Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It did not feel like Christmas this year, what with it being 70 degrees and sunny, and I certainly did not feel bad missing the giant blizzard back home. I had to work on Christmas day, but I went out for dinner and drinks on Christmas eve. I ended the night with a serving of fried calamari out of the back of a truck, and it was the most delicious treat I have ever had. On Sunday, my roommate Lyndsey cooked a holiday feast:

The Earth is a Quaking

On Saturday, I officially survived my first earthquake. I was teaching a class, when all of a sudden there was a rumble and the floor started moving. It lasted less than 30 seconds, and afterwards you could feel the building sway for a long time. It felt like I was on a boat, rocking back and forth. All the students looked pretty freaked out, as this is the biggest quake that has happened in a while. Apparently earthquakes happen almost every day here, but usually they are so small that you can't feel them. But this bad boy was a 6.4 on the Richter scale, so there was no ignoring it. The center was in Hualien which is on the east coast.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/12/19/taiwan-earthquake.html

After the quake, I went out with all the people who live in the dorms for a goodbye dinner for one of the teachers. This is the first time I have traveled in a pack of foreigners here, and it was quite a production explaining to three taxi drivers where we wanted to go. We ended up at a restaurant called 'Papa's Secret Lover'. When you walk in the downstairs it looks like an abandoned antique shop with random dusty furniture scattered around. I'm not really sure how someone found this place originally, because looking at it you would never guess there is a restaurant upstairs. The upstairs was no less strange, with dusty photographs all over the walls. Most of them seemed pretty authentic, and I think I even saw a portrait of Chang Kai Shek. And in the middle of all of this was a portrait of Elvis. We ordered family style, and the food was surprisingly delicious: salty pork with a vinegar sauce, fried tofu, kungpow chicken, beef with peppers.

In other news, the weather here has dropped to a freezing 50 degrees, and although it is nothing compared to the blizzard at home, with a lack on indoor heat it feels so much worse. I have been going to the pool more often, where along with lap pools there is an amazing pool full of seats with different massaging jets. They have different temperature hot tubs, a steam room, a sauna, pretty much everything you can dream of. Mostly it appears to be a social spot for the retired, but for me it is an escape from the cold. I will probably end up buying a space heater for my room, since I am currently walking around wearing three shirts at all times.

Beitou Hot Springs and Settling in to Teaching

This weekend I again made it to Taipei, except this time I had the company of my roommate Lyndsey so I didn't have to wander around alone. We went to check out the Beitou hot springs which are a little north of the city. You can get there on the subway, but it is pretty far out so the area is surrounded by the mountains. The sun was shining and it was about 75 degrees (I don't miss the snow at all!). We walked up the hill looking for a museum, and had a really nice view of the mountains. The museum was about the old bath houses in the area. Apparently this is where the kamikaze pilots would come meet their lovers for a last goodbye before their final mission.

We then went back down towards town where they have a public bathhouse. On the way we walked by one of the springs that feed the bathhouse, and stopped to put our feet in. The water was nice and warm and relaxing. Next we went into the bathhouse itself, which was like a little oasis off the streets. There were a bunch of different pools of different temperatures, some so hot I couldn't keep my feet in and some freezing cold. We found the middle ground and squeezed in between some old men.

View of the mountains from Beitou.

A tree growing out of the wall on the side of the road.

In the museum. I had to duck to get through all the doorways. They aren't used to tall people here.

I love the English translations on signs. People also wear clothes that have English on them, but it is complete nonsense.

Wading in the hot spring.

Gloria English school has 18 schools in the county, so I keep going to new areas. I taught at a school in Longtan, and nearby there is a gorgeous temple surrounded by a big lake and a park.

Longtan temple

View of temple through a grill on the bridge.

Entrance to the bridge.

Temple from across the water.

