Small Victories

I think I am now considered one of his friends. It’s so great! He’s adorable. Wouldn’t you want to be his friend?

He gets excited when I come to the house and he even calls me “Amlee” now. I feel so special. PS This is Scott’s little boy, Nathan. It is probably partly because I play with him when I’m at their house. It’s hard to resist his adorable Chinese/English/Nathan talk.

So the last day of the month is here. They always seem to sneak up on me! I’ve survived my first month of school as a “true” teacher. Wow. As I learned tonight, “wo lie luh” – I’m tired. :) Yeah for Chinese lessons.

That is another small victory. I’m getting better at picking out words I know and guessing meaning. Before I kept trying to figure out each word. Tonight I guessed the meaning from the words I did understand. That’s a good beginning!

I’m off to bed. Hope you enjoy these pictures of Nathan Huang. I love to watch him when I’m at their house.

He kind of looks like an elf. So cute.
I told him to smile and he even did a little pose. What a stud.

Haircut Pictures

Here's a picture taken by Yvonne when we were vacationing before school started. One of the few with my hair down. Thought it might help you get an idea of the 1.54 inches I cut off.

They're not so pretty. Give me a break, it's my day off!

(Oops, can't see all of my hair. Guess I'll try again.)
Here you go. Some idea of the length of my hair. (Would've been better if I didn't have to take the picture myself!)

Typhoon

I guess now would be my first true typhoon. It is really hitting the lovely island of Taiwan. I watched the weather even though I didn’t understand a word! The pictures they kept showing had the entire country covered by the typhoon. Crazy!

One good thing is that I’m safe and dry in my apartment. Another good thing is that I didn’t ride my scooter to church; I went with Scott’s family. (It would have been a rough ride home.) And the last good thing is that I may have a free day tomorrow. Yvonne just called to say as of now she thinks I don’t have to go in. We aren’t exactly sure. Office staff has to be there but teachers don’t. She couldn’t decide what I am. I’d say teacher, but don’t know my official status.

It would be nice to have a day off! It seems like no matter what, I won’t be teaching lessons tomorrow. That’s good because I would love a break. But it’s bad because then I have less time with my students. Funny how it works!

Oh, Yvonne just called back. It’s certain = I don’t have to go in tomorrow. I’m going to sleep in!!! Wahoo! Oh crud, I totally don’t have any food. Looks like I’ll be going for a walk in the rain! (I’ll take my dad’s advice and not drive my scooter.) Hopefully there’s a lull sometime tomorrow. But I don’t have enough cereal for breakfast . . . chances are high that I will get wet.

So I was planning to go to bed early. Now I’m thinking about watching a movie! Hm.

More about the typhoon – it has been raining hard for 5 hours now. I wonder how long it will go on. It was the cause of no church meetings today. It was still an eventful day. We left at 10:20 to go to the 11:00 sacrament meeting. We missed the sacrament part so decided to wait until 1:00. Then Scott was wrong and it wasn’t until 2:00. I was a little bugged, but couldn’t do anything to change it! I read scriptures and rested. They fed us lunch which was nice. Then I thought we were only going to stay for sacrament – wrong again. We stayed for the whole program. Michelle said she would translate but she kept going out to blow her nose. So I didn’t have anyone translate (didn’t want to be a bother). I just sat and looked around. Sadly, I didn’t understand anything.

P.S. I’ve noticed a funny thing about my name – some of my co-workers say it “Ambelee” and roll right over the “r”. They almost miss the “e” before it too. So it’s more like “Amblee”. Funny, huh? I noticed Steve & Yvonne did it today.

P.P.S. Maybe I’ll finally get the post on about my fun weekend. It’s only a week late. Ugh!

Cutting My Hairs

Yes, it’s true. I cut ALL my hairs. (As opposed to just cutting one.) And I’m happy with it. My head is lighter; I use less product/time in the shower. And I feel rejuvenated. Funny how a haircut can do that!

I was thinking of cutting around an inch off – just a trim. Scott’s girls said they always cut more than you want them to, here in Taiwan. That’s ridiculous!! I’m the paying customer. But Scott took me to a member’s shop. (The mother of Kelly, who helped me learn the way to church & was part of the sleepover at the hospital.)

The overall experience was wonderful!! Kelly washed my hair as I sat in the chair – they didn’t have me put my head in a sink until rinsing the shampoo out. Different, huh? And I got a head massage as she scrubbed my hair. Then I got a shoulder massage!! That was fabulous.

She held up a comb with ruler markings and asked how much I wanted cut off. I ended up choosing 4 cm. Yeah, I know, a little more than an inch (actually an inch & a half). I don’t think they took more than that off. It’s a bit shorter. I like it though. It was getting long! I haven’t had it that long since 10th grade; and it was starting to bug me.

I couldn’t bring myself to truly chop it – I love the ponytail option. It’s so nice to be able to pull it all up when I’m totally sick of it or totally hot.

So, there you are. My first hair-cutting experience in Taiwan. Another great thing – it was $200 NT ($6.50 US). Here’s a picture. (Just kidding. I don’t feel cute enough to take a picture. Maybe later.)

Happy Surprises

Ha ha. This made me smile and laugh. (Always a great thing.) I walked up to my 4th period class; a conversation class with regular high school kids. It is a small class {Thank goodness. Helps make the class of 61 somewhat bearable.}

Some students saw me and said the typical greeting for teachers. Direct translation: teacher good. It shows respect. Teachers respond with “good” of hao (in Chinese). So I did that. Their response was one of shock. I just heard “oooh!” and then a jumble of sounds as they spoke to each other. Then they told the kids inside the classroom and a got other people to say the greeting so I would respond in Chinese.

It was funny to me. Did they honestly think I could live in a country for 3 months and not pick up any of the language?! I guess they just didn’t think about it. It was quite enjoyable. So I guess they think I’m kind of cool, or maybe a little bit smart.

