<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177</id><updated>2011-07-08T07:15:02.825-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Summer Daze</title><subtitle type='html'>Summer 2009
"Everyday I wake up, and think if for even just half a second, I am in Taiwan. My family is getting ready for bed and I am a world away."</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>30</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-7754433047517683699</id><published>2011-04-20T00:38:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2011-04-20T00:39:59.464-04:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-7754433047517683699?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/7754433047517683699/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2011/04/goths-circle-i-limbo-parents-who-bring.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7754433047517683699'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7754433047517683699'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2011/04/goths-circle-i-limbo-parents-who-bring.html' title=''/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-8457457764208745723</id><published>2009-07-22T03:34:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T04:21:19.625-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/22 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>8-12 Teaching, Students in my second class crowded the computer to play the online version of TKO. There were probably 12-15 of them around the computer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbH3w4Y6wI/AAAAAAAAANU/Uz-gi8BxLos/s1600-h/DSCN7186.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbH3w4Y6wI/AAAAAAAAANU/Uz-gi8BxLos/s320/DSCN7186.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361192167259302658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;12 Meeting &amp;amp; Lunch : We had my favorite fish today MmMmMmMmM!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1-2:30 Jade Market Part II : Gifts bought here are going to be Christmas gifts because they were SUPER nice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbCWHpfK4I/AAAAAAAAANM/qrGj1-3E9ak/s1600-h/DSCN7190.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbCWHpfK4I/AAAAAAAAANM/qrGj1-3E9ak/s320/DSCN7190.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361186091697122178" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;While I was there this very kind lady gave me a smiling Buddah for good luck and money. It was completely free. She kept looking for her husband but wanted to give it to me because she said that she had worked 24 years in Taipei, Tinan, and Kaohsiung and that I was very pretty and she wanted me to have it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;7-9 pm Yoga (Wish me luck! Aparently the leader is as flexible as a jellyfish!)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-8457457764208745723?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/8457457764208745723/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/722-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/8457457764208745723'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/8457457764208745723'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/722-itinerary.html' title='7/22 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbH3w4Y6wI/AAAAAAAAANU/Uz-gi8BxLos/s72-c/DSCN7186.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-5022006488431023601</id><published>2009-07-21T17:00:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T04:06:44.600-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/21 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>8-12 Teaching&lt;br /&gt;12-1 Lunch Meeting&lt;br /&gt;1-4 Dream Mall&lt;br /&gt;4 Home with host family&lt;br /&gt;8-10 Skype with my family&lt;br /&gt;10:30 Bedtime!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was so excited to get to bed early! It was so nice! I put off a few things I needed to do, in order to do so but it was so worth it in the end!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-5022006488431023601?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/5022006488431023601/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/721-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/5022006488431023601'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/5022006488431023601'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/721-itinerary.html' title='7/21 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-3091595447857109646</id><published>2009-07-21T06:33:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-21T06:42:09.019-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Dragon Fruit!</title><content type='html'>Tonight at dinner dessert was quite unexpectedly pink! It was so cute!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWaMDn9qlI/AAAAAAAAALE/m2j2awQMxhw/s1600-h/DSCN7183.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWaMDn9qlI/AAAAAAAAALE/m2j2awQMxhw/s400/DSCN7183.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360860463376476754" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWaLouCA3I/AAAAAAAAAK8/xXFMqAiqU0g/s1600-h/DSCN7182.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWaLouCA3I/AAAAAAAAAK8/xXFMqAiqU0g/s400/DSCN7182.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360860456154170226" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Tina said that it looked like a UFO and proceeded to make spaceship noises:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWbZ2UbOOI/AAAAAAAAALU/-y8RpMpVdG4/s1600-h/DSCN7185.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWbZ2UbOOI/AAAAAAAAALU/-y8RpMpVdG4/s320/DSCN7185.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360861799834663138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-3091595447857109646?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/3091595447857109646/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/dragon-fruit.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/3091595447857109646'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/3091595447857109646'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/dragon-fruit.html' title='Dragon Fruit!'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWaMDn9qlI/AAAAAAAAALE/m2j2awQMxhw/s72-c/DSCN7183.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-4075736617657029750</id><published>2009-07-20T04:25:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T04:29:10.211-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/20 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>8-12 Teaching&lt;br /&gt;12-1 Lunch Meeting&lt;br /&gt;1-3 Morgan and I wandered about near campus and explored some of the safe looking alleys and shops near school. Then I went back to the office to check email and chat with friends.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4 pm MODERN TOILET! (see next entry)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;7 pm Met Jane for dinner before her next meeting with the team captain of the French life saving team. She is very cute when she tells me about her frustrations about life. She and I shared about our lives then she had to rush off to her meeting. I hope to have many quick dinners with Jane in the last few days we have left. She is very sweet and fun.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-4075736617657029750?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/4075736617657029750/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/720-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/4075736617657029750'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/4075736617657029750'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/720-itinerary.html' title='7/20 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-6923390587979457005</id><published>2009-07-20T01:29:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T04:38:02.776-04:00</updated><title type='text'>MODERN TOILET!</title><content type='html'>I am was very excited about this restaurant! It is very silly but it was worth the laughs and pictures we took. The premise of the restaurant is that you sit on toilets, eat out of toilets, and drink out of them too! I can only begin to describe the humorous situations that ensued upon arrival, so here are a few photos.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOoKMbhUI/AAAAAAAAAOU/8DcqSX-LOz4/s1600-h/DSCN6997.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOoKMbhUI/AAAAAAAAAOU/8DcqSX-LOz4/s320/DSCN6997.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361199595757733186" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOnmlWYJI/AAAAAAAAAOM/LkFUiW94agQ/s1600-h/DSCN7003.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOnmlWYJI/AAAAAAAAAOM/LkFUiW94agQ/s320/DSCN7003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361199586198577298" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOnMmRB7I/AAAAAAAAAOE/71xuHVJLVyQ/s1600-h/DSCN6982.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOnMmRB7I/AAAAAAAAAOE/71xuHVJLVyQ/s320/DSCN6982.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361199579223099314" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOm5iu9xI/AAAAAAAAAN8/ZSwDvhFtYEU/s1600-h/DSCN6980.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOm5iu9xI/AAAAAAAAAN8/ZSwDvhFtYEU/s320/DSCN6980.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361199574108010258" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Cathy and I ordered ice cream and had no idea we could have all split one!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbPjhQDTOI/AAAAAAAAAOk/7pX9st2u_A0/s1600-h/DSCN6995.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbPjhQDTOI/AAAAAAAAAOk/7pX9st2u_A0/s320/DSCN6995.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361200615559220450" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My awesome cold cranberry tea came in the bed pan Mimi is so perplexed over here:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbPjbI3i1I/AAAAAAAAAOc/ds3z0nEjTdI/s1600-h/DSCN7006.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbPjbI3i1I/AAAAAAAAAOc/ds3z0nEjTdI/s320/DSCN7006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361200613918477138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-6923390587979457005?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/6923390587979457005/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/modern-toilet.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6923390587979457005'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6923390587979457005'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/modern-toilet.html' title='MODERN TOILET!'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbOoKMbhUI/AAAAAAAAAOU/8DcqSX-LOz4/s72-c/DSCN6997.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-4252605498369482434</id><published>2009-07-19T04:07:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T04:19:12.867-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/18 &amp; 19 Itinerary - Taipei</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;This Saturday and Sunday we were in Taipei. We saw everything! It was super fun, but really tiring. I am so glad I got to see all that we did see. The program director Helen and her husband Michael played tour guide this weekend and fearlessly navigated the group of 12 all around Taipei.