Feeling rather reflective... and a little sweaty!

Hello world,

Well it's saturday and oddly enough my 27th birthday... Happy birthday to me... and I am happy that I am here, enjoying the adventure.I was thinking as I walked here to the cafe that when I am a little old lasy and I look back on my "youth" I will be happy that I had the guts to travel to the other side of the world and see it. Korea was a tough few months but it got me here, to Taipei and I love it here so I guess Korea was worth it. I am loving my new job ( I know I say that a lot) and I am really looking forward to the start of the school year in August. It's been a long time coming but I am finally feeling settled and like things are moving a long as they should be and it's a great feeling!

Okay enough reflecting! I was fortunate enough to get a present from my parents in the mail (it arrived yesterday, perfect timing) and in it was a Costco card, I am now a very happy teacher. I went to Costco last night and spent way to many of my hard earned pennies on treats for me and a new friend. Yes I have a pet, unfortunatley the tailess gecko has perished, I did my best but I guess it was just not meant to be, However I have rescued someone else of the 4 legged variety and she is pretty damn cute! (photos soon) I have a puppy, a very small puppy that was taken away from it's mommy to soon in life. 2 weekends ago I was riding home and this man had puppies for sale on a street corner (I saw him again today), I looked in the box and among the crew of dogs was 2 golden lab puppies, a big beagle puppy, a full grown shiztu and the littlest puppy (alone that is) I have ever seen lying on the bottom of the cardboard box. I picked her up and she was almost lifeless and had quite a bad cough. I paid the dirty old man the money he wanted and took her home in my fanny pack on my bicycle. I wasn't sure if I could keep her but I knew that if I left her there she would die.

She has since been to the vet, he thinks the was only about 5 weeks old, so now she is 7 or so and her cough is gone, all in all she is doing a lot better. I take her to work with me and she stays in the principals apartment (she lives in the building the school is in) and then she gets let out and played with at lunch time and after school. I am still contemplating her long term living situation but I am quite in love with the little thing ( I named her Tai, after Taipei) and you can bring dogs back to Canada from here with no quarentine (sp?) so we'll what happens. The downfall to the dog is that I live in a roof top apartment and there is no elevator so I must walk her down 6 floors to go outside, it's a long hike but I'll survive.

Funny moment of the day....this morning I am lounging around my apartment, (luckily for me dressed) and my landlords showed up unannounced. They came to fix a leak in the roof which they did but then stayed for hours and cleaned my apartment for me, it was quite wierd. They washed my floors and picked at the plants and told me that they thought they had fixed the leak but we needed to wait for the next rain storm to see for sure. They took my garbage with them and left, it was very strange and I am sure that they are telling there family and friends about the forgeiner who never washes her floors... I have only lived there a week and a bit and they were hardly dirty but it was nice of them none the less.

On that note, those of you have lived with me would be amazed at how clean my kitchen is! It's clean all the time and there aren't any dishes on the counter either, maybe a mug in the sink from morning coffee but that's it. Why? Taipei has a very active insect population and cockroaches here can fly! Since a lot of my apartment is open to the great outdoors I get a variety of 6 legged creatures who like to explore my space and a very clean kitchen gives them less reason to take up residence. Cockroaches do appear evry few days, they fly in and I usually attck them with a shoe or I am feeling like a buddhist trap them and let them go again, they are huge though and have scared me half to death at night as that is when thye tend to flyin the windows, they are about _________________________ big, I am not joking. Ahhhh the wonders of a tropical climate.

Anyway I must be off, I am meeting someone from work for dinner and movie to celebrate my birthday and before I do that I must get home and feed the dog. So I will head back out in to the heat and run home, actually ride home. Hope you are all well and that life in North America (except the odd one of you who is in Korea) is treating you well.

love
J