Venturing Around Nearby Places

Last weekend Matthew and I decided to try and fix up some old bicycles that have been abandonned at our place. We got them cleaned up and in working condition, well, as long as you don't want to change any gears that is. We cycled around Erlin, and mostly ventured in the direction away from the downtown core. We came across a lot of green. I was actually a bit surprised at how many farms there are, and how many different types of crops people seem to grow. Some of the stuff I could not identify, but they each had some pretty intricate looking irrigation systems. I am sure there was a bit of trespassing on our part, but I feel like no one really cares too much about that here. I do not know what kind of plant this is, it's not very tall, I was crouching down when I took the picture, but there were quite a few farms with these crops. You wouldn't be able to tell that there are so many farms from our place. We live pretty close to the downtown core (and within a week or two will be in the downtown core), but a 5 minute bike ride will get you to farmland. It's as if someone decided that the apartments and townhouses would stop at a certain pointt, and behind them would be farms. It's a bit odd. We get the noise associated with city life, yet, a bike ride 5 minutes away will get you the peaceful sound of nothing. We didn't see any cows or big animals. Most of them seem to only have crops and a couple had some chickens. We did find one farm that specialized in raising duck and one for frogs, but other than that we didn't see any traditional farm animals, so the smell of poop wasn't really a factor, excluding the chicken ones.

We continued to venture towards the outskirts of the township and we found a cute little temple but it was closed. I am not sure if it is still in service, it was located in the middle of nowhere right beside a river. It wasn't too far from a deer farm we found. The deer farm was depressing though. Essentially, it's a place where they raise a lot of deer, pen them up in tiny cages; they don't have enough room to move, just stand there in the same position all day, and then kill them. They kill them for meat but they also make some kind of drink from the deer as well. I have no idea what kind of drink or whether it is alcoholic or not. It is of a light brown colour and is sold in bottles that resemble wine bottles. We didn't stay long there, just long enough to realize what the place was about.

Our bicycle ride came to a halt when people were stopping traffic and loud music was playing. We thought it was parade, so we figured we'd wait and watch it. It wasn't very long, but there were big drums, costumes, fireworks, the whole nine yards. At one point we thought perhaps it was a funeral because of some of the traditional things they were doing, like burning paper money. When someone dies, or when you visit their grave, you bring offerings so they can have these things in heaven. For example, you would leave some fresh fruit at the grave, or you can buy this paper money that you burn so the deceased person will have money to spend in heaven. During this parade, they made a big pile of this money in the middle of the intersection, and then they set it on fire and left it there! The only thing that made us doubt the funeral idea was that everyone looked too happy. We watched it all until they turned down an alley, and then we continued onwards. We came across a huge space of rice fields and when we were almost home we found a temple that looked fairly new. It is very small and hidden between small traditional houses along narrow roads. The sun was starting to set so we decided to head home and Matthew was very unsure how much longer his bicycle would last; we almost didn't make it.


The next day we headed to the nearby city of Changhua. I had wanted to see the big Buddha, also known as the Buddha of Baguashan; it is 100 feet tall and you can walk inside of it, climb to the top and get a beautiful view from the eyes and ears of the statue. We took a bus to Changhua, and walked to the buddha, there was a little hike involved as it is located atop Mount Bagua. I got quite the exercise that day as well as a ton of mosquito bites. I do not understand how I can be that much tastier than Matthew, he seems to have gotten none. There were a couple of temples to see and a great view of the city. The weather was nice, it was a little overcast, but no rain. The buddha was huge and within it were some gods you can pray to, as well as some statues depicting some scenes of Buddha's life. We kept climbing narrow staircase after narrow staircase as I had told Matthew that we are supposed to be able to get a breathtaking view of the city from the head, as according to National Geographic. We were both surely disappointed as the top floor was closed off. No view from the eyes and ears for us that day.

