Teaching, Moon Festival and Cigu

Wow! This week has flown by. Monday started my days of teaching every day. I am no longer going to recount what happened every day. Instead, I will try to hit the high points of each week along with the funny stories.

First of all I teach 18 classes a week including an English Conversation Club that meets once every two weeks. I have classes of 7^th, 8^th, 10^th and 11^th Taiwanese students. Taiwanese schools are very different so I will give the short list of how Taiwanese schools are the same as American schools. The biggest similarity is that children are the same all over the world. They are intensely interested in anything that is strange or different. There are trouble makers, the loud students who keep the teacher on her toes, and the quiet students, the ones that you have to practically force to speak in front of everyone else.

Here are some ways they are different. First of all, at least at my school, the teachers don’t all have classrooms. The students are in classrooms that they stay in all day and the teachers travel to them. I have a cubicle in an office and this is where I spend any time I am not teaching. The students also do not have an adult with them at all times. They seem to be fairly well behaved and can be in rooms alone without constant supervision. This is very nice and SO different from America. Each class is around 45 minutes long. As with every group of students, there are different levels of ability. Some students speak very good English and some struggle. Most students whose parents have any kind of money go to Cram Schools at night. They have very little time for extracurricular activities. In fact, most parents discourage sports or other activities because they focus on school. Good education gets them into a good university and a good university degree gets them a good job and they make money, which is their view of success. They do have PE classes which are comprised of students who are not as academically advanced or are very good at sports. These students have classes in the morning and practice their sport in the afternoon. The school sports are Archery, Rowing, Canoeing, and girls Softball. Another awesome way they are different is that the students are responsible for the clean-up of the school. Every morning and afternoon, they sweep, mop, pick up trash, etc… They also come to the teacher before class and ask what they need for the next class – a projector, TV, etc… That way it is all set up in the room when you get there.

Every day this week, I have basically done an introduction day. I made a short video that introduced myself, my family, my friends, where I am from and some of my interests. After that I took questions. Some of these kids have had some interesting questions. Most of the typical ones include: how old are you, do you have a boyfriend, do you like Taiwan, what food do you like… They are so respectful though and are genuinely interested in me. I feel kind of like a rock star. Any time I am walking around on campus, they wave at me and yell “Hello teacher!” They get a really big kick out of saying hello as many times as they can.  After a time of questions, I teach them how to introduce themselves and then they introduce themselves and tell me something they like to do.

“Hello. My name is _____ and I like to ______.”

If we still have time, we then played a game of Shark hangman with their vocabulary words. It is quite fun when they don’t do well and the shark has to bite the man’s leg off. They get a big kick when I use red chalk to make him bleed.

Wednesday I baked two batches of cookies! I made peanut butter and chocolate chip. Cooking is something I had really missed, so it was fun to be able to pull that off. I only burned the first batch, and that was only because I wasn’t sure about the oven temperature. The instructions are in Chinese and the oven uses Celcius, so it was a lot of guesswork.

I also had my first Chinese lesson this week. I basically learned the four/five tones that the Chinese language uses. The way you say a word can change the meaning of the word. I have a lot of trouble with the fourth tone which goes from high to low… grr… but overall I think the lesson went well. I learned a few words and can’t wait to learn some more. I did say a few words of Chinese to my classes and they laughed at me… oh well…

Saturday Joy and her family came to see me! I was so excited to see her. Joy and I clicked pretty much immediately at orientation. Her parents livein Chaiyi which is only about an hour car ride from Tainan. And Tainan has a brand new… COSTCO! So her parents wanted to come to Costco. They came and picked me up at my dorm and then we went to eat. We ate at this place called Little Chen’s Spring Rolls. It was really really good. It was nice to finally be introduced to some of the food that Tainan is famous for. Even though I have been here for a month, I have been pretty much left on my own when it comes to food. No one has really introduced me to new restaurants and such. I would just go alone, but I don’t read Chinese and most places don’t have English menus, so it is more trouble than it is worth most of the time. After lunch we went to Costco. Costco is a huge warehouse full of bulk goods. It is always packed full of Taiwanese people and today was no exception. We had a good time though and I got bagels. I am pretty excited about those bagels.

Sunday was church. I went to eat lunch with one of the other foreigners, Evie. Evie’s family moved here almost a year ago and she just graduated from high school. She is from Normal, Illinois. What a great name right? Normal! Anyways, after church and lunch, I went to this mall that she told me about. It was so cool. It wasn’t just like America, but it was pretty close. They even have a Clinique counter… random.  I got some ice cream from the Coldstone Creamery and just explored. It was lots of fun. I found the movie theatre and hopefully I will go to the movies soon! I really want to see One Day with Anne Hathaway!

