Tonight might be my last night with in-home internet for a while. If everything goes as planned, I'll be moving to my new apartment tomorrow night, and they're having work done on the internet cables, so it's no internet, or Starbucks for me for a while.
I thought I'd leave you guys with a few more observations from the past few weeks. Enjoy!
1) Scooters: Everybody and their uncle (along with the rest of their extended family) seems to own a scooter. This has led to a few problems which the Taiwanese people, for better or for worse, have solved with what they have available. For instance, left turns. If they went along like normal traffic, cars would have to wait for an endless stream of scooters cutting across the road. The solution: make a special area in the crosswalk next to cars that are currently stopped on the intersecting road. This way, scooters can just go straight (thereby completing their left turn in two steps) when the light changes and never have to cut across oncoming traffic. Kind of confusing, yeah. Another problem, where should everyone park their scooters? The sidewalk of course. Surely the pedestrians won't mind struggling through a maze of scooters scattered across every walkway. (This is quickly becoming one of my least favorite things about walking around here, especially since sidewalks are also open game for riding your scooter...)
2) Face Masks: It's pretty common to see about ten out of a hundred people wearing surgical masks at any given time in class, on the street, in restaurants, etc. Whenever you get sick, it's considered polite (as well as sanitary) to put on a face mask for the duration of your illness. I've already had to wear one once, not because I was sick, but because so many kids in my school were. It makes teaching a class highly focused on oral communication very difficult. Who knows how effective these masks are since the number of people wearing them always seems pretty high.
3) Walking, Lining Up, and Personal Space: Another thing I've learned to be aware of is watching for people, scooters, and cars when I'm walking anywhere. Since traffic rules are really more like guidelines and suggestions here, it's not surprising to see people run red lights, cut across a sidewalk corner to make a turn, or honk at you while you're in the crosswalk. However, I always find myself watching out for other pedestrians just as often as traffic in the streets. Someone is always stepping out in front of you, stopping to light a cigarette, veering across your path, or walking veeeeerrryyy slowly in a narrow area (lined with scooters, naturally). So far, lining up has been much better than on mainland China, but a lot of the time I'll find myself at the local 7-11 in a big group at the counter, everyone up in my business. It's more up to the cashier to call out who's next rather than when you got there, and good luck getting your stuff off the counter and grabbing your receipt before someone deposits their purchases in front of you and nudges you aside.
I've gotta go over my contract for my new place now and hopefully get it fully translated tomorrow before I sign it. Any guesses as to where my contract was drafted? You got it, 7-11, your all around everything store. Oh Taiwan...
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
教課 － Teaching
The end of a long week brings another blog entry to you all, fresh off the presses! I say long week because it was, in fact, a looooonnnggg week, chock full of teaching. That's right, after observing the class I took over on Friday last week, the director decided that more training wasn't really in the works for me, and I got thrown in the mix.
Mostly, I'm happy about this. It means I'll get paid a lot more than if I were only observing classes, and I get to meet a lot of the students I'll be teaching in the near future, but I'm not gonna lie, it was stressful. They say the best way to learn something is to dive right in, but I've always found that I do better with thorough instruction to go off of, then I can make changes where I feel necessary down the road. No such luck this time. But on the plus side, I do know what's going on now, and most of the classes I taught were review classes to prepare for quizzes and tests coming up.
For the most part, all the students I've taught have been very well behaved and bright. However, there are a few troublemakers who've had me cringing by the end of a two or three hour session. Apparently, ADD and ADHD is a very common problem among students here, particularly the boys, and it tends to manifest itself during classroom hours with shouting, jumping around, hitting, and mouthing off. It'd been a little difficult to maintain a good classroom environment and keep those few kids under control at the same time. The funny thing is though, a lot of the time these students are actually quite smart. Once you get them in their seats and under control, they tend to be very good readers, and they know the answers to questions. It's just a matter of getting them to participate without just taking the easy way out: "I don't know."
Alright, now for a recap of my week outside of class. Last Saturday, I spent the day with Chris and Debby, two of my friends from the UW. After a delicious dinner, we headed out with a group of other Kojen teachers to a KTV or karaoke bar. We got a private room for a group, and spent the next few hours singing and rocking out to the greatest songs of the nineties and early 2000s (which were the only ones they had to offer in English). I also got a chance to figure out the local metro system, which is amazing (I'm sure all you WISPIRGers who are following will appreciate my love of public transit, haha), and the busses are pretty good too, although a little confusing at first.
