Current music: Kiss With A Fist by Florence and the Machine
So...it turns out it can actually get sort of cold in Taiwan. Not by Canadian standards by any means, but so much that I can wear jeans and a hoodie and not die from heat exhaustion. I want to stress that it is always really warm here, as no houses ever have insulation.
Night markets are a big thing in Taiwan, and they are exactly what they sound like. They open at around 7 or 8, whenever it gets dark, and you can buy all these different weird foods, clothing, toys, whatever. They span about one city block, and when they are not set up they look like a parking lot. Jane and I went last week, instead of getting dinner. I was going to try an octopus on a stick, but decided that it probably wasn't the best idea when almost nursing a hangover. I also don't know if I'd be allergic to it, but next time I think I'll risk it. I got some strange little apple cakes, some sushi, some really good dumplings, a kabob and some sugar waffles that were in the shape of Spongebob Squarepants. Taiwan is obsessed with Spongebob, he is everywhere. Spongebob and Hello Kitty. Everywhere.
Current music: Sounds Like Hallelujah by The Head and the Heart.
Last night I went for dinner at the BBQ place that I went to my first weekend here. It was basically a repeat of that night, except this time I could order things in my terrible Chinese. It is the only place that I have found here where you can get genuine Cantonese food. Fantastic. All the English teachers from my school were there, and they like to buy me beer, which I won't complain about. I was smart enough not to challenge Hopey to a drinking contest, so I challenged Les. I picked an easy contest to make up for the shame of the last time. Victory. It was good to celebrate Bonfire Night with actual English people instead of just me watching V for Vendetta.
I just finished subbing for one of Amanda's classes while she is in Kenting for the weekend. Why people here insist on some classes 7 days a week is beyond me. It's fucking Saturday, I wanted to sleep. It was a small class of 3 high school girls, who were the quietest people. Easiest class ever. I need to get some more private classes once I get a scooter and can actually move around this city. My bike is falling apart and making weird noises that sound like a seal being slaughtered. I have faith in it though. I went scooter shopping last week and Sonja and Amanda were gracious enough to come with me so I wouldn't be a moron and buy the first shiny scooter I found. Which would completely happen if I was unsupervised.
After many shady scooter people trying to rip me off, Amanda eventually took me to her mechanic, who by chance just obtained a 125cc scooter which is probably from the mid 90's and was in pieces. Apparently David the mechanic is a stand up guy and a scooter wizard, and he is going to spend the next week or so fixing the scooter up to be functional. It will still look like it's been through a war, but I can cover it in stickers. When he is done, he will call me up to go look at it and see if I want it. It's cheap too, which is what I wanted. We'll see, I'm in no rush. My squealing bike suits me just fine.
I learned to drive a scooter last week, much easier than I thought it would be. The traffic is what fucks things up. People here can't drive. They make up their own rules as they go. It's really quite extraordinary, and I can't put it into words. You have to see it to understand the full extent of the crazy.
Current music: Canadian Lover, Falcon's Escape by Destroyer
I started my kids on rehearsing my Christmas play this week. My big kids have to have lines. We go on in 5 weeks. Which is more scary than I like to admit. Outwardly, I'm as cool as a cucumber about the situation to the other teachers, but my kids are terrible at performing. Except Duncan, he'll be my saving grace. It's not like they're doing Les Mis, but their parents will be there. Watching and judging. If I just have them constantly do jazz hands and smile, I think I'll be OK. The babies don't have lines, so if I just throw them on stage in costumes, everybody will be so blinded by the cute that they'll forget about everything else. It's a foolproof plan.
Thing I miss of the week: The use of a dryer. They are totally unnecessary here, but that doesn't mean I don't long for dryer fresh clothes.
Avoiding the bars this weekend. Last weekend was almost too crazy. Probably going to get some 7-11 beers with Jane and wander around.
Out.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Bonfires burning bright, pumpkin faces in the night, I remember Halloween
Current music: Hello I Love You by The Doors
Nearing the two month mark now here in Tainan. It's still amazing here, I never want to leave.
It's Monday. Monday is my longest day, because I have a private tutoring session with an 11-year-old named Prince right after my day ends. Apparently Prince is a semi-common English name for kids here...I have no idea why. I think his name has given him a complex though, because the kid has a bit of an attitude. He's convinced that he is always right, and he likes to give me advice on things in Taiwan. He is actually smarter than me, but I don't want him to know that. The kid is a fantastic reader because he has a crazy mother that forces him to constantly do homework. I feel kind of bad for him in this respect. So I go a little easy on him because I think that he sometimes forgets that he is a child.
This weekend there was a super-typhoon that decided to sit in the middle of the South China Sea, and no one knew where it was going to go. Taiwan was in a bit of a panic. So, once it started hardcore raining on Friday morning, Tainan was officially shut down, and my school closed for the afternoon. I was ecstatic and high fiving everyone. The best part was that it only rained for about 45 minutes and the rest of the day was sunshine. Tainan was, for the most part, spared Typhoon Megi, all we got was rain. Although it was horrible to hear that it hit northern Taiwan, causing flooding and landslides. A mountain collapsed near Suao, on the east coast, burying a tour bus. I heard that most people were rescued, but the total death count in Taiwan was 12, with 23 missing. Scary stuff, apparently it was one of the worst storms ever recorded, anywhere. Ever. We were lucky that it stopped when it did.
I finally got an Alien Residency Card today, so I'm no longer an illegal immigrant. I'm going to buy a scooter as soon as I possibly can. Getting a cell phone tomorrow.
Current music: Your Touch by The Black Keys
Halloween is on Sunday. I have to do pumpkin carving on Wednesday, which is scary because I don't want my children anywhere near me whilst I'm wielding a weapon. Chances are they will start climbing on me and things will go awry.
We got raided again last week. This one lasted for at least an hour. They seem to be cracking down on the kindergarten teachers, apparently they have never raided this frequently. It wasn't too bad though, it gave Peet and I a chance to go over the bilingual Christmas pageant. I am already super worried that some of my kids are going to fail horribly at the dialogue.
I went to a restaurant called the Water Frog on Saturday night. It was by far the weirdest dining experience I have ever had. You sit at a table, which has a hot coal BBQ in the middle of it. You take plates up to the buffet area to get your food. That catch is that all the meat and veggies are raw, and you cook them yourself in the middle of the table, using makeshift tin foil plates. I went with my new best friend Jane, who also does not speak Chinese. I have decided that the experience would have been a lot less stressful if there was more people, who knew the characters for different meats, and could help cook. It was a lot of work for two people. Anyways, I nearly lit myself on fire, and then was unable to put out the fire in the middle of the table because I was laughing so much at the situation. Long story short, I didn't burn myself or get salmonella, which was also an issue because all the raw meat was intermingling. On top of all that, they give you all you can drink beer, but I don't think it would be wise for anyone to be intoxicated whilst sitting at a table with open flames on it. In retrospect, it was a very funny dinner. They had ice cream, which made it worthwhile.
Current music: Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold
It's pizza night at Willy's, which happens every Monday. I am super excited. I pretty much live there, I was there for dinner last night, now that I think of it. Whatever, I can't get tired of it. The servers all know us by name now, which is super convenient. It's like Cheers, without the silly situational comedy. There is some situational comedy, but less.