This weekend was the Moon Festival. It is a time when everyone goes to be with their families. They barbeque together and watch the moon. They also eat Moon cakes. I will admit, I wasn’t very crazy about the texture and flavor of Moon cakes. So we had Monday off. I spent the morning chilling, then rode my scooter to Cigu where there is a salt mine. The salt “mountain” itself was pretty cool, but the museum itself was a bust. I have never been so bored in my life. Note to self: you don’t like museums so don’t go to them.

I am now at Bus-7. I am about to walk down the street and indulge in another Tainan delicacy- some kind of Mango ice cream thing. It is supposed to be delicious and as I really really like Mangos, I am sure I will love it.

I can’t believe that I have been here a full month. God has blessed me beyond belief. I have talked to other Foreign English Teachers that arrived here at the same time as I did and I honestly believe that my transition has been much easier than most of theirs. For one, I was provided a scooter right away which allows me much more freedom as far as transportation goes.

First week of school

Tuesday began my days of teaching… or so I thought. I arrived on Tuesday terrified but ready to get started. Around 9ish, we went to an assembly of all the students. The teacher introduced me, but that is all that was required of me. There have been several large hangups with the scheduling so none of the teachers have schedules. So basically I am required to come to work, but I don’t really have anything to do.

Wednesday I did go with Amanda to two of our classes to introduce myself, but I wasn’t actually supposed to do anything. Also on Wednesday I met Joe, a foreigner at a local university who is from… Dothan, Alabama, for dinner. We went to this place called the Narrow Alley, because you literally get to it through a narrow alley. Apparently, it is a very popular tourist spot. 

Friday there was a meeting between myself and all the Jr. High English teachers. I left the meeting so stressed and confused. They are not very clear with what they want from me. Apparently the last FET (foreign English teacher) before had been in Taiwan for several years so he did not need much help. For one, they expect me to know stuff without being told, but it doesn’t really work that way. I also received most of my books but no one told me specifics of what they want me to teach except Amanda. So I guess we will see what happens. 

By the way if I haven’t mentioned it before, I love my church. It is called Living Water Christian Church. They have a café downstairs called Bus-7 and everything about the church is awesome.

Scooters - Taking my life in my hands

Scooters

Driving a scooter in Taiwanis quite risky. Every time I get on my scooter, I feel like I am possibly about to die. In the country where I live, it isn’t so bad, but in the city it is terrifying. First of all, you need to know that there are traffic laws, but no one really obeys them. Everyone does whatever they want. There are generally eight lanes of traffic with four going each way: two lanes for the cars and two for the scooters. This makes turning left quite difficult as one must cut in front of 2 lanes of cars to turn. If you are at a stoplight, it’s easier. But did I mention the lights change and there are no green arrows. You just have to go and dodge the oncoming cars and scooters. So I make a lot of right hand turns and U-turns. Scooters generally just weave in and out of traffic and around cars. Not only, do they not obey traffic rules, they all pack onto one scooter. It is not unusual to see a family of three or four (including the children, babies and all) on one scooter. Sometimes they bring the dog along.

I also experienced my first time driving in rain on Sunday. People don full length raindresses because the rain is blowing at you. Also… it hurts. When you are going any speed faster than walking the rain stings. One more thing, you don’t want to be anywhere around a car when it hits a puddle. I was definitely right next to a car when it hit a huge puddle and it definitely went all over me like a wave of dirty water. Taiwanis very dirty place and very dusty, so when it rains, the water on the street is VERY dirty.

Typhoons, Travels and Prayer

Tuesday was an amazing day. I went and did the whole school thing for the morning. It is kinda weird, because I am the new person at the school and most of the people there don’t speak my native language fluently. Not to mention the fact that most of the teachers are still on vacation. 

But here’s the fun part. After lunch, I went into the city on my scooter to find the church I want to visit. After about an hour of searching up and down the wrong street, I found it! I spoke with a very nice woman named Susan who told me all about how God is moving in their church and all throughout Taiwan! This church is so in tune with what I was looking for! They are all about spreading the Gospel and discipleship!  

Susan took me and introduced me to young woman, Evangelina, whose parents run a mission training center out of the church. It is so incredible how God answers the prayers of his children! While talking to Susan, I was so happy that I almost cried several times. I had prayed for a church and for godly women to keep me accountable and to be able to fellowship, but I never expected to meet so many and to find them so quickly! There is an English Bible Study on Thursday nights, an English service on Saturday night and English translation on Sunday. So I am very very excited!  

