There was some confusion as to what a "spinning class" is. I admit, when I first heard the term in Canada, I pictured someone standing on a little round disc and spinning. Not so- it's really just a glorified stationary bike. There's only one 'wheel' which is a disc at the front. There are 'brakes' on the wheel, which you can adjust with a tension knob. The seat and everything is adjustable, so you make it fit you, and then some person up at the front tells you when to peddle fast, when to turn the tension up, when to peddle standing up (really hard), etc. Sunday's are the best, R. is the instructor and is quite funny. Last week he played "unchained melody" today it was "where is the love?" and sang along! 

To celebrate Halloween, J., the drama teacher and I did a co-teaching thing. Actually, it was more like I brought each of my classes down to her classroom in the basement to watch her students perform Halloween poetry. It was fun all around, J. and I enjoyed the break and the students laughed alot. Most of the girls classes dressed up in costumes, like this group.  

Could life get any better?

It's the end of one of those "I love my life" days. Friday I finished tutoring, talked myself into going out to the pub for the Underground, and was, of course, so glad I went. Then back home, to have a great, long talk with my friend, C., definately a highlight of the week. It made me go to bed happy, then to wake up early for a GREAT Saturday class this morning. My grade 7 and 8 students are just so eager and participatory - and smart, too! I had a great lesson plan (that I wrote on the typhoon day on Monday) that filled up two hours with how to write "mystery" and what the writing process entails. I actually used the novel I'm writing as an example and they loved that. They want to read it as I write it. We'll see.

After class, to the gym, then to tutor M, also in writing. After tutoring, I stopped at Subway sandwiches for my first meal of the day, and then a quick run-through the bookstore (always a mistake). I was tempted beyond the point of resistence - I just had to buy the deluxe edition of Norah Jones "Feels Like Home" if for no other reason than to be able to wake up to "Sunshine". And the songs on that cd are so intrinsicly linked to my Charlbury memories, I felt it would be neccessary background music for writing my novel. And it has 3 bonus songs not on the N. American release!

After that, I came home for a 1 hour nap, then out to the 'suburbs' of Taipei to go to my church. No, they have not suddenly seen the light and started to meet on Saturday nights! (I wish!) Instead, it was a special worship service, partly done as an anti-halloween thing. It was great worship, like Tehilliah w/o Pastor H., and with strong alto singers in the worship band. I met up with two Taiwanese women, R. & J. I met last night at the Underground service, and we sat together. It lasted from 7:30-11, with only prayer and worship (no sermon). Oh, and some hawaiian dancers, which was the weirdest part of the night. It was really good, but then the pastor had us all get up and join in, and there was just something very surreal about being in church and trying to shake your bootie! You know you're at a different kind of church when....

Now it's just past 1, and WAY past my bedtime. Church friends have kept me up past midnight two nights in a row - and tommorrow is 'real' church. Whew- it's been a busy weekend, but have I ever been enjoying it!

Real, Juicy, Tropical...Pineapple!

For those of you who have been to a tropical country and eaten really, really juicy and deliciously sweet pineapple - eat your hearts out! I'm sitting in front of the computer at school enjoying each bite of heaven! I went to the gym for a spinning class over lunch, so I had to bring food back to eat at the office: An oriental chicken salad from Starbucks and a bag of cut and peeled pineapple and one of dragon fruit. I realized I never get to eat much fruit, so I'm making a point of going to the Fruit Stall lady whenever I go to the gym. It's about $1 a bag, and it's so good. I feel slightly guilty, but really, I never am home to buy a pineapple and try to get it peeled and cut up.

Today is Friday - thank goodness. Tonight I have tutoring right after school, from 5-6 - then I feel like I "should" go to the young people's group at my church (the one that meets in the pub) even though all I want to do is go home and read! Tommorrow it's up early for Saturday Class, then tutoring. Then Saturday, around 4, my weekend starts. THis is depressing - but I'm doing better at managing my alone time and sleep time during the week.

Is anyone else going to take the NaNoWriMo challenge? Come on - write a novel - what do you have to lose?

Getting ready for November!

