This is what she can do in an hour by her self! This hallway was clean when I put her out of my room this morning and I already picked up most of the red foam!

sucky

okay it's saturday, well it's almost over and I have had a migrane all day, actually this is day 3, it's almost 10 and I am feeling a little better but I have taken enough medicine to kill a small horse.

On a brighter note I dragged myself out of the apartment to take tai to the vet for some much over due shots. Since we were unsure of her actual age it was fine to wait but now i have to take her back on time for the next ones. Anyway to point is that I was so impressed with the minimal cost. When vets are affordable it makes pet ownership so much easier.

Okay that's all I am going back to knitting in the dark living room, the light hurts me head and I don't really need to see as I am knitting a purse/bag and it's just straight around although i have added some cool stripes.

I am aware of my lack of photos lately, sorry. Things are really busy I will try to get on it soon.
cheers
J

puppies and puddles

Did you know that my dog is afraid of the rain, and has rained for 3 days here. It's been a bit of an issue for her. She is also afraid of loud noises and stairs, also an issue as I live in the city on the roof of an apartment building. She will now go upstairs with a lot of encouragment but not down.

It stated raining on Friday and poured and poured and poured, get the idea, I was stuck inside for 2 days. I did got out but was soaked the whole time, not worth it.

So since I was trapped inside all weekend, I knit and read. My sister sent me great books and knitting projects. I am a happy girl. I finished some purses for some friends in Toronto ( M and J they are finished and one for S too, M the 1st one didn't work so well so you are getting two and J you need to got to knitty.com and find a vest pattern or 2) All I have to do now is mail them and that could take awhile knowing me.

Well it's monday already and I have to go to work, now!!!! or i will be late, this is so much more fun though. Have a good week all.
J

Did u know....

that it is impossible to plan the coming week when you leave your planning book at SCHOOL. It was a long day and as a I packed up all my treats (tell u in a minute) and my books I some how neglected to stick it in my bike bag... dumb, dumb, very dumb. Oh well nothing i can do about it now, I'll do it tomorrow with my communication books and my spelling books and the million other things i have to do!

On a brighter note my sister mailed me the most amazing birthday/care package and I got it today. Books, wool, Justine friendly brownie mix, a shirt died with chocolate and various other exciting things including gold band aids! It was definitely a mid week spirit boost.

On my way home today in the pouring rain! I stopped to buy some fruit as I usually do on my way home. Well the man who runs the stand really likes Tai (everyone does) and he discovered last week that she likes mango, he gave her a piece when I stopped on Friday night.. Likes is not really a strong enough word, she goes insane as soon as she smells it. So Monday he was all sorry because he did not have anything for her, she was practically leaping out of my basket she was so excited to see him, actually she was. So today when I stopped he had a whole mango for her, before I could even pick out my guava he was peeling it and feeding it to her, she was over the moon she was so happy. What's she going to do when I move to a land where mangos aren't 2 for a buck and there is not fresh guava... ahh life in the mid tropics ain't so bad.

Okay I am off to bed. Night

I am always forgetting bout the good stuff

I realized as I was walking home from the movies that I am forgetting to tell you about the small things that happen that are interesting... days are jut starting to run together.

This past week has been "ghost week" when Buddhists remember/honor the spirits of the deceased. So as a result there have been ghost money fires all over the city. So what's that? Well people haul a table out in front of their office/store/house and pile with fruit, bread, and such(I have seen coke) as a gift for the spirits and then burn incense. Then takes these piles of beautifully decorated paper called ghost money and burn it in a little tin on the sidewalk(can be dangerous for cyclists such as myself). The ghost money is burnt in order that it gets to the heavens and the deceased and in return the mortal folks down here get real money in return, or so the theory goes. I'll tell you if I get rich.

