Big Burgers

This is the first time for me to see big burgers like this. How can one person finish this hamburger? I do not know how. I just know that I cannot do it. It will need entire family of 10 to be able to finish it. This hamburger is very popular in USA. Only one restaurant has it for single and for parties. I need 10 or more days to be able ot finish it.

Cultivate Talent People (培育高中研發人才) is Approved by Taiwanese Ministry of Education

My plan for Cultivating Talent People (培育高中研發人才) now is apporved by Ministry of Education. Our topic is about Latino culture Vs. Taiwanese culture. They gave us only 3 months to be able to finish our product. I do not know how to start in this project. I need to get together with my students and see how we are going ot start in this project. Now, I have headache...

Going Back To Work

After a long vacation, it is the time to go back to work harder and harder. This week, junior ones are not comming ot school until next week. This week, I just have junior twos class. The rest of the time, I can spent my time cleanning my house bofore my son comes back and before Nancy's arrival. I amso excited to see my students. I have the same gorup of students this summer. I will try to make fun of classes for them.

Also,I have my new place at my office with new cabinets and we are closer to the fridge. I am in the middle of Jojo and Peggy. I will see what will hapen this year. I am hopping everything will be fine for me. I am also hopping that I can get contract for next year.

Kahyun Cho

Kahyun is one of my classmates when I studied in Edmonton, Canada. She still remembers me and she send me pictures about her. It is so kind of her to be able to remember me and David. She did not change at all. She is still pretty and kind. Thanks kahyun for your pictures.

Alan

We slept too much, we departured to Taipei at 4 Am. arriving there 9 AM. Alan was ready to go to his drawing class. When I saw my baby, he was so happy and he was waiting for his presents. I bought a lot of presents for Alan. He was so happy to see his presents. My house is so dirty, it is time for me to clean my house for entire week. Nancy is comming, so I cannot have dirty house for her to arrive. I need to clean the house first before she comes. I am so happy to be home again.

After three weeks that I did not see Alan, Alan lost his front teeths. My poor baby there's no teeth. I am so sad to see him without teeths.

Departure From Brisbane, Australia To Taiwan

After 21 days, we are going back to Taiwan. Students are having a great time in Brisbane, Australia. They want to come back again next year. I woke up early in the morning ot finishing packing. The night before, I was really sick. My homestay mom took care of me. In the morning, I had my breakfast and my homestay parents drop us ot the airport.

It is time to say good bye to them. I was so sad because I did not know when I will see them again. I am hopping that one day I can go back again to Australia. The principal told me that every 10 years, people will take turns. I am waiting for my another 10 years to go to Australia or England.

Arriving to Taiwan

After 8 hours and more on the plane, we finally arrived to Taiwan, Taipei. We are waiting for the bus and we are waiting to go home. I cannot wait to see Alan. I did not see Alan for three weeks already. I am hopping to see him soon.

I am so tired and hungry. I need to eat before I see Alan. I hope that David will be there to pick me up.

After one hour on the bus, finally we arrived to the park. All the parents are waiting to see their children. I am so excited to see my family. I am really tired. I want to go home and take shower. I saw David, he was waiting for me in the car. He brought me food to eat, we slept a little bit before we departure to Taipei to see Alan.

Graduation Day for Sheng-Kung Girls High School At NIC

Today is our graduation day. My students are preparing for the graduation program at NIC. As teachers, we wrote thank you cards for everyone at NIC. I hope today that the program will be good and I am hopping that my students will be ready to perform. I am hopping to see each homestay families will come today. I am so excited to go back to Taiwan and see Alan, but at the same time, I am so sad. This was a wonderful experience to bring students here.

Homestay Family Made Morning Tea For Us

What is tea? Tea for Australiana means food, and morning means in the morning. Morning tea putting together means morning food during break time.

This morning, my homestay family prepared Morning tea for my students. Borth Stephen and Barbara made pizza for them. They are very kind and they are so good at taking care of them as same as me. They know that my students are so hungry during their morning tea, so decided to make a good meal before they start another period of their studies. They are very good parents and they treat me as their own daughter. Unfortunately, when Stephen was preparing the meal, he cut his finger. I feel sorry for him.

