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November 25 Thanksgiving BrunchHi guys,
Today was our Thanksgiving brunch and party. It was held at the restaurant of the fancy San Want hotel in Taipei. Everything was vry cozy. The Chinese staff from all the schools had dressed up and some girls looked... hum... gorgeous! I noticed that some teachers were married and some had kids. This is shocking because no one at our school has a boyf! There were a few games, I didn't win any prizes
 After lunch it was time for bowling. One game only because the other teachers wanted to go sing at KTV. I nonetheless finished 1st and 2nd against 5 players! In the schools, though I finished 2nd (overall). KTV was OK, but I much rather go there with 1 or 2 friends because this way I get to sing more.
I heard the funniest thing today from a girl teacher. She pulled her earings out. That's when I noticed that she did not have pierced ears. She said that she would like to be a boy in her next life. If you have marks on your ears, you can't be a boy in your next life. I had never heard of such a superstition. I don't know if it is wide spread in Taiwan, but her family seems to believe in it.
LeTouriste Oh what a night!Carreras had an interesting selection of songs that I don't know. In fact, of the 12 songs and 5 Encore songs that he sang. I only knew or recognized 3: Granada, Santa Lucia and O Sole Mio. Although, I did not really like the songs he sang, I was impressed and delighted by his performance. It is something to see him on TV, it is totally different to hear him burst into songs of different register or key. Having seen him, I can only imagine what it would have been like to attend a Pavarotti concert.
Carreras really won the crowd over with his encore performance which was very long. He won the Taiwanese's heart when he sang a traditional Chinese song. His Chinese may or may not have been good, but the crowd couldn't care less, they were just delighted that he tried and that he included it into the concert. It was a gutsy move because Chinese is not an easy language to sing or speak correctly. His final song was O Sole Mio. That was the highlight for me. After hearing that song, I knew it was over because what else can someone sing that is superior to this song? Well, personally, I could say, 'Nessun Dorma,' but it isn't as popular or recognized as the former.
All in all, the 120CDN$ ticket was well spent because I am not sure that I will have the chance to see Jose Carreras perform again. He is 61 years old!
Next show on my list is in January. I will attend the newest Michael Flatley's Irish tap dacing sensation: Feet of Fire.
Cheers,
LeTouriste November 18 What a week!Hey Guys,
Let me update you on a few movies that I saw.
Good Luck Chuck -- hilarious, but needlessly crude comedy that was shot in Vancouver. You could not imagine how much I missed Vancouver while I was watching that movie. The shots of the city going down 4th Ave or Burrard Island and the North Shore. I was ready to pack my bags and leave. The next day, I rented The Cleaner, another comedy shot in Vancouver. This one starred Lucy Liu (my fav Asian actress because of her utterly sexy and dominating role in Ally MacBeal). Last weekend was really a Vancouver-memory missathon! I got myself back together and now I'm OK.
I attended a head foreign teachers' meeting. I heard a most interesting news. My school is expanding into mainland China officially!!! Hurrah! The first thing I did was to run to the director and said: I'm In!
This weekend I watched Beowulf in 3D, it was alright, not much more.
Today since it rained all day, I did not go to Maokang, instead I watched Hairspray. Great movie, great themes. But not really my style of movie. Of maybe it is the size of the characters. Yes, I am vain and hollow, but size 60 isn't for me.
Cheers,
LeTouriste November 13 Back PayHey Guys,
Our boss finally approved our pay raises. Two teachers have been retroactively paid since June. Imagine the joy these teachers will get because they get almost a Canadian dollar per hour for almost 400 hours. November 07 Ouf!Hi Guys,
Ouf! I had a terrible scare during the past week. As I said, I developed a certain skin rash. I check on the internet and found pictures
that looked somewhat similar to what I have. The only problem is that the pictures came from patients with severe and nasty diseases.
I was at a lose about how I could have gotten any of those. I saw a first doctor on Sunday. He just said that I had an infection, but did not
explain more. Today, I went to see a specialist with over 40 years of experience. He gave me tons of pills (as they always do in Taiwan)
and sent me my way. He said that I would be fine and that I did not have anything related to those diseases. What a relief! I feel the sunshine
coming out again for me.
On a sad note however, a friend of mine has a sister who was diagnosed with heart whispering. I don't know what that means in the long term, but
it does not sound good. Also another friend of mine is in mourning for her dear friend. Life has it's mysteries which we can't understand. I can imagine your
pain, but nothing that happened is your fault. She must have enjoyed her time spent with you. Live with no regrets.
Bye,
LeTouriste November 04 Winter BluesHi Guys,
Yesterday, I hung out with a former co-teacher and his friends. We had a great time despite the fact that no girls showed up to his party.
Today, I feel totally blue. The bitter coldness has permeated my skin and I feel sad. There is no reason for me to feel this way, but I just do.
I am not sure what is wrong with me, but ever since I returned from Shanghai, I have never picked up the pace. I've done my job, but with little
enthusiasm. Around the kids, I'm OK, but without them, I'm down. I've also been dreaming of home on a very regular basis. Is this foreshadowing
some sinister event or am I just lonely deep inside? I hope it is the latter, cuz I wish no harm to anyone.
I went to the hospital this morning to treat my 5th skin infection since my arrival in Taiwan. I guess once you get the infection once, it is easier for it to
reappear. No harm happens, just pop a few anti-fungal pills three times a day for a week and the mushroom is gone.
How can I reboot myself? Go on a trip?... can't I work weekends until Christmas.
Work more?... I just don't feel like it.
Exercise more?... I go to the gym 3 times/ week.
Eat more?... I am out of cash currently... pay day is Wednesday.
Reorganize me room?... that is what I'll try next.
I just finished reading 2 great books about China.
The first China Rises describes the evolution of China from a Third World country to the modern state that it is. It is very well written, but they always have a negative view of the changes in China. To avoid sounding too harsh, they water down their speech with a last paragraph stating that things aren't really as bad as what the previous chapter mentioned. Why do this? It sounds like they tried to please some sort of authority by adding postitive points. Nonetheless, it is a great read.
The other is an awesome travel log into the Terracotta Army pits and a depiction of the first Emperor who unified China. Thrilling and delightful. So great that I want to visit the Terracotta Army next time I go to China which should be in August 2008 for the Beijing Olympics. I found decent airplane tickets, now I need to find a hotel. I want to the see the Cycling races which are held during the first weekend, then I'd like to visit Xian.
Cheers,
LeTouriste |
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