I have officially been in Taiwan for 2 weeks now, and feel as though I am making this place my home. Orientation week was a fun-filled week of meeting all of the other Foreign English Teachers (FETs), wonderful Taiwanese English teachers and military boys, learning a bit of Mandarin, and about co-teaching, and how important our jobs really are here. We visited a couple of different night markets, including Snake Alley, which is famous for nightly shows of vendors skinning snakes and showing what they do with the snake's blood, meat, and bile. It was interesting, but I'm glad I didn't see a show.
On Friday, August 7, my two co-teachers, Mandy and Silvia, the school's director, Judy, and a couple of other teachers from Bin Jiang Elementary School (my school), came to the hotel to pick up my roommate, Joanne, and I. With the impending typhoon, they were gracious enough to take us to a*Mart, a local grocery store, comparable to SuperTarget, to pick up some groceries to get through the weekend. It was quite the adventure driving to the store and then to the apartment. It would pour rain, then the wind would pick up, then things would calm for a moment or two. If I had never felt car sick before, I did a little that day!
We arrived at our apartment to meet the landlord, Ms. Hsu, to make sure we liked the apartment and any improvements we needed to make. The whole process took about 2 hours, but Ms. Hsu is very thourough, which I appreciate. When the co-teachers left, Ms. Hsu offered to show Joanne and I around the neighborhood. She showed us where the 7-11 was, which is where we will have to pay our energy and water bills. While there, we met Erica, who turned out to be our neighbor, and she speaks fluent English! She has been a god-send in helping us figure out the trash schedule and with communicating with Ms. Hsu.
Ms. Hsu took Joanne and I out to McDonald's and it was incredibly fun to sit with her as we tried to communicate in the small amount of Mandarin we know, and the small amount of English she knew. She is a very nice woman, and really wants to make sure we are happy with everything. She also showed us where the local open market is, which is another place we can grab dinner or fresh veggies and fruits. The winds had started to pick up at that point, and the umbrella I was carrying broke! I laughed it off, and we continued back to our apartment.
On Sunday, Joanne and I figured out the MRT (the subway system) enough to go to a local shopping center. We found a lot of great shops, including Taiwan's version of the Dollar Tree, the 39NT store. I was able to get a foldable laundry basket, some hangers, and some potpurri for the apartment.
We started work on Monday when we bought our Yo-Yo cards for the MRT, finding which stop to get off to get to school, and meeting the principal and some of the other teachers who were at school that day. Our co-teacher, Mandy, and the other foreign teacher, Monica, Joanne, and I went to the government office to apply for our Alien Resident Card (ARC). It is Taiwan's version of a "green" card, and will allow us to open bank accounts, get cell phones, have health insurance, and stay in the country for the whole year. That process took most of the day, so on Tuesday, we were able to get cell phones. We cannot open a bank account until we get our ARC card for about another week or so.
We also went to Carrefore to pick up more household items like sheets, a blanket,a pillow, detergent, and some other cleaning products. Both days, we went to noodle places for lunch, and it was delicious. I tried tofu, but didn't like it! On Wednesday, our landlord was able to have our internet and cable installed, which was great! I felt so cut off from the world, especially because lots of people were concerned when they saw the typhoon coverage on the news. While the typhoon devastated a lot of the southern parts of the country, I was completely safe, but it was nice to know people back home were concerned. I had been able to use a calling card to call my parents a few times since I had arrived, which was the only communication I was able to manage. Having internet and cable is wonderful; I've been able to webchat with my parents and my sister a few times. It is making this adjustment a little easier.
On Thursday, I worked a full day at school. The English village I will be working in is only a semester old, so we are developing a lot of the curriculum. As a teacher, this is an amazing opportunity, but also a daunting one. We were able to pick a situation to teach in for the semester and mine will be the doctor's office. Our overall theme for the year is travel, so all of the lesson plans involve something relavent to traveling in the city, the country, the Asian area, and the world. The other situations include: hotel, supermarket, airport/airplane, science & art, post office, and many others. The children will learn conversational English in these situations.
On Saturday, I ventured out into my neighborhood to see what was around and familiarize myself with some of the local fare. I found the neighborhood Carrefore, which is probably about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. There were so many little shops along the way that I can't wait to explore and I even found the local Pizza Hut, just in case I need a taste from home every now and again! Tonight, I'm going to a night market with two other teachers who also teach in Taipei, and our brave leader from orientation, Mama Leah. Tomorrow, my friend Mariah is coming to Taipei and we will see some of the local sights, like Taipei 101 and the National Palace Museum. I've decided that August and September will be months to explore all that Taipei has to offer, and then I'll start venturing to other parts of the country.
I'm determined to see as much as possible, learn how to surf, go zip-lining and hiking as much as possible. Our first semester ends January 20, then the FETs will meet for our mid-year conference for 3 days. After that, I have 14 days to travel where I please. So far the list includes China (I have to see the Great Wall!), Thailand, and the Phillippenes. 14 days to travel is a lot to fill up, so if you have suggestions, send them my way!
Although I am loving my time in Taiwan, I do miss the people at home, but having a webcam, and Facebook have made this a little easier. I can't wait to continue to make new friends and share all of my adventures with everyone back home. Until next time...!
Presenting Principal Xu with the book "Hoosier Hearts"
