Blogust & Everything After

So much to talk about...I'm as frustrated as ever about not having internet at our house so I've made the effort to come to the school today and do all my internet business. It's been a wonderful afternoon. I have a few things to post about so I hope you are ready to read.

1) Yesterday was my Birthday. I am now officially 26 even though I've been telling people that for a few months now. It doesn't feel much different but it is kicking in that the next BIG birthday is 30. I guess everyone has to age but I don't really want to. I had a great day with my fellow house husband friend Andy. (Nevada and all the other teachers were out of town for a professional development day at another campus.) Andy and I met at Taipei 101...had some teppanyaki and then headed to WarnerVillage theater. I love movies so I thought I would hit the cinema on my b-day. The first movie we saw was Madagascar...it was a great flick. Disney might be back on track after putting out some crap movies over the past few years. The cast of this movie was key to it's success...as I looked for the Cast list online I found that it was a Dreamworks movie and not a Disney movie at all...so Disney's drought continues and Dreamworks just keeps rollin. (they also did Shrek in case you didn't know). Back to the Cast: Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter and Ali G (real name:Sacha Baron Cohen)...if I have to explain why this is a killer cast you need to watch more movies. It was funny and the animatiion was superb. A highlight for me was when they spoofed Charleton Heston in "Planet of the Apes" When Madagascar was finished we got back in line and bought tickets to The Island. All I can say is WOW. Love story, action, sci-fi, future, thriller...etc. There isn't much that this movie didn't have. I love these thinker type movies but this one doesn't even give you time to think it over....it's go go go. I recommend it to everyone. I might even go see it again. I think Scarlett Johansson is a fabulous actress and she will be around for a long time to come....I usually don't like Ewan MacGregor but he was fantastic. After the movies the wives came home and we all went out for supper to The New Orleans Kitchen which wasn't very good...we probably won't go there again....So that was my b-day in a nutshell...we're also going to go to the zoo on Saturday as a sort of b-day party.

2)"Rumours" by Philip Yancey...this guy writes books just for me. I'm sure of it. I have to admit that I'm struggling with some of the Christian basics. I'm asking some questions and not really finding the answers. The last time I was in a mood like this I was struggling with Church Politics and I read Yancey's "Soul Survivor". It hit the spot and helped me to understand some things and put my faith in perspective. This time Yancey is tackling the questions of "Is there anything out there besides just the physical and mundane? and if so, why does that matter?" I've only read the first two chapters but it's good so far. I appreciate that Yancey is well researched and well-read. He always quotes famous works of literature and he uses insight from spiritual/intellectual heavyweights...Kirkegaard and C.S.Lewis. I'll report back on what I've learned.

3) Convenience or Comfort....this is the question of the week as it relates to our apartment woes. There is a teacher who has a nice apartment with three bedrooms in a suburb of Taipei. It's aparently really nice and looks onto a river. Gerry (the proncipal) has offered a swap to us. We can trade places with her. So it sounds like the actual apartment will serve our needs better and might be "nicer" but the downfall is that it's quite a bit further away from the school and from the center of the city. So do we choose Convenience or Comfort? We're going to check it out on Saturday and hopefully we'll be able to make the right decision.

4) Last thing for now cuz I gotta go.....many people I've talked to at home have asked about my working situation. There are a few options that I'm working on. The general manager at Morrison..Paul..has passed my name on to a lady who runs an ESL company that sends teachers out to work with business men at their offices. I'll be sending in a resume soon enough. The next is a job that just got brought to my attention yesterday but looks good. There is a local Christian business man who is looking for a foreigner to do cirriculum writing for his ESL publishing company....it would be a challenge but it's a job that could have a future. The last option is to work as a private tutor for students at the school here who have troubles with English or any subject for that matter. These tutoring opportunities won't present themselves until school gets going next week. So for now I'm keeping my feelers out and following leads that come my way....

I'll be back with more babble soon....