Treat or trick :P

Since we are a traditional Taiwanese family--no decoration at home for sure. But I saw something interesting on the street! It was evening and I know the photo would be dark. Anyway, for some fun here.

Racing time

Well it's the season of racing again...couple of activities will be held the coming November. 24 students in each class will attend the running racing--each is to run for 100 meters with a stick in one hand and then give it to the next runner. So yeah...me, the homeroom teacher has to act like a PE teacher at this moment, need to keep them company on the court and watch them practice. I would use '狀況百出' for this situation--some ran the wrong lane, some didn't hold the stick well enough. Worst of all, it's running racing--but most of my girl students can't run fast. That's why we were sighing after we practiced and suggested some boy students should pretend, or disguise, or whatsoever...to look like girls and run for our class. *chuckles* Anyway I will pray for them and hope no one falls or gets hurt while the racing is taking place. Ahh...hao lei! I didn't even run tho...but I guess paying a lot of attention on them, staring hard at them also must have consumed most of my energy. So...had better go to bed early tonight.

Funny or SJB?

These days...um I don't know whether they are eventful or not. I can't understand how come a guy can be so persistent--most of the time my degree 3 cell phone's off. After I switched it on...I got a sms soon. Then later got another one. In fact I have already blocked myself from getting any message online from him, or any other guy in there. ( wanna live a simple and peaceful life now...) He really should try his luck other places. Good luck, Martin, altho I have no yuan fen with you. :D

Jason from the class in year 9 told me his heart would beat hard everytime he sees me. Eh how come teens are so weak nowadays. Please don't get a heartache in class--I don't know how to apply CPR well. :P Moreover...I think I should say more crazy...a gal Yang kneeled down on one knee in front of the classroom after class dismissed, holding my right hand. -_- She proposed to me and suggested we could fly to L.A. to get married. I never expect my future husband would be a teen aged gal tho. LOL~ So I pulled her up...*pats pats her* and told her: 'well I'd ponder over it later. You study hard...I want my students to study hard.' :P What a life!

Typhoon day, shopping day?

No school for today altho it's Monday. Well...not that here it comes another national holiday, but the powerful typhoon Nock-ten lashed Taiwan. It also got Taipei the strongest wind ( 12 on the scale ) which has never been seen for the past 27 years. :O Of course it must bring a lot of damage to many places--cost 3 lives so far because of the flooding. It's also no good for me altho I stayed home all day and thanks God there's no flooding here. I spent lots of time surfing ( how nice the net can still work while there's no electricity in some areas! ) and finally ordered a 512MB mp3 player. In addition, I surfed even more for a second hand notebook. -_- Oh no...I must control myself and stop surfing like this. High-tech stuff are so interesting, so alluring...and so dangerous to my wallet. :P Anyway it's quite boring trapped at home all day long, and the price of vegetables soar...*sobs sobs* real bad news for a vegetarian isn't it!

Camping

離開令人愛恨交織的台北兩天,卻不是為了感情問題...

Finally I came back to my beloved city Taipei. The reason I had to leave for another place and stayed in a hotel room for one night was absolutely NOT for some trouble or feelings and such. It's because of my work--students went camping in the mountains of Miaoli county and we homeroom teachers got to keep them company. That's why I brought my digi cam and 2 SD cards which has 256 MB capacity each. So students had a lot of fun playing games, setting up tents, learning how to cooperate and do team work well, and they cooked for themselves in the field...woo~ Very good lessons for teenagers isn't it! :P My responsibity there was take good care of myself and students could concentrate on their learning--no need to worry about their fragile teacher. :P

I am proud of them since they did their best for the performance at night by the campfire. I also danced with them and that made some of them WOO a lot since I used to be 'serious' at school. Of course I have to...who would dance in the office or in the classrooms? -_-" So... Charles said 'wah teacher you danced so hot!' when we were on our way home on the bus, I only replied 'urm you saw someone else. that's not me.' LOL~ he yelled 'ni pian ren!!!' hahahaha~ da dui le! :P Not only photos I took for them but also did quite a few vid clips. I hope...one day, maybe 10 years later when they take a look at the pics and vids...many beautiful memories will come back on their minds. :)

Getting colder

台北的天氣一向如此,只要過了中秋節就開始涼起來,我今天連夾克都穿上了,不知道在哪一篇文章看過一句話:秋風一起,就是海枯石爛的心情...可惜喔,我沒有託付這種心情的對象. :P

