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The end of May saw Sharon and I on the bus back to up Yangming Shan for a day of hiking. This is now the second year in row we've done this - could it be becoming an annual event? Anyway, it proved to be a day of great luck for many reasons. First, despite researching our prospective route in depth the night before, Sharon was still unclear as to just how to get there. Luckily, a couple on the bus was going to the same place and helped us transfer to the bus we needed to get there and then to point us in the right direction on the path. The path was butterfly way, which is particularly popular at this time of year, considering that's it's apparently butterfly season up on the mountain. So, along we went, but no butterflies did we see. Seemed like our luck was quickly running out. But, we were greeted by some wonderfully mysterious and foggy ways, which offered Sharon the opportunity to teach me how to say "fog" in Chinese - wuuuuuuuuuuuu. 
Next, once we were on the way to the top of a peak she wanted to take me too, we could hear thunder rumbling incessantly over the mountains. It kept threatening rain, but from where we were, the sky remained blue and clear. The path we were on was also surprisingly free of other hikers. When we did finally meet someone on the path, we were worried that they were actually aliens disguised as humans. We also hypothesized that the constant rumbling was not from thunder but from an elusive mountain monster that duly gobbled up unwitting hikers as they came around the bend. Well, we made our way around the bend only to be greeted, not by the monster, but by butterflies! Wonderfully colorful butterflies that flitted playfully between us and the trees.
Our feet refreshed from having stopped to admire the butterflies for a while, we renewed our climb up the seemingly endless stairs up the mountain that stared mercilessly back at us. But, each step higher afforded a wider view of the surrounding mountains and the bike path we had taken just a month before up to Danshui.
After catching our breath at the peak - which we were surprised to learn is supposedly the highest peak at Yangming Shan, we headed to the road to make our way back down. We were greeted with the grand finale of luck as the road was lined with a curious white flower and butterflies galore! And this time the butterflies rested long enough to let us get some decent shots of them. 
After enjoying so much luck in one day, I'm a tad worried I've maxed out my luck account for the year, but even so, I'm looking forward to a hopefully 3rd annual Yangming Shan hike with Sharon next butterfly season!
Despite all my best efforts at stopping the clocks (note to self - wine may help me forget time, even erase time, but it does NOT actually stop time), this day has come around again. While leading up to today I anticipated it with disdain, denial and at times even despair, I find now that only a few precious hours remain of my actual birthday, I have turned to embrace it.
One reason for this is that since I have hit my thirties, this one (which shall remain numberless for those of you who don't already know for yourselves) has been one of the better ones. My student-turned-friend Sharon organized a lovely dinner party to celebrate in advance over the weekend, gathering old friends, other students-turned-friends, and new friends alike at one of my favorite eateries in town, Sababa. She even went so far as to provide a yummy cake (which I barely managed to keep off my nose) and a party game involving post-it notes (how did she know I love post-it notes??)
That night of uproarious laughter has been followed up by a calmer, though just as meaningful birthday eve day yesterday when I was surprised the attentiveness of more students through cards, gifts and even a decadent chocolate birthday cake.
The pleasantries have continued into today with more emails, cards and phone calls from family, old friends and new friends. In short, it's been many birthdays since I felt the warmth of everyone around me as I have on this one.
Of course birthdays are always a natural time for reflection, though even if it had slipped my mind to pause and reflect on this particular birthday, those around me have provided ample prompts and reminders to jump start me into that reflective mode. And, the upshot of all these reflections is simply this - I am in a good place right now. Of course it's natural to begrudge the passing years, especially as I see the lines get deeper and sags sag lower. But I also find that feeling content with life and feeling that I'm in the right place and doing the right thing goes a long way to counteract anything a little wrinkle or droop or 20-30 gray hairs might do. So, with that said, tonight I enthusiastically celebrate life with some wine and Swiss Cheese flavored potato chips and look forward to seeing how everything (and perhaps everyone?) will play out over the course of the year.
However, despite my instantaneous newfound wisdom that came in the mail with all those birthday greetings, I do find that there is one question I still am as of yet unable to answer.
Would someone please just tell me - WHY??????????
You know I've got to be really busy if it's taken me so long to give a single mention of my furry friends - Guinness and Eyebrow. 
They made the long trek from New York to Taipei back in mid-September - and luckily arrived scared as heck but all in one piece. They spent 3 weeks in a quarantine facility, which also rather fortuitously, is located right across the street from where I work, so it was easy to visit them 2-3 times a week. Also luckily, all the staff members at the quarantine facility were very friendly and competent, so I had full confidence that my girls were in good hands.