Well, it's the end of October and the weather is hitting the low 20's. Thus, I decided it was time to get a coat. Luckily, I found the perfect store and the perfect deal: a outlet store that sells clothes made for export to the US. So I had my pick of brand name coats like Banana Republic and Abercrombie. I settled on a warm berry red coloured J. Crew wool peacoat. It's a lovely shade with my skin, and it has thinsilate lining so I'll be nice and warm. I looked it up on the website, and it costs $250 US! I got it for about $60 CND. I'll take a picture of me in it once I find the perfect scarf. I wore it home, and Carolyn and I thought about how everyone in Canada would laugh at me wearing a wool coat in 20some degree weather- but it feels cold!!! And I know I'll need it for November and onward.

There's also something I'm getting ready for in November, I'm going to write a novel. I know, I know, do I really have the time; but I decided this was the catalyst I needed to finally get writing. I'm signed up as a participant of NaNoWriMo, which means National Novel Writing Month. My novel's working title is "Plucking Blackberries" and I have it pretty much worked out it my head. But the rules are I can't start writing until midnight November 1! Check out the website if you want to know more or you want to write one too! I'm making a blog of my novel, but I'm not sure if I am brave enough to let you all know the site and know that you are ready as I write. It is going to be pretty bad, because it's going to be written in just a month!

www.nanowrimo.org

"It's a small world after all..."

So, Carolyn and I were out doing a little shopping to celebrate my tutoring being cancelled for this evening. We were at the big fancy department store, and we happened to be leaving just at the turn of the hour. And, lo and behold, there was a crowd of about 50 people watching this...a large "It's a Small World After All" doll clock. It was the first 'touristy' thing I noticed, so I thought it was worthy of taking a picture of.

This was my sunday morning church and communion - a book, a bible, some whole grain raisin bread with chocolate spread and coffee. Mmmm. Peace and quiet. 

The benefits of high winds and rain!

How funny that yesterday I was home the entire day and it was the only day so far I didn't post. I have a good reason, though: I was 'on task.' I felt that the typhoon day was exactly what I needed - a whole day to get everything done. Now that I have a computer and printer in my room - I don't have to share. So I spent the entire day working. First, I did a through copy-editing job of a brouchure that Dorcas asked me to edit: "The 60th Anniversary of FuHsing - 1947-2005" It had been translated from the Chinese, and made very little sense. So I spent a few hours retyping it and editing it. I had fun doing it, though, that's what I spent four years of university learning and practicing! And it's a real copy-editing job for my resume.
Then the rest of the day I did lesson plans. I finished all the Lesson Plans for my Saturday Club up to January, and my daily classes to the beginning of December. Printed them out and handed them in this morning. I feel so much better being on top on everything. Thank goodness for typhoons!

Natural Disasters- Round #2

So we survived Typhoon Aere the first week we were in Taipei, and then we had our first earthquake a few weeks ago. And here we go again. Last night, I was lying in bed, journalling about how I felt at home here, settled, and into a predictable rountine. Ironically, just as I was writing about predictability, the earthquake hit. We're on the third floor of the building, so I felt it a lot more than others did on the ground. Still, more fun than scary, everything is built to stand here. So earthquake #2 yesterday, and typhoon #2 tommorrow. Typhoon Nookdi (or something like that) is supposed to be the worst this year. We got the call 15 minutes ago that tommorrow is a typhoon day! (The taiwanese equivalent of a snow day). I was so excited I had to do a little dance. A day off!!! I can use one. And I have food and water, and I have no problem staying in all day and staying safe. So far my experience with natural disasters has been nothing less than joyous!
The only other news was that I am now comfortably set with my technology. We finally got the cable fixed for the internet on our apartment laptop, so it's so much easier now for me to post pictures every day. Then, I also bought that laptop I was talking about, and a printer (Canon s200 - just like the one I have at home, for about $50 CND) and an optical mouse for $4 CND. Today I spent most of the day rearranging and cleaning my room (it needed it) and now I have a little home office set up. Thankfully I brought all my curriculum stuff home on Friday, so I'll have everything I need to work on lesson plans and course structure all day tommorrow. Ah, life is good when the typhoon comes.