So...the best is enjoy myself no matter what. I watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of the Azkaban and the principal's line impressed me most: 'Happiness can be found even in the darkest times.' I do think so. Bad weather is no fun, but nice music can always cheer me up again. I got Nelly's latest album and listened to it even when I was taking a shower--I put the CD player on the toilet bowl and covered it with a towel. LOL~ I found it a good way to pass my time in the bathroom. One girl student lent me a CD-RW in which she ( or her dad? not so sure ) burned around 15 songs. Last time the stuff she lent me was a handy HD ( how to say that in English? maybe I have to ask my friend to make sure. ) it's small, and the capacity seems to be 256 MB. I got a 32 MB one--it's a free gift from ebay. :D Oh I returned the CD to Wang and he asked me what my opinion was. I said I did try hard and...not once, but listened to it twice. 'Very painful...' I told him. LOL~ Poor me...next time he wouldn't lend me anything new since I was too honest. :P

Rainy but not too bad

Finally it is Monday, and rainy all day long. ( now I can still hear the rain. ) Just like what I said earlier I had a very busy weekend. Well it's not easy to see so many bishops on a Mass--even the cardinal came. Of course I brought my digi cam and took photos even took some vids. :D My friends in the choir can get a CD later and enjoy watching and listening the songs we sang.

The only thing I wouldn't say happy was I had nothing to eat. No lunch, no snack, and no dinner either. Sometimes I think I am just too dumb to foresee or to make a prompt and correct decision. I should have known I would starve and found some friends there in time to ask them to give me a ride. Then I wouldn't be stuck in traffic jam in the late evening and had fun listening to my tummy's singing. -_- However I hope I can alawys learn something after I know I made mistakes in my life. Being a vegetarian, you know, NEVER expect others to take care of my need. :P

Back to my quiet life...I wish

Yeah it's Sat. Another very busy weekend again. We need to practice for
the performance tomorrow in Xinzhu--a very important occasion. It's the
fiftieth anniversary of one nunnery, where all the nuns have to stay
inside till they get very sick or leave for the heaven. Maybe one day I
can stay there too I think...

However we practiced hard since the choir master said we had to perform
very well: 'You guys think for a while. We will all be dead 50 years
later! We don't have another chance to sing for their next fiftieth
anniversary! Please pay attention and sing beautifully, like you are
praying so deeply...' Okay...I tried my best even when I was having a
stomachache that time. Another memeber told me, 'hey you look pale
today.' I didn't explain to her since I didn't have enough energy.
Later in the evening I couldn't even eat anything for dinner. -_- How
sad...especially for a vegetarian who used to have a good appetite like
me. No idea if it's because of not enough food for today, I feel a bit
down and keep thinking I should go back to my quiet life. Too many
activities...I need some free time for myself. Working hard at school
is enough. After this performance I hope I can quit, at least for a
period of time, and live a relaxing life again.

Earthquake--7 on Scale

An earthquake happened to the north of Taiwan this early afternoon, which was 7 on Richter Scale. I was sitting in the office talking with a colleague and students. Then I felt my butts started shaking a bit…hmm…’I am too weak to sit straight or what…’ ‘Earthquake!’ others shouted. Oh phew…’I am fine…err wait! Earthquake!!!’ :O I stood up, thought that I should run out. However you know about my personality—never give up. I mean, never give up proceeding to the wonder land nirvana, you know. :P So yeah, I sat down again, decided to ‘let it be.’ Well…since I can still blog here now, I think it’s still some way to go for my attention to get there ( the nirvana ).

Talking about the metal music, the CD which Wang lent me, I think it’s really not my cup of tea. Take a look at the first song’s title—Thirteen Autumns and One Widow. Isn’t that…urm, weird? I have no idea. :P And how to express my feeling? I felt my heart so heavy while listening to it. I couldn’t breathe easily. Wang told me to listen for a few times, and too bad…I couldn’t make it—listened twice though. Maybe I don’t feel down enough? Such music is never for those who wanna put their heads in the clouds, I guess, but good for people desperate to let go their strong feelings, or maybe their depress? Hehehe however, it’s wonderful to know about something new to me. Thank you, my boy student Wang. I remember to bring some chocolate for you. :D

Teatime!

It is autumn so you can see I wear a pink jumper today. This photo was taken in a cafe, where I had some tea this afternoon with my colleague, a math teacher.

