o(O.o)o o(@.@)o o(-.-)o o(^.^)o o(>.<)o o(.)o o(u.u)o o($.$)o

25 Things About Me (wanted to kill some time)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:07:52 GMT

1. I love first kisses!
2. I will play the new Starcraft game but I'm seriously not excited about it... I was but not much has been done with the zerg, so whatever at this point.
3. I've given up on dealing with inconsiderate people. Dealing with them is pretty much dealing with games in relationships, just not worth my time.
4. I inspired the name "Smack a Bitch"... that was just totally uncalled for.
5. Rachel is the most important person to me. We can tell each other absolutely ANYTHING and not worry about any sort of judgment.
6. I haven't played it in a while, but I absolutely LOVEd Insanaquarium.
7. I hate that since apparently my uncles and father's friends read my livejournal, I've gone to the point of censorship to where I don't even bother anymore. :(
8. Every guy's parents that I've met TOO SOON, the relationship died soon after.
9. I almost ALWAYS love songs that have to do with "yeah, I'm awesome"
10. I saw the movie "Where the Wild Things Are" today with Daniel-san.
11. I used to want to name my baby girl "Nine." Don't think that'll stick...
12. As the years have gone by, I've come to realize that my music taste is evolving towards Bevyn's taste(a taste I used to insult constantly), lol
13. I really really like Jeremy! *blush*
14. I've tried my best to keep in touch with my girlfriends but ugh! GIRLS ARE SO FLAKY!!!!
15. I tend to like white(looking) guys.
16. I think people who overly tan are ridiculous... the leather look ISN'T sexy.
17. Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey have a singing range that is to die for!
18. I'm extremely childish at times. I'm working on it.
19. I participated in a book about sexual abuse.
20. I love my mom for her honesty(because those once in a lifetime opportunities she has given me a compliment, it means so much more than from anyone else) but sometimes I wish she'd keep things to herself...
21. I feel like I can't do anything with my life to advance anywhere until I pay off my loans, which I got less than 3k left!
22. I respect Southpark because they don't leave ANYONE out... they poke fun at EVERYONE, which is how it should be.
23. I HATE being hung up on.
24. I really want to own a pair of thigh high boots!
25. I am American.

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:54:44 GMT

I'm finally over the love of my life.

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:16:22 GMT

1. Name?

2. Where do you live?

3. What is your relationship status?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. What are you listening to right now?

6. What are your favorite jeans to wear?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What are you thinking about right now?

9. What are you favorite sunglasses?

10. What’s your nickname?

11. What makes you laugh?

12. What are you doing after this?

13. How do you feel right now?

14. Who is your favorite actor/ actress?

15. What is your favorite movie?

16. Who is your favorite Disney princess?

17. What is your favorite alcoholic beverage?

18. What do you wanna be when you grow up?

19. What do you love most in life?

20. What one word describes you?

21. I was born in…

22. My eye color is….

23. Night or day?

24. Best quote?

25. What school did you go to?

26. Favorite dessert?

27. Favorite animal?

28. Favorite childhood TV show?

29. Name of a sibling?

30. Month I was born in?

31. Favorite season?

Boys will be boys

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:31:45 GMT

After my breakup with Taylor, I kinda went off on the deep end. We had broken up before, but, as much as I wanted to be wild and crazy at those times, I restricted myself. By this point though, I let everything go and I've been acting like a whole new person, very outgoing, very active, very adventurous. Of course they all sound like good attributes when they're taken moderately, not to the extreme like I've been doing. I never really was the good girl, but compared to what I am now, I was pretty tame. After last night though... I've finally decided that I'm gonna retire that wild side. I'm acting out to a irresponsible level, I'm better than that. It was only a month, but more than plenty. I didn't do anything that I regret or anything, or even anything too crazy last night... Dunno what clicked this morning but I just decided to return to my serious self. So back to being the good girl that I know I really am and had been :)

So now lets do that job hunting!

