Halloween

My school. 21st Century, celebrated Halloween on Wednesday. We took an hour or so to walk around the neighborhood with the kids and trick-or-treat. It sounds like fun until you consider the differences between this and actual, American-style trick-or-treating.

We were going to pre-determined locations that we had spoken to in advance and supplied with candy. This was necessary, as it was the middle of the afternoon, it wasn't actually Halloween, and because the holiday gets very little attention here except for English schools and bars that throw parties on Halloween.

Our stops included two banks, a McDonald's, a Huyndai dealership, a 7-Eleven, and a store that sold essential oils (labelled 'chemical srtore' on our itineraries.)

The fact that we had to go to these businesses, in the middle of a business day, with a gaggle of candy-hyp[ed kids in costume was bad enough, but on top of that, the kids were supposed to perform a song to the employees at each stop. I will tell you, seeing the faces of the customers, especially at the banks, was both amusing and a bit embarassing. They were not amused.

Anyweay, on to the photos. I didn't get any during the actual outing, since my costume had no pockets for my camera, and since I was told that there would be another teacher taking photos for all of us.i'll upload those to the album when I get them.











You can see more photos of Halloween, and of my school on other days, in this album.

Lunchtime

Haven't updated in a while, but I've been adding albums to my Picasa gallery. Check them out (link on right hand side of this page.)

Here's an average lunch for me. I eat with the kids at school, and we get a buffet style lunch from a local restaurant. Always Taiwanese style food. In this photo you can see my drink of choice, duo-duo green tea. It's a mix of green tea and Taiwanese sweet yogurt drink (duo duo, 多多). The fish are small somethingorother fish, and they're pregnant with thousands of eggs. A bit gross, but they tase okay. Other days I'll get more average fare such as sweet pork or fried chicken cutlets. there's always veggies and some tofu, and usually some egg and soup.

 

 

A closeup of the fish. This is why I prefer eating a small part of a big fish. as opposed to all of a small fish. Not bad, if you can get past the gore.

Couches

Nick and I got some new couches this weekend. "New" is not exatly right, as these couches were bought from a neighbor, a Canadian fellow who lives across the street from me. They're big, they're black, they're pleather. They are not new. Plenty of cracks and holes (haw) and a bit of dirt, but a lot better than the stiff, lopsided hulk we had until last week.

That thing was a pain to get out of the house. It involved lots of lifting, moderate to severe cursing, removing the hinges of our screen door, and two tall, sweaty foreigners squeezing a piece of furniture down four flights of dark steps.

Well, we got that damn thing out of there, and now we have two comforable (and surprisingly light) replacements that didn't cost but a few dollars.

We left a note saying "please take me" in English and Chinese on the old couch and chair and put them out on the street. They sat there for a few days as merely ornaments for the alrady beautiful building we live in. And then, yesterday they were mysteriously gone.

Also,I got Dad's Sling Box up and running on my TV. Now, via an internet connevted PC, I can control and watch cable TV from at&t cable in Cleveland. It's just for typhoon days, I swear.

Toxic Milk

There's been a big scare in Taiwan recently over tainted powdered milk from China. Apparently, the Chinese were cutting the milk with some other powder containing melamine, which can be toxic.

Babies were getting sick all over Asia, and the powder found its way into products produced in Taiwan, the Phillipines, and Malaysia. Some treats like chocolate and milk tea (photo below) are risky to eat right now.



I'm sick of having to worry about all of these products from China. It seems as though every few months, Chinese manufacturers cut some corner and a bunch of people get sick or die. It's difficult to keep up with all of the forbidden items, and I've been encouraged by many Taiwanese to just avoid buying anything made in mainland China. That's easier said than done, however. They make so damn many of the products I use every day. Even American brands such as Colgate are made in the depths of toxic China.

I got a new job.

I decided to make a clean break from my kindergarten job. I'm just not cut out to babysit those little tykes. I've got a new full time at an after-school English cram school called 21st Century. I'm teaching older (9-12 year old) kids.

It's just a tiny little four classroom school, but already I like it a lot more than the last place. I feel very at home here, and the kids seem to really enjoy being in my class.

I'm working later in the day (until 9PM most days) which is a bit of a downer, since Ariel finishes her work at 4, and we have less time to hang out than before, when we got finished at the same time.

Apartment/ First Week of Work

Nick and I started at our new job last week. We both teach kindergarten at the same school.His kids are 3 years old and mine are 4. Both of our classes are new students who have never been to school before.

It's taxing. They have no idea how to line up, listen, sit still, or play nicely, let alone how to learn English. I feel much more like a babysitter than a teacher. As of today, week 2, we're unsure whether we have the patience to teach such young kids. It's actually been the cause of a lot of anxiety and lost sleep over the last week.

I'm not sure now what I'll do, but I may end up working at another job.

Also, since a few people seemed curious, I've uploaded some photos of our apartment. These photos don't include Nick's space on the 5th floor, which is probably roughly 200+ square feet, or our roof area. We pay about $260US per month for this house.

The Album.

Taichung

I haven't updated in quite some time, but here it is.

I had a wonderful visit back to Ohio in August. I got to see my family, and some friends too. It felt very good to be back home. It made me realize that I really did put my life in Ohio on hold while I commenced my life in Taiwan. I hadn't thought of those two things as being separate before, but they are in a sense.

All of the people, places, and things that made up my life pre-Taiwan have changed. Upon returning, I had no trouble identifying all of these things and people and places as being part of my life, but they were different, changed. My brothers are older, my house looks different, there are new restaurants in my neighborhood, Bud Light now comes in lime flavor.

I've put all of these things on the backburner again, however, and returned to Taiwan. I'll be starting a new job next week, teaching kindergarten at Marshall School in Taichung. Taichung, a city of about a million, is located about 2 hours south of Taipei, on the middle of Taiwan's western coast.

I feel excited about this new job. I'll miss my old students and coworkers (and to a lesser extent, the town of Linko,) but I was due for a change of scenery.

My roommate, Nick, and I rented an apartment on the 4th and 5th floors of an older building on the city's near west side. We live in an area with a fair amounts of expats from England, South Africa, and North America. We live within a couple blocks of a canal, a department store, two parks, two temples, and dozens of small shops and restaurants.

My girlfriend, Ariel, lives about five minutes walking from me, and she'll be working nearby too. So it's an all around good deal for me. I'm pretty excited about the next year of my life, and I'll definitely try my best to document all of my noteworthy thoughts here.