EUROpean Tour is Over!

Today I finished teaching the second of my two classes at EURO RSCG, the local advertising company I've been teaching at for about three months.




This was the lower level class, who are still working at getting the hang of English. They were a pretty rambunctious group, and pretty noisy sometimes, but a lot of fun to teach.

Back Row: Me, Ada, Mandy, Kelen, Emmy, Irene, Raisy, Ken and Snoopy
Front Row: Theresa, Daphne (and baby), Karen, Miriam and Kari



I'll miss going to EURO each Tuesday and seeing their smiling faces, but I know they won't miss the homework or having to wait til 2 to each lunch. ^_-

Thanks for a fun class, guys! Keep studying!

Rob 

Cutie

Connie's brother's girlfriend, Yu-Mei, decided she wanted to get a dog and so not long ago it came to visit the Kang household.


His name is Cutie, and as you can see, he fits the description. Dogs of this type (I refer to them as "toy dogs" or occasionally "rats") are extremely common in Taipei because they can live in the space of local apartments.






Local women will often carry their dogs everywhere they go, almost like fashion accessories. You can see their heads sticking out of bags everywhere on the street.


He's a cutie, all right, but I still prefer larger dogs.

Rob 

EURO RSCG Advanced Class

So yesterday I finished my first teaching session with the advanced class at the EURO RSCG advertising agency, which I have to say has been a heck of a lot of fun.



Front Row: (l>r) Verona, Tina, June, Estella, Fiona, Keven
Back Row: Knight, Rob, Chris, Ruth

They were a great class, really creative and fun to teach. I will miss getting to see their smiling faces each Thursday at lunch, although I'm sure they will enjoy getting their lunch-hours back.




Thanks for a great time guys! Keep studying! 

A Lovely Dinner

A few weeks ago my friend (and former student) Chalk (the smiling guy in the back) called me up and asked if Connie and I would like to go for dinner. Of course we accepted since Chaulk is one of the nicest guys I know here in Taiwan. He took us to what would best be called a Japanese-Style Steakhouse, where the focus was beef, but it was part of a long multi-course meal of light soups, salads and side-dishes, all of which were equisitely delicious. ( I would go there again in a second, and in fact did go there again 2 weeks later with Connie's family, but was too sick to appreciate it at the time.)

We were both catching up (since I hadn't seen Chalk in almost 5 months) and celebrating his new job at a local Biotech firm. Unfortunately his wife, Sunny is newly pregnant and can't be far from a bathroom at any given time, so she couldn't attend. In her place the woman next to Chalk is Sharon Lo, a lovely lady who Chalk introduced me to about 5 months previously and who has since become a good friend of mine as well.

Chalk invited us to come and see his family farm at some point in the future (he grew up on a farm) and Connie and I said we'd be delighted to. So hopefully we'll have pictures of Connie being a farmgirl to put up here in the near future!

Rob 

Sunset at Sunlit

I know I've been remiss in writing in my Blog recently, I just got finished a nasty round of colds and some culture shock that didn't leave me much in the mood for Blogging, and I apologize for that. I have, however, been taking pictures, so it's time to get some of them up!
This last Wed. night was my last class at Sunlit System Technology Corp., it's been a real up and down class (literally) since it started with 12 students, quickly reduced to 2 students due to staff changes, then 1 student for a few weeks, and then for the last three classes jumped up to 7 students! It was like being on a teaching roller-coaster, and mostly due to internal changes at Sunlit, which is a company specializing in radio frequency tags.
The above picture is from my final class, and the two ladies in the middle were two of my best three students (the third was absent, so he doesn't deserve to be the in the picture!). The cutie next to me is Renee, followed by Hanna the brave adventurer, Tim the comic fan (who I caught drawing in class more than once!) and the ever-smiling Morris. (He really never stops smiling!) 

Graduation Day!

Last Sunday was Connie's graduation from University, and as a result all her immediate family gathered together early Sunday morning at a McDonalds near the graduation site for breakfast. (Hmm...maybe I should sell this story as a commercial to McDonalds...) After breakfast, we left for the site and met up with Connie's friends, co-workers, and her graduating classmates. Pictured here is Connie with her classmate Josephine, the two of them had their fair share of troubles over the past two years, but they managed to see it through to the end! 

Congratulations Honey!

There's always time for a hug! 

Bouquet

One of Connie's high-school classmates met us at McDonalds and gave her this lovely giant bouquet of flowers, which I ended up carrying around for the rest of the day. (It was worth it, though. ) 

The Family

Here's a good picture of Connie's small family, including Monica (who is just Connie's friend, not a family member), and myself. So from left to right it's Monica, Connie, myself, AiYi and Connie's brother Li-Wei. 

Doctor Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

The ceremony itself was held in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, one of Taipei's two great halls. (The other being Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.) It was standing room only (literally, as they didn't give out ticks or reserve seats) as students, family and friends poured into the massive hall. We were early, so we luckily managed to get seats, although right at the very back and not together, and we were better off than most of the people who had to stand. The ceremony itself consisted of music, introductions, a very special guest speaker, a couple of the school's bigwigs, and finally the class leaders went up on stage in groups to accept their awards on behalf of their groups. Since it was all in Chinese, I dozed through about half of it, but I do remember something about "honesty being the best policy" being repeated a bunch of times by the guest speaker. (Ironic if you know Taiwanese politics...) 

Turning a corner...

I think this one speaks for itself. 

Connie and AiYi

Connie's mother finally gets to pose for the picture she's been waiting 28 years to be in. 

Graduating Lass

I am very proud of Connie, more proud than I can express. She worked 8 hours each day for 2 years, then did 5 hours of school and then homework after that before going to bed. It's been a hard life for her for the past two years, and I know she's often wanted to quit, but she stuck with it and toughed it out. Now's she's finally done, and the letters B.A. can be added to her name. I wonder how long it will be before M.A. gets added, probably not long if she can help it, but I hope she takes a rest first. 

Friends and Co-Workers

A group shot of the unsavory characters that Connie and I often hang out with. From left to right it's Apollo, Monica, Me, Connie, David and Forever (the incredibly cool guy responsible for most of these pictures). A really wonderful group of people who Connie and I have had the blessing to call friends. Thanks guys! 

Grads of 2006

Connie and the other members of her particular graduating group. 

I am SO glad to be out of that thing!

Connie happily removes the black gown she's been wearing over her clothes in 35 degree temperatures on a sunny day. 

A cute couple.

Here I am with Connie's co-worker Apollo, I gave him flowers but he apparently wasn't interested. Oh well, c'est la vie! 

Monica and AiYi

The event ended with a nice liesurely meal for our friends and family at the Skylark Restaurant, which was quite impressive. This particular Skylark had done an amazing job of duplicating a Spanish garden restaurant inside the 4th floor of a downtown Taipei department store. After the meal Connie and I went back to her place and watched DVDs for a while, then went out to dinner with her mom. (Pictured here with Monica.) A great day all around. 

Book Signing

Two weeks ago Connie and I attended the book signing for a an acquaintance of Connie's who goes by the english name "Forever". He was getting his book on pictures of Switzerland published. They had a big signing event on the 5th floor of a local bookstore, and the woman above was a representative of the Swiss Trade Office (is Swiss Embassy) in Taiwan. She gave a very long opening speech about coming to Switzerland to travel and visit, people were pretty much ready to fall asleep when she finally finished. 

Whoa! Swiss girls are hot!

As you can see, Forever's book kept them turning pages. This poor guy is going to be in trouble later when his wife next to him gets mad because he's hogging the book!