Taiwanese Scootering 101

The rules of scootering* in this fine country are as follows:
*Accepted word here in Taiwan.  Usage: B: Yo, S, how are we getting to lunch today?  S: Well, B, I would imagine that we will be scootering over.  Remember your helmet!

1) Red Lights: Optional; mere suggestion as to the rules of the road.  This ONLY applies to scooters.  For cars, red lights are important but scooters can get away with it.  Example: Bess and N on scooter approaching a red light.  N slows down, peers around as best as he can and then proceeds through the red light once it has been confirmed that there is no danger (laughing maniacally is optional).  Exception: Some intersections here do have cameras and can snap a picture of you running a red light however the fine is the equivalent of US$8.00 and once you've learned which intersections have cameras, you're all set to go.

2) Left Turns.  Infographic time!  The legal scooter left turn is as follows.  At a green light the scooter progresses to the "Scooter Box" which is in front of the traffic stopped at a red light.  When the light there changes to green, then the scooters cross the intersection. 

3) "Gangsta" turns.  The above form of left turns can take a while.  If you approach an intersection at a red light then you have to wait to get a green, then wait in the box for the lights to change again.  Sometimes people can get impatient, thus the hooligan turn.  The hooligan/Gangsta turn involves pretending you are a bicyclist or pedestrian for a few moments.  The scooter turns left and follows the crosswalk directly in front of it and then waits at the corner for a break in traffic (or hangs out in a shady spot) and then follows the crosswalk again to reach the ultimate goal of going left.

4) Shade Stops.  I cannot imagine a shade stop being performed successfully in the States without much blaring of horns.  However, here, the Taiwanese are SO afraid of the sun, it is completely acceptable.  In order to properly execute a traditional Shade Stop one must be approaching a light that is red or about to turn red, and realizing that the area where one would normally stop is in direct sunlight the scooterist stops at the most convenient place of shade until the light changes to green again.   Variations of the Shade Stop are a plenty.  A hooligan left turn may be executed if the accessible corner has a store overhang (in which case one drives the scooter into the store to access the shade) or a tree which is casting a shadow in an appropriate (or inappropriate, makes no difference) direction.  Similarly, the boundaries of the Left Turn Box can be extended considerably endlessly in any direction to include shade of any sort.  Shade Stops are not limited to scooters.  Many cars will also execute a Shade Stop causing any cars not wishing to stop there to veer into oncoming traffic to go around the stopped cars and scooters.  This happens all the time, successfully, without any blaring of horns. 

5) Horns.  The horn beep in Taiwan is far different from that in the States and in execution is almost exactly opposite that in NYC.  The beep is almost always nice and is usually meant to be a courtesy.  A beep as you are coming up behind someone usually means, "yoo hoo, just lettin' ya know I'm here."  A beep as you are turning left is a "please don't hit me" and a beep to a car usually means, "Hey friend, I'd really like to be able to sneak past you so I can turn right without waiting for the light to change."  I've never heard a malicious beep.  Truthfully, the horns on scooters are not strong enough to be construed as malicious.  They are a little hard to take seriously sometimes. 

6) Capacity.  There are no rules regarding what, whom, or how much you carry on your scooter.  You might be a Taiwanese scooterist if you:
   -are carrying your pregnant wife and your four children on your scooter with you
   -have a small child (toddler) seated on a small stool at your feet facing backwards (directly towards your crotch)
   -have a child in a stroller that is half collapsed between yourself and the handlebars
   -have one or more "baby bags" strapped to you with one or more infants in each.
   -you are carrying one or more large sheets of plywood on your scooter
   -you have a cat, dog, mouse, chicken, or loose ferret riding on your scooter with you either on your lap or sitting at your feet without any sort of leash or cage. 
   -you are holding a large heavy box in one hand, have a similarly large heavy box on your lap, and at least two more at your feet while steering with your one remaining hand. 
   -you are holding an infant in your lap or in your "free" arm while driving with the other. 

Yes, I have seen all of these happen and many more. 