I spent the rest of the week working during the day, and grading papers and tests at night. I've only had a chance to look at one apartment so far, which was basically a small room with a bed and an adjoining bathroom. I'm gonna hold out for something a little better I think...
I'll leave you all with a list of a few things I didn't expect to find over here in Taiwan:
1) 7-11 Convenience Stores: There is at least one 7-11 every other block here (I pass three of them on my walk to work, which only takes about 10 minutes). They're basically the everything mart of Taiwan. You can buy food, booze, toiletries, and phone cards. You can take money out of your bank account, pick up labeled trash bags for the daily garbage, recycling, and compost pickup, and buy phone cards. Strangest of all, this is where you pay all of your utility bills, anything from gas and electric to cable and internet. The 7-11 company must be making a mint off of this island.
2) Recycling and Composting: Like I said, there's a daily garbage service in Taipei. Trucks come along at roughly the same time every day playing Beethoven's "Fur Elise", sort of like an ice cream truck. They stop briefly in each neighborhood and you have a few minutes to bring out your labeled trash bags (which you bought from your local 7-11) and load them on the truck. There are different sections for actual trash, plastic/metal/glass, and cardboard and paper products. There are even restaurants on the street that have separate sections for cardboard trays, wooden chopsticks, and any food waste to compost. In a lot of ways, Taiwan has some distance to go environmentally, but sounds like they've got us beat for trash pickup so far.
3) Cockroaches in my room: Ok, not the most pleasant note to finish on, but there ya go. The other night I was going to sleep, and I hear a rustling sound in the corner of my room. At first I ignored it, then it got louder so I flipped on the lights. Two gigantic cockroaches scuttled away from one of my plastic zip-lock bags on the floor and started running all over the room, looking for the way out. FInally, one chose to hide out under my bed, the other under my dresser. I was sicked out. I have decided that I am not a fan of cockroaches. In fact, I've never even seen one before now, and that's with three years as a janitor in the dorms under my belt. I finally figured out they were burrowing their way up from a drain in the kitchen. I need to find a new place ASAP!
Alright, that's all folks! Look for more to come soon. Highlights may include: a) my new apartment, b) pictures if I get a camera, and c) figuring out a Taiwanese cell phone.
Mostly, I'm happy about this. It means I'll get paid a lot more than if I were only observing classes, and I get to meet a lot of the students I'll be teaching in the near future, but I'm not gonna lie, it was stressful. They say the best way to learn something is to dive right in, but I've always found that I do better with thorough instruction to go off of, then I can make changes where I feel necessary down the road. No such luck this time. But on the plus side, I do know what's going on now, and most of the classes I taught were review classes to prepare for quizzes and tests coming up.
For the most part, all the students I've taught have been very well behaved and bright. However, there are a few troublemakers who've had me cringing by the end of a two or three hour session. Apparently, ADD and ADHD is a very common problem among students here, particularly the boys, and it tends to manifest itself during classroom hours with shouting, jumping around, hitting, and mouthing off. It'd been a little difficult to maintain a good classroom environment and keep those few kids under control at the same time. The funny thing is though, a lot of the time these students are actually quite smart. Once you get them in their seats and under control, they tend to be very good readers, and they know the answers to questions. It's just a matter of getting them to participate without just taking the easy way out: "I don't know."
Alright, now for a recap of my week outside of class. Last Saturday, I spent the day with Chris and Debby, two of my friends from the UW. After a delicious dinner, we headed out with a group of other Kojen teachers to a KTV or karaoke bar. We got a private room for a group, and spent the next few hours singing and rocking out to the greatest songs of the nineties and early 2000s (which were the only ones they had to offer in English). I also got a chance to figure out the local metro system, which is amazing (I'm sure all you WISPIRGers who are following will appreciate my love of public transit, haha), and the busses are pretty good too, although a little confusing at first.
I spent the rest of the week working during the day, and grading papers and tests at night. I've only had a chance to look at one apartment so far, which was basically a small room with a bed and an adjoining bathroom. I'm gonna hold out for something a little better I think...
I'll leave you all with a list of a few things I didn't expect to find over here in Taiwan:
1) 7-11 Convenience Stores: There is at least one 7-11 every other block here (I pass three of them on my walk to work, which only takes about 10 minutes). They're basically the everything mart of Taiwan. You can buy food, booze, toiletries, and phone cards. You can take money out of your bank account, pick up labeled trash bags for the daily garbage, recycling, and compost pickup, and buy phone cards. Strangest of all, this is where you pay all of your utility bills, anything from gas and electric to cable and internet. The 7-11 company must be making a mint off of this island.