All of students and two Australian teacher enjoyed eating their pizza. They made one vege for Vicky but unfortunately, Vicky did not eat anything because students were o hungry, even me there's no piece of pizza for me. I am going to miss them not only their food but also their kindness.

Classes All Day At Nudgee

Out study tour at Nudgee International College is almost come to the end. Today is a very relaxing day and all of my students have their whole day class today. I went to take some pictures and videotaping them to show my school what they are doing here. I am hopping that my school will like it.

Driver's License

This morning, I had only 90 cents in my calling card, I called Anita, my little sister to see if she passed her driver's test or not. She gave me a great news that she passed her test and she could get driver's license card tomorrow. I am so happy for her, finally she can come and pick me up, I am just kidding.

Playing Golf At NIC

This afternoon, my students and I had a great free time here at Nudgee International College. We played golf together. The sport is really boring but it good to control people's personality. I am a very hurry person, so it is good for me to control myself a little bit. This is the first time for me to play such interesting sport. I really like it but this is the first and last time that I play golf. Thanks your this trip that my school gave me, I am trying all kinds of things here. I really enjoy to be in Brisbane, Australia. Next time, I would like to bring my son and husband here for vacation. I would like to go to the Green Island.

Walking Down Through Nudgee Campus

This is the last week at Nudgee International College. We are going back on Friday, July, 21, 2006. Vicky and I decided to go for a walk down the Nudgee Campus. We took some pictures for our remembering. We tried to take as much pictures as possible. I am hopping that I can come back here with another study tour group.

This is the most beautiful campus that I never seen in my life. The campus size is extremely big, it has swimming pool, tennis corts, golf courts, big catholic church, cafeterias, a lot of doorms, a large area of animals to taking care and learn from and more.

This is the most expensive school in all Brisbane. However, the education system might be good. I think boys at this school can get a great jobs opportunities after their graduate from Nudgee College.

Ice Skating

It was a very fun afternoon. We went to Ice Skating. I lived in MN for many years and I never had an opportunity to go for ice skating. This is my first time to go to ice skating in Brisbane. I really enjoyed and having a lo of fun with my students.

I did not bring enough of jacket, so I was so cold inside. Inside is like a freezer in the fridge. But after moving for a while, I start to warm up. If my school did not ask me to come to Australia, I did not bring students to Brisbane, I won't have this wonderful chance with them. I really appreciate this vacation and be in Brisbane and knowing a lot of people.

Present From Glen, Our Driver

Three weeks in Brisbane is almost come to the end. We are all sad and all of us would like to stay here longer. Our bus driver, Glen always helped us all the time and he always gave us a lot of information when we are out of school. Surprisingly, he gave us a box of chocolate to Vicky and me and all of cute single chocolates for all of my students. They really enjoy to be with Glen. I wish the best for him in the future.

Dinner

Everyday I have plenty of food at my homestay. My homestay mother is very kind and she always worried about if I like or not her food. She always cook plenty of food for me and Vicky, my coworker. I do not need to worry about anything while I am in Brisbane.

Presents From My Homestay Family

I got Australian bag from my homestay family. They knew we need extra bags before we go back to Taiwan. I really like my homestay mother and father because they are not only caring for my students but also, they are taking care of me. I really appreciate what they have done for me during my stay in Brisbane.

TV Dinner

I had a wonderful dinner tonight. My homestay mother prepared steak and vegetables which she made us to eat in front of TV while we were eating our Movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It is a great movie with a lot of fighting. I really enjoyed my dinner here in Brisbane.

After dinner, we watched another program which is call, It Takes Two. It is a program for singers teacher people to be singers. Each week, people will disqualify in that program. This program is the similar to American Idol. I really enjoyed watching this program while I was having a chocolate ice cream.

Taking Train To Brisbane City

This morning, I woke up early in the morning to prepare to take a train to Brisbane city with Vicky and my homestay mother. We should do all the shopping before our departure. The train return ticket costs only $5.80 Australian dollars. It is a good deal for the weekend price.

After 30 minutes of trip, we arrived to the Queen Street Mall. They were so many people and a lot of shops to see. I found one suvrenier shop which is very cheap. In that store, everything is half price compared to other shops, this one is the cheapest one. I bought a lot of presents for everyone over there.