7) Attire.  Thou must ALWAYS be properly dressed.  You will look the part of a Taiwanese scooterist if you:
   -have taken the time to attach oven mitts to the handle bars of your scooter to protect your hands from the sun while scootering.  (Not joking folks.)
   -look outside and at the thermometer and think, "It is sunny and 33 degrees Celsius; I should probably grab a jacket." (For you Americans, it is 34 degrees Celsius today and that is about 94 degrees Fahrenheit)
   -have adapted tall socks to wear on your arms as sleeves
   -wear a blanket or towel over your shoulders or legs while driving (variable wind flapping is appropriate.) 
   -wear a fabric mask and scarf to protect your face from the sun and from the air pollution.  (Note: I haven't really noticed the air pollution yet.  The rain does a good job of clearing it out but I hear it can get bad at times)

8) Versatility.  A scooter can go anywhere it will fit.  If you can safely (or not safely) sneak a scooter through an area then it is appropriate to have your scooter there.  Sidewalks? For sure.  Storefronts? No problemo.  Tiny walk ways between sidewalks?  Absolutely.  Down the median?  Oh, you betcha.  Similarly, if there is space big enough for your scooter then it is an appropriate parking spot.  Sometimes, you'll see red paint on the curb.  That is really there to encourage you to park your scooter in that area.  They love it when you do that.  (Teehee ;-) )

9) Helmets.  Everyone wears them.  They are a must.  However, the structural integrity of your helmet is up to you.  (Also, sometimes you see kids on scooters (see rule 6) without helmets and it makes you angry.)  

10) Signalling.  Don't do it.  I'm convinced that using your blinker actually just confuses the Taiwanese more.  N insists on using it as his one connection to the American driving style.  


There you go readers.  You have learned all you need to know about scootering in Taiwan in 10 simple rules.  Got it?  Alright, I'll see you out on the road.  I'll be the one in the sweet orange helmet. 

Introducing...

Q&A Friday!!

Here's the deal.  I realized that in order to comment you need a gmail account and while gmail is awesome and totally they way to go, some of you don't have one and don't want one, so therefore you are unable to comment.  I dislike that so I'm offering another option.  

I will now be hosting Q&A Fridays.  It is a chance for you all to email me your questions and I will do my best to answer them.  If you want to know more about a topic I touched on, want me to figure out something completely new for you, or just have a question about something here, send it my way and I will try to answer.  Similarly if you are wanting a picture of something specific that I've been neglecting to show you, that is also something to submit for Q&A Friday. 

You all have had such great questions whenever I have gotten to talk to you; things that I don't necessarily think about but definitely want to explore more.  Much credit to Linda Schmeckpeper for asking me about plant life here (the topic of a future post that is currently being written).  It was her question that ultimately sparked life to Q&A Fridays so bring on your inquiries and I will hash out the answers! 

Q&A Friday posts will happen as there is a demand for them.  If I don't get any questions in a week then there will be no post.

Probably the best way to submit your questions for right now is to bessoutofbounds@gmail.com or bessfarley@gmail.com.  They end up in the same place and I will collect them as we go.  No question is too big or too small.  Do not hesitate.  It is fun having a mission to learn something new here. 

No blog post is complete without a photo and since I haven't posted many of me here is one.  I am holding a Taiwanese junk food.  It is a bag of garlic flavored pea crackers.  Sounds gross right?  Not so much.  They don't really have a pea flavor, I'm not sure what they are made of.  They are kind of like cheetos but garlic instead of cheese flavored.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is garlic flavored here.  No bad spirits for me.  It is a good thing I like garlic.  

Wearing make-up is hopeless here and trying to get my hair to dry is like fighting a fire with spit.  It is brutally hot and I have certainly lost weight since I've gotten here.  Who knows how Taiwan will change me in the coming months but already I have abandoned all desire of making myself "presentable," and have adopted the "come as you are," feel of the westerner community here.  I think that is for the best. 

I should have another post for you guys in a few days. 

The Whiskey Jar in Du Lon

If you asked me to come up with a motto for my approach to travel it would easily be "Always an Adventure."  I have found that anytime something doesn't go right, I'm lost or confused, or plans are otherwise jeopardized it is always easier to just approach the situation as an opportunity for a new adventure instead of mourning over what went wrong.  This readily applies to just any opportunity that comes my way so when my roommates said they were heading to the east coast of Taiwan to play a show with their band, I was down with going along. 