2) Recycling and Composting: Like I said, there's a daily garbage service in Taipei. Trucks come along at roughly the same time every day playing Beethoven's "Fur Elise", sort of like an ice cream truck. They stop briefly in each neighborhood and you have a few minutes to bring out your labeled trash bags (which you bought from your local 7-11) and load them on the truck. There are different sections for actual trash, plastic/metal/glass, and cardboard and paper products. There are even restaurants on the street that have separate sections for cardboard trays, wooden chopsticks, and any food waste to compost. In a lot of ways, Taiwan has some distance to go environmentally, but sounds like they've got us beat for trash pickup so far.
3) Cockroaches in my room: Ok, not the most pleasant note to finish on, but there ya go. The other night I was going to sleep, and I hear a rustling sound in the corner of my room. At first I ignored it, then it got louder so I flipped on the lights. Two gigantic cockroaches scuttled away from one of my plastic zip-lock bags on the floor and started running all over the room, looking for the way out. FInally, one chose to hide out under my bed, the other under my dresser. I was sicked out. I have decided that I am not a fan of cockroaches. In fact, I've never even seen one before now, and that's with three years as a janitor in the dorms under my belt. I finally figured out they were burrowing their way up from a drain in the kitchen. I need to find a new place ASAP!
Alright, that's all folks! Look for more to come soon. Highlights may include: a) my new apartment, b) pictures if I get a camera, and c) figuring out a Taiwanese cell phone.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
雙十節快樂！－ Happy Double Ten Day!
Today is Taiwan's National Day (read more if you're interested at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_10_day). For me, this means I get today off. Normally I'll be working at Kojen Schools Monday through Saturday with only Sundays off, a little different than my schedule in the States. I've made the most of my free time by a) sleeping in, b) watching Star Wars Episode V on my computer, and c) having dinner with my two good friends here Chris and Debby (you'll notice this is the only actually productive or exciting thing I've done today). I know them from the UW, and they've already been living here for a year, so they know their way around pretty well. They've been extremely helpful to me so far, and I'm looking forward to meeting some of their friends and co-workers tonight at a birthday party.
My week had a slight change of plans from my last entry. I believe I left you guys off saying that I would be observing classes for another week at my home school and then actually start teaching next Friday. This is for the most part true, but I had the chance to sub for an instructor yesterday in one of her classes and got to teach for two hours. The lesson plans look like they'll be pretty straightforward. Kojen provides its teachers with books, workbooks, and basic supplies to make classes fun for children from elementary school to junior high. But anyway, the basic story goes like this: I'm sitting in the back of my second observation class of the day when the director of the school knocks on the door and asks if he can borrow me for a minute outside. Once I'm out there, he says, "One of our teachers wasn't able to make it to her class starting at 8:00. Would you like to take over for her and put your observations to good use?" Frankly, at this point I'm thinking in my head, "No way in heck am I going to go in front of a bunch of kids I don't know without a lesson plan I've worked out well in advance," but he looks kind of desperate for a solution, so I say sure, I'll give it a shot. I get about half an hour to look over their workbook and listen to the rest of my observation of the class, then after briefly meeting with a senior teacher who recommends some games, I go to the classroom and start teaching...
Surprisingly, I had a blast! The way the books are set up, it's very easy to transition from one subject to another, and the games I tried out with the kids were a hit. I think it's going to be a lot of fun figuring out new games and creative ways to make the lessons more interesting, and apparently you get a lot of free reign with what you can do during class. I think the tricky part will be striking a balance between having fun with the kids, and maintaining an atmosphere where I'm the boss and there's no misbehaving. On the bright side though, I still have another week of observation and I'll get to takeover for the same class on Friday and give them their final written exam.
Probably the most rewarding part of my week was yesterday night when I was leaving the school, and one of the students from a class I had observed earlier waved at me and said, "Teacher Devin, Teacher Devin!" Then she turned to her mom and said, "Look, that's Teacher Devin." For some reason, just being recognized and greeted by one of the students I'll be teaching was an awesome feeling. I think I'm going to like teaching these kids a lot (stand by though for more posts after I actually start working, haha).
Ok, it's about time for me to head out with Chris and Debby. Miss everyone and hope to hear from you all! I really like opening my e-mail or facebook and seeing messages from friends and family back home. Plus, now I have a reliable internet connection in the temporary housing facility, so I might even be able to catch people on skype or AIM. :)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
台灣你好 － Hello Taiwan
Hey everyone! To start off with, I made it to Taiwan in one piece and so far I'm loving it here. The food is delicious, the people are friendly, and the weather is great. I was lucky enough to come right as it started to cool off, and aside from a little rain here and there, it's been really nice. But before I get ahead of myself, here's a short recap of my trip.