This season of Jersey Shore is over. I am more sad than I care to admit.
Thing I miss of the day: Subway. I hear there's one here, but I have no idea where.
It's pizza time! Wheee!
Nearing the two month mark now here in Tainan. It's still amazing here, I never want to leave.
It's Monday. Monday is my longest day, because I have a private tutoring session with an 11-year-old named Prince right after my day ends. Apparently Prince is a semi-common English name for kids here...I have no idea why. I think his name has given him a complex though, because the kid has a bit of an attitude. He's convinced that he is always right, and he likes to give me advice on things in Taiwan. He is actually smarter than me, but I don't want him to know that. The kid is a fantastic reader because he has a crazy mother that forces him to constantly do homework. I feel kind of bad for him in this respect. So I go a little easy on him because I think that he sometimes forgets that he is a child.
This weekend there was a super-typhoon that decided to sit in the middle of the South China Sea, and no one knew where it was going to go. Taiwan was in a bit of a panic. So, once it started hardcore raining on Friday morning, Tainan was officially shut down, and my school closed for the afternoon. I was ecstatic and high fiving everyone. The best part was that it only rained for about 45 minutes and the rest of the day was sunshine. Tainan was, for the most part, spared Typhoon Megi, all we got was rain. Although it was horrible to hear that it hit northern Taiwan, causing flooding and landslides. A mountain collapsed near Suao, on the east coast, burying a tour bus. I heard that most people were rescued, but the total death count in Taiwan was 12, with 23 missing. Scary stuff, apparently it was one of the worst storms ever recorded, anywhere. Ever. We were lucky that it stopped when it did.
I finally got an Alien Residency Card today, so I'm no longer an illegal immigrant. I'm going to buy a scooter as soon as I possibly can. Getting a cell phone tomorrow.
Current music: Your Touch by The Black Keys
Halloween is on Sunday. I have to do pumpkin carving on Wednesday, which is scary because I don't want my children anywhere near me whilst I'm wielding a weapon. Chances are they will start climbing on me and things will go awry.
We got raided again last week. This one lasted for at least an hour. They seem to be cracking down on the kindergarten teachers, apparently they have never raided this frequently. It wasn't too bad though, it gave Peet and I a chance to go over the bilingual Christmas pageant. I am already super worried that some of my kids are going to fail horribly at the dialogue.
I went to a restaurant called the Water Frog on Saturday night. It was by far the weirdest dining experience I have ever had. You sit at a table, which has a hot coal BBQ in the middle of it. You take plates up to the buffet area to get your food. That catch is that all the meat and veggies are raw, and you cook them yourself in the middle of the table, using makeshift tin foil plates. I went with my new best friend Jane, who also does not speak Chinese. I have decided that the experience would have been a lot less stressful if there was more people, who knew the characters for different meats, and could help cook. It was a lot of work for two people. Anyways, I nearly lit myself on fire, and then was unable to put out the fire in the middle of the table because I was laughing so much at the situation. Long story short, I didn't burn myself or get salmonella, which was also an issue because all the raw meat was intermingling. On top of all that, they give you all you can drink beer, but I don't think it would be wise for anyone to be intoxicated whilst sitting at a table with open flames on it. In retrospect, it was a very funny dinner. They had ice cream, which made it worthwhile.
Current music: Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold
It's pizza night at Willy's, which happens every Monday. I am super excited. I pretty much live there, I was there for dinner last night, now that I think of it. Whatever, I can't get tired of it. The servers all know us by name now, which is super convenient. It's like Cheers, without the silly situational comedy. There is some situational comedy, but less.
This season of Jersey Shore is over. I am more sad than I care to admit.
Thing I miss of the day: Subway. I hear there's one here, but I have no idea where.
It's pizza time! Wheee!
Friday, October 15, 2010
When I was a little girl, I had a rag doll...
Current music: Charm Attack by Leona Naess
It has been pointed out to me that I have been neglecting the blogging. Apart from laziness, the only justification I can offer for this is that I seem to be getting used to the extreme weirdness of things here, therefore they seem less worthy of documentation. I know that this is not true, but that's all I got. But there are pictures now! Many pictures. Hopefully videos coming soon, stay tuned.
I just returned home from a sushi dinner at Sushi Express with the teachers from Head Start. I don't know them as well as I do my own co-workers, but they are all cool kids as well. Celeste is close to my age, from Alberta and speaks flawless Chinese, so I figured that she would be a good friend to have. And I was right, as she provided me with a Halloween costume; she will be going as Rachel Berry and I will go as Sue Sylvester. All I have to do is find a track suit, which will be easy enough, and spend my day berating people. What a glorious Halloween it shall be. I should also get a bullhorn.
John is yet another Englishman who has seemingly been in Tainan forever. He keeps trying to persuade me to go hardcore mountain biking around Jiali and Kaohsiung, but he doesn't understand that although I still enjoy the bicycle, I also don't have any other mode of transportation. So biking in my spare time is still something I leave to the evenings, when it is cool-ish. Not vertically, in the middle of the scorching afternoon. Perhaps in the future.
Kevin is (I'm guessing) from somewhere in the States and is the quietest person ever. How you can be that serious and still be an elementary teacher escapes me. Tim is from California, and I always seem to run into him at the bar. He has the same sense of humour as me, so we get along fine. I sometimes envy that they get to do elementary. But there is good and bad about every teaching age. I'm fine with my little hell-spawn for now. Although they did give me a wicked cold this past week, because they are laden with disease. Why must children be so toxic?
Current music: Warm Heart of Africa by The Very Best
Jump Start goes all out for Halloween. The school is decorated down to the last doorway, and they will be holding a pageant thing for the kids to trot around in their costumes in front of their peers, and many parents as well. They felt the need to stress to us not to dress up as anything too scary for the children, and then proceeded to display bloody scream masks hanging from the ceiling and prop up little toy witches with Freddy Kreuger faces in front of every classroom. So, I've decided to ignore this advice even more than I ignore all advice that I get from management.
I made the mistake of using one of the demon witches to scare my babies one day. Now they are all in a constant state of terror every time they pass by the toy. Though I often use this fear to scare them into compliance. Be quiet or the witch will eat you. I sense future lifelong fears a-growing. Maybe I have a sadistic kindergarten teacher to blame for my irrational fear of clowns. We'll never know.
Ok, I'm going to be honest about where my weekends have gone. The bars here do not close. Ever. As long as there are people in them, they stay open. So, last call does not exist. I have previously been out at The Armory, the local foreigner pub, until 7am. Therefore, this weekend is going to be extremely low-key, so I can rest. I may be going to Taichung tomorrow with Sonja. Apparently, there is some kind of jazz festival going on, and I love jazz.
Current music: Cherry Bomb by The Runaways
I taught my big kids to sing Do-Re-Mi a few weeks ago, due to my recent goal to be Julie Andrews. On the CD I use for that song, this song is immediately followed by Stop by the Spice Girls. Remarkably, one of my kids already knows it. Or at least random noises in the rhythm of it. So, I had no choice but to teach them all to say random noises to the beat of Stop. It was one of the most epic things I have ever seen. My twelve-year-old self would love me right now.
Thing I miss of the day: Nick...I get to Skype with you tomorrow! Excitement!