A little list, just for my own reference, of what I wish to accomplish to get back on track:
-get a full-time job towards teaching
-get a volunteer work gig, preferably wkly (hopefully the big sister program!)
-study Spanish on a regular basis to be up to par again
-not a big priority, but possibly pick up the violin again
-get a part-time night job

In other news, apparently I got really awesome credit!

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:11:51 GMT

25 Things

1. I sometimes force myself to have crushes to make life more interesting.
2. Where some fear baldness, I fear I won't have teeth in my future... esp since how well I took care of my teeth, or didn't actually... T.T
3. I'm a cat person.
4. I'm pretty useless when I'm cold.
5. One of my favorite moments was when Taylor came to Taiwan. When he was there, I was the translator, communicating between Chinese and English. Made me feel extremely competent.
6. I've been working on my house to make it more organized. I actually love organizing, I find it a lot of fun so I'm enjoying this project! :)
7. Due to my project Clean Up Allen Household, I've noticed my parents have been opening up and voluntarily bonding with me :)
8. I used to keep up with everyone but I finally gave up on it and now focus that energy towards my close peeps. Mainly cuz it's annoying to deal with one sided relationships
9. One day, I will have the 90's party that I've been wanting to have. Until then, I've been categorizing my music by year so that when the time comes for that party, I'll have my music prepped and ready.
10. I'm like a guy initially, you gotta keep my attention otherwise I'll move on.
11. I realize now that man, teaching English to the older students was hard because there are seriously so many exceptions to the rules and it's all about memorization and it really is a confusing language to figure out.
12. I have white tulips growing on my window sill!
13. I have a lot of pairs of heels
14. I feel most beautiful when I'm happy. And I've noticed looking back at pictures of while I was in Taiwan, I wasn't too pretty... and the only times I was pretty was when Taylor came to visit. I thought it was because I was a lot more pale but I'm still pale now and I think I look gorgeous in all my pictures here.
15. I'm currently reducing all of my stuff by 30%.
16. I'm obsessed with chocolate but it has to be good chocolate, none of that Valentine's crap
17. I can be a big bitch, tho it's usually with good intention behind it, unless I'm downtown.
18. I've only been in one car accident, and that was almost a decade ago
19. I've noticed that I tend to think most guys that my girls are dating aren't worth dating, not cuz I'm over protected... but usually I tend to think that my girls are settling.
20. I find girls are a lot more physically attractive than men are.
21. I love muscular arms
22. I prefer text messaging over talking on the phone.
23. I had stopped drinking soda until I went to Taiwan. Coke was one of the few escapes I had to the repetitive Taiwanese food routine. I'm addicted again.
24. I have no self control when it comes to food.
25. I've been swept off my feet, something that I never thought that could ever happen to me.

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:24:54 GMT

OMG! Someone FINALLY turned on the fan and that shit that's been stinking up the room while sitting on top is gonna paint em walls! Fortunately, to Ms. Leah's surprise, it was the head teacher himself who flipped the switch. What a dumb ass.
Even tho I finally have physical evidence, I'm still disappointed. Why did it take so long for the foreign teachers to realize the truth? Was their sense of smell really that inefficient? My theory is that they've been around the smell too long to notice.

Mr. Matt, what can I say. Do whatever to me, I won't make noise. But you just HAD to test the waters and fuck with the other foreign teachers. Today, the foreign teachers had to deliver presents dressed up as Santa Claus. Mr. Matt decided to cancel and went off to Taipei, forcing another foreign teacher(who was originally gonna pick up his parents from the airport) to cover for him. There's been stuff piling up but this was the icing of it all. Sadly, I dunno if the curtains will still match. I can't wait for the next foreign teacher meeting.

I can't wait to eat cheese enchiladas!

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:54:05 GMT

50F weather is fine when I can go inside and nuzzle on the couch but as much as I think Taiwan is more modernized than America (health care, recycling availability, public transportation, etc), they still don't have heaters in buildings. I have to bundle up in 2 layers and wear a hat to keep warm at night. I'm contemplating whether or not to buy a heater for myself. Do I really want to spend $30 to use for 4 months?