This evening I went out to walk the dog and take out the garbage. Here you have to physically take your garbage to the truck which stops in your neighborhood 2 times a day for 10 minutes. Well it is supposed to come everyday but Wednesday and Saturday and so I cleaned out my fridge, grabbed my recycling and headed out. The street was unusually quite but I plodded on with my dog, recycling and garbage. I got to the park and there is only 1 other person there, a bad sign. Well needless to say the garbage truck never came and everyone else in the neighborhood knew it. So we both left, well I quickly decided that I was not bringing my huge bag of "cleaned out fridge" garbage home, so I left it there. It was bad I know but the truck will come in the morning and I am assuming someone will chuck it in. Sadly I am not usually home when the truck comes so if it's not out on Sunday I may have it for a another week.

So I left it there and then went to walk Tai, well as we passed the local temple there was quite the party going on, they had taken over the street and had all these table out and were eating. Someone was singing and it all seemed very festive. I wish I had my camera.

Anyway not much else, the weather here was sad today so I went to the movies, The Terminal with Tom Hanks. It was good but slow, I see why it got bad reviews. Then I walked home from the mall and had Sushi on the way, it was good.

I came home to a very excited puppy as she had been alone for a number of hours. So that's it, my weekend is over and I will be back at work in 11 hours. It goes really fast. Here's to a better a better week this week, if it is bad at least I will have root beer (got some Dad's at Costco) and Lasange, I made it on Saturday night for me and Su as Shauna is a goddess and mailed me some gluten free noodles, yes my Mom and Celeste are goddess' too as they also mail me noodles.

So I am going to have my daily ration of Reese pieces (also Shauna), do the dishes and head to bed. Maybe I will start a new book, I have Mother of Pearl and Wild Swans waiting and I just finished The Rock Cried Out, it was okay.

be well
J

Ahh Saturday

well another week is gone, it was a long one but it's Saturday and I am enjoying a day of house cleaning, reading and marking. Not the most enjoyable activities (except the reading) but I have to get them done and this is really my only time. I work until 6 everyday and then by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is clean the bathroom! So today it is, besides it's hot and I don't want to go anywhere until it cools down in a couple of hours.

Hmmm what can I tell you about... There is a another typhoon warning for Monday - part of me wants it to hit (day off) and part of me dreads all the water but I know I'll survive and my apartment won't blow away. The last one was the worst one Taipei has seen in 30 years! Hard to believe co considering that the city was left unharmed aside from some downed tress and power outages.

No big sight seeing plans for the weekend, I am hoping to get tomorrow and go to TeinMu, a really nice neighbourhood with lots of great shops and such, including a used bookstore. Last weekend I wandered around another great neighbourhood near my school, lots of fun restaurants and fun clothing shops. Not that there was anything that would fit me!

I really wish that stores here sold regular sizes. Yes there are lots of small Asians but due to the increasing fast food industry there are also lots of what we would consider average size folk, ( obesity is becoming a problem in children but it is a new problem) anyway but nothing in most shops goes beyond a 8, I can buy men clothes or I can look for american chains that sell large. Many stores like Roots and North Face simply only stock small and medium... It is a very annoying dilemma.

Aside from wandering neighbourhood plans I am afraid there won't be anything to exciting going on for the next few weeks. My friend Lexi is coming form Korea at the end of the month and that will bring some sight seeing and finally some new photos.

Okay I am going back to my book. Hope all is well out there .
J

Finally

I am finally online at home! It was a huge production and after a phone call to the states and a helpful sister and brother-in-law it is finally working.

It has been an interesting week, as you heard there was a typhoon but I wasn't any where near the bad parts ( huge flooding in lots of areas of the city). The meter of rain we got did cause me and my apartment to get very wet. It is pouring with rain again as I type this.

School started on Thursday again, my classroom got wet, and of course it was the corner where my stereo and books are kept. The stereo has been replaced and I am drying out my books hoping that they survive. I think that I will have to replace most of them, very sad especially since they are mine and not the schools.

