Earthquake!! It finally happened. We experienced our first earthquake. It wasn’t a strong one, only a 4.7, but it was still exciting and very creepy. So were just watching a little TV at night before getting ready for bed, and we started to hear the doors and cabinets and everything rattling. It started to shake everything, and we could feel the building swaying back and forth. It wasn’t a strong sway, but it was still a very creepy feeling, especially being on the 8th floor of a building. A co-worker of ours mentioned that since he has been here, some have been strong enough that he has fallen out of bed. Now that would be really scary! It’s really an indescribable feeling, for people who haven’t experienced one; I don’t think I could describe the creepy-ness of the feeling. I’m sure it’s something that people just get used to and it doesn’t even faze them, but being from Minnesota, it definitely was a rush for us.
We dont have any really exciting plans for this weekend. The weather is really crappy right now. It has been raining all day, so we don’t really have any big plans for when Matt gets done teaching. It is not fun to ride scooter in the rain, so it might be lazy evening in. Hopefully its nicer tomorrow. That’s all for now! Love and miss you all!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
A little bit more!
I want to add one comment that one of the pictures is a shrimp that wouldnt let go of the bucket. Its grip was so strong it seemed like it was going to pick up the bucket! We couldnt get it to let go, they hardly even seem like shrimp but more like lobster with how big and strong they are. Although, they do have a nasty habit of losing their arms when you are pulling them up. One time, one got away from me but I pulled up his arm!
Also, when I said they put salt on the shrimp, I didnt mean a little bit. They dumped 5 or 6 scoops full of salt on it. Each scoop was probably around a cup of salt.
Also, when I said they put salt on the shrimp, I didnt mean a little bit. They dumped 5 or 6 scoops full of salt on it. Each scoop was probably around a cup of salt.
Shrimp Fishing
Hello again,
So we finally got to go shrimp fishing! Something that I have wanted to do since I discovered we were going to be coming to Taiwan, and it was as amazing as I thought it was. It’s a relatively inexpensive activity, a lot cheaper than going to a KTV or bar. You can rent a pole, or you just pay for two hours at a time. Everything you catch you put on the grill when your time is up and eat! We went with some of our fellow NST’s, which was a good thing as we are not professional fisherman like most of the Taiwanese that were there. One guy pulled up 27 shrimp by himself! As a group of eight, I believe we got 16 or 17. The very nice man gave us some of his shrimp, which are absolutely amazing. How you cook it up is wash the shrimp, put some salt on it, put it on a rack, and throw it on the grill! The shrimp are really huge, unlike anything I have seen back home! The “small” ones are like four inches long, and the large ones are like ten to twelve inches long. As a group we got two really large ones, Andy and Nicole (who were fishing together) and a different Matt caught two that must have been at least a couple pounds. The first catch was very exciting for everyone! A nice man helped me, so I never completely got a catch by myself. They did teach us some shrimp fishing techniques though. I look forward to going again. The fishing was a lot of fun, place it tastes absolutely amazing!
So we finally got to go shrimp fishing! Something that I have wanted to do since I discovered we were going to be coming to Taiwan, and it was as amazing as I thought it was. It’s a relatively inexpensive activity, a lot cheaper than going to a KTV or bar. You can rent a pole, or you just pay for two hours at a time. Everything you catch you put on the grill when your time is up and eat! We went with some of our fellow NST’s, which was a good thing as we are not professional fisherman like most of the Taiwanese that were there. One guy pulled up 27 shrimp by himself! As a group of eight, I believe we got 16 or 17. The very nice man gave us some of his shrimp, which are absolutely amazing. How you cook it up is wash the shrimp, put some salt on it, put it on a rack, and throw it on the grill! The shrimp are really huge, unlike anything I have seen back home! The “small” ones are like four inches long, and the large ones are like ten to twelve inches long. As a group we got two really large ones, Andy and Nicole (who were fishing together) and a different Matt caught two that must have been at least a couple pounds. The first catch was very exciting for everyone! A nice man helped me, so I never completely got a catch by myself. They did teach us some shrimp fishing techniques though. I look forward to going again. The fishing was a lot of fun, place it tastes absolutely amazing!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Temple and Glass Museum
Hello,
One of my favorite things about teaching is that we get to go on field trips! Today we went to Lugong, to a glass factory/museum. It was really pretty. It had beautiful blown glass from little trinkets to 4 foot high temples build all from glass. I didn’t get too many pictures, as I had other things I had to do, but I plan on taking Matt there soon enough so he can see it too. My favorite was a beautiful glass water lily pond, with a pretty bridge. There was also a really cool mirror map of Taiwan.
