Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {dog OBSESSION}

So when I first moved to Taiwan {it still feels weird to say I live here lol} I was told that their birth rate is on a steady decline as many couples are opting for only 1 or even no children (citing factors such as expense of raising, mandatory military service, and careers as some of their many reasons why). I was also told that it is becoming more and more frequent as well for couples to "replace" having a child with...yup you guessed it...a dog.

Now it's probably about here that you're saying "Tracy! Tons of people in America (or where ever you live!) have dogs, it can't be any different!"

Please let me introduce you to exhibit A: the doggie stroller. (note these also come in a convenient double stroller style and a wide variety of colors!)

And please don't forget about the not quite as common, but apparently gaining popularity exhibit B: the doggie carrier (conveniently sold for both front and rear dogs to fit their preference!)

Disclaimer: YES, this is a real dog I saw in the market, and if you look close enough he's also wearing jeans and a t-shirt!

The "Long" Awaited Video!

Well we {{I}}  made it! After a couple run throughs at home, even I  couldn't help but admit that it wasn't difficult (disclaimer, I still stand firmly by the point that understanding the lyrics would have made a WORLD of a difference! lol...anyways!). I got to school Friday confidant that I knew what was going on.....until they handed me a bag saying "For you! For you, put here!" (while handing me a large  bag and pointing to my waist.

Umm....what exactly do you want me to do with this bag of giant leaves?? Ooohh...umm, it's a skirt? We are all dressing up like trees??  Umm...ok...roll with the punches Tracy, roll with the punches. 10 minutes  and 3 teachers dressing me later, I now looked like a giant, red (thank you  red school polo we had to wear) tree. While this look was adorable on the little kids...it was not so becoming of myself haha....but I wore that tree proudly dangit! haha

ANYWAYS! We marched on the field, the 8th graders played their drums, we did our dance, the announcer yelled my name a couple times, and the camera may zoomed way too close to me for comfort, but, we did it and the kids looked adorable!

The kids in their tree get-ups...way stinkin' adorable!

How Traveling Changes Your Life...This hits home!

I was reading some articles online the other day when this one in particular by Kristin Addis on the Thought Catalog caught my eye! The article was entitled: 6 Ways a Woman's Life is Changed Forever When She Travels Alone. {{umm hello...my life!}} of course I had to take a look at the article!

You can click on the link above to read the whole article, but I'll just highlight the best parts below {keyword...she already did the work...now I'm going to be lazy lol}

1. She'll meet amazing and wonderful people...umm hello Semester at Sea && Taiwan friends!

2. She'll discover new and delicious foods....while this is true please don't forget chicken feet, stinky tofu, & aryan from Turkey....FAR from delicious...but still great stories!

3. She'll come to prioritize experiences over possessions...this has been my motto for far too long & I'm sticking to it!

4. She'll discover that the world isn't that scary after all...OK, so other than getting lost in Naples at 3am as well as having random men try to solicit you for lord knows what, most instances, scary or not, are wonderful learning moments!

5. She'll realize how strong she is!...working on it :P

6. She may never come back....Let me share  my lunch conversation  today with you.  Ben "so next year, the director wants you to come back. Actually, he wants you just to stay here forever; you can get married here too." My response "But there's so many other places to travel to too!"

And that's a wrap!  Loved this article and the many travel memories that it brought back for me! :)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from all of us at HsinFong and Fu Long Elementary schools! Wishing you the spookiest of holidays and candy-filled trick-or-treat bags! 

Ultra Expressive!

Oh the expressions one ends up making while teaching children English! I'm glad I don't have to see too many of these pictures!