Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom- 

My heart holds so many memories
New Mexico, Washington, New York City
Starbucks, hikes, pedicures, and massages 

Hunting for frogs, afternoon tea, long talks
Party planning and party throwing
Purple haired New Year’s Eve and Broadmoor Thanksgivings 

Movie watching, midnight Harry Potter book releases
Castle Rock Crowfoot Coffee and Castlewood Canyon
Evergreen wine sipping and Botanical Garden Summer Nights 

All the times you helped me move around the country
All the times you helped to mend my broken heart
All the times you gave me encouragement to just keep going 

I’m so grateful for all of your love and support. 
You are an incredible role model in my life, Mom,
and I treasure all of our happy memories.

We are half a world apart on your birthday
But someone once said
Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while
But their hearts forever.  

From my heart to yours, Mom,

Happy Birthday!

My Husband: The Zen Master

Myron is currently in the hospital in Taiwan for a flare-up of colitis.  There's a lot that I could blog about, such as the differences in health care in Taiwan and the U.S.,  the fact that he does seem to be receiving good care, or the challenges of overcoming language barriers in the hospital. 

However, my husband himself has inspired this particular blog entry.  I am an absolute basket case-  stressed out and a worried mess.  Meanwhile, he the patient, has reached as he puts it-  "a zen-like state".  He shared with me his recipe for reaching this zen-like state, and I thought I would record what he had to say for prosperity. 

Here is his 3 step plan: 

1).  Accept the situation.  Accept reality.  Accept your limitations.  Accept the fact that there are things that you can not control no matter how much you wish you could.  Accept that what is, is. 

2).  Live in the moment.  In this exact moment.  Notice the sun shining through your window.  Enjoy the "flavorful" rice soup that you are partaking in for dinner.  Smell the flowers the KAS staff sent.  Let your senses enjoy all of the wonders in this moment. 

3).  Be grateful.  Be thankful for the care that you are receiving.  Be thankful for the support from a far and from close by.  Be grateful for all that do have in this moment, instead of dwelling on how things could be better or different. 

There you go-  words to live by.  I love you,  Myron.  You are so wise, so calm, and so strong, and these are inspired words.

I am still freaking out. But I have married a brave and smart man.  Get better, my love, and come home.  I miss you. 

And you, the reader,  if you and your loved ones have their health, whatever else your current situation,  just stop and give a moment of thanks.  And for those of you struggling with your health or in the midst of being a care-taker-  I hope my husband's words of wisdom offer some solace. 

Spring Break Bali Lows

Oh Bali!  So many high points, and yet quite a few frustrations as well. 

Bali is a beautiful country that offers a wide range of activities and cultural appeals.  We had a quite a lot of fun and I already have an itinerary planned for when we return. 

However, I must say that there were some frustrations that were fairly persistent throughout our stay here.  The airport for Myron and I was just a nightmare- both on arrival and on departure.  On arrival, we discovered that we needed to pay 25 US Dollars for a 30 day visa.  This was fine with us, and we were ready to pay, but they only accept either US Dollars or the Indonesian Rupiah. Still fine with us- but having neither on us at the time (though we did have Malaysian Ringgit and Taiwan Dollars)- we needed an ATM.  However,  in the airport, they put the ATM after immigration- which basically means that you can’t get the money to pay for the visa until you go through immigration and show that you have said visa.  I am sure that you can see the problem here. 

So after a period of confusion, we finally figured out that you can wait to go through immigration, and leave them with your passport, then go to the ATM, then go back to immigration and get your passport back, then go back to the visa line and wait in line again to pay them, and then go back through the immigration line to show them that you have your visa. 

We had a similar experience leaving, when we arrived at the airport to discover that our flight had been moved to an earlier departure time.  We were feeling harried, so we were even more frustrated when we walked up to the second floor of the airport and discovered that we needed to pay a departure tax.  Having tried to plan it just right so that we didn’t have any money left over, we once again did not have the appropriate amount of money.  And once again, the ATM was located not on the second floor where said departure tax needed to be paid, nor even on first floor after you go through security, but in fact outside of the airport.   So, yes, we had to head back outside the airport, go the ATM, go back through the security line again, and back up to the pay the departure tax.  We just made it in time to board the plane- though then the plane needed to be refueled so we sat on the plane for an extra 30- 45 minutes anyway, and it was hard to see why they changed the departure time in the first place, since we ended up leaving later than the initial departure time. 

Other frustrations included traffic jams, rainy weather , and just the general pervasive feeling that many of the Balinese people wanted to take advantage of you and your money at every possibly opportunity.  Constant calls of “Transport”, “Taxi”, “Sir”, “Massage”, “Boss, boss, over here”, “Tickets”, “Jewelry”, “Miss Come Look” - they get old.  And actual prices aren’t listed on much of anything, and bargaining seems to be the norm, so it is hard to know if you are getting a reasonable deal.  In fact, one taxi driver told me that prices are jacked up by 70 percent because “I am a tourist and therefore have a lot of money”.  And I guess if you like bargaining, then maybe you would enjoy it, but I found it to be grating and I was constantly wondering  if our taxi driver, our wait staff, our guide, our hotel staff could be trusted- were they genuinely looking out for our best interests or were they just trying to make more money.   