Aside from that all is well, my class seems to be good, even though there are 15 boys and 6 girls, this is not usually the case in our school all the other classes are balanced just not mine! I also have the biggest class. It's okay though, most of them are great kids and are really happy to be at school.

Anyway I should be off as I have a lot to do for next week. Enjoy the photos of the puppy, they are recent, I will put up some of her when she was small but they are on my computer at work at them moment... maybe on Monday.
J.

she's gotten really big 

ain't she cute 

First day

I made it... through my first day with my first class, well sort of. We let the monkeys come in today with their parents and stay for awhile, then we kicked them all out and went for lunch. I made it through the parents and the kids and am excited for tomorrow when I can wear regualer clothes and just have to deal withthe kids and not their parents too! Although I must say that all the parents were very well behaved and no one asked me to turn their son or daughter into a rocket sciencist in a year.

Happy that it's almost time to go home, 4 mintues and counting. Here's hoping that tomorrow goes as well as today did!

Cheers
J.

stupid, stupid, stupid

Hello World,

It has been a long and crazy week, I have been setting up my classroom and planning my year. Those of you who are teachers will relate well to my feeling of .... oh my god I am never going to be ready for the munchkins to arrive!...... My friends here where amazed at my level of exhaustion after two weeks of vacation and then a week at work with no kids, they have no idea how much work was actually accomplished! But it's done my classroom is ready and my first days planned and life is good, I think. I still have to organize what I want to say to those lovely parents when they arrive in my classroom tomorrow morning for their 30 minutes of listen to the teacher babble at you before you leave your children with her tomorrow and she warps their little minds to her western cultural practices, like chewing with their mouths closed and cutting their food instead of putting it all in their mouths at once. Just little things that they need to learn, reading and writing will come along as the year progress' I promise.

Aside from a long week at work I have done nothing else my friend Lynn arrived on my doorstep on Wed. night after a miserable job experience just outside of the city. She hummed and hawed about her choices and in the end decided to go back to South Africa. She left last night and it was lovely to have some company for a few days... someone to chat with and play with the puppy. Who by the way is getting big and last night slept through the night for the first time... what a good dog she is. I hope the sleeping pattern continues as I am tired(literally) of getting up to let her out in the night.

In regards to company my friend Lexi is also coming from Korea next month, very excited about that! It will be great to see her and I even have a day off while she is here, Moon festival. Should anyone else feel the desire to visit, please do! I'd love the company and have the space. Visitors are always welcome.

Not much else to let you know I am off to meet Su for some... can you guess... shopping, her shopping not mine, (yeah right!) and then dinner later. But I must go home first and get the puppy so she can come too, she has one of those nifty little puppy bags and she goes all over the place on the weekends, it works very well for both of us. So I will think of you while I am shopping and enjoying the heat, it is really hot.

Hope all is well in the rest of the world.
love
J.

Things I will never get used to

Okay there are few things here that are driving me crazy and I feel the need to share them with the world because even though they are driving me crazy they are kinda funny.

Tiles, instead of paving sidewalks and other surfaces they put tiles on them, very annoying because tiles are slippery when wet and it rain a lot here. Someone was sleeping in the design department. The other thing is that as the tiles age they come lose and then you walking along on will move on you causing you to trip, slip, or slide and end up on the ground.

Nose picking, if you want to do please do it at home... not on the street corner while waiting for the light to change, that and spitting are driving me crazy.

Heat, it's hot, really hot and all the time, even at night.

Traffic, okay there are lots of things that drive me crazy about the traffic here but my favourite two things are that cars don't stop for red lights, they might stop after it has turned red or if the oncoming traffic is blocking the intersection. And yet pedestrians will stand at a deserted street corner waiting for the light to change so they can cross, there is not a car in sight but yet none of them will cross the street until the light changes. It's very strange.

