Gothic Old Building

The reason I always carry my camera with me in Taipei is that I never know what I'm going to see next. As I walked to join Connie for her wedding dress fitting I saw this rather creepy looking old building towering nearby, so I snapped off a few pictures of it. I think it's a residential building, but I'm not sure. Looks creepy enough, though!




 

Warriors of Stone

Taiwanese, I have noted, have a love of statues. They use them quite a bit to decorate their buildings and open spaces, so I try to take pictures of some of the more interesting ones I see as I wander around Taipei.

These fellows were found in front of an office building the other week, and are statues of what I believe are buddhist warrior monks:


 

Dennis

At lunchtime on Tuesday and Thursdays I've been teaching a pair of loan officers from Cosmos Bank: Dennis and Samy. Their bank was bought out by the GE Financial group and so they have been working hard to improve their English for personal and professional reasons. Dennis is a really friendly and hardworking guy, and Samy a cheerful and thoughtful lady, so we had some good conversations about life, history and politics, to say nothing of studying English. Unfortunately due to their job they sometimes missed classes, and in the end were unable to continue on for a new session, but it was still fun to teach them. Pictured here is Dennis with yours truely, Samy was unfortunately too busy to come to the last class. I wish them both the best of luck in the future and hope they keep studying!

Rob 

Formosa Valve and Fitting Company

Recently I finished a session (but no the class) at the Formosa Valve and Fitting Company, a company located way out in the suburb of San-Chong where I teach 5 beautiful girls and one distinguished gentlemen. The gentleman was out this day, so unfortunately you will have to make due with a picture of the smart and lovely ladies of FVF. From left to right, they are: Ivy, Celine (don't call her Celina!), Sherry (who is single and looking!), cheerful Evelyn and their brave leader Jenny.
I took over this class from Terrance, another teacher at Kojen ESP who left to seek job opportunities elsewhere, and have been teaching them writing skills. I came in halfway through the session, but we get along pretty well and they were kind to this new teacher. If they can just improve their grammar, they'll actually be a good bunch of writers, but they need to keep practicing!