We headed back out the buddha and looked at the nearby temples. Matthew tried to set up a picture with us standing at each of the elephant statues located near at the entrance. He didn't want to ask someone to take the picture for him, so he set up his tripod and everything. He shoots with film, so we never know if the picture was a good one or not. He put the camera so far away, because he wanted to get the whole temple, that he had to run like mad in order to be next to the statue before the shutter went. He tripped on the first attempt and totally botched that picture; the locals got quite a good laugh out of that. And so we had to try a couple more times, as we didn't hear the shutter click the next time. Eventually we got it. After exploring the temple, we found a koi pond, and in case you didn't know, I seriously enjoy feeding fish. It's kind of weird, but I always have lots of fun feeding them; so simple.


After I had my fill of fish we headed back down to the city and went for Teppanyaki; you sit down and they cook in front of you. It is considered Japanese fast food here and it's pretty cheap. Matthew is obsessed with it and he hasn't found a place in our town, so anytime we our elsewhere we have Teppanyaki. After being stuffed with chicken, beef, cabbage and beer, we hopped on the bus and headed home.

Coming to the End of Training

The first two weeks of work are over, which is almost all of my training. This week I've begun teaching with an assistant and I must admit, I've been a little nervous. It's not that I get nervous talking in front of people, because that doesn't really bother me; it's more about the students. It has been a weird experience being here as there seems to be mix responses about me, everyone seems to know that I'm a foreigner, but a lot of them are constantly asking me if I speak any Chinese. The only time I am mistaken for a Taiwanese is when I am standing next to Matthew; maybe it's my eyes. The school is interesting. The classrooms are for the most part small, but then again, there doesn't tend to be too many students to a class; I think 15 has been the maximum number I have seen yet.

I always thought I would prefer to teach older students as they would be less trouble; it would be easier because they would already have the basics down so I wouldn't have as much of a language barrier problem. This is untrue. I have taught two classes of teenaged students and they were not easy. It's not that they are mouthy or unruly or anything like that. They are very well behaved and they are very outgoing with their Chinese/domestic teacher, but when I take over they become very quiet and reserved. At first I wondered if my accent makes them nervous or maybe they don't understand me. The last foreign teacher was from South Africa so he certainly did not have the same accent. I've come to realize that they fear not being good enough with their English abilities only around me. When I was finished with my lesson I sat in and observed the rest of that class, and when their Chinese teacher took over they were back to being social. I should tell you that when I say their Chinese teacher, I mean a Taiwanese person takes over but they teach the students in English, so they are always speaking in English, not in Chinese. The students seem to do fine when communicating in English with the domestic teachers, but not me.

The younger students are actually amazing! They are so enthusiastic and they are not yet afraid of making mistakes so they try and participate in class. This is very good news for me, because I am unable to see how much or how well each student is doing if they refuse to say anything. The younger ones are a bit exhausting though because I have to play so many games with them, they love to stand and run around, but the rooms are so small we have injuries on a daily basis. It's okay though, they're young and bounce back quickly.

This week looks to be my last week of training but my schedule looks like I will be the busiest teacher there. Unlike the others who have specific classes they teach and they always have the same students, I jump around everywhere. Some teachers even stay within a certain age range, so they only ever teach the young ones or maybe only the older ones who are preparing for college. I however, move around all over the place. I only ever teach new vocabulary, and maybe some dialogue or grammar. I never teach the K.K. which is what they call the pronunciation or the sounds certain letters make. I teach all levels of classes all over the place. Some teachers have maybe three classes a day (and that's a lot for them) but then the next day they don't have any and just hold office hours. If my training schedule is anything like my teaching schedule, I will have a minimum of two classes a day. Unlike the domestic teacher, when I make a lesson plan, I have to consult with the domestic teacher to make sure I will not teach something she (they are all women) wants to teach. I am supposed to have 25 teaching hours a week and hold 12 office hours a week, so having a meeting with the co-teacher (domestic) is probably the most difficult task. They are pretty busy themselves and after school hours, they want to get out of there, but I have something to do or at least be somewhere at every minute of the day, so planning a meeting with them tends to happen between something or at the end of the school day. On average I have been leaving work about an hour to an hour and a half after school closing time. I am hoping that things slow down or I may have to get used to a very hectic schedule. At least I only work 5 days a week!