A gang of 13 of us set out Saturday for Taidong.  It is a little town almost exactly parallel with Kaohsiung but on the opposite side of the island.  We took an easy 2 1/2 hour train ride to Taidong where we rented scooters and drove about 40 minutes up the beautiful coast to Du Lon.  Du Lon is a tiny little village that is mostly made up of Aboriginals, a few Taiwanese, and about an equal amount of westerners most of which hailed from South Africa.  It is a poor town but is home to some of the most amazing beaches I have ever seen.  And the ocean.  Oh the ocean. 

More important perhaps, is the Sugar Factory.  It is an old building that used to be a sugar factory but has been turned into a very awesome venue/bar area.  My roommates and their friends have a band called The Whiskey Jar and they played a really great show there Saturday night much to the enjoyment of the locals.  It was a wonderful time and there was much fun had.  I, however, was feeling the affects of my jet lag so when everyone else went out after the show I turned in.

We stayed at a hostel that is owned and operated by a South African man and his Taiwanese wife, their friends and their children.  Leoni, the youngest daughter of the owners, became my friend and I had a good time taking photos of her.  The hostel was very nice and incredibly clean.  A bunch of us stayed in the Japanese Room which was just a hard wood floor with padded mats.  It was simple, very basic, but exactly what we needed and cheap!  It was about $8.30 (250 NT) a person for the night. 

This is Leoni.  She is maybe about a year old. 

Leoni is holding a bag of Betel Nuts, as they are known here, or Areca nuts (wiki that).  This photo was meant to be a little funny; a little girl playing with many adult things.  Anyway, these betel nuts. They are not nuts but a lot of people, especially on the east coast, chew them.  They are a mild stimulant so they use them in place of coffee I think.  The bottle in the photo is Paolyta B.  It is probably best described as a liqueur.  It is dark red in color, tastes a little like bubble gum, and is very, very strong.  The ingredients list would make anyone shake in their boots.  It includes nicotine, pure ethyl alcohol, tuarine, etc.  I tasted just a small amount and that was enough for me but it is definitely the drink of choice in some places.  The bowl is just serving as an ash tray.  Many people still smoke here.  Actually, let me rephrase that.  Many foreigners smoke here.  I don't think I have seen a lot of Taiwanese people smoking but a lot of westerners and ex-pats are smoking fiends.  It is probably my least favorite thing about the country thus far.  I appreciate America's stigma against smoking. 

Sunday was my favorite day in Taiwan so far.  We spent almost the entire day at the beach.  The sand is a dark grey and is so fine and soft.  The ocean was the perfect temperature.  It was refreshing and cool but not cold.  The beach turned into ocean at a pretty slow rate so you could walk out very far without losing touch with the ground.   No seaweed, not a lot of fish, no sharp stones, just perfect soft sand to walk on. 

The waves were pretty big, at least in my mind.  I've seen waves that big in Lake Michigan but not very often.  I had a blast swimming around and crashing into the waves.  I could have stayed there forever but eventually we had to leave. I was not a huge fan of the salt water but I guess you get used to it.  After many hours of playing and amassing a substantial amount of sun burn, we took a scooter ride, in the rain, back to Taidong and hopped a slow train home. 

Naturally I was completely exhausted and crashed into bed immediately. 

It was an excellent weekend and I made many new friends.  With both N and S leaving in the next couple of months, I am feeling the pressure to try to branch out beyond The Edge staff and find other people to hang out with.  I would love to make some Taiwanese friends but very, very few Taiwanese people speak English and my Chinese is not good enough to really connect with them.  I am learning a little more Chinese each day.  S was a Spanish teacher before he came here so he is naturally good at teaching languages.  I try to learn from him whenever I can. 

Wednesday a new teacher comes. For this week I have a pretty empty docket.  Just adjusting and settling in.  The heat and sun have been brutal but I will try to make a few outings.  Monkey Mountain is nearby and that is definitely on my list.  This time it isn't called Monkey Mountain because it is shaped like a monkey, it is because it is filled with monkeys.  I am excited to see that!

Snakes, Turtles, and Lotuses

I had a little adventure today.  It was short but chalked full of interesting things.

Last night was a little rough.  I found it very difficult to sleep and had some pretty crazy dreams.  S said that when he first arrived he also had really bizarre dreams but they eventually went away.  I did eventually get some sleep and then had lunch at the school.  Right down the street is a husband and wife who run a little restaurant.  He makes the best fried rice I have ever had.  I chowed down a portion of that for lunch.  It was plenty and cost me less than $1.50

This afternoon I decided to take the walk to Lotus Lake that I had wanted to do yesterday but couldn't because of the rain.  It was threatening to rain though so I couldn't take my big camera and resorted to just my iphone.