We also have lunch on the Queen Street Mall, I had my chicken taco and lemonade. I really like the food and everything is just wonderful. We continue shopping, we went to see shoes, clothing, bookstore, and more.

Finally, we end up to the big department store. I also saw a red and pink dress which is so pretty. I really like it, I enter to the store and I went to pick it up and try it on. After trying it, Vicky and my homestay mother said it looks good on me. I decide to buy it. I will wear it to work. All of us got so tired after a long day of shopping, we decided to go home afterwards.

More Movies to Finish

While I am in Brisbane, I tried to watch as much TV as possible. My homestay father rent some videos for us and I really like these two movies.

Rumor Has It, Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) is in a fog. She's finally agreed to marry her boyfriend Jeff (Mark Ruffalo), but isn't at all sure that marriage is what she really wants. Now she's on her way home to attend her sister's wedding, which means spending a lot of time with the tennis-obsessed Pasadena family that she's never felt quite a part of. It isn't until Sarah stumbles into a well-kept family secret that she starts to question her roots and sets off in search of the man who may have the answers she's looking for (Kevin Costner).

MR. AND MRS. SMITH is really its own ball of flaming wax, with enough sizzling chemistry between stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to blow up a small building. He shows he is equally adept in comedy and action, and she manages to set new screen standards of bad-ass sexiness. It's impossible to dislike this pair, or a movie that makes being married seem like such insane fun. Pitt and Jolie play extremely skilled professional assassins who have managed to stay married for five years without ever realizing each other's profession because they work for rival agencies and the work is top secret. When their paths eventually cross on a high-level hit, one of the most lethal battles of the sexes in the history of cinema is officially on. Thanks to a genuinely witty script, the issue isn't who will win, but whether the couple will realize they are meant for each other before it's too late.

Queensland Art Gallery

Before the ballet, my students and I went to the Queensland Art Gallery. The art gallery has many pictures to see. Unfortunately, I did not understand anything about art. I took a lot of pictures with diverse drawing such as Picasso. It is so fun to be at art gallery and enjoy the art.

Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty

Today I woke up very early in the morning to prepare to go to watch the ballet show. I took shower, wore my nice cloth on and put my make up. I was ready to go to the ballet. I am so excited to see the ballet, it is my first time to see this kind of show.

The show started at 1:30 PM. The dance, music, dresses, and the background scenery is just great. The Sleeping Beauty has three acts. Each act had 20 minute break. I really like the ballet, even the music will make me very sleepy, but I still enjoy their dances and specially the background scenery. I never see things like this before. It is a good pay of money. Each person costs $100 Australian dollars to get in the middle of the seats. It is a great view and a great of everything. Unfortunately, taking pictures are not allow.

There were a lot of people over there and everyone enjoyed the show. During the 20 minutes breaks, people will buy drinks, coffee, cakes, ice cream. People will chat and they will enjoy begin with others. Everyone were so pretty. They wore semi formal to this kind of event. My students and I wore semi formal, too. I really enjoyed the show, I wish I could come back to see Ice Skating.

Movie Night!

Tonight, my homestay mother, Barbara is going to the Ice Skating show. We are going to be home with Stephen, the homestay father. He is so nice, he cooked dinner for us and he brought us to rent videos for us to see tonight. The video rent is not very cheap compared to Taiwan. We rent four movies and the cost us $18 Australian Dollars. We rent Mr. & Mrs. Smith (史密斯夫婦), Flightplan (空中危機), Aeonflux (魔力女戰士), and Rumor has it (當真愛碰上八卦). Three movies we have to return tomorrow night. So, tonight we try to watch two movies and they are kind of drama. I like the movie and its plot. During the movie, we had popcorn and Ice cream.

The movie, Aeonflux (魔力女戰士), is a life of a young lady who past away, but her DAN is really good. An old man who works for the DAN company decided to use her DAN and give her a new life. Once they give her a new life, her job was killing people. When she knew about her identity, she decided to stop get orders and make her own diction.

The movie is a lot of flighting and it contains a lot of special effects. Also, it will show the human life in the future. It is not good for children but it is okay for adults. Rent the movie and you will see if you like it or not.

