6, and 7 year old children. This time, in particular, I felt like there was a lot of drilling. In the beginning, the teacher went over some basic vocabulary with a variety of games, but from about 3:00 to 5:00 the lesson was solely focused on six basic words-happy, sad, tall, short, young, and old. The activities were diverse; sometimes [View Full Entry]

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As I write this, I am flying to LA airport. I have never had such an extreme mix of emotions. I can't wait to hug my mom, dad, and brother! I can't wait for freedom! I can't wait to feel cool dry air! I want to sleep in my own bed, and I want to talk with and see all my friends. On the other hand, it was extremely difficult to fight back tears when I waved goodbye. It never gets easier to leave my sister, I guess. Kennon and I became very close friends in such a short time; I [View Full Entry]

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So things really haven't been going according to plan! haha...but this time throwing the plan out the window was good! Kennon and I decided that I would teach at least half of the next tutoring session with Kevin. I was really excited and spent a couple of hours researching things to do Sunday night. Kennon focuses on conversation skills with Kevin too, so I based my lesson on questions that could spark a long conversation. I had a page with twenty "Are you good at ____" questions, a slang phrase worksheet, a page with ten questions focusing on day vs. date, [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so today...we went to MTV, and it was really cool! MTV is like a video rental store mixed with many, many home theatre systems. It was only $6 USD and we got our a private screening of a movie; the only downside is that the movies are old; it's not just a mini movie theatre. It was really cool! And the seats were really comfortable. We watched Push, and it was really good. Also, today I was supposed to go back to the Shane English School. Well....I got a little lost, so I was late. Because I was late, I [View Full Entry]

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updated 10:25 a.m. EDT, Mon August 17, 2009 CISHAN, Taiwan (CNN) -- Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou said Sunday he accepts responsibility for the government's slow response after Typhoon Morakot slammed into the island killing at more than 120 people and unleashing floods, mudslides and misery. Mourners kneel and pray to the dead as they face the devastated valley of Shiao Lin. 1 of 3more photos » Ma, who has faced heavy criticism from victims of the disaster, ruled out resignation, insisting his government did its best in the face of difficulties, however he pledged an investigatio [View Full Entry]

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I don't know what to write about... so I am just going to write some notes. My sentences or paragraphs may not have any connection, really. I don't think leaving Japan is as hard as leaving Taiwan would have been if I had not chosen to stay longer. Japan, (as crazy as this sounds) is just okay, but Taiwan has a special place in my heart. On a certain level, this doesn't make any sense; all of the comforts of modern life can be found in Japan. The streets are clean and relatively quiet, it is very modern, foreign food is [View Full Entry]

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Aya arranged for us to have lunch with an American English teacher today. It was such a great opportunity for me to learn about teaching English in Japan as well as Taiwan! I am really happy that she arranged it. His name is Jeff, he is twenty-seven years old, and he is from Sacramento He is currently her younger brother’s middle school English teacher, and he has been teaching in Japan for four years now. He spends part of his day at the elementary school teaching a curriculum that he helped create and the other part at the middle school acting [View Full Entry]

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So about the typhoon… The news makes it all sound worse than it really was for me. Although some southern communities are still experiencing massive amounts of flooding and some landslides, Taipei has been completely calm ever since we returned on Saturday. We really were lucky though. We left Kenting on Thursday and arrived in Kaohsuing. Then we left Kaohsuing for Taipei on Saturday morning. Everytime we left a place something bad happened. A bridge that connects Kaohsuing and Kenting collapsed on Friday (I think it was Friday), and Kaohsuing experienced flooding that covered the fi [View Full Entry]

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Typhoon Morakot leaves 6 dead or missing in Taiwan By DEBBY WU - Associated Press Writer TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A typhoon slammed into Taiwan overnight, leaving at least six people dead or missing and more than a dozen injured, officials and media reported Saturday. Typhoon Morakot made landfall in the eastern Hualien county late Friday night, the Central Weather Bureau said. It is expected to weaken to a tropical storm before it hits southern China late Saturday or early Sunday. Morakot, packing winds of up to 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour), was centered about 19 miles (30 [View Full Entry]

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