christmasy guei shan

this is guei shan school. it's my favorite. my coteachers are fun, the front desk ladies are friendly, and the neighborhood feels homey. (just a reminder you can click on any of the pictures to see the big version).
the inside is really pretty and christmasy now
this is eason and lin. they were impressed with my fancy camera.
my 5-7 class. they're my favorite class. we have a lot of fun but they listen well and the coteacher, jasmine, is really nice. the girl in the yellow is maggie. we call her purple maggie because she's usually decked out head to toe in purple. it's her favorite color. and judy is above my head. she wears my bracelet every class. jennifer is the tiny one on the left. her mom is the one who interviewed me last week.
this guy camps out in front of the school with his little cart. he makes these yummy little cakes out of what seems like thick crepe batter. i buy a bag of them every monday and friday :X he said my chinese is getting better.

i can't figure out how to increase my shutter speed. he moves super fast.
i like the ones that are shaped like animals because they're thin so they get crispy on the sides. the other mold is egg shaped and they get too spongey in the middle.
a little blurry.

i feel like a dummy because i brought my camera to school today because we had a demo in my baby class, but i didn't take a single picture of them. it's impossible since i'm the master of ceremonies. anyway they did very well. we had a good time and their parents seemed happy.
they all had to memorize a little presentation and get up and recite it to the audience. we also played games and did our gesture sets so the parents could see how/what we learn.

afterward, the parents and teachers go upstairs and we sit around this UN-style table with these funny place cards with our names in big bold letters, and i tell them my comments about their kid in english and my coteacher translates. i was freaked out the first time i ever did it, but tonight was fine. and i've known these kids for a long time now. and i was wearing a fancy teacher open house night outfit so i was feeling very confident. i might wear high heels a little more often.

after work, i stopped by the japanese place i get lunch from on the way home from bobo's sometimes. i haven't ever gone for dinner so i didn't know what to get. i told the woman that seafood isn't my favorite, so she suggested a fried pork dish. it's just like the lunch box. the dinner one is twice as much though, and it comes with soup and coffee. i waited at the sushi bar and chatted with the chef, who was making a beautiful presentation of sushi on a couple of plates. the restaurant is up on the second floor and it feels cozy all wrapped in dark wood with really beautiful lighting.

eventually the woman came to talk to me, her name is sara. she said tonight was special and they had shut down the whole restaurant because they had 3 important japanese men dining there tonight. whoops! i told them they should have told me and i would have come another night. i don't think they minded though. i asked what the lunch box would be tomorrow but they hadn't planned it yet. sara asked me to come back later this week and she would 'create something for me'. so we'll see if they get added to my taiwanese friend list.

it's funny because i've never thought of myself as someone who can talk to anyone she meets, but i think i'm one of those people. all you need to do is smile and ask questions.