Official visits

I must tell you that this blog is NOT sanctioned by the Fulbright Foundation (FF), but we are encouraged to publish them. That said, I continue...

The local FF office was closed on Monday as they had Martin Luther King day off! Nice! They have both US and Taiwan holidays off. Monday C took me to the Community Center, a local group that helps expats. They have lessons, do day trips, help expats adjust...I bought my maps and my taxi cards so I can get around the area in a taxi with no Mandarin. I still must learn to say "go right" or "go left," but so far the family translators are working for me. We ate dinner in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant run by a family who came from Mainland China about 10 years ago. There are no pictures on the wall, and no English sub-titles, so Candace pulls out the note her friend wrote for her with the best dishes on it. The spicy dumplings were incredible! We also ate pork noodles and many small dishes...steamed green beans, steamed broccoli, a spicy thin-sliced bean curd, and...ready for this?...sliced pig's ears. I ate ONE, and Candace finally tasted one as well, but the other 3 kept chomping away...and I do mean chomping rubbery pig's ear thin slices.

I obtained a map via e-mail with the FF address written in Mandarin, so Candace and I took off in a taxi on Tuesday to find the FF office. We arrived without a problem, and they had 17 days of pay ready for me. Doesn't $21,500 sound good? Unfortunately, that is in NT...Taiwan dollars, so my paycheck was actually around US$. Luckily, I have room and board with the Ks for the interim! They were not happy that I was unwilling to jump on a train by 8 AM Thursday morning for the 3 day mid-year meeting of the Taiwan Fulbrighters. We left to go to the Immigration Office that was 5 minutes away to get my multiple-entry Alien Residence Card. The office was actually very efficient, and we only had to wait an hour for my turn. Unfortunately, there was a mistake on one of the papers the FF office gave me, so we hopped back in a taxi, picked up the right papers (much to the chagrin of the FF secretary...she lost face), jumped back in a taxi, jumped the line to the worker who was helping me (she told me to come straight back to her, which I thought was very nice), got everything OKed, and found a taxi home. I pick up my ARC on February 2, afterwhich I can get a phone and do many other things!

Yesterday was C's day to work in the PTA store, so we went to TAS. It really is an amazing school, and the K kids are thriving there. Ch has been asked to work the sound system for the middle school spring musical...a great honor for a 7th grader. You will not believe how well he can improvise on the piano. A played soccer after school yesterday (TYPA: Taiwan Youth Programs Association). She is going to play in a 3-on-3 basketball tournament on Monday as they have a day off (soooo many vacations!). She is doing well on the violin and the piano. All after school and week-end programs are run my TYPA.

They are coming to fix the air-con this AM...K is suffering without it. C and I will then try to find YZU today. We have to take the taxi to the area MRT station. Then we take the MRT into the main station, followed by a change to a train to Jhongli. They have a package in English waiting for me. I am hoping beyond hope to see my dormitory room. I've been begging online, but so far it has not seemed to work. I want to get the lay of the land. I have 31 UGs and 33 MBAs in my strategy classes so far, but enrollment is still open. YIKES! Large classes here, too! We must be back by 5 PM to pick up kids after their piano lessons.

We are planning to see a Van Gogh exhibition on Monday after the basketball tournament is over. We thought there would be fewer people in attendance on TAS' day off. C and A have already been to an Andy Warhol exhibition.

Shhhh...but Ch has downloaded "Glee" and "Friday Night Lights." It's been a treat to finish homework, practice, and dinner to sit as a family to watch "Glee"...Moans go up when each episode is finished, and I'm sure we will be re-watching. A goes to bed, the FNL comes on...more moans when that episode concludes. We are all hooked!

Time to get ready for the bus walk and Tien Mu exercise. I'll tell you about our YZU adventures tomorrow. Friday morning K and I are taking a Noodle Cooking class at the Community Center...lots to share!