What's a phoon?

Yesterday a student asked me a very baffling question.
"What do you call a phoon in America that looks like a dragon with a long tail?"
I had no idea what he was on about. After much discussion we sorted out that it was a tornado. He thought a phoon as in typhoon was just a taiwanese phoon and that in America it must be called something like an amerryphoon.

I've had a lovely birthday so far. Bunches and bunches of flowers are all over the apartment and I even received a bottle of South African red wine! Our friends will be joining us for dinner tonight at the Bayou. It's a cajun restaurant on Mincheng road that has fantastic food, great service and an atmosphere that's hard to beat in Kaohsiung. It's also quite rare to find a friendly restaurateur meeting and seating you, that remembers your name and aims to learn the skill of distinguishing between the sound of a knife and fork dropping on the floor!

We attended Elizabeth and Stephen's one year anniversary party this past Saturday and it was extra fun for me since I got to go flower shopping with Elizabeth for the flower arrangements! I've never held one hundred roses in my arms before. One of the many joys of living in Taiwan is that flowers are really affordable. We bought stunning white and purple orchids by the bunches for a total of just under US$10. It looked gorgeous in the end. Elizabeth looked absolutely beautiful because she decided to wear her wedding gown that she wore in America one year ago! Life in Taiwan is really good. I was just struck by it when I walked outside the Grand Hotel in Kaohsiung where the wedding was held. Foreigners here have such a wonderful time and we have access to the best things despite the language barrier. It's amazing how comfortable we are in an extremely different culture. I am probably getting a bit nostalgic because our chapter here is drawing to a close and today is my fifth birthday on this little island. I will always love this place, some of my happiest years have been here :-)