June update

Well, the end of school came and went, and of course, the bittersweet goodbyes I shared with my class. They were so amazing and I know they will be incredibly successful next year. In May, a representative from the school corporation came to school and interviewed me about going abroad for the school district's online magazine. Below is the link to the article:
http://elkhart.k12.in.us/content.php?id=906052

The last day of school, I booked my flight to Taiwan. I will be flying out of Indianapolis on the morning of July 29th. I will arrive around 9p.m. Taiwan time, so at least it will be dark, which should help with adjusting to the difference in time. The first 10 days, we will be staying in a hotel, which will also help to get acclimated to the culture and getting around the city. The training will be in Taoyun (sp?), another major city in Taiwan.

I will also be attending an orientation session on July 8th in Indianapolis where I will meet the other teachers going and a teacher who is going to be returning to Taiwan for a second year. We'll learn about housing for the year and other aspects of our trip.

When I arrive in Taiwan, I'll sign my contract, which will begin on August 1, 2009 and end June 30, 2010. This allows me to come home and have a bit of a summer to recover before returning to school.

Today, I bought myself a beginner's guide to Mandarin, which will hopefully give me a leg up when I go into my Mandarin classes. My family and I have also set up our webcams and practiced chatting with each other. Let's just say it was quite funny.