I'm drinking a weird Japanese beer called Asahi right now, and it's pretty damn good. No reason to throw that in there, but it needed to be said. Daniel told me that it's going to storm this weekend, he had better be lying.
Goodnight.
P.S. I shall do my best not to be so negligent in future times.
It has been pointed out to me that I have been neglecting the blogging. Apart from laziness, the only justification I can offer for this is that I seem to be getting used to the extreme weirdness of things here, therefore they seem less worthy of documentation. I know that this is not true, but that's all I got. But there are pictures now! Many pictures. Hopefully videos coming soon, stay tuned.
I just returned home from a sushi dinner at Sushi Express with the teachers from Head Start. I don't know them as well as I do my own co-workers, but they are all cool kids as well. Celeste is close to my age, from Alberta and speaks flawless Chinese, so I figured that she would be a good friend to have. And I was right, as she provided me with a Halloween costume; she will be going as Rachel Berry and I will go as Sue Sylvester. All I have to do is find a track suit, which will be easy enough, and spend my day berating people. What a glorious Halloween it shall be. I should also get a bullhorn.
John is yet another Englishman who has seemingly been in Tainan forever. He keeps trying to persuade me to go hardcore mountain biking around Jiali and Kaohsiung, but he doesn't understand that although I still enjoy the bicycle, I also don't have any other mode of transportation. So biking in my spare time is still something I leave to the evenings, when it is cool-ish. Not vertically, in the middle of the scorching afternoon. Perhaps in the future.
Kevin is (I'm guessing) from somewhere in the States and is the quietest person ever. How you can be that serious and still be an elementary teacher escapes me. Tim is from California, and I always seem to run into him at the bar. He has the same sense of humour as me, so we get along fine. I sometimes envy that they get to do elementary. But there is good and bad about every teaching age. I'm fine with my little hell-spawn for now. Although they did give me a wicked cold this past week, because they are laden with disease. Why must children be so toxic?
Current music: Warm Heart of Africa by The Very Best
Jump Start goes all out for Halloween. The school is decorated down to the last doorway, and they will be holding a pageant thing for the kids to trot around in their costumes in front of their peers, and many parents as well. They felt the need to stress to us not to dress up as anything too scary for the children, and then proceeded to display bloody scream masks hanging from the ceiling and prop up little toy witches with Freddy Kreuger faces in front of every classroom. So, I've decided to ignore this advice even more than I ignore all advice that I get from management.
I made the mistake of using one of the demon witches to scare my babies one day. Now they are all in a constant state of terror every time they pass by the toy. Though I often use this fear to scare them into compliance. Be quiet or the witch will eat you. I sense future lifelong fears a-growing. Maybe I have a sadistic kindergarten teacher to blame for my irrational fear of clowns. We'll never know.
Ok, I'm going to be honest about where my weekends have gone. The bars here do not close. Ever. As long as there are people in them, they stay open. So, last call does not exist. I have previously been out at The Armory, the local foreigner pub, until 7am. Therefore, this weekend is going to be extremely low-key, so I can rest. I may be going to Taichung tomorrow with Sonja. Apparently, there is some kind of jazz festival going on, and I love jazz.
Current music: Cherry Bomb by The Runaways
I taught my big kids to sing Do-Re-Mi a few weeks ago, due to my recent goal to be Julie Andrews. On the CD I use for that song, this song is immediately followed by Stop by the Spice Girls. Remarkably, one of my kids already knows it. Or at least random noises in the rhythm of it. So, I had no choice but to teach them all to say random noises to the beat of Stop. It was one of the most epic things I have ever seen. My twelve-year-old self would love me right now.
Thing I miss of the day: Nick...I get to Skype with you tomorrow! Excitement!
I'm drinking a weird Japanese beer called Asahi right now, and it's pretty damn good. No reason to throw that in there, but it needed to be said. Daniel told me that it's going to storm this weekend, he had better be lying.
Goodnight.
P.S. I shall do my best not to be so negligent in future times.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Current music: Merry Happy by Kate Nash
I finally found out how to put up pictures. The short answer: a flash drive and someone else's Internet connection. They will all gradually get up there.If I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll put captions.
My first and hopefully last PTA was on Tuesday night. It was an interesting experience to sit in front of a room full of parents of young children, most of whom do not speak English, and tell them what their tuition money is being spent on. Everything that I said had to be translated, which was hilarious in itself. But for the most part, as expected, the parents were extremely gracious to my face.
It's another experience to try to explain to a parent why her 3 year old child sometimes has trouble concentrating. The answer is because she's three. But parents that are paying money for pre-education can't hear that. So, I lie and say its based on external things.
I have to go pick up my BBQ tonight. I bought it from a nice couple who are leaving to go home to Canada. The wife is from Newfoundland and has been here for six years. It must be crazy to try to adapt to going back. I can't even think that far ahead yet.
Jump Start is taking a schoolwide field trip to the zoo next week. I think I am more excited than my kids are. I love zoos, and zoos here are probably three times as awesome.
I keep debating whether or not I should get a dog. Or whether or not I should catch a lizard to keep as a pet. There are lizards everywhere and I like them because they eat bugs...and bugs can sometimes be a problem. I haven't seen a giant spider yet, but Elyssa has. The lizards aren't as big as the ones in Costa Rica, but they are everywhere.
I have to come up with some ideas for my Christmas show. I am seriously considering writing something about Christmas hobgoblins, but I am completely sure that only my little brother would find that funny. The public speaking abilities of my children worry me.
The typhoon that hit here moved on to China where it killed seventy something people. I heard of only one death in Taiwan. I guess we got off easy, relatively speaking. The damage is still everywhere.
Thing I miss of the day: Ketchup chips. It seems all the chip flavors here are based on meat or fish products. Seriously. There are prawn flavored pringles and sushi flavored kettle chips.
Sidenote: Sonja showed me a fantastic sushi place that I'm going to live at.
I have nothing else to say.
I finally found out how to put up pictures. The short answer: a flash drive and someone else's Internet connection. They will all gradually get up there.If I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll put captions.
My first and hopefully last PTA was on Tuesday night. It was an interesting experience to sit in front of a room full of parents of young children, most of whom do not speak English, and tell them what their tuition money is being spent on. Everything that I said had to be translated, which was hilarious in itself. But for the most part, as expected, the parents were extremely gracious to my face.
It's another experience to try to explain to a parent why her 3 year old child sometimes has trouble concentrating. The answer is because she's three. But parents that are paying money for pre-education can't hear that. So, I lie and say its based on external things.
I have to go pick up my BBQ tonight. I bought it from a nice couple who are leaving to go home to Canada. The wife is from Newfoundland and has been here for six years. It must be crazy to try to adapt to going back. I can't even think that far ahead yet.
Jump Start is taking a schoolwide field trip to the zoo next week. I think I am more excited than my kids are. I love zoos, and zoos here are probably three times as awesome.
I keep debating whether or not I should get a dog. Or whether or not I should catch a lizard to keep as a pet. There are lizards everywhere and I like them because they eat bugs...and bugs can sometimes be a problem. I haven't seen a giant spider yet, but Elyssa has. The lizards aren't as big as the ones in Costa Rica, but they are everywhere.
I have to come up with some ideas for my Christmas show. I am seriously considering writing something about Christmas hobgoblins, but I am completely sure that only my little brother would find that funny. The public speaking abilities of my children worry me.
