Beyond Nesting

Greetings to all my wonderful friends and family in Canada! It is time for a lovely update from Asia! Thank you all for your wonderful emails that you respond with! I love hearing how everyone is doing!

This picture I've posted is simply a photo of the first ride Katelynn and I took on the MRT (basically like the Toronto Subway system but much better! and cheaper!). We were on our way to visit a friend from my university who also lives here; just downtown Taipei.

One thing that I'd like to do in this email is thank my parents for letting me play as a child! I teach children here between the ages 2 to 12 years old. TWO YEARS OLD!! These kids (the wealthy ones of course) are learning the English Alphabet before they learn Chinese (for it is far too complicated!). At my cram school I will take the older class out to the park to play soccer between classes if they are well behaved. The thing is, they cannot kick a soccer ball! It's actually very sad. Many of these children spend 10-12 hours a day in school and on Saturdays they will have piano lessons and other "extra-curriculars". I am teaching about 'leisure time' in one of my classes, but I know that they cannot relate! The class was asked to write paragraphs about what they do during their leisure time and more than half of them said they do homework! So, thank you Mom and Dad for letting me play after school!

I also had my first ride on a scooter!! This may not seem like a big deal... but despite being the sister of 3 car/dirt bike/go-cart obsessed boys, I have never rode on a motorcycle or anything of that "2 wheel" nature (minus a bicycle of course). My friend who was driving (he has been living in Taiwan for 8 years) brought me up Yaming Mountain (we live beside a mountain!!) to view the city lights at night! It was so magical! It only took 10 minutes to get to the top; however, once there we realized that at 12 am it was a couples-only hangout! We had a good laugh... and didn't stay long! I may consider getting a scooter. There is someone who rents them by the month, this is a good way to test whether I like it. Getting a scooter licence here is a computer 'true or false' test and a short drive around pylons (it's too dangerous to test on the actual street!!).

Last week I was very tired and overwhelmed with my new schedule; however, this week things are becoming more of a routine for me. While I had planned to give up coffee upon moving here, I quickly accepted that this was not bound to happen in the near future! My mornings contain a wonderful Starbucks Coffee or a coffee from Mc Cafe (surprisingly, fantastic!) before I head to the pre-school to teach the A B C's. I usually have a break for at least two hours between the preschool and the cram school and I will use this time to send some emails, do some shopping, take a run or nap! I teach at the cram school until either 6:30pm or 8:30pm and then go out with friends (which I am still in the process of finding more!!!), do more shopping or hang out at home.

Need I say that the shopping here is FANTASTIC!? I am in love with clothing stores and am developing an unhealthy adoration for shoes! Everything is so different and inexpensive that it's a wonderful excuse to spend spend spend! (don't worry Mom and Dad, the loan payments will be made!) Soon I will be looking for private tutoring jobs as well. I had a temporary one last week (to prepare a university graduate for an English portion of a finance interview), and it paid $40 CDN an hour!! I'll take that no problem, whether or not I know anything about finance (I don't!).

I love and miss you all! Please let me know if you would like a phone call! I've finally figured out how to call landlines and cell phones in Canada and the U.S.A. through my computer! It's fantastic and unlimited for only $3 CDN a month! Everyone should use Skype! -Peace-

"Teechur Rora"

Hello to everyone that reads this! I'm sure once things in Taiwan become less and less novel I will be blogging less, but as it is here is a short update! The title of this post is something that continually makes me smile as a teacher in Taiwan. Most of the children here cannot say my name. Instead I am called, "Rora, Rola, Dora, etc...." Dora is a big one, and I'd like to say it's because of that Spanish explorer phenomenon... Anywho, it's really cute watching a class of 12 adorable pudgy faces try and work through my name. The ones that sort of get it then love to repeat it over and over again (which soon loses it's cuteness...).

I guess my big news after this weekend then is to report on Super Typhoon Sinlaku that "took us by storm" so to speak. Though Kate and I were excited to see our first tropical storm, we were majorly disappointed! Lacking true windows in our apartment (we only look out to see city balconies), we mostly experienced Sinlaku by sound (it was quite loud!). Unfortunately we just spent most of the weekend bored inside the apartment itching to get some fresh air. We did make a mission to Pizza Hut on Sunday evening (after we had lost our umbrella's on Saturday evening...). The pizza was definitely worth getting soaked to the bone and lost in Taipei on a bus!

Today I read in the Taipei Times that we clearly did not experience the worst of the Typhoon as apparantly 18,000 households lost electricity and hundreds lost water (ironic in a rain storm...). In our neighbourhood we had some trees fall down but most of the cleanup was done before I went to teach this morning. Here is a photo from Saturday night (we went to the local bar during the beginning of the Typhoon...)

I'd like you all to believe that I pushed that tree over myself... Though, it's pretty tiny so not the greatest accomplishment... Anyways, hope all are doing well in Canada! More updates coming soon!