The Move

I had a subbing gig on my birthday in Hsinchu. That was quite the experience. I taught three different classes, all of which had a vast difference in student behaviours even though they were all roughly the same age. It went pretty well though, and it was really nice to make some cash. I must say that some schools here make it very easy to teach. This place had a manual that broke down everything and told me what to do. And I mean EVERYTHING. Like, step one: teach them a basic meaning of the following words and go through spelling as they will have a speeling quiz next Wednesday. Step two: blah blah blah. Step 3: Play a game with them: Pick two students and have one close their eyes and the other describe a student sitting, and have the student with their eyes closed guess which student is being described (that's right, it even said exactly what kind of game to play with instructions). It was so simple. I'm pretty sure absolutely anyone could teach at some schools here. After I got paid, in cash which is super convenient, we went out to dinner. We hit up a proper Japanese restaurant where we sat on the floor and it was damned delicious! In case you didn't know, I really like Japanese food and could probably eat sashimi every day of the week. However, this was definitely a splurge kind of meal as that bill alone was significantly more than what we had spent on that whole week's worth of food (but it was worth it)!

The next day we decided to try the lantern festival again. Yet again we did not get to see any lanterns get released into the sky, but we did get to see the massive lanterns that had been submitted to the national contest. Some of them were ridiculously large. I have no idea how long some of these must have taken to construct, like this Gundam Wing character. It was still a pretty interesting night nonetheless.

Sunday afternoon we decided we needed to head back to Taipei to get the rest of our stuff. We stayed at the lovely hostel near Taipei Main Station that we had been to a few weeks prior. All I can say, we spent are night restlessly trying to kill mosquitoes who had woken us from our slumber. Although we killed many, with blood smears on the wall as proof, we still got eaten alive. I have a disgusting amount of red bumps and I also have this terrible habit of scratching them until my skin is raw. After that fiasco, it was time to catch the local train to Yuanlin. The train ride was just under three hours, but it was certainly worth it; beautiful views and the prospect of a job, visa and free accommodations for a year is great. Matthew seems to be in love with Taipei, perhaps because it is the largest city on the island, or perhaps it is because his old high school mate lives there. I, however, must disagree. Everytime we travel south, I like the more southern area better. Erlin is located in Changhua County, just south west of the city with the same name. It's about a 2hours and 45min drive south of Taipei, and a 2hours and 50mins drive to the southern most city. So, we are pretty close to half way on the west coast. The weather has been beautiful since arriving here, nothing under 22 degrees celcius thus far. And this is winter and apparently one of the coldest months; there hasn't been any rain here either (unlike Taipei).

On Monday we got aquainted with our "temporary" dorm room. It was occupied by the last foreign teacher and I swear it had never been cleaned. We also found out that the showerhead was clogged and the water leaked from the bathroom into the bedroom. But don't despair! We got a new room, one floor above it! Matthew spent the day cleaning it but it looks great, and the last tenant (a female) kept it clean and had even bought some things for it, like a wardrobe and a new showerhead. This apartment may also be a temporary one as a newer building will be available on April 1st. It is currently under renovations. I am hoping that it is nicer or at least bigger as this room will probably get to be a tight fit with two people living here. I anticipate we will get in each other's space within the month. This week I have been in training at my job and so far so good. People are pretty chill and super friendly and are always willing to help others in any way.

Wheeling and Dealing

On Monday I headed out to Erlin Township, outside of Changhua city. I took the local train to Yuanlin station where a very nice girl, the admin assistant, picked me up and drove me to her little town. We pulled up to the school, which was located right in the main downtown area which was great. I met most of the staff there and then had an interview with two teachers and the admin assistant, but not the director (he wasn't there that day even though I had been told otherwise). The interview went really well and they had lots of questions for me, some of which had nothing to do with my work history or education, but with my experiences during my European travels as a flight attendant. After the interview process I thought I was going to need to do a demo of my teaching abilities, since that seems to be the norm here, and I was told the same for this position. However, there was no demo needed, but they did want me to sit in on one of their English classes, taught by a local teacher, and give feedback on how they teach the class and suggest any improvements or ideas I may have to improve their classes. I did what was asked but felt a little bit like an ass. I am not a professional educator nor do I know anything about how to run a school or what teaching methods work better than others. It was pretty entertaining to watch nonetheless.

