My first (typhoon free) weekend

My first classes went well on Thursday evening. I still have a lot to learn and figure out about teaching, but that will come with more time and experience!

I am exhausted after a great weekend of getting out to see the city! Friday I observed the Y class at school (3-4 year olds who were on their 9th day of learning English). They're SO cute and seem to be learning very quickly. That class is only one hour and nice because they have no hw or quizzes I have to grade! Friday night I met up with a girl I met at my temporary apartment (another teacher with my company). She was having drinks with people from the program she came over with at a (very westernized) bar :) So through that I met a bunch of other teachers and some people I will definitely keep in touch with! Saturday I observed one of the more advanced classes at school which wasn't too exciting, but it was good to see. Saturday afternoon I went on a hike up a mountain (about a 20 min motorbike ride away from our school) with two other teachers. It's funny here because it's just city, then mountains (no suburbs). So we pretty much walked up stairs the entire way to the top. AH! It reminded me how out of shape I am, but I tried to not look like too much of a wimp. There were a few temples at the top and AMAZING views of the city. I was kicking myself for not having brought my camera! But I think they go every week, so I will go again. After the hike one of the guys I went with took me to the night market by my apartment to get some real Chinese food. He actually speaks Chinese so he ordered me some really good food. Later that evening I met up with my roommate and some of her teacher friends at a Japanese BBQ place--you cook your own food in front of you. Too bad I'd already eaten dinner, I will have to go back and try it sometime.

Sunday I met up with a Taiwanese girl (a friend of a friend). She has spent a total of about 5 years in the US so her English is perfect, literally no accent, and she was an excellent guide around the city for the day. We ate brunch at Taipei 101 (currently the tallest building in the world). Then went to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial. Sun Yat-sen is considered the "founder of modern China" and Chiang Kai-shek assumed the leadership after Sun Yat-sen died. He went on to lead the national government of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1975. Chiang Kai-shek's Memorial was under some construction so I will have to go back when that is over. We then went to afternoon tea at the SOGO department store (a very expensive store in downtown). I had the best tea I've EVER tasted there (Calif. Fruit Tea--amazing.) After that I met my friends, an American couple, for a real Chinese dinner. It was SO good. Whoever knew mango and shrimp (two of my favorite foods) could be mixed together to be an awesome dinner dish? So I'm definitely making up for not having eaten much Chinese last week (Okay, Dad?!)

I begin an almost full schedule of teaching this week. Tomorrow evening I have two classes. Well, I need to get some sleep after this busy weekend! Below are a few pictures from my sightseeing.


Taipei 101


Sun Yet-Sen Memorial


Shirley & I at Sun-Yet Sen Memorial


Changing of the guard at Sun-Yet Sen Memorial


Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Settling in...

I just moved into my new apartment yesterday and things are going pretty well. I begin my teaching tomorrow, so I am pretty nervous for that but I have the lesson plans all ready to go! I'll be teaching 23 hours a week (so 23 classroom hours) for 12 different classes. Sounds like a lot, but that seems to be the norm around here and I think once I get the hang of it it shouldn't be too bad. Our school structures it so that kids come once a week with the foreign teachers (ie: me) and once a week with the Chinese teachers. I've observed 3 classes now of all different ages and English levels. On Monday night I observed a class I will be taking over this coming Monday. They are 7-9 years old and, at that point, had been learning English for about 10 days. Their current teacher had them all come up and introduce themselves to me; they're so cute! Pretty much all they could say was "Hi, my name is..." and I said nice to meet you, but I'm not even sure they understood what that meant. They seem to be catching on pretty fast and are very enthusiastic. Luckily for that class (as well as many of the lower levels I'll be teaching) there is a Chinese teacher's assistant in the classroom with me, so I will be able to get them to translate, if needed. I'll be working mostly from about 5-9 pm during the week and then Saturday mornings.

So one funny story I was too embarrassed to write about and only told a few choice people last week was the tale of my first meeting with my academic director at my school. Well, I went into the little store next to school grab a bottle of cold water before I met with her last Friday. I was wondering why the water wasn't in the fridges being kept cold like in all other stores, but I was in a rush so I didn't think about it, and assumed it was water because it was in a plastic deer park-like bottle and stacked pretty high like water would be in a U.S. store. Anyway, I didn't take a sip until a break in the conversation with my AD and with one wiff I knew this was NOT water...it was rice wine. (I think I can hear you laughing from all the way across the Pacific.) Anyway, I said to her "This is rice wine, isn't it? Not water." (I'd tasted it in Vietnam, so I knew just what it was!) Luckily she just laughed at/with me and I handed it right to her to throw away. And I was trying SO hard not to look like them dumb American :(

In other news...I had my first motorbike ride on Monday. My landlord picked me up from the MRT station to go get my keys made, and I just assumed when she said she was driving that she was driving a car. I have no idea why I thought that because everyone drives scooters here! So that was a fun surprise! Today I learned how to take out the trash in my neighborhood. The trash truck comes 6 days a week at 1 and 7 pm. They circle around the block and play songs just like the ice cream truck which is very amusing, and everyone comes out to throw their trash in the truck. My roommate and I went out to it today and almost missed it so we had to practically run it down to get our bags in. Luckily I had him with me or I would have had NO idea what to do! I am currently waiting out a torrential downpour and thunderstorm in order to walk to the western style grocery store about 10 min away. I'm really excited for that! (Especially excited because today when I opened what I thought was cereal that I'd gotten the other day...it was "oatmeal" that my roommate and I are guessing I have to put in hot water and actually cook.)...Me cook? I don't think so!