Job, Explained

Lots of news since I last "blogged"! Firstly, I've got myself a second job!! Perhaps I should explain that most foreign teachers here keep a main job (usually in the cram schools - after-Chinese-school - a.k.a. "bushibans") that gives them National Health Insurance and an ARC (Alien Resident Card). This ARC is very important, if you don't have one, you cannot get a working visa and thus, you must leave the country every 60 days and re-enter on a visitor's visa each time.

Aside from their main job, most teachers acquire 1 or 2 different jobs on the side that the government doesn't know about. These are the real money-makers (because you don't pay tax). Because they are more risky, you usually make quite a bit more at these jobs. My second job is at this really awesome Kindergarten, just a 5-minute bus ride away from my apartment. I work here 9am-11:30am Mon-Fri and then at the bushiban any time between 2pm and 9pm Mon-Fri and always 9am-12pm on Saturdays. I learned that my second job is less risky than most because they pay the government under the table to always alert the school before they come to visit (haha, things work very differently here). Thus, I do not work tomorrow because the government is coming.

The picture in this post is of this beautiful river/park that I found close to my second job. It is a beautiful area. There were many groups of people in the park this morning practicing tai chi, dance, exercising, etc... I believe this is my new favourite place. I cannot wait to get into the mountains!!

I got a cell phone number! Please email me if you would like to have it. If you are up for paying the international calling fee, I get free incoming from whereever! Please keep in mind the 12 hour time difference :) Also, an English address is on it's way for everyone who has asked to write me a letter. I need to ask a Chinese friend to translate it from our lease, not everyone can be trusted to do this. Even if they don't know how, they will do it wrong just to "save face". Kate and I are slowly learning about how the Chinese "save face" and how annoying it can be for people like us that want a real answer! I especially learned this lesson after asking directions to the hospital yesterday and being sent on a 1/2 hr detour! Now, I just follow my instinct and internal compass!

It's All Chinese to Me!

Finally Internet in Taipei! I've written a couple of entries on Word and pasted them here, enjoy!

September 4, 2008

Well, Kate and I have had an eventful and exhausting day! We arrived in Taipei at around 5:30am Taiwan time. After registering into the country we headed down to baggage pick-up only to find that our luggage didn’t make the transfer at Las Angeles onto Singapore Air. This was because our 2.5-hour layover ended up being a 30-minute one (that WE were lucky to make!). There seem to be more positives than negatives in this delay. Singapore Air gave us NTD2200 (CDN73) each (to tide us over) and is delivering our baggage to Joyland (our school) tomorrow (thus, we didn’t have to drag it around Tien Mu today!).

Tina (our boss) and her husband Andy met us at the airport as planned and on the ½ hr drive to Tien Mu we learned the horrors of the Taiwan road. Not only are there a lot of cars, but also the proximity of each to the other is unbelievable! Scooters are everywhere and it seems to be a miracle each moment that pedestrians are not run down by them.

Once in Tien Mu, Andy took us to Taipei City Hospital to have our health checks done. Other than an unnecessary concern for our abnormally large lymph nodes, all went well. The hospitals here are a) filthy b) crowded! And c) very open concept (you will be watched while you’re having your blood taken, x-ray performed and will be walked in on by other patients while having your check-up with the doctor). That being said, the health care is very inexpensive and somewhat efficient.

We spent a greater part of the day watching classes at Joyland in session and walking around Tien Mu. I impressed myself with my use of Mandarin while purchasing and attempting to barter with sales people. I shamefully realized that even in Taiwan, one does not barter in a department store! The two English teachers that we met at Joyland were very unfriendly towards us, but we later figured that is because we are a possible threat to them (to take their hours).

In the afternoon we met Virginia in front of her school: Taipei American School. We are staying with Virginia until we find a place for ourselves. She is great, even provided us with a long distance calling card so we could call home tonight! It is only 7:35pm Taipei time, but I am done like dinner. – L

September 8, 2008

This is long… so grab a green tea (in the spirit of what you will read).

We’ve got a home and have started nesting! It’s very exciting. We signed a one-year lease on Saturday for the place. This means no turning back now… unless I want to lose a 2 MONTH security deposit! The place is awesome! It is located in an alley (no alley is sketch in Taiwan, seriously…) just off the main street of Tien Mu (our district in Taipei). We live beside a huge (and FANCY) mall (Coach, Burberry stores), across from the Tien Mu baseball stadium (also huge) and down the street from Starbucks!! I especially like the view from our street, MOUNTAINS! Very large and beautiful mountains border Tien Mu and I love it! I cannot wait to run towards/in the mountains.