The next movie is Flightplan (空中危機). Kyle Pratt is a frantic but fiercely intelligent mother whose deepest protective instincts will be triggered by a haunting in-flight nightmare: in the middle of the trans-Atlantic trip, her young daughter turns up missing without a trace. No one saw her daughter aborting on the plane. Kyle won't leave the plane until she finds her child.

The other two movies, I haven't see it yet. Buy I will finish the other movie for tomorrow night and the other one, I have more time to see it.

Koala Earrings

My dream come true tonight. I was going to buy koala earrings for me, but surprised, my homestay parents bought silver koala earrings for me. I was so happy and excited. I do not know what to give to them before my departure. I am hopping that they will come to Taiwan for vacation.

Morning Tea

This morning, my homestay family prepared pancakes for my students in their morning tea. My stduents were cold and hungry and when they saw the food, they were all eating and they were very happy. All od them wanted more. I am so happy that my homestay parents cared for my students. They treated us as member of their family.

Rock Climbing!

Students had classes today in the morning and they had fun in the afternoon. We went to the Rock Climbing. It is my first time over there and belive me climbing all these rocks are harder than I thought.

At the first, we had beginer lesson. Even the beginer lesson, I could not reach to the top. My students were so good at climbing. One of my stduents is so skinny and she could do the hardest one. I cannot belive how fast she could climb.

I tried the yellow one which is for children. I could easily reached to the top. I was so happy. After that, I wanted to do more. The more I do it, the more tired I am. I needed a rest, so I was with my students while other students were climbing. I took a lot of pictures with other students. It is so fun to know them and at the same time I had so much fun taking pictures with them.

We really enjoyed indoors rock climbing. I iwll try to do it again in Taiwan with Alan.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Tonight after school, my homestay father Stephen picked us up as usual and we went together to the movies at Westfield. We watched, "Pirates of the Caribbean." The movie is so cool. It has a lot of special effects. I really like the second part even though, I did not see the first part of the movie, but I will. After seeing the second part, it will be continued to the third part of this movie. During the movie, each of us had ice creams, pop corns, and coke. I am so full after we watched the movie and we had fun together as family. I did not meet nice family like them before.

The plot of the movie is basically Jack owes an unpaid debt to Davy Jones and his army of sea-phantoms, his soul. Now, he must find a way to save himself from becoming one of them, and suffering forever.

The movie is visually stunning the CGI is top rate and you won't spend the whole film groaning about how fake things appear on the screen. Acting was brilliant, Johnny Depp once again proves why he's the only man alive who can play the role of Cap. Jack Sparrow.

Paradise Country, Gold Coast

When I first saw our itinerary, Paradise Country, I thought we are going to the private beach where everything is wonderful. When we arrived to the Paradise country, It is just a little farm with bunch of animals.

Basically, this place is a farm with goats, cows, sheeps, horses, hamster, koalas, kangaroos, etc. In this place, people can also hold and take pictures with Koalas. It is a little bit cheaper compared to the Koala's zoo.

After looking at koalas, kangaroos, goats, baby goats, mommy and baby donkey, it is the is the time for us to nurse the baby animals. I gave milk to the baby goats and the baby donkey. I have so wonderful experience giving them food. They like the way people give them food, too. I hold the baby goat and I took picture with it.

After a wonderful experience, it is the time for us to go and see the show. The have four shows and each show is just wonderful. I really like the way the rode horses and send cows to their homes. Also, I like the was the black dog named July send the sheeps to their homes, too. I like all these four programs and all these four programs are so wonderful. I really enjoyed to be there. It is the time for us to go to the beach in Gold Cost.

Surf Paradise, Gold Coast

After a long drive, we ended up at the Surf Paradise in the Gold Coast. It is so pretty, the beach has blue water and white sand. Also, a lot of people were playing on the beach. Students were playing on the beach for a little while and after that they can go shopping by themselves.

It is so nice to see that everyone enjoyed their time on the beach. Even the water was so cold, the students still enjoyed the beach life. 30 minutes later, students enjoyed shopping and eating ice cream in a nice weather.