I decided it was just too much fun and I couldn’t pass up one more chance to surprise them. At the end of class, they stand up and say “thank you, teacher.” My normal response: “thank you” or “you’re welcome”. My response today: Bu ke qi (Pinyin spelling of "thank you" in Chinese)

I totally got them! Again, I heard exclamations of surprise and admiration. Rock on! What a great way to leave the class. I wonder what will happen next week . . . :D

Happiness in a Little Box from America

You may think I’m referring to a package . . . you would be wrong! I’m referring to a little box of Macaroni and Cheese that my mom sent a few weeks ago. I finally found a measuring cup that measures in “cups.” My roommate had it in the cupboard :) The only other thing I needed was butter.

I had asked Scott’s family about this earlier. When Becca and I explored the local grocery store, she showed me where the butter was located. So this need was easily met. I popped downstairs and drove my scooter to the store. I was back in just a few minutes, getting excited about my meal.

And things went off without a hitch. Sa-weet!!! Guess I’ve made Mac’n’Cheese enough to know how to do it. :P It tasted so good. Man oh man. And as I put the cheese sauce, milk and butter in I remembered doing that as a little girl.

I would fight with my brother for the chance to dump in the cheese sauce. I’m not sure why that ingredient was so cool. Mom would let us bring our little stools over to the counter and pour in some ingredients. Sometimes we even got to help stir things in. Oh the joy of simple childhood emotions. (Remember that Mom & JJ?)

I think I could have eaten that entire box of Mac’n’Cheese. I snarfed my portion down. Almost like my brother did back in the day. We always gave him a hard time by asking if he had tasted any of it. I did taste mine. I tried to make myself slow down – it was hard.

And I’m happy to say I choose the route of a better person. I only ate about half the box. The other half I put into a container to share with Scott’s girls. When I told them I had Mac’n’Cheese, they got way excited and jealous. They thoroughly enjoyed it too. Sarah, their mom, doesn’t understand why they like it so much. I tried to explain – but what can you say?? It was a childhood staple and it’s deliciously cheesy. YUM!

PS -- THANK YOU, MOM!!

Stairs

Aren’t they just so great?! Okay, I’m being facetious. I have decided I am tired of stairs. If I don’t wait for the elevator and walk up to my apartment – 120 stairs. (If I counted right. I was huffing and puffing by the end.) Walking to my classes on the 7th floor – 100 stairs. And that is just one direction. So 200 stairs for my 4th period class on Wednesdays. Another 200 stairs on Thursday (classroom next door). And then I have classes on the 5th and 3rd floors. So many stairs!!!

It isn’t that great that I don’t like stairs already. We are only in week 3 of a 20-week semester. Oh my. I wrote little paragraphs for my students the other day and one of them was about how I wish I could fly. I feel more strongly about it today!

That’s all for now. I just wanted to do better at typing things out right after I think of them. It is my lunch break and I’m planning to read personal e-mails. Lately I’ve worked through lunch. Not today! I’m curious to hear how everyone is doing.

PS Congrats to my friend Kristen and her husband Garrett. I just read her blog saying she is pregnant. So exciting! (Blogs are fabulous things. I feel much more connected after all my reading last night.)

Overdue

I’m surprised I haven’t received any scolding comments or e-mails! This post is totally overdue. And sadly it will not be as great. I think of things to include and funny ways to say them, then time passes and they stay in my head. Sorry! You get the condensed version.

Total random side note: I want to try sardines. And even more than that I want to see how packed in the can they really are. I think it is a random saying: “packed in like sardines”. Some of my FHE brothers at BYUI were going to let me try their sardines, but I never did. Bummer.

TODAY
Monday is my longest day in terms of classes – 5. Two in the morning and 3 after lunch. My throat was sore and tight after I finished at 3:55. But I had fun. I’m enjoying my students and they are good (for the most part). Yvonne gave me a little scare when she came in and sat down during one of my morning lessons. I forgot she was going to come observe randomly. And she looked serious, bordering on severe. She said that was for the kids. AJ and I were both intimidated/surprised by it :)

I didn’t have a good breakfast because my milk went sour. I cleaned the fridge and left it out too long. Then I tried to fix it by freezing it. I left it in the freezer all night and was SO confused the next morning! I thought someone had come in and stolen my milk. Ha ha. I found it and left it out to thaw – accidentally left it out too long so that helped it sour faster. Lovely! Over $3 US dumped down my drain. What a sad thing. Especially when it is something I like so much. Anyway, today I was planning to grab a sandwich at the breakfast place downstairs. So I only had some handfuls of dry cereal.

You have probably surmised that there were no sandwiches. I left later than usual so they were all gone. I was hungry after my 2nd class. I headed down to the store one floor below our office (why didn’t they tell me about that sooner?!) and found something that made me happy. Lays original potato chips. AJ said it so well when I shared with him, “greasy little slices of home.” I laughed pretty hard. That’s the whole point of these past 2 paragraphs. But you got a good story in the meantime, right?

This evening I went with my friend Emily on the MRT to Fongshan. It was only 2 stops away. Would have been just as easy to drive our scooters the entire way. But I got to experience the brand-new MRT! It just opened and is free this entire week. If I’m feeling really brave, I could ride it alone. All the signs are in English and Chinese. I’m just concerned I wouldn’t be able to find the station again once I got out and wandered on the streets.

So the main purpose was for Emily to take me on the MRT. When we decided on the trip Sunday night I mentioned my need for jeans. And she helped me all right! She buys expensive jeans (bordering on $100 US – ridiculous!) but I wanted cheap ones. I tried on some expensive stuff but didn’t buy it. A lady at one store kept giving discounts and wanted me to buy a little dress (granted it was beautiful) and black jacket for $200. HA! Maybe if I was rich. I’m just a little teacher. And I keep remembering talking this job over with my dad and he calculated how much money I could save . . . that hasn’t really happened yet.

{another side note: I’m starting to think I’ll stay here for 2 years. I’m spending money getting settled and now I’m buying a new wardrobe (I plan to send my other stuff home with my dad when he visits in Oct.). And I have made friends that I don’t want to leave so soon. We’ll see. If I’m still working here next summer, I’ll go with Scott and a bunch of students on their tour to the US. Fun, fun!}

So I feel successful in a strange way. I was telling Emily on our way to the city that I’m too tall. She said “No! Tall is good.” Then I tried on jeans. After around 6 pair that were too short she said, “You’re too…” and I finished her sentence by shouting “TALL!” Ha ha. Told you so. I did find some that are an okay length. And not too expensive. But I have another problem. My body is not proportionate. My waist isn’t too big but my thighs are! So I have extra material in the waist area – but I can’t take it out because I need it big to get the pants on. So lame!! I’m bugged.

