made from the stars

3.5 highlights from today:
1. natalie and i went with celia to the local high school we'll be teaching at once a week. it worked out that we both teach there the same day at the same time, but with different classes. natalie and i are the only 2 blondes working at our school and thank GOODNESS we were paired up.
the high schools here are hard to explain. they're shaped like big, hollow rectangles and the hallways and classrooms are open to the outside, there are bars on the windows of the classrooms and there are lots of tiled planter boxes with various grasses and other green stuff, but no flowers. anyway, natalie and i walk in and instantly, [what seemed like] the whole school got out of their chairs and came to the windows to see us. there was laughing and pointing and general foreigner-mayhem. we're the only foreigners that will step foot in the school this semester. when i was sitting down waiting for our meeting to start, this gaggle of girls came up to the window next to me and started touching my hair through the bars. it was a bizarre experience for me.

anyway though my homeroom teacher, who made a point that she won't be helping me in any way, seems nice. she hits the whitening cream a little hard, but she seems sweet. and my classroom is totally awesome. it's only used for her class and my class, so i get to decorate it if i want to! it's painted bright colors right now and the chalk board uses actual chalk (we use whiteboards at the other school) and it's up on this platform that's probably 6 or 8 inches higher than the rest of the class. it'll be interesting.

2. picked up my ARC (alien resident card, i believe) and i took a taxi home. the driver, a really cute old man, and i chatted in my broken chinese. i found out his name, that he has 4 children, one of whom is 45, and 5 grandchildren. we both think it's really hot outside but it's supposed to cool off in mid october. and we agree that betel nut, beer and cigarettes are bad, but we like tea and coffee. that's how far my chinese will take me right now.
aaand i glanced at the clock while i was in the car since i hadn't seen one all day, and it was my favorite time, 11:11.

3. keith is back from taipei. he thinks he did awesome on his test. he's going to taroko gorge (it's this gigantic gorge that's 4 hours south by train and 2 more hours on a scooter after that) tomorrow and i don't know if i'm going to go or not. there are various extenuating circumstances, but the biggest factors are that there i'd be going standby to get home in time for class, and i think i'm coming down with a double ear infection.

3.5 made dad's kraft spaghetti sauce with capellini on toast tonight for keith's homecoming and it was delicious as always.