2.5 months: b-day, pay-day and lots of rain...

Another two weeks have passed since my last update and yet I don't really have that much to say.
Things are good still, despite some bad weather, and I've been working enough to cover my day-today costs.

I've started to enjoy teaching a little more, perhaps just getting used to the routine and finding discovering better methods of managing the children and keeping them entertained.  The semester will be over at the end of June and I'm not actually sure what I will be doing for work in July.  Some might expect me to be sappy and say that I will miss my students and the time we spent together but really....I most certainly wont.   I've had some interviews for work in the summer but so far no positive results.

In the past 2 weeks I was finally paid by both of my employers.  Getting paid once a month isn't ideal and I much prefer the bi-monthly pay-days that are the standard back at home. It feels nice to have a bit of spending money and not be constantly draining my account at home.

My 26th birthday was on June 10th, a birthday year that sees me into the "upper mid-twenties," a frightening predicament. I celebrated last birthday in Bangkok and so, appropriately my birthday dinner this year was at an all-you-can-eat Thai food restaurant.  Dinner was delicious although it has stirred up my desire to go back to Thailand.    Even though my birthday fell on a Sunday this year, I was able to find one nightclub at which to celebrate. While most bars in Taipei close early on Sundays, if they open at all, there is one that has an all-u-can-drink bar that stays open into the early morning hours. While getting another year older isn't something I welcomed I can easily say that the 26th year of my life was the happiest year yet and I can only hope that every year to come will be the same. I'm very satisfied with my life right now and as a result getting older isn't so bad.

Oyster omelettes at the Shilin night market 

A Rainy night at the night-market

The rain has really dampened my sightseeing/travel plans as of late. It has rained most days and one day it rained enough that all schools in Taipei were closed as a result of flooding in some areas. This meant I had the day off work but given the heavy rain there wasn't a lot to do. I've been wanting to go to the beach haven't been able to because of the constant rain. The rain and thunder storms are actually pretty impressive. I'd never seen such violent, hard rain come down for so long. Anyways, the rain has not dampened my spirits and I'm still having a wonderful time here in Taipei.

There's a new magazine on the shelves here with my face featured on a couple of pages this time. The dragon boat races are on next weekend and I've got my fingers crossed for good weather, although the forecast tells me a typhoon should be here by this evening....