To get to Lotus Lake I had to walk through a gate in the old city wall.  The wall was built in 1824 around most of what is now Zuoying District.  The wall is still in pretty good shape but in many places has been built into, drilled through, or has tree limbs, roots, and vines growing through it.

On the other side of the wall was a vast park area and the base of Turtle Mountain.  It is just a small mountain that is shaped a little like a turtle apparently.  You can climb it via an elaborate set of boardwalks but I wasn't feeling it today.  I walked through the park and through a shady area with many benches.

As I walked through the shady area an old Taiwanese woman shot out from a bench and started talking at me in rapid Mandarin.  She kept touching the skin on my arm, shaking her head with a sad look on her face, and pointing at the sun.  She was very, very upset that my skin was exposed to the sunlight.  She tried to pull me into the shade but I needed to keep walking so I tried to let her down.  I realized then that I need to learn how to say Yes and No because thank you was not enough in this situation.  When she finally understood that I was going to keep walking she tried to give me her umbrella.  I couldn't accept it so I just kept saying shishi and walked away.  Then I started to pay attention.  All of the Taiwanese women are completely covered.  When driving their scooters they wear zip up sweatshirts backwards on just their arms to protect them.  Many of them wear high necked shirts or they wear big cowl necked scarves to protect their chest from the sun.  They all wear pants or capris for the most part and usually hats.  So when I walk around in a short sleeved, scoop-necked sun dress, I must frighten them.

I walked through the park for a while longer and came upon a parking lot that bordered what must be a poorer section of town.  The apartments are very module and are built in a compartment style.  Many of them were just bare concrete or plastic siding.  Some even had open portions like the one below.  I can't imagine that they hold up well in typhoons.  Later on there will be a picture of my apartment building.  All of the windows have steel bars across them, not for security like you would guess, but to protect against the strong winds and rain of the typhoons they get here.

In this part of town, many of the houses are built right into the old city wall.  You can just barely see a snippet of it on the left side of this photo where the brown fence ends.

I finally made it to Lotus Lake (finally is an exaggeration, it was only like 15 minutes of walking).  It involved crossing a fairly busy street.  There are not really cross walks or pedestrian indicators here.  You just don't do anything very quickly.  You make your actions clear and you are very deliberate in what you do.  You wait for a lull in traffic and just walk out and they all know to avoid you.  People may appear to drive "crazy" here in comparison to the US but I think it is actually safer.  Everyone is very cautious and aware.  No one takes having the "right away" for granted. 

Lotus Lake was beautiful but at this point the dear old woman have had a point.  I was sure that either the sun would burn me or the rain would come and certainly soak me.  I only had a few minutes at the lake but it has many temples on its shores.  They are bright and colorful and have very interesting architecture.  One was shaped like a long dragon in a circle that you could walk all the way through.  There was one boat on the lake that was pulling a young man who was wake-boarding.  They saw me and were trying to impress me.  It was endearing.

I am pretty sure you can actually see 5 separate temples in this photo if you look close enough.  

To the left of this photo is Snake Mountain.  Can you guess what it is shaped like?  Very good.  You can also climb that and on the other side is the ocean.  

The rain was really threatening so I stayed just long enough and turned home.  Back across the street, through the shaded area where the same woman was sitting.  She waved many times at me and was very happy to see me on my way home.

While walking through the park I encountered an older Taiwanese man.  He gestured hello and I said hello back in Chinese.  Then he did something that completely blew my mind.  The path was an easy 5 or 6 feet wide; there was more than enough room for us to both be on the path but as I neared him, he stepped completely off the path and bowed his head while I walked past.  As soon as I was past him, he stepped back on the path and kept walking.  I was flabbergasted.  I will have to ask Ben why that happened.

I passed a school on my way home.  It was many stories tall and had a completely open/glass structure.  It was passing time and you could see all the kids moving about in their black pants and white tops.

Here is that photo of my building complex that I promised.  We actually live in a Veteran's community so there are many buildings that all look the same; at least 13 since I live in building 13.