The typhoon that hit here moved on to China where it killed seventy something people. I heard of only one death in Taiwan. I guess we got off easy, relatively speaking. The damage is still everywhere.
Thing I miss of the day: Ketchup chips. It seems all the chip flavors here are based on meat or fish products. Seriously. There are prawn flavored pringles and sushi flavored kettle chips.
Sidenote: Sonja showed me a fantastic sushi place that I'm going to live at.
I have nothing else to say.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Sit back and wait through the daylight
Current music: Sun Hands by Local Natives
It's already hot as hell out and it's 9:30 in the morning. It's gonna be a bad one today. Thank goodness everywhere I need to go has AC.
I have a conversation partner that am going to meet today. She is a local Taiwanese girl that wants to improve her English skills. I am a foreign Canadian crazy person that wants to get any Chinese skills. It's a match made in heaven. Hopefully I can learn to say something besides the random scattered words that I know...they can't even make a feasible sentence.
I'm getting antsy because I don't have a scooter yet. Elyssa found one where the papers don't need to be transferred right away, and I'm insanely jealous. I don't dislike biking to school, I've gotten used to it. Daniel showed me a fantastic bike path yesterday that goes right past these amazing fish farms. I'm going to bring my camera on Monday and take pictures. Plus, it cuts about 10 minutes off my drive, and there's no traffic. Which is amazing, as traffic is scary. I almost get clipped on a regular basis by the damn scooters.
My PTA is on Tuesday. Basically, my kids' parents come and scrutinize every decision that I've made thus far. The worst part is that they all will probably be polite to me, but will discuss their problems with Vera, my Chinese teacher, and I don't want her to have to deal with it. That's a PTA though. It's impossible to please everyone. Peet tells me not to worry so much. All I need to do is make sure that my rooms are colourful.
Hopey had a BBQ on Moon Festival, which apparently is the thing to do on Moon Festival. Barbecues and fireworks and drinking...it's like Canada day or May 24 on crack. We also went bowling, and I remembered that I can't bowl for real. Wii bowling, forget about it. Hopey's girlfriend Milla drove me there in an actual car, and I can't fathom ever driving a car here. She's a lovely Taiwanese girl who works in cosmetics and showed me how using acupuncture on your ear can cure different ailments. Basically you just stick little needles in different parts of your ear, and they look like earrings. She's going to bring me a set the next time she comes down from Taichung.
I tried bamboo for the first time, and it turns out it's delicious. I probably ended up having more bamboo than actual food. Barbecues in Taiwan are amazing.
Current music: Alternative Ulster by the Stiff Little Fingers
It's someone else's birthday party tonight, so Amanda tells me we're going out clubbing again. I never really know whose birthday I'm celebrating at these events, but it never really matters. The point is, I love the beer here.
My balcony is almost ready to entertain on. I bought a little barbecue for it. I'm going to have a killer balcony when it's done. I found a little plant shop for as to furnish it. Once I figure out why pictures aren't working on my godawful Internet connection, all shall be seen.
No more typing. I'm going to make coffee. I bought a coffeemaker too. It's the best purchase I've made thus far.
Thing I miss of the day: Tim Hortons.
Off to sit outside and drinks my coffee. Which thankfully is basically the same word in Mandarin.
It's already hot as hell out and it's 9:30 in the morning. It's gonna be a bad one today. Thank goodness everywhere I need to go has AC.
I have a conversation partner that am going to meet today. She is a local Taiwanese girl that wants to improve her English skills. I am a foreign Canadian crazy person that wants to get any Chinese skills. It's a match made in heaven. Hopefully I can learn to say something besides the random scattered words that I know...they can't even make a feasible sentence.
I'm getting antsy because I don't have a scooter yet. Elyssa found one where the papers don't need to be transferred right away, and I'm insanely jealous. I don't dislike biking to school, I've gotten used to it. Daniel showed me a fantastic bike path yesterday that goes right past these amazing fish farms. I'm going to bring my camera on Monday and take pictures. Plus, it cuts about 10 minutes off my drive, and there's no traffic. Which is amazing, as traffic is scary. I almost get clipped on a regular basis by the damn scooters.
My PTA is on Tuesday. Basically, my kids' parents come and scrutinize every decision that I've made thus far. The worst part is that they all will probably be polite to me, but will discuss their problems with Vera, my Chinese teacher, and I don't want her to have to deal with it. That's a PTA though. It's impossible to please everyone. Peet tells me not to worry so much. All I need to do is make sure that my rooms are colourful.
Hopey had a BBQ on Moon Festival, which apparently is the thing to do on Moon Festival. Barbecues and fireworks and drinking...it's like Canada day or May 24 on crack. We also went bowling, and I remembered that I can't bowl for real. Wii bowling, forget about it. Hopey's girlfriend Milla drove me there in an actual car, and I can't fathom ever driving a car here. She's a lovely Taiwanese girl who works in cosmetics and showed me how using acupuncture on your ear can cure different ailments. Basically you just stick little needles in different parts of your ear, and they look like earrings. She's going to bring me a set the next time she comes down from Taichung.
I tried bamboo for the first time, and it turns out it's delicious. I probably ended up having more bamboo than actual food. Barbecues in Taiwan are amazing.
Current music: Alternative Ulster by the Stiff Little Fingers
It's someone else's birthday party tonight, so Amanda tells me we're going out clubbing again. I never really know whose birthday I'm celebrating at these events, but it never really matters. The point is, I love the beer here.
My balcony is almost ready to entertain on. I bought a little barbecue for it. I'm going to have a killer balcony when it's done. I found a little plant shop for as to furnish it. Once I figure out why pictures aren't working on my godawful Internet connection, all shall be seen.
No more typing. I'm going to make coffee. I bought a coffeemaker too. It's the best purchase I've made thus far.
Thing I miss of the day: Tim Hortons.
Off to sit outside and drinks my coffee. Which thankfully is basically the same word in Mandarin.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Grapefruit moon, one star shining, is all that I can see
Current music: The Getaway by Velveteen
'Tis the night before Moon Festival, my first official holiday in Taiwan. From what I understand, it signifies the night of the year when the moon is its roundest or something. Basically, we all get a day off to look at said moon and eat moon cakes. I actually received a box of moon cakes sent to me by the mother of one of my kids, Evan. The ones I got were kind of like a cold meat pie in pizza pocket form, but smaller. They're not good, but not bad, either. Apparently you can get really really bad ones. I was just happy to get a present. Parents that think bribing your kids' teacher works: it totally works.
We get tomorrow off, and coupled with yesterday's typhoon day, this week is a three day week. I was actually hoping that today would also be a typhoon day, just for my selfish reason of wanting a five day weekend, but once I saw the real damage that it did today, I'm glad we got off relatively easy.
Current music: Big Me by the Foo Fighters
Although it's hard to say that that was easy. I have never in my life seen a storm like that. It lasted for about 2 days solid. My balcony flooded, and the tiny woodshed that I had out there is now a pile of wood splinters that I now have to carry downstairs piece by piece. I pray that someday my balcony won't be gross looking.