Taipei Traveller picture

This is me, today, after my Spinning Class. An hour of sweating - I literally could ring out my tank top afterwards. This is a self-portrait taken in the change room.  

A teachable moment. After my grade 5 class one day, I asked Jillian to take a 'fake' picture of me pretending to be teaching. But then one of my students ran back to ask me a question, and Jillian took this candid shot, which I just love. The uniform he is wearing is their sporty once, the older kids also have to wear a formal one with a little shirt and tie. On the board is the remnents of my "murder mystery" game.

This is another one of the pictures taken during our drama. THis is me (Canadian tourist - I borrowed the t-shirt) and two of my Advanced English grade 9 students, Jerry and Denny. THey were forced to be in the drama by Dorcas, because their English is very good.

This is a picture taken during our "Double Tenth Day" performance for the Taiwanese National Day. Jillian and I were pretending to be tourists/ teachers from Canada. Hence the T-shirts. The skit was written and directed by me, and I'm no good at drama - so I don't think it was especially interesting for the students, but Jillian and I did do a good job of making a fool of ourselves. (=

This is the other part of the school. I put a picture on before of the new Elementary School building, this is the old building, where the Junior High is now. It's five stories high, and our office is on the fifth floor, right at the end of the building. Here, you can see the school is decorated for the Taiwanese National Day, which flags in all the plants on the railings. 

I had a "super" day

This morning my 'boss' Dorcas came in to ask me an English question. Because I am the Advanced English teacher, I seem to be the one to ask very hard questions to. Today she wanted to know what the difference between super and superb was. Yeah, try to think that one through!
What did I say? Well, my conclusion was that super is slang and superb is formal English, but both mean the same thing. I said that you would say super in a conversation with a friend, and superb in a piece of writing. I hope I'm right, because that's what's going on some student's test. (=
Today was Thursday - Grade 6's. But I got out my frustrations over a lunch time Spinning class at the gym. Carolyn went with me, and we sweat our way to relaxation. It was quite funny, this instructor had an interesting taste in music. When he put on a techno / Chinese version of the Price is Right
theme song, Carolyn and I cracked up! But no one else thought it was funny.

Laying the smack down.

Well, for the first time I was driven to the point of having to "lay the smack down." (A phrase I attribute to my friend C). I was inspired by my Chinese co-teacher in Grade 2 Yi this morning. She gave a 5 minute lecture to the kids about how they were disappointing her and not showing me respect. She then made them all bow and say in unison "Sorry, Miss Carole." And they actually were sorry. The culture here and the fear of shame make such talks very effective. And my Grade 7 Boys II pushed me to it. And I think I did a very good job for the first time, by the end they all looked so remorseful and shamed. Ha-Ha. The power of a teacher. But they did deserve it, we'll see if it worked next week.

Today was the first day we went out to lunch with some of our Chinese co-teachers. Their English is just as good as ours so it isn't a matter of communication, more a matter of culture. See, most of them are single women in their thirties, who still live at home, and who's mother's make their lunches to bring to school each day. Seriously. So we go out while they eat their lunch boxes. But today three of them took us to have Japanese noodles, which were quite good. And it was nice to get to talk with them in a relaxed setting.

Paper Dolls?

Today has been a rainy Tuesday. I, as usual, am quite enjoying this cool and melancholy day. I've heard that this cool fall (well, cool is 23-25 C!) means that the winter is supposed to be especially cold - someone even said it was supposed to be the coldest winter on record. Oh well. I bought a pair of thick orange fleece sweatpants today for the equivalent of $4 CND, and I'm thinking of getting another pair, so I'll be nice and warm for the winter.
Today for lunch I went to the "Himalyan Kitchen" our local Indian restaurant. I had to sneak out of the school early so I could go by myself, I've found eating lunch with people everyday is minimizing my people skills. Too much extrovertedness! The friendly Indian waiter dude was so friendly, he was quite talkative. When he brought my leftovers, he said something, and I wasn't sure what he said. It was either something about how he packaged my leftovers or about paper dolls. I was confused, so I did the smile and laugh thing. When I went to pay, he repeated himself, and it was that I had a face that looks like a paper doll. That's an interesting compliment!? I suppose most paper dolls are white. (= I thought it was very sweet, it made my day.

