4 Month Vacation? Yes!

So I have finished my general plan for my 4 month vacation! It should cost me around $2,600 CND (from here on all prices will be shown in CND unless specified) plus flights and three nights at a fancy hotel in Thailand, which will bring my total cost to just over $4,000 CND! Jealous? You should be ;) What is my plan/itinerary? It looks a little something like this:

Taipei - Siquijor, Philippines: spend 2 months in and around this area. This will cost me roughly $725 for everything except the flight (roughly another $150).

The following do not include travel time unless specified. Total travel days equal 11 day at $35/day.

Philippines - Ho Chi Min City HCMC: $120(flight) and 3 days at $35/day

HCMC - Hanoi and Halong Bay - HCMC: 6 days at $35/day

HCMC - Phnom Penh PP: 3 days at $35/day

PP - Siem Reap: 4 days at $35/day

SR - Kompong Cham - Kratie: 3 days at $35/day

Kratie - Pakse: 3 days at $35/day

Pakse - Luang Prabang: flight costs $170, 3 days at $35/day

LP - Luang Nam Tha: 5 days at $35/day

LNT - Vientiane: 3 days at $35/day

V - Chiang Mai: 6 days at $35/day

CM - Bangkok: 3 days at $35/day

BKK - Koh Phangan( site of the infamous Full Moon Party): 7 days at $30/day + hotels + flight

The $35/day includes backpacker accommodation/homestay, food, transport, and cheaper souvenirs. I plan on buying some handmade silk material in Cambodia, which I did not include into that price.

For three of the nights in Koh Phangan I plan on staying in a very fancy hotel/resort. http://www.santhiya.com/index.htm
After roughing it for nearly 4 months I would really like to pamper myself. I may even invest in some spa treatments XD

If anyone is interested in joining me I would be more than overjoyed! Travel is fun with or without people but I is nice to share the great experiences with someone!

Oh and after the final week in Koh Prangan, Thailand, I will be going back to Canada for a while. :)

Where My Life Stands at the Beginning of My Second Semester

I have so many places, events, people and sights that I want to see or do in my life and I am having a very difficult time deciding where to begin, where to end and what the middle should look like. As a person who is, by nature, a planner, but forces herself to be more free spirited and has tried to adopt a roll-with-the-punches attitude, I am trying not to plan my whole future by Christmas, but I just feel that if I don't plan it, then I might miss something. That being said, I am sure my plans would change as soon as I made them because I am always finding another cool idea and another plan for after my contract here in Taiwan.
 Let me explain this better through an example. When I first came to Taiwan I had planned that I would finish my contract here then go back to Canada for a bit to see my friends and family and save some money then I would jet off to South America, Nicaragua to be exact and teach English there for a yr. Then I was looking through some pictures from when I was in Holland and was talking to my 2nd cousin/friend Frederike back in Holland I started looking into ways to live there and even signed up for an Au Pair agency online (yet I have put no serious effort into it), and now some of my family back in Holland are emailing me to get more information so that they can help me find a job there. Then I started really getting into the swing of things here in Taiwan and I thought about staying here another year to make some money and travel Asia a little more, because I am not satisfied with see only Taiwan and the Philippines, I want to see more! Then I went to the Philippines and absolutely loved it! It's kind of hard to explain, but if you have ever gone somewhere and just had that feeling like, man I belong here! Well that's the feeling I got on Siquijor Island in the Philippines. And although I did make a lot of friends there and even bagged myself a Filipino boyfriend, it was the island itself that captured me. There is a song by Madonna, "La Isla Bonita", and translated it means "The Beautiful Island" and she sings about her love for the island itself. And if you substitute San Pedro for San Juan then you have my song for Siquijor. I have briefly thought about what my life would be like living on this island, things like living a slower paced, relaxed life, living on a beautiful mountain with views of the ocean, having my own coconut trees, banana trees, pamelo trees, coco plant trees, eggplant, and pineapple stalks (to name a few), building my own house and business for only 30-40 thousand US$. These are all hypothetical because for now it is not the right move for me but maybe in the future... However, I do still love the island and want to go back to visit, which is leading me to want to stay in Asia for at least another year so I can go back there as well as see more off Asia.
So now the dilemma is which country to I teach in? Stay in Taiwan, go somewhere in Indochina? I am not sure yet. And who knows based on my previous track record, maybe I will change my mind again. The worst part is I still like all of the previously mentioned plans for myself! I still want to go to Nicaragua again to see my friends there, I want to live in Holland still to get closer to my roots and spend time with family and friends, I want to go back to Canada to see my family and friends, and I want to spend more time in Asia!

