Pay Day

Today was the last day of my 2nd English camp. They even paid me in cash. Yeah! The other school needs my ARC (resident card) for tax purposes. I should have that in the next month. I need to wire some money home to pay off my airplane ticket, but I haven’t been paid so I was going to have to keep some of it. Now I can send more home. More good news.

This morning it rained from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. And that is only when I know it did for sure because I was awake. May have rained in the night. My assistant said a typhoon passed by the island. As I walked to the school, I felt grateful I didn’t have to do a 30-minute scooter ride in such rain.

This morning I came into the office to do some last minute preparations, and my mom was on IM. I love technology! (Napoleon Dynamite) It really was great to get instant responses. Usually I send an e-mail in the afternoon/evening and then a day later I get the e-mail with responses and answers.

Here in Taiwan, they always call the teachers “teacher.” That is one Chinese word I definitely know! Here’s how you might spell it phonetically: lou-shu. Man, it’s hard to do that! I don’t know if you’ll get the right tone. Anyway, today I remembered a student from my student teaching experience that would call me teacher. I always got after him for it. I told him I had a name and he should use it. Funny the culture differences.

I made a quick trip to the store this afternoon (and my arm is sore to prove it). I picked up some water and I found some chocolate cookies. Cool! They are okay. Better than the fried cookies. And I picked up some bread. I got home and realized I was excited to have a peanut butter sandwich, and it had only been a day or two since my last one. Ha ha. Guess I do like peanut butter. The girl before me loved it. Oh, you can’t open an umbrella with just one hand. Especially if the hand you are using has the strap around the wrist. I know, I tried. I walked out of the store and was juggling to keep my bag and water and umbrella in my hands/arms while opening the umbrella. It was interesting but I succeeded.

One last tidbit for this post. Laundry is air dried here in Taiwan. Not a big deal. But, I have to juggle my laundry times with those of my roommate. We only have so many hangars! I thought of this because I need to do laundry and she did some yesterday. Hopefully it will be dry by tonight so I can do mine.

Forgetting something after you’ve just locked your door and called the elevator is so annoying! Not only do you have to unlock the door and maybe lose the elevator, you also have to take your shoes off so you can run like 5 steps to the bedroom and grab whatever you forgot. I’ve done it too many times. And yet I always do a little mental check before I leave my room. I guess it’s not checking out too well.

Click here to read a newspaper article about the typhoon that brushed us today.
My class. Not the best time to take a photo since they are concentrating on filling out a survey and have their heads bent. Alas.
I had 18 students this week. But 3 didn't make it today. Maybe the rain kept them at home.
The man standing is my assistant. His English name is Morning Chen. That is what I heard him say but I wasn't sure until today. He gave me his business card. Said he wants to take me to get food again. (Did I mention that we had Western food yesterday? Chicken and ceasar salad. It was nice.)

And here are my art skills. Ha ha. The students were drawing Halloween costumes today and I was sitting at a desk so I picked up my pen and started drawing. It isn't too bad.

Time

I just feel like I don’t have quite enough time! I need to keep working on lesson plans but I want to give you guys more info. Here I go, trying to be super fast yet give lots of details.

TIDBITS FROM TODAY: Ha ha. I was working with my kids on spelling and one of the words was potatoes. So my assistant wrote it out in Chinese. It was like 5 characters! Just for that little word. So I took a picture. And he said it was actually 2 words in Chinese. But still!

My assistant came in today and gave me an umbrella. It was very thoughtful. He said there is supposed to be a typhoon coming in soon (Yvonne said tomorrow!) and he thought I might need it. I’ve decided to put it into my scooter. Then I’ll have one at home, one at the office and one in the “car.” Oh here’s something funny – I rode in a car today and immediately put on my seatbelt. Then I thought I wonder if I’ll still do that a year from now since my main transportation is a scooter and they sure don’t have seatbelts. Hm.

The first day of this week’s camp, I had to take attendance but they only had Chinese names typed on the role. So the students wrote in their English names. One boy didn’t have an English name and they told me to give him one. ME! I don’t feel qualified for such a thing. Too much pressure! What if he hates it? I don’t know anything about him so can’t even make an educated decision. Plus I’m not his parent. They are the ones responsible for naming him! The crazy thing – English teachers in primary school are the ones that give kids their English names. I think I would just have a jar of names and pull them out randomly. Te he.