The reason I need new jeans is because I’ve lost weight, or my jeans have stretched. Some of both, I think. I didn’t eat very much when I first got here. Scott thought I lost weight. And I air dry my jeans now instead of using a dryer so they are probably a little bigger than back home. But it is a bit ridiculous – my “skinny” jeans, as I called them back home, are a bit baggy. So lame! You always think you will be excited to say your jeans don’t fit. Trust me, it’s just annoying. Especially if you’re in a foreign country and can’t speak the language. I’m all bugged that my pants hang funny and are loose even with a belt on. Seriously, it bugs.

This post is long and I’ve only described one day. I’ll sum up. (Princess Bride!) And what I meant is that I’ll say less about all the other stuff. That won’t be hard since it is being pushed out of my brain. I just don’t have enough space up there! Oh, I think it is the recall function that is the problem. Everything fits, but once it is in sometimes it doesn’t come back out. Sad day. I’ll put more info in the next post. :D

Overdue #2

Here we go again. You know, it is really nice to speak grammatically correct English! (Even if I’m only writing it. I narrate things in my head.) I have to simplify my speech in the daytime to make sure my students understand. Another funny note: some students have complained that their foreign teachers’ English gets worse as the year goes by. I can totally understand that! You speak at the level you hear, hoping to help them understand better. I’ve caught myself doing it. You speak at their level but then you are speaking poorly, especially in terms of grammar. Yikes!

So, what do I need to share. Well, Saturday I went out in the rain and wind to visit the store. I’m getting much more comfortable on my scooter now! It’s fun :P I even got blasted by wind and rain as I neared my apartment. Probably not the best idea to go out in a typhoon. Oh well. And I didn’t wear a jacket or raincoat. The temperature was fabulous – cool with wind blowing. *sigh*

And Saturday was a good, mellow day. I needed it after another busy week at school. I was super tired! I let myself sleep in until 8 am. Quite a luxury since most days of that week I was up by 4:30 am. Just so much work! Oh here’s something I planned to say: work all day, work all night – sure wish I could put “play” in there! Things are getting better. I’m figuring out how to work at the office (too much is going on and I have someone to speak English too. Very distracting.) And I’m trying to stay ahead. I can’t even explain. I’m just not as stressed. This week is mostly planned and I’ll finish it by Wed. and start on next week.

Sunday was a good eventful day. I was with Scott’s family pretty much the whole time. They picked me up at 8:30 am. We arrived at church by 9 and stake conference started at 10. My head boss Steve was released as a counselor and called as the President. Ha ha! Quite interesting. I definitely work with good people. Some general authority was visiting but I don’t remember the name. I just know I say a white couple –yeah!

After church we headed to another member’s house (the one where we had the food and I tried a chicken heart.) to pick up some moon pies. It was Moon Festival on Sunday. They were tasty. Much better than the ones the school gave all the employees. Of course, I did try the coffee one. Ha ha! What can I say? The writing is Chinese characters.

We hung out at their house for quite awhile. And none of the people that live there were there. Interesting. Scott fell asleep on the couch and I almost did. They were hoping to get some food. And we sure did!! I ate a decent amount quickly because I was hungry. It was super delicious! Noodles with egg and pork on top. One not-so-good thing was what Scott made me taste. Sarah almost told me what it was, but Scott and I stopped her. I tried some and didn’t love it. Becca and Scott made me try 3 pieces altogether. As I finished chewing the last piece Scott said it was pig’s ear. I gagged a little. And the first words out of my mouth: “we feed that to our dog!” It’s true. I remember giving pig ear treats to Thor. Ugh.

I managed to swallow the piece. I definitely didn’t have any more. I talked with Sarah and said how I cut fat off my meat back home. She says, and I’ve noticed, they eat every part here. Later that night I saw here suck the brains of the shrimp out. I shuddered. Still makes me feel queasy. Yuck.

So I thought that was the meal (we had already eaten a bunch of fruit). Then they bring out soup. AH! I’m full. And they are making sure I get big helpings since I’m a guest. Fabulous (with a strained smile) I was almost done with the broth when the mom puts another spoonful in my bowl. Becca saw it and cracked up. I didn’t have much luck with that soup. A hunk of meat slipped out of my chopsticks and onto my skirt. Then I was focusing on Sarah’s mission story and spilled the broth on my skirt! I stopped eating at that point. They gave me a hard time about spilling to get rid of it. Whatever.

I was FULL. And then they bring out another Asian pear. It was really good. Sarah offered one and I said yes, held my hand out, and put a grimace on my face. She laughed at gave me a piece. Fruit is so yummy!! I also tried a Taiwanese fruit that is like grapefruit but sweeter. It was okay. I liked the pear better.

We eventually leave that house. I think we were there for about 3 hours. And we head back to the school for a party. Moon Festival! And more food. Ugh. Just thinking about it was too much for me. But I got sucked in – they had caramel popcorn. Oh my! It was delicious. The girls loved it too. At one point we had 3 of the plates they served it on at our table. The girls just picked them up and walked back to the table. Crazy. But it was so delicious. And then I had some noodles. I made Jessica fix my shrimp so I could eat it :) I don’t like getting the shrimp blood and such on my fingers.

It was a pretty fun “party” although I didn’t take advantage of it like I could have. I was too full from my previous meal! After it ended, we headed home. And I was totally exhausted. It was great to be with a family and have that kind of love and acceptance. But families are tiring! Phew.

I just remembered another great thing from this past weekend. Can’t believe I forgot until now. Friday night Yvonne asked if I wanted to go to a steak house. I pounced on that! And I was smarter this time – I ordered steak. I would actually have been satisfied without it. Their “salad bar” was fabulous. Salad, veggies, fruit, pasta, chocolate fountain, popcorn, etc. I was so happy! I had a bunch of cucumbers which put me in heaven. And I had some French fries. Happy sigh. And at the end I had two bowls of popcorn. Oh wonderfulness! It wasn’t very expensive – around $10 US. All in all a very good experience.

