Christmas and Taiwan!

Dec. 25th Friday, Christmas Day and Elementary Bounenkai

So after a fun day at the elementary with the kids today (I had absolutely no classes whatsoever) there was the bounenkai for the elementary staff. Ueno-sensei was still as oshare/fashionable as ever with her Vivien Westwood clothes and bag. I love this teacher, we have the same tastes in wierd things like Rilakkuma/Mameshiba/and Vivien Westwood. Noso-sensei (whom I also adore cuz she`s such a sweet teacher) drove us over to the ryoukan where the bounenkai was held. This ryoukan was in like a back alley area where I`ve never seen before and it was old, but had a very Japanese rusticness about it.

So when we got into the room we had to pick a piece of paper that matched where we would sit. At the elementary and middle school there is no heirarchy seating. It is all based upon chance and matching, which is pretty cool cuz you get to sit next to people you`ve never sat near before. So I got a picture with a Prius on it and sat down with Tanaka-sensei (the nurse) to my right. And then I heard a "Yes we can" from behind me and saw Mr. Wonderful sit down to my left. Now, this is not the first time we`ve sat in proximity together actually. The first time was the welcome party for me and him so they had us sit next to each other, him on my right. The second time we sat diagonal from each other. And now he drew the picture that matched the one to my left. Each time we drew pictures we somehow ended up getting seats near each other or next to each other. Could it be....fate? lol Not getting my hopes up though. ^_~ Anyways, he looked soooo good in his black suit and he also had black leather gloves and a black long coat. In fact, he kinda looked like a host it was so hot. Serious. I wasn`t the only one who thought that either. One of the other male teacher was also wearing a suit and going around pouring beer for everyone and Kikuchi-sensei was like "You look like a host" And then the other teachers chimed in and said "But Mr. Wonderful looks just like one." And I was sitting next to him so I was like does that mean I`m like his client? =P He was hot that night I have to say.

Anyways, Mr. Wonderful and I had wonderful talks about stuff and he told me all about Fuji-san and the cave underneath it. I would love to do those things. I have a penchance for adventures and exploration. hehe. Anyways the dinner was wonderful! It was Hokkaido`s famous kegani/hairy crab, baked scallops, kobe steak salad, chawanmushi, hamachi (fish), and oyako-don (salmon and salmon roe rice). SOOOOO Good! And then to end it, the 5th grade teacher did a presentation on the big 10 news of the year. One of them was me coming to the school and he also had a special thank you for me for teaching the kids fun games and doing wierd gestures so the kids will remember the vocab. Hehe, I felt happy and glowy. Then we went to go to nijikai at an all you can drink bar place for 90 minutes. Upon aftewards we went home via taxi or the vice principal`s car. I should`ve gone home via the vp`s car because then I could`ve sat with Mr. Wonderful!! >.< But it`s okay, the taxi was a nice ride and I was able to talk to my 5th grade teacher more. He paid for the whole taxi ride which cost $30!!! I insisted on paying for half of it, but he paid for the whole thing instead! Dude! I owe him one.

Anyways, I went home, packed, and barely slept cuz I was happy and excited that i get to finally get out of the snow and everything so that I can go and visit family in Taiwan. Ah, warm Taiwan.

Dec. 26th Saturday

So I got there on time and everything (which btw, I now hate the Chitose Airport`s international flight section because the lines are so ridiculously long and not enough counters and stuff and only one security check which ended up causing the long ass lines) and got on the plane at 3pm which it was supposed to take off at 3:45pm. And we ended up taxi-ing on the plane until 7pm.........yes...It was definitely not going to take off. And what`s worse was that there were about 4 tour groups all from Singapore on the plane in the seats near me. Luckily for me, no one sat next to me and I had a window and aisle seat open, so I spread myself on there. But the tour group was all around me and complained alot and were loud and annoying.

I have to say, no offense to anyone because I`m actually also one and so are my parents, but many (not everyone) Asian people from China and southeast Asia just have no consideration for those around them. And this always annoyed me. Everytime. I think that maybe only Japanese people don`t annoy me as much. At least they kind of have the courtesy to take in consideration for those around them. Seriously, I had tour group families sit in front of me and behind me and they would just crowd around the area talking loudly to each other, making an abundance of complaints, and actually crowding into my seat area. I was like `dude, I sit here and you`re leaning all over my chair and getting all up in my space yo!` I kinda felt sorry for the non tour group families sitting around because they also had to endure the same thing. I also felt bad for the flight attendants because they were trying their hardest to calm everyone down but everyone was complaining that it was their fault! It isn`t! It`s the weather! What did you expect from Hokkaido in the winter? Happy sunflowers and coconut trees under a beautiful blue sky?!!