Okay, one more thing about today. My assistant was asking me what I eat. Apparently he thinks I’m struggling (okay, honestly I sort of am) so he took me out to lunch. So nice! And it was expensive. It was SO much food. My goodness. 5 courses: appetizer, soup, salad, main course, dessert, drink. At first I looked at the menu and tried to decide between 3 things. Then he said I had to choose one from each category! And I couldn’t eat all of one thing. The manager came over and asked if there was a problem. I couldn’t even explain, since he spoke Chinese. Sorry, dude! It was delicious, but way too much for me. It could have been 3 separate meals. The salad was hilarious. Little pieces of lettuce all stacked with a piece of cabbage on top. At one point I knocked them over. I was sort of afraid someone would come yell at me. If I didn’t think it would be considered rude, I would have taken a picture. So that was a very interesting experience!

TIDBITS FROM THE PAST: one day this week, maybe Monday, Yvonne said, “You have such long legs.” I chuckled. She said, “I was looking at your pants that were hanging up drying and thought you have long legs like a man.” I almost was offended. But decided it wasn’t worth it and she didn’t mean to be rude. Then she said she is envious. I just sort of shrugged. It’s just what I have. I guess thank you to all my forebears and their long-leg genes.

Well, that is all I can think of right now. Here’s something you may find funny. They don’t use toilet paper on a roll. It is individual sheets that come out of the package one at a time. So the toilet paper holder is actually a square box. And it has a lid. Why? Because you don’t want it to get wet when you shower! Te he. Another thing to adjust to.

Oh dear! I nearly forgot something important. MAIL TIME: I received a package from my family and a letter from my Dad. Boy was I excited to be handed those 2 things by the security guard. But then we went to the market right after we got home. And after the market, I got sucked into a movie while eating dinner. So I ended up forgetting about my mail. Made myself laugh. I really did love it. Thanks family!! Gotta go now. Lots to do.
A beautiful site -- mail from my family in U.S.A.
The blue writing is the 2 Chinese ways to say potatoes.

Rare Stare

He he. I thought the title was pretty clever. Here’s the reason for it: so many of the kids at school today just stared as I walked by. They don’t hide it well. They nudge their friends and the friends turn around and they all just stare as I walk by. I wonder if some people would enjoy the attention?! I don’t really. But I’ve decided to not let it weird me out. I just chuckle. Especially today. Seeing them stare reminded me how rare I am.

I think it might be a little better if I was closer to the city. At Dream Mall on Saturday I actually saw white people. Yeah!

SCHOOL: today was better than yesterday. I was able to adapt my lesson plans to meet the needs of these kids. Their English isn’t as good as last week’s kids. And I had an assistant today. Another teacher from the school. He was helpful and nice. He said he likes my teaching style and that I’m doing a good job. Nice to hear since he is a fellow teacher and knows the struggles.

It was very hot today. My assistant said it is hotter today than it has been lately. I was actually wishing for rain. Oh and I took a shower at 12 as soon as I got home. The crazy part is that I would have loved that shower at 8:20 right when I got to the school. Cold showers are the best thing. At home, they were terrible. But since arriving here, that is all I’ve wanted. I don’t know if I’ll ever want a warm shower while I’m here.

STORE: made another run to the store today. Had to get some water since I ran out last night. I was also buying laundry detergent. And I saw the bear Snuggles. Yeah! I didn’t buy that kind. I thought it was fabric softener and it wasn’t the cheapest kind (which is what my roommate recommended. Ha ha. Chinese are always concerned with prices). I found some detergent and right now my new bedding is hanging up to dry. Yippee! I’m pretty excited. It will be more like a room with a “quilt” and sheets and pillows that all match. Right now it’s hodgepodge.

I have another disappointment to report: goldfish just aren’t as good over here. What is up with that?! The Doritos weren’t as cheesy and now the goldfish are failing me. I didn’t think they would since the bag says product of U.S.A. Boo hoo.

MARKET: last night I went with my roommate to the market. I forgot my camera as I went out the door so no pics. It was very interesting. I’m pretty sure I was the only white person there, so I probably got some stares. I bout some yummy bread treats. I had one for breakfast and one for lunch today. And we both bought a traditional Taiwanese egg omelet-tortilla thing. It was good, but really big. I had to throw the last little piece away. It was also spicy so my mouth was burning. It had pepper on and herbs inside. Okay, I don’t know what I ate. I liked it though.