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"&gt;&lt;meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"&gt;&lt;meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"&gt;&lt;meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"&gt;&lt;link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSKYLAR%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"&gt;&lt;link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSKYLAR%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"&gt;&lt;link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSKYLAR%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:worddocument&gt;   &lt;w:view&gt;Normal&lt;/w:View&gt; 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	mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; 	mso-style-noshow:yes; 	mso-style-priority:99; 	mso-style-qformat:yes; 	mso-style-parent:""; 	mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; 	mso-para-margin-top:0in; 	mso-para-margin-right:0in; 	mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; 	mso-para-margin-left:0in; 	line-height:115%; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:11.0pt; 	font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; 	mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; 	mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; 	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; 	mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; 	mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;7:40 am&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;Meet at the train station&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;8:00 am&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt; High Speed rail departs, leaving Amy (still on MRT), Michael and Sunny (to wait)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;9:30 am&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;Arrive Taipei, wait for rest of the group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;10:20 am&lt;span style=""&gt;              &lt;/span&gt;MRT to Chang-Kei Check memorial&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;11:15 am&lt;span style=""&gt;               &lt;/span&gt;Arrive memorial, changing of the guard&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;12:15 am&lt;span style=""&gt;               &lt;/span&gt;Leave memorial&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;1:00 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;Explore train station looking for food – Hong Kong style food&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;2:00 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                Youth H&lt;/span&gt;otel Owned by the government (very nice!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;3:00 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;leave for National Palace museum&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;6:30 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;leave museum in a bus, eat open flame hot pot (very hot, very yummy)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;8:00 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;Oldest and largest Taipei night market&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;9:00 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;walk to hotel&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;10:00 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;              &lt;/span&gt;showered and sound asleep&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;SUNDAY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;8:00 am &lt;span style=""&gt;               &lt;/span&gt;wake up dress&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;9:45 am&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;leave hotel (15 mins behind schedule)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;10:00 am&lt;span style=""&gt;              &lt;/span&gt;MRT to Taipei 101&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;12:30 am&lt;span style=""&gt;              &lt;/span&gt;leave Taipei 101 for Handicraft Mart&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;2:15 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;leave handicraft market&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;3:00 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;wander about the train station – find food&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;3:40 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;leave Taipei and eat on the train&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;5:30 pm&lt;span style=""&gt;                &lt;/span&gt;arrive in Kaohsiung&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;At 6:30 pm&lt;span style=""&gt; &lt;/span&gt;host family takes us to dinner at a very nice Restaurant called Hansin's. It was Hong Kong style (see earlier entry) and we ate and ate and ate some more. So much food and so yummy! We tired a little of everything!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-4252605498369482434?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/4252605498369482434/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/718-19-itinerary-taipei.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/4252605498369482434'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/4252605498369482434'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/718-19-itinerary-taipei.html' title='7/18 &amp; 19 Itinerary - Taipei'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-796950813848558787</id><published>2009-07-19T02:00:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T04:19:54.448-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Taipei 101</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNEcUWZd3I/AAAAAAAAAK0/FHOw1MdgFMk/s1600-h/DSCN6910.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNEcUWZd3I/AAAAAAAAAK0/FHOw1MdgFMk/s400/DSCN6910.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360203234790700914" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Although the tower is called Taipei 101, the observation deck is on the 88th floor. We had a chance to ride the fastest elevator in the world and take some awesome photos:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWm8zze3YI/AAAAAAAAAMM/ztYuksNcuy0/s1600-h/DSCN6884.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWm8zze3YI/AAAAAAAAAMM/ztYuksNcuy0/s320/DSCN6884.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360874495082945922" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWm8rLs3dI/AAAAAAAAAME/P5Qd6EYIxK0/s1600-h/DSCN6904.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWm8rLs3dI/AAAAAAAAAME/P5Qd6EYIxK0/s320/DSCN6904.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360874492768607698" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWm8LvJVXI/AAAAAAAAAL8/zA_yHsPhpPw/s1600-h/DSCN6860.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWm8LvJVXI/AAAAAAAAAL8/zA_yHsPhpPw/s320/DSCN6860.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360874484327339378" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWm7yGqr2I/AAAAAAAAAL0/sgwc1x7dRWs/s1600-h/DSCN6857.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWm7yGqr2I/AAAAAAAAAL0/sgwc1x7dRWs/s320/DSCN6857.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360874477446672226" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is a link to all of my pictures from Taipei!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26556399@N05/?donelayout=1"&gt;Click here for the Pictures from Taipei!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-8109093916f4f3d1" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"&gt;&lt;param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"&gt;&lt;param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v24.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D8109093916f4f3d1%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329866366%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D757759A2CAEAD1D22444407ADB37D7E40A2C5935.1C86F6822FEB46135164072454E51D12AB25B232%26key%3Dck1&amp;amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D8109093916f4f3d1%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3Dnc-OFmWYChBHezHrTP6sOcjakP4&amp;amp;autoplay=0&amp;amp;ps=blogger"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v24.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D8109093916f4f3d1%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329866366%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D757759A2CAEAD1D22444407ADB37D7E40A2C5935.1C86F6822FEB46135164072454E51D12AB25B232%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D8109093916f4f3d1%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3Dnc-OFmWYChBHezHrTP6sOcjakP4&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-796950813848558787?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='enclosure' type='video/mp4' href='http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=8109093916f4f3d1&amp;type=video%2Fmp4' length='0'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/796950813848558787/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/taipei-101.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/796950813848558787'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/796950813848558787'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/taipei-101.html' title='Taipei 101'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNEcUWZd3I/AAAAAAAAAK0/FHOw1MdgFMk/s72-c/DSCN6910.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-8356308379178396422</id><published>2009-07-19T01:00:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-21T08:01:06.149-04:00</updated><title type='text'>The Hong Kong Style</title><content type='html'>Okay. I must say that upon partaking of this cuisine for the first time, as a westerner, I was quite shocked that a restaurant would serve food cold. However the more I thought about it the more it made sense in this time and place.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWdLiCkTLI/AAAAAAAAALc/QqugNZbMNtU/s1600-h/DSCN6963.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWdLiCkTLI/AAAAAAAAALc/QqugNZbMNtU/s320/DSCN6963.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360863752896138418" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hong Kong style is when food is brought to you on a rolling cart or tray and then unwrapped and handed directly to you. However it is served in the state that it appears to you. For example: the dumplings were on a steamer cart while the broccoli was not. Therefor the Broccli was cold and the dumplings (amazing, best dumplings yet) hot.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For dessert a familiar face made an appearance! FLAN!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWdL8y3UKI/AAAAAAAAALk/-kl-DafC8bw/s1600-h/DSCN6965.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWdL8y3UKI/AAAAAAAAALk/-kl-DafC8bw/s320/DSCN6965.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360863760078033058" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;However, not being much a FLAN fan i decided to try something new and had the grey concotion in the first bowl on the tray. It was had a sweet undertone and hundreds of tiny rice balls floating in in. It was sweet enough but not sickly like many American treats.