Home is Where the Love Is?

I have an interesting and complex love/hate relationship with Christmas this year. On the one hand, I haven't celebrated the day with as much Christmas caroling, cookies and decorations since I was probably old enough to still be believing in Santa. The school goes all out for Christmas in a way that puts any other school outside of say, the North Pole, to shame. I've posted a link the other Kathleen's Christmas blog so that you can get a small sense of the insanity. http://christmasintaiwan.blogspot.com There is something nice about the preparation and anticipation of the Christmas season, especially since Christmas time during University mostly consisted of studying for finals and rushing home on December 22nd to start shopping and relaxing.

On the other hand, Christmas at the school is synonymous with stress. Ask most of the other teachers and the first thing they say is "Only x more days until Christmas is over!" Why so many Scrooge's? The Christmas PerformanceS! .. all 3 of them! For the past 2 months massive Christmas spectacular have been in the works. In the past few weeks classes have been cancelled or shortened, the halls have been filled with the sounds of Christmas songs on repeat, and little children's bodies have been worked to exhaustion (while teachers have been worked to the point of mental breakdown). Thursday will be the Kindergarten show which once again Louise and I will be MCing the English portion of the program. The songs the little ones are singing include My hallelujah Heart, Jesus was Born on Christmas--So It's My Favorite Day, and The Hokey Pokey. Mind you it's not a religious school and maayybe 1-3 students per class would be Christian. The rest of the program consists of the kids doing jazzercise moves and three-legged races while being dressed as elves.

The elementary show is the one that receives the most hype. Professional costumes have been ordered from America, dance instructors have been brought in, and a VIP section has been squared off in the auditorium for Friday, the day of the extravaganza. The theme of the show is "Home is Where the Love Is"... am still not sure if it was a deliberate mistake of using "Love" instead of "Heart." In any case, each grade has its own mini-theme which ties into it. Songs for the show range from "Gloria" to "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," from Selena's "Dreaming of You" to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", from a Hawaiian Holiday song to the "Lion King." I've written a cheesy little skit and poem for my 3rd graders where I pretend to come and visit their home for Christmas because "I am so very far away from my home and family". The kids are all dressed like different members of the family-- mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandmothers and grandfathers (yes, even with 100 gray spray painted heads of hair). All of this will be being taped by professionals so give me your video requests now...

Lastly, on Christmas there will be a performance by the junior high and high school students. Fortunately, I have not had to help prepare for any of the show, but unfortunately I have to miss the performance to teach Kindy. You would think that with all of the emphasis on Christmas and the amount of extra work that we've all done, they would give us English teachers off for the day.. but no such luck!

I am looking forward to New Year's Day off the following week and more importantly... Chinese New Year!!! I have 4-5 weeks off at the end of January until February 22 and have officially booked my vacation to Phuket, Thailand's largest island, for 12 days! Chances are I'll be lying comatose on the beach the entire time and perfecting the art of pina coladas by the pool. I know some people had talked about potentially wanting to come visit in January or February so I'd say if you want to make it to Taipei plan for January 26-February 7th and if you want to rendez-vous in Thailand pick the 7th to the 19th. I would love to meet up with anyone who may be doing the Asian leg of their world tour!

I hope that everyone is doing well at home and enjoying some down time for the holidays. I am definitely feeling a bit homesick for my family and friends so remember to keep me updated with your holiday plans and details about what Santa brings you. If you know I don't have your address send it along in an e-mail. I have Chinese New Year cards and goodies to send back for those that do!

Two weeks ago all of us from the house attended the wedding of one of our coworkers, Kerry. The actual wedding ceremony was done at the couple's home and only afterwards did friends and family gather for a huge celebration banquet at a Japanese restaurant. The 10 course banquet was fantastic-- tons of fresh fish, sushi, shark fin soup and other traditional sweet treats that are supposed to bring the couple luck (and lots of babies!).
It was definitely interesting to see the mix of traditional and contemporary elements in the wedding. My favorite part had to be the dresses and the photos! It is customary for brides to change their dresses several times throughout the evening, so Kerry wore 3 different and gorgeous gowns! Also, couples take their wedding photos well before the actual wedding so there are Glamour Shot- type portraits of the couple doing things like running on the beach, gazing lovingly at each other, or dressed in traditional Chinese wear all over the place. The total number of dresses she wore or took pictures in had to be around 8-10! The appeal of a photoshoot in that many different gowns has convinced me that I may need to return to Taiwan if I ever get married! It's like prom...except actually liking your date... and your dressES.. and not having the nuns watch your every move on the dance floor.

The beginning procession the restaurant performed

Kerry, her husband Harry, and their parents at the beginning of the banquet

The couple walking down the aisle

With Pheobe, our Kindy director, and Louise

Dress #2

Wedding photos

Louise in her own glamour shot

Dress #3

I'll try to make this post as coherent as possible... but there are no guarantees seeing as I'm writing this while being drugged to dull the pain of being sick AGAIN, this time with some bizarre cold/ fever/ allergy attack. I'm wondering if it really is an exaggeration to say I've been sick every 2 weeks or so since being here. It's all those snotty kindy kids.. I just can't say no to the kids when they want to hug and kiss you with the same little hands they are sneezing into and faces they are licking their shoes with.
There has been an extreme number of children missing from all my classes due to these cold epidemics. They made an announcement yesterday begging the sick children to stop coming to school until they are actually better. Something that is interesting is that when people here are sick or trying to prevent getting sick, they all wear face masks. I'm trying my best to fit in (and be polite and not get other people sick) so I've been trying to wear one when I can. I'll admit it's sort of hard to get used to breathing while wearing one... but I'm starting to get the hang of it and am enjoying the little of bit of privacy it gives you.. think Jackie-O sunglasses, but for the bottom of your face.

This is Paul, our new roommate and coworker. The monkeys hanging from his arms are the sons of one of our directors at school. Everyday after school they come into the office and most of us girls try our best to bribe them with stickers or candy to gain affection. Paul walks in his first day and the boys are all over him.. not fair!

I thought I'd post some pictures of something I was actually able to do outside of allll my school time and the trips to the bars that need to happen as a result. Last month we went on a teacher outing with our school outside the city in Taipei County. It was a beautiful day and we even got to spend a portion of the afternoon at a ceramics museum and ceramics village. It was the first time I ever made pottery and it was an fun as I thought it would be!