My apartment is great and I was SOO lucky to find a place so near my school (literally about a 4 min. walk). Many teachers I've met travel far to their schools (like 30 min to 1 hour) on the MRT or bus. It's four bedrooms, mine is right off the kitchen. The building's front door opens to a small alley, and just up the alley people are cooking food for sale in little stalls all day long. So it's a very authentic Taiwanese neighborhood without a lot of other Westerners around it seems. We have washer and dryer (a dryer is not a guarantee in Taipei), wireless internet, etc. I share a bathroom with 2 of the others. The bathroom has no tub, it's just a shower head with the floor (Shannon, Colleen,& Mark--think our hotel in Siem Reap). The water drains easily and it's not really a problem. My roommates are Liz (from Kansas,just graduated from Rice Univ, and is deferring Med school at Tulane for one year to teach here) and James (from Minnesota, also a teacher). The other guy is leaving in a few days, and I think a girl from the Dominican Republic is going to be moving in. She is studying Chinese full time. I met her the other night and she seems just as nice as the others. (Maybe I can practice some Spanish again?) So I really am happy with this apartment. I got some bedding at Ikea (I even have a double bed for the first time ever!) I was able to buy the ikea bed, lamp and mini fridge from the previous resident for VERY cheap--just under $100. It also has a dresser, bookshelf, desk and nightstand. I will post some pictures soon (or more like have Charlie post them because I am technically inept at such things). Tonight I'm off to a new comedy club with Liz, so that should be interesting! I'll try to post this weekend to let you all know how my classes have gone!

An Update: I made it to the western style grocery store. I've never been so excited to see a regular grocery store! Of course, everything was still Chinese style and the packaging was in Chinese, but they had some things I recognized like bread, cranberry juice, & pasta! Also, a couple of random things I forgot to mention in my past posts: 1. an old man in an MRT station the other night motioned w/ his phone that he wanted to take a picture of me with it. I shook my head NO. Awkward! It wouldn't surprise me in a far out place, but in a city like this it did surprise me. I see maybe one to two other westerners around per day, but still. And 2. When I was getting my cell phone set up I had the English speaking customer service guy translate the contract I was signing into English. Most of it was very simple and straightforward. It was funny, though, when he came to the part about it being illegal to call sex lines. I didn't understand what he said at first, so I asked him to explain further. He said "You know, like when you call a number to get a friend." Oh man...I really had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. I'm probably not doing the story justice, but it was quite funny at the time. Ok, well I think that's it for now!

Greetings from Taiwan

What an interesting 4 days it has been! First and foremost, I've already survived my first typhoon! Typhoon Sepat passed through yesterday (the worst one in years apparently), and I was stuck inside all day. The worst of it was not seen in Taipei (where I am), but some areas did get gusts of up to 120 m.p.h. I was only freaked out a couple of times when some large gusts were coming through and I could hear things flying & banging in the street below. I went to the school I'm teaching at for the first time Friday to meet my Academic Director and work on some lesson plans with her. I was supposed to observe 2 classes that evening, but they closed the school down early because of the weather. So I'll go back on Monday evening to observe. It seems as if I cannot make any big move from home without a huge storm coming through! (My R-MCers will remember Hurricane Isabel during our first week of school freshman year and having to go home for a week!) I was recounting this to my Taiwanese apartmentmate yesterday and she said "This seems to be a tradition with you. You're not going to France next month, are you?" (She's going there to study French.) I don't see her that much, but she has been very friendly and helpful to me with maps, advice, etc. There's another new English teacher coming to stay tomorrow, as well.

I am in a temporary place right now through my school company, and will be moving out in about a week to a great apartment I found on Friday right near my school! (4 min. walk to school, 1 min walk to MRT--their subway.) I am very excited about it. I'll have 3 apartmentmates (1 girl and 2 guys.) I have only met the girl (another American English teacher), but I believe the two guys are teachers, as well.

Getting around has been fairly easy so far even though I know no Mandarin. I've taken taxis a bunch, but finally ventured on to the MRT Friday without any incident. It's very easy and clean. Way nicer than the D.C. metro! I am a little surprised, however, at how hard it is to find people who speak even a little bit of English. It doesn't really bother me though, I've been able to get everything I need and find my way around (with some help from my Instant Chinese book---thank you, Scott Frantz!)

As far as the teaching goes, I will have classes in the late afternoon & evenings. The kids go to regular school and then come to us later in the day. I am not teaching preschool as I was previously told might be the case (yay to that!) I'll be teaching various ages from about 7 through teenagers. I have more training this week, and teach my first class on Thursday night. The teaching seems to be very straightforward and very much "by the book." There is a set formula of warm up, exercises, games, and review for all classes at my school, so that makes it fairly easy for me to plan! It is my responsibility to come up with activities and games to enhance the learning. (So to all my teacher friends back home who have offered, I may be calling on you for some ideas!)

In other news, I got a cell phone set up all by myself which I was very proud of. It's only .16/min to the U.S. so don't be suprised if you hear from me on birthdays & holidays! I've been using skype a lot, too. So if you have that and I don't have your username, let me know! In terms of food...I've been going to the night markets some. The fresh fruit is great, and they also make you fresh squeezed juice which is amazing! I am not crazy about Chinese food these days (I'm more into Thai and sushi), so I haven't eaten too much of it yet. I attempted to get some chicken from the market on Friday before the storm, but then I got scared of the way it looked and threw it away. Once I get into the apt. I will (maybe) start some "cooking." Today I am excited to venture out to the Dunkin' Doughnuts I found on Friday!

Well, that's it for now. I will try to post fairly often! Please email me, too. I want to hear from all of you!