New News

Well the greatest thing that's happened recently -- I finally figured out how to view my blog and this whole website in English (which is really really great news)! It was so frustrating navigating around Blogger with all the buttons and tools in Chinese, which is probably why I've started blogging less and less.

I've been wanting to blog for awhile because there's been so much going on, but it's been difficult....because there's been so much going on! Last week was super busy.

Tuesday evening was spent creating a haunted house in the school basement. Although I didn't get to help during the time it was going on and it was for the older kids that I don't teach, I still wanted to help out ahead of time.

Wednesday was Halloween obviously, and all the teachers and kids were required to wear costumes because in the afternoon we went trick or treating. The previous Sunday I went shopping with Angela and her mom and sisters for a costume. I was a bit discouraged because I knew I wouldn't find any clothing to fit, so I ended up just buying a ton of random little things. I turned into a "Funky Fairy" as I call it, which also turned into the "Uncle Sam Fairy" and a "raver" by some :P It was fun and the kids were so cute.

Thursday I ended up going home early in the afternoon because I was not feeling well...I think it was a combo of the sort of flu season Taiwan is in right now and exhaustion from the long days. I came home and slept all evening and night and was feeling better on Friday.

Saturday, Gretchen had plans to meet with a Chinese teacher from school, Franny. Franny wants Gretchen to help her with her English, although she already has really excelent language skills, she still wants to improve. They met here at the apartment and I was in the living room just wanted to say hi and then get out of the way, but I ended up staying and it turned into the three of us doing a language exchange sort of thing. We're going to meet every Saturday from 2-4. The first hour will be English and the second will be Chinese. I'm excited because I already feel like I've learned a lot from her and she's a very aggressive teacher which will make me practice more.

Sunday morning Franny took us into Taipei to her church because Gretchen mentioned wanting to find a place with English services. We ended up visiting a Morman church. It was very beautiful, but a little awkward for us since we didn't really belong. We didn't go to a service, just toured the church. It looked exactly like a Morman church I went to in California when I was visiting my friend Steven. Franny also took us to a clothing store in that area that has larger sizes, which was totally awesome...I'm going shopping this weekend!!!! And she took us out to lunch to a pretty popular place that serves beef noodles...very yummy! And all of these places were in the same area as my Chinese lessons. Gretchen and Franny walked with me to see where my classes were at and then Franny made me practice my vocabulary before class (I told you she was aggressive!!) It's all good though :D

My Life Timeline

This is something I have considered numerous times in my head, but never really put to paper (or computer), but recently I've been more motivated to figure things out, get things done, and be an adult haha. So, this is my Tentative Life Timeline where all events are subject to change :D

August 2007 - August 2009 = Teaching in Taiwan and taking online Grad classes

August 2009 - May 2010 = Graduate school
(with hopes to graduate, depending on how many classes I was able to take in Taiwan)

Summer 2010 = Either an international trip or large road trip :D

2010 - 2015 = Computer or advertising specific job with international possibilities

Summer 2015 = if not moving up in current job (or completely in love with it), start my own web design firm or change to new job
= if not married but financially established start to adopt kids / if married better have at least one child by now :D

2015 - 2019 = continue working and raising a family

2019 - 2022 = concentrate on Research doctorate

2023 - 2035 = if happy with current job continue, otherwise change to college professor

2036 - 2040 = travel the world to all the places I still want to go and haven't been and continue loving life :D

A Taste of Home

So, being here in this place all by myself can get lonely occasionally, I have been lucky with having a roommate that likes to do similar things as me and who likes to hang out with me :D so I haven't had much homesickness or anything like that. But it can still happen, so I do what I can to make this place feel like home to me! So I always have to bring things that remind me of home and the people I miss. I don't have nearly as many picture framed pictures as I did last time due to suitcase weights this time, but I still have plenty of pictures to look at when I need to. Lucky for me paper and pictures are so lightweight!

Chinese Lessons!!!

I registered for Chinese lessons tonight with Alida, Jason, and Patrick. It's at the Taipei Language Institute. Kelly told us about the classes, because she takes lessons there also. It's called the Chinese Survival Course, only 8 Sunday sessions from 2:30-5:30. It cost 5,000NT (around $150) and that's including all materials and the registration fee. I think that's a pretty good price for it. And it seems like a very intense course, so I'm super excited :D:D

Celebrating 22 years

Dinner at Citizen Cain. Jason, Amanda, Chris, Kelly, me, Patrick, Alida and Leon.

Alida, Gretchen and me enjoying the club, Roxy 99.

Me and Chris

How they got me to dance I'll never know, might have been the shots...sorry mom :P

Heading home at 3am, very sucessful birthday!!

Many more at www.rhoslynn.shutterfly.com

Turning 22

So I can't decide if I'm looking forward to my birthday or not and if I'll get homesick or not. Am I grown up yet?? Because I don't feel like it. I was still getting used to being a teenager and now it's 22. Sure that's not really old, but for only being 22 I've gone through a lot more than I ever expected. It's been good and bad: I've watched people come and go in my life either through death or just time to be done. I've dealt with really bad depression and survived (something I never thought would happen). I graduated college in 3 years and am now planning graduate school (yes, I'm a dork, there are many lists and schedules being made!). I've traveled the world a few times and am currently living in a beautiful country that I love like a second home doing my dream job of teaching little kids. I couldn't be much happier at this moment except for the fact that my location now keeps me away from so many I love.

I understand why I love computers so much because I'm more connected to people now than ever before. I think I even talk to my sister more often now than I did when I was home, so that is one thing keeping me strong. How I did this before with once a month phone calls I will never know and I know I struggled a lot then with homesickness. Now when I'm feeling the slightest homesick, I put on my headset and call my mommy through my computer. I really haven't felt homesick at all in these 5 weeks because I can stay so connected and because I have an awesome roommate.

I have been very lucky throughout the 22 years of my life, very blessed, very loved. I may not have always seen it as so, but I always knew that there were so many people who loved me. Despite the hardest times I've gone through there has always been someone there, but that was never the problem. It is very easy to be loved, to feel loved and to know you are loved, it was always a matter of me loving myself. That was the hard part, but it's gotten better. I am at a good point in my life and it's nice. But the fact that things are so good of course makes my mind wonder...but I can never stop thinking, evaluating, questioning things...and I will never know which parent I got that from!!

It's been too long...

I haven't written for awhile. It's been a busy time. Holidays at school created chaos and then making up those days required work on Saturday. Sunday though I got to go on a trip with the church Gretchen and I recently joined.

It was a lot of fun despite the fact that we gave up our one-day weekend for a full day outing. We went to Keelung which is in the Northeast of the island, close to the ocean. We went to a "sister church" and their worship service in the morning and explored the area all afternoon. We went to an old area that used to be a gold mine and then to the Gold Ecological Park which had museums about when the whole area used to be a big mining area. It was very interesting.

I posted 5 pictures here but because it is so difficult and time consuming to load them all into this blog I started a Shutterfly account (www.rhoslynn.shutterfly.com) where you can view them all in an order you want :) I have all the pictures from this trip up there, but I don't have captions on them yet. It's almost midnight and I need to go to bed, so for now use your imagination with the captions haha.

Gretchen and I enjoying the view

This one's for Dad, your homework: name this plant/flower.

Our hotness :P

The old area of the city. Has a lot of commercial shops now, but it's still very neat, and very crowded.

Just one of the amazing views!