The people here are so kind.  Our neighbor across the hall speaks a tiny bit of English.  He knows Hello and Good Morning.  I saw him on my way in and he was so excited to greet me.  The community is about 95% old people and you pretty much only see them in the morning and early afternoon and never in between but they are often out doing TaiChi in the garden or manicuring the garden and courtyards.  This is the courtyard right outside my building.  It is gorgeous and really nice to have.  I am sure I will sit there and read when it isn't raining out.

That is all I have for now.  I might get my first scooter driving experience tonight so I am sure I will have stories to tell from that.

I will try to get pictures that have me in them soon.  I'm talking to you Mother.

Ta Ta for now!

I don't have any good questions today.  Just comment for fun and to say hi!
 

Safe and Wet!

Welcome to Taiwan!  Here's a thunderstorm. 

I arrived into Kaohsiung late last night, met up with my boss and made it back to the apartment after a quick stop at the requisite 7/11 for water and supplies (cashews).  Both of my roommates were out with friends and so I didn't meet them until this morning.  

My trip here went really well.  I got upgraded to Business Class on my flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong (yay!!!), had a really easy layover in HKG and my flight from there to Kaohsiung was only about an hour.  My favorite part was landing in KHH (Kaohsiung).  We flew in really low over the harbor and turned at the last minute to land.  You could see all the container ships in the harbor and mountains of containers on land.  It reminded me of being a little kid and playing with lincoln logs.  

The apartment is cozy but decent; we have two covered porches that scream, "Come read a book!" It is HOT.  Not just hot like Wisconsin August Hot, Hot like you take a cold shower and before you can dry off you are sweating already.  I'm sweating in places I didn't think I could sweat.  Thank goodness for air conditioning and cold bottles of water.  I have already given up on decent hair days and wearing any sort of make up is going out the window next.  Unless I want to sport raccoon eyes in class every day there will be no mascara for this girl.  

This morning, my roommates N and S took me out to breakfast.  We had Dahn-Bing.  I have no idea how to spell it in pinyon, but that is what it sounds like.  It cost 40 NT which is about $1.30 and is plenty for breakfast.  (Approximately 30 NT = $1) It is kind of a cross between a crepe and an omelet.  Mine was filled with cheese and bacon (ham really) and it was delicious.  You put Seshwan (again, phonetic spelling there) pepper on top, which is a mixture of salt and pepper and a bunch of other spices.  I could smell some cinnamon and maybe a little cumin.  We also dipped it in soy sauce.  It was delicious, hearty and pretty good for you.  They were really impressed with my chopstick skills and explained a lot of the food culture to me. 

They hung out with me for most of the morning and have been showing me the lay of the land.  There is a pretty cool lake right nearby called Lotus Lake.  I was going to walk over there and explore the dragon and tiger temples on its shores but it is storming like you would not believe.  Instead I am just going to relax, visit the school this afternoon and otherwise just get my bearings.  

So far I am having a blast!  Except for the cockroaches.  I could do without those.  

I found out on arrival that I won't be staying in Kaohsiung long.  Myself, and two other new teachers, will actually be relocating to Taichung at the beginning of June and doing a summer session there.  I have about 10 days here to explore Kaohsiung and I am sure I will be back at some point but then it is off to Taichung.  Hopefully the apartment there won't have the cockroaches.  :)  

Oh, I also learned that Kaohsiung is actually pronounced Gow-shung (kind of).  I guess the K sound and the G sound are pretty interchangeable.  The same goes for zh and jz and p and b.  I guess, also k and j.  For example.  Peking and Beijing are two versions of the same word.  Pe and Be are two ways to pronounce the first part and the j and k to start the second syllable are interchangeable.  I wonder if that means that J and G are the same?  I better not think on that too much.  

S has been here a year and I've been so impressed with his Chinese.  He is able to converse with people really well and he said that he hasn't put too much effort into learning it.  Right now I don't know that I could order much of anything without one of them around to help me.  They did teach me how to order tea with three parts sugar and lots of ice though.  I guess that is a staple.  For right now I am working on Ni Hao (hello) and shishi (thank you).  Also, the name of the intersection we live at in case I ever get lost and need to get home.  Of course, I cannot remember it for the life of me at the moment.  I guess I need practice. 

I have so much more to write about but I am weary of over posting so I will save it for another day.  