I walked around today during my break and it was crazy to see the damage. Entire trees were uprooted, steel fences were flattened. Peet went for a walk with me, and he told me that this wasn't a small typhoon by any means, but there are far worse, the kind that kill people. I didn't hear of any deaths this time, probably because we had lots of warning. It still rains on and off, and last night, we had a mini thunderstorm. I had a serious case of cabin fever though, so I braved the storm to bike to the bar, and then was scootered to Thai food. It was the second Thai place I've been to since I've been here, and I was most impressed.
I went for a walk for about an hour this evening. I have gotten into the habit of walking up and down the canal each night. Today was different though. Instead of having random fireworks displays, the people set off constant firework displays. All the time. From everywhere. The sky was (and still is) lit up from every direction. I came home and watched them from my balcony for a long time. I met some children on my walk, and they taught me how to fire their weird Roman Candle things into the canal. Children love to talk to me, because they all learn English at their respective schools and love to demonstrate what they know. I often find I break into impromptu English lessons on the street. I should start charging.
Thing(s) I miss of the day: Cat Czyrnyj and Danielle Blab. Both have just promised to come visit me in the future. And they better. Or pain.
I get to sleep in tomorrow. Hopey is having a BBQ tomorrow, I am stoked for some beer and barbecue. He also challenged me to Mariokart on Wii. And its on.
Off to read, then sleep.
'Tis the night before Moon Festival, my first official holiday in Taiwan. From what I understand, it signifies the night of the year when the moon is its roundest or something. Basically, we all get a day off to look at said moon and eat moon cakes. I actually received a box of moon cakes sent to me by the mother of one of my kids, Evan. The ones I got were kind of like a cold meat pie in pizza pocket form, but smaller. They're not good, but not bad, either. Apparently you can get really really bad ones. I was just happy to get a present. Parents that think bribing your kids' teacher works: it totally works.
We get tomorrow off, and coupled with yesterday's typhoon day, this week is a three day week. I was actually hoping that today would also be a typhoon day, just for my selfish reason of wanting a five day weekend, but once I saw the real damage that it did today, I'm glad we got off relatively easy.
Current music: Big Me by the Foo Fighters
Although it's hard to say that that was easy. I have never in my life seen a storm like that. It lasted for about 2 days solid. My balcony flooded, and the tiny woodshed that I had out there is now a pile of wood splinters that I now have to carry downstairs piece by piece. I pray that someday my balcony won't be gross looking.
I walked around today during my break and it was crazy to see the damage. Entire trees were uprooted, steel fences were flattened. Peet went for a walk with me, and he told me that this wasn't a small typhoon by any means, but there are far worse, the kind that kill people. I didn't hear of any deaths this time, probably because we had lots of warning. It still rains on and off, and last night, we had a mini thunderstorm. I had a serious case of cabin fever though, so I braved the storm to bike to the bar, and then was scootered to Thai food. It was the second Thai place I've been to since I've been here, and I was most impressed.
I went for a walk for about an hour this evening. I have gotten into the habit of walking up and down the canal each night. Today was different though. Instead of having random fireworks displays, the people set off constant firework displays. All the time. From everywhere. The sky was (and still is) lit up from every direction. I came home and watched them from my balcony for a long time. I met some children on my walk, and they taught me how to fire their weird Roman Candle things into the canal. Children love to talk to me, because they all learn English at their respective schools and love to demonstrate what they know. I often find I break into impromptu English lessons on the street. I should start charging.
Thing(s) I miss of the day: Cat Czyrnyj and Danielle Blab. Both have just promised to come visit me in the future. And they better. Or pain.
I get to sleep in tomorrow. Hopey is having a BBQ tomorrow, I am stoked for some beer and barbecue. He also challenged me to Mariokart on Wii. And its on.
Off to read, then sleep.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Current music: Ambling Alp by Yeasayer
I have Internet now! And it sometimes works. It was hilarious getting it set up, as the installer man did not speak a word of English, and I don't speak a word of Chinese, save for a few random words that have nothing to do with the situation. I suppose I could have said that to him, but it would have made no sense.
I was forced to call upon one of the security guards in my building, who thankfully speaks very broken English. He has been my savior many times in the past week, and I just learned today that his name was Simon. He is a funny little man that is way too defensive about his English skills. I constantly tell him that he speaks very well, and he starts laughing and denies it, today he even fell down in protest. He is just one example of the Taiwanese hospitality that I have been told about. People say that Canadians are nice. We have nothing on the Taiwanese.
I was debating on going to the pub tonight, but during the past week, everyone has predicted an epic typhoon that looks like its about to hit as I type this. The sky blackened in the past ten minutes. I'm stoked that I got home, as I was out shopping before, and I do not fancy biking in it. I biked home during the last typhoon and almost died.
Speaking of the pub. Willy's. The place to be in Tainan. They have pizza. Westerners have no idea what it means to have good pizza here. And Willy's pizza is good. Very good.
The bar is owned by an Englishman named Andy and a Welshman named Alun. I met Andy last night and told him that I would most likely be living at his bar. He was cool with it.
Current music: Black Steel by Tricky
The foreigners in Tainan also all hang out at Willys. All the time. Sonya and I went for a drink yesterday, and pretty much everyone that was in the bar was at the party on Saturday night. It's kind of funny how small this city is.
I realize that I have written very little about my job. Things are going very well, I have the kind of freedom that I would not have at home. I have a curriculum, but I don't really follow it. I still love my kids, for the most part. There are some days when I have to hold myself back from backhanding them. This is where the Chinese teachers come in.
Vera and Joan (pronounced Joanne) are my eyes and ears and occasionally my asskicking boot in both classrooms. One sentence from them spoken in harsh Chinese and my kids shut the hell up. It's glorious. I've had to yell at them a few times myself. I hate doing it, because I honestly don't care if they run around like monkeys, but apparently the school does. The kids hate it when I yell, they call me Monster Jess.
The babies have just learned to say their own names. I have never been prouder of them. Every two weeks, the bilingual classes have an assembly where they demonstrate what they have been learning lately, whether it be a song or whatever. And my babies didn't fuck up. It was basically my proof for Peet that I can teach like the best of them. Whenever they do something right, they are rewarded with a high five from me, and they love high fiving. I have Ben to thank for that, he taught them last year. I have been trying to teach them to high five each other, but they usually end up smacking each other in the face, because they have no coordination yet. It's the funniest thing ever. And it seems that I am unintentionally teaching violence as a reward. I'm alright with that.
Current music: Master of Puppets by Metallica
The Bi-5 class, which I call the 'munchkins' and occasionally 'oompa loompas,' try to push my limits. That's why I have Jess's patented X and smiley face system. It works like a charm. On most. One is immune to it, so all I have to do is threaten to make him run laps in the sun. The textbooks they gave me have the theme of Jack and the beanstalk, which makes no sense, because I highly doubt that native-speaking kids of that age would understand that story, let alone my kids, who can't read "magic beans" let alone understand what they are. But I digress again.
