Settling In

We have now been in Taiwan for over a month.  We got to experience a typhoon day on Monday as there was a Typhoon warning and schools have to close even if it's not a direct hit.  It was a nice day off, but we don't get paid so I would have rather worked.  It barely even rained here, so I don't know why the schools were even closed.

Haven't been doing too much lately.  Besides our one night out on the town with friends last weekend, our days have been kind of lazy.  Last week though, we went to the Taipei zoo.  It was fun and we took a bunch of pictures.  We then went up a gondola to the top of a mountain and ate dinner there in the town.  There were breathtaking views over looking the city.  We were lucky as we got to see the view in daylight, and then come back down on the gondola in the evening.

They told us in training that our first month here would be filled with excitement; discovering and living in a completely new place.  They then warned that everyone would eventually come down from that high and experience a type of low.  I am a few days passed the one month point and I am feeling a bit down.  Nothing in particular, just feeling in a bit of a rut.  It's hard knowing that we won't have much of a vacation til November at the earliest.  Mark and I both have to work Saturdays for the next few months to recruit new students to our new schools.  Having one day off a week does not leave a lot of time for venturing out of the city.  Money is another factor.  I have been living off of my saved money for almost two months now, so my funds are getting pretty low.  I get paid next week, but it only going to be two weeks worth of pay, and since we get paid monthly, that two weeks worth of pay has to last me another 4 weeks.  After paying rent and bills, my check will be half gone, leaving me with very little money to live off of until October.  Another reason why a weekend vacation might not be in the cards for awhile.  I know I came here to work, but working 6 days a week and only accumulating 22 hours a week is not what I had in mind.  If I am stuck in my area of the city, I would at least like to be working more, and making more money!  Enough of the depressing talk.  I know I have to just get over it and get through these first non-ideal months and be patient and eventually things will look up!

Another amusing/annoying Taiwanese thing is that people often stare.  I don't think you can ever get used to this.  And no they aren't staring at you because you are having a good hair day, they are staring at your because you are foreign.  It's a bit awkward at times, and on a bad day you want to yell WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!  It's really weird, but I guess it's something that comes with being one of very few white people in a continent of Asians.

This weekend, we are planning on going to Keelung, a city outside of Taipei on the North East coast which is close to the Ocean.  We have a friend from training that has invited us (we also kind of invited ourselves) to stay with him as he has a spare bed.  We will head up Saturday after finishing work, spend the night and enjoy the beach on Sunday before heading home.  I need these mini vacation escapes from the city and a change of scenery, even if it's only for a night!

Cut off from the world!

Finally got internet at our apartment.  Its been a long week without any connection to friends and family!

We are finally all moved into our apartment now.  Bought a bed, sheets, some dishes and necessities and are feeling more at home everyday.  Since we moved out of the training hotel, we have been busy adjusting to our new jobs teaching.  Mark and I began last Friday observing other teachers, and then on Monday we began teaching our own classes.  We are working at different schools but are teaching the same levels.  We both have kindergarten in the mornings and then a two hour class of grade 1s in the afternoons.  Mark doesn't get home til 7:30 every night as his class starts later than mine, so by the time he gets home and we get some dinner, it is pretty much time for bed!  So, this week has been kind of boring, but we are settled and starting to adjust.

 Life here is good.  We haven't had much spare time to go exploring, we still have lots of our neighbourhood to explore in fact.  For the next few weeks we will be working Saturdays for open houses trying to recruit new students to our schools.  So having one day off a week does not give much time to get out of the city.  This Sunday we might try to go to this huge waterpark not too far from where we live. Although it's not too far from here, it is still a challenge to find.  Things have been a bit difficult with the language barrier.  Its difficult for me to even order lunch as I cannot read the menu or communicate with the person serving or cooking it.  I tend to go to places that have pictures or point to something they are serving someone else.  At times I wish I could just scream out what I want to eat and be able to actually get it, but I'm not in Kansas anymore so I guess I have to get used to it.  It's not even the food that I'm missing back home; its the ability to order what I want.  Oh well, enough complaining.

On a brighter note, I've had the privilege of experiencing a Taiwanese doctor's office this week.  For 5 days straight I could not hold any food in my body, it was coming out in liquid form, giving me sharp pains in my stomach.  When I had to run out of my class in the middle of teaching to go to the bathroom two days in a row, I figured it was probably time to see a doctor. Luckily, there was a clinic right outside of my school and my (male) teaching assistant accompanied me to translate.  Kind of an awkward situation when you have to tell your male co-worker that you have not had a solid poop in 5 days and have had diarrhea multiple times a day - in order for him to tell the doctor what's wrong with you lol.  Oddly I wasn't embarrassed at all haha.  The doctor said I had a stomach infection, so I got some meds (which again had to be translated to me about when to take them, etc), not too sure what they are, but 24 hours later I am feeling back to normal.

Since we are on the poop topic, I must add in another Taiwanese perk.  The squat toilet (toilet on the ground, no seat or bowl) and I first met on my way out of the Taipei airport.  I had some what of an anxiety attack.  I knew that I would encounter these in my life abroad, but I did not expect to see it so soon.  So, without further ado I went to the washroom and to my surprise, I survived.  The squat toilets seem to be preferred when there is an option for Taiwanese people, perhaps because it is more sanitary as your bum doesn't touch anything.  But I always head to the toilet bowl if there is one available, never heard anyone dying of toilet seat disease.  My mom would not make it in this country.  When you are having a stomach attack and the only thing available is a hole in the ground, well that's what you take.  Oh and you don't flush toilet paper here.  Another thing hard to get used to. 