I have taught a lot more classes now, and it's getting more fun every time. I had a class last week with kids about 8-10, and afterwards one of them came up to me and said "teacher, because you are so very pretty can I take a picture with you?" I have this class again tonight and she will obviously be my favorite student. It's pretty easy to teach once you get the routine down, just a lot of reading, vocab, and games. The hardest part is thinking of fun games to play, so if you have any suggestions send them my way! I also taught some older kids. Teenagers are the hardest because they are all in that awkward phase where they are unsure of themselves and don't want to speak out loud in the class. So I spend a lot of time making them all stand up and answer individually. Not too fun for them, but otherwise it would be me speaking the ENTIRE class. I also got to sub the oldest class on Saturday. This is a class that has met since they were little, and are now all grown up, and the oldest kid is a freshman in college. The co-teacher was also my boss which made me extremely nervous before it started. But once the class began it was my favorite by far. The kids were funny and were willing to talk, and in contrast to the younger kids who sound like robots, you could really see their personalities. In every class of every age you teach a QA, and for this one I got to make up my own. The lesson topic was vacations, so I asked "Where would you go if you could time travel? What would you like to see?" There were some funny answers, including "I would like to go back in time and kill Confucius so that I wouldn't have to memorize all his quotes in school."

Although they don't really celebrate Christmas in Taiwan, next week all the classes will have Christmas parties. I get to bring in some music, they bring in candy and presents, and I think we just play games for the whole class. They have assigned some teachers to dress up like Santa Claus and go from class to class handing out candy. One of my classes is going to go down onto the streets and sing christmas carols, and they even have a little dance.

Poo Poo Platter

At the night market I learned that in Asia they have a special appreciation for poo. So I was delighted when I heard that right in my own city of Jhongli there is a restaurant called the Modern Toilet. And obviously I had to go ASAP. I went for lunch with two of my roommates, and it was everything I had dreamed of and more. The seats are toilets, the tables are bathtubs, and the food comes in little ceramic toilets. For an extra dollar you can even get your drink in a urinal that you get to take home with you! To top off the meal at the end you get soft serve ice cream in a bowl the shape of a Taiwanese squat toilet. Surprisingly the food was actually delicious and cheap, and no one judged when I took a million pictures.

The store front of the modern toilet. Very inconspicuous.

This place was like art.

One of the tables.

Sign for the bathroom. It was a classy establishment.

The seats at the table.

Food in a bathtub.

My meal in the toilet bowl. Thai coconut chicken. Or a steaming pile of poo.

The ice cream didn't taste very good, but at this point I didn't even care. This is what a lot of the toilets look like here.

Drinking green tea (or green pee?) from the urinal.

My roommate Lyndsey riding the toilet.

My roommate Ryan looking a wee bit constipated.

Taking my time.

My Humble Abode

So you can all feel like you are here with me, I present to you some pictures of my apartment:

My room. Living out of suitcases just like in State College. This window really goes out into a laundry room thing, and then there is another set of windows to the real outside.

The outside of my room. Instead of a real wall I have this weird sliding door thing.

Kitchen. Can't wait for summer when apparently the roaches come out to play.

Living room. My room is at the end of the long hallway.

View from the balcony. You can only see the mountains rarely when the smog clears.

The laundry room and window into my room.

The stray dogs that live outside my place. They are adorable, and will walk with you wherever you go to make sure you are safe. They are a little dirty, so really I just pet them with my feet. But give them a bath and they would be the best pets ever.

She could be jerseys BFF.

Mangy but lovable.

Taipei Take 2

On my second weekend here I decided to travel into Taipei again. Since none of my roommates seem to wake up before 1pm, I went alone so I could have some daylight for my exploring. I started the day off at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, a shrine kind of resembling the Lincoln Memorial with a giant statue in a big building. It is on a large grounds with a lot of pretty gardens and ponds, and the National Theater and National Concert Hall. Inside the memorial hall was a museum with lots of artifacts from Chiang Kai Sheks life. There was really random stuff like his handkerchief and his socks, but also a lot of really neat pictures of him with all different world leaders. There was also a gallery of Taiwanese watercolors that I loved. There was some high school cheer leading competition going on in the National Concert Hall, so the mall outside the memorial was crowded with different groups practicing their routines. They all started with a "ready, OK!" and then busted their moves. I sat and watched for a while, one group came over to talk to me, and they all looked really excited when I told them I liked their routine. They even had little pom-poms!

Next I walked to the National Museum of History and the Botanical Gardens. The museum had a lot of ancient art, and was pretty cool. The gardens were a nice break from the crowds of people. Overall another successful day wandering the streets of Taiwan.