On our way back from the field trip, I saw a temple not too far from school that I had not seen before. So I directed Matt back there when we got off. It was really beautiful, although my pictures are pretty terrible because everything was so big that they couldn’t get in focus. Although we did find a charger for our nicer camera, so our pictures should be prettier now. Our old camera was just a 7 mega pixel camera, and is pretty outdated now. Especially since we want nice pictures of our time over here! Well, there was one nice man who was at the temple who spoke a little bit of English. Basically, it’s a temple dedicated to a general of the gods, as best as the guy could translate anyways. Well, it was pretty so I thought I would put up a few pictures.
By the way, it’s been pretty cold over here! We know you don’t feel bad for us, especially since you have already had a bit of snow, but for us it’s very chilly! It’s now even getting chillier in the evenings, maybe down to the 60’s or 70’s. You see a lot of people here now wearing big puffy jackets, or at least sweatshirts. We wear sweatshirts, and if you are in capri’s or sandals at night you will be cold, as I often am. We definitely will have to get jackets before we can attempt a longer drive, especially if it will extend into the evening.
We have an amusing little story about life here in Taiwan. We live in a quieter area, at least by Taiwanese standards. There is a road out front of our place, and every so often a lane will be blocked for a day or two for what seems to either be a mini-festival or something to the gods, or a funeral. Well, a while back a lane was blocked off for two days, and all traffic was diverted into the other lane. (That at least is not uncommon; lanes here are more suggestions than rules for a lot of streets.) The first night was relatively normal looking; they had food offerings and some traditional music. The second night however was a different story! They still had the tent up, but they were feasting on food, and watching Avatar!! They had set up a big projector, and it was playing on the side of the apartment building. We felt kind of bad driving right through it, but it was too late by the time we knew what was going on.
One of my favorite things about teaching is that we get to go on field trips! Today we went to Lugong, to a glass factory/museum. It was really pretty. It had beautiful blown glass from little trinkets to 4 foot high temples build all from glass. I didn’t get too many pictures, as I had other things I had to do, but I plan on taking Matt there soon enough so he can see it too. My favorite was a beautiful glass water lily pond, with a pretty bridge. There was also a really cool mirror map of Taiwan.
On our way back from the field trip, I saw a temple not too far from school that I had not seen before. So I directed Matt back there when we got off. It was really beautiful, although my pictures are pretty terrible because everything was so big that they couldn’t get in focus. Although we did find a charger for our nicer camera, so our pictures should be prettier now. Our old camera was just a 7 mega pixel camera, and is pretty outdated now. Especially since we want nice pictures of our time over here! Well, there was one nice man who was at the temple who spoke a little bit of English. Basically, it’s a temple dedicated to a general of the gods, as best as the guy could translate anyways. Well, it was pretty so I thought I would put up a few pictures.
By the way, it’s been pretty cold over here! We know you don’t feel bad for us, especially since you have already had a bit of snow, but for us it’s very chilly! It’s now even getting chillier in the evenings, maybe down to the 60’s or 70’s. You see a lot of people here now wearing big puffy jackets, or at least sweatshirts. We wear sweatshirts, and if you are in capri’s or sandals at night you will be cold, as I often am. We definitely will have to get jackets before we can attempt a longer drive, especially if it will extend into the evening.
We have an amusing little story about life here in Taiwan. We live in a quieter area, at least by Taiwanese standards. There is a road out front of our place, and every so often a lane will be blocked for a day or two for what seems to either be a mini-festival or something to the gods, or a funeral. Well, a while back a lane was blocked off for two days, and all traffic was diverted into the other lane. (That at least is not uncommon; lanes here are more suggestions than rules for a lot of streets.) The first night was relatively normal looking; they had food offerings and some traditional music. The second night however was a different story! They still had the tent up, but they were feasting on food, and watching Avatar!! They had set up a big projector, and it was playing on the side of the apartment building. We felt kind of bad driving right through it, but it was too late by the time we knew what was going on.
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