When I am fully back to health, Mark and I will venture out and meet up with friends from our training group, probably next weekend.  Tonight, we will explore another area of our neighbourhood and have our daily adventure of finding dinner.  Some of the food is SO WEIRD.  We eat a lot of "mystery food".  More stories to come!

Ps:  Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, I can't be bothered to proof read.  Besides I'm a teacher, my spelling/grammar is perfect! :) NOTTT

First Training Week

Since my last post, we have finally started training.  There is about 55 teachers in total, coming from the U.S., England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.  Oh, and of course Canada.  It has been an intense four days so far, and every night we seem to come back to the hotel, head out to eat then come back and crash.  It is mentally exhausting having 8-9 hours of repetitive demos that are meant to be taught to kindergartens.  Let's just say, we have spent a lot of hours singing, chanting, dancing, doing actions and repeating letters, numbers and phonetics in the past 4 days.  Mark and I are truly finding our inner 3 year old. 

On Monday we found out that we will both be teaching kindergarten this year.  It seems like an amazing age to teach.  At my branch, there is only one kindergarten class, which I will be teaching in the mornings, and then will be teaching a grade 1 ESL (English as a second language) class in the afternoons.  Mark and I definitely lucked out.  We thought that since we applied late and had no choice of where we would be placed, that we would get the worst contracts.  We ended up getting the best.  Most teachers do a split shift day, teaching kindergarten in the morning, and then might have a class from 7:00 to 9:00pm later that day.  We are most likely going to be teaching during the day.  Oh, and we will probably have Saturdays off as well, another thing we did not expect.  We are working in an area in Taipei.  It is just west of the Taipei city center, and is considered Taipei County, although the city never actually ends, the name just changes.  Weird, I know.  You expect certain areas to be spread out with distinction between them, but here it is just one big populous area split into different counties and names.  We are going to look at apartments on Saturday with one of our branch managers.  Hopefully we can find something.  It will be a bit more expensive since we are still in the city, which kind of sucks, but being in the city allows for access to everything.  Buses, friends from our training, and the airport to name a few. 

Food has been a very interesting experience in itself.  Most nights, Mark and I wander off on a walk and try to find something that may interest us.  Most nights we end up ordering mystery dishes, as we think we know what we are getting but then it arrives and it is totally not what we thought it would be.  So then we just fill up on free white rice and end up full anyways.  I do not know how this culture of people aren't fat, because everything is either fried, or covered in oil!  The food is good though, you just have to find the right thing, so most nights its hit or miss.  Luckily, our hotel provides breakfast (I usually eat eggs and toast), and Hess provides ordered lunch which has been pretty decent.  Mark and I sometimes order the vegetarian option because we are just craving vegetables!  Oh, and we tried stinky tofu yesterday.  Stinky tofu is a famous Taiwanese food that every foreigner has to try.  So we did, and it was absolutely awful.  Think of the stinkiest feet on a sweltering hot day, deep fry it, and then eat it.  That's pretty much what it tastes like, and yet every second person at the market we were at was eating it.  Barf.  Glad to say I tried it, but it won't happen again.

Anyways, the Hess trainers have been absolutely amazing.  Although it is mind numbing at times, the trainers (who have taught for years) are fantastic and teach us as though they are teaching kindergartens.  They are so full of energy for every minute of the day.  I read a lot of bad reviews about working for this company, but so far I am blown away at how great they are and how great their philosophies of teaching are.  I think it's going to be a great year.  A kindergarten class came into our class today and sang some songs, etc and it was the cutest thing ever.  I just wanted to pack them all in my suitcase and take them home! So, I can imagine how attached I will get to my class in the months to come.

Tomorrow is Friday, our final day before a much deserved day off.  I think most of us will be heading out tomorrow night for a night on the town!  Missing the people at home lots!  But, Taiwan is definitely starting to feel like home.

Down to Business

Finally arrived in Taipei after a grueling 26 hour journey.  Our landing in Hong Kong was interesting to say the least.  As we were coming in, all you could see is water from the window, and the plane was quite turbulent.  I decided to not look out the window anymore as I was getting quite nervous, when the plane shot back up in the sky.  Not a good feeling when you are 100 meters from the runway and you are heading back from where you came from.  I guess there was a storm over the runway and the pilot didn't think it was safe to land at that time, so he tried again, and was successful! And boy was I happy to be on land!  Once we arrived in Taipei, I felt like a zombie trying to get through customs and get to our hotel.  But we made it.

The first weekend here has been quite fun, and extremely hot.  It's like the temperature of hot yoga at all times.  You stand, you sweat.  You move, you sweat.  You sit, you sweat.  Air conditioned breaks are needed throughout the day.  Friday we did a city tour, had lunch and then went for our medicals with the rest of the Hess teachers.  Met a lot of great people, and went for drinks with them later on.  Saturday we spent in DanShui, an area outside of Taipei where the river and ocean meets.  Very cute place, with a boardwalk on the river with tons of food concessions and games, etc.  Mark and I were both sleeping by 7:00 that night.  I guess the jetlag wasn't gone yet.  Sunday we went to the Taipei 101, which is the second tallest building in the world.  Great views.  We stayed awake til 9:00pm! Finally starting to adjust to the time!

Today, our 9 day training begins! We find out where we will be located today! :)