A tatse of Thailand...

Here is a taste of the wonderful things I saw in Thailand

On my trek I got to sleep in bamboo huts, play in waterfalls, ride elephants, and walk through many amazing things!

We took a Thai cooking class- wow, it was so good! I just need to practice a little more.

Ancient City

Floating Market- this was one of my FAVORITE things! It was so beautiful and so much fun. You just sit in your little boat and buy things as you float by.

Sadly I never posted any of Christmas or my trip around Taiwan the last week. They were both wonderful experiences and maybe some day I will get around to it. I also need to post more about my trip to Thailand, but here is a taste of the wonderful things i saw in Thailand :)

Rachelle is back and adjusting...

Rachelle is back in America!

So, I think that my life is almost back to normal. Sometimes it is hard to believe that I even left the country. It just feels like I never left. However I have enough stuff to prove otherwise. I miss Taiwan more than words can say, I already wish I could go back. I had a slightly hard time adjusting to American food and stuff when I got back.... Never thought I would have culture shock when I got back to the states! It was quite funny, I totally felt like a missionary! Now that i am home I am living with my family and Subbing in Davis School District. It isn't my favorite thing in the world, but it is keeping my busy and paying the bills. This next month is going to be full of applications and interview- my favorite thing. Anyway, here are a few things I have been up to the last month...

Last Saturday my cousins came up to my house and we had a great time eating pizza and then playing Murder In The Dark for hours! It was creepy walking around in the dark and trying to not get killed, but it was so much fun!

I got to go to the Draper open house twice! Once with my college friends and then another time with Gayle and Tenille. Last spring Tenille, Gayle, and I had met in Draper to have a picnic on the temple grounds- we didn't realize that the temple wasn't finished yet! We laughed really hard when we saw all the dirt and construction workers everywhere.

My little brother, Connor, and I were jumping on the tramp to get all the snow off. All the snow kept making a heart shape in the middle of the trap- we thought it was perfect for Valentines day!

Mckay is 16!!!! Wow, my little brother it 16, it's so crazy! For his birthday we went to Olive Garden and ate cake- well, we were too full to eat cake so we just blew out candles :)

Yay for Ice Cream! After Ice Skating, we headed over to Macy's to get some giant ice cream. It was so fun to see my Provo friends again! I missed them :)

I am home!

Well, after an amazing trip to Thailand, I finally made it back on US soil. I was touched with my family members and friends that took so much time out to come and visit me. Thank you guys! I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family that care so much about me and have been so supportive and encouraging through this adventure of mine.
More stories about my last days in Taiwan and my trip to Thailand to come.... I just have to wait for my computer to get fixed (I am having major technical difficulties with computers and cameras that is amounting to a lot of money that I didn't want to spend... such is life).

A Weekend At The Beach

Beautiful Beaches of Kenting

For a little weedend trip Jake and I met Shannon, Jessica, and Megan down in Kenting. We had a lot of fun playing on the beach and being cold. We made some Asian friends that were hilarious and Megan may have gotten a date....

Yes, it's cold...

So, yes it actually gets cold here- I never thought that it would happen. It is a very different kind of cold though. I will have on the two sweater I brought, pants, gloves, and a scarf and then find out that it really is 69 degrees outside! It's so funny. Driving to church on my scooter gets really cold- as you see with my lovely outfit.

Hiking

Wow! This was one of the coolest hikes I have ever been on. I felt like I was climbing up to a tree house the whole time. It was like this the whole way, and there were other "paths" all around the mountain. It was incredible. Notice that I don't have any shoes on....

Yes- it was really quite a climb in some spots.

November Fun

This is our hostel- I almost had to sleep with a man. But after the lady saw my face she said she would make him sleep somewhere else. Thank goodness!

Lindsey and I could not get kindergarten songs out of our head so we resorted to the ipod. It was our curse for missing Morning Kindergarten. "Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow.." Oh great, now it's in my head again :)

Around Taipei-at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

I got to see lots and lots of monkeys.... and we were not even at the zoo.