I guess it is time to explain a little about my 3 weeks summer vacation. I went to the Philippines for 2.5 wks by myself. When I got there I met a fellow Canadian who was also teaching English in Taiwan and she stayed with my on Siquijor for 2 days. She had other travel plans that didn't mesh with mine and I was fine with that. I had planned to stay on Siquijor for 5 days then move to another island. While on Siquijor, however, I made some new friends and they told me about a disco on Friday, so I stayed an extra day. Then they told me about another disco on Saturday, so I stayed until Monday because Sunday would not be a good day for a day of ferry travel, considering the past two nights were spent getting drunk at discos. But as Monday was approaching, I started realising that the burn on my leg, from the kick-start motorbike I tried to use on my first day in the Philippines, was not going to allow me into the ocean at all during my trip. For this reason I decided to stay on Siquijor with all my new friends, who were taking care of me, and I moved to my boyfriends house in order to save money. All things that would not have happened if i went to another island. But the main reason I stay was that I loved this island! I could just sit at the park in San Juan, Siquijor and it felt perfect. I didn't have to do anything, just being there made me happy. My friends started putting leaves on my burn to help it heal and keep the sun off it, and I have never seen something heal a wound so fast! It's been three weeks and it nearly gone ! I was sad to leave Siquijor, I even cried because I would really miss the island, my friends and my boyfriend.

As much as I missed, and still miss being on Siquijor, My return brought me another trip. Smaller in size but still fun and relaxing. I went back to Kenting with two girlfriends, and we basically sat on the beach and I was able to swim in the ocean at this point! We did that for 2 days and then we had to come back on Sunday so that we could work on Monday.

I just finished the second day of my second semester!  It's nice right now because I am only teaching K classes, until the elementary students return next week. This means my days are short, and the fact that I have Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings off made my first two days even shorter. It's a nice way to ease back into working. I also found out that this semester is two weeks shorter than last semester, I am finished on January 22, Chinese New Year is on January 23. I have two long weekends this semester, which will be nice. And maybe the best thing of all is I have more hours which means more pay and I'm going down from 20% tax being take from me to 6%, this means that I can save a lot more money than I had planned. :)

Until Next Time,

Denise

Living like a wild child

Just got back from a great weekend. It started out with a long train ride down to Kaohsiung, nearly 7 hrs long. Got to our hostel, Kaohsiung 202, at midnight and were getting ready to fall asleep when our roomie for the night came in. We stayed in a 4 person room although there were only the three of us that night. We made friends with him and we all talked from the comfort of our own beds for over an hour. He is from South Africa, and we found out the next day that his name is Nick. I have no idea what he looks like, because the lights were off all when he came in and he left early in the morning. He gave us his number because he lives near us, and we can all go hiking together.

When Beth and I woke up we went for food and found an indian restaurant, and we love our indian so we were happy. Then we walked around a bit and found a shopping area, and I bought a shirt and we found the coolest store! They had awesome one of a kind, 80's and 90's inspired attire. There was a T-shirt that had 'Killer Condoms" on it. It was a comic book in the 90's in Berlin, and was apparently made into a movie! So of course I need to see this movie now. I didn't buy the shirt, even though I wanted to. It was a little to small.

