Beginnings and Endings

I just read a book called "The Alchemist". It was an interesting book. One of those books you can imagine being studied by English classes around the world...where the images and words are broken apart into pieces to analyze...where the why's and what's are constantly asked.

I enjoyed the book, and I enjoyed the messages that the book presented. One message that I thought kept recurring in the book was that the attitude a person may have on life, can drastically change the way they approach life. The classic "Is the glass empty or full" analogy. For me you can also see it as a tunnel, and ask "Are you reaching the end of a journey, or starting a new one, or both?"

Well I'm coming to the end of one journey here in Taipei already. My 中文 classes are coming to a close and I'll be saying goodbye to a lot of my classmates. We might still be in contact but we might not. It's been a memorable period of time for me. We explored Taipei together, we ate lunch together almost everyday, we wrote tests together, and we laughed a lot together. It's a little sad.

But then many new journeys are also starting for me. They actually excite me a lot!

New Job - I will be starting my new job in August and in the meantime will need to prepare long range plans, learn the curriculum and meet new staff. I have a training in New Jersey coming up in June so that will prepare me too. Truthfully I'm a little scared. I've been teaching in the same school for 4 years and really loved it, moving to a new environment and learning a new curriculum and adapting to a new culture will be different. This is the first time teaching in a Christian school for me. I have no idea what that will be like. But it's the right time for me to try something new. I know I will learn a lot.

New Camera and Camera Bag - We bought a new digital SLR camera. I'm pretty excited about this because the camera has so many great capabilities. It snaps pictures faster, the colours are more rich and you can add lenses to make the pictures even more interesting! I feel like I can allow the camera to capture everything exciting that I see to share with everybody....and there are so many exciting faces, places and experiences. I wish the camera could capture things in 5D so that I could share things more richly with all of you. Not only that, my camera has a great home! A new Crumpler bag! :) I'm so happy!

Here are some pictures from my new camera:

McDonald's is currently promoting these cute bears as part of their Happy Meals. Each letter of the alphabet is a different colour. You can hang them or stick them on the fridge (their magnetic)! My classmate hopes to collect all 26 before she leaves for home.


Everyday to take attendance I have to sign my name on this sheet of paper. Can you guess which name is mine?


Most days after class my classmates and I go out for lunch. Here are some of my classmates enjoying a great Tibetian meal for only 100 NT (~$3 Canadian)


Our friends K & M visited us for a few days so we decided to rent a car to drive around the North coast. (Maybe Ray will tell you about that adventure? =P)


And of course...my beautiful, wonderful, blue and orange Crumpler bag! Just seeing it makes me happy! :)