R.O.C. = republic of china (not to be confused with P.R.C., aka mainland china), or taiwan. one of the 4 asian tigers; a democratic state; holds no seat in the UN but keeps trying (except for this year-- president ma is more than a little reunification-minded); is not recognized as an independent country by the US but maintains diplomatic relations with 23 countries including gambia, vatican city, haiti and others...
F.E.T. = foreign english teacher, like me and the numerous others hired by the taiwanese to support and enrich english programs in public schools around the country
MOE= ministry of ed
adora from penghu recently realized just how easily she could get to kaohsiung from penghu by air. so she came over to visit marcia in kaohsiung, and we had a grand old reunion. you can see us on top of kaohsiung's enormous dream mall, the largest mall in taiwan. 10 stories. many exciting and wonderful themes, such as urban elite, japanese-style fashion, joyful entertainment (7-11 included, of course), and joyful ferris wheel. here we are next to joyful ferris wheel, each of us taking a photo with our own extended arm. despite my great fear of heights, i rode the wheel and did not panic too severely.
our fun day in kaohsiung also included the sweatiest 30 minutes of my life on monkey mountain, a popular natural attraction where people go to see crazed wild monkeys. we did not see any monkeys, as our mission was quickly aborted due to excessive sweatiness, but we did enjoy the wind tunnel. this tunnel links sun yat sen university's campus to monkey mountain by burrowing under another mountain, and a cool wind constantly blows through the tunnel. any form of wind is truly a gift from the gods, here in the dank subtropics.
my taiwanese sisters are about to head back to university, so after kaohsiung, john & i headed over to pingtung city to kick off their departure with another awesome night of ktv with the sisters & their breakdancing posse . i serenaded everyone with my newly appointed theme song, michael jackson's "you are not alone" and my new favorite, loo guang jeong's "doya doya." ktv aside, the most brilliant moment in the evening was john's departure on his new "jog" 55 cc scooter. the scooter may be small, but john is definitely not playing when it comes to helmets. i called him robocop and then nearly fell down laughing as he rode off into the night. john has finally achieved his scooter dream... and my dream of having a friend with a robot head!photos: pingtung john, me, adora & marcia beside kaohsiung's joyful ferris wheel; myself, adora, marcia & mitzi in the wind tunnel; pingtung robocop
oh. That helmet is too cool.
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