Before I present the quiz of the day (don’t get all spoiled and expect one tomorrow), I’d like you to know that Carrie doesn’t feel well. Five of her students have some kind of stomach bug that she has caught. She will be taking tomorrow off and possibly Friday. I am posting this so that Shaun and Mamma Linda can send her nice emails that she’ll read in between throwing up or whatever she’s doing down there.
Also, prior to quiz time, let’s hear about two funny stories:
1.) The boy who went insane in the middle of the Flower Market.
2.) The gift that keeps on giving.
First, Carrie was at the very crowded Flower Market (picture rows and rows of beautiful, very inexpensive plants and flowers) when she heard some ranting and raving from an obviously crazy guy. You must know that a scene like this is unheard of here. Since it is Taiwan, there was no crowd of onlookers huddled around him, but people were obviously peeking; Carrie and her friend Ryan were no different. When the 22 year old ranting guy pushed an older lady, Carrie put the puzzle together (with Ryan’s translation help). The boy was having a breakdown concerning how much academic pressure he was under, and he blames his mom. His outbreak contained the following sentence, “I don’t want to study!” Carrie said it was clear to her that he’d never in his life let his true feelings about this out, until now, when they poured out uncontrollably.
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On Skype yesterday my mom told me that her recent trip to Africa was the most satisfying of the three (or is it four?). Part of the reason for this is that she was able to spend extended amounts of time with friends and people she helps instead of mainly working on big projects, like setting up a library.
For example, she took two children around the age of 12 to the market to get clothes, a luxury these two have probably never had. The girl was giddy with glee, and the boy was so proud of his shirts and shorts, that cost about 60 cents each. She also bought each of these families a goat (about $50 USD each) which helps raise their quality of life immensely. As a thank you, one of the families brought her a pineapple and a chicken. It was delivered when she was meeting with different families to show them letters that she brought from their American friends who didn’t come this time. Just as I was butting into this story to ask what the heck she did with the chicken since she clearly didn’t bring it back with her, my mom explains that it was just rubbing up against her leg and hanging out by her feet. Hmm, interesting image. She went on, “Then I looked down to see an egg lying there.”
“The can just lay them anywhere, they don’t have to feel safe or anything?”
“I guess not, because there was an egg by my foot.”
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And now for the quiz that will to tell you, once and for all, if you should be proud or ashamed of yourself. If you score well, you can then go on to feel ashamed of the rest of America. If you score low, you can feel proud of your fellow countrymen. If you cannot figure out how to be optimistic in some regards, then please, buy some strawberry ice cream. Carrie and I have had favorable results with it.
I have copied and pasted the forwarded quiz email I received from my dad; the link is at the end:
People Do Things in Taiwan 