So yes, it's extremely cold but luckily I had a mini vacation to make it more pleasant. During my wonderful vacation with a gorgeous man(inside and outside of me, lol!) my cousin told me that my Chinese has improved drastically. I disagreed until the next day, listening to conversation and realizing I'm not picking up only a couple words, figuring out the meaning but instead understanding the complete sentence. I don't have to concentrate as before. I feel bad ass. Tho on the downside, I am starting to speak with a Taiwanese English accent.

The vacation, along with improving my acne, helped me realize that I still have more to work on. I've come a long way emotionally on my anger issues from realizations of the source, my mother. I don't mean that she pisses me off, I am referring to how we deal with anger, over emotional and irrationally. I've come a long way but I understand that I still have some polishing. I still find some of uncontrollable emotional rage in me, senseless and unmanageable. I strive to conquer and discipline myself to a more mature way to handle my emotions. ROAR!!

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:30:23 GMT

Being completely critical, what is up with people NOT wearing condoms? Obviously using a rubber is slipping from the mainstream cuz all around me ppl my age and younger are getting married solely cuz of the new bump in the tummy. No matter how ya try to hide it, I still believe that a couple marrying due to pregnancy spawn a bastard child in legitimate clothing through their counterfeit marriage.

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:57:04 GMT

This is from a long time ago, but it always makes me laugh!

My friend Daniel, who happens to be a comic book artist, drew a pic of Optimus Prime on a computer program. I saw the pic and created war. I was defeated but then my friend, Steven, cut in and saved Leah's Optimus. This is the result:

In other news, my scooter is a piece of crap. I love my Eggroll/Aunt Jemima/Sliver... but she's a 50CC which from my understanding means that if you go more than 50km/hr then it dies. 50km is 30mph... MY SCOOTER DIES IF YOU GO PAST 30 MPH! WTH!!!!!!!! Hah, still love her tho

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:24:42 GMT

So I take back what I said about my kinder classes. I do enjoy teaching them. I can still be myself with the kinder classes, it's the school that wanted me to be wild and crazy. After ignoring them finally(and them realizing that "Oh, maybe Leah isn't incompetent"), I realize I was just having a bad week. Tho I do agree that when you're having a bad day, kinder classes can be a struggle to teach.

But anyway, I've been inspired. I'm gonna teach my K2C(4-5 yr olds) the Soulja Boy hopefully it will be part of the choreography for our Christmas Show. For K1B(3-4 yr olds), I'm gonna teach them the Cupid Shuffle and maybe have it as a way to teach left and right. No worries, I will incorporate the dinosaur into the choreography of one or both dances. And I DEFINITELY will get video evidence if it is worthy, or if I can find new rechargeable batteries that last longer than 30 seconds.

Anyway, after reteaching myself the dances to prepare for tomorrow, I was in the mood, doing the electric slide, the cha cha, the cotton eye joe with bullshit,... it reminded me of Midnight Rodeo! AHHHH! I miss dancing in general! Dancing on the bar, 2 stepping, line dancing with strangers, waltzing, crazy dancing in the gay clubs, booty dancing, DANCING!!!

Yes, I am a complete loser...lol DAMN PROUD OF IT!!!!

I have many things on my MUST DO list when I visit in Jan. After talking to my beloved Jessica, we've decided there's gonna be a costume party since I missed out on Halloween(technically I was a ghost for Halloween but eh, I didn't really get to have fun with it). It'll def be easier than my desired holi party(where am I gonna find enough holi?)

I still plan on adopting

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:38:51 GMT

Ugh, fuck Christians sometimes. Okay, I'm not targeting specifically against Christians, they just happen to fit this category usually.

Anti-abortion people are fucking cop outters. I'm speaking of particular ones. "Oh, just put your child up for adoption, give him a chance for life! It's so easy to say it, but how about take responsibility and be one of those adopters! I was looking into one adoption site and just in Texas there are 962 kids up for adoption! THAT'S ALMOST 1000 IN ONE FUCKING STATE! That just makes me sad...