We then took a bus to Kenting, and 3 hrs later we arrived to a dark and very lively town. You can see why they call it the California of Taiwan. It is very surfer dude inspired and laid back, which was surprising because of how busy it was. There is a music festival there every year at this time, Spring Scream, and it is very popular. There are beach parties until 7 or 8 in the morning and fireworks are constantly going off. We were told by our friends that were there before us that the beach they slept on the night before was the party beach and way to loud to sleep on. So when Beth and I got there we found a nice quiet beach and claimed a spot. We went and ate at a italian restaurant, and walked around and enjoyed town. I bought a coconut and wood wind chime, and some beer. We went back to our beach and set up camp. Our friends met us there after the concert, and we were all so exhausted that we sat around our fire sticks and drank some beer and then went to bed. I wish I had gone to the beach party, if only for a little while, but I was so tired! The next day I woke up to the beautiful beach and the waves, took a picture and put on my bathing suit! I couldn't wait to get into the waves! I didn't stay in for long because Beth and I wanted to go to the Southern Most Tip before we needed to leave. It was beautiful but we didn't have much time to enjoy it because our cab driver didn't want to wait long. :( but we saw it and took it in then ran back to the cab. On the way back to the cab I meant a boy who was obviously still drunk and was looking at something in the trees. As I walked by he asked if I wanted to see a butterfly so I said sure, he showed me this HUGE black and white butterfly. It was very pretty and high off the pollen because he could but his hand right beside it and it wasn't at all bothered.

We got back to the beach with enough time to swim in the ocean for another hour or so. Then we took a taxi bus back to Kaohsiung and the bus took longer than they said it would so we missed our train. Luckily the train was cheap so it wasn't a huge loss. We decided to pay a little more and get a ticket for the High Speed Rail, which only took an hour and a half, as opposed to the nearly 7 hours it took on the way down with the normal train!

It was a great weekend. I think next time (if there is a next time) I will go straight to Kenting and relax the first day or two then use the last night to party and go crazy.

Maybe the biggest realization I have made in my life!

First a quick update. I now have my Alien Resident Card (ARC) and therefore was able to open a bank account! No more having stacks of cash in my apartment! Getting my bank account set up was very easy and the bank is very nice. There is one girl that speaks English so she was always helping me. And I do mean ALWAYS. I had to go three lunch hours in a row. First I didn't have my cell phone and they text you an activation code for online banking. Second I needed to transfer my money to another account and needed help. Why you ask? Well I finally booked Green Island for the next long weekend we have. And since it's such a busy weekend for them they want you to pay so that they know for sure you are going to be showing up. We booked a four person room, and I was the leader of this booking so I collected money from everyone and was in charge of booking and paying. I didn't mind one bit because I am a planner. I enjoy that type of thing so I was the logical choice.

Today I am leaving for Kaohsiung for the long weekend. We have a 4 day weekend! Monday is Children's Day. Kaohsiung is in the south of the island, thus it is warmer and the perfect place to spend the weekend. There are two of us going. Elisabeth and I. We don't get in until 11:30 pm tonight so we booked a hostel for tonight. But we plan to find a place to camp for the next night. Preferably a beach but anywhere will do. Our other friends are going to a music festival in Kenting. I think it would have been fun and we might still head over there but it will be super super busy there. Kenting is rather small and I would say nearly 1/4 of the population will be there. Ok that is a bit of an over statement, but it will be crazy there. And I have no idea what kind of music it will be. Plus I like the idea of being surrounded by quiet nature this weekend.

I finally bought a hot plate, a rice cooker, and other kitchen items. I don't have a kitchen but my desk makes a nice make-shift kitchen. My new goal for my apartment is to get a rug and make the place more 'Denise'. Pictures and other decor are needed.