Anyway, here I have gone off on quite a tirade, but I feel like Eat, Pray, Love romanticized Bali and I did not find that it fully lived up to the hype.  But perhaps it is also in part because of  Eat, Pray, Love that tourism has exploded on Bali to such a degree that some of the charms of the island are being lost.  And perhaps, some of the blame must go to us, for choosing to visit the most touristy areas of the island.  Anyway, next post, I’ll get to the fun stuff.  

Double Date

Sunday night we had a double date.  I feel like this is fairly new territory for us.  Oh, sure, we have been out on several double dates before this-  but mostly with people that Myron or I knew before we met.  In other words, for example, Myron and I hanging out with my friend and her boyfriend.  
This, on the other hand, is something new.   While I have figured out the art of making friends on my own,  how do you make friends as a couple?  It seems to be quite challenging.   First,  you have to meet a couple where you both like both other people- for some reason, this is not an easy task. 
Then, you have to arrange a time for everyone to hang out.  Then, afterwards, you have to conference with your significant other, decide how it went, and see if you both would like to go out again.  It seems it can be easy to have some quite different perspectives about how it went.  Then, if you want to go out again, you have to hope that the other couple also had fun, and wants to go out too.  I swear, it is like dating all over again.

Here were some of our funnier conversations in regards to this double date.
In terms of the invite, Myron and I had the following discussion:
Me: I would like to go to dinner with them, but I am scared of being rejected.
Myron:  I think they were giving us all the right signals.  They were talking about how we should get together some time. 
Me:  Yeah, that's true, but I don't know, what if we misread them.  

Myron:  Well, we will never know unless we put ourselves out there.  

Then, here is our conversation on our way to the date:
Me:  I am really nervous.  

Myron:  You need to relax.  We just need to be ourselves.   We don't want to come off as too needy. 

After the date:  

Me:  Well, that went well.
Myron:  Yeah, it was good. 
Me:  Well, so now what? 
Myron:  Now, the ball is in their court.  Now it's their turn to ask us out.  Now we just wait. 

Hilarious!  We sound like 15 year-olds back out on our first date.  But seriously,  finding couple friends is hard in your 30's.   Especially when you are in a new place.  And there does seem to be a whole set of potential rules that we just don't know yet-  such as which member of the couple asks which other member of the couple out?  Are all four people supposed to talk to all four people at dinner?  Or are the ladies just supposed to talk while the guys talk?   How do you know if the date was successful?  And why is it so complicated and so difficult to meet another dating or married couple that we both get along with?  Is the best thing to do is just to throw in the towel and Myron has his buddies and I have mine and never the twain shall meet?  

Comments?  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  

 

Spring Break 2011 EARCOS Conference

Kota Kinabulu, Borneo, Malaysia 

Spring Break began for Myron and I with a conference for educators held in Kota Kinabulu.  The conference provided a good opportunity for us to get to know some of our fellow teachers better as well as to learn about some of the latest technological educator tools in the classroom.  The conference was held at a beautiful resort, and was one of the nicest and best conferences that I have ever attended for teaching.  They held an opening and a closing reception for us- both of which were very nice- and provided a wide range of workshop options to attend. 

Here are some picture highlights: 

 The hotel was stunning.  We also got to watch one of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen. 

We also decided to get out and explore, so we went to the Klia River, on a dusk/ evening cruise, where we saw probiscus monkeys (long nose monkeys)- though we never got close enough to see its long nose.  We also tried to catch some fish, and saw fireflies after we finished eating dinner and as we floated back down the river.   The best part was just being on the boat- it was a relaxing and fun evening.  

8 Months Down, 2 to GO!

2 Months from today, we will be landing in the United States of America.   After living in Taiwan for 8 months,  I feel much more settled here.  For example, when we travel now, I find myself comparing things to how the Taiwanese do things, instead of to how Americans do things.  Also, after traveling around Southeast Asia, we feel even more lucky that Taiwan ended up as our home.  However, I am still a Colorado girl at heart and am looking forward to our time home this summer with family and friends on our whirlwind tour of California, Atlanta, Baltimore, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Colorado. 

Today is our last day of break, and when we return to school tomorrow, we have 8 ½ weeks left of school (but who is counting).  This is always a stressful time of year in a way, trying to finish up this year and get ready at the same time for the next. 

In regards to my New Year’s Resolution,  I have now walked at least 10,000 steps a day for at least 4 days a week for the last 3 months.  My pedometer tells me that we have walked 833,444 steps total. It has been a great resolution, in that it is easily measurable and that I feel accomplished when we reach the goal for the day.  Myron has been a great support in terms of helping me to reach this goal, and our desire to reach the goal helps us to make the choice to walk somewhere or take the stairs instead of driving or taking the elevator. 

Finally, in regards to running, we haven’t been able to be as consistent.  However, we did both get some new running shoes and we are still trying the couch to 5K program- though we can’t seem to get on as consistent of a schedule.  

This is the 8^th month update- feeling more settled in Taiwan, gearing up for the last quarter at school, looking forward to summer break, and just keeping on trekking!  Stay tuned for a series of Spring Break trip updates coming soon.