Spirit Week Insanity

No, not LINsanity (that's practically over, even in Taiwan). This week was Spirit Week in the TAS Middle School...and man, was there a lot of spirit involved. It was basically a week full of assemblies, games, dance competitions, bulletin board contests, costume contests, and cheer practices. And now that it's Friday afternoon, I am officially exhausted!

Our 6th graders made a valiant effort every day to beat the older grades, but we were never quite able to win the overall day competition...but we did win a few rounds! It was a fun week, but I am definitely glad that I've got a whole year to rest before we need to do it again! Check out some pics below to see what the craziness entailed! (Definitely on the 3 day countdown to Spring Break after this...).

Neon Day in full force! The kids were all pumped up and ready for the competition!

Ms. Tang coaching the relay team participants!

NINJA TIME! Naden represented grade 6 well in black!

Neon teachers! Totally hit up the Shilin Night Market for this outfit.

Hippie Day! Totally groovy!

Grade 6 cheer practice! I was worried the kid was going to beat through the drum...

Angry bird grade 6 team! The kids were in love with our hats.

All different colors of Angry Birds!

Mr. Cook working hard with the 6th graders to create our bulletin board!

Not sure how the kids came up with the "Fear the Boss" slogan, but they liked it!

Grade 7's phoenix board...pretty cool use of paper!

Grade 8's white leopard! (or something like that). I was pretty impressed by the use of materials...and yes, this was the winning one.

Cooking Taiwanese Style

Last Friday my friend, Shirley, had a fabulous birthday party event - a Taiwanese cooking class! It was a perfect end to a busy and hectic work week. I mean who doesn't like unlimited wine and delicious food on a Friday evening? There were about 15 people present ranging from expert cooks to total newbies (I like to think of myself as somewhat in the middle). We worked in teams of three to (try and) mimic what the lead chefs were doing. It more or less worked out...and it was all delicious so that's what mattered!

I volunteered to help mix the dough for the Taiwanese beef pancakes. Not easy using only chopsticks!

Royce and the birthday girl ready for action with spatula in hand!

Vicky and me sporting our super cute aprons :)

I left Jordan and Zach in charge of our three-cup chicken...luckily nothing caught on fire!

I decided to replace Jordan as Zach's second-in-command.

Our side of the cooking studio focused on Taiwanese/Chinese dishes: three-cup chicken, beef pancake, and ginger milk pudding. I know all of those things have actual Mandarin names, but I honestly don't know them. The other side of the room did Western dishes: steak salad (delish), seafood paella, and crepes. Luckily we all sampled everything so no one got jealous :)

Beef pancake (expertly put together by me) ready to get thrown in the hot oil! Yummy!

Three-cup chicken: chicken, ginger, chiles, oyster sauce, and basil.

Finished version of the beef pancake! Pretty professional, eh?

Everyone's hard at work!

It's hard to beat crepes as a dessert. We were lucky the other side felt like sharing!

Successful cooking trio!

Weekend in Kaohsiung

I finally got the chance to do some exploring of Taiwan last weekend. Jordan and I decided that we needed a break from the dreary clouds of Taipei, so we hopped on the high speed rail (which really does go incredibly fast) and went down south to Kaohsiung! (The second largest city in Taiwan). The train was freaking cool - if we had the HSR in America, everything would be easier.

Yes, I did pack an entire suitcase for just two nights...a girl needs her options!

Off we go to Kaohsiung!

All aboard! We sped south at about 276 km/hour. Crazy!

The weather down in Kaohsiung was beautiful: 90 degrees and sunny all weekend. It was a great mini-vacation full of laying at the pool, eating yummy food, and hanging out with Zach and his girlfriend, Larissa. Kaohsiung is pretty different than Taipei; it is much more "Taiwanese" and not nearly as metropolitan, which was a nice change. It's always fun exploring new places!

Pool time! I wish I had one of these at my apartment.

Enjoying the sunshine at a local cafe.

Hello self timer :)

Being super Asian down by the Love River Walk.

Rockin' the shades.

Mmm...I never say no to salmon sashimi!

A key example of Asia's obsession with Hello Kitty: the hotel we stayed at had a Hello Kitty suite!

Fresh coconuts!! I was pumped.

Cutest dogs ever at the night market! I wanted to take them home.

Watching in disgust as the poor shrimpies were grilled alive.

Freaking cool MRT station - it was more like an art gallery than a train station. 

All that warm weather made me SO ready for Spring Break...only three weeks till Thailand!!!