2009         HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!         2009

DECEMBER CRAZINESS
I have taken another hiatus from blogging, but now that December is over and I am finally finishing up my grad school applications, I am back.  So, why was December so crazy, you ask?  It was a month filled with events - wrapping up season one of "Brother and Sister Mango," hosting the school's annual sports day with my coteacher, getting evaluated by Fulbright,  and organizing a Christmas musical in four days for the school.  I really enjoyed switching costumes every week: from Brother Mango to sports announcer to Santa Claus. 

Despite such a hectic schedule at school, I did have some relaxing events during my off time.  There were birthday parties, and Chris Castro, the director of AIT in Kaohsiung, even invited us to have an early Christmas dinner over at his house.  A hotel's kitchen staff came over to his place and prepared us a wonderfully delicious meal.  Then, at the request of Chris's mother, we sang the "Twelve Days of Christmas."  I can't believe we didn't get any days off for the holiday season.  So after working on Christmas, the twelve fulbrighters in Kaohsiung had a nice dinner together and watched "This Christmas" because we already

watched "Love Actually" (in case you were wondering).

WELCOMING 2009
A couple days before New Years Eve, our host sister, Joyce, came over to celebrate the New Years with us in Chinese style.  She made beef noodle soup, and then we made new year signs and received red envelopes from her.  On New Years Eve, the deans and some teachers at my

school all went out to an Italian restaurant for lunch when school ended.  Then, I went home, crashed, and was thankful that the four-day weekend finally arrived.  And at around 8ish at night, Dan, Katie, some teaching assistants from Katie's school, and I went to Kaohsiung's Dream Mall to snag a good spot to watch the fireworks spectacular.  I normally would  refuse to participate in such an activity cause I just don't see the point in waiting for four hours for a show that only lasts

four minutes, but I am suppose to make the most of my time in Taiwan, so what the heck.  I had a good time meeting the teaching assistants and listening to Taiwanese pop.

MID-YEAR CONFERENCE
Recently, all the ETAs in Kaohsiung went down to Kenting for Fulbright's three day Mid-Year Conference to reconvene with all the other Fulbrighters in Taiwan.  We stayed at the luxorious,

five star Caesar Park Hotel.  Below is the view of the hotel from my balcony.  We went to the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aqaurium (海生館) the first day.  Then, we went for a "nice" hike at the Kenting National Park (墾丁國家公園) for six hours.  Everyone else was hiking, but I was limping up and down the trails (considering I just got off crutches).  On the last day, we had a full day of presentations in which everyone had to report on the progress they've made. All in all, the conference was very nice and relaxing.  I love talking with the other grantees and the fact that I'm apart of this larger network.  During this conference, I even met one grantee who's beginning his research this month and is from New York City.

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