Current music: Not Ready To Make Nice by The Dixie Chicks
So, I've realized that I have not updated this thing for entirely too long. Again. Apologies. I kinda forgot about it. Since I am sure a lot has happened since the last time I wrote, I will try to cover things in condensed paragraphs. Here goes...
Things are still going wonderfully. We are over the "winter" weather, which really was not too bad, but it did get quite cold. And when you drive everywhere on a scooter, that cold can bite.
I got a second job. It's still teaching kids, but I enjoy it anyways. It is at a cram school once a week. Chinese children are pretty much in school for their entire childhood, after regular school, they head to cram schools to learn English in the evenings. It really sucks for them, and I never get too strict because I empathize with them. The first class is a group of fourteen 9-year-olds. They are just at the stage where they have attitude, but they don't really know how to deal with me because I just give them attitude back. I also have a group of nine 11-year-olds, and they are so well behaved for their age, it's really incredible. They pay me quite well for the standards here, and I don't really care if I keep the job or not, but I think I'll hold onto it for a little while at least.
Current music: The Last Dance by The Raveonettes
I have been taking weekends to go different places in Taiwan. Everywhere is ridiculously easy to travel to. There are buses, trains and a high-speed-rail that can get you across the length of the island in four hours. It's wicked. This weekend I am going to Kenting, the southern beach of Taiwan for a giant party called Spring Scream. Most of the foreigners in Taiwan make it to this thing, and I am super excited.
My day job is sitill going well. My kids have now progressed to the next grade for the new semester. As such, I have another PTA tomorrow. Which sucks, but the last one wasn't so bad, so I think I'll be OK. All I have to do is smile and not appear threatening and I'll be fine.
My school gives us another break at the end of April. Elyssa and I are planning a trip to the Philippines. We haven't decided which island to go to yet, but I will try to remember to update when things are confirmed.
My Mandarin lessons have been chugging along. I have finished the section on pinyin, and am going to start learning how to write. It's going to be a pain in the ass to try to memorize different characters, but I think if I can first understand how they work, they won't look so much like squiggles.
I'm on my lunch break right now, and I imagine that I should keep preparing and make my classrooms as colorful as possible. That is sure to shut the parents up.
Cheers, Jess
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