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:47:33 GMT

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars-in the car, yes
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
v22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight-I personally prefer eating it
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can-only in the car
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day {night}
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero-I'm Sailor Earth after all
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain-my first "I love you" from Taylor was kissing in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theatre
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married-untechnically to Alisha, Andrew, Jari, and Paige
73. Been in a movie-how to escape a hurricane
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on a television news program as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music-I still have my tape somewhere, I kicked so much ass on the violin back in the day!!!
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently-fluently enough to scold kinder kids
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children-Kevin
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over-Taiwan! Tho I'm gonna move back for sure now :)
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:30:38 GMT

A couple weeks ago Ms. Leah was introduced to Sliver, shy and mysterious(always a good combination to continue intrigue). Sliver's been a delight to depend on especially late at nights after work on those tough days when I just want to go out and do something. However, she does have a little bit of a performance issue. I noticed this the first day I got to know her. I was driving Sliver just for a joy ride. We went quite a ways out into the country side and on the way back, she died as I was turning at a light. She did it again the other day when I was driving to town.

Changing subjects... I was hanging out with the kinder and instead of preparing for the next class, I just screwed it all and hung out with the students. I enjoyed it so much, it reminded me what made me love kids. I love my kids but I realized, I don't enjoy teaching my kids, I enjoy hanging out with them. I enjoy being fun with them, I don't enjoy demanding them to sit still and teach them sentence structures and phonics, to become Ms. Leah.

However the class I enjoy teaching most is the class I was most worried about originally, my oldest class of 12-14 yr olds. I never woulda thought I prefer the middle school age but now that I think about it, it fits me best. I'm a very chill kinda person, even with kids. With my oldest class, I can be that person, me. If I have a bad day, it doesn't mean the classes will bomb. I don't need to jump up and down, I can be chill, tell them about myself, give them homework that still has Leah flavor in it, it's nice.

Of course this is somewhat bias since both of my kinder classes were new, not knowing a word of English.

In other news, I feel like a weirdo... I'm watching High School Musical. I plan on watching all 3. One of my students asked me if I had seen the most recent one and I just feel obligated to be able to bond with them in such a way to know the movie. I feel very out of place watching this... like I'm TOO OLD for this. It's strange. I used to be too young for things, now I've switched and I'm becoming too old for things.
Dude... I'm already referred to nowadays as an aunt, not a sister... weird.

This is the coolest thing ever

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:07:32 GMT

Short and Sweet

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:53:53 GMT

I fit in more than expected. I was out with the foreign teachers on an errand. We stopped by a sandwich joint for lunch(typical foreigner!). The customer service asked the first two teachers their orders in English. When they saw me, they didn't even blink before they started speaking Chinese. YAHAHAHAH! I HAVE CONQUERED THE SANDWICH JOINT!

I always thought that I had it pretty bad of all the foreign teachers. However, one of the new teachers didn't get a visa to stay for longer than a month(you can not stay longer than 30 days straight in Taiwan legally) and his ARC(work visa) still hasn't gotten through! He's packing for his THIRD trip to Hong Kong. Basically he goes to Hong Kong for a few hours then flies straight back. THAT IS JUST LAME! I seriously wonder... since his brother is the HEAD TEACHER of the school, why didn't his brother tell him it'd be a good idea to get a visa and what he'd need to bring to process his ARC asap?

In other news, I will be buying my very own scooter tomorrow for $666! Hah, the price is a diff story but man, my own scooter! I'm very excited! For those of you who know me best, I've always dreamed of driving a motorcycle... a scooter is just that step closer that I desire. :)

And even though these next two weeks are my most stressful weeks ever, I don't care, because 3 weeks from today, I'll be cuddling and snuggling! o(^.^)o

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:00:22 GMT

I JUST FOUND A HUGE ASS SPIDER IN MY ROOM! Well, I found it's head and legs... therefore, IT'S EXOSKELETON! That's right, the actual spider is still walking around ALIVE and BIGGER! T.T

