First day of school!

Things are off to a smooth start at Tai An Elementary, everyone is very kind and welcoming, and a lot feel comfortable speaking to me because I understand their Chinese... they don't feel the pressure to use English. If they can't find the words, they just use Chinese and I understand, which is pretty cool.

There was an assembly this morning, it is so different to an American school! The students had to stand in very straight lines in exact rows, and the teachers walked around correcting students posture as commands were being barked at them like "attention!", "at ease!", "kneel", and "sit!". So interesting. But the students didn't make a peep, no one had to tell them to quiet down, it was truly amazing! The principal introduced all the teachers to the students, and last but not least was me, the "young, beautiful, intelligent foreigner". She also told all the students I could speak Chinese. Oh well, now they know.

Lunch was cool, they have vegetarian food for us, and then the woman who really reminds me of 淨媽媽, I don't know what she does, I think some kind of secretary, but her size, shape, tone of voice, and talking speed are so similar, it is really amazing.

Most my classes were canceled today as it is the first day, but I djd have one 6th grade class. I was warned that the levels were varied, but I didn't think they would be SO varied. Some students were great! They understood everything I said with no help or translation at all, whereas others didn't understand a word, they even could not remember their English names! One little boy was really cute though. He forgot his name and I brought over a name list for him to look at. He picked the name "Roy" because it was only three letters. I really feel this name suits him so well! I saw him later on in the hallway, and I said, "Roy, don't forget your name!" and he looked at me blankly. Then he yells something at me in Taiwanese, none of which I understood except for the last two words which were "Tia bo!" which means "don't understand". So I walked back and said in Chinese, "Remember you English name, ok!" and he was so shocked that I knew what he said. He asked, "Do you understand Taiwanese?" I just smiled and said "A little". Such a cute kid, I'm sure I'll have a lot of "Roy" stories by the time this is over...

Another thing in class was that I had the students work in groups to come up with questions they wanted to ask me. Sure enough, one group asked, "do you have a boyfriend?" I repeated the question louder and asked if everyone understood the question. The giggling told me they understood. Then I asked everyone who thought I had a boyfriend to raise their hands. Every single kid raised their hand, it was so funny! I asked everyone who thought I didn't have a boyfriend to raise their hands... not one. When I finally told them I had no boyfriend they seemed disappointed... "not even in America?" they asked me. I might let them ask a few more questions next period :)

Deepest sympathies

I woke up this morning and checked my email to find a disturbing email from my Dad, that Kelly had tried to get ahold of me as her niece Adyson had been in a terrible accident. Later, at the office, I checked myspace and was deeply shocked and saddened to find out that Adyson had not survived, and passed away at 23 months of age. She was a bright and beautiful little girl, and my thoughts and prayers go to her and her family in this tragic time.

Scooters and AC

Life is good when you have air-conditioning! Mine busted a couple days ago, so have been sweltering--fortunately I had an electric fan to get me through the nights. But came back from the office today on my borrowed scooter (SO fun!) and I have a brand-new perfectly-working air-conditioner.

I went exploring around town a little bit after the speaker ended for the day. I was told there was a cool bookstore called Caves that had a lot of English books, so I thought I would check it out. I only got a little lost on my way there, but found it in the end and it does have a pretty good selection of mostly bestsellers. To say learning English it popular here would be an understatement... they have an entire floor of books devoted to learning English at all different levels. Quite amazing really! Even more exciting is that when I get my teacher's ID I can get a 20% discount card. Sweet!

I have had a request for pictures of my apartment, but actually apartment may be a bit of an overstatement. It is more like a hotel room with a large mini-fridge and sink. But it has a double bed, two desks, a TV with cable, and a wardrobe. Pretty comfortable really. Anyways I'm not quite finished setting up, but when I get all situated I will take a picture, I promise!

I will be meeting my colleagues on Thursday... how exciting. I hope I will be a good English teacher.

In the apartment

Temple in Alishan












Well, all moved in! Yesterday Qiuxing (秋杏) came down on the bus from Xinzhu and took me to get bedding and towels, then we did some sightseeing on her nephew's scooter. It was quite entertaining because she was driving me, and I'm this huge white person, legs practically dragging along the street, being driven by a mid-forties aged small asian woman. We turned a few heads, that's for sure! As far as the place I live, there is a supermarket two blocks down which is awesome. It has a lot of Western food there. There is also a vegetarian restaurant a few blocks down so everything is pretty convenient here.

I should meet the people at my school on Thursday, but I'm told they will love you because the teacher at their school last year was a bit crazy, and wore see-through mini skirts to teach and whatnot. So I imagine it will go well :) Today, off to explore the area around my apartment.

Finding an apartment!

At Chiang Kai Shiek's Mausoleum (蔣介石)

Antique bed I used at Qiuman's (秋滿) house

Hi All~

Well the last blog I posted is actually a little outdated, I have gone to Alishan and back, and have been in Taizhong for a few days already. But I wrote that post before I could hook my computer up to the internet, and decided to put it up anyways. I have been attending the “new teacher orientation” which has been somewhat helpful but a lot of wasted time, oh well I’m getting paid. I’ve been staying with another English teacher from another school here in Taizhong named Sheryl, she’s in her late 50’s (I’m guessing—didn’t actually ask that question) from Texas, and quite a character. She has taken it upon herself to correct the Taiwanese whenever they transgress American cultural norms. Her only words of Chinese are “thank you” and “you’re welcome”. She also says 沒有 sometimes but it sounds like she is saying mayo. 很好笑! Entertaining to say the least. I think I’ve found my own place at last, not too far from the school I’ll be teaching at. 15-20 minute bicycle ride I think, but I’ll check that out this weekend I think. The important things were that it has a mini-fridge and TV, plus it is pretty good sized one-room place. At least it is bigger than the room I’ve been living in at CTTB.

