Tower, Temple, Tidal Wave

I was trying to think of a title that would be catchy- but now that I look at it- it looks like some story from the Bible and all the people were destroyed. Luckily for myself and all of you- each of those are separate stories! Last weekend our Branch took a bus to Taipei and we went to the temple, which was marvelous. It is a smaller temple and so you come around a corner and there it is amidst many taller buildings. When we came out of the temple, it was raining so hard that I wondered where my ark was. The ark came in the form of our bus- which by the time we made it on to- we were all completely drenched- and I loved every minute of it. We then went over to the Taipei 101- which is technically the world’s tallest building until the one in Dubai is finished. Lindsay and I were going to go to the top, but due to the extreme weather conditions, we decided to wait for a clearer day. We did find Macaroni Grill- which was a little slice of heaven- because sometimes you just need some good old American food! And yes I realize this is Italian food- but American nonetheless. It was a really fun trip and we are going to try and go up there once a month. Taipei is a really cool city and I am exuberant in my desire to explore.

Yesterday we decided to go to a waterpark in a city to the north called Houli. It was really fun and we had two of the secretaries from our school with us: Jaren and Fenny. It was pretty similar to water parks I have been to before- with the slides, lazy river, kiddy pool and wave pool. There were two main differences that made the trip that much sweeter to me! And I must say that this has been my favorite waterpark experience by far. First of all- everyone in Taiwan is required to wear a swimming cap when they go swimming- so likewise we too had to purchase said cap. Since you will NOT be privileged to see a picture of that, I have two words: elf ears. My very favorite part of the waterpark experience was the wave pool. But this isn’t just any ordinary wave pool- oh not like the wimpy wave pools we have all been to- this wave pool also had massive tidal waves. But they didn’t just send an 18 foot wave of water slamming your way- the lifeguards had microphones and pepped up the crowd! They would ask ‘Are you ready!?” (of course this had to be translated for us by Fenny and Jaren) and this drum beat would begin and everyone would slap the top of the water twice and on the third beat we would fling water up into the air and scream WOOO! This was repeated several times until the wave came hurdling toward us. Now if this weren’t exciting enough- they sent the wave toward us about 8 times- and each time the wave would get a little bigger- and Sarah would get a little more excited each time- and soon she was screaming at the top of her lungs- with the excitement many of you have witnessed when she gets really excited and hyper about something- and the Taiwanese people around her were laughing- and it was just about the most fantastic thing she has experienced so far! And she will now stop referring to herself in the third person.
I am sure this experience will be an instant replay when I get to review them back in heaven! Ciao!


This is the entrance to the waterpark- and upon first glance we thought it was called Mold Boy- which could be legit since they sometimes struggle with their English. To our great relief- we were not swimming with Mold Boy- but at Mala Bay!


These are the warriors of Mala Bay- and a Taiwanese Barbara Bush!


This is my 2nd grade class- they are a handful but I will keep em!


This is my other 2nd grade class and I call them my little angels- because I never have to write their names on the board- and I don't get headaches on T,Th,Sat.


These are my kindergartners and they keep me on my toes- but they are just so darn cute! Some of them just woke up from their nap before they came to class- so they are a little sleepy!


I just had to include this picture because I feel this captures the relationship that I have with my dear little Jerry!


This is Lindsay and I at the Macaroni Grill! Yummy.


This is the Taipei 101 at night.


The Taipei Temple! And two wet kittens!


Lindsay and I pre-soak.