Sometimes with games, I prefer to restart from the beginning and change how I did things. As much as I have complained about my whole moving here and spoke of regretting this decision, I wouldn't want to go back in time and change my decision of coming here. I don't regret it because, as much as it has sucked, it's been for the better.
-It forced me to strengthen my independence. I'm forced to face my fears of ghosts and zombies. With no one to hide behind, I can only depend on myself. Now, I can walk in the dark and not be completely freaked out.
-It helped me appreciate my life in Austin. I always knew I was extremely lucky and I loved my life before, but now I appreciate it that much more. I love all my friends and how I could just call them to hang out. Hot tubs are awesome, along with macaroni and cheese and cotton candy, dancing, all of what my life was about. LOL, I just defined my life as hot tubbing, macaroni and cheese, and dancing...
-It definitely helped build my character for the better. I've learned to take what ppl say in a critical way, versus in an emotional way. Even if someone is insulting me, NOW I don't take it personally, I solely extract their main message. Therefore now it's gonna be ever HARDER to offend me, yahahahhaha!
-There's definitely more to come!

In other news... I have a cousin blog ring. One of my cousins tends to bash gays in such a snobbish way. The most recent: enjoying a book but it woulda enjoyed it more if the author was straight, not gay. Trust me, I'm all for differences of opinion if they're logically backed up, but hers are purely religious. I think I might indirectly declare war... again... lol

... another typhoon

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:57:39 GMT

Recently, the gods were favoring me. In a world of 30 plus year olds, the school recently hired a girl who was 22. The previous 100% married status quo of coworkers changed to one who wasn't married! VICTORY! The slight success was enough for me to see the light.
No, the feat ended up conquering nothing.
Yesterday was her last day. She was fired because she looks young. Why is looking young an issue? If she were a teacher, the parents would see her and definitely start question her ability because she looks young. I already receive the treatment. Parents comment to me with a disgusted face, "You're the teacher? Oh, you're so young..."
Maybe I need to sacrafice a lamb to please the gods.

And umm... about the whole bank crisis going on, I propose we buy huge dildos and invade the banks from their exits!!

I might have bronchitis!!!

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 02:50:13 GMT

I've been sick for the past month(sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, slight fever, muffling ears) so I have no sense of smell, which worked in my favor today. At work today, I saw little Daniel being taken away by the Chinese teacher. Right after, all the kids in class were plugging their noses. I figured they were making fun of the kid pooping in his pants so I pulled out Ms. Leah, "HEY! WHAT ARE YA'LL LOOKING AT?" Then I see it... a huge pile of shit that fell on the floor from the kid's pants. LOL, My nose is so stuffed that I couldn't smell it!

A couple periods later, I was sitting at the table with a group of kids and little Daniel, who is right behind me, taps my shoulder. "Ms. Leah, I couldn't eat it all" little Daniel says to me (in Chinese) as he points to the vomit on the floor. Could barely smell that one and that was just because I was right next to it!

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:00:35 GMT

I've had a sore throat for the past 4 weeks. At first I thought I was sick, now I'm thinking it's from talking 6 hrs straight Monday-Friday. It's even negatively affecting my spitting performance, and we all know spitting is the primary entertainment of my life.

I may regret taking this job offer but it's good for me. I'm learning to take criticism, dealing with criticism without getting upset. I don't agree that it's constructive criticism that I receive from these people, but I'm learning to swallow my emotions, slice and dice the comments, and make it constructive. I'm not used to it yet but I promise to do my best. By the end of this year, my skin will be as thick as a rhino. By July, I'll have grown up a little.

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:30:13 GMT

I went to the supermarket and found vaginal stimulation, the Gilette M3 razor.

Other than when I decided to walk home from work once(about a 2.5 hr walk I found out), I don't walk as much as I figured I would. I eat healthier, might as well make an effort in the exercise arena. No worries, it's barely anything... 10 mins a day of some cardio work out. I'm lazy, what can I say?

Back to the laziness, planning my complete semester has worked wonders! What a relief, I can work more on worksheets versus planning, awesomeness!

I gotta karaoke this shit one day... It's my jam! It my childhood! When I went to Malaysia in elementary, this song was playing for a soap opera and I always sang it to myself while growing up. One day, I was taking a shower and Kai put in a random Chinese cd my mom had and low and behold, THIS SONG.