I’ve done other stuff but I’m very tired and I promised myself I would get to bed at a decent hour tonight. It would be fun to keep typing, but my hands are tired and my eyes are drooping. My neck is sore and my head is lolling. Off to bed I go! Don’t want to turn into a pumpkin, as my mom says it. Adios!

P.S. I’ve decided my knowledge of Spanish is detrimental. I keep thinking of words in Espanol instead of Chinese. So lame! I’m taking Chinese lessons on Tues. and Thurs. from another teacher at the school. I’ve had 3 so far. It is good. (Once my Chinese is better, I’ll help her improve her English.) I totally understand my students better since I’m scared to practice. People always laugh at me! Oh well, it must be done.

Some pictures
Me and my Young Women. Becca, Grace, and Joy. Grace is now in the Seattle area! She just had a birthday and is in her 2nd week of 9th grade in America. Yeah for her!
Another one. Don't know why they kept standing in the corner.

Merry Christmas

I kept meaning to get back on and finish my last post. I had to stop since it was time to start working :)

I said that because I got another package from my mom and family last week. And it made me so happy. It was like Christmas! (Or when my dad comes home from a trip)

She sent me Quaker granola bars, normal notebooks (don't make 'em here like they do in the good 'ol US), my fabulous calculator (I was having withdrawals), and other stuff. I honestly can't remember what else at the moment. But I know the box was chuck full. It weighed 10 lbs! Ha ha.

Thank you, Mom!! Scott's girls were really excited too since I gave them half the granola bars. We got talking one day and Becca said she really missed them. They only sell one type in the local hypermarket - nature valley honey oat ones. Those are pretty good but I was craving normal chocolate chip granola bars. And man do they taste good. I ate one before I was even done unpacking the box :D

I know I had more to say, but I can't remember it. Don't worry about my voice. I developed a teacher voice pretty easily. I don't talk loud normally, but I can. Although my throat did hurt today from all the talking.

Okay, this was pretty funny. There was a bit of chaos during our 7th period class. It was about 35 minutes in, when some students show up and say they are supposed to be in my class. Their teacher wrote it wrong so they had switched spots. No wonder no one answered when I started calling the roll!! Ha ha. I just put it aside and started a seating chart. I was almost done too.

So I got to introduce myself all over again. I'm quite sick of doing that. Twice in 50 minutes is too much. I felt bad for the students that had already heard it that period! AJ said he had some kids the class period before so they heard his intro 3 times today. Ha ha. The joys of organizing students.

Things should be all straightened out now. 1st years have been placed and should know where they are going. Now if we can just get books, things would be great! The writing books haven't even been ordered yet... Interesting thing to me.

I know there is tons of other funny stuff to report. I just can't think of it at the moment. Oh, Sunday I saw an incredible motor vehicle contraption. It was a guy on a wheelchair driving a scooter. Yeah, seems impossible, doesn't it?! But it honestly was there in front of my eyes. I can't describe it without a picture. And I was driving my scooter to church and didn't have my camera. If I had, I just might have pulled over to take a picture. It was a strange sight. And yet ingenious!

So life is good. I have now survived a true Monday. They are my longest days with 5 classes. But I'm happy because it used to be 6. Steve took away my one overtime hour and I'm not complaining. I don't exactly need the extra money.

Oh, Grandma - yes there are really close to 10,000 students here. The school actually admitted too many and they will have to pay for it next year. Yvonne told me the amount, but I forgot it. Some high price for each student. Ouch, not a pretty thing. And that made our class sizes bigger. Woo hoo. I love having 61 students! Not. I don't know if I mentioned that my smallest class is 20. I have quite the extremes. My average is probably 30. Not bad. Wait, that isn't true. It's probably higher. I have two classes of 50. Hm, I'll figure the actual average out. Just a moment.

My average is 38. And I still haven't met one of my classes. It will probably be between 50 and 60. If it's 50, my average goes up to 39 students. Crazy! I thought that was unheard of in Utah. But my friend is currently student teaching (in Highland I think) and has a class of 41.

Just one last tidbit - I saw a bit of Taipei on Saturday. We had a LONG trip to visit the temple. I still haven't figured out how many temples are within 4 hours of me in Utah. Probably all of the ones in Utah, plus Rexburg, Idaho Falls. Possibly others.

Anyway, it was a good experience. Even though I couldn't understand anything! I was happy to see a senior sister giving out the clothes. Another white face and English speaker -- sigh.

Michelle sat next to me on the bus, and it was interesting. She kept talking and I just wanted to sleep. It was 5 in the morning! Eventually she stopped. After I gave her food and pretended to sleep. At least it made me laugh. We were pretty bored on the bus rides but we had some fun on the way home. We played "Go Fish" (which Becca thought was called Gold Fish) and talked in funny voices. It was so much better that way!!

Oh and we visited the Distribution Center. Funny how that too was a treat when back home I just have to drive for 8 minutes to find one. On the bus, Becca said we had to stop at the "Restoration Center" so she could buy a New Era. AJ (another teacher) and I were very confused, and chuckling. I cleared up the name switch. But now we call it the Restoration Center. Scott was surprised I didn't know about it. I said "yeah, it is in Taiwan, when the Restoration took place in America. I'll tell my family now that I've been there." So look, I'm telling you like I said I would. Come see the Restoration Center. It's pretty cool ;)

It was Michelle's first time inside the temple and I was glad I could be there. Usually one of their parents goes along but Grace boarded the plane just before we arrived in Taipei. She is now in Seattle and starting school now. Eh! I'm a little nervous for her. Her family really misses her. Scott was kind of grumpy Saturday evening. We were warned not to ask questions and to be careful. Reminds me of my dad at times (love you!)

This is getting longer and longer. I'll stop now. Life is good. More classes to teach tomorrow. Oh, and I bought a tie with Chinese characters for my missionary brother. Nearly took all my money but I think he will like it. I do. Now I just have to figure out how to ship something to Mexico! Ha ha. Might be awhile.