Cruelty and the Beast

Finally the boy student Wang lent me the CD he mentioned a few times to me--metal music, Cradle of Life-Cruelty and the Beast. Um I've never been into metal but it's no harm to give it a try. Wang talked with me about this CD for quite a few minutes after our class' dismissed. "It's a story and the music doesn't sound good at first. You will have to listen to it for couple of times..." I was erm no idea if I had enough patience. Then another boy student Chen walked up to me and asked me to make him a copy of this CD. I downright refused him since I didn't know how to. Hey you know CDs nowadays are already 'protected' from being burned. But Chen started to 'lecture' to me how CDs work on PCs and it's not difficult to 'clone' it if you get the 'Clone' software and so on. I was err...and tried hard to escape from this knowledgeable teen's preaching: "It's easy for you and you can get the English version blah blah..." "No I wouldn't understand and I don't think I am able to make a 'clone' for you!" Once I submitted I would have so many requests from those smart little brats, no I mean those smart teen-aged students of mine, you know. :P

Half a day leave

I took half a day leave and went out with sis. When I told students I wouldn’t be at school this afternoon, they looked so curious…and so did my colleagues. Finally they couldn’t help but ask me: ‘Are you going out to date someone?’ LOL~ if I did I would be happy to share with them this good news. Too bad everyone knows I am pretty much living a nun’s life! Sorry, friends around me…no date so far.

Then I took MRT and felt bored—forgot to take my MP3 with me. -_- That 256MB one is very good…to kill time. :P I met my sis at a department store and then we proceeded to the vegetarian restaurant where I think the dishes are very nice. One thing is weird—I did mention that I like this restaurant a lot to those guys who had the intention to be ‘closer’ to me. But none of them got the hint. Never did they suggest ‘hey let’s have dinner at this restaurant.’ *chuckles* I think they would never know why things never work out. :P ( mei you ban fa…ta men tai ben le! :D ) Of course my sis and I had a wonderful eating and having small talk in there. I even got 2 pieces of cakes—one green tea flavored and the other chocolate! :D Oh I got the second coffee as well…hope I can fall asleep easily tonight. :P

Naughty :P

Being a teacher I can’t always talk about vocabulary and grammar in class—students would get very bored if so. Sometimes I talked about something funny that happened in my life. Today in our last session we were to read some articles about Culture. I could tell those teens in year 9 looked tired, especially their homeroom teacher just told them off before I entered the classroom. So…in order to inspire them (?) I talked about the latest sms I got from that guy: ‘The weather is getting colder and please take good care. Wear more…I miss you terribly. Martin.’ Yeah…they were definitely refreshed by such…erm…very touching lines? No one felt sleepy again and started to give me feedback—well not nice enough. I told them not to mentioned our Chinese 4 letter words. :P I hope we can do a reply ‘elegantly’ but let him know his intention is not welcomed. LOL~ After all we could continue our reading class happily—good enough. :P

When I dismissed the class some came up to me as usual. The boy student who asked me about some terms like ‘succubi’, ‘lich’ previously was surprised as I said: ‘well when will you lend me the CD? Maybe I appreciate metal music too.’ :P ‘Would you?’ he said. I chuckled. In fact I have no idea if I would, but you know me…I am curious. ‘Bitter suits to the succubbi.’ Hmm… interesting. Then some girl students came talk to me, urm…more like greeting I think. One was naughty enough to take my left hand. I was thinking what she was to check…oh my she’s to kiss the back of my hand!!! I pulled my hand back quickly before she took action. LOL~ Now then you know why I have to keep alert so much. :P

Hot pot time ( shabu shabu )

The weather’s getting colder, and time for my favorite meal again—shabu shabu, which is not an English term for sure, but Japanese. It’s similar to our Chinese hot pot, but the difference is it’s a smaller steam pot and only for one person does, while Chinese hot one is bigger and for all the members there to get the food inside. Yesterday evening I went to a shabu shabu restaurant and have one for dinner. I don’t know if restaurants in western countries afford the same stuff: plus the main course ( the food for hot pot ) they have soft drink ( coke, soda, sprite, iced lemon tea ), even some ice cream--3 flavors in that restaurant: grape, peanut, and the best…mango! They are tasty of course. Oh yeah they gave sweet soup ( ai yu ) in the end. And the price for each is around 200 NT. *sighs* I know, I know…and I am thankful. :D

Today I didn’t do much but rested a lot. No idea why…maybe I am workaholic? As soon as I got up this morning I got a severe headache. During weekdays I think I am too busy to think or feel that I have a headache? *chuckles* I don’t know…but my headache did stop me from going out, and I had to stay in bed a lot. Well, it’s not too bad since I live a very busy life most of the time, teaching at school getting along with teens dealing with their naughty sometimes evil problems. Amazing that I don’t find my hair becoming white fast. LOL~ In fact I only found one short white hair on the top of my head. :P I was woo~ and happy to keep it there. Nan2 de2 ahh…I think. Many of my colleagues have to dye their hair because it’s white. My family have the tendency ( not sure if I use the correct term here ) to get white hair early. By ‘early’ I mean they start getting white hair in their late twenties, and have quite a few after thirties. So yeah, I might get a lot too pretty soon? :P I look forward to the date I need to dye my hair then. LOL~