It is not legal for ex-pats to teach kindergarten English in Taiwan. Unofficially, every primary school does it. However, if anyone from the government shows up at the school and finds foreigners there, the school can get fined. Les told me that it is possible to deport you as well, but they probably wouldn't. Anyways, Jump Start has an alarm system for when these raids take place, which sounds like birds chirping. The funny thing is, no one told me, or Elyssa for that matter, about the alarm before I heard it. So, on Tuesday, when I heard birds chirping throughout the school, I honestly thought that it was in my head. Having had migraines for so long, you sometimes doubt your own perception of things. Then, the alarm rang for a second time, and I realized it wasn't a hallucination, which was even stranger. After about 2 seconds of me looking confused, Vera pushed me out the door of my classroom, and I saw her hiding my stuff. Hopey ran over to me, and said "We have to go, now." After about 3 seconds of me looking confused, he grabbed my arm and pulled me down the stairs of the school. The other English teachers were running out the door, to the section of the campus called Head Start, which is a private elementary school run by the same company. Once we are over there, we are technically not doing anything illegal, but its still not a good idea to be seen. So we had to hang out in a classroom for about 5 minutes, as it wasn't an official raid. Victoria told us that they were just there to pick up papers. Elyssa suspects that it was a drill, and I am inclined to agree.
The alarm sounded again yesterday, which I think may have been a real raid. This time was less confusing, however. It only lasted for about 15 minutes of us reading the newspaper. Apparently, the raids can sometimes last for hours. I do not look forward to that day. Hopey told me to keep my purse by the door, so that next time we can all sneak out and get coffee.
Current music: Love Song by The Cure
I grow weary of typing. This typhoon is supposed to last until Tuesday, and I hope that it does. If school gets canceled, I still get paid. And I can say that it was because of a typhoon day. Snow days be damned. It's really fucking windy. Yet there are still fireworks right now. I imagine that that's very dangerous.
Thing I miss of the day: Autumn. People claim that there are seasons here. They lie.
I'm going to go sit on the balcony until the rain hits.
I have Internet now! And it sometimes works. It was hilarious getting it set up, as the installer man did not speak a word of English, and I don't speak a word of Chinese, save for a few random words that have nothing to do with the situation. I suppose I could have said that to him, but it would have made no sense.
I was forced to call upon one of the security guards in my building, who thankfully speaks very broken English. He has been my savior many times in the past week, and I just learned today that his name was Simon. He is a funny little man that is way too defensive about his English skills. I constantly tell him that he speaks very well, and he starts laughing and denies it, today he even fell down in protest. He is just one example of the Taiwanese hospitality that I have been told about. People say that Canadians are nice. We have nothing on the Taiwanese.
I was debating on going to the pub tonight, but during the past week, everyone has predicted an epic typhoon that looks like its about to hit as I type this. The sky blackened in the past ten minutes. I'm stoked that I got home, as I was out shopping before, and I do not fancy biking in it. I biked home during the last typhoon and almost died.
Speaking of the pub. Willy's. The place to be in Tainan. They have pizza. Westerners have no idea what it means to have good pizza here. And Willy's pizza is good. Very good.
The bar is owned by an Englishman named Andy and a Welshman named Alun. I met Andy last night and told him that I would most likely be living at his bar. He was cool with it.
Current music: Black Steel by Tricky
The foreigners in Tainan also all hang out at Willys. All the time. Sonya and I went for a drink yesterday, and pretty much everyone that was in the bar was at the party on Saturday night. It's kind of funny how small this city is.
I realize that I have written very little about my job. Things are going very well, I have the kind of freedom that I would not have at home. I have a curriculum, but I don't really follow it. I still love my kids, for the most part. There are some days when I have to hold myself back from backhanding them. This is where the Chinese teachers come in.
Vera and Joan (pronounced Joanne) are my eyes and ears and occasionally my asskicking boot in both classrooms. One sentence from them spoken in harsh Chinese and my kids shut the hell up. It's glorious. I've had to yell at them a few times myself. I hate doing it, because I honestly don't care if they run around like monkeys, but apparently the school does. The kids hate it when I yell, they call me Monster Jess.
The babies have just learned to say their own names. I have never been prouder of them. Every two weeks, the bilingual classes have an assembly where they demonstrate what they have been learning lately, whether it be a song or whatever. And my babies didn't fuck up. It was basically my proof for Peet that I can teach like the best of them. Whenever they do something right, they are rewarded with a high five from me, and they love high fiving. I have Ben to thank for that, he taught them last year. I have been trying to teach them to high five each other, but they usually end up smacking each other in the face, because they have no coordination yet. It's the funniest thing ever. And it seems that I am unintentionally teaching violence as a reward. I'm alright with that.
Current music: Master of Puppets by Metallica
The Bi-5 class, which I call the 'munchkins' and occasionally 'oompa loompas,' try to push my limits. That's why I have Jess's patented X and smiley face system. It works like a charm. On most. One is immune to it, so all I have to do is threaten to make him run laps in the sun. The textbooks they gave me have the theme of Jack and the beanstalk, which makes no sense, because I highly doubt that native-speaking kids of that age would understand that story, let alone my kids, who can't read "magic beans" let alone understand what they are. But I digress again.
It is not legal for ex-pats to teach kindergarten English in Taiwan. Unofficially, every primary school does it. However, if anyone from the government shows up at the school and finds foreigners there, the school can get fined. Les told me that it is possible to deport you as well, but they probably wouldn't. Anyways, Jump Start has an alarm system for when these raids take place, which sounds like birds chirping. The funny thing is, no one told me, or Elyssa for that matter, about the alarm before I heard it. So, on Tuesday, when I heard birds chirping throughout the school, I honestly thought that it was in my head. Having had migraines for so long, you sometimes doubt your own perception of things. Then, the alarm rang for a second time, and I realized it wasn't a hallucination, which was even stranger. After about 2 seconds of me looking confused, Vera pushed me out the door of my classroom, and I saw her hiding my stuff. Hopey ran over to me, and said "We have to go, now." After about 3 seconds of me looking confused, he grabbed my arm and pulled me down the stairs of the school. The other English teachers were running out the door, to the section of the campus called Head Start, which is a private elementary school run by the same company. Once we are over there, we are technically not doing anything illegal, but its still not a good idea to be seen. So we had to hang out in a classroom for about 5 minutes, as it wasn't an official raid. Victoria told us that they were just there to pick up papers. Elyssa suspects that it was a drill, and I am inclined to agree.
The alarm sounded again yesterday, which I think may have been a real raid. This time was less confusing, however. It only lasted for about 15 minutes of us reading the newspaper. Apparently, the raids can sometimes last for hours. I do not look forward to that day. Hopey told me to keep my purse by the door, so that next time we can all sneak out and get coffee.
Current music: Love Song by The Cure
I grow weary of typing. This typhoon is supposed to last until Tuesday, and I hope that it does. If school gets canceled, I still get paid. And I can say that it was because of a typhoon day. Snow days be damned. It's really fucking windy. Yet there are still fireworks right now. I imagine that that's very dangerous.
Thing I miss of the day: Autumn. People claim that there are seasons here. They lie.
I'm going to go sit on the balcony until the rain hits.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
If you say run, I'll run with you
Current music: Island in the Sun by Weezer
So, as previously mentioned, I have been without regular internet access for the past week or so. Which has been quite inconvenient in many ways that are too uninteresting to document. However, it was suggested to me by my dear friend John that I should type up my adventures beforehand and use the miracle of copy and paste using the school computers. Simple. Genius. Johnny, I am in your debt. (By the way Johnny, I know you're reading this and if you were here you would be so very tan. I think you'd like it.)
I get into daily adventures and unfortunately, it is likely that many have left my memory in the past little while. So I'll do my best to cover the big things.
