January in Taiwan

Well, there's no snow, I can't say it's -13 degrees, but it HAS been a very cold month here in Taiwan! When you're not expecting the cold it feels a lot chillier I think.. Not to mention that our house is made to keep the heat out, marble floors and walls. There have been days when it's warmer outside of our house than in. Ok, only a momentary 'poor me', I know what it's like in Minnesota, Vermont, Canada and Colorado are like right now... There's even snow in the mountains of Hawaii! The cold will only last here for another couple of weeks, and then we'll have another brief rainy season and then back into the hot hot days.

Thomas and I have been enjoying cooking lots of indian food at home, trying to master the art of our favorite cuisine. Not so easy, but a work in progress! My naan turned out as hard as a rock and the samosas had an interesting shell, but the inside was delicious! I have a wonderful mama of a child in my class who's from Thailand and had us over to her home the other day for a mouth-watering feast and a cooking lesson! Not experts yet by any means but practicing practicing practicing... We're thinking of some Thai cooking classes when we're in Thailand in March. We shall see.

thomas' new 1000 recipe indian cookbook

The traditional fruit and vegetable markets continue to be of great inspiration, and an exciting weekly adventure. We're practicing counting in Chinese and speaking money exchange language by bartering with the locals. (well not really bartering, just mostly paying what they ask after taking 30 seconds to translate in our minds the amount they've asked for!) We end up with bags and bags of fresh produce, and we've only just spent our pocket change, it's magic how that works! We're a funny sight, carrying it all home from the market on our scooter, but manage somehow.

I've been sewing and sewing away, I'm up to 80 cloth napkins for the kindergarten! I've had enough of wasting paper towels and napkins. And my seamstress career has officially begun! Not to mention all of the hand sewn dolls and little gnomes that are coming to life. This will be a fruitful year on the crafting and cooking front for sure!

love gnomes

We're still not sure what next year will hold for us, dreaming and contemplating, planning, rationalizing, and figuring...And applying to various waldorf schools around the US. Feeling drawn toward the upper northwest, Maine, Vermont areas, so theirs an inkling of an idea, which is something. I had my first skype interview which was nerve wracking, but quite easy once I answered the call and settled in for a chat with 6 early childhood teachers sitting cozily in a Waldorf kindergarten classroom. It was funny and fun and we had a great conversation, but still waiting for a follow up.


Thomas is signed up for the 200 hour yoga training with our dear teacher and friend Succharita at the Yoga House.We are both very excited about it! I unfortunately still need to have my hernia repaired, and so need to be very gentle with my body and can't do as much yoga as I would like. I've rescheduled my surgery for February 16th, and will have ten days at home to heal. Feeling a bit nervous, but also strong and clear about getting myself back in normal functioning mode.

That's all for now, HAPPY (Chinese) NEW YEAR! Entering the year of the Rabbit. We're so so so looking forward to a six day vacation from school, and a trip up to Taipei or up into the Taroko Gorge, still undecided! AND the grand festivities of the most celebrated holiday here in Taiwan. Any good book suggestions? Movies? I'll be lounging at home for ten straight days post-surgery, could use any ideas! Have fun wherever you are and please write me an email, say hello, and tell me some stories...
LOVE. tierney

December in Taiwan and Minnesota

Hello all,

My, what a whirlwind December was... I had a wonderful gig before leaving town at this great venue here in the city, the Mercury lounge. It felt so good to perform, and I had the great fortune to share the stage with a very talented local blues musician. I was surprised by how many people came, and their attentiveness to my performance. It's been a while since I've played a gig where everyone is actually listening! Well, it's been a while since I've played any gig for that matter!

I am back in Taiwan now after a very fun, full and snowy winter trip back to minnesota. It was so wonderful to see family and friends and to celebrate the holidays all cozied up and with good cheer. It was so nice to see those of you I was able to spend time with. Delicious meals, laughter, bottles and bottles of champagne...  The snow falling and falling made for the perfect wintry delight. I was a little snow bunny, playing in the snow! I went ice-skating, sledding, I shoveled and shoveled and shoveled, just for fun... It was perfect. I was feeling so nostalgic about not having autumn or winter and I got a serious dose of a very serious winter. Did I mention the biting cold? It was cold like I've never felt before..

Mama, me and kelsey

The flight going back to the states was easy.. I had a lay over in Tokyo for 5 hours and was joined by a few other teachers from my school, so I was in good company. And then, we boarded the 15 hour flight to chicago around 7, took off at 8pm and I was tucked in and ready to go to sleep after a movie and glass of wine around 10! I slept great on the flight and when I landed in Chicago, it was Saturday night again! I missed my flight in Chicago, due to a very small in between time, and I had to go through customs, get my luggage and then recheck to get on my next flight, I didn't even have a chance! So I waited around in Chicago for a bit, and then flew to Minneapolis. Upon landing in the city, my mama picked me up, and then next thing I knew, I was getting onto a karaoke party bus for meg's bachlorette party. OH dear. That's enough said about that!

It only took me about a week to get on the right time schedule, there were many sleepless nights and many groggy days, but being surrounded by family and relaxing makes it a bit easier I guess.