We pay the equivalent of CDN300 (NTD9000) a month for: our rooms (huge and each with an on-suite bathroom), furnished (bed, air-con, desk, wardrobe, bar fridge), cable tv (no tv yet, but our boss is loaning us one free!), internet, cleaning/maintenance, laundry machine, hydro and gas. All we need to pay is electricity which is only CDN0.13 (NTD4) per point on the meter. So, to sum it up, Kate and I have a pretty sweet deal! Signing the lease was hilarious. It’s all in Chinese so we had our boss Tina and her husband Andy negotiating and translating for us. For about an hour there were 5 adults and Kate and I all squished in Kate’s room “negotiating”. But even a simple Chinese conversation sounds like yelling to Kate and I.

On Sunday, after moving our suitcases into the apartment, Kate and I ventured to Carrefour, the “Walmart” of Taipei. We bought everything from shower brushes to clothes hangers (key in Taiwan w/ no clothes dryers) to slippers (this is also a MUST as outside dirt can never be trekked in to the home, school, etc…). It’s funny, but after living in Taiwan for only 5 days, overhearing someone speak English has become strange. You just expect to hear Chinese gibberish everywhere you go.

I’d like to focus on some specific surprises/moments/anything of interest now to entertain everyone back home.

• The Streets – Many aspects of the streets in my neighbourhood of Taipei (Tien Mu) may or may not surprise the readers of this blog. Traffic is INSANE (and that is the only word to describe it. Intersections can have up to 6 different roads leading into them and U-turns are an accepted and standard vehicular maneuver. Pedestrians, despite the signs at every intersection that state, “Pedestrians have the right of way,” are never safe while crossing. Thus, it is extremely important to always stay alert in order to avoid being hit by a car/bus/truck/bicycle/scooter/another pedestrian/an opening umbrella (they do NOT look before opening those damn things!). Crosswalks all have a countdown with an animated “walker” on them and they can give you anywhere from 10 to 100 seconds to cross any size street (I have yet to figure out what this time depends on).

• Sidewalks – may or may not exist depending on where you are walking. Most alleys do not have them, despite the fact that many alleys function as main streets. As when walking across the street, one must be extremely alert while walking on the sidewalk. I have so far had to dodge: bikes, scooters (yes, they also drive on the sidewalk…), people, millions of vendors EVERYWHERE, stray dogs (there are a lot), poo (yes, dog poo on the sidewalk, Kate and I believe there is a street sweeper who removes this…), and a child peeing in the drain (I know).

• The food – okay, this is a favourite subject of mine. Before leaving Canada I was worried about what I would eat while living in Taipei (where the main food is fish, fish and rice). While there is A LOT of fish EVERYWHERE, it is easy enough to avoid. To my great surprise, I love the food here! Ordering food is one thing (very difficult, and often I don’t get what I meant to order, or I get laughed at) but eating the food is another. My favorite is: this breakfast thing (no idea what it’s name is) that is made by throwing scrambled egg on the pan, covering it with a circle crepe thing, fried (add bacon and cheese if you want), rolled and cut. This is served with a scoop of something that looks like soya sauce but much tastier and the whole thing taste delicious!

• It is HOT – very hot. Especially after such a cold summer in Oakville, Taipei is a sauna! Katelynn is not as affected by the heat as I, but the first few days I felt like I was going to pass out every time we went outside. However, once you walk inside a store, the school or even your own house (if the air-con is on) you’re freezing. There’s never really a happy medium. Despite the warnings I received regarding Taipei pollution, I see nothing. There are always random smells (fish, scooter exhaust, nasty un-identifiable smells) but when I look up in the sky, it is blue. Maybe it’s because wind currents sweep all of the pollution that the island produces over to Mainland China ☺. Probably about half of the people (mostly women) that you see walking around on the street have an umbrella up. They do not like the sun! The sun seems to have a different power over here, no matter how much time Kate and I spend walking in the blazing hot sun, we are not burned and barely tanned! It’s very odd.

I was positive before I left Canada that in one way or another I would succeed in making a fool of myself daily in Taiwan, and I was right. I entered a bakery in the fancy-pants mall that is right near our apartment and for the life of me couldn’t spot a bag in which to place the tasty pizza bun that was calling my name. I went to an employee and asked her what to do (assuming that Bakery etiquette must be different on the other side of the world). She called over her friend who then walked me over to the trays and tongs (which I didn’t not see before), picked up one of each, took the pizza bun, placed it on the tray and walked it to the cash. Then all SEVEN employees began to laugh. Humiliated, I paid and shamefully carried out my hard-earned pizza bun.

There are so many more things that I want to write about, but I fear that readers’ eyes will grow weary. All in all, when I look around while walking on the street I think of three things: 1) Take away the Chinese signs and replace them with English and this place could basically be Toronto; 2) I am truly on the other side of the world, if not on another planet, this place couldn’t be more different than everything I’m used to; and 3) Stop day dreaming and be alert or you will be hit by something! ☺ - L

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