Now for my great realization. I have always been the type of person that when my heart is in it, my heart is 100% in it. In life, more often than not, things won't work out in your favor and for me this means that my heart is at the losing end of the battle. That being said, I still believe that you should repair it and continue putting it in 100%. Because the rare times when it doesn't lose the battle, it is worth a thousand heart breaks. I have had my heart broken a few times whether it was a boy, a friend, or situation that just didn't go as planned. But I put all of my heart into traveling and teaching, and being here with my kids just proves that sometimes when your whole heart is in it the reward is that much more rewarding. When you come into school everyday and the kids get so excited to see you and run up to hug you, you realize that your dream came true and everything that you had to give up for this dream was worth it.

The life of a school teacher

Well it has been a month since I last posted on here. I think it's about time I gave you another dose of me. Since I last wrote on here a lot has happened. I have been sick twice, the second is still currently taking hold of me. Nothing serious I assure you, and it is very common at this time of the year here. The weather is constantly changing. Every day the climate has a struggle on whether it should stay spring or turn to summer. Hot one day, cold and rainy the next. Add to this the stress of being in a new place and having a new job that you thought you would be better at, and you have me, the sick Denise. I should clarify, it is not that I am bad at my job. Actually I think I am improving rather quickly. That being said  have never taught before, not like this anyways, and the demands here are sometime unrealistic. They don't really clarify what they want from you, although they say they do. They will tell you many things to do, but doing all is impossible and they tell you THIS is the most important thing, when really what they test the students on is not THIS, yet when you teach THIS they tell you to spend more time on what they will be tested on. And what they will be tested on is just memorization of the textbook, which granted can familiarize them with words and sentence patterns, but that doesn't mean they know the language. So you can see my stress. I have just decided that I will teach the textbook until I feel they have memorized it enough then do something more meaningful and useful, if time permits!

Also this week for school we had Parent's Night for some of the classes. The whole school administration gets stressed out and begins stressing you out. Because everything needs to be perfect and you need to make more props and "this is good, but can you also do this and add that oh and don't forget to smile more." How could I possibly smile anymore? Anyways, it is over and it went ok. The parents seemed to like me, the children had fun, and I had props!

As for not school related things, I went to Wulai about 4 weeks ago. It was beautiful there, and we swam in the river because it was to hot for the hot springs. We were going to sit with our legs in a special pool filled with flesh eating fish, that exfoliate your feet, but the there were to many of us so my small group of friends from my school and I decided we wanted to come back anyways and that we could do it next time.

I also had the best vegetarian burger of all time at a great restaurant, excuse the name, KGB. It's a New Zealand burger place. The letters stand for Kiwi Gourmet Burgers. Being a vegetarian is very easy. There are many good options for food around here. I also tried spicy stinky tofu, and wasn't a fan. I felt I could taste the stinky. Next time I will try the fried one, perhaps it will taste better.

I looked into fostering a dog from the place I volunteer at while I am here but my landlord said no. Which is understandable, but I also feel like if he knew the dog then it wouldn't be a problem. His concern is noise and barking, but this dog is so shy and timid that she would never draw attention to herself by barking. The people at AT said she is super quiet. Anywho, that leads into my next point. I may be looking for another apartment. Not only for this reason, but also because I would like an apartment with a gym, and when I got here I choose this apartment, out of only two, within 3 or 4 hours of being here. I had no other options. I am only paying month to month here, so I'm not under lease. I would like to at least look to see what my options are.

Other than that, nothing exciting has happened. I am getting used to living here, and am getting better with getting around. My ARC will be in soon then I can get my teeth cleaned for cheap, and get cheap medicine if needed. I also found out that although I will be paying 20% taxes because I am only teacher here one year, I can apply to get a tax refund so that I am only paying the 6% that everyone else pays. The difference will be paid back to me.

Well thats all for now!