Teacher Voice

It must be resurrected at the beginning of each year. It isn’t a voice for normal conversation. Trust my friend, her husband often told her to talk quieter after she got home from school.

I had to find mine today for 7th period. I have 61 students in that one class. That’s right, sixty-one. Crazy, huh? Even Yvonne was surprised when I told her. I told the class that is 2 separate classes in America. Phew. I had to tell myself not to think about it or it might have freaked me out while I was standing in front of all those curious eyes.

This class was the first time I’ve used my teacher voice. I should probably use it in other classes (guilty smile). I was told to speak up so I did, but it felt like I was shouting. A moment later I had slipped into my “teacher voice” and was near the same volume level but did not feel like I was shouting. I chuckled when I realized it afterward.

MISSING CLASS
I went to my 5th period class after lunch today and no one was in the room. Odd. I heard the bell ring to indicate the start of class. Luckily a native teacher I know walked by and I asked her what was going on. It was a first year class and she informed me they were out practicing their marching. She couldn’t say when they would be done (seems to be a normal thing). She did help me find a seat in a teacher’s office nearby. That was nice. Instead of standing in the heat, I was sitting in an air-conditioned room.

And I sat there for quite some time. About 25 minutes. Then I walked around the classroom outside. Still no sign of the students and only 10 more minutes left of class. Safe to go back to my office, right? I did just that (a bit of the walk since it’s on the other side of campus). And I asked the intern Sarah if it was okay that I walked away from my empty classroom. She wasn’t sure. I waffled in indecision – return to class or stay in the office? It looked like some people were going back to classrooms. By the time I was done waffling (what a cool word!), there were only 5 minutes left in class. It would take me about that much time to walk to the building.

So I stayed in the office. It was quite an experience. My class is missing! Ah! I’ve lost an entire group of first year students! Not really. And the homeroom teacher should have informed me of the schedule interruption. Ah well. Not a huge deal. I just hope it isn’t another class of 61. Yikes.

TEACHER = STUDENT
I have someone to teach me Chinese!! Yeah. She is another teacher at the school, and she helps coach the volleyball team. We met for the first time tonight. 1 hour of me practicing strange sounds and looking at lines on paper that will soon (hopefully) look like characters and connect to sounds in my brain. We’ll see! I know a few more words and can say the 37 letters of the Chinese alphabet. Of course that is only to help people learn. I wouldn’t see them in any books or newspapers.

My teacher laughed at how I use my entire body to speak Chinese. If I do the 3rd tone (rise-fall-rise) then I usually move my neck and head in a scoop shape. If I do the 2nd tone (small fall-rise) I often raise my eyebrow. And if I do the 4th tone (fall) I often move my head down in a short jerk.

I thought it was a good lesson overall. She would write characters and I would try to write English letters so I know how to say them later, when she isn’t around. It’s hard to write out the sounds you make!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS
To be continued…

Perspective

Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. I’ve heard that said, but usually jokingly. I’ve also heard that you can learn a lot about a country and its people by living there. And now I’ve come to see that is true.

For example, I know the Taiwanese would rather ride their scooter to the Family Mart instead of making the 7-minute walk. Why is that? I’m not really sure. I know they don’t like to be exposed to the sun. This results in people carrying around umbrellas when there isn’t a single rain cloud in sight, when the sky is a beautiful light blue.

And now that I’m here experiencing these things first hand, it is also a source of laughter :) It’s hard to not laugh. I was raised with certain beliefs and ideas. Then I find out some people are raised feeling the opposite. Light skin preferred or dark skin? Hide from the natural sun or pay for artificial sun.

Am I sounding professor-ish or what?! The thing that got me started on this train of thought was CNN. It’s their entire fault! They say news happens everywhere. And wherever it happens, “CNN is there.” Anyway, I’ve been watching CNN lately (since it is one of the few channels on my TV in English :) and have discovered a new interest in the current Presidential campaigns.

That isn’t a bad thing at all. But it is interesting to me that it has taken so long. I’ve been able to vote for a few years now. Now I find it fascinating to listen to the speeches and look at the candidates. Maybe it is the historical significance of this race; or maybe it is because I am voting absentee while living in another country.

I’m not quite sure. I only know I am very curious about what is being said. I do think it is sad how the candidates attack each other. Why is that necessary?

Okay, back to happy things (hope I didn’t scare you too much with my philosophical thinking). School is going well. I’ve survived 3 days. They have been interesting since the first week is like one long first day. That’s the best comparison I can make. Everything is being settled still. And you don’t meet all your classes on one day. Some you don’t see until Friday! I have 2 of those. I only see them once a week and it’s on Friday.

I was able to experience an extremely interesting thing that is commonplace in Taiwanese schools. It was a welcome assembly. But it is so different from the ones in America. They came in their homeroom classes. And they marched partway around the school until they were on the field. There they stopped, still formed in classes. And there was a band playing military-like music. All very fascinating.

I counted 18 classes for the first year students. And that is just the comprehensive high school. There is still the vocational school. Those classes weren’t numbered and I lost count. Here are a few pictures. I took some video but missed the moment when the students responded. Makes me feel like I’m in a military camp! And they nearly filled up the field. I don’t think all the 2nd year classes were there, and none of the 3rd year ones were. I don’t think they could have a gathering for the entire student body. There are too many of them! Somewhere near 10,000.

P.S. The start-of-school celebration took place during first period. Yvonne came in and told us first period was postponed and possibly cancelled. It just depended how long the ceremony/celebration took. I think it took the entire 50 minutes. I just know we didn’t have first period. Not that I’m complaining!
See the dragon there? They were dancing a bit but I missed it.

The beginning of the line up - not many students on the field.
Entrance of one class. Looks like class 16, first year students. The man in the blue shirt is the homeroom teacher.
Yvonne explained these students are chosen and help maintain the order of other students. They help in the morning as the buses come in and students arrive at school.
The field once all the students have arrived. See all those white shirts and black heads?! And it goes on in both directions. My lens isn't wide enough.
This might give you a better idea. The group of students still goes on in both directions. They are behind the trees on both edges of the picture.