The Nouveau Riche

Well, I've officially been paid and I'm ready to save. I'm keeping my budget of $250 NT a day, the equivalent of $10 CND a day. I spend most of it on food. And today I set up my bank account so I'm saving lots. (That statement was mainly for Mom).
And more money is coming. I just got asked to do my third tutoring job, this time it's one of my Grade 2 girls. She got an 88 on her English test and her mother is worried. Yes, an 88 is a grade to worry about. So, she's a sweety and I think it will be fun. I'll have to stop after this, I'm getting too busy. But the money is good, and I'm still having fun!

Stop kicking the table!!!

Well, Karen, Carolyn and I were out to lunch on Friday at the NY Bagel Cafe. We were sitting comfortably in our little round booth, munching on our grilled chicken sandwiches, when the booth started rocking. I looked at Carolyn grumpily and thought "Stop kicking the table." She looked at me and thought the same thing. Then we noticed the entire building was shaking, and the lights were swinging back and forth, etc. Ohhhh, an earthquake! It didn't last that long, but it was pretty exciting. THe earth really does rock back and forth, and you really do feel it! (They told us later it was about a 4 on the richter scale in Taipei). It's fun as long as you're in a city like Taipei where are the buildings are built earthquake proof so you know your safe. But that was my little excitement for Friday, oh, that, and finally getting my first pay. I'm rich!

"Today is Friday - Happy Friday!"

I just got finished with my favorite grade 2 class. Every day I write a letter to the class on the board, and today it was in the shape of an airplane. The best part is getting to write 'Today is Friday- happy Friday" because I am just as excited as they are! Today in class we spent 15 minutes on a rabbit-trail about Buffalos. We discussed what they were, if they were only in the US, if you could eat them, and why they were different from Bulls. My conclusion was that although both have horns, the buffalo has lots of hair and the bull doesn't, right?
Last night we were invited to a fancy "welcome" dinner at the Principal's house. (the apartment below us, actually). She's a lovely lady, very driven but a commited Christian. The best part of the evening for me, was that her son is into computers and he just got a new laptop, so he was looking to get rid of the old one. Well, I jumped right in and said I was interested before anyone else. I looked at it and it's a great deal, only 3 years old, with all the newest software, etc, for $200. So I said I was definitely interested, and it's a good thing I said something first, because afterwards all the other teachers said they would have bought it if I didn't. I haven't actually bought it yet, he's going to switch it all to English and let me borrow it for a week or so to see if I like it. But, I think it's exactly what I want, and at a price like that, what's not to love?

Something New and Different: A social life!

Well, it had to start sooner or later. I officially have a social life, and it seemed to pop up all at once. This week is super busy, meeting a new teacher from Alberta (my age), having a "welcome dinner" at the Principal's apartment, meeting with Katrina (the liason who hired us in Toronto), and going to the first "Underground Fellows" on Friday night, the brand new 'singles group' (that sounds so shady) at my church Oasis. Actually it meets at the local pub "The Pig and Whistle" in the basement. Hence, the underground. I think we're all having a meal together and sharing, etc. Fellowship / community all those good things. Sounds like it should be a good time, although by Friday night I'm pooped, so I'll have to have a nap on the bus there or something! I realized on Tuesday night that I'm not going to be in my apartment to do anything other than sleep until Saturday! I even shower at the gym, so it's really just go home to sleep and get up and go. This 'on the go' lifestyle is still quite new and exciting, although I'm certain it will soon lose it's appeal and I'll want to just go sit quietly by myself somewhere. Until then, party time!

that old 'run over by a truck' feeling

Well, yesterday I spent 14 hours at school, with a half an hour break to go eat lunch, and fifteen minutes to get dinner to bring back to the office. I was quite ready to jump off a cliff. Today, my manageable headcold has turned into a fever/killer sore throat / fatigue sinus cold, and Thursdays are my "Grade 6 Gauntlet" (I hate my grade six classes, not personally, but as a collective.)
The reason for the long hours is that this week we are giving our section tests, and I made the stupid decision of giving them a writing assignment instead of a multiple choice test, so it's taking me about 2 hours to grade a classes assignments. At 18 classes, it's going to be a very full weekend.
But I have that adrenile rush I used to get during university finals week - it's the feeling of pushing yourself to the absolute limit, knowing that it will all be over on a set day, and everything will be okay again. For me that day is Wednesday, almost there. Until then, I'm fighting the tendency to curl up on the office floor and sleep.