I was supposed to go to Kenting Beach on Thursday with a bunch of the teachers, but Wednesday I wasn’t feeling great. I was feeling kind of nauseous and had an awful headache. Plus I really wanted to go to this Bible study so I decided not to go to the beach on Thursday. Plus, so far very few of the teachers have talked to me and being with a bunch of people who don’t speak to you is very tiring.  

So Thursday I got up and took myself sightseeing! I went and walked on the beach for a while. It was pretty fun! I went to the historical district of Anping. One of the tourist spots is Anping Fort. It was pretty cool. I took lots of pictures. I also went to the Anping Tree House, which is basically a house that has been taken over by trees… roots, branches, everything… It was cool.  

Thursday night I went to Bible Study! It was so much fun and so encouraging! There were only 4 of us there, Kevin, the leader, Lydia, Jerry and I. We studied the Great Commission, really focusing on discipleship and what it means. It was so amazing to get to discuss the Lord with fellow believers, especially such an intense group. 

Friday was the first time all of the teachers were on campus. I had come up with a introduction video in the morning. At 11, we had a group faculty meeting. It was long… and entirely in Chinese. At the end, they had some kind of health presentation where they talked about health issues. Of course I had no idea what they were saying, but the pictures were disgusting. I spent some time after the meeting with one of my co-teachers, Amanda. I still don’t have a schedule because they still haven’t hired some of the teachers for the 7^th grade.

I am very frustrated and anxious about school. Not knowing who I’m going to be with or what I’ll be doing. I have the first week down, but after that I have no clue. It scares me. I had a mini breakdown after I got home from school. That night I went to a prayer service at Living Water. Susan prayed with me and it was so powerful. God totally revealed to her how I was feeling: my fears and frustrations. She prayed for things I hadn’t even said out loud to people yet. One of the things that is getting to me is just being completely alone and not having a physical person here that I can depend on for help.

Saturday I got up and took the High Speed Rail to Taichung to see some of the other teachers that I met at Orientation. It was fun. We walked around the city, ate at a burger joint that James found, and went to the mall. I rode the slow train back to the city which was different. It definitely took longer than the High Speed Rail.

Sunday I got up and it was raining (yay). I drove myself to church in the rain, which was interesting (see end of e-mail). Church was great! They take prayer and worship seriously! I can honestly say I have never been a part of a church that worships this hard, but I love it! And guess what! There's a guy at one of the universities in Tainan that is from near Dothan. And he's a Bama fan... I go across the world and still can't get away from the rivalry! After church, a bunch of us ate at the church sponsored coffee shop, Bus 7.  

I took myself to Carrefour (version of Walmart) and prepared for the typhoon. Got bread, water, fruit and all that jazz… I’m ready

No school on Monday because of the typhoon… and yet… the worst has only been some rain. No wind, nothing. I have spent today working on my video and chilling. Ironing, cleaning, all of that. I would have rather gone to school today because I still don’t have a schedule and I still haven’t met all my co-teachers. SO please please pray for tomorrow. I’m scared to death. It is one thing to go into a new classroom in America. It’s an entirely different game to go into a classroom when no one speaks your language fluently…

It was such a Monday...

Monday

Back to speaking primarily… nothing… I am amazed some days at how little I say. I do talk to myself occasionally. I need a fish or something so I’m not talking just to myself.

I went to work today and there was literally NO ONE there. Not sure why or if there was a meeting I was supposed to be at and wasn’t told about, but I spent the morning working on a PowerPoint and watching/listening to The Glee Project YouTube videos (Go ahead. Hate on me. I don’t care).

I went to my favorite little restaurant for lunch and then to the grocery store. I am beginning to feel very comfortable in my part of the city. I know where to buy things and how to get around. So after a little resting and cleaning, I looked some stuff up on Google Maps, stuffed my larger map in my purse and took off! I was determined to find this church I want to attend on Sunday. Unfortunately, it is in the heart of Tainan City. But I made it! Of course I got turned around a few times, but I never got lost. However, I did receive help from a fellow foreigner who decided that any blonde headed, blue eyed person sitting on the side of the road looking at a map must be list. I repeat, I WAS NOT LOST! I was just trying to decide if I needed to turn right or left. I was 90% sure that I needed to turn left when he pulled up and asked if I needed help. He confirmed that I did indeed need to turn left and then we parted ways. He is the first non Asian I have seen since I have been in Tainan. So I found the road I was looking for, but not the building. I stopped about 2 blocks too early. Maybe I’ll go back one day this week and find the right church. The point was that I made it there and back without getting lost or dying!  Yay!! I am determined to go one or two new places a week. I am finally getting the hang of maps (it’s about time, right?). Yay!!!!

Terrific Time in Taipei!