First Day Picture

I nearly forgot this! I was IMing my mom this morning while working, well sort of working. Talking to her distracted me. She reminded me to take pictures of my first day of school. We always did that when I was a kid. It made me laugh when my mom suggested it. So I asked Sarah to take a picture. Enjoy!

P.S. Stupid hot country! I always have a shiny forehead in my pictures. It's lame.

Survival

Ha ha. I survived my first day! It's very different from what I imagine a first day in the U.S. would be like. I didn't think it was bad, but it had the potential.

First of all, I couldn't clock in. I walked down to the clock in place twice. It just wasn't cooperating. I thought "Man, I should have tested this earlier!" But that wouldn't really work. I'd just confuse the personnel office if I clocked in. And it would probably confuse them even more if I clocked in then clocked out immediately.

So I came back the 2nd time and told Yvonne it still wouldn't work. She got up and took my badge. She warned me if it worked when she did it then I would owe her. Bet you can guess what happened! Yeah, it worked right away. So lame. But I was smart enough to follow her and see what she did. She simply put it against the pad. I'm justified in my trouble because it says "contact-LESS" right on it. It lied to me!

At least I got a chuckle out of Yvonne. And it made me laugh outright. What a way to start my first day!

The morning was mellow. No classes since students were meeting with their homeroom teachers and getting everything set up. Classroom management and all that. So I was in the office getting ready. Time went by pretty fast. I was surprised when Yvonne said let's get lunch. Okay, I wasn't since I was checking the clock and my stomach was hinting that such a break was necessary. Maybe it would be more accurate to say I was surprised I hadn't gotten tons done. I arrived at 7:30!

I think I'm rambling a bit. I did give myself a basic outline of what I would do with my 2 afternoon classes. Good thing too. Yvonne made me late for my class! We didn't leave the lunch place until 1:00 pm. Class starts at 1:05 pm.

And here comes another funny incident on my first day. Wrong location! Yvonne has changed our first week schedule SO many times. I've lost count. And I checked with her just before I left for the classroom. I find the classroom (although I hadn't scoped it out before today like my mom suggested) and walk in confidently. The students are eating cake and there is a Chinese teacher. Uh. . . Then another Chinese teacher comes in and tells me the class will be held in one of the language labs and she'll bring her class down.

So I walk back to the office to get the key and ask someone for help. I was pretty sure Yvonne was in her own class so I wasn't sure who I would ask. I saw Sarah (the intern) as I walked back and she confirmed Yvonne was not in the office. I walked in and stopped at Steve's desk. When he looked at me I said, "I don't know where I'm supposed to be!" He decided it was the old language lab (versus the new one) and had Chuck give me the key. Around 10 minutes later I got to the room (with Sarah's help) and found the students standing outside. Oops!

I opened the door and it was time to start. We barely had 30 minutes and they had to take a writing test in that amount of time. So not much happened. Luckily I knew 2 of the students from observing last week. They helped me turn on the air conditioners :)

The next class started only 5 minutes after the first, but I had to return to the office. I wanted to make sure I was going to the right place! I gave Yvonne a hard time and triple checked the location of my class. Off I went! It was similar to the previous class. I gave them the writing test (for placing them in their classes). But we had nearly 20 minutes left. I told them about myself and ran out of things to say. Then I had each of them introduce themselves (or is it theirselves??). That filled the time and gave them a chance to speak English.

*Sigh* It's over. I worked in the office during the last class. I normally have another class but it was cancelled today. The school had to train the students in loading the buses. Imagine trying to get 10,000 students out of school, on buses, and home! Yikes. Plus a bunch of them are 1st year students that don't know the normal routine.

It's after 4:30 and I'm technically done. But I'm not actually. Oh here's another funny thing - I gave Yvonne my writing tests and asked who grades them. She made a funny face and told me to guess. I said myself and her and then went back to myself. I was right on both. 2 teachers grade each students' test. So now I have 48 writing samples to grade! And that is just from the 2nd class. Luckily the first one was smaller, only 25 students.

Oh yeah. This is funny too. First, I've now met all the teachers in the office. One is a guy named AJ who arrived here on Thursday. I think he's brave, on the verge of crazy. His only teaching experience is his mission. And he doesn't speak Chinese. And he had never travelled internationally. Oh and he didn't really know what he was going to do. Wow. At least I knew what I would do before I decided to come. And I have 4 years of college training.

So there is also a guy named Andy who just got back from Australia. He's Taiwanese and speaks Chinese. The 4th and final teacher is named Mark. He has lived here for 11 years. His wife is Taiwanese (I think) and he has 2 kids. He speaks excellent Chinese according to Yvonne (although I was under the impression that he didn't know any. Odd).

Back to the funny thing. Andy came in from his class and said they didn't get finished with introductions. He said he had 61 kids. AJ and I had shocked looks on our face but Yvonne said "You're lucky!" Funny, eh?

I'm tired and should be working on some lessons for tomorrow. I have my listening and speaking class. They are 2nd year students so no cancellations and they already know the routines. Oh and it is 2 hours together. Woo hoo!

Thanks to everyone who supports me. Love to all.

It's Really Happening

School is starting! It almost seems I thought it would never come. But it has. I received my schedule today. They do it week by week, not day by day. Mondays are the worst as I have 6 classes to teach (and they're all different). I'm nervous, but things will work out okay. I would be nervous even if I was starting teaching back home.

I'm teaching three different types of classes: Listening & Speaking; Writing; and Conversation. And then I have different levels in those groups. L & S meets 4 hours per week, Writing meets 2 hours per week and Conversation only 1 hour per week. The conversation classes are for all students in the comprehensive high school (versus vocational school). The other 2 classes are for students only in the English Honor Program. Confused? I don't fully understand it all either; don't worry.

Another Letdown

I am sad. I tried Doritos awhile back and they just didn’t meet the standard. Not enough cheese!! And now I’ve experienced the same thing with Cheetos. Boo hoo. They were made in Taiwan I believe. The package says PepsiCo Taiwan R.O.C. What a bummer! Things just aren’t the same as back home.