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:04:27 GMT

This wkend is gonna be my first wkend off. Oooi, I'm so excited for it! I haven't had time to myself since the beginning of my vacation: 5 wks ago. I'm looking forward to ignoring the whole world and maybe scootering around. I will definitely be trading my car for a motorcycle.

I am completely disgusting. I went to brush my teeth and when I returned to my room I smelled something funky. I looked down and saw the plastic bag that I wrapped a lunch box in: wk old rotting chicken. Now think about it, I had chicken sitting in my room(which during the day outside is 90F) for a week. Ugh, it was disgusting. When I was washing the remains, wiping the slimy residue, I was on the verge of vomiting. Luckily the toilet seat was up to reassure me.

Change of subject! The best news ever! My boy is gonna come visit me in November. I'M SO EXCITED!!! I've been making a calendar, one as decoration to cover up the white walls, but also as a countdown! o(^.^)o

Today I did phone teaching(calling students asking them questions) and I was put on hold a lot. WTH is up with Taiwan's obsession with MIDIs? First it was the garbage trucks, then the buses when you wanna get off, now being on hold? There's nowhere to escape from MIDIs here! MIDIs need to stay with old game systems and computers, there's no need for any more access than that.

Oooi... now that we've warmed up, feel free to stop reading.
The usual subject of complaint: the job is back and forth.
I was given 4 classes(there's a huge lack in teachers) so lots of mula but I barely have time to prepare for them to my satisfaction level. They're all classes that require the most preparation.

I have two E classes which is basically ESL. The kids don't understand English too well so I gotta spend a whole class period to explain concepts and can't expect the class to be able to figure it out on their own.One of my classes: half of the class can write a story looking at a picture, the other half can't write.
Mainly, the amount of work they want me to accomplish is the same amount of work the NON-ESL classes undergo... what takes my class one class period(40 mins) takes the other classes 5 minutes. T.T What makes things better, they mixed up levels in my class! So preparation is a lot of things. Preparing for the class is one thing. Preparing how to teach them certain material. Making their tests, making their reviews, making their quizes, making all their worksheets. Making them homework sheets to improve the writing of the kids that can write as well as sheets that can teach the kids how to write.

But I also need to prepare for the kinder classes. I have two kinder classes which means I gotta come up with new games each class AND they're a really young age so thinking of games is really complicated. The ones I come up with or the ones that have been suggested to me have almost always failed. For example, racing cars was TOO complicated. Duck duck goose was borderline. Drawing two eyes, a nose, and a mouth... TOO COMPLICATED! Gluing pieces of paper to a blue piece of paper was borderline... *headache* Preparation? Not only the games but the art projects which includes cutting the paper, finding the materials, teaching myself the dances for the new songs, etc.

Because I teach all these classes, I'm usually in class most of my work day. The rest of the time, which is what I use to prepare for all the classes, is two hours total. Two hours sounds like a lot each day to prepare but it's not. I have to use those two hours for more than preparation time. I gotta use it also for the kids communication books(for K classes, I gotta write about the kid's progress once a wk which writing over 40 commentaries per kid takes over 4 hrs). Making each worksheet, making a test, making any sort of material takes at least one hr each. Making lesson plans for the required 3 wks takes about two hours. Sounds ridiculous but it really does take a long time.

Oii, if they have given my classes during my vacation time I woulda had everything for the whole semester planned out! Oh well. I might take work home with me and spend this wkend to plan the whole semester for the E classes so I can focus on other things. I really wanted to avoid taking work home with me, ISN'T 9 HRS/DAY ENOUGH FOR YOU???!?!?!? no... okay... T.T

So to the point, I might ask to drop a class... it'll make me seem like a quitter but I'm not preparing to the best of my ability. I feel too exhausted so I just do as much as I can prepare for which isn't as thorough as I want. I feel I'm cheating all the classes so I'd prefer to drop one and give the 3 classes the best I can do versus 4 classes a mediocre performance.

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:46:07 GMT

Ello fellow peeps!