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWdMX2GO2I/AAAAAAAAALs/ABHwGkA92zY/s1600-h/DSCN6964.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWdMX2GO2I/AAAAAAAAALs/ABHwGkA92zY/s320/DSCN6964.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360863767339350882" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-8356308379178396422?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/8356308379178396422/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/hong-kong-style.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/8356308379178396422'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/8356308379178396422'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/hong-kong-style.html' title='The Hong Kong Style'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmWdLiCkTLI/AAAAAAAAALc/QqugNZbMNtU/s72-c/DSCN6963.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-7220728506745240200</id><published>2009-07-18T21:39:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T04:54:21.275-04:00</updated><title type='text'>A Saturday in Taipei</title><content type='html'>First stop The National Chiang &lt;em&gt;Kai&lt;/em&gt;-&lt;em&gt;shek&lt;/em&gt; Memorial Hall. We were awed at the space allowed for this monument in the midst of such a large city. We took pictures in awe and humor:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSLIohivI/AAAAAAAAAOs/tMYueN4B7Qo/s1600-h/DSCN6724.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSLIohivI/AAAAAAAAAOs/tMYueN4B7Qo/s400/DSCN6724.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361203495169002226" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSLwkWRGI/AAAAAAAAAO8/vcjhYPwHBGk/s1600-h/DSCN6746.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSLwkWRGI/AAAAAAAAAO8/vcjhYPwHBGk/s400/DSCN6746.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361203505888904290" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most importantly, we stayed for the changing of the gaurd. These guys are intense!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSMZuHztI/AAAAAAAAAPM/ii7NtWbaH8k/s1600-h/DSCN6768.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSMZuHztI/AAAAAAAAAPM/ii7NtWbaH8k/s400/DSCN6768.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361203516935753426" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;They remain motionless at arms for hours and an attendant comes to wipe their sweat and adjust their uniforms.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSMH18ksI/AAAAAAAAAPE/p00hZ79G3_Q/s1600-h/DSCN6741.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSMH18ksI/AAAAAAAAAPE/p00hZ79G3_Q/s400/DSCN6741.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361203512136733378" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We are stayed in a very nice youth hotel! Because the hotel was across the street from The Grand Hotel, first impressions gave a lot to be desired. However, we loved our stay. The rooms had the three things every American hopes for: cold room, clean sheets, and hot water.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmXEBpLIEFI/AAAAAAAAANE/x7xc9-opLhw/s1600-h/DSCN6786.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmXEBpLIEFI/AAAAAAAAANE/x7xc9-opLhw/s320/DSCN6786.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360906463965876306" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After we checked in we went to one of the oldest, biggest, busiest and smelliest night markets I have seen. There were thousands of people swarming this tiny block! The noise alone would have made most people turn and run, but here in Taiwan shopping is quite the hobby!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbTgVuc2_I/AAAAAAAAAPU/jb--Lc0N5RQ/s1600-h/DSCN6794.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbTgVuc2_I/AAAAAAAAAPU/jb--Lc0N5RQ/s400/DSCN6794.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361204958972402674" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Humor for the evening: A toast claw machine:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbTg2h4VeI/AAAAAAAAAPc/aG-rjA-WezM/s1600-h/DSCN6795.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbTg2h4VeI/AAAAAAAAAPc/aG-rjA-WezM/s400/DSCN6795.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361204967778047458" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-7220728506745240200?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/7220728506745240200/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/taipei.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7220728506745240200'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7220728506745240200'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/taipei.html' title='A Saturday in Taipei'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbSLIohivI/AAAAAAAAAOs/tMYueN4B7Qo/s72-c/DSCN6724.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-6075917353370201560</id><published>2009-07-17T05:59:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T20:06:53.992-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/17 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>FRIDAY Week 2! The realization that the trip is almost half over is starting to set in. I am very sad to be leaving a place that I may never return is breaking my heart. Today's itinerary is as follows:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;8-12 Teaching&lt;br /&gt;12-1 Meeting&lt;br /&gt;1-4 KTV! Karaoke Taiwanese style! This place looked more like a grand hotel than a Karaoke joint! You rent an entire room with a huge projector and then you punch in the number for the song you would like to sing. You are seated most comfortably on a couch facing the screen and there is no public embarrassment! The theme is good times and fun!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbnRi0RuUI/AAAAAAAAAPs/W0duk5a9_ac/s1600-h/DSCN6685.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbnRi0RuUI/AAAAAAAAAPs/W0duk5a9_ac/s400/DSCN6685.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361226695021017410" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbnRJSTLjI/AAAAAAAAAPk/Bw_IitPM4t4/s1600-h/DSCN6680.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbnRJSTLjI/AAAAAAAAAPk/Bw_IitPM4t4/s400/DSCN6680.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361226688167620146" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-6075917353370201560?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/6075917353370201560/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/717-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6075917353370201560'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6075917353370201560'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/717-itinerary.html' title='7/17 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbnRi0RuUI/AAAAAAAAAPs/W0duk5a9_ac/s72-c/DSCN6685.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-2439697706278818414</id><published>2009-07-16T22:17:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-16T22:24:49.357-04:00</updated><title type='text'>The World Games are here!</title><content type='html'>Although I did not personally make it to the opening ceremony of the World Games the buzz around the city is phenomenal! The buses are free, students are missing class left and right for performances, there have been two or three practice rounds of fireworks, and the list goes on! The excitement of being in the same city as the world games is palpable in the air! There are murals and posters everywhere, not to mention the increase in the number of foreigners we have seen on the subway(MRT)!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is one student in her world games uniform, ready for a preformance later today:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_g1FxRvzI/AAAAAAAAAIM/ewO3wADz7Y8/s1600-h/DSCN6678.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_g1FxRvzI/AAAAAAAAAIM/ewO3wADz7Y8/s400/DSCN6678.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359249284280729394" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One more day of teaching/testing then on to Taipei!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-2439697706278818414?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/2439697706278818414/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/world-games-are-here.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/2439697706278818414'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/2439697706278818414'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/world-games-are-here.html' title='The World Games are here!'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_g1FxRvzI/AAAAAAAAAIM/ewO3wADz7Y8/s72-c/DSCN6678.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-992412104859690945</id><published>2009-07-16T01:00:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-21T08:44:44.466-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/16 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>8-12 Teaching&lt;br /&gt;12 Meeting and Lunch&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4 pm HARRY POTTER!! Tonight we went out to celebrate Morgan's Birthday. We went to the movies and then to Friday's to celebrate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW1uz9W8KI/AAAAAAAAAMU/bRPYU-o3pWw/s1600-h/DSCN6634.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW1uz9W8KI/AAAAAAAAAMU/bRPYU-o3pWw/s320/DSCN6634.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360890747280617634" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW2637H9kI/AAAAAAAAAM8/NAViPfvaiXI/s1600-h/DSCN6633.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW2637H9kI/AAAAAAAAAM8/NAViPfvaiXI/s320/DSCN6633.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360892054015047234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fun was had by all! Goofy games ensued and the students traded glasses with Abe and he tried on Mimi's glasses:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW1vTk05uI/AAAAAAAAAMc/CUkuAkcmRn0/s1600-h/DSCN6648.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW1vTk05uI/AAAAAAAAAMc/CUkuAkcmRn0/s320/DSCN6648.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360890755767658210" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW1v_nhYqI/AAAAAAAAAMk/zTGbVG6VtSo/s1600-h/DSCN6643.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW1v_nhYqI/AAAAAAAAAMk/zTGbVG6VtSo/s320/DSCN6643.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360890767590122146" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW26WzcIsI/AAAAAAAAAM0/mHr1YY7BPXQ/s1600-h/DSCN6644.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW26WzcIsI/AAAAAAAAAM0/mHr1YY7BPXQ/s320/DSCN6644.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360892045124444866" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-992412104859690945?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/992412104859690945/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/716-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/992412104859690945'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/992412104859690945'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/716-itinerary.html' title='7/16 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmW1uz9W8KI/AAAAAAAAAMU/bRPYU-o3pWw/s72-c/DSCN6634.