Only 9 more weeks of teaching!!!

Hello everyone!

Since the last time I posted, not too much new, but some fun adventures.

We did all the things we wanted to do last weekend, and with much success! We had a delicious lunch with my Aunt Julia and Grandma, and then went to the temple for Andrew to thank the gods for taking care of him and not let anything else happen to him. My grandma asked if Andrew wanted to pull another fortune, and then we all laughed, we definitely don't want to go there again! Who knows what fortune telling he would get?!

On Sunday we went to the Taipei World Trade Center Hall 2 to enjoy the Int'l Food and Wine festival. There was a cover charge, but lots of free samples and wine! Got to eat a really good Salami sandwhich, mashed potatoes and gravy, ice cream, saw a cooking show with a French chef, and see Sweden's most famous chef walk by (the festival was mainly sponsered by IKEA). Not to mention the copious amounts of free alcohol they were handing out everywhere. Afterwards we went and saw the "final" chapter of the Star Wars saga. As we were walking out, I said "At least there's a happy ending at the very end of it all." (Alluding to the actual final chapter when Luke saves his father from the dark side.) Andrew's reply was, "What do you mean?! Anakin turned to the dark side!" And then I found out he hasn't really seen the original three episodes, so I'm not sure he really got the significance of everything that happened. I told him that when we get back to the States, I was making him sit down and watch the original three episodes, which I own. Flabbergasted, was I. Not privvy to the Force was he. (HaHa? I'm a dork, I know.)

Today we went to the Taipei Puppets Theatre and saw a play performed with Taiwanese hand puppets on a 100 year old hand puppet stage. It was really cool, and I'm glad we made it out in time. Tomorrow we're going to try and catch a comedy show for the expat community in Taipei, and explore the Tienmu area, which is supposedly the largest expat community in Taiwan, or so I've heard. (Which means a lot of foreign food restaurants! Woo eating!)

Not much new at work, briefly had a guy named Alex fill in for Maggie's old position, but he was only there for a few days, and no one has told me why he isn't working for us anymore. Oh well, just a few more months and my kindergarten kids will graduate! On a happy note, when Vincent's mom told Vincent I was leaving after he graduated, he was very unhappy and said that he would come look for me when I went back to California. How sweet!

Work Update

Well, everyone at my work is quitting. As I told Mei, "It's going to suck with everyone gone!" (She replied, "You're speaking to the choir.")

So WHY is everyone leaving? Because my boss is a lying sack of crap.

Here's what happened. For the past two weeks, we have been folding fliers that advertise our school. There are two papers that must be folded just right, a pencil must be added to a packet, and there are about 3000 of these things. OH, and the fliers were wrong, so each one had to be changed three times by printing out the correction and glueing each and every one. Pretty tedius stuff, you can imagine. Long, boring task. But my co-workers didn't complain more than the usual amount you'd expect; they did it, they grumbled about it, but who would want more (pointless) work, right? (I should add that they did a lot more than I did.)

But they did it. And sure, I can't understand Chinese, but they did it with what seemed like only a little grumbling. But one day I was talking to the new teacher, when she said, "Sssh! Sssh!" And she was listening to our boss, JoJo, talking on the phone. She got more and more angry. Then two other teachers heard, but only a little bit. Apparently, what she was saying, was that the teachers were complaining the whole time, that they were doing a horrible job and all this other bad stuff. Of course the teachers were pissed, right? (For the record, I think they are GREAT. Not beacuse I am biased.) So they had a meeting the next day, they talked about what they heard, JoJo said no no, I was talking about someting else, but they all heard her talking about EVERYONE. She lied to them. At the meeting she told the new teacher that if she was going to spread rumors, she might as well just not come back the next day. So after the meeting, Jade said if that was ho she was gonig to treat her employees, she wasn't going to continue working here. Another teacher already is going to leave in early June, and the last one, Ocean, who didn't hear the conversation but was told about it, isn't gonig to stay, either.

Later, JoJo told a co-worker, well, yes, I did say those things, but it wasn't about you, just the new teacher. But again, everyone heard otherwise, right? I came in right after the meeting, and everyone was back at work on the fliers, saying this and that in Chinese. I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut, but Briget and then Jade started to cry a litte, too. Jade because she felt bad that they didn't stick up for Briget enough, and at what happened, Briget because nobody wants to be treated as she was. I thought the other teachers did well, and stodd up by quitting.. Jade didn't want to say straight out that she is quitting because she is a liar, in case she wants to work in the Sulin area, but she wanted her to know that she was leaving BECAUSE of her treatment of them.