PROLOGUE: Think that is all for now. I’d better work on the lessons for tomorrow. Have to keep the kids busy! Today we talked about Christmas and I made a PowerPoint. I figured it is hard to visualize and understand something you’ve never experienced before. So they saw pics of reindeer and Christmas trees. I had fun making it. One last thing: I will probably be getting the internet in my apartment soon. Yeah! And I don’t have to sign a 2-year contract or pay for the line. Just a monthly fee. The company has a server in our building and they are letting tenants try it out downstairs. I’ll probably make a visit down there soon.

P.S. It’s amazing to me how I write so much yet feel like you are only getting a small portion of all that I think about and experience. Sorry! Maybe if I had more time. Perhaps when I get internet access in my apartment. At the office I have to prepare lessons first (at least that’s what I try to do) and then I have to leave by 5:15 so I can catch the garbage truck around 5:30. :)

Monday

Well. Today’s first day was very interesting. I have no assistant. So I was the only one who could help the students understand me. Yeah. I think we were okay. I have fewer students – only 18 and that’s nice. I was totally making up some games/activities for some of the time because I didn’t have enough prepared. And because some of the things I did at the other camp just wouldn’t work this time.

Now I’m sitting in the office preparing for tomorrow. It should go better than today. And it’s only a 4-day camp (yeah!) Yvonne just told me that she is considering going to Penghu, and if she does she would need to bring someone along to share the costs. It will be pretty expensive and it’s just 3 days, 2 nights. The weekend after the Kenting outing. I crunched numbers and said, “Yeah, I’d go.” So now if she decides to go, I’ll go. Penghu is a group of islands on the eastern side of Taiwan. It would mean more time on the beach and doing water activities.

Yvonne suddenly turns to me and says, “My friend thinks you are beautiful.” I was like, hm, thanks. She has a pic of the 2 of us on her IM. Then a few minutes later she laughs and explains that he just broke up with his girlfriend. So I may not be coming home after all. Just kidding! He asked her if I was single and how tall I am. She said she recommends me. Stinker. I don’t want to be matched. He lives in Taipei and she said I should plan a trip. I said, “I wouldn’t come back.” And she said, “I’d better reconsider then. We need teachers here.” Good times, good times.

It’s raining and I need to go to the store. I think I’ll be walking since I need to buy laundry detergent and more water. Both of those are big and I don’t want to risk it on my scooter.

Ching Ching Island

Ah, I’m home and I survived the outing. Didn’t get home until 11:10 p.m. Yvonne called to see where I was right as the elevator reached our floor. So, the activity was fun. I got on the ferry and crossed to the island. (That is my guess at the spelling. I tried to get Yvonne to spell it and she wouldn’t.) It took a while and some walking to realize I was at the wrong part of the island. I had the cell number of a guy named James. We talked and he said someone was coming to pick me up. So I took a seat. I was right by the fresh fish market. Yum! It actually didn’t smell too bad.

James arrived on a scooter and we rode back to where everyone else was. I was happy to be found. It’s scary to think you’re lost somewhere and have no way to fix the situation. I could have gotten back on the ferry, but how would I call a taxi once I was back on the mainland? Yeah, small problem. Plus I’d paid $100 NT for the activity.

The activity was fun. We rode double bikes around the island and tried to find things that someone had taken a picture of. A “where’s this picture?” game. I shared a bike with Thomas (see pic). Oh, I was about an hour and a half late. Not fully my fault! Here’s something interesting: James came to Taiwan for a year to practice his Chinese. He’s been here for 7 years and just bought a house. Wow!

Once it got dark, well at 7 o’clock the entire group met back up. There were about 70 people, James guessed (he helped organize it). Then they gave us a traditional Taiwanese dessert. Boy was that interesting! It had a bitter taste and I nearly gagged on every bite. James was a good friend and walked away from the group with me so I could dump it down a drain. :)

Then I left with 3 people who are in the 6th ward. They were my ride home. And again, an interesting experience. They said we were going to dinner. I figured I’d be home by 9 or so. Wrong! We didn’t get to the restaurant until 9:20. I felt like we were driving in circles. We did pass the Love River which is the famous tourist site in Kaohsiung. Cool. Dinner was Japanese. I had soup. The meat was good. I barely ate half of it, but said I was full (I was just tired and ready to be home!) So around 10 we left the restaurant and headed home. Sorta. We had to drop one girl at a bus station (at least I think that is what it was) and 2 others at their apartment. Then the guy drove me home. I was totally dozing and woke up a few blocks from my apartment.