Not like I could really expect them to be. I was just hoping for a few similar foods. Good thing my stomach has cooperated so well – I haven’t had any problems adjusting to the food. A blessing.

So Scott’s oldest daughter Grace is going to America next week. She is in shock. I sort of am too. It happened really fast. She’ll live in a city near Seattle with her Grandma. I think she struggled in school here so hopefully this will work out for her. It is just sudden. She has to get all packed in a week and then she’ll get there just before school starts. Or maybe after it has started. Wow. I’m impressed. Don’t think I could have done that at such a young age (she’ll be 15 on Sep. 13).

Bus to Fongshan

Rebecca and I started a list of things I have to do before I leave the country. And today we made plans to do one of those things. They wanted to take me to Tom’s World. Becca and Michelle were very excited. But we had a few mishaps.

First, the one close to us is no longer a Tom’s World. (Oh, Tom’s World is an arcade with games, like Nickel Cade.) So we decide to ride the bus into the nearest city (Fongshan), but find out we had missed the bus by 20 minutes and the next one was in 2 hours. Bummer! The girls had a solution – go back to my apartment to eat cereal and watch TV. I think I’ll be going through a lot more cereal now that they know I’m willing to share. They’ve said they are content to just eat cereal all day. It makes me chuckle.

It worked out nicely. We made 2 stops at stores to stock up on supplies then had a little cereal and Oreo party while watching the end of Twister. We made sure to head to the bus stop early :) And we didn’t have any problems. We (well the girls) did have to field questions about me. The worker at Family Mart asked Michelle if I was her mother or a teacher. Her mother?! I don’t look that old! Strange. Then some old man walked up and starting asking questions about me. I just laugh – it is becoming normal.

We had no problems once we got on the bus. I was a bit apprehensive since Michelle tends to get lost when using the public bus system. Okay, she only did it one time. But still I made Becca check that it was taking us to the right place. The bus dropped us off and we backtracked to Tom’s World. (Orchestra music, please) It was fun. I spent $200 NT on tokens and I am the king of air hockey. I beat Michelle, then Becca, and then Michelle another 3 or 4 times. She didn’t catch on to putting the puck flat on the table before hitting it. It went flying off so many times. Once it got me square in the forehead. It was hilarious, but a bit painful.

I hit the jackpot on one game without realizing it. I just knew that tickets kept coming out of the machine! And the first 2 games I tried had issues. The bowling one didn’t give me any tickets although I earned them. And the baseball game didn’t spit out the balls properly. We also drove race cars; and one of the racing games had chairs that moved and vibrated. That was weird. Again they answered more questions about me. And Michelle said I had 2 male workers hooked. Whatever! I didn’t ask, nor do I want that to happen.

Our next stop was A+1. A store sort of like Wal-Mart in that it has nearly everything. So nice to know they have those! Up til now I thought you had to go to a bunch of small shops to get all you need. And I guess I still do since this shop is a 20-min. bus ride away. Bummer. We were goofing off and laughing when suddenly Becca mentioned the bus. We realized we hadn’t checked the schedule for a bus going back home. Uh oh! We rushed Michelle through the checkout and ran to the bus stop. We were worried it was only every 2 hours. It was 5:15 already and I was almost certain we had missed the bus and would have to wait until 7:15.

Luckily, we saw the bus when we were running up. But both Becca and I stopped running. We didn’t want to go home yet! Missing the bus was a great reason to get home later :) So we “missed” that bus. But it wasn’t a huge deal – they had buses going every 20 minutes. Back to shopping.

And we did plenty of that! I found some cute black flats. We visited a candy store (another thing on our list) and ended up back at A+1. This time I did some shopping. Michelle did more too. Becca, the queen of shopping, didn’t bring any money because she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist. Good thing Michelle was willing to give her ‘play’ money at Tom’s World. Oh, we also stopped in at McDonald’s. I had some French fries. And gave some to Becca. She ruins them by dipping them in a yucky mixture – 4 packets of pepper and 1 packet of ketchup. I tried one and it was gross.

We just had a bunch of fun and time slipped away from us. Suddenly it was 6:50 and we needed to be heading home! Michelle told me they eat dinner at 7:05 (which I think was inaccurate information). So now we were going to be late, and not because of the bus! We made our purchases and headed back to the bus stop where we purchased tickets for the 7:15 bus. KFC was conveniently located next door and they had a dessert I was told I had to try. So we stopped in and I got one. As we sat down and started talking about grabbing dinner at Pizza Hut, the bus pulled up. Luckily Michelle noticed it. We ended up running for the bus after all :) But we made it on in one piece, and began to stew about what awaited us at home.

Becca called her mom and we discovered she was angry. Very angry. Becca has never heard her yell like that. Great! We went out and had an awesome adventure but upset a very important person – the mother. She was mostly mad because we went off to Fongshan without telling her. She thought we were at the arcade near our homes. Uh oh. Becca was quite worried and our trip home was marred as she continually asked, “What are we going to do?”

I’m happy to report things turned out all right. They were greeted by Dad not Mom when they returned home (I’m sure they breathed an internal sigh of relief). He gave them a slight punishment but was happy to hear we had a good time. Oops! We have learned our lesson. Always tell mom where you are going!

It really was a great day. I feel bad about keeping them for 6 hours. Becca said she has never spent that much time on an outing unless she was on a trip. Woo hoo. There is always a time for “firsts”. And now I am tired and shall retire for the night. Michelle made me wake up at 5:15 this morning and play b-ball with her. Yes it was fun, but it was early. And I’ve agreed to go again tomorrow. I’m tired just thinking about it.

Fongshan Pictures

We made it! This is the 2nd picture - I asked for more attitude. Basic smiles weren't good enough.
Posing with Tom. Michelle was unaware a picture was being taken. This face makes me laugh. I've seen her make it often when she is disgusted or annoyed.

Michelle driving a race car.

It's harder than it looks!

Becca & Michelle playing a game.

You have to throw the balls into the pig's mouth. It's hard to grab the balls since they are floating in the air.