Bugs, there are heaps of them, everywhere all them time. I found a large spider in my house last night, I have never seen anything so big, the broom and I convinced it to leave after I took a picture. There are cockroaches, mosquitoes and they huge flying red ant things, to many bugs for me.

Puppy obession, okay my dog is cute but they are all crazy about her, she is getting bigger and so the attention getting is not as great as before but they stop and pick her up while we are walking, ask to take her picture, whistle at her to get her attention and generally make the process of walking her very difficult. Last Sunday a mom stopped me so her 2 year old could pet Tai, okay who am I to say no to a cute little kid, then the kid grabbed the leash and tried to walk away with her... she didn't get far.

Space cadets, people are on there own planet when walking on the city streets I am not sure how they survive, people will wander along with scooters honking at them or bike bells ringing in their ears and they don't move, they are practically run over and they still just wandering along contemplating their belly buttons (poopitz gazing). The sidewalks here are huge and it's not like they couldn't move over, bikes and scooters are always on the sidewalks, it's nothing new and yet people seem shocked when the scooter gets frustrated and tries to move them by knocking them over.

Betel nuts, they are kinds they equivalent of chewing tobacco, people, men mostly chew on them and as a result always look like they have a huge wad of gum in there mouth, they die your mouth this horrible shade of red and cause you to spit, (see earlier complaint) except that it is the same red as blood is and so the sidewalks often look someone has just bled to death on them.

Escalator, in the subway there are big signs and announcements that say please leave the left side of the escalator open for people who are in a hurry. Stand on the right, walk on the left... not a hard concept to understand, right. Well why is it that people here don't understand, they stand on the left and then when someone like me tries to get past they get all angry and give me these dirty looks, I don't understand.


Just a few things to complain about, it could be a lot worse though. Other than the general daily annoyances all is well, I have enjoyed my time off and am sad but excited that works starts again on Monday. I am looking forward to it but wish I could still sleep in. Okay must be off, lots to do today.

love
J.

feels like home

Okay so I am vacation and generally just being a lazy bum as a result... and lovin it! So yesterday I went to work to photocopy some stuff and then went to my local Starbucks and when I walked in they were playing Dar Williams ( one of my favorite musicians). It was like walking into a Starbucks at home, Dar Williams, a caramel frappucino and a good book, what more could I need.

Taipei is a lot like home, a lot more so than Seoul was and I am amazed and the differences. I mean yes I am in Asia and there are lots of cultural differences but I can get everything I want here (almost... clothes is an issue, they are ugly or to small).

Hmmm not much to tell you all about, the puppy is good, annoying but good... she definitely makes me rethink motherhood! Maybe I don't want little people. Speaking of little people my niece is officially ours to keep, Riley's adoption went through on Monday so my sister is stuck with her now, she is crawling and pulling herself up on things and generally driving my sister (who has a broken foot at the moment) crazy, in a good way of course. Riley seems to think that her age and developmental stages (she's 8 months) are not at all linked and is trying really hard to walk long before she is supposed to. Anyway needless to say every one is quite happy that the adoption is now official and they are all heading to Victoria this weekend to visit the grandparents.

Alright back to me, so I am still trying to get internet access at home, it is proving to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated and I probably won't have it till next week. I have no big plans for the coming week, I am hoping to get into the school to start setting up my classroom and such and maybe take another trip to the beach. It's really hot here and as a result I am not to motivated to do much except read in my nice air conditioned bedroom. Nights are better but then I am tired and then there is the puppy that adds to the equation, I can't leave her for to long so I either have to take her or come home to let her out. We'll see what happens, I'm sure I'll tell you all about anything exciting that I do do.

Time in the cafe is up. Be well
J.

Beaches

Did you know that the pacific ocean is more salty over here... Apparently the warmer the water the saltier (chemistry says more salt closer together in warm water than cold) I am not sure about the technical aspect of the whole thing but I can assure that it is saltier here than at home. The waves here are great too!