I was sooo annoyed and I could tell that the flight attendants were too! I`d totally want to punch someone if they kept coming to complain to me about the plane not taking off. I`d rather sit in the plane for a couple hours than have the plane take off in the blizzard, slip on black ice somewhere during take-off and have a fiery crash. And it wasn`t just our flight either. 4 other flights sheduled to take off around the same time were also delayed. The main problem was that they couldn`t get the 2 main runways cleared of all the snow and ice in time for us to leave. It was reasonable because if you looked outside you`d understand. And I do understand that many of the tour groups had to catch a connecting flight to Singapore from Taiwan and were frustrated that they`d miss their flight, but I`m sure the airport will organize something since you paid all that money and you have to get home somehow. But complaining like that will get you nowhere under these circumstances. At least the mother who sat in front of me apologized for the situation with everyone complaining and crowding around me. She actually helped me a couple times because maybe she felt bad for all the disturbances. But they still continued.

But just fyi, that was not the first time I experienced this. Everytime I get on the plane to Taiwan or from Taiwan back to America, Taiwanese and southeast asian families/groups always annoyed me because they were so loud and loved to complain about everything and paid no heed to courtesy. I`m Taiwanese and Southeast Asian, but I have to say out of all the Asians on planes or in groups, they annoy me the most. Sorry, but my Mom is the same way and she`s Southeast Asian, I love her and all but her friends and her really annoy me when they get together and stuff like that because it's basically the same as the above; my Dad`s Taiwanese, but he`s really not that bad. Just please please please take in consideration those around you, don`t be stupid and let others think so of you, and first try to understand why things are happening the way they are before you make judgements and complaints. If you do so, other people won`t make rash judgements on you, maybe won`t dislike you, and be a little more open to your feelings. Because all I could think about during that time was not how I had to wait for so long on the plane (cuz I`d really rather be safe than sorry) but of how annoyed I was with the tour groups around me!!!! I don`t know, maybe I`ve been living in sweet polite (maybe fake?) Japan for so long or am pretty Americanized (where space and courtesy is well enforced otherwise you`d get your ass kicked) that these things annoyed me soo much.

Anyways, sorry for the long rant on the plane tour groups stuff. I was just terribly annoyed and couldn`t really do anything about it because I was the lone person in the section with all the tour groups and I didn`t want to get ganged up on if I said anything or ruin my teacher`s reputation. bah. I kinda feel like a coward now and stupid for not saying anything. But ah well. The flight ended up being cancelled until the next morning and so the airport/airline provided hotel rooms for us to stay in. And I have to say, I totally didn`t mind the flight being cancelled because these rooms were serious nice! They were huge! I told them I was just by myself, but they gave me a double sized bedroom! The hotel was called Classe Hotel, sits on top of a hill, and it just opened in August. It was a beautiful hot springs spa hotel and would probably cost 100-something a night to stay (luckily free for us). The view from my room was spectacular. I could see mountains and distant city lights. My bathroom was gigantic with so much space in the middle of it I wasn`t sure what to do with it. haha. I had a vanity as well! The only thing is we arrived at around 1am when the hot springs were closed. So no chance for that. But I took full advantage of the room for the night. hehe.

Dec. 27th Sunday

The bus came to pick all of us passengers up to get over to the airport in the morning after a splendid free breakfast buffet. This wonderful Taiwanese couple from last night who helped me get a room when I was confused with what was going on (because all I could hear was complaining and all the airport people were being bombarded by the complainees that I couldn`t really get a chance to talk to them about what was happening) also were with me so I made new friends. They came to Hokkaido to tour on their own without a group. (Like I said, not all Taiwanese/Southeast Asian people are annoying, some are pretty nice) They helped me along and everything and I was able to get on the 11:30 flight to Taiwan, same seats and everything. Again, I spread myself over the two seats I had free. Woo. I finally watched District 9 on the plane! It was good!

I arrived and got through customs at 4:30pm and waited around for Leslie to arrive from Tokyo at around 5pm. And boy was I so glad to see her! I missed seeing my friends from back home and seeing her was a wave of exhiliration and relief. I`m finally with my old friends and family again. I missed them so terribly much. Oh, btw, Fahrenheit is Taiwan`s representative, like how Rain is for Korea. I saw their life sized cutouts welcoming me in Taiwan immediately upon entering the arrivals hall. lol We both caught a bus over to Taichung and had a wonderful fun talk which I haven`t done in a while on the way over. My aunt and uncle came to pick us up at the Taichung bus stop and then we went back to the house. Upon arriving I was so happy to see my 2 wonderful dogs, Kin-chan and Bobby. I missed them soo much! They got skinnier!...I think. Anyways, my grandma was happy to see me as I was her. I missed Taiwan and I missed my family. Actually, it was a pretty funny change from seeing the white covered winterland of Hokkaido to seeing the still lush moist green fields of Taiwan. I was like, man, I don`t need my jacket. And indeed I really didn`t. It was not cold whatsoever. Well, to us Hokkaidians and the one from Tokyo. The coldest it got was 13 degrees C and it was mainly 17-18 degrees C most of the time. So I actually got hot on some days.

So Happy New Years to all and I will write more on Taiwan later! Peace! Oh! And, pics are all up. All 300 of them! So check out my old updated album and my 3 new ones! My kids are all in them as well!