I was home! Yeah. One more tidbit: During our drive to the mall, Yvonne invited me to Kenting the first weekend of August. She’s going down with some friends to support a BYU-Hawaii friend who is competing in a surfing competition. Should be fun!! It is in the south and is a popular beach area. Yvonne knows how to boogie board and I’m game to try it out.

Ching Ching Island Pics

Map of the island. Thought I might need it if I stayed lost. Or got lost again.
Beautiful!
Beautiful #2! The little black speck in the middle is a kite.
Thomas and I.
And our bike.

Dream Mall

The first stores I saw: Starbucks and Cold Stone. Ah. The mall is nice. Very big. We decided to go since they were holding tryouts for Taiwanese Idol. Grace (Yvonne’s niece and Scott’s daughter) was one of those hopeful people desiring a chance to perform. Yvonne and I arrived just before 11 a.m. and the line was SO long! I was amazed.

We walked around the 4th floor of the mall first. It was interesting to see the styles. Another interesting thing was their lack of supply. They didn’t have a bunch of sizes in 1 style. Maybe the stores we were at were more like boutiques. ?

We stopped at Mister Donut and each had 2 donuts. I found out Yvonne loves them. I enjoyed them because it’s something familiar. We decided to go to a store called Working House. We got distracted on the way there by a cute bedding store. I loved how they displayed their different options on mini beds! (See pic) Yvonne and I ended up buying the same set. It’s very cute and soft. $100 US for 7 pieces (round pillow, blanket, 2 pillowcases, blanket cover, flat sheet, round pillowcase). Good thing we have separate rooms! Or we would seem like twins. We laughed at ourselves.

We made it to the planned shop with no more detours. I got so excited when I saw goldfish crackers!! I yelled out “goldfish!” and Yvonne said, “where?” She thought I mean actual fish. He he. The bag even says “product of USA” *sigh* Of course I purchased them. And I bought a placemat since I’m a little messy. By the checkout desk, they had some Milano cookies. Another U.S. product! I couldn’t resist although they were expensive.

I’ll hurry in explaining the rest of the outing. Grace never got a chance to sing (she missed the part where they gave out numbers); we heard a few people (some good, some not-so-good); I had Japanese for lunch (again I had issues with the chopsticks); and the last store we visited was a bookstore. At first I couldn’t enjoy it like it should be enjoyed. Yvonne talked to a worker and we found the small English section. Then I was happy. I bought one book. It wasn’t too expensive. $8 US.

Now I’m sitting at the Cianjhen Ferry Pier. Yvonne dropped me off so I can go to the YSA activity. I got on the ferry and paid my fare (33 cents). Then Yvonne called and told me to get off and someone would come get me. So I got off. And I began writing this post in a notebook. A few moments ago I received another call. Now I’m supposed to get back on the ferry. Everyone has crossed to the island already. So I’ll wait for the ferry. Don’t know how this adventure will end, but I’m ready.

Dream Mall Pics

Yvonne thougth this chair was so cool. She even asked if it was for sale. Think I captured the moment pretty well.
She told me to be her model, so I pulled out one of my poses. Heck, this photo could be worth something someday! hehe

The two of us taken by Yvonne on her cell phone.
A small chunk of the mall. It has about 8 floors of shopping, 2 of movie theaters and rides on the top. Oh and food on the bottom level.
Check out my new scooter! NOT. That thing is huge. We would be a bad combo - pain and bruises. The cute display of bedding.
The set I bought. It's so cute! And the yellow (inside part) is way soft. Yeah for me!

Last Day

Phew. I survived my first English summer camp. It was really fun, but tiring. Glad to have a 2-day break. Then I’ll do it all again; with new students at a new school. So I realized I never mentioned how I get to the high school. I just follow the KFC’s! Left at the first one and school is on the right directly across from the 2nd one. It’s handy. Who needs street signs when there are KFC’s? Oh right, I just can’t read the street signs.