All that to say that I did make it to the beach yesterday and it was lovely, had lots of fun swimming and lying on the beach. I must admit that it was weird to play in water that wasn't frigid whe you first got in. We just sort of strolled in and it was like a warm shower. Those of you who have been to the southern part of the world know what I am talking about... I didn't really realize that it was possible for the water to be so warm. I mean it would be warmer but it was really warm, oddly as a result not really very refreshing, nice but it didn't cool you off as you would expect it to.

Okay so enough babbling about the water temp. After he beach we rode the bus back to the MRT station and stopped at the 7-11 for some Smirnoff Ices... you can drink in public here so we strolled through the night market and along the board walk drinking, it was really lovely. Being that we were on the coast it was much cooler and the air was a lot cleaner than here in the city. It's only abut 45 minutes away and then a bus ride to get tot he beach were you can swim, sadly I forgot my camera (I've been doing that a lot lately) so there are no photos but I will have to go back so there will be photos eventually.

Alright well enough typing I am off to enjoy the fact that I don't have to work today but am still getting paid... what a novel concept paid vacation is.

J

puppies...

Okay issue of the day... house training this darn puppy!!! Okay so she is really cute and lots of fun but she is a little dense in the "this is not a bathroom" (the couch, my bed, the kitchen) department. I have done all the things the book says to and she just doesn't get it, I understand that she is small (about 9 weeks today) but my patience is slowing as last night I took her out, for a long walk and then brought her inside where she immediatley peed on the blanket on the couch, needless to say she was rempremanded and sent to her bed... she seems better about the issue ( using the paper provided instead of the couch) this morning but you never know.

Thanks to my mom's brillant suggestion I am growing her an indoor garden of sorts, a grassy patch in my dinning room which is actually outside but has a tile floor and half walls (half way up that is, the rest is bars, yes there will be photos eventually! of the apartemnt that is and the puppy too) Hopefully it will help but until it grows a little I will still have to run down my 6 floors every time she looks like she need to go out!

To top it all off she has developed a lovely rash ( she had it when I got her but it has become much worse) and so now all her hair is falling out and I have to make a trip to the vet tomorrow, she looks a bit like a balding old man... very funny to see but sad as she is really itchy.

On a brighter note I am heading to the beach this afternoon with a new friend... to bad the puppy is so small or she could come too, I am afraid that the heat would be to much for her given her size. Anyway I am rather excited and I am looking very forward to a swim in the ocean, I love swimming in the ocean ( very fond memories from my childhood) and I am hoping that this end of the pacific will not be as bloody cold as it is at home!

On that note I will be off as I need to go by some more seeds and then head back to my house to walk the puppy before I leave her trapped in the house for the afternoon.

J

Vacation, vacation, vacation

It was a wonderful feeling this morning when I woke up, actually was awoken by a whining puppy... but none the less and I realized that for the next 2 weeks I have no where to be! I have lots of work to do for school to get ready for the year but I don't have to be anywhere and I can stay in my air condtioned apartment all day if I want.

It is hot!!! very hot here. I walked the dog at 7 ish this morning and it was already like 30 and then I went for a bike ride and was dying by the time I got here, the internet cafe. Aside from the heat things are good, I am looking forward to seeing some of the city in my time off. I am getting to know my way around a little bit and hope to take a day trip or two to the country to see other things besides shopping malls and pollution.

I haven't seen or done to much exciting this week and my landlords haven't cleaned my apartment latley. I went out for this fun Japanense dinner last night (staff meal, last day of summer camp), it was a set menu but there were a few choices, most of it was pretty good. I discovered that I don't like Japanese yam... it looks like an apple but is slimy and cruchy at the same time, it was strange. I also had a piece of the rarest steak I have ever eaten, it tasted pretty good even though it was practically mooing.

Okay well that's it, I am still waiting for internet access at home, I have applied but haven't been hooked up yet. I will come to the cafe this week though to check and to write. Hope all is well in the rest of the world.

j

They did it again!