Here is today's picture.  This symbol was on a wall near my gate in Hong Kong Airport.  Any idea what it means?
Here is a bonus picture.  This was my "dessert" on the short flight to KHH.  In case you can't read it, these are Seaweed Egg Albumen Cookies.  Yummm...... not.  I gave them a good whiff and wasn't feeling it so I did not partake.  S and N tell me that desserts are one of the Taiwanese shortcomings.  They are often too bread heavy or just not sweet enough.  Looks like I might have to show them a thing or two. 

That is all for now.  I know I'll have more to write tomorrow and it seems like I will have time so you might get daily posts for a while. 

Would you have eaten the Seaweed Egg Albumen Cookies? What do you think the sign means?  

Twelve Hours and Counting

I don't think it has set in yet.  I'm not sure that it will until I am on the ground in Taiwan but I am not yet so I won't think about it.  

Instead I am in San Francisco.  This is a city I love for it's charm, it's street cars, the food, and the native transplants.  Allow me to explain.  The first big city I spent time in was NYC.  It didn't take me long to fall in love with it but I would be lying if I didn't stipulate that it is a love-hate relationship.  NYC has showed me good times (my 21st birthday involving African food, Russian dancing, and a legitimate speakeasy for one), but also many bad times (getting spit on, being set on fire briefly, and having been locked in a Starbucks bathroom- all in the same day!).  Everyone in NYC is from NYC.  You end up looking up the noses of a lot of snobs who feel that their status as a "Native New Yorker" deems them more worthy than you to silently wear their earbuds or to rudely shove past you to get on the 6 train.  The striking contrast between NYC and SF for me is the attitude of people.  The people I've met in SF could not be nicer.  The majority of people here are not from San Francisco and freely admit that.  They don't think they are any better than you because of their "native" status.  I would say that 75% of the people I've met here have had some legitimate connection to Wisconsin.  They are excited that I am visiting San Fran and they strive to make my experience better. 

The people I have interacted with here in San Francisco in the last 36 hours have increased my excitement in traveling yet again.  The 50 something year old Italian man who visited this city at 24 and swore he would never live anywhere else that I met in his Italian Wine store on Van Ness Street.  The similarly aged pair of men from St. Louis who were exhausted after climbing Nob Hill, not to mention hopelessly lost.  One wanting to show the other where he had spent time as a young man in the Navy.  The young waitress who was so intrigued by my journey to Taiwan she stayed at the end of her shift to sit down and have a glass of wine with me.  The elderly lady who sat at the other end of my bench at the park for an hour today who left only after giving me one of the most insightful and memorable compliments of my life.  I can only hope that Taiwan will be as kind to me as San Francisco has been.  

The view from my hotel room on the 26th floor certainly hasn't been difficult to enjoy.  It was a cloudless, warm day today and thus the sunset was extremely bright. 

Behind those trees, just below the sun is the Golden Gate Bridge.  Certainly not a bad sight for being my last sunset this side of the International Date Line. 

Tomorrow, or rather some strange confusing version of tomorrow, I will have my first experience of Asia.

Wish me luck!  Next time you hear from me I'll be further from home than I've ever been before. 

B

What's the furthest you've been from home? Did you enjoy it?  Or could you simply not wait to be back in a comfortable place? (I am going to try to pose questions when I can in effort to stimulate comments and conversation! :D )

Getting Excited!

Folks, 

It is almost here.  I can smell it.  I can taste it.  It's coming.  It is the single most exciting feeling I've had in my life.  Saturday morning I will have a boarding pass in my hand, my most needed belongings on my back, and an infinite amount of questions in my head.  I will be teetering on the perilous edge of having no idea what I am doing and being so excited for the adventure to come. 

I have a few days in San Francisco, CA with friends and then, come Monday morning, I will be snuggled into my Cathay Pacific seat, a pillow behind my head, a glass of wine in my hand, and Mumford and Sons playing in my headphones.  I have a 15 hour flight to enjoy endure, a short layover, and then I'll be in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.   

I'm planning on using this blog to document my adventures, display my photos, and keep in touch with folks back home.  I have no idea how often I'll be able to update but I am hoping it will be at least once or twice a week.  Please, please, please feel free to leave comments or questions for me.  It will help me to feel connected to you all in the States and maybe I won't be so homesick in the beginning.  

Check back soon for my first real post and since no post is complete without a photo and it was just Mother's Day, here is a beautiful photo of my mom and me. 

This is my lovely mother, Janet.  I have never thought I looked like her much but I can see it a little in this photo, can you?