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-6332036407674416438</id><published>2009-07-13T17:14:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-24T03:36:49.152-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/13 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>MONDAY&lt;br /&gt;School Reporting day so class started later than usual. These late mornings are really nice every now and again. No class till 10:00 am&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;7:30 Traditional Chinese Market : I asked my host mother to take me grocery shopping with her but she said we could not do it all in one stop like Americans do. She suggested that this morning she would go to a market that it was easy to park at. This market still had plenty of things to offer my western senses. Let me tell you something, I was expecting smells and sounds, but let me tell you this market was very well kept and clean. I would have eaten anything from there (once it had been properly cooked of course). And eat it we did. We had the very fish we bought for dinner, eye ball and all! Yum yum!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Smlj6Ma6yFI/AAAAAAAAAP0/1f2EUjzZfoo/s1600-h/DSCN6661.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Smlj6Ma6yFI/AAAAAAAAAP0/1f2EUjzZfoo/s400/DSCN6661.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361926682778978386" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;9:30 School to prepare for the classes&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;12 Lunch at HOT POT! WOOOO! (See hot pot entry)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Smlj7C2P2EI/AAAAAAAAAQE/ICpJ2B6Q9ts/s1600-h/Taiwan+584.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Smlj7C2P2EI/AAAAAAAAAQE/ICpJ2B6Q9ts/s400/Taiwan+584.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361926697389119554" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2:30 pm Adventure to change American Express Travelers checks : FAIL. Absolute FAIL. The office was guarded by a security person who did not speak any English and would not let me into the office to speak to anyone in English. Banks etc do close at 3 pm so there is a good chance the office was closed and we had a technical fail. At any rate there was a beautiful cloudy view of the 85 floor building here in Kaohsiung.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Smlj6if5lWI/AAAAAAAAAP8/LlVxfMDWX1c/s1600-h/DSCN6532.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Smlj6if5lWI/AAAAAAAAAP8/LlVxfMDWX1c/s400/DSCN6532.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361926688705451362" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-6332036407674416438?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/6332036407674416438/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/713-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6332036407674416438'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6332036407674416438'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/713-itinerary.html' title='7/13 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Smlj6Ma6yFI/AAAAAAAAAP0/1f2EUjzZfoo/s72-c/DSCN6661.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-7729963959416265462</id><published>2009-07-13T10:24:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-24T03:38:07.963-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Traditional Chinese Market</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_iKDbMTMI/AAAAAAAAAIk/PWodoGpRG9o/s1600-h/DSCN6659.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_iKDbMTMI/AAAAAAAAAIk/PWodoGpRG9o/s400/DSCN6659.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359250743940107458" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;This morning it was a school reporting day so we did not have to be at school until 10:00am. This was really a nice treat because we usually have class starting at 8:10am. I opted, however, to go with my host mother to a traditional Chinese market.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Vegetables! Mostly gourds and the like - the bumpy ones are quite bitter - I know from experience. Its no zucchini!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_iJ3YqayI/AAAAAAAAAIc/k2RWihBP4Rw/s1600-h/DSCN6664.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_iJ3YqayI/AAAAAAAAAIc/k2RWihBP4Rw/s400/DSCN6664.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359250740708272930" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pig Face:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_iJXBpD0I/AAAAAAAAAIU/QTzjTEoQwA8/s1600-h/DSCN6670.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_iJXBpD0I/AAAAAAAAAIU/QTzjTEoQwA8/s400/DSCN6670.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359250732021780290" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Piggy foot!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNA0BIJHLI/AAAAAAAAAKs/NbdJkOJ7nE8/s1600-h/DSCN6666.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNA0BIJHLI/AAAAAAAAAKs/NbdJkOJ7nE8/s320/DSCN6666.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360199243900984498" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;One of the nicest sales people at 7:30 in the morning!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNAz022GyI/AAAAAAAAAKk/MhjW6z6REjM/s1600-h/DSCN6663.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNAz022GyI/AAAAAAAAAKk/MhjW6z6REjM/s320/DSCN6663.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360199240607210274" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Fish heads anyone?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNAznSr-wI/AAAAAAAAAKc/7H5C-vXSFtw/s1600-h/DSCN6656.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmNAznSr-wI/AAAAAAAAAKc/7H5C-vXSFtw/s320/DSCN6656.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360199236965890818" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is a video of some of the fish still breathing!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-a0799b18186e2b20" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"&gt;&lt;param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"&gt;&lt;param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v22.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Da0799b18186e2b20%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329866366%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D25AA3F394969E6D984ABCDDB67E8C536A3B41B4D.6D0C24258B38CF6D61D517C46E1181E76FFD43B4%26key%3Dck1&amp;amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Da0799b18186e2b20%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DMwmrUJg1KiGoCpIlp14AVdLw_Fo&amp;amp;autoplay=0&amp;amp;ps=blogger"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v22.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Da0799b18186e2b20%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329866366%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D25AA3F394969E6D984ABCDDB67E8C536A3B41B4D.6D0C24258B38CF6D61D517C46E1181E76FFD43B4%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Da0799b18186e2b20%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DMwmrUJg1KiGoCpIlp14AVdLw_Fo&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-7729963959416265462?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='enclosure' type='video/mp4' href='http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=a0799b18186e2b20&amp;type=video%2Fmp4' length='0'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/7729963959416265462/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/traditional-chinese-market.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7729963959416265462'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7729963959416265462'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/traditional-chinese-market.html' title='Traditional Chinese Market'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl_iKDbMTMI/AAAAAAAAAIk/PWodoGpRG9o/s72-c/DSCN6659.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-4089616467410748128</id><published>2009-07-09T09:38:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-17T09:44:22.549-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/9/09 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>THURSDAY&lt;br /&gt;8-12 School; Here our students taught us how to make Muahchi.  SO YUMMY! If you have enough sugar. I had to show my surprise at the taste to two classes. I might be a much better actor than I thought. :)  Here our students Nose, Michael Jackson, Cassie, Yuki, and Susan show us hands on:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3hWaEGg8I/AAAAAAAAAHM/Ed3rqgRjOoQ/s1600-h/IMG_1588.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3hWaEGg8I/AAAAAAAAAHM/Ed3rqgRjOoQ/s400/IMG_1588.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358686906710655938" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;12-2 Meeting: Planning for next week and tomorrow's assessment&lt;br /&gt;2-4 Internet Cafe, more like WOW's Taiwanese Lingya District Headquarters! This place was really nice but there was not wifi like I had hoped but this worked out better. I could charge my laptop, transfer pictures to my jump drive, write blog entries, and check email! I should really look into getting a desktop in Tally.... I could super computer all the time!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3es1Mbt7I/AAAAAAAAAHE/YgbtTKcVsbY/s1600-h/IMG_1601.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 256px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3es1Mbt7I/AAAAAAAAAHE/YgbtTKcVsbY/s400/IMG_1601.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358683993415595954" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Here is a picture that looks a bit to much like the author photo that appears on the back page of every non-fiction book. &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Here the author sits with her trip adviser as the prepare the day's blog entry... &lt;/span&gt;I could just see it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dr. O'Kon started her own blog that day! You should check it out: &lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/tcctaiwan2009.blogspot.com"&gt;tcctaiwan2009.blogspot.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4-9 Stationary store, bookstore, sporting goods store&lt;br /&gt;9ish Yummy Chinese food from a Mom &amp;amp; Pop. You know it is got to be good if 1. you are the only white person there and 2. there is no English spoken behind the counter! It was so yummy! We ate vegetarian today because it was what worked for us.&lt;br /&gt;Bedtime!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-4089616467410748128?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/4089616467410748128/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/7909-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/4089616467410748128'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/4089616467410748128'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/7909-itinerary.html' title='7/9/09 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3hWaEGg8I/AAAAAAAAAHM/Ed3rqgRjOoQ/s72-c/IMG_1588.