I brought them home in early October, where they quickly took to their new surroundings. They've also been enjoying the company of some occasional visitors - mainly Andrew.
Guinness even learned how to play mahjong from my student, Becca! (Though I'm afraid she didn't bring her any luck - in fact, both Becca and I ended up being big losers that night!) 
And she proved instrumental in teaching Sharon how not to strangle Santa while hanging Christmas decorations,
as well as providing artistic inspiration to Jose in making snowflakes.
Brow-brow, meanwhile, has been cozying up with her new toy and has taken up a new habit of barking.
Okay, so my last post kind of ragged on Taipei for being excessively humid and having uninteresting - or at least, uninspiring - architecture. However, as many of you well know, I can be a moody gal. One day I love something, the next I'm indifferent about it, the next I'm griping about it with characteristic over-vehemence. 
But, one thing I keep coming back to about Taipei is the life in the lanes - it seems to be where Taipei really lives, breathes, sleeps, and eats (and poops). So, here are a few glimpses of what Taipei lanes have to offer...
Finally! The summer session has drawn to a close, which means no more teaching for me for the next 6 weeks. While I'm certainly overdue and eager for some good r&r, I would also like to say that working with these students has been a true pleasure. Once again, I managed to be blessed with a vibrant, energetic, creative and witty group of students. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them and getting to watch them get to know and bond with each other over the course of the summer.
For anyone who might be curious to see some of what I did with the students and to see what they're capable of, you can check out the website I set up for our class at myspace.com/room712. (If you're curious to see the article I wrote for the blog, you'll have to go through the older blog archives - I believe mine was the very first post.) There are also some class pics on there, as well as a rather embarrassing video of me.
Seems I just can't stop these feet from dancing! This summer I stayed true to my mission of bringing swing dance to the peoples of Asia and ran some beginner classes during the summer session. The downfall was that I had different students coming each week, so it was difficult to build on anything and had to stick to single step the whole time. But the upside is each week I had a decent turnout and may have found a handful of kids who'll keep coming back for more once the semester starts up again. Plus, those who did come had fun!
Exactly a week from the day of my previous excursion to Yangming Shan, I found myself on the bus heading back to the mountain - this time in the company of my long-time friend, Andrew, and my student-turned-friend, Nick. This time Nick took us to the path heading up to the highest peak at Yangming Shan, and reaching it was no easy feat. The path was pretty much a straight set of stairs all the way up. Though the path itself was shaded and the day itself was cloudy, I sweat about 5 times more than I had on my previous trip to the mountain. The top was truly other-worldly, though. With the heavy cloud cover, it felt like we had reached another plane. However, after all those stairs, I've found myself much more partial to elevators than I ever could've imagined...
In the spirit of being more socially active and getting out to explore the city and its environs, the day after lunching from a bathtub, I decided to take to the mountains with my friend, Sharon, and her best friend since junior high school. Yangming Shan is a popular destination for Taipei residents looking to get a bit of fresh air, and now I know why. Sharon and her friend took us up to the grasslands at the top of one of the mountain ridges, which afforded us not only plenty of fresh air, but also plenty of midday Taiwan sun and an expansive view of the city. Despite the Chinese penchant for covering their hiking trails with stairs, it was great to get out and get some good summer activity exercise. Plus, I think I managed to sweat out every last drop of any toxin that may have entered my body in the past 20 or so years.
Okay, so it's taken me until the throes of the humid Taipei summer to get this going, but finally here it is! My time here in Taipei has gone by rather quickly, most likely due to the constant demands on my time from my job. But now that summer is here, I've finally had a chance to get out and about a bit more.
For starters, a couple of weeks ago I went out on a class outing with my summer students. Our fantastic entertainment coordinator, Ariel, arranged for us to lunch at a place called Modern Toilet - a fun restaurant in which the decor and even the serving plates all revolve around a bathroom theme. We then went on to the National Palace Museum where I was eager to see Taiwan's version of the crown jewels - a cabbage. That's right, Taiwan's prized possession in their national museum is a piece of green and white jade carved into the shape of a bok choy cabbage. While cute, I can't say the cabbage was nearly as impressive as the excessively intricate ivory carvings. Though in the end, I think I may have been the only one truly interested in any of the exhibits at the museum, as the students were all eager to head out for a night of dancing on the sofas at a karaoke joint.
