9.

this morning when john and i skyped, he told me that, "you don't seem to be having fun, you just don't seem to like it there."
"what??? have you even been reading my blog posts?!"
{in his defense, he sees me on skype, when i am missing him terribly and all i want to do it kiss his gorgeous face.}

therefore, i have decided to dedicate this entire blog post to things i love about taiwan.  fun, huh?
ready. set. go.

the people.  the people here are so wonderful.  they are the best kind of friends you can have!  they are loyal, kind, generous, funny, fun, and smart.  i love hanging out with them, i love working with them in the hospital, i love learning from them.  in a nutshell, i want to be just like them.

the food.  yes people, i like the food!  some food items i am loving:  fried chicken, dumplings, mango slushy, papaya niu nai, papaya milk, black sugar boba drink, barbeque, lemonade drink, noodles, don bing, shwa bing, pho, fried rice, soup, the fruit, and much much more!

past-time activities.  since being here, we have gone to a great baseball game, the movies, done lots of great shopping {i loved the markets}, and been sightseeing.  we will get to do karaoke {it's big here} in a few days too, and i am excited!

the environment!  truly, this is such a cool place.  you look down the street and go, "where am i?" because it looks so incredibly different and so interesting.  the shops and houses are packed together so tightly, there is a 7-eleven on every corner, and street vendors to feed you food at a moment's notice.  really, night-walks and shopping is my scene.  so this place is perfect for me!

the memories.  we are making such fun memories here!  i am learning so much in the hospital, and having a wonderful time with friends off the clock.  it's the best of both worlds.

see, i love taiwan!

and, for a report on yesterday:
we went to a little branch of about sixty taiwanese members.  although i didn't understand the speakers, the spirit was so strong.  i got a small glimpse of what john experienced for two years on his mission, and the love he felt for these kind people. truly, the gospel is true.  it is the same everywhere, and the Lord loves the good members of that tainan ward just as he loves all of you back home.  it is absolutely amazing what missionaries do - so amazing that i can't even wrap my brain around it. there is no way that it would be possible without help from the Lord and the Holy Ghost.  but, i realize a little bit more how truly difficult it must have been for john and how much faith it takes for all missionaries.  i am so grateful for john's sacrifice.  he is, in my mind, the most selfless individual - lightyears beyond me in faith, in discipleship, in love, and in service.  he is way out of my league and i truly don't deserve him.  {but i am so glad he is stuck with me, mwahaha}

we really enjoyed going to the chinese ward.  afterwards the members chatted with us in broken english.  some members make a tremendous sacrifice to come to church every week - taking three trips on the scooter to shuttle all their children home.  it makes me wonder, if i had to make such a sacrifice to go to church every week, would i be as dedicated and as faithful as they?

the rest of the day was spent doing homework.  there wasn't much to eat because it was some god's birthday.  since no one speaks english, i couldn't really ask.  so i ended up eating fruit and bread all day.  

today was just another day at the hospital.  the highlights were:

"communicating" with a wonderful patient at the hospital.  mostly me trying to be therapeutic and she accepting my vague attempts to meet her needs

skyping john

walking around town at night

a delicious dinner of barbecued pork and dumplings