On the whole, I've been very well looked after by everyone. I have nothing but good things to say about Dewey Recruiting too, they have been so helpful from the beginning. I've see some scary things on the internet about recruiters, but I relaxed when I got here, they are all great. They drive me to see apartments, take me shopping, everything. If you're thinking about coming to Taiwan, definitely check them out it is worth it.

I miss my friends and family though. Much love going out to everyone!

Sightseeing

What a great start to Taiwan! Got through customs no problem, and 秋滿 (Qiuman),秋杏 (Qiuxing), and 秋滿’s husband were waiting at the other side of customs with a little sign that said “Kylee Bennett”~~ how cute :D As soon as I stepped outside I was hit with the beautiful warm (85 degree) and humid air of Taiwan. Feels just like Hawaii! (aww, Annie!) We went and got breakfast- sandwiches and tea- the sandwich for me was bread, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, and… PEANUT BUTTER! That’s right… peanut butter and tomatoes. It tasted good though. Next, we went to Chiang Kai Sheiks’ Mausoleum, it was a beautiful park dedicated to the leader of the Nationalist Party who had fled to Taiwan in the 1940’s. (He was the guy who was fighting Mao ZeDong- leader of the Communists). What was interesting was that they had collected all the statues of him throughout the island of Taiwan and displayed them there- because now there is a huge rivalry in Taiwan between the Nationalist Party (who Chiang Kai Sheik was the founder- they want “unification” with China) and the Democratic Party (who want Taiwan to be an independent country separate from China) so members of the DP were vandalizing the statues. So in a big park there are around 140 statues of him. It’s really interesting. They also had a changing of the guard ceremony that reminded me of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington DC.

It was cute, too, when I was walking along with my hosts, we walked past a little girl who looks at me and shouts, “外國人!” which means “Foreigner!” We all started laughing and then 秋杏 said, “you should get used to that!” I thought I was a minority in CTTB—but I didn’t see another white person there the whole time.

We went and ate at a vegetarian restaurant, it was delicious! The food is fresh and tastes great. After going home for a quick nap we went to 新竹 (Xingzhu) to walk along a beach trail and watch the sunset. There were hundreds of people on bikes doing the same thing. Then we went and ate at another vegetarian restaurant- again very delicious. I guess there are a lot of vegetarian options in Taiwan because so many people are Buddhist! Awesome!

Tomorrow we are going to 阿里山 (Alishan) in the mountains; it is famous for its beautiful sunrises. Getting to see some sights before heading to 台中 (Taizhong) to start work. I’ve posted some pictures for you all to look at!

two days to go

Sorry all my friends I didn't get a chance to see before I take off to Taiwan... hope you all forgive me!

I just read my last blog-- how boring, sorry it is so systematic but I guess I've just been putting one foot in front of the other, don't think too much or my brain will explode. Tomorrow morning I'm making my last trip to the City-but I can't think about that too much or I will be sad.

I realized yesterday I have never been out of California for this long before. When I was in NZ it was only half a year. But these last couple days I have been strangely excited. It will be such a different experience.

I will take a lot with me, wonderful memories and experiences-- treasures I will always have.
Thanks and gratitude to all those who have been positive people in my life- you know who you are ;)

Preparation

Well, I'm heading to Taiwan a year earlier than I had originally planned, so I've been rushing to get things ready for the trip. I am a bit nervous-- I've never taught English as a second language before, although through the Sonoma State Credential program I have supposedly received "training" in this area...

My first step was to prepare a resume and cover letter, it wasn't too hard as I had begun this process for my Sonoma class. Then I googled teaching in Taiwan and started looking for advertised jobs. I found several agents that immediately offered to help me find work. The first was "Footprints" based out of Canada, they even conducted a phone interview with me. However, they haven't been in too much contact. Mirela Ploesteanu from International Avenue in Taichung/Taizhong/台中 who has been really helpful so far. (I really don't like the old-style romanization of Taiwan cities... it just sounds wrong to me.)Then there is Mickey Ho from ESL Dewey- also in 台中 who says he can help me get a public school job... even though I have a BS in soil science when I've heard I need a BEd. He assures me I just need the teaching credential and I'm cool. We'll see. Andrew Liu from the same agency helped me find a place in 宜蘭 but it is a 補習班 and I was thinking I would try out teaching at a proper school (private or, if possible, public) first. Anyways, can't commit one way or the other until I get there, so I just have to be patient I guess.

Did the CPR class then hand delivered my stuff to the credential office at SSU (working against the clock! i need that paper! why oh why did i put this off for so many months?!) Took several sets of passport photos, got another official diploma from HSU (my original is framed) went to the Taiwan Visitor's Center in SF and got a visa. So looks like everything is going to work out ok, 近育師的妹妹 will come pick me up from the airport and help me get set up. I also have had 近育師 record some things for me to say, like "Thanks for coming to the airport to pick me up, I hope I am not too much trouble." and "Could you help me take a picture?" Haha, I'm gonna die.

Just kidding, things will be fine. I have so much help from good people. Two weeks to go!

I hope I am doing the best thing.