So here in Taiwan I don't have many friends... yet. But the ones I have made so far are awesome. One of them is Elisabeth. She is kind of like a big sister, which is great. One of my goals for Taiwan is to get healthier, and she is just the person to look to. She is vegetarian, does yoga, and knows a bunch of little tips. I have always wanted to be a vegetarian but thought it would be to difficult. I am trying it because I figure, new place, new lifestyle. I am doing something new and challenging, and why not try something else I thought would be difficult! Surprisingly it is quite easy! The nice thing is that I will never try anything weird, ex. pig brain, snake blood, ect.

Two days ago I washed my clothes and they have been hanging up every since, and yet they are still wet! It is crazy. Back home is so dry that things will be dry within 5 hrs for the most case. Here it is so humid that even the things that are in my closet feel slightly damp! And I haven't touched them since I got here. Luckily there is a laundry place near by and I can take my close there for that last little bit of dryness. :)

On Saturday I went to visit Animals Taiwan, a non-profit organization that helps stray dogs and cats. I had quite the time getting there. First, I went to the wrong MRT station and when I couldn't find the bus I needed, asked Information. They showed me the right station to go to which happened to be something like 15 stops away, including changing lines twice! The bus that leaves from the correct station, only comes once an hour, and I missed it by less then 10 mins! So I tried to get a cab, but they didn't understand the address so with some help from the information desk, got the address written in Chinese, and eventually got a cab. Once there, however, it was so worth it! I haven't even met all the animals yet, but I am already in love with the place. I will be volunteering there once every two weeks, give or take depending on plans. I will take pictures and post them on facebook.

Speaking of pictures, I need to start taking more. I am not one for taking a bunch of pictures, never have been. But I know everyone else wants to know what it is like here and pictures are really worth a thousand word. So my new goal, take more pictures.

Random fact. The portipotties here are like old school chinese toilets. Just standing over a hole. I saw my first one at the lantern festival. I couldn't do it, I just held it. I've had to many peeing accidents so it not a good idea for me to try (for the first time) in a dark, dirty potipottie. I actually have no idea how to spell portipottie, so I hope this is right.

Ni hao Taiwan!

Well I arrived in Taiwan and am starting to get settled. My drive from the airport to my school was not as crazy as I expected it to be. I had heard that the driving in Taiwan is crazy, and it was, but not to the extent that I expected. My first impressions were that Taiwan was very run down and not well taken care of. I soon realized that it is not that it is not taken care of it's just that with all the rain and the amount of people that live here, it is inevitable that the buildings will start to look run down and that everything will be cramped together. The streets are actually pretty clean, not much for garbage, as I can tell anyway. It is also colder than I had expected. It's still quite warm in comparison to Canada, but what isn't other than maybe Russia and Serbia.

Once I arrived at my school I was greeted by some of the staff including my vice principal, who after only being there a few minutes got me to sign the contract and introduced me to another lady who gave me my schedule and various textbooks. I was asked to look over them and start creating lesson plans, I would later meet with my many chinese teachers. After about 30 mins of this the other english teacher arrived. Her, I and another lady from the school went and looked at apartments. There were two options for me to choose from. I liked both but one was a bit more money than I wanted to spend on rent and didn't include internet, or cable. It did however have much more room, a private washing machine, and best of all a second floor with another room and a private balcony. It was a very beautiful apartment but too much for me. The second was much smaller, and didnt have a private balcony or washing machine, but it did include both internet and cable and have a better security system. On top of all this it was much cheaper, nearly half the price. I went with this second option. I dont plan on spending much time at home, I would rather be out exploring. But even staying in the apartment is still quite nice.

Today I went to Taipei to go to IKEA to get some things for my new apartment. As simple as it is, because the transit system is very good, it still took me quite some time to get there and get back. The language barrier made it difficult along with the fact that I like to figure things out for myself. When I did finally give in and figure out a way to ask someone (by pointing to a point on a map that I wanted to get to) I actually got things done rather quickly. My next trip into Taipei will be much easier I think, now that I now a bit more.

One thing that I really like about my apartment, is the location. It's only a 2 minute walk from my school and tons of food stalls are just around the corner. Its marvelous!