Michael posted a few weeks ago that he felt we were settling into a groove. I agree with him, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been change, surprise and adventure. In fact, there’s just as much going on as when we arrived, but we’re giving the individual events less attention; perhaps as much attention as they deserve. Our colorful life is becoming normal.
Some news:
1) I got a job – well, two. I teach a total of 6 hours each week, for two different cram schools.
2) My first semester is finished, and I passed my final with flying colors.
3) I got a haircut that I still don’t like very much.
4) Homesickness has hit.
5) We’re starting to notice little funny things about this culture.
1) Teaching: At one school, Joy English in Taoyuan, I teach for only half an hour in each classroom, doing whatever their Taiwanese teacher wants me to do that day. Because of this, I see 8 different classrooms in a week. Their ages range from 5 to about 15 – so there’s a wide range of English proficiency too. I have found that I like it. A lot! Teaching comes so naturally to me it’s almost surprising. God has given me a gift for passing along information, and for the first time I’ve been given a chance to really use it!
The other school is in Nankan, a town about 20 minutes from us. Michael mentioned this place in one of his earlier posts, “Settling into a groove”. He has posted on a website that he’d be available to teach, and got called up by Jimanda English School. We both went on a Saturday, and I watched as he taught for a few hours. Afterwards, when Michael told the owner that he could only substitute every once in a while because of his busy schedule, she promptly turned to me and said we should keep in touch. Ha! I had some problems getting a hold of her again, but once I did, I had a job instantly. Hard to believe that she hired me simply because I’m a native English speaker…but I can say with confidence now that she’s kept me on because I’m a good teacher. There, I teach for two hours at a time – two one-hour sessions with a group of middle school students. I am loving my newfound independence, using my talents, being more busy, and seeing more of daily life with the Taiwanese.
2) First Semester Finished: My classes are different from Michael’s – I actually attend a “school” that’s officially separate from Ming Chuan University. It’s the Mandarin Study and Culture Center – and although we use the MCU campus classrooms, the staff has office space on campus, as well as countless other connections – I guess it’s just separate. This program uses trimesters, so the end of our first semester is next Thursday. While Michael’s been studying for midterms, I’ve been studying for my final, which was yesterday. No telling why we had our final before the last day of the semester… but regardless, I feel I did very well. Testing, especially in this class, is always encouraging to me because I can see how much I’ve learned. Praise God, I’ve learned so much in the past few months! I can now read some signs on the street, talk some with strangers, and at least understand the general gist of what people say to me. Of course if the conversation only spans family, weather, time of day, entertainment, food, clothes, school, or something else very elementary, I have a lot to say. Unfortunately, most people don’t spend all their time talking about how many classmates they have or how many shoes there are in the room. Still, it’s been so cool to see my brain absorb and spit out this foreign language!
3) Haircut fiasco: My hair hadn’t been cut since Christmas, and was getting on my nerves. So, I did the most logical thing a person in my situation would do: I cut 6 inches off. This would be fine, if I didn’t do it in a Taiwanese beauty salon where I couldn’t exactly communicate what I wanted. The young lady cutting my hair tried to understand, but in the end she just went with her instincts and cut my hair the way she normally cuts black, straight, thin Taiwanese girls’ hair. Unfortunately this just does not work with brown, wavy, thick American hair. I wanted a few layers, but instead I got majorly thinned hair starting at about my chin. It looks funny and my hair actually looks thin for the first time since I was, what, 5 years old? I’ve gotten more used to it, but it’s still a bad haircut for me. Oh well, live and learn.
4) Missing Home: It was Joel’s birthday a few days ago, and since my family was all together to celebrate, I had a chance to talk to everyone on Skype. In the week leading up to his birthday, I started thinking about my youngest brother and how amazing he was. That has started a chain reaction of seriously missing my family. Talking to everyone and seeing their face, laughing about silly things, catching up on news and telling them about my life here has made me realize how much I love them and how huge of a place they hold in my heart. Michael’s been so wonderful with his comfort, but I really, really miss my family. The reality of being in a very different place has started to hit. Please pray for Michael and me.
5) Quirky Culture: Getting gas for our scooter the other night, I looked around and noticed some essentials for sale by the pumps. Here’s what you can buy when you’re in a hurry: tissue paper, cigarettes, candy, water, and bottles of soy sauce. Yes, big bottles of soy sauce rank up there with being able to wipe your butt.
There are nice, dirty, abandoned dogs hanging around everywhere. They’re sort of life neighborhood pets, instead of belonging to one family in particular. These dogs hang out in little packs or alone, wandering around in the road, the local convenience stores, my college, or basically anywhere. They’re harmless and seem completely content to have no home. It’s still pretty weird for me to walk into the 7-11 on the corner and see…a dog in the aisle. He’s just hanging out, having a blast watching people buy stuff. What’s even more weird is that no one cares about the stray dog, not even the store owner.
It rains quite often here, so people are always prepared with a small umbrella on hand. I’ve never been to Seattle or New York, but I’ve seen the pictures of the masses of black umbrellas. Even in Lansing, black is the most popular color umbrella. Here, however, when it rains it’s like the circus came to town. I’m not sure I’ve even seen a black umbrella yet. It’s not just the girls that go to town with crazy colors – the boys have multi-colored gear too.
Michael’s discovered that it’s considered rude to wear flip flops to class – these are only for wearing around the house.
There’s been a lot more, but that’s all I can think of right now. If you come visit, you can witness all these fun quirks for yourself!
Recent Comments