I walked out of the bathroom stall this morning and 3 regular students (who returned to school today) were standing by the sinks. They all looked at me. One of them said, “Wow.” Guess I really am a rare thing, an anomaly. Wonder what they would think of my white-beyond-white legs?!

We did tongue twisters today. They liked hearing me say them fast. One student timed me. 7 seconds on Peter Piper and Woodchuck. 14 seconds on Betty Botter, but it’s longer. How fast can you say them??

We went to KFC after camp ended today. Tina & Edison asked me to go with them, and then they asked the students. They ALL said they would go; if we paid. Ha ha. Smart kids. We told them they have to pay for themselves. I think 15 of them ended up coming. There were 9 upstairs by Tina, Edison and I. And I believe there were at least 4 downstairs who got there before us. It was fun. I really enjoyed the French fries. The sandwich was pretty good. But a little hot – thermal and spicy.

After that, I headed home. And I forgot to get the scooter sign picture before I left. So I pulled over near an intersection and took a picture. Hope you enjoy it! I also have quite a few pictures of the students. I guess I was kind of special since a bunch of them wanted pictures with me. Tina used her camera and will be sending them via e-mail, so they’ll be posted later.

One annoying thing is that I don’t get my salary until I get my ARC card. And I won’t get that until the beginning of August. The 2 people who will help me get it are in the U.S. touring with students until July 28. This silly card is preventing me from getting internet and setting up a postal account. Gr!

Another thought: we took a bunch of pictures at the end of the camp today. And my cheeks were hurting. I guess I haven’t been smiling as much since I’ve been here. Odd. I haven’t felt smile-deprived. Guess I’ll have to watch some funny movies this weekend.

Scooter sign from far away.
This sign shows how scooters have to turn left. I explained it in words in an earlier post.
Edison, my assistant.
Tina, my other assistant.
With my class.
The certificates we gave each of the students.

TONGUE TWISTERS
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
---
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
---
Betty Botter had some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter--
that would make my batter better."

So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

Fried Cookies

I tried my “fried cookies.” Do I like them? Not so much. They are hard (which I usually like) and they almost have flavor. It’s kind of odd. It’s like the hint is there and you expect there to be more. Then there isn’t. At least they don’t taste terrible. I can eat the package, though not with the joy I would experience when eating a package of Oreos. As I was putting them away, I had a great thought – fried cookies with peanut butter! Ha ha. Not very original. I’ll have to try it tomorrow. And then I thought graham crackers sound SO good. Haven’t seen those at the store yet. Too bad. I lived on those my 1st year of college.

Weather

Wow. I’ll say that again, wow. I think I’ve nearly experienced it all. I just drove my scooter home in the rain. Thank you previous scooter owner for the poncho! But my pants are still wet. And my face. Phew. I think I understand why so many helmets have the plastic face guards. I wonder if I could add one to my helmet. I didn’t want it until tonight.

My roommate took me to a stationery store. *Sigh* I have always loved paper goods. I don’t know why. It was great just to walk around the store. I picked up a few things I needed. And a few I didn’t. :-) I looked out the window and saw the rain and it reminded me to purchase an umbrella to leave at the school. It’s cute. Navy blue with white polka dots.

I think I’d better get out of my wet pants now. Oh, one last thought: my roommate said, “Wait until typhoon season.” And I think I can. Could I wait for the rest of my life? Please? This was enough rain for me. I may have to buy a waterproof suit like scientists wear . . . not a bad idea.

Seafood Pizza

I forgot I took pictures of the seafood pizza! Here they are. It had shrimp, carrots, peas, and corn on it. Maybe other stuff, but I couldn’t tell. I guess I should have tried it. I had a piece of Hawaiian and it was yummy.

Fourth Day

Today was another good day. The kids are fun. One funny thing when I was driving there (on my scooter again). We were stopped at a red light, and I was watching it. Suddenly it wasn’t red anymore. But it wasn’t yellow or green either. Guess it must be green! It was funky. I wonder how long until they fix it.

Today I talked to my students about Halloween, and they practiced typing (they peck at the keys!), and then we talked about table manners. The school ordered pizza and they had to eat it with knives and forks. My assistant Tina really wanted to pick her piece up and eat it like normal. I think it was good for them to practice and be exposed to some rules of good manners. It was the school’s idea.