First picture of me in Taiwan! In front of the CSK Memorial Hall

The gate out front of the CSK Memorial Hall. There is a wall that runs all the way around the grounds.

The ceiling in the CSK Memorial Hall

Guard and the CSK Memorial. Even on the platform he is probably still shorter than me.

Me and CSK are buddies.

View from the top of the memorial.

I love the english translations here.

Biore add on the subway.

My First Night Market

Last night I had my first experience at a night market. It was one street closed off with booths of food and stuff lining each side. Here I saw all the exotic food I had imagined I would find in Taiwan, along with booths containing everything from little plastic poops to mini arcades to overly rhinestoned clothes. Although I was not yet brave enough to sample some of the weirder foods, maybe by the end of the year I'll get to that point. For now, baby steps...

Entrance to the night market with mobs of people

Entire squids on a stick

Unidentified animal body parts

Sugar cane - they make a tea out of it. I actually tried this, it was pretty much hot sugar and water.

You can drink snake blood. This is one thing I may never be brave enough for.

Chicken feet. Yum.

They have an obsession with poop. There were gold plastics poos, poo key chains, and monkey sitting on toilets.

I stopped at the grocery store and found some chocolate milk, a little taste of home

Death Traps

Last night I subbed at one of the far away schools, which takes about an hour or more to get to by bus. I was walking out after my class, and another teacher offered me a ride home on his scooter. It was very appealing because it would save me a ton of time and effort, so I strapped on my helmet and jumped on the back. I had been on one scooter ride before, but it was nothing like this. The teacher was speeding down the road, passing other scooters, driving between cars, and oh my god it was scary. I have been bungee jumping, I have been sky diving, and this definitely was the most terrifying thing I have done. Again I learned my lesson, I will be taking the bus in the future.

I've now taught a total of 3 classes, and after the first one they have been pretty easy. The younger kids are much more willing to talk to me, and there is a more set lesson plan making my job a breeze. There is always a co-teacher in the room to save me when I don't know what is going on. In every class so far the students have made a joke about how short the co-teacher is next to me, and then ask how tall I am, and are in awe when I answer. Right now I am just subbing other peoples classes, and I will slowly start getting my own. I should eventually have a set schedule of about 20 hours a week.

There is an election today for some local government positions, and every day leading up to it has been a big production. They have little mini parades through the streets of cars and motorcycles with loudspeakers shooting out fireworks as they pass. It's pretty entertaining the first time you see it, but definitely gets old when it wakes you up in the morning.

Molding Young Minds

I got to teach my first class last night, and I survived! One thing here that is a little messed up is that the classes don't seem to be organized well into age and level, and so in some classes you have a large range of both. This class was older kids, probably mostly early teens, and most of them had a pretty good understanding of English. The students seem to be a little scared of a new foreigner coming in though, so every time I asked them questions I got nothing but blank stares. Because of this I got through all of my material way too fast and had no idea what to do. Luckily my Taiwanese co-teacher jumped right in and saved me. They don't like to embarrass people here, so when I asked her after the class for advice on how I could improve she just told me that I did a great job and smiled. Lies, all lies.

After class I went to a trivia night at a near by restaurant put on by some of the other teachers. It was a group of about 15 people, all Canadian, American, and South African. I didn't know any of the answers, except somehow I pulled out that the Steelers have won the most super bowls of any team in the NFL. Justin must be so proud. Our team ended up winning by one point, so I guess I served my purpose. We then headed out to a few bars in the area for some pool and Taiwan Beer. We ended up staying out til 4am, and the bars weren't even closing when we left. On the way home we stopped by a food stand and my roommate picked up a delicious treat of deep fried hard boiled eggs with some sort of meat and mayonnaise sauce on top. Sure beats canyon pizza.

Today I had to go to a new school, so I got a ride on the back on another teachers scooter. With so many people packed into this country, the scooter is the transportation mode of choice. I have yet to see a police man here, and I don't think that traffic rules either exist or are enforced, and so people drive like complete maniacs. Even when walking you always have to be aware of what is going on in all directions because you never know a scooter is going to come flying in front of you. Needless to say it was a very intense trip, and I think I will be learning the bus and train routes very well.