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-7176690104970018612</id><published>2009-07-08T08:16:00.012-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-17T09:46:28.260-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/8/09 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>8-12 am Teaching&lt;br /&gt;12-1 pm Meeting&lt;br /&gt;2-4 pm Wandering and hanging out near central park. We took the afternoon off to hang out and chill. We got to know each other over coffee and cake.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3nnMFb2iI/AAAAAAAAAIE/f9QqQI917jY/s1600-h/DSCN5846.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 323px; height: 243px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3nnMFb2iI/AAAAAAAAAIE/f9QqQI917jY/s400/DSCN5846.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358693792085695010" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Tiramisu is just not the same here:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB0va2D9hI/AAAAAAAAAI8/D7cyfNZC-kQ/s1600-h/DSCN5850.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB0va2D9hI/AAAAAAAAAI8/D7cyfNZC-kQ/s400/DSCN5850.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359411914579637778" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;We were at the restaurant long enough the manager gave us a free soft peanut brittle. Amazing!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB0we0xJoI/AAAAAAAAAJE/W7By2wSIcMI/s1600-h/DSCN5854.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 164px; height: 219px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB0we0xJoI/AAAAAAAAAJE/W7By2wSIcMI/s400/DSCN5854.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359411932827821698" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is the Central Park MRT station! It is so pretty! Flowers and huge floating shoes!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmBclLqeOfI/AAAAAAAAAI0/Yc30ZAnzIQs/s1600-h/DSCN5855.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmBclLqeOfI/AAAAAAAAAI0/Yc30ZAnzIQs/s400/DSCN5855.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359385350426737138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3naosCFvI/AAAAAAAAAH8/4N9vV5mQNns/s1600-h/DSCN5834.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3naosCFvI/AAAAAAAAAH8/4N9vV5mQNns/s400/DSCN5834.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358693576425477874" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Formosa Blvd Station - Dome of Light&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB3b4gTjkI/AAAAAAAAAJc/cjkENLfsFL0/s1600-h/DSCN5858.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 210px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB3b4gTjkI/AAAAAAAAAJc/cjkENLfsFL0/s320/DSCN5858.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359414877478948418" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;On the way back from the MRT I rode on the back of Jane's scooter. She is such a good driver! &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Shhh! I was not supposed to ride on any scooters!&lt;/span&gt; The engines are much smaller and are not capable of going quite as fast as US scooters, which is better with the city traffic.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;7:00 pm Fireworks! Our first since the fourth! I was so glad to see them! We were so close to them! We could almost smell the gun powder! McDonalds and Night Market goodness!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-7176690104970018612?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/7176690104970018612/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/7809-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7176690104970018612'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7176690104970018612'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/7809-itinerary.html' title='7/8/09 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sl3nnMFb2iI/AAAAAAAAAIE/f9QqQI917jY/s72-c/DSCN5846.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-6631565633671927845</id><published>2009-07-08T07:00:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-17T09:38:27.864-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Adventrues with Mr. Fu!</title><content type='html'>Tonight Mr. Fu took Ryan, Folayan, and I out to eat at McDonalds! My first since leaving the states. I have to say I don't think I have ever been to a McDonalds and not seen beef on the menu. It was quite refreshing!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB2p7p-E1I/AAAAAAAAAJM/nvIKSxPRyRg/s1600-h/DSCN5862.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB2p7p-E1I/AAAAAAAAAJM/nvIKSxPRyRg/s320/DSCN5862.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359414019331330898" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Later we went to see fireworks. They were a practice since the world games but it was nice to see them since we didn't see any on the fourth! Such a sight for sore eyes!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Afterward we went to the Lieohugh night market. This is the tourist night market so there were plenty of wierd things but here is the run down of the coolest things we have seen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB3bkCUzjI/AAAAAAAAAJU/rYPDUv-cThQ/s1600-h/DSCN5916.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB3bkCUzjI/AAAAAAAAAJU/rYPDUv-cThQ/s320/DSCN5916.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359414871984492082" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Puppies!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB96pr1CrI/AAAAAAAAAKU/lD-PbdjiFkw/s1600-h/DSCN5911.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB96pr1CrI/AAAAAAAAAKU/lD-PbdjiFkw/s320/DSCN5911.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359422003146459826" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Taiwanese Billy Mays:&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB96aB4ExI/AAAAAAAAAKM/MoPD2zQ1kA4/s1600-h/DSCN5969.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB96aB4ExI/AAAAAAAAAKM/MoPD2zQ1kA4/s320/DSCN5969.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359421998943965970" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Tofu on a stick!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB5a6YIgGI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/da1ISsafjZE/s1600-h/DSCN5952.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB5a6YIgGI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/da1ISsafjZE/s320/DSCN5952.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359417059824926818" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hot Dog!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB5abEDWnI/AAAAAAAAAJs/x0cYYSl71nQ/s1600-h/DSCN5956.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB5abEDWnI/AAAAAAAAAJs/x0cYYSl71nQ/s320/DSCN5956.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359417051419204210" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cow Tongue&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB5aN-pn7I/AAAAAAAAAJk/bISM1HKqbog/s1600-h/DSCN5967.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB5aN-pn7I/AAAAAAAAAJk/bISM1HKqbog/s320/DSCN5967.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359417047906885554" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Stuffed intestine:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB956HguMI/AAAAAAAAAKE/NLZawAebf1w/s1600-h/DSCN5960.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB956HguMI/AAAAAAAAAKE/NLZawAebf1w/s320/DSCN5960.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359421990377666754" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Piggy for sale:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB95gPHJKI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/g2mX2pokN2Q/s1600-h/DSCN5922.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB95gPHJKI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/g2mX2pokN2Q/s320/DSCN5922.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359421983430223010" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-6631565633671927845?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/6631565633671927845/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/adventrues-with-mr-fu.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6631565633671927845'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6631565633671927845'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/adventrues-with-mr-fu.html' title='Adventrues with Mr. Fu!'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmB2p7p-E1I/AAAAAAAAAJM/nvIKSxPRyRg/s72-c/DSCN5862.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-5822777581521479432</id><published>2009-07-06T13:00:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-09T05:00:56.235-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/6/09 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>Ni-How! (Hello in Chinese!) We are slowly learning Chinese words for important things like Please, Hellow, Thank You, You are Welcome. The hardest things to get used to are the cultural differences and the language barrier. But more on that later!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The school schedule works like this:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;8-12 am: Teach students at San Shin (The teachers move from classroom to classroom, which is different from the schools that I went to but I have heard other US schools do this, "traveling teachers").&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;12-4pm: Adventures around Kaohsiung ( the early deadline is because a few of the host families have the teachers ride the bus)&lt;br /&gt;5 or 6pm: (at my house) Dinner! Traditional Chinese dinner - Smorgasbord of fresh foods and flavors. This is one of my favorite parts of the day because we get to watch our host family interact with each other. This is fascinating to me. I love it!&lt;br /&gt;6-10pm: Night adventure to night market or other places. People in Kaohsiung have it right and have the fun out door things at night since its soooo much cooler to do so.     OR     Internet and reading time. Our host family loves to read and go on the Internet. They are just like an American family in this regard but there is a sense of community since the Internet is only in the living room (LAN).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Folayan and I rarely make it to bed before 11 pm since we both miss our families and love to talk to them and, with the time change, we cant do so until around 9 pm which gives us precious time with the people we love.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monday's day venture we went to the department store by my house. It was our first time alone without a native speaker. There was a lot of pantomiming and calculators but we fared very well. See the President Department Store entry below!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-5822777581521479432?