After saying goodbye to everyone in Wisconsin (and the cats at home), my parents and I drove down to Chicago where my extended family threw me a party complete with a cake decorated with a Taiwanese dragon. I was up way too early for my liking the next morning, and after my last American breakfast, we headed to O'Hare International Airport.
Saying goodbye to my parents was the hardest part, and I was a little choked up going through the security checkpoints. After emptying my pockets, taking off my shoes, giving them my belt, and going through the metal detector three times, I staked out a spot at my gate and boarded the plane soon after. My nerves were starting to get to me once the plane began to taxi to the runway, but they quickly settled down during the two hour delay and refueling back at the gate.
Once we were actually in the air, we were treated two two lunches (guess they were going by the local time, not our biological clocks), a snack, and three movies including "Night at the Museum: Pointless Sequel", "Ice Age 3: the Suck Age", and "The Proposal" which was actually pretty good.
I arrived in Tokyo to transfer 12 hours later, then finally flew into Taiwan. There, I was met by a driver sent from Kojen Schools (a very nice service, and the first time I've ever seen my name on a sign waiting at the airport - ritzy). He drove me to the temporary housing facilities, and I met one of my roommates for the time being, and my second roommate arrived the next night. Their names are Josh and Daniel, both from the East Coast, and they're really nice. Josh has already been here for a month, so he was especially helpful in getting me acquainted with the area and setting me up.
On to the work portion of my trip. Yesterday was my first day of classroom observation. I'll do this until next Friday, when I'll actually start teaching young children at my school. Basically, I sat with the students and watched two teachers instruct them in pronunciation, grammar, reading, and writing through a bunch of games, workbook exercises, crafts, and quizzes. It looks straightforward enough (apparently they provide you with all the materials you'll need) and I'm excited to get going and meet my students.
As for the city life, Taipei is a huge metropolis, and I've only just begun to explore. I've tried out my Chinese at ordering some vegetarian foods, and hit on a really good restaurant that lets you pick out every ingredient from a case up front, and they cook it all in a spicy soup right in front of you. Everything is fresh, and it's one of my favorite meals here. There are also a ton of parks and open spaces everywhere here, and the trees on the streets have had enough time to grow that walking down the lanes is really enjoyable. There was definitely a lack of vegetation in mainland China, so that's what I was expecting here, but I'm pretty sure there are more outdoor houseplants than there are people in the city, and since it's a sub-tropical environment, it's this way year round. Every window, balcony, and courtyard is filled with lucky bamboo, orchids, and leafy green plants, and every park and road is lined with palm trees.
In the interest of keeping this relatively short, I'm gonna cut it off here. There's a lot more that's happened and that's going to happen since the first month is extremely busy, so I'll try to break that up in several installments over the next few days. There's no internet at the Kojen housing facilities, so I've been bumming it off of friends in the area and parks with wireless access. When I get an apartment (I'm off to look right now) I should have more stable access to the internet, and I'll be able to e-mail, skype, instant message, and all that other good stuff that'll keep me in touch with you folks. Hope everyone's having a great year so far too!
P.S. Pictures to come once I either find a cord that goes with my camera, or buy a new one here.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
美國再見 － Goodbye America
Left: I don't know WHAT to expect from Taiwan! Hopefully no road closings due to eruptions though. It's 3:00 AM on the day before I fly out of the United States and I'm currently packing up a year's worth of everything I'm guessing I'll need in Taiwan (emphasis on guessing). I don't think I've ever been as well prepared to face whatever awaits me on the other end of my 20 hour journey, and that's mostly thanks to my parents. I've got documents and copies of documents, American medications not available overseas, new clothes to wear in an entirely new climate, and a few treats and books from my friends to entertain me during my flight.
I'm really glad I got to see the people I did these past two weeks, and for those of you I didn't get a chance to see, know that I'll miss you just the same. As soon as I get adequate internet access (and who knows how long that'll take), I'll try to make a second post about my first impressions and experiences. In the mean time though, feel free to send me a message on the facebook, a tweet on twitter, or an e-mail so I'll have something to look forward to opening once I get established. And of course, good luck to everyone on your years in school, work, or abroad until I get back home and can have a happy reunion (with lots of sweet souvenirs from Taiwan of course). :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
