I am in love.

Tonight will be a shorter post because I have to be up at 5:30 tomorrow morning to go to class in Taipei and then am teaching 6 classes starting almost as soon as I get back, so I need to get to bed pretty shortly here. That said, there were a couple of occurrences today that I absolutely could not go without chronicling. And.... *drumroll please*.... we have a recipe! Nice to know I am still a culinary rockstar half way around the world with a two burner stove and no oven.

Anyway. Things that need to be shared:

I taught a class of Taiwanese 6 year olds to sing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" today, with permission from my director, which to me makes it even funnier. The kids were doing review on three units that were body parts - arm, leg, foot, eyes, ears, etc. Well, while prepping for the class, I saw the page that said "Eyes, ears, mouth, nose" and promptly got the song stuck in my head, which turned into the single cutest flash of inspiration I've ever had. Seriously, you have not lived until you have lead a class of 20 or so little Taiwanese cherubs in a shouted chorus of head, shoulders, knees and toes. Other highlights of the class were teaching vowel pronunciation by making really exaggerated faces and acting like a fish, dog, cat, and bird, respectively, to teach those words as vocab. In addition to being an absolute blast to do, it was enough cuteness to make me melt... and also to seriously consider a career in elementary school teaching when I come home.

This tidbit is mostly for the benefit of Eric, one of my readers via the RSS feed on facebook, I got my watch fixed today, which was good. I cannot say that I did this on my own. Janet, the director from school, took me over there to handle the more complicated bits of Chinese for this particular transaction.

Another class related bit of awesome today actually has more to do with Chinese than it does teaching. So my last class of the day was a group of about 9-11 year olds in level 6 English. Now, the school rule is that classes are supposed to be English only, but nobody really follows that. This class was learning opposites such as pretty, ugly, short, tall, thin, and fat. I had them playing a game of some variety or another, and two of the boys in the class got bored and started talking to each other in Chinese. So, being Ms. Teacher, I said "English, please." One of the boys looked at the other, who said "something something ingwen", which is Chinese for English and is one of the few words I know. I look at him and say, "Yes, Ingwen." The whole class got this look like "Oh man, she can UNDERSTAND me?!?!?!!" and proceeded to get very quiet. I had to force myself not to bust out laughing and forfeit my upper hand.

In cultural news, (cultural news being me adjusting to the culture, haha) I have discovered a fabulous way to learn numbers. Basically, I learned the Chinese word for "hundred" and kind of figured out how it sounds. When I go to the market, which is where I have the most trouble with prices because nothing is written down, I listen carefully for that word and, anything under it, I pay with a 100 NT bill (something like 30 bucks at home) and figure out what the word they said means based on the change they give me. That way a.) I am learning and b.) I don't have to do the "How much???" dance every time I want a cup of tea.

Huh, so much for a short post. Okay, because I absolutely MUST wash my face and go to sleep sometime akin to NOW, here's the recipe I came up with today.

Sweet and Spicy Shrimp Stir-fry (so sue me; I like alliteration)

Juice of 1/2 lime
2 T Sriracha or other chili paste (WARNING: go light on this at first. We want a kick, not a trip to the emergency room because your taste buds disintegrated.)
1/4 -1/2 cup mirin (a sweet Chinese rice wine used for cooking. You can get it at Kroger on the international aisle or at an Asian grocery)
About a 1/2 lb of small shrimp
A 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
A small handful of baby corn. You can use baby carrots if you must, but I prefer corn
1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
Salt and pepper
Optional garnish that you really should use: cilantro and scallions

Combine lime juice, sriracha, and mirin in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add shrimp and stir to coat. Set aside.

In a hot (and I mean HOT) skillet, quickly saute ginger and garlic, being careful not to overcook. Add peppers and corn, and stir constantly for about 2 minutes.

Add shrimp and marinade. Cook just until shrimp are pink. Serve over rice and top with cilantro and scallions.

Sit back, relax, and watch a kung fu movie while marveling over your awesome Chinese cooking.

Anyway, bed time for me. All my love, and thanks for reading!