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/5822777581521479432/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/7609-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/5822777581521479432'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/5822777581521479432'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/7609-itinerary.html' title='7/6/09 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-494540496288769187</id><published>2009-07-06T11:11:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-15T07:49:42.521-04:00</updated><title type='text'>First Day of Teaching</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlIUVM6VcjI/AAAAAAAAAGc/ewmKWxgyHp0/s1600-h/DSCN5768.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlIUVM6VcjI/AAAAAAAAAGc/ewmKWxgyHp0/s400/DSCN5768.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355365261372650034" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Here I am on the Balcony across from the Department Head Office, where we meet before class. Today we got to school super early, so we went to the 7-11. I &lt;3 7-11. COLD WATER! Was my battle cry and I pillaged the store at 60 NTD, which is about 2 USD, a huge water mountain peaks cold and a coke zero. The Cold water was a hit among my fellow teachers! There were some very friendly faces that gave zealous waves, or "I want to meet you!" which is beginning English for "Pleased to meet you!" There were also a multitude of stares and people who would say "hello. bye-bye!" Fun people. So nice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First day of teaching went well. We had a ceremony with the principal Mr. Pan. He has given us his wishes after the first day that each student have a portfolio and as many worksheets as possible(news to everyone of us!). The ceremony was in Chinese/English with a translator. Fun stuff! The only time I was nervous the whole day was during that ceremony. I loved teaching. There was one point where I couldn't help but smiling because I was having too much fun!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My first class had Michael Jackson and Albbie. They were very helpful and kind. I can't wait to have them again. The other class I had was mainly first year students so it was nice to have control, but not as much learning and participating was happening. The second group leader, Debbie, was very nice and even showed me back to the Department Head Office before she left campus. I must admit being escorted everywhere does make me feel a bit important.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I collapsed into tears at lunch after my lesson play was torn apart! I really think that poor communication of expectations  all around was largely to blame, rather than poor preparation on my part. I took responsibility and went home and fixed the schedule as we discussed for anyone to take as they wished. I did this so I would feel that I did not dropt the ball, altough the work I did was really appreciated by the other teachers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After lunch we went to the President Department Store via cab from the school. It cost roughly $4.25 for 4 people so it was like a buck and change each. We wandered about, freeing Abe from solitude, me from stiffling heat, Morgan from temporary solitude (till 4 pm when she rides the bus home), and Ray from isolation. Ray is such a trooper! Everyday he briefs us on how he is doing and we all are very sorry to hear how he feels about his host family. The department store was great.  I rode back to school via Taxi with everyone and we "interneted" and hung out for a while.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Becky and I met today and she and I discussed how Miff recommended me, and I told her I was very happy to be here and to have Miff in my life! Because I am ever so greatful to Miff's support in planning and preparation for this trip. She is amazing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After the mall the storm clouds that had been threatening to move in all afternoon, and finally did, so I did some laundry on the patio - so cool, but more about that later. The air is noticeably cooler and the Mitsubishi billboard that was a constant 28/29 degrees Celsius finally read 26 and Oh what a marvelous 26 it was.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But ever since I hung up my laundry I have been updating my Blog and facebook. Most importantly Tina and Linda spent time with me while Folayan slept. She must have found the secret because I am very jealous of her continuous sleep. Now I must bid you adieu and call it a night. I love you all and I cant wait to see you. :D&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-494540496288769187?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/494540496288769187/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/first-day-of-teaching.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/494540496288769187'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/494540496288769187'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/first-day-of-teaching.html' title='First Day of Teaching'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlIUVM6VcjI/AAAAAAAAAGc/ewmKWxgyHp0/s72-c/DSCN5768.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-2256369725536165729</id><published>2009-07-06T05:01:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-18T21:37:13.895-04:00</updated><title type='text'>President Department Store: Part II</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlWzjFQotRI/AAAAAAAAAGs/GDVijg1-l2o/s1600-h/DSCN5659.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356384747115820306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlWzjFQotRI/AAAAAAAAAGs/GDVijg1-l2o/s400/DSCN5659.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Our host family showed us this mall on Saturday. They showed us their favorite store, the book store, and the MRT. Other than that the mall was close, we knew where it was, and we felt safe for our first day adventure. &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;One of the remarkable things is that there was a Bob Ross, The Joy of Painting, Learn how to paint instructor form US public television, table at an Arts and Crafts store. I could not take a picture. In the states every one knows who he is but I had no idea he was so international. He also looks like my friend Sam Mandrick. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Here are some pictures from around the mall. The first graffit and the other is Rainbow park!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356384752100266034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlWzjX1BUDI/AAAAAAAAAG0/uLsYrS2GLbE/s400/DSCN5657.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356384757248023874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlWzjrAV3UI/AAAAAAAAAG8/EfQ_KEvqSI4/s400/DSCN5661.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-2256369725536165729?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/2256369725536165729/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/president-department-store-part-ii.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/2256369725536165729'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/2256369725536165729'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/president-department-store-part-ii.html' title='President Department Store: Part II'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlWzjFQotRI/AAAAAAAAAGs/GDVijg1-l2o/s72-c/DSCN5659.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-8543521165246294101</id><published>2009-07-05T21:00:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-09T05:16:03.400-04:00</updated><title type='text'>7/5/09 Itinerary</title><content type='html'>Heyo! Internet is working now so I am hooked up to a LAN cable in the living room but on my own computer, hence the photos! Here is today's itinerary for those of you trying to skype-ing along:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;7:30 am Wakeup and Journal&lt;br /&gt;9:30 am Gmail chat Thomas&lt;br /&gt;10:00 am Peace to my room to bask in AC and get ready for lunch party&lt;br /&gt;11:30 am Leave apartment&lt;br /&gt;11:50 am arrive lunch party&lt;br /&gt;12:00 am Have business meeting&lt;br /&gt;12:15 am Lunch starts, meeting over&lt;br /&gt;2:00 pm Lunch ends&lt;br /&gt;2:30 pm Tour san-sin High school&lt;br /&gt;3:30 pm return home to have internet fixed by Ryan's host dad&lt;br /&gt;5:00 pm I am writing this&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;6:30 pm Night market! YAY!&lt;br /&gt;8:00 pm Leave night market and return home/love river&lt;br /&gt;12:00 pm Home @ the latest!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The love river has become a bigger deal in recent days. It used to not be such a big deal, but now it is like the river walk in Jville I think. More to come on that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;P.S. Spoke to Sarah who is in Mainland China for a year and she says that the chinese govermnent has blocked the blogspot adress. It is crazy the kind of controll the governments overhear have. Taiwan seems to be much more layed back, but presents a serious, often mask clad, govermental face. Customs was quite intimidating, high blue desks with government workers, working quickly but quietly to get you documented and through the lines.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More later ;)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-8543521165246294101?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/8543521165246294101/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/7509-itinerary.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/8543521165246294101'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/8543521165246294101'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/7509-itinerary.html' title='7/5/09 Itinerary'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-6867559951571943766</id><published>2009-07-05T09:35:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-07T10:13:04.885-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Pictures!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26556399@N05/sets/72157620851988845/"&gt;http://www.flickr.com/photos/26556399@N05/sets/72157620851988845/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-6867559951571943766?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/6867559951571943766/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/pictures.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6867559951571943766'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/6867559951571943766'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/pictures.html' title='Pictures!'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-4232882056587742181</id><published>2009-07-05T04:56:00.014-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-15T07:55:17.265-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Lunch Party</title><content type='html'>Aside from the errant firecracker pop, I am sad to say the fourth of July passed here with no big fireworks to light the sky, no charcoal, and no BBQ. (Mmmm Bono's sounds amazing right now!) But speaking of food, the main agenda for today was our "lunch party."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was held at one of the best restaurants in Kaohsiung.  