Only in Taiwan (exactly the same as my latest email, sorry)

Peeps(People, specifically my people, really take it as a term of endearment)- For a while now I have been dreaming about writing a blog or an email entitlted "Only in Taiwan." Obviously I have failed to send the email or post the blog but I believe that now is the day that my dreams will come to fruition. So the real question is where exactly should I begin?
First of all, my current situation would be the first instance I feel prompted to write about. Apparently no one in Taiwan ever received the memo that Sunday should be a day of rest, in some shape or form. Our school was told that we must renovate the downstairs bathroom and allow it to be handicap acessible for whatever reason. Well, yesterday we woke up to the sound of a jackhammer destroying the girls bathroom. Today, when we returned home from church the beautiful sound continued to rage in our ears. In the United States this would never fly. What construction company would come to a person's house and proceed to drill for seven straight hours? At least we did not wake up to the sounds of the world crashing to an end this morning. Perhaps one day the reconstruction will be finished and we will be allowed to take Sunday naps once again. But, seeing as my Sunday nap will not be coming this week I must proceed.
Only in Taiwan can you enter a man's house and slip into sandal's which and three sizes too small, proceed to have him feed you dinner and then nonchalantly discuss buying a man purse with his daughter. The family which I am doing exchanges with while living in Taiwan has allowed for this very situation to occur. Apparently it is a custom to take off ones shoes prior to entering someone's house and then wearing the slippers they provide for you. I happen to have average sized American man feet, but apparently large Taiwanese feet. As a consequence I receive the pleasure of wear tiny shoes and sitting on tiny chairs for hours at a time while trying to learn and understand a language where even the alphabet does not make any sense to me. As per the man purse. Yes I indeed used those exact words when communicating with his daughter and she failed to even blink an eye. I was hoping I would get a chuckle or something but she proceeded to invite us to the night markets in Taiwan instead. So we will probably make a trek up to Taipei and purchase a manly satchel to stow all of our stuff in. I must say though that I was surprised that sit didn't seem to matter what I called it, I still received a very sterile reaction.
Only in Taiwan will they proceed to give you a calling in the church and then set you apart in Chinese. For those of you maybe not quite familiar with how the LDS church extends assignments to the members let me give you some clarification. The members of the church serve in the church and are not paid for their positions. We are asked to fulfill certain assignments and we are asked by leaders in the church. After we are asked to fulfill an assignment we are given a blessing where hands are laid on our heads and a church leader set us apart for the assignment. This gives us the authority to perform the assignment and task which we have been given. It is a neat experience because when the leader prays over us it is really us receiving instructions from God. Anyways, I received an assignment and then when they set me apart they did it in Chinese. I am still not sure what was said in the prayer but it still had the same effect.
Only in Taiwan will the average American get genuinely excited to go to the local McDonald's. Let's face the music. Ice cream in Taiwan simply isn't as good as the American counterpart. I still have yet to see Dryer's Ice Cream anywhere and I have had to satisfy my cravings with the ice cream cones at McDonald's. I will be the first to admit that I hate McDonald's in the states and would never make a purchase there unless I had a gun to my head. Well, that isn't true either. But in Taiwan the ice cream does not have the same base and so it just does not live up to the American ice cream. I have begun frequenting the high quality American chain and enjoying the fake ice cream that is beginning to become a staple of my diet. Yes, I am willing to go to McDonald's for ice cream I will admit it and yes I do get excited about these outings. There are others things I would like to rant and rave about only happening in Taiwan but I still know that it is a lie. While we get to hang our laundry out to dry because there are no dryers in Taiwan, I know that there are many other countries which live just like we do. Other countries sell squid to children in the night markets and have pigs feet as a local delicacy. I'm sure that Americans must talk to the taxi driver's family on the phone in English in order to translate where Americans would like to go in other countries. Even in America people don't like to stop at red lights and believe that if they stop for 10 seconds at a red light they are entitled to proceed through. Thought Taiwan feels like a foreign country, I don't believe that it is unique from the rest of the world. I'm sure other countries make men and women alike stand when using the bathroom. It is just a fact of life. Well, that is what is happening in my life and the things I prefer to write about today. This week has been interesting trying to manage a classroom full of very young individuals who only sometimes want to learn English and other times only complain about wanting to go home. This week should be fun though. I get to teach my 5 and 6 year olds about writing the letters R,N,P,H and some other letter. It is also the last full week before the Chinese New Year, when we have our major party. Well, I might get inspired to write more later but I fear that if I don't send this out now it will never make it. Hope this letter finds you well and I hope to hear from you soon.