I have an apartment now. It is on the 13th floor of a gigantic building in the Anping district of Tainan. Anping is gorgeous, and is very different from the rest of the city. It's quieter, more scenic, slightly less crazy and most of the foreigners in the city live in the area. I am getting to know my way around the city now, which means I get lost a lot less. I still get lost of course, but less.
There's also a canal that runs down the middle of the city. I go along it every day to school and it reminds me of Ottawa.
Current music: Love You Till The End by The Pogues
I have a bike now. I found it in the back of a new fancy bike shop, and it was the only used one there. I bartered using hand gestures and got the bike, a safety light and a lock for $2500 NTDs. I think in Canadian that's a little less than $100. Not too bad considering the new ones were going for $10 000 on average. It's a hilarious bike that makes strange noises and the brakes sound like someone is slaughtering a seal, but it's my baby and has gotten me to work every day. It's name is (roughly transcribed) "two bow bow" which means 'baby bunny' in Mandarin. For reasons that now escape me, that was one of the first words I learned. Which seems really random, but there you go.
I bike to school every day, and to be honest, it's a miracle that I'm not roadkill. To navigate the roads in Taiwan, on a bike in particular, is to have no fear of death. But I'm not dead yet, and have several people checking up on my biking experience every day. Which I kind of think is annoying and unneccessary, but if they are concerned, they're concerned. I've kind of enjoyed the biking adventure thus far. But I'm tired of being a sweaty person and changing every day at school, so the day I get a scooter, I will be happy indeed. But I can't buy one until I am legally in the country. The same goes for a cellphone. Woe.
Current music: Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying by Belle and Sebastian
I have found that foreigners in a strange country literally have no choice to band together for companionship. It's like making friends by default, which would never happen in Canada. I'm starting to get to know the other teachers at my school and they have all kind of taken me uner their collective wing. Hopey has gotten into the habit of biking home with me to show me new routes and things. He's on a scooter though and has to go slower for me because I am easily distracted on my bike, which I know really pisses him off. Ben has been looking for a way to find me a cellphone, but I have a feeling it's futile, and I can last the next two weeks without one. Thank god for Facebook.
I've also gotten to know the rest of the English teachers at my school. Les is the head teacher for the full English section of my school. He's from California and seems to have been in Taiwan forever, but I have no idea how long he's actually been here. Daniel is Australian and lives down the road from me. He claims he can teach me to surf, and I keep telling him it's going to be embarrassing. I'm still going to try though. it'll be hilarious.
Current music: The Road Goes On by Robert Earl Keen
Elyssa and I went out drinking last Friday with Les and Hopey. Random sidenote: never challenge an Englishman who is twice your size to a drinking contest. It can only end badly...or awesomely, depending on how you look at it. Anyways, two American friends of Hopey showed up and they now are my unofficial group of friends, with Elyssa. Amanda is from North Carolina, has a very strong accent and an unlimited supply of excellent stories. I forget which random state Sonya is from, but she's a sweetheart and took me on my first scooter ride, which convinced me that I needed to get one. She and Amanda took us to a party on Saturday night, which was attended by almost every foreigner in the city.
I love the atmosphere when hanging out with a group of ex-pats, it's like being surrounded by people exactly like me. Which I obviously love. I met my first Canadians at the party, and about a million other people whose names I can't remember. But I have a feeling I'll learn them all rather quickly, as every foreigner is easy to spot out on the streets here. I actually met a girl from Kanata, which was kind of a surprise. There are more Canadians here than I thought. My new best friend Brent is Canadian and had an Autobots T-shirt, and he and I discussed Transformers at length for a long while. His poor wife, being Taiwanese, is unfamiliar with Western 80's cartoons, and couldn't contribute much to the conversation, I felt bad. I also now have about 10 ex-pats who want to show me around places here, so my weekends are busy now. No time to get over jet-lag, it seems. They took us to a club that was very much like Pier 21 in Ottawa. It was weird.
Current music: Children's Work by Dessa
I know there are many more stories, but I'm very tired and need to sleep. I finally got a bed for my apartment about an hour ago. I will describe my place in detail when I feel like it. There is also another random firework display going on right now and I want to go see while it still a novelty. They happen at least five times a night, from random places in the city. Thankfully I can see the whole city from my balcony, so I can see them all.
Thing I miss of the day: Iced Tea. Real Iced Tea, not the American version, which is essentially cold regular tea.
Next time on Jess's blog: the story of how I fled from deportation, the finding of a western bar/pizza place, the hilarious security guard in my building, and the tiny dog dress-up pageant festical I came across last Sunday. And other things.
Fireworks, then sleep. More later, Internet soon probably. Goodnight moon...
So, as previously mentioned, I have been without regular internet access for the past week or so. Which has been quite inconvenient in many ways that are too uninteresting to document. However, it was suggested to me by my dear friend John that I should type up my adventures beforehand and use the miracle of copy and paste using the school computers. Simple. Genius. Johnny, I am in your debt. (By the way Johnny, I know you're reading this and if you were here you would be so very tan. I think you'd like it.)
I get into daily adventures and unfortunately, it is likely that many have left my memory in the past little while. So I'll do my best to cover the big things.
I have an apartment now. It is on the 13th floor of a gigantic building in the Anping district of Tainan. Anping is gorgeous, and is very different from the rest of the city. It's quieter, more scenic, slightly less crazy and most of the foreigners in the city live in the area. I am getting to know my way around the city now, which means I get lost a lot less. I still get lost of course, but less.
There's also a canal that runs down the middle of the city. I go along it every day to school and it reminds me of Ottawa.
Current music: Love You Till The End by The Pogues
I have a bike now. I found it in the back of a new fancy bike shop, and it was the only used one there. I bartered using hand gestures and got the bike, a safety light and a lock for $2500 NTDs. I think in Canadian that's a little less than $100. Not too bad considering the new ones were going for $10 000 on average. It's a hilarious bike that makes strange noises and the brakes sound like someone is slaughtering a seal, but it's my baby and has gotten me to work every day. It's name is (roughly transcribed) "two bow bow" which means 'baby bunny' in Mandarin. For reasons that now escape me, that was one of the first words I learned. Which seems really random, but there you go.
I bike to school every day, and to be honest, it's a miracle that I'm not roadkill. To navigate the roads in Taiwan, on a bike in particular, is to have no fear of death. But I'm not dead yet, and have several people checking up on my biking experience every day. Which I kind of think is annoying and unneccessary, but if they are concerned, they're concerned. I've kind of enjoyed the biking adventure thus far. But I'm tired of being a sweaty person and changing every day at school, so the day I get a scooter, I will be happy indeed. But I can't buy one until I am legally in the country. The same goes for a cellphone. Woe.
Current music: Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying by Belle and Sebastian
I have found that foreigners in a strange country literally have no choice to band together for companionship. It's like making friends by default, which would never happen in Canada. I'm starting to get to know the other teachers at my school and they have all kind of taken me uner their collective wing. Hopey has gotten into the habit of biking home with me to show me new routes and things. He's on a scooter though and has to go slower for me because I am easily distracted on my bike, which I know really pisses him off. Ben has been looking for a way to find me a cellphone, but I have a feeling it's futile, and I can last the next two weeks without one. Thank god for Facebook.