Friday

Today I got up early, packed my bags, hopped on my scooter and headed to the HSR to go to Taipei!! Melon and I met Phoebe at her house and her sister drove us to the Train Station. We then took a train to the High Speed Rail (HSR) station. It is unbelievable to me that we can get from Tainan to Taipei (about a 4-5 hour drive) in 90 minutes on the HSR! When we got there, I made my way to where I was to meet Alicia and want to talk about a big hug!!! It was so great to see her!

We got me a MRT( kinda like the Subway) card and headed to her house. We ate a quick lunch and then headed to meet Caty Joyce, one of Alicia’s friends. After meeting her, we headed to Carrefore (Wal-Mart on Steroids) to get ingredients to bake cookies for an event that Alicia’s church was having the next day. After buying tons of flour and sugar…etc, we took a taxi back to the church. (We had to! No way were we carrying all that flour and sugar back to the church walking.) We then commenced to baking 400+ cookies. 3 hours later and 410 cookies (give or take a few), we were done! Alicia and I went to this little Indian restaurant and she introduced me to Pakistani food. We had some great conversation and finally took ourselves home! But then!! We went to my very first Taiwanese night market! It was so much fun! We took pictures and got cookies! I bought a headband! It was way too much fun! Very overwhelming though! So many people and so much noise. After a while, we took ourselves home and went to sleep!

Saturday was also a good day! We got up and went SHOPPING! I found a few cute tops which were so cheap by American standards! I love it! We ate Subway for lunch and then went to the Alpha event. Alpha is a 10(?) week program that teaches unbelievers about the Lord. They meet once a week and have dinner and a study (I think). Anyway the event was to raise money for Alpha and to have more people sign up to be in Alpha groups. There was a band (Transitions – attached is a link to their most famous song), games (let by the lovely Alicia), a bake sale and other various things for sale. It was fun!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XTBwvi0h2E

After the event, we went to this restaurant called Bongos to celebrate Kelly’s (one of the missionaries) graduation from Chinese school! Bongos is a cute restaurant that has Western food! I had chicken fingers and fries!!!! So yummy! It was such a fun gathering. There was so much diversity at one table. We had two of the band member’s wives who were from the UK (so awesome British accents), and people from Ohio, Brooklyn, Texas, Taiwan and of course lil ‘ol me from Bama. Despite all this diversity, we one thing in common: Jesus Christ and our desire to see him glorified! Which meant we got along GREAT! Except for when they spoke Chinese and I didn’t understand what was going on!

Sunday was an incredible day! We went to Alicia’s church. It was so good to be with the body, even if I couldn’t communicate with most of them. There were little earpiece things that you put in your ear and the sermon was translated into English! It was awesome, except I got a headache because of the two different voices in my head. After the sermon, we went to a kind of small group prayer service. It was so powerful praying with all these believers, especially hearing them pray in Chinese. It just shows me more and more that Christ is everywhere; he speaks every language and he cares about every person!

After church, Alicia, Caty and I went to MaryJanes and had… PIZZA! It was amazing. In America, we take things like Pizza for granted. I hope I never do again. After inhaling some amazing Pepperoni pizza, Alicia and I went to Starbucks and then to a bookstore and bought me a Chinese/English Bible. After that, I got on the MRT all by myself and went to the HSR station. I had some time to kill before I met Phoebe and Melon, so I sat and people watched and counted foreigners. There weren’t very many (lol).

We rode the HSR and the train home and then I rode my scooter home and collapsed! I was soooooooo tired.

Thursday

Thursday was a kind of blah day. I hit the wall that probably everyone hits. It is the wall of “I’ve had fun being in a different place, but now I just kinda want to go home and take a long bubble bath, eat a hamburger, sleep and then teleport myself back to the country I live in.” At least that is the wall I hit. So far the most difficult thing for me is just the difficulty communicating. I really enjoy being in Tainan, but NO ONE speaks English like a native speaker. Even the English teachers don’t always understand me. I have to speak slowly and use small words, which anyone who knows me would know is hard for me! I love using big words!

So I go to work every morning, but there is really nothing for me to do because I have very little information about who and what I will be teaching. I am working on a slideshow about myself and where I come from to show on the first day, but after that, I am not sure what is gonna go on. When I asked my director about it, he basically told me not to worry, that what I was doing would be easy that I didn’t need to stress about it. I said, “Ok.”, but that is hard for me to do. So anyways, around 5ish Melon, came and helped me buy my ticket for the High Speed Rail so that I can go see Alicia! She also took me and showed me around town a little! It was fun and good to be with someone instead of alone! Soon she is going to take me swimming and to the Garden Night Market which is really famous!