The beginning of the end

I have only 10 days left in Taiwan -- I honestly can't believe this year's gone by so quickly!  While I am definitely sad to have to say goodbye to this beautiful country with its lovely people and delicious food, I'm eager to get back stateside and into my very own classroom!!

This is how I imagine next year. 

I'm glad to say that this year has solidified my love of teaching.  Although I've become a skeptic of the organization I'll soon be working for, Teach for America (TFA),  I do whole-heartedly support their mission of eliminating educational inequality in America.  However, the topic of TFA is one for another day (or another blog -- see the end of post for deets!) and I'll be sticking to Fulbright business for now.

I've been busy lately trying to tie up lose ends before departing to the good ol' USA.

Thanks to the hard work and creative genius of fellow ETA's Andrew, Jill and Glen, we were able to pull together the best surprise roast Taiwan's ever seen.  We got to spend Friday afternoon in the company of all 16 ETA's who were literally crying with laughter at how flippin' funny the four of us are how well we've gotten to know each other over the past 11 months.  Jokes included fake middle names, superlatives, and celebrity personae.

In case you're curious, I was crowned something similar to "Most likely to learn 7 languages 'just for the hell of it' while teaching full-time and maintaining a perfect South Beach tan" and my celebrity personae were a Jersey Shore groupie and Audrey Hepburn (talk about flattery!  I hope it's because I always look fresh.  For a definition of "looking fresh" watch this clip at 1:20).

Afterward, we had the final Friday family dinner at my apartment with oh-so-delicious salad, soup, and pasta prepared by none other than Eric, Brittni and my roomie Harry.

Tomorrow, we're all rowing in the Dragon Boat festival which is going to be hilarious because the government won't let us practice before the actual race.  I'll post an update after I've recovered from the post-embarrassment shock.

And so begins the packing and cleaning...