I've been trying new things recently~

I took yoga for the first time last wkend! I was in a room of impressive old ladies stretching their bodies in unbelievable positions. It was definitely challenging! My mat was next to the instructor whose legs were half the size of my own, I never saw myself as someone with long legs til that moment. She kept eyeing me, glaring at my lack of flexibility. In time when I'm not in Taipei I'll improve.

I can drive a scooter now! It feels badass! No need for music as a distraction, my eyes are plenty entertained with the lotus gardens and rice patties. When I get back, I'm def getting one! I'm definitely going to practice more though! I've always wanted to drive a motorcycle this is one step closer!

And something I have to admit to... I just watched the John Tucker Must Die movie, and loved it.

Fuck Yahoo for helping China jail protesters

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:09:53 GMT

Ugh... the ignorance of some of the Chinese interviewed pisses me off. Tho technically I guess with the whole censorship I can't blame them... it just means censorship is def doing a good job: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP-9qmSCe7o&feature=user

I wanna perfect my spitting technique, go to Tiananmen square, and spit a huge one at Mao's hanging photo. Kind of a hard goal since his picture is so high. Instead, I plan to, when I'm ready to disappear, wear a shirt of tank guy at Tiananmen square.(Mao wasn't alive when this happened but he's the foundation for hardcore anti-human rights policies) No worries, I'll have a going away party before I decide to commit suicide.

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:18:08 GMT

I almost decided to return home. I wasn't homesick.

I definitely hate the school I work for. As we know, they lied to me and were very manipulative... then denied it. What's more? The principal refuses to talk to me or tell me anything. I ask about work information and she laughs and tells Nancy the answer to tell me. And if Nancy doesn't tell me, I have to do my own investigation. I don't enjoy playing detective. You wanna know when I found out what classes I'd be teaching for the semester? THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS! To make things better, it's not like I'm doing much for these kids. Did you know the lowest grade I'm allowed to give is an A-? Any lower and you risk being fired. On their report cards, I'm not allowed to say ANYTHING BAD about the kids like if they don't do their work, etc. Another fucked up thing, the Chinese teachers make less money than the Foreign teachers, even tho the Chinese teachers do more work. The Chinese teachers do, however, have one advantage, they can fire Foreign teachers for no reason. One of them fired a Foriegn teacher(that'd been teaching for 15 yrs) just recently because she didn't like her. BTW, I now work with the Chinese teacher that had that one fired! YEAH!!! There's so much more, I almost decided to quit this bullshit and go home. The place is so corrupt, full of lies all over. I'm not willing to tolerate such bullshit... and then I had my first day of the new semester. If it weren't for the kids, I'd be packing now. I'll continue my years worth and once my contract is over, I'm done. OOI! I WOULDA GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT IF IT WEREN'T FOR THOSE MEDDLING KIDS!

In other news, I just bought a 盧廣仲(Lu Guang Zhong) cd. He's the same guy as the one below. I went to GaoXiong and hung out with 4 cousins for a few days. It was one of the best few days I've had. We all stayed at this one house, two per room(2 of the cousins former house that is inhabited but furnished). It was so refreshing, I could make inside jokes, I could laugh about old memories; I was hanging out with old friends. Anyway, on our way to places such as the beach and KFC, we listened to this cd. I fell in love with it eventually so much that I had to buy it.

I have a lot of respect for Taiwan. The USA reprimands other countries for their lack of environmentalism yet man, compared to Taiwan they suck! Once the movie is over at the theatre, there are custodians at the exit taking your trash from your hand, pouring out the left over popcorn,and recycling the popcorn box. At KFC, their trashcans are labeled to help determine what to put in which trashcans. Actually, they're not trashcans, they're recycle bins. When you get food togo, the togo boxes are recyclable! GENIUS!

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:46:20 GMT

My job is making me really hate living in Taiwan...

(edit)

Okay, maybe I was being a little dramatic... my period is obviously next week. Anyway, I started the new semester. I still hate the school, but I love the kids...

o(O.o)o o(@.@)o o(-.-)o o(^.^)o o(>.<)o o(*.*)o o(u.u)o o($.$)o