Man oh man these landlords in Asia.. I went out last night and came home to find that my landlords had been over in my absence and cleaned my house again, and they must think that I am slob and never put anything away. The fact of the matter is that I don't like most of the things that they have left in the place and have slowly been hiding them away, like the orange plastic table cloth that I have left off the table for the last 2 weeks, that they put back on the table. (it has been removed again and replaced with a blue table runner... hopefully they'll get the hint!)

Anyway I have been here for 7 weeks, amazing how time flies! and have one more week of work and then 2 weeks of vacation! Yipee, not that I am going anywhere or doing anything but it is nice to know that I won't have to leave my apartment unless I want to.

Friday was an amusing day, the child who has driven me batty all summer arrived and announced that it was his last day ( I did a happy dance and demanded that his mother be called to confirm as I didn't want to get my hopes up for nothing) Well he was right and it was last day ( a long day at that) and after a very long day withthe little monster I escourted him to his waiting car at the end of the day and his mom said that she hoped I would still be at the school in a year when he came back... I held back my ... not if mylife depends on it will I ever be your sons teacher again.. comments and smiled and nodded, said a polite goodbye and did a happy dance as they drove away. He is off to an elite private school for kindergarten, ours isn't elite enough I guess... that's fine with me. My kindergarten class will have 19 young monkeys in it and 13 of them are boys!!!! it will be a long year I think.

Anyway my time a the cafe is almost up so I must be off, I will have net access at home sometime next week I hope, as soon as the last of my visa stuff is processed.

Hope all is well in the rest of the world! You can write and let me know... the novelty of my being gone has worn off and I haven't from anyone is ages... sad for me but I trust that it is cause you are all so busy.

J

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

Good Morning

It's a bright sunny wednesday morning here and I am looking forward to a long fun filled day at the local aquarium. I will be looking at exotic local sea life and I forgot my camera! So sad.

It has been and interesting few days, my class is adorable but there are a few of them who are driving me crazy. I did a happy dance yesterday when one of them stayed home sick. It doesn't matter what the cultural differences are, this kid would be a handfull in any culture!

I am looking forward to the weekend... I have plans to go shopping, my favourite activity on Saturday (cause it's my birthday and I want too!) and hopefully head to the beach on Sunday, it is really hot and the beach would be a nice change. It is kinda far, it takes about an hour from the city. We'll see how much work I get done between now and then.

Wel that is all the exciting news that I have to share today. Must be off as the little people will be arriving soon... with parents in tow.

love
j

Chickens, goat and crickets

Okay so I am riding my bike home from work the other day and low and behold I see a chicken! No I am not lying or making it up there was a chicken outside a shop just wandering around. I am talking about a busy intersection during rush hour, it was amazing. I am sure that she was dinner for someone.

It's Sunday morning and on my way here, to the internet cafe I saw a goat. Someone had a goat standing in a rather large cage on the sidewalk. It was getting a lot of attention, a petting zoo of sorts just randomly created for the benefit of the city folk.

I went to Tianmu ( a very nice part of town with lots of foreigners) last night to pick up some free stuff that was advertised on one of the local message boards and once I finally found the house I discovered that there is a place in taipei where there are houses and no street noise. It was the mopst amazing thing, they had a yard, a pool and a real house! He works for some company that foots the bill, which I imagine must be huge! But it was a beautiful space and I am so jealous. I could here crickets chirping, I am not lying. Taipei is such a cememnt jungle and I live right in the middle of it, I never realised such places existed. Anyway it is way to far from work for it to even be an opition but it was a lovley spot to see.

The weekend is almost over and my hour and at the cafe is almost up and so I must be off... if anyone is bored later this week and trying to find something to do with all their free time they can sit down and write me a long gossipy email... yes, I have resorted to shamless begging on my part... I am homesick/spacesick and would love to hear how life is on the other side of the world.

Miss ya
J.