We chose the glasses for each other. And I made her do the classic "Taiwanese" picture pose = peace sign.

Creatures of the Night

Friends are great, aren’t they? I went on another adventure on Saturday :) It was fun, and I saw more of this beautiful country. Plus I was able to curb a tiny bit of my curiosity. And I got to touch cool things! Okay, you probably want details.

An employee from the school (Emily said he is an important person) named Peter wanted to help me explore the area. I first met him on that Sat. outing to Sitou. So he and his wife picked me up at 11 a.m. along with a student. Off we went to lunch. Claire (his wife) was impressed that I was willing to try things. But she is nice and tells me what things are before I taste them. Her English is very good.

After lunch, we drove to a museum (I forget what it was for). It was merely the meeting place. We got on a bus and off we went! Let’s see . . . our first stop (I really shouldn’t wait so long to record my adventures!!) Hm, sorry. No play-by-play available for this event. My brain just can’t recall all the specific details. I’ll give highlights.

The focus of the trip was ecology (it took Claire awhile to get the pronunciation down). We had an expert-in-his-field professor as our “tour guide”. We went to a cultural park and made houses out of paper. They are models of traditional old houses. They had a display showing the old village. At least I think that was the idea. Anyway, the models were tricky and they were only for children! Claire & I were the first to finish ours – 2 adults. And it took some effort. We were quite proud.

The first insect/bug of the trip: a tree frog. The professor pulled it out of his bag. It was so cool! I stared at it for some time. I could have looked at it most of the day and been satisfied. Don’t you just get caught up in the movement of animals? This frog was impressive. It could jump from one side of its plastic container directly to the other side (kiddie corner). Way cool! It was a translucent light green color. Just fascinating. Even thinking about it gets me excited.

Back to the highlights. Okay, I’ll just tell you the best part straight out. I got to hold a bunch of bug/insects! It was AWESOME. I held a lizard, a tree frog, a stick insect, and a caterpillar. Oh yeah! (sung as I do a little dance)

We traveled to some place, seemed to be in mountains. We had a break and ate dinner (finally something close to a sandwich!! My first in this country) as the sun set. Then we set out to find bugs. Oooh. So, the professor caught the lizard (way impressive). I don’t know how he even saw it! And while he was talking (in Chinese, logically) I held my hand out and said softly “Can I hold it?” He caught my message and put it in my hand. It was just so cool! Words can’t describe it. I guess I was kind of feeling like a little kid (funny how that description fits me so often).

And the stick insect was nifty. It totally looked like a stick! The tree frog was fabulous. The professor caught it and once I went to hold it, it had escaped back to the trees. So Peter’s friend (who invited us on the trip) went and caught it again. All because I wanted to hold it – very nice guy. It was very little and just cool. It poked its little head between my fingers and thumb and just looked at us. Ha ha. I was happy/content/excited.

The caterpillar I held on the way back (we took a little walk down a dirt road). We passed a spot with a bunch of caterpillars and I really enjoyed looking at them. Then later down the path I decided I wanted to hold one. But I couldn’t find any! Luckily, we turned around and passed the caterpillar-dense area again. So I took one off its leaf perch (it was sticky and unwilling) and plopped it on my hand. Here’s something that I find hilarious, but is gross – it used me as its bathroom! HA HA HA! How many people can say that?! So there.

I looked down and saw a small yellow drop of liquid as the caterpillar inched forward. Then I saw a small brown speck. It was so funny I wasn’t too bothered. And it felt so cool as it crawled along my hand. It tickled actually. I should have taken a picture of the caterpillar’s waste – it was so itty bitty!

And that is pretty much it. I got back to my apartment about 12. The outer doors were locked and I didn’t want to wait around for the guard to come back to his post. So I walked under the barricade and down into the parking garage. Then I hopped into the elevator and pushed 8. As the doors opened on the 8th floor, I thought this isn’t right. Duh! There are 3 different elevators in the building. So I went back down and got out at the 1st floor and walked to the correct elevators. Ha ha! So much for sneaking in quickly. Oh and the guard got out of the elevator as I got in. (I’ve asked to have a key made so I can unlock the doors. They rarely lock it but that is the 2nd time I’ve been locked out.)

I think that is about it. I had an awesome time playing with creatures of the night. And I came away with only two mosquito bites. Yeah! I did have long pants and a long shirt on . . . that was hot during the day.

Oh my, forgot to mention another cool part of the trip. They set up a white sheet by a special light that attracts bugs. After our walk, we went to that. MAN! I’ve never seen so many bugs (er, insects)! It was cool. And I got up close and personal as I took pictures. I did a bit of convulsing afterward since I felt like I still had things crawling on me. It was so neat though! All these things hanging out on this white sheet. And we could take pictures and hold them. *sigh* It was very enjoyable :)

Claire & I proudly display our finised house.
A close-up of the house. Not bad, eh?

Peter and the student working on a house. The student didn't have an English name so they told me to call him Juan. He is from Malaysia and has a big family - 7 kids!
Part of the paper model town.

Claire & I with the professor who lead the group. He was a great photographer and gave me a small album of photos. It's nice to be a stranger sometimes - I get gifts.
The tree frog I played with after making my paper model.

Funny thing about this picture - I was totally happy. I just didn't get a smile on my face before the shutter clicked. It's even funnier that I was the photographer! Ha ha. Let's say I was thinking deeply about the beautiful scenery. Ok?
I caught this chipmunk or squirrel as it dashed across the phone wires and sign. It looks like it is flying in this picture! Sweet.
The sheet with all the bugs. COOL

The back side of the sheet. There were so many bugs!

A small section of the sheet.

The special lamp that attracted the bugs. I'm thinking I should buy one when I get back to the U.S.
Check out the bug on the right. It totally looks like a leaf! How nifty is that?!

Me holding 2 tree frogs on the bus. Before we left, all the bugs were released (not inside the bus though).

PengHu Videos

My roommate Yvonne got some good videos from our PengHu trip. And they are already loaded on her blog so click here and check out the first 6 or so. Then click here for one last video.

Enjoy!! (The first link has me eating pig's blood - the red square and intestine - the chewy thing.)