So everyone is jumpin ship, from mid to late June, I think. Sigh. I am really happy for everyone, of course, but I am really sad for me. Work will be... much, much worse. (Mei is saying, I imagine, welcome to my world.)

Sometimes I thought JoJo lied because of the communication barrier. But, no, she is just a pathological liar. They told me I had one hour on the internet. I followed that, probably only 20 minutes a day. Then they put a password on the computer, so now I can't even use it for Word. Hahaha. And she says she doesn't know why or how it's tehre, even though she called the guy to come, and I saw him work on it. Yeah, she told him to put it there says the other teacher. Haha, I don't care much, for me, it's not a permanent job so things just roll off my back. No worries, hahaha, it's actually funny. But if I was one of my coteachers there, where it isn'twasn't permament... well, then it's no longer as funny.

By the way, I had to do a demo yesterday at another school. After 5 minutes, people started leaving! The kids were really energetic and excited, and I didn't think it was going well. Oh shit, I say. SO we keep on going, futilly, I thought, as after about 15 minutes everyone was gone. Uh... ok... it was supposed to be 30 minutes. Anyway, luckily i heard from Clark later that they said that I did a good job, but since I was going to be there only until September, what was the point? Haha, phew! That made me feel much better. I still don't think it went well, though, but hearing that I understand WHY I felt that it didn't go well. I can't wait to hear what JoJo has to say: you sucked, and they didn't like it because you sucked. Hahaha ok, JoJo! Whatever you say! Hahaha.

So I haev NO internet at work. My emails are really gonig to be few and far between. I can't stand the smoke much more, and since I need to do my apps online, ugh, the horror, the horror. So sorry, my emails will be less. Give me your addresses and I will gladly write more.

Ok, off i go. Take care!

Friday the 13th was a-ok, but not Sunday the 15th

Well, Friday the 13th came and went with little incidence. I told the kids how in the States, Friday the 13ths are unlucky. But being in Taiwan, we must be excempt.

Sunday the 15th, however... the misery started when I went to feed the turtles. Where's Robin? Oh no, did he climb out of the tank?! Oh, no, he's upside down under the foam. That's.. not.. good.. Well, our super climber, the little guy with spunk and who we had to spend 5 minutes feeding because he was so small that the other turtles gobbled his food.. he passed away. I didn't realize how much he meant to me, since I even passed a few tears. Yes, I cried for a turtle. But he was no common turtle, he had personality like a mammal, he was our climber, he was the one we hand-fed for so long, our baby because he wouldn't eat. The other two are voracious monsters that if they died, well, too bad, but Robin, I guess he meant more to me than I thought!

Anywho, we also did laundry on this evil day, and my pants are all now pink. Damnit. So... I need to go shopping. Sigh.

But today the sun is out, and it's a brand new day. Just beware those Sunday the 15th in Taiwan.

Quiet, uninteresting week for Mei

Hello everyone~

It's been a quiet week for me. Work is much more dull with Kate gone, the mornings start a little later because she would usually have the kids set up with breakfast by the time I got in, and now Jennifer is in charge, and they don't start moving tables and getting ready until I get there, and Ted picks up kids, so they come in past 9. (Ted is always late for everything.) And I don't really have anyone to talk to, I always feel a little awkward talking to Jennifer because she is more of a superior than a co-worker, plus she's always really busy.

I'm definitely sure that Kindergarten teaching is NOT my calling. My patience with the brat kids in my class is definitely starting to wear out, and their graduation cannot come soon enough. Although Friday was fun because in Science we talked about how seeds turn into plants (I'm a science dork at heart) and our math was starting to learn about basic multiplication. It's a really great feeling when something clicks and the kids start to get it. We were practicing with a peg board and a rubberband. What is 2x3? Well, put the rubberband on 2 pegs on top, then pull it down 3 rows. How many pegs are inside your square? How many times did we add 2? How much does that equal? We played a game to see which table could figure out the answer the fastest, and I had them pulling out their rubberband to make a 5x7 square. Everyone got a big kick out of it. :)

Next weekend we will head out to LungTan to have lunch with my aunt, and have Andrew "bai-bai" which is a form of praying to the gods, so hopefully he won't keep getting sick. My mom is pretty adament about him going, considering her fortune and my fortune were pretty on target, so Andrew's was probably a sign. (Mine said something along the lines of me feeling lost in a foreign place, but that I would soon find my way home.) And maybe try to see Star Wars since it comes out on the 20th! Woo! And there's a Swedish festival being held in Taipei next weekend, which I really want to go to.

