3 more pink pens bit the dust

Well . . . . I am FINALLY done grading finals!!!!!

23 research papers, 54 essays, and 24 biz english portfolios (filled with various emails) along with other various tests and exams have all been read and assigned grades. 

. . . sigh . . . that was the most grading I think I've ever done.  Three college level writing classes is pushing the limit of sanity.  :)

And, yes, I really did use all the ink up in a total of 5 pink pens--all different brands. (I even had to resort to grading the last set of papers in bright blue ink.)

at 7-11

In Taiwan there is literally a 7-11 on every corner, sometimes even TWO at one intersection.  When you have something like 22 million people squeezed into something the size of 1/15 of Texas, it makes sense.

So, today when I was playing 20 questions with my students, I thought it quite clever when nearly every group included the question "can you buy it at 7-11?" in their process to figure out what the item to be guessed was. 

I've never heard that question asked when playing in America . . . . just one more fun little part of life here.

reading scripture by genre

Usually I enjoy structure and much order.  I don't like it when someone changes the song in the middle--I need completion, please let the song finish and then change it. 

I don't like flipping the channel during commercials; mute is just fine, thank you.  All that jumping around annoys me. 

I can't start one novel without finishing another one first.  If the novel is bad, it hangs around for awhile unread and keeping me from reading other novels, till finally I get smart enough to just throw it away and move on. 

So, why am I telling you all about my completion-complex?  I'm trying something new this year--reading the Bible by genre, reading a different genre each day.  So far, I'm enjoying it despite my completion-complex.

Let me explain.  Each day of the week I read a different genre (literary type)--so on Sundays it's the Gospels, Monday it's law, Tuesday it's narrative/history, Wednesday it's the Psalms, Thursday it's poetry, Friday it's prophecy, and Saturday it's the epistles.  Kinda interesting, huh?

I don't recall at all how I surfed upon this plan, but I do know that the genre based Bible reading plan that I am using is from this site.

At first I thought it might get confusing or I might not like all the jumping around.  I thought I might lose focus or concentration.  Nope.  Not at all. 

One thing I have noticed different with this reading plan is that
since each genre is not equal in length, but they still divided each genre into fifty-two selections, some days the section is only
two chapters while other days it might be six. 

Nevertheless, I am actually quite enjoying having each day specialize on a certain type of writing.

Hmmm . . . wonder if I'd enjoy the Literary Study Bible.

Do you use a reading plan to guide your daily study of Scripture?  If so, what kind of plan are you using?  Are you enjoying it?

eating at a department store

Department store food court food in Taiwan is actually quite good. 

I had this for dinner one day last week when I was starving.  It is a fried chicken breast served with a tomato rice omelet and curry.  It also came with corn soup (aka thick egg drop soup), steamed egg (with mushrooms, fish balls, and chicken broth inside for flavor), salad (shredded-cabbage based), and some herbal jelly soup.

And, to make it even better . . . this yummy meal only cost me about five US dollars.  Sweet huh?

bye bye curls

For those of you who didn't know, my tight little curls are all natural.  I've been a curly girl my whole life.  Once I understood some of the keys of taking care of curly hair--keeping them well conditioned, no touching after they are dry, and so on--I've learned to love them. 

But, after nearly 30 years of basically the same hairstyle I decided it was time for a change.  I've been thinking about it for a long time, but last week I took the plunge and permed my hair straight.  It took four hours for them to relax and then straighten and then smooth and then set my very curly hair. 

And straight it is!  Wow.  It feels so different.

Here is what my hair looked like before:

And here it is now:

One of the main differences between permanently straightening it and ironing it straight like I did a few times last year (my Christmas pictures) is that my hair still wanted to be curly--so it kinda formed some waves and had body and bounce.  Right now it just hangs there--so board straight!!

I washed straight hair for the first time in my life this weekend.  It feels SO DIFFERENT to wash straight hair.  And, I had to go out and buy a hair dryer--and blew my hair dry for the first time in my life too.  Crazy I tell you. Crazy.

I don't know how long it will be till I miss my curls and want them back.  But, for now I am enjoying the change. 

The other thing I worry (not real worry, just ponder occasionally) about is what to do when I have very curly roots and really straight hair.  If you have any ideas or have dealt with that problem before, I'd be happy to hear your suggestions!

constest over . . .

Well . . . my student received 2nd place in the Million Star 2nd season. 

She did very well all season long.  I hope another record company signs her up for a contract because (1) she deserves it and (2) she is a crowd pleaser--so many people like her. 

Good job, Rachel!!!  You did well. :)

tonight!!!

Last year, I discovered one of my students had been singing on TV.  But, because I didn't have cable, I only watched a few of the videos of her on YouTube.  I told her I had seen her singing and was impressed.  It was then that I found that what I had watched was small potatoes . . . . and that she had sung at other times on other shows too--as recently as just that past weekend.  But, she didn't tell me exactly what or brag or go into details. 

So, fast forward to this summer when I moved to Tainan and a typhoon blew through at the same time.  As I sat in my friend's apartment locked safely inside and utterly exhausted, I flipped through the channels . . . and I SAW HER ON TV!!!  I was shocked.  I mentioned it to my friend and found out that my student entered a "Taiwanese Idol" show on a major TV network. 

There are currently three different "Taiwanese idol" shows on prime time right now here in Taiwan.  My student is on the one called 星光大道 in Chinese.  They call it "Million Star" in English but a better translation of the show's name would be "Path to Stardom" or "Avenue of the Stars." 

So, ever since August of last year, I've faithfully watched this "Taiwanese Idol" show on TV each weekend.  It starts on Fridays at 9:30 and lasts till midnight.  Good thing for me they replay the last two weeks of shows back-to-back again on Saturday and Sunday.  So, in total I have four extra chances to see each show in case I miss the Friday night one or if I fall asleep on the couch before Rachel, my former student sings (she graduated last year).  (By the way, if you remember Judy from this summer, Rachel and Judy are best friends.)

Well, they have it down to the top five and tonight the show is live as they determine the ranking of the top five and declare a winner.  Rachel has consistently received high scores throughout the show.  And currently is in first place from the last 3 weeks of "top 6" competitions when they started adding the scores together for the top 6 and not just kicking off the low achievers! 

So, no doubt that tonight I will be watching this show and cheering on my former student!!! 

Here she is in a couple of her most recent performances on the show (the first one she is in a duet with one of the judges in a fun song called "it doesn't matter"):