And miss meghan feehan is now Mrs. Meghan Maes!! What a beautiful and fun wedding it was.. (exhausting as the personal attendant, musician AND grooms dinner decorator) but really fun nonetheless! I got to dance with my grandma, sing with my mama, and see an entire half of my extended family, what a treat! Meghan and Dan are now lounging on a white sandy beach in Jamaica, and they totally deserve it after all the hard work put into their wedding.

Over the holidays I had a longing sensation to be curled up in my own home, near my own Christmas tree with a journal in hand, contemplating the year to come.. That was definitely not the case on this trip, but there's a time for everything right? I'm feeling a bit insecure, not knowing what this next year will hold for me, for us. But trying to remain in the present, and be open to all possibilities. The sky truly IS the limit. In this case it's narrowing it down that seems impossible. After living in Taiwan, anything could happen. I am looking forward to working as a Waldorf Kindergarten teacher somewhere, and beginning my Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher training. Where I will teach? That is the question... Right now I am checking out Waldorf schools in Ireland, in Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, and Bali to name a few! I don't have any really strong leads yet.  Let me know if you have any ideas! I am also looking forward to continuing writing songs and becoming a stronger musician, perhaps recording a new album before leaving Taiwan. Thomas is very close to registering for a 200 hour yoga training here in Kaohsiung, and is diligently writing and studying away, as ever. I admire his love of learning, and wish some of it would rub off on me! Not that I don't love to learn, just that I don't have the patience for reading Steiner for hours on end! hoping to get there some day soon..

School has begun again, and I am feeling quite sure that this semester will fly right by, and then our year in Taiwan will be over before we know it! The children have grown in our time apart and I sense that this half will be mostly downhill. They are eager to listen, to sing, to play... We have several breaks to look forward to, including Chinese new year, and a trip to Thailand for spring break. AND a very exciting trip to Bali and India in the works for early summer, right when school gets out. I love to plan and dream away my days... Thinking of you all, and little tiny strings of love are spreading out across the world, from my heart to yours.

LOVE. tierney

November in Taiwan

November, november, november... you've come and gone so quickly!
It has been an interesting month, with its many ups and downs, trials and tribulations. As most of you know, I was diagnosed(? is that what you say about a hernia?) with a hernia. Alas, the cute and chubby kindergarteners gave me a hernia! Sometimes you just gotta pick em' up and move them around a bit. It takes waaaaaay less time! But I learned my lesson there, don't lift anything or anyone that is almost as heavy as you are. I already knew that it was a hernia before going in to see the doctor, after researching on the internet. He advised me to get it surgically repaired and we scheduled a surgery on the spot. So, I canceled my gym membership, stopped running and working out, started to be a lot more conscious of things I was lifting. It didn't hurt, but being aware of my bodily defect was/is a very tiresome thing. Not to mention, there is a great risk of the tear in the muscle tissue getting larger, or the bowel strangulating, pretty much NOT good things, so that made me all the more conscious. The hernia became not a painful ache, but a conscious aching. Something that I was constantly aware of, and feeling uncomfortable just knowing it was there.

November in the Kindergarten was a beautiful time of settling into the daily rhythm, relaxing into new crafts, new circles and stories. With my ease and relaxation came a new energy in the children. They also began to relax and come to school with a more calming energy and more presence and confidence. It is a constant reminder for me , working with young children. If I am stressed out and exhausted, they will push the buttons deeper and harder, and if I am calm, confident and at ease they will reflect that back to me. Being a kindergarten teacher is such a humbling profession in this way. I made beautiful paper lanterns with the children, and sang many songs of light and beauty, strength and generosity... and we planned our lantern walk at school. The parents came and brought with them a feast of delightful foreign foods to share. We walked around our school campus in the dark of the night, our lights beaming with love and our songs echoing out into the city streets. I gained a new trust in the parents and a new understanding I think. They saw the beauty in what I do, and even though they didn't have the vocabulary or the questions to ask, I know they could feel the magic...


Thomas and I continue to explore and adventure out into the city... Our scooter is a fine chariot, scary, dangerous and thrilling as it may be. We have explored the temples around lotus lake, the fishing ports at the south of the city, the many night markets, day markets too, and remain completely in awe of the busy and bustling culture surrounding us.

Then my surgery week came, I had my sub lined up, everything prepared, checked in to the hospital only to find out that they couldn't proceed with the surgery because I wasn't healthy! So they sent me home and I had a lot of time on my hands, and a huge relief. I was also let down because I had prepared so thoroughly to have the surgery and I was very very nervous, and it came as quite a shock that it wasn't happening. Shock and relief.

Thanksgiving brought a delicious turkey to our door. A parent in my class ordered a turkey dinner from the French chef downtown, to be delivered to us. And then the local government elections began. What an exciting and overwhelming experience that was! Imagine day and night, little blue trucks with their loudspeakers blaring out political campaigns, people gathering every night in our park to rally in support of one of the candidates, constant fire works, and all of it in a foreign language... We couldn't understand the political aspects of each party, and so just watched, as bystanders, the entire thing happen! Think about political races in the states and then turn it up about ten notches! Complete madness... Whew. We were happy when the elections finally happened, and the former Mayor took the chair for another term!

After thanksgiving, without having had my surgery, we had an unexpected trip down to the southern tip of the island yet again. We met some friends there and lounged on the beach for one last time before the winter winds really got wild.

I am preparing for two more weeks of school and then a long journey across the world back to my homeland, I can't wait! Sending love, would really enjoy hearing some stories from you all out there. xo