Got to ride around with Andrew on the scooter, he's definitely getting better everytime he's on it, and I am not shutting my eyes in terror as much. And, I don't know if I should mention this for the sake of his mother's health, but, becoming more and more like a Taiwanese driver. Watch out San Jose, he might be an Asian driver when he gets back home! heehee! Andrew is becoming more Chinese than I am!!!

A vengeful Buddha, sucking mufflers, and near-death related experiences not on the road

Well, life continues to interest in Taiwan. Following my past message, my hearing began to be a little, um, less in my left ear, the ear not associated with the original ear infection. Which got me intrigued, you see, as to what exactly was going on. So I went back to the doctor's, who told me "No worries, nothing is wrong with the ear, you just have some pressure from the remains of the infection. You still have something in there." So I saw a picture of my ear, and there was actually what appeared to be a small indention. Which looked like something wrong to ME, but hey, I'm not the doctor. (My hearing is now a-ok after even more meds!)

Interesting note in trying to get to the doctor's. I took a taxi to get there, and gave the card of the clinic to the driver to get us there. But he didn't know where it was, even though there was an address on the card. Well... so I ask in vain for four other taxi drivers (I didn't realize the location of the address, and since I can't read Chinese, it wasn't obvious to me, but I saw it later AT the clinic.) But then finally I came accross this one crazy driver, who was blasting what had to be a combination of Shania Twain and Bon Jovi. He says, "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I KNOW I KNOW!!!!!!!!!" He was a middle aged driver, not someone who you'd call hip, and he says of the music, "You like??" And I say, "Yeah, it's ok.." And he just blasts the hell out of the music even more, and I look to our doors and see he added nifty speakers. Ah, man, it was crazy. He was just rocking away, nodding his head to the music, and we were blasting the music louder than any teen in their rockets... I can't describe how funny this was without putting the picture of the guy here, but I don't have it. Anyway, I get kick-ass drivers, I think. He was awesome.

I had another medical situation when my spots on my stomach were spreading. Hm. I have red spots on my stomach, not painful or itchy, but all of a sudden they were spreading. Hm.. better get this checked out, I say. And no, it's not cancer, just some irritant. The doctor who checked me out has a son who will be going to Stanford in the fall. Iiiiits, a small world aaafterall... anyway, they're almost all gone now, and one less worry.

What I didn't realize is that my woes are due to Buddha. When I went with Mei and her family to the temple for food ( a long time ago), I had my fortune told. That fortune said hey, convert to Buddhism. It also said, you'll be sick. So now I have to go back there and say I am sorry for doubting Buddha, and my illnesses will go away, so says the Buddhists. Who knew that Buddha was vengeful, and wreaked mayham if you doubted him/it?

As for sucking tailpipes, I'm borrowing Kate's scooter while she is away. It's a blast to ride; initially, I was apprehensive because turning left is a bit difficult (on major roads, if you have the green light, you have to pull over on the intersecting road, in a box in front of the cars and the cross-walk, and then wait for the green light and go staight). Also, I don't have a license, and the driving is much more different (way more of a free for all, if it hasn't been adequately described here before). None of the foreigners have a license, of course, and it's not a big deal: my co-worker doesnt have one "Because I'm too lazy to go," she says. Also, everyone says the cops are scared to talk to foreigners, so no big deal. Worse case is you have a fine if you're caught. My boss is trying to convert my license in the states to a license here, but that likely won't work; I'll have to take a written test, haha. It's likely not even worth it getting the stupid license. I've had the scooter for a week so far, and no problems. I now feel confident enough driving that I can tell my parents, haha. The only problem has been that it has been raining heavily all week; when it's raining, there's no point driving because I don't feel like getting soaked, I just take the bus to work instead. But there are so many scooters and cars on the road, you feel like you're sucking a tailpipe! It's so gross. The pollution is horrendous.

Hope you all are well; I miss you guys!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello again!

So after talking it over with my parents, I will be staying in Taiwan and won't be in the States next week. This week was pretty depressing, and Kate's leaving didn't help! We went out with Kate and Clayton last night for a late dinner and midnight movie. We ended up seeing Kingdom of Heaven, thought it was relevant and ironic. It was funny because Kate kept saying we should see a movie, and she fell asleep two minutes after we sat down and slept through the whole thing. (She had stayed up the previous night to finish packing.) Today we went to a really nice Vietnamese restaurant to have lunch and say goodbye to Kate, her train left this afternoon for Tainan.