Rain hitting my face during the end of my scooter ride home. Not such a pleasant experience. But I was very grateful for my sunglasses! And I remembered my umbrella. It is right by me in my backpack. (Funny since it isn’t raining and I’ll probably be leaving here soon).

I have some errands to run. I need more milk and cereal. And I might as well get more water. I think I’m going to take my scooter. Hope I can keep everything balanced! I’ll use under my seat and in my backpack. But the water will probably have to go where my feet rest. He he.
P.S. Didn't get the picture of the scooter sign. I forget until I'm driving home. And it isn't convenient to pull my camera out of my backpack and snap a pic. I think the light would turn green before I could accomplish it all.

Rain

Yeah, I totally didn't get out of here soon enough. And it's a downpour. Dang it all! I totally thought about bringing my umbrella to the office with me. I guess I will follow through with my idea to buy another umbrella to leave here at school.

And I guess I'll be eating more peanut butter as I don't want to go out in this rain.

Happy day! :-D

Birthday Party

The moment I walked into my apartment after the summer camp, my roommate Yvonne says she tried to call me but I didn’t answer. I’m thinking “Yeah, I was teaching.” And “Glad I turned my phone on silent.” The reason she called was to tell me there was a birthday party for all faculty members with birthdays in this month. And I was invited! So we turned right around and found the room (walked to 2nd floor then to 1st floor then back to 2nd floor).

She pushed me in, and then left. I was a little surprised. But they took care of me. A gentleman stood up and gave me an envelope. Then a plate was put into my hands. I took some food from the buffet table and sat where they told me. I met Emily from the personnel office and she was very helpful and friendly. She sat across from me. Another English teacher (male) sat next to me. I think he stayed so I would have someone to talk to. The party started at 12, I got home at 12:38 and we found the room by 12:45. So it was the very end.

Funny thing (made my roommate laugh): I’m still getting used to chopsticks so I had a little trouble today. There was a round-ish vegetable that I wanted to eat. But I couldn’t pick it up!! I tried a few times and then gave up. The English teacher said they could bring me a fork, but I refused. I’m trying to adapt to my surroundings. I also ditched a piece of chicken because I couldn’t get the meat off the bone. I’ve eaten chicken at home, but, honestly, I used my fingers. It was much more stressful to eat with chopsticks when people were around!!

So the envelope contained a nice card (in Chinese. I’ll have to ask my roommate to translate) and a red envelope with $1000 NT. Thirty dollars! I was surprised, but pleased. Yvonne called it a birthday bonus. And I guess I’ll get one for the next holiday (sometime in Sept. and I forgot the name) and for Chinese New Year. Cool! They also gave me a little box with my own cake as I was leaving. Here are some pictures.

P.S. They were playing “happy birthday” music. It was the same track over and over – English then Chinese. I could have walked out and sung the Chinese version for you (but I forgot it already).

The meal was prepared and served by the students. They have restaurant-style rooms and bar-style rooms where the students can practice. It was pretty nice. I took my camera, but decided not to take any pictures during the party.

Third Day

Rode my scooter today. Yesterday I took a taxi in the morning. Then after the “camp” I asked the school to call another taxi. The head lady of the Office of Studies said no, she would take me home. I felt bad and told her taxi was okay. She thought it was too expensive (it was $8 US)

So I rode my scooter today. Things were great. Only took 30 minutes. One funny incident: I stopped at a red light. Normal, right? Then a scooter, 2 buses, and a bunch of scooters go straight through. Well! It was strange. Maybe I just imagined the red light. Or I saw it wrong – they saw green, I saw red.

I need to get a picture of the sign that explains how scooters turn left. It is quite fascinating. On my drive home today, I realized that is what the signs were. I’ll try to explain in words right now. The scooter goes straight through the intersection, but drives on the crosswalk then turns the bike and stops. They are now ready to go straight the direction they want to go. (The street on the left.) They do it this way, I think, because scooters stay on the right side of the road. It’s kind of funny to me. You have to wait through 2 lights technically.

Here’s a bit about driving I haven’t shared yet. Dad’s agent said “just because your light is green doesn’t mean the cross-traffic has stopped.” Made me chuckle. I can say it is true. Checking the intersection before driving through is essential here.