The shopping center is close to the beach, it is just located on the other street. The street is so pretty, I won't never forget about it. It is so peaceful. Things over there are not so expensive, it is just right for students. I am so excited for tomorrow because we are going to the rock climbing.

Shopping with Barbara, Homestay Mother

After a long day walking and being in the water, I am getting so tired. Barbara, my homestay mother took us to the shopping center. We could buy anything we need to bring to Taiwan. The mall is called Westfield shopping center. It is a huge shopping center here in Brisbane, it is not too far from Nudgee International College. We had fun and we really enjoyed shopping with Barbara. She had so much patient waiting for us. After being in so many stores, I still cannot get presents for everyone. I always think what Alan likes and what Alan will play with. My son is always in my head. I bought too many things for him already. I got to things things for myself, too.

BBQ At Brisbane Forest Park

Today after school, we left a little bit earlier. We went to the Brisbane Forest Park and it took one hour from college. When we arrived there, we had to settle down the fire for our BBQ. The Brisbane BBQ park is so easy, we do not even need to start to fire. It is a bottom, only with one touch, the pan and the fire can be used for cooking. It is so convenient, it is the first time for me to see this kind of things. Even I lived in America before, they did not have this kind of conveniences over there.

Students had to cook for us, they are very good at cooking and some of them are very good at playing balls. I had a big hamburger with all the meats and sausages. It is so cool that we had a peaceful time.

After eating, we went to a little walk to the bushes. The bushes size is only 1.5 Kilometers. It is not too big and not too far. It was very easy to walk. I really enjoy the peaceful time over there with my students and other teachers too.

Dinner

My homestay mother cooked a very nice dinner for me tonight. She cooked noodle soup, chicken and bread. It was a nice dinner every day. My homestay father knows ho to make delicious food. Everything turned out wonderfully.

Stick It!

We went to the Westfirled mall and students had 30 minutes shopping and 1 hour and 45 minutes watching movies. The movie title was choosen by the Nudgee International College's secretary, Merinda. She is a very pretty, kind and working hard lady. She chose the right movie for my students. At the begining, I thought they did not like it, but after that, they like it very much and we all enjoyed it.

Of course some of them did not understand completely. But I am sure, they will ask their Australian teacher, Sylvia and Sally. They are all great and they take care of my students while we are here.

The movie plot is basically competition between teens. They work together as group and thy stay as group. The actreses are almost the same age of my students or older. During the competition, the teen girls learned how to control their temper and think other people and not just be shelfish.

Overall, the movie is a good lesson for teens at Junior or high school age to be with their team no matter what they are facing. I think it is a good lesson to learn from it.

Tonight's Dinner

My homestay mother, Barbara has to work until late tonight and my homestay father needs extra sleep Befor his night work. It is my turn to cook an evening meal for them. My coworker wants to eat fried rice, but the rice that they cooked this morning was very little, so I decided to cook an extra noodles, wanton soup, miso soup and fried wanton.

My coworker , Vicky cut all the vegetables and she started to put all the vegetable that I need in different plates. Vicky is vegetarian, so I decided to cook the meat separate. I started to cook all the vegetables first like jam, potatoes, carrots and after that I add a little bit of water and I put other vegetables like celery, green and white cabbage. Here, I also add a little bit of water for them to be cooked. Finally I added mushrooms and noodles of course soy sauce and salt.

With the same ingredients, I made fried rice. I thought the rice was for two people, but I cooked and it turned out more than I thought. Well, we will have extra meal for our lunch tomorrow.

Lastly, I made wanton soup and miso soup. I had my wanton soup and Vicky had her miso soup. Both soups turned out really good. I like the way I cook and I hope that the homestay family came back will like my meals.

After cooking, Vicky and I had a meal. Both of us are very happy to have a Chinese meal after many days here in Brisbane.

Building Of Nudgee International College

These are the building of the Nudgee International College. My students from Sheng-Kung High School are having their classes in this wonderful building. The structures of doors and the classrooms are made of crystal. It is so beautiful and their teachers had a huge office where they have kitchen, little living room, mail box, computers, each table with its own bookshelves. The office seems so clean and organized. It is so great to see environment like this. I wish Sheng-Kung's office look like this but in Taiwanese environment is not made for this kind of things.