Life through the lense of a sinus cold

Well, it's the first day of the new week, and I feel like I need a weekend. I have a sinus cold and my head is complaining. I found myself staring off into space and mindlessly smiling during the grade 2 class. But I did get to do some fun games with my grade 5 kids, because they handed in their section assignments. I made up this murder mystery game that includes the characters Ms. White, Mr. Green, Mrs. Brown and Scarlett. Sound familiar? Actually, the kids quite enjoyed it. I wrote the characters on the board, and they had to figure out the story by asking me questions. Turns out Mr. Brown paid Scarlett to murder Molly the maid with a baseball bat. Who knew?

Hours, hours, and hours of frustration - and finally, success! Here it is, a blog with all my pictures and stories. The combo of BlogSpot, Picasa, and Hello; get my pictures from my camera onto the website in less than a minute. Proof? This is me, a minute ago! (= I'm using the laptop, connected to the very short internet cable from the real computer in our office. It's now 6:30 on a Saturday night, and I've been at work all day. SoI'm officially starting my weekend and going home to eat leftover Indian curry and watch Alias.

One of my grade 7 boys classes. This is a one of my top 3 favorite classes, oddly enough. They're very well-behaved and enjoy participating. 

It rains here, it seems like every day. Usually we just take umbrellas everywhere. But this day, it started out so sunny, the three of us were fooled into thinking it would be nice weather. NOT! When it was time to come home from school, it was torrential rain time, and we ended up throughly soaked, but it's always fun to get throughly soaked as long as you're not the only one. 

This is another dinner courtesy of Foresight. We're having hotpot - you pick your raw food, then dump it into the boiling pot of oil in the center of the table. Not especially tasty, in my opinion, but it was quite an entertaining eating experience. 

We're officially in love with Milk Tea. If you live can, go to your nearest bubble tea outlet and try a Rai Chai, or a milk tea with bubbles. MMMM! It's just really sweet tea with milk served cold over those bubble things. 

I had to show you one of my students. This is Cathy, and she's one of my favorites (even though she's in Grade 5, which overall is one of my least favorite ages). She made me the cutest Teacher's Day card and gave me a beaded star.  

Taiwan is great, they have a "Teacher's Day" holiday in honour of Confucious' birthday. We had a special ceremony at school, and this is us at the special luncheon they had for us. I got gifts and cards from my students and it was overall a very enjoyable day. Yeah for Confucious. 

This is Jillian, the other foreign teacher at Fu-Hsing in our office. (Jillian doesn't live with us in the aparment.) My desk is back in the corner. It's quite a nice working environment, just the three of us, and it's a good place to get work done. 

The thing to do here is Night Markets! Everyone seems to go here to eat, or shop, or socialize, and they are all over the city. This picture was taken at Shilin Market. I really didn't fancy it, too many people, too much noise, and the smell of "stinky tofu" everywhere (yes, it really is called stinky tofu and it's a taiwanese favorite, and it REALLY stinks). But it certainly is colourful. 

The Fu-Hsing house all dressed up on the first day of school (camera was on a timer). Me, Carolyn, Nina, Karen and Justin. 

The Grand Hotel, Taipei. This is one of the few Taipei landmarks. I pass it every Sunday on the bus ride to church, and it's very impressive. 

This is pretty much just for Kathy and Heidi, who understand the importance of pretty shoes. Everywhere I go here, are shoe stores full of wonderfully girly shoes. This was a table at the night market, and all the shoes were pink or yellow. I was struck by the beauty of it. Unfortunately, I have no need for pretty shoes, and the only shoes I've bought are a sensible beige pair for work. )= 

One side of my room, with the bed, headboard, my huge photowall courtesy of my photolab summer job and spare time, and my new cd player and ikea lamp. Since this picture I've added a hanging mosqito net, you'll have to imagine it.