Julia, a part time teacher at San Shin, (who has amazing English and is our go to for taxis and how to) said her mother wishes that all the wedding banquets would be held at this restaurant so she can go there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHDqIkqcwI/AAAAAAAAAD0/_-VZn6MBL44/s1600-h/DSCN5702.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHDqIkqcwI/AAAAAAAAAD0/_-VZn6MBL44/s400/DSCN5702.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355276560543412994" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;This is what the down stairs looked like. Crystal dangling from golden chains with orchids and a golden carriage. Very fancy. I am glad they had us wear business casual. This restaurant looked nice enough to wear fancy fancy clothes but the locals were in business casual so we followed suit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHRZbx0BcI/AAAAAAAAAEc/gu7j0g4v5Po/s1600-h/DSCN5689.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHRZbx0BcI/AAAAAAAAAEc/gu7j0g4v5Po/s400/DSCN5689.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355291666803852738" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When we arrived, we met with the teachers in a separate room, while the host families had a separate meeting in the main dining room.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHFPwYyv3I/AAAAAAAAAD8/rnO2uK4gOkU/s1600-h/DSCN5688.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHFPwYyv3I/AAAAAAAAAD8/rnO2uK4gOkU/s400/DSCN5688.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355278306397831026" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;[Around the table: Folayan, Morgan, (standing) John Gelabert, Helen, (seated) Julia, Ray, Abe, (my seat), Amy, Ryan, and Dr. O'Kon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After our meeting Becky addressed the crowd in English and in Chinese, one right after the other, with ease(she is so smart!). A few times she would look at a Chinese speaker and try English, and once even looked at me once and tried to start a sentence in full Chinese. Below are Becky, John, and Jeanne addressing the crowd. (Whenever John or Jeanne would speak Becky would translate for the non-English speakers in the room.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHGWh-XbQI/AAAAAAAAAEE/bGeIJhtBdoA/s1600-h/DSCN5691.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHGWh-XbQI/AAAAAAAAAEE/bGeIJhtBdoA/s200/DSCN5691.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355279522299604226" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHOvSMfoTI/AAAAAAAAAEU/Rq1zMmE5tL4/s1600-h/DSCN5692.JPG"&gt;     &lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHOvMbgd_I/AAAAAAAAAEM/ZKDY3ibUcnQ/s1600-h/DSCN5690.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHOvMbgd_I/AAAAAAAAAEM/ZKDY3ibUcnQ/s200/DSCN5690.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355288742106003442" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHOvSMfoTI/AAAAAAAAAEU/Rq1zMmE5tL4/s1600-h/DSCN5692.JPG"&gt;     &lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHOvSMfoTI/AAAAAAAAAEU/Rq1zMmE5tL4/s200/DSCN5692.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355288743653646642" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From there lunch was served. And when they say lunch party they mean party. No expense was spared and the lunch was delicious! First we had cuts of raw fish on a beautiful mound of ice with huge wasabi pillars and ornamented with orchids and vegetable shapes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then there was the mollusks and yes I ate one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There were many dishes that were added to the large glass lazy susan in the middle of the table. All were very fresh. Very few were fried and if they were it was tempura style - light and airy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHRZq_5ZBI/AAAAAAAAAEk/0sOKIjvClIA/s1600-h/DSCN5694.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHRZq_5ZBI/AAAAAAAAAEk/0sOKIjvClIA/s400/DSCN5694.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355291670889456658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHRZ_NyknI/AAAAAAAAAEs/gDjN5xeHCk0/s1600-h/DSCN5695.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHRZ_NyknI/AAAAAAAAAEs/gDjN5xeHCk0/s400/DSCN5695.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355291676316439154" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHRaYaMXjI/AAAAAAAAAE0/h9CDLiesNZg/s1600-h/DSCN5696.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHRaYaMXjI/AAAAAAAAAE0/h9CDLiesNZg/s400/DSCN5696.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355291683079347762" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Amy, Folayan, and Me with our Mollusks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHW1_ZMfoI/AAAAAAAAAFE/mFLXcCJvuFs/s1600-h/DSCN5700.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHW1_ZMfoI/AAAAAAAAAFE/mFLXcCJvuFs/s400/DSCN5700.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355297654958751362" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;A dried shrimp! Linda said it started out normal sized and was shrunk during the drying process. This was from one of the main dishes. It was a goulash of crab, rice, dried shrimps like this one, spices, and bamboo sprout noodles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHW1i2_oTI/AAAAAAAAAE8/PcMRJzsVg0s/s1600-h/DSCN5698.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHW1i2_oTI/AAAAAAAAAE8/PcMRJzsVg0s/s400/DSCN5698.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355297647299109170" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Oysters and squash.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHW2HTh0CI/AAAAAAAAAFM/y6ntbROVYu8/s1600-h/DSCN5701.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHW2HTh0CI/AAAAAAAAAFM/y6ntbROVYu8/s400/DSCN5701.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355297657082466338" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;And last but not least the dessert of fruit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am very proud of myself. My rule of thumb was "tasty bites" of everything regardless of appearance or texture. This has really made me more accepted by the Taiwanese I have met so far. For example, at lunch when the raw fish came out I helped myself to the two oddest looking pieces there and one mom said, "I do not eat, Wow! you like?" Actually I did like it! This is just expanding my horizons beyond my wildest imaginations!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-4232882056587742181?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/4232882056587742181/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/lunch-party.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/4232882056587742181'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/4232882056587742181'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/lunch-party.html' title='Lunch Party'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHDqIkqcwI/AAAAAAAAAD0/_-VZn6MBL44/s72-c/DSCN5702.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-1100288890795671280</id><published>2009-07-05T04:02:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-15T08:01:16.023-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Tour of San-Shin</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdKWjWMoI/AAAAAAAAAFk/-1d2mwlvhwI/s1600-h/DSCN5709.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdKWjWMoI/AAAAAAAAAFk/-1d2mwlvhwI/s400/DSCN5709.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355304601842496130" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is the wing where most of our classes are being held. The big glass area is an elevator. In Taiwan you fit as many people on an elevator until the weight buzzer disallows the doors to close. They are very economical and this is quite admirable in my book!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdKqMFXVI/AAAAAAAAAFs/bLaqBLFes4I/s1600-h/DSCN5716.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdKqMFXVI/AAAAAAAAAFs/bLaqBLFes4I/s400/DSCN5716.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355304607113633106" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;One of the gardens on campus&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdKLMKNqI/AAAAAAAAAFc/jX6LFH9h9bY/s1600-h/DSCN5708.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdKLMKNqI/AAAAAAAAAFc/jX6LFH9h9bY/s400/DSCN5708.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355304598792451746" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Ryan was so excited he was tap dancing in the HUGE 2-story entry way. Everything is big here. This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in Kaohsiung! 9,000 students during the year!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdJopVqiI/AAAAAAAAAFU/obnASzyBREY/s1600-h/DSCN5714.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdJopVqiI/AAAAAAAAAFU/obnASzyBREY/s400/DSCN5714.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355304589519596066" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdK3Vf3bI/AAAAAAAAAF0/KfojQJ_Y4nI/s1600-h/DSCN5713.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdK3Vf3bI/AAAAAAAAAF0/KfojQJ_Y4nI/s400/DSCN5713.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355304610642779570" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Kidding! Christopher is Ryan's first name and it is often abbreviated Christ in Taiwan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlBthZAvp5I/AAAAAAAAADs/vf2mxQwZIfI/s1600-h/DSCN5711.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlBthZAvp5I/AAAAAAAAADs/vf2mxQwZIfI/s400/DSCN5711.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354900377360639890" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They were not kidding! Here is a picture of the poster they sent us (that I posted previously). Here Ray exclaims that he had no idea that picture was intended for global publication! Ray is to the left and Abe's host brother Art. 7/5&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-1100288890795671280?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/1100288890795671280/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/photos-back-to-haunt-us.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/1100288890795671280'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/1100288890795671280'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/photos-back-to-haunt-us.html' title='Tour of San-Shin'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlHdKWjWMoI/AAAAAAAAAFk/-1d2mwlvhwI/s72-c/DSCN5709.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-354473085963636756</id><published>2009-07-03T07:56:00.009-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-17T06:59:07.019-04:00</updated><title type='text'>"Queens of Kaohsiung"</title><content type='html'>11:30 pm   Hello! I have made it to Kaohsiung! I am writing to you a day after we arrived here because there was some difficulty with the internet and the husband/electronics-guru is out of town at the moment. so we are sharing one computer with our host family so time is at a premium!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlISijhSPpI/AAAAAAAAAF8/dULdepUen8E/s1600-h/DSCN5684.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlISijhSPpI/AAAAAAAAAF8/dULdepUen8E/s400/DSCN5684.