I am crazy...LOL

Friday…I don’t know why but these days seem crazy to me although I only had 3 sessions to teach today. It’s quite relaxing and fun, you know, especially I ran into some girl students who I taught during summer school time. They were on their way to the girls’ room too, happy to see me: ‘Teacher! How come you don’t continue teaching us this semester!’ ( not the first time I heard such statements…) ‘Teacher you look sexy!’ ( I am to worry since I look sexy to a teen girl…*sighs* ) ‘Teacher I want a hug!’ ( … I can’t even remember the girl student’s name. But I gave her one—you know me, too kind-hearted. :P )

The degree 3 cell phone has rested for quite a period of time and I decided to let it work for me again. Not surprising…I got some sms again. And that guy’s daring enough, or should I say ‘thick-skinned’ enough, to send me mushy stuff. Sometimes I talked about it in class and I told all my boy students not to do so when they are to woo girls they are fond of. *chuckles* Sweet talk is fine, if comes along with nice behavior and if that person is adorable. Too bad…those who only know about bragging their high commission are never my type. 2 other guys from another channel are trying to make friends with me now; one asked me for my cell phone # but I haven’t decided whether to give. Work is hectic in October, so I don’t have much free time for them even though they both said they have good income. LOL~ again. :P Shall I tease them for that…*evil grins* well maybe I can make fun of them, when I am in the mood sometime later. :P hahahahaha~ lucky they don’t read my monologue here! *winks*

Thanks I am getting well

I don’t know why, but maybe it’s autumn and the weather is changeable—I got a cold and didn’t feel like going out often for a few days. Lucky it’s sunny and warm again today, and I took a walk in the morning when I had no sessions to teach, 3 hours break! Not too bad huh. :P There is a traditional market near my school and I can always get something useful and cheap there. What did I buy for today? Hehehe some papayas and bananas! Also got some lemon flavored potato chips and chocolate cookies. I know it’s not good for one who wanna keep fit. But…well I am 170 cm and 56 kilos. :D I would like some coffee and enjoy the snacks later.

Our watching movies at Movie Club time on Wednesday afternoon has to stop for twice since mid-term exam is coming. Students are disappointed but they have already accepted the fact—their evil homeroom teacher, me, forbid them to play chess and sports these days also. :D Oh? You ask me why they wouldn’t go against me? Because…LOL~ you know the answer right? :P

Busy weekend

Oh my, this weekend was so busy. On Saturday I was working hard for the periodical test of year 8. I am responsible for the listening comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar parts. Worse, it’s autumn now and the weather’s getting colder—I caught a cold. -_-“ I was having a severe headache all day and still working on the exercises. I had to since we will have a meeting the coming Monday and need to discuss my work there. Finally I finished it and my friend was so kind to check it for me, to see if I made any mistakes on spelling or sentence structures. Well…I did make one: a preposition was missing. LOL~ Of course I am grateful that I have such a good friend who can help correct my English. :D

Today we celebrated my dad’s birthday, and the chocolate cake is vegetarian! My sis bought it in a veggie bakery in her neighborhood. And she’s nice to get me some buns as well. I gave my dad a red envelope, in which is 6000 NT dollars. It is more of my dad’s cup of tea. If I got him any present, he would say, ‘oh you wasted money again, because I have had such stuff blah blah…’ That’s why my sis and I did the same on his birthday since ages ago. Dad is happy, and we daughters are happy too!

A field trip--part II

And it’s Oct now. :P hahahaha I am to finish the part II. In fact there are several different areas for us to visit in Taipei Water Park. But the best for my naughty students, of course, is the Water Park. I let them play in there for one and half an hour after they listened to the guide’s lecture ‘patiently’. :P Then boys and girls all hurried into the pool and played excitedly in the water. I didn’t go into the pool—no students were daring enough to drag me in…*grins evilly* I then took a walk Kuanying Hill Hiking Area with a girl student and 2 boy students—they didn’t wanna play in the pool that time and would rather follow me. Stepping on the wooden stairs and feeling the breeze was so pleasant, and you know it’s not something we can easily have in this city life—to get so close to our Mother Nature. I watched the azure sky and some white clouds…thinking, such a simple life for me, a person who has no big ambition, was just fulfilling. Too bad there was no café by the path, otherwise I could sit there sipping a latte and enjoyed more. ( urm…with the 3 students? :P ) Finally it’s time to get back. Students were so reluctant to leave! They told me they had a lot of fun and would like me to take them out for a field trip again. Certainly…I told them—‘if you guys behave well, study hard, and improve your grade…I will.’ :P *chuckles* no pain no gain right?