I've also gotten to know the rest of the English teachers at my school. Les is the head teacher for the full English section of my school. He's from California and seems to have been in Taiwan forever, but I have no idea how long he's actually been here. Daniel is Australian and lives down the road from me. He claims he can teach me to surf, and I keep telling him it's going to be embarrassing. I'm still going to try though. it'll be hilarious.
Current music: The Road Goes On by Robert Earl Keen
Elyssa and I went out drinking last Friday with Les and Hopey. Random sidenote: never challenge an Englishman who is twice your size to a drinking contest. It can only end badly...or awesomely, depending on how you look at it. Anyways, two American friends of Hopey showed up and they now are my unofficial group of friends, with Elyssa. Amanda is from North Carolina, has a very strong accent and an unlimited supply of excellent stories. I forget which random state Sonya is from, but she's a sweetheart and took me on my first scooter ride, which convinced me that I needed to get one. She and Amanda took us to a party on Saturday night, which was attended by almost every foreigner in the city.
I love the atmosphere when hanging out with a group of ex-pats, it's like being surrounded by people exactly like me. Which I obviously love. I met my first Canadians at the party, and about a million other people whose names I can't remember. But I have a feeling I'll learn them all rather quickly, as every foreigner is easy to spot out on the streets here. I actually met a girl from Kanata, which was kind of a surprise. There are more Canadians here than I thought. My new best friend Brent is Canadian and had an Autobots T-shirt, and he and I discussed Transformers at length for a long while. His poor wife, being Taiwanese, is unfamiliar with Western 80's cartoons, and couldn't contribute much to the conversation, I felt bad. I also now have about 10 ex-pats who want to show me around places here, so my weekends are busy now. No time to get over jet-lag, it seems. They took us to a club that was very much like Pier 21 in Ottawa. It was weird.
Current music: Children's Work by Dessa
I know there are many more stories, but I'm very tired and need to sleep. I finally got a bed for my apartment about an hour ago. I will describe my place in detail when I feel like it. There is also another random firework display going on right now and I want to go see while it still a novelty. They happen at least five times a night, from random places in the city. Thankfully I can see the whole city from my balcony, so I can see them all.
Thing I miss of the day: Iced Tea. Real Iced Tea, not the American version, which is essentially cold regular tea.
Next time on Jess's blog: the story of how I fled from deportation, the finding of a western bar/pizza place, the hilarious security guard in my building, and the tiny dog dress-up pageant festical I came across last Sunday. And other things.
Fireworks, then sleep. More later, Internet soon probably. Goodnight moon...
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
'Cause when your mind don't move, then your knees don't bend
Current music: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D by Bach
After much swearing loudly in the streets (people don't speak English and stare anyways, so I can curse like a sailor with no consequences) I am able to walk again. My makeshift cast out of a Fairweather scarf saved my life.
I have learned that Taiwan pretty much shuts down on Sundays. So I was successfully able to navigate the streets on a bicycle and live to tell the tale. I'm going to graduate to scooter as soon as I get my ARC, but I found out you need to take a test to get a scooter license. Seeing as how I have seen people on scooters do crazy shit that I'm not even going to mention, I think my chances of passing are pretty high.
Found two possible apartments today. I now have to pick which of the following I value more: a bathtub, or a big balcony with a gorgeous view.
I'm going to start a thing I miss of the day, just to keep my sanity. The opening submission is: La Maison in Ottawa. My home away from home. Except even their cheap beer would be expensive by Taiwanese standards.
I have a curriculum now, so I'm off to plan my week. And hide from the typhoon.
Cheers
After much swearing loudly in the streets (people don't speak English and stare anyways, so I can curse like a sailor with no consequences) I am able to walk again. My makeshift cast out of a Fairweather scarf saved my life.
I have learned that Taiwan pretty much shuts down on Sundays. So I was successfully able to navigate the streets on a bicycle and live to tell the tale. I'm going to graduate to scooter as soon as I get my ARC, but I found out you need to take a test to get a scooter license. Seeing as how I have seen people on scooters do crazy shit that I'm not even going to mention, I think my chances of passing are pretty high.
Found two possible apartments today. I now have to pick which of the following I value more: a bathtub, or a big balcony with a gorgeous view.
I'm going to start a thing I miss of the day, just to keep my sanity. The opening submission is: La Maison in Ottawa. My home away from home. Except even their cheap beer would be expensive by Taiwanese standards.
I have a curriculum now, so I'm off to plan my week. And hide from the typhoon.
Cheers
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Stage 2 of the stages of acculturation has set in.
Went to the doctor today. Apparently I am healthy enough to teach English.
Sprained my ankle this morning, trying to make my way through the maze of the streets. Everyone was very helpful, but it hurts to walk.
Thankfully, the director of the school, Victoria, has been driving me around Amping looking for an apartment. Nothing of interest yet, but we're trying again tomorrow.
Can't do anything I wanted to do today. It seems an evening of Vincent Price movies is in order. I found a giant Heineken. It helps.
It's typhooning again. I wonder if it will flood.
Goodnight.
Went to the doctor today. Apparently I am healthy enough to teach English.
Sprained my ankle this morning, trying to make my way through the maze of the streets. Everyone was very helpful, but it hurts to walk.
Thankfully, the director of the school, Victoria, has been driving me around Amping looking for an apartment. Nothing of interest yet, but we're trying again tomorrow.
Can't do anything I wanted to do today. It seems an evening of Vincent Price movies is in order. I found a giant Heineken. It helps.
It's typhooning again. I wonder if it will flood.
Goodnight.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Leave my door open just a crack, cause I feel like such an insomniac...
Current music: Prieto by Chocquibtown
First things first: the random burger place I found while exploring today rivals any Western fast food. No question.
I'm teaching random people on the street to say English words. It seems I take my work home with me. Today's lessons were 'picture' to a homeless man and 'twenty' to my cab driver. Oh, and 'orange juice' to the guy at the 7-11.
I met one of my kids' parents today. She seemed lovely, even though I'm constantly warned about parents. Apparently they talk to the Chinese teachers behind our backs. They also like to randomly watch our lessons on surveillance cameras. For reals. Pressure...pushing down on me....
Whoever told you that you can buy designer shit in China for cheap was not lying. At all. It's completely true. I will need to spend weeks on end shopping.
So very tired. I'm gonna watch The Tudors and go to sleep.
P.S. One of my kids flawlessly said 'marijuana' today, with no teaching from me. I have no idea what that's about, but I laughed for about three minutes.
First things first: the random burger place I found while exploring today rivals any Western fast food. No question.
I'm teaching random people on the street to say English words. It seems I take my work home with me. Today's lessons were 'picture' to a homeless man and 'twenty' to my cab driver. Oh, and 'orange juice' to the guy at the 7-11.
I met one of my kids' parents today. She seemed lovely, even though I'm constantly warned about parents. Apparently they talk to the Chinese teachers behind our backs. They also like to randomly watch our lessons on surveillance cameras. For reals. Pressure...pushing down on me....
Whoever told you that you can buy designer shit in China for cheap was not lying. At all. It's completely true. I will need to spend weeks on end shopping.
So very tired. I'm gonna watch The Tudors and go to sleep.
P.S. One of my kids flawlessly said 'marijuana' today, with no teaching from me. I have no idea what that's about, but I laughed for about three minutes.
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