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355363291756641938" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;[Yo-yo and Tina using the computers 7/5]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For those of you who were with me closest to my departure I was worried about my living conditions. Well no worries here. We are situated at the top floor of a very nice apartment complex very close to the President Department Store. It is very nice and air conditioned! Not unlike our room that has a small window unit. Everything is in Chinese! We know "blue is on, top left is function"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlITdY7hMcI/AAAAAAAAAGU/cHw9905KOW0/s1600-h/DSCN5662.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlITdY7hMcI/AAAAAAAAAGU/cHw9905KOW0/s400/DSCN5662.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355364302526165442" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The house is very modest but all on one floor. There is no air conditioning in the common areas but there are window units in the bedrooms.  Thank you sooooooooo much mom for forcing me to take my pillow. That is the one thing that I appreciate the most.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When we got to the airport in Taipei last night the feel was more like a mall in bus station or a train station, so dramatically different from the M-16 totting security guards in Los Angles. When we got to Kaohsiung we cleared customs and collected our bags and immediately afterward there was our host families! It was more like a movie theater on the other side of the wall we passed out of.  Chairs in a row, eyes fixed upon the door, awaiting arrival of friends, family, strangers in our case. Eyes darted from face to face in our group and quickly students were gathered by their host families! It was so nice to meet them! At first my instinct was to RUN! but then I calmed myself down and said, "its only a month. you did not just fly half way around the world to get scared when you got here."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The representatives from the school gave us our NTD lunch allowance and that was it. We were with our host families! Folayan and I were the last to leave because the car they brought was to small for our huge foreigner luggage. They had me take a cab with the two girls, Ya-ya and Tina. The cab was a bright yellow Toyota Yaris. It shook like going over the bridge at camp the whole time. The cabby and the girls only spoke Chinese/Taiwanese to one another and were very quick about it. I tried to be friendly and strike up a conversation but they were very shy. One memory from this ride was when Tina grabbed Yo-yo's hand and gave it to me and said "cold!" other than that I was on my own to gaze ga-ga out the window in this foreign place.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlISi-CKsCI/AAAAAAAAAGE/nKKPJtndfq8/s1600-h/DSCN5618.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlISi-CKsCI/AAAAAAAAAGE/nKKPJtndfq8/s400/DSCN5618.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355363298873880610" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;[Folayan and my host family with Ray and his host mom and her son. Row 1: Yo-yo, Tina, Linda (My host family), Grein. Row 2: Folayan, Son, Ray, Skylar]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When we got to the apartment it was very dark. There are very few streetlights off the main roads. It had rained in Taiwan and the ground was wet, so a few student's bags were wet but, saved again by the space bags, my stuff was all dry and packed just like I left it. We were shown a wardrobe to put our clothes in and I started moving stuff in to get out of my malting suitcase.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1:30 am   The shower was cold but that is a good thing because it must be 100% humidity and its 29 degrees Celsius even at night. I stayed up for a little bit of the Internet debacle last night but I was tired and so I took a pm and passed out until 11 am the next day.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-354473085963636756?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/354473085963636756/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/queens-of-kaohsiung.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/354473085963636756'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/354473085963636756'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/queens-of-kaohsiung.html' title='&quot;Queens of Kaohsiung&quot;'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlISijhSPpI/AAAAAAAAAF8/dULdepUen8E/s72-c/DSCN5684.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-589623323731559709</id><published>2009-07-02T17:31:00.006-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-09T05:16:29.922-04:00</updated><title type='text'>The Delorian is out of order, so we have to take the 747</title><content type='html'>Hey all! It is about 5:34pm Tallahassee time and only 2:34pm Los Angeles time and we are about to board our 3rd flight but 1st &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;International&lt;/span&gt; flight. The &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;international&lt;/span&gt; portion of the Los Angeles air port is like the Miami airport except Asians instead of Hispanics. It is quite a unique experience. But for the next 15 some odd hours I will be traveling to Taiwan! Wish me luck!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are a few pictures of the huge planes!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlBkvpU9JLI/AAAAAAAAAC8/P5V0PplEzvk/s1600-h/DSCN5573.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354890726653895858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlBkvpU9JLI/AAAAAAAAAC8/P5V0PplEzvk/s200/DSCN5573.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;This is our plane! 13 hours! window 3 - 4 - 3 window! Tons of people!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlBk_ot0OUI/AAAAAAAAADE/fwDuSGKp3Dg/s1600-h/DSCN5577.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354891001367640386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlBk_ot0OUI/AAAAAAAAADE/fwDuSGKp3Dg/s200/DSCN5577.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-589623323731559709?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/589623323731559709/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/delorian-is-out-of-order-so-we-have-to.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/589623323731559709'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/589623323731559709'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/07/delorian-is-out-of-order-so-we-have-to.html' title='The Delorian is out of order, so we have to take the 747'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SlBkvpU9JLI/AAAAAAAAAC8/P5V0PplEzvk/s72-c/DSCN5573.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-7318147002382605501</id><published>2009-06-30T21:52:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-15T08:14:48.635-04:00</updated><title type='text'>I am packed!</title><content type='html'>We just measured and weighed my suitcases and I am just under the 50 pound max! They are 43 and 44! I have made sure I have things that I can throw away when I am done with them to make more room for all of the purchases I am sure to make on the trip. I bought spacebags and wow do they make the difference! They hold all of the stuff together and suck all of the air out from between my clothes and makes packing more like Tetris!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also today I got an email from my host family! They have two girls and their father lives in Taipei during the week and comes home on the weekend. The other bit of news I got today is that Folayan and I will be sharing a host family. The family is apparently wealthy and has a nice sized house. This is a comforting thought at the end of a long journey. I am sure that irregardless of the financial situation of the family the trip will be life changing and memorable for everyone.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-7318147002382605501?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/7318147002382605501/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-am-packed.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7318147002382605501'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7318147002382605501'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-am-packed.html' title='I am packed!'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-8724259378907955764</id><published>2009-06-17T22:04:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2009-06-17T22:06:00.405-04:00</updated><title type='text'>P-p-P-p-Poster</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sjmgxxg0sqI/AAAAAAAAACs/fRQQyftZNtE/s1600-h/%E6%8B%9B%E7%94%9F%E6%B5%B7%E5%A0%B1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 141px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sjmgxxg0sqI/AAAAAAAAACs/fRQQyftZNtE/s200/%E6%8B%9B%E7%94%9F%E6%B5%B7%E5%A0%B1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348482809444217506" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is the poster that is posted around San Sin!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-8724259378907955764?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/8724259378907955764/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/06/here-is-poster-that-is-posted-around.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/8724259378907955764'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/8724259378907955764'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/06/here-is-poster-that-is-posted-around.html' title='P-p-P-p-Poster'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/Sjmgxxg0sqI/AAAAAAAAACs/fRQQyftZNtE/s72-c/%E6%8B%9B%E7%94%9F%E6%B5%B7%E5%A0%B1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402058679288193177.post-7600272867882868754</id><published>2009-06-17T17:44:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-07T10:16:42.272-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Popular!</title><content type='html'>http://www.wctv.tv/schools/headlines/48182052.html&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We were on the news! According to a friend, our picture and a brief description of our program was on the local Tallahassee news! The link above is to the WCTV article that is also on the TCC!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6402058679288193177-7600272867882868754?l=skylarcarlson.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/feeds/7600272867882868754/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/06/popular.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7600272867882868754'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6402058679288193177/posts/default/7600272867882868754'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://skylarcarlson.blogspot.com/2009/06/popular.html' title='Popular!'/><author><name>Skylar</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aAeZ_6HMEes/SmbM5XP-nnI/AAAAAAAAANc/wSNXjoNl9aE/S220/DSC_0286.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