I'm afraid to go to work now, we were short staffed before, I have no idea what we're going to do now to cover the front counter if Jennifer needs to go somewhere. I guess they'll call Auntie (our cook/janitor) down, which must suck for her. Elementary school ends at 12pm in Taiwan, so they have "anshingban" for kids to go to get help with their homework and have somewhere to stay while their parents are at work. So Auntie has to cook the Kindie meals, as well as lunch and snack for the 30+ kids that go to Key West anshingban, and the staff (which keeps decreasing). 11 weeks left!

To my Mom: Happy Mother's Day!! Thanks for all that you've done for me. And Happy Mother's Day to all the hard working moms who don't always get the recognition they deserve!

Did you know?: You have to pay to go to public school here? So basically, you have to pay for any kind of schooling for your child. And a lot of public schools have uniforms with matching school bags that need need to be payed for. Most kids go to some type of anshingban, or bushiban (the cram classes), and music lessons. Some of my kindergarten kids already have full days, with dance lessons, arithmetic class, and piano class. Never mind they already go to an expensive All-English kindergarten that goes from 9am-4pm. They invest a lot of money in their children in this culture. Thoughts?(Post a comment!)

Been a while

Well, I'm essentially internet-free at work, now. I technically get an hour a day, buuuut they are hard-core watching over me now. Which means I have significantly less time online. As you may have noticed. It makes sense, they want me actually DOING something, which I can't argue with. However, because they don't pay me when I am not teaching... what else am I supposed to do? (Mei's answer, practice your Chinese, which is a good idea since I haven't picked up my book since Feb.)

Annnnnyway here are just some random thoughts:

Reason #148 why you shouldn't have a car in Taiwan. As if finding parking isn't hellish enough, there are so many things lying about, ready tocause destruction. Take poles, for instance. Coming home today from seeing Kate and Clayton, this... I don't know what it was, van-type thing scrapes the hell out of its side. I mean, it was backing up, turning, and it turned around/on/through a pole. Whoops. FAT dent...

Child labor. We were making flier packages at work, which include a flier (which we needed to modify *3* times by crossing things out and changing the price twice with glue and paper, grr), and who better to help? The kids! Haha. Hey you, come here. Fold this. And today at the internet cafe, two... 9 year olds? help us find our computers (remember that internet cafes are smoky as you can imagine). And Todd's caddy in the Philippines...

There's no reason why I don't have a scooter here. None at all. (Oh, except the whole danger/no license thing.) I need to change that.

The genuineness of my co-workers is really amazing. Jade, the mother and person who helped organize the feast for my parents is truly remarkable. I don't know Debby that much, because she speaks much, much less English, but Ocean is also extremely cool and they are people I am really going to miss. So my co-workers are great, if I haven't made that clear.

I finally saw what Taipei looks like without people. No, really, it's true, it happens. It just happens at 3:00 in the morning. Trippy as hell.

Mei found a tag, in English, on a wall saying, "I love Milk Tea!" I just have to get a picture of that.

Fantasy baseball has been the joy and curse of my online experience this past month.

I've gone movie-buying crazy. $4 movies just seems to say buy me, buy me. That's only a little more than renting them, right? I should wait until I go somewhere else, like Bali, that sells them for $1 each.

Time to go catch up (finally) on some emails. Hope you're all doing great.

Not sure what to say...

To "Tommy" who posted a previous comment, we will be out of Taiwan and hopefully home by Thanksgiving of this year, 2005. If you are coming in 2006, then we will miss you. So sorry! Best of luck with your ex. If you need any other assistance, we would love to help you! (Tips on living, working, travelling, etc.) Just drop an e-mail or something to get in touch with you personally. We can hide comments so that it isn't open for everyone to see!

And back to the regularly scheduled program....

Work is, I guess, back to normal. No new drama, other than this being Kate's last week. Sadness. I will miss her a lot, and work is going be a lot harder to go to now. At least I only have 12.5 weeks left! (Not that I am counting down or anything...)

The weekend was tiring, but fun. Got to hang out with GaGa and Nicholas and their family, they made an American style lunch with stuff that Nicholas' mom brought back from the states, it was delicious! On Sunday it was hanging out with Andrew's student and family. We went to Yeiloo, where they have funky stone shapes next to the ocean, and an ocean park, with a dolphin/sea lion show and a u.s. diving team show. Quite fun!

Just found out my grandma passed away last week, so I might be in the states next week for her memorial, need to figure some stuff out. I would feel pretty bad if I didn't go.