Today we worked on English spelling. I was trying to think of a way to correct the paper that would make them more interested. So I split them into 2 teams then 1 person from each raced to the chalk board and wrote the correct spelling. I think they liked it. Then we wrote words from a bunch of letters. They were all amazed that I found 70 words. One girl found 28-I was impressed. Then we played “Jackpot” or “1000” or “Fly’s Up.” We had 2 separate games going, boys and girls. The girls were very timid and would step away from the ball. I was surprised. I wanted/half expected a competitive game. Oh well. It probably would have been worse if the boys were in our game too. Then I sent them down to the basement (where there is air conditioning) and they did a word search with a bunch of countries. They returned to the classroom and did a cross word with foods from different countries. We didn’t have time to look at a map and locate the countries. It will have to wait until tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, the school wants us to teach them table manners and then they will eat pizza (using a knife and fork). Should be interesting. I didn’t take any pictures today.

AHH! Looks like it might rain. I'd better run home.

Tidbits

I just returned from a trip to the store where I saw things that made me happy: Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Cheetos and Doritos. I purchased some of the last one. And I’m pretty sure a male customer chuckled when he saw me pick them up. What?! Just because this white girl needs reminders of home.

I’m thinking I may get sick of peanut butter and Frosted Flakes (or Frosties as they’re called here) once I’m done with this little adventure. Since those are my staples. Yes Mom, those aren’t the best staples. But they’re so easy! And I have the small problem of minimal appliances (only a stove top), a small fridge, and a language barrier. I don’t know what anything is! Maybe that’s why I’m purchasing stuff like Pringles and Doritos – I can read the packaging.

My walk to the store occurred in the rain. Like a smart person, I prepared for the event. I wore my rain jacket and took an umbrella. On the way back I realized I was totally sweating making the rain jacket seem like a ridiculous idea. I was wet from the heat humidity, not the water falling from the sky!

Since the water from the tap is not drinkable (in all of Taiwan), I make a trip to the store about twice a week to purchase a large container of drinking water. And it is rather heavy. My Dad carried 2 while he was here. I’ve decided to just do one. And so far I haven’t ventured to bring it back on my scooter (I’m sure it will be a good story when it finally happens). Since this blog is about tidbits, I’ll give just one more. My Dad & I met with his agent in Taiwan and Dad asked him about the drinking situation. The man said, “No one would be stupid enough to fix the tap water.” You see, the problem is the pipes. And the reason no one will fix them is the money that is tied up in the situation. I now see what he means. My jug of water cost $45 NT. Times twice a week times 52 weeks. That’s $4,680 NT for one year. For one person! (It’s about $156 US)

Back to the cooking situation. I was thinking about what someone told me – microwaves aren’t that expensive. So I looked around my kitchen. Lo! There is nowhere to put a microwave. We have one small section of counter space and then a table for one (seriously). I do all my “prep” on that little table so a microwave definitely can’t go there. (Although, my prep is putting bread on a plate and spreading peanut butter on it.) My next thought was to store the microwave and just bring it out when I needed it. Lo! There is nowhere to store it. My room is full. Although, now that my brain wheels are cranking. . . I guess I could put it on the other half of my bed. Ha ha.

Hope this entry made you chuckle! Here are some pictures of my spoils. I need to keep working on tomorrow’s lessons.














“Fried Cookies” ? Couldn’t pass them up. The middle thing is a bread-ish roll with sugar. I saw that sugar and figured I couldn’t go wrong. The amazing thing: they aren’t that sweet. They are kind of spongy and hard at the first bite. (Sorry, best I can do in describing them). And then my water jug.

Second Day Video

Here's a video of the freeze tag game. The girl with a white shirt and denim shorts and the boy with a blue shirt and white shorts are "it". I just love how they scatter!

(My video doesn't want to load. I've been trying for the past hour. Sorry!)
(Tried again on Wednesday. It says it s loading but then just sits there. Bummer.)

Second Day Pictures

My 2 assistants, Edison & Tina. They were "it" for the 1st game of tag. I laughed at how the kids scattered when they came near.
Playing freeze tag.

Second Day

Well, I survived my second day. And it went well. The students are smart. Today I had a cool thought – I really like these kids. That is great news as I had serious doubts about being a teacher during my student teaching.

I’ll add a few pictures. Today we played some games and I told them stuff about Christmas. One great thing about this camp: it’s only half a day. I am tired and hungry by 12 o’clock. And I need the afternoon to prepare for the next day’s lessons. Like I should be doing right now! I’ll put comments with the pictures.