After that we took a walk around the town, I saw the outside of the building in which my provided accomoodations were going to be (but not the inside, they forgot the key). We headed back to the school and they took me out to dinner. Yum yum, hot pot! I knew what a hot pot was, but had never had one. They included an egg, which I knew I needed to cook and I thought the norm was to hard boil it. After double checking with the girls whether I needed to cook it or not, I dropped it into the bowl and the three of them start laughing histerically. Why? Because apparently I am supposed to crack the egg into the bowl and cook it that way, not hard boil it. I had no idea what was so funny and I didn't realize what I had done wrong, but they scooped that egg out so fast, as if I had committed some horrible act!

After dinner they walked me to the bus station where it was very obvious I am a foreigner. I got on the bus to Changhua train station and got on the train and headed back to Hsinchu. The teachers must have really liked me because the director decided he would meet me half way between where the school is located and where I have been staying. Last night Matthew and I headed to Taichung to meet the director. There was a mix up as he believed I had already seen the contract and didn't know why I had so many questions that should have been answered in the contract. Me not having seen a contract meant that I would be negotiating. Here in Taiwan it is normal for people to work six days a week, they are workaholics for sure. I however, am not and I made that very clear. So, I will be working five days a week, for the same pay, still get a provided apartment but an even bigger one than what was going to be provided, as I used Matthew as another person who will be living there. I will be moving there next Monday and should be signing the new and improved contract at that time.

Today, I am back in Hsinchu, and I am subbing at a school here this afternoon. I have two different grade 2 classes and one grade 1 class. I have been told that it should be super easy as everything will be laid out for me. The other nice thing is that I will be getting some money, woot woot! I will keep you posted on how it all goes, but later tonight I may be partying it up, perhaps even a little too hard. I am officially at the quarter of a century mark after all!

Partying Around the Island

We left Yilan and headed back to Taipei. There we spent the night at Grant's place and then one night at the wife of a diplomat's place, and then a few nights in two different hostels. Did I mention I have never been in a hostel before? I honestly had no idea what to expect. My life as a flight attendant made me use to some pretty nice hotels; it was always on the company dollar of course. The second hostel was much nicer than the first (we had our own private bathroom), however they were both pretty good; their locations were amazing. The first was located right downtown across the street from the Taipei Main Station. That was great because I got an interview in Hsinchu and took the High Speed Train there, so it was super convenient.

The job however, I turned down. It just felt too sketch for me. I'm not an idiot when it comes to legal documents and contracts, so I will not be signing my name on a blank one. When the employer just beats around the bush everytime you ask a question, even one concerning pay, it's not a place you want to work. It was certainly an experience though. I show up at a building that looks like an office, but it's completely gated and has cameras everywhere. A woman finally comes to open the gate, I am told to wash my hand at this little low outdoor sink and use a bar of soap that looks like it's been sitting there forever. The water was ice cold, and I didn't have anything to dry my hands. I enter the school and meet the assistant and I didn't know what to do. Do I shake her hand even though my hands are soaking wet and cold?  Wouldn't that just be gross and rude? She reached for my hand so I apologized but shook it anyway. I had to do a ten minute demonstration of my teaching abilities and then had an interview with the principal, assistant and executive (I did not know what those titles truly meant). The interview didn't seem like it was going very well and I thought they had no interest in me, but out of know where I felt pressure to accept their job. They kept telling me that if I want the job I had to sign the contract right now, because they have another interview at 2pm; it was about two minutes to. Once I realized that they weren't going to answer my questions and actually thought I would sign a contract with no pay indications or any real information in it, I simply told them that I would take the chance and think it over. I didn't leave there until about 2:30pm and no other potential teacher showed up. Either they were pretty late, decided not to bother (very common here) or simply did not exist. Despite that they were very nice people and helpful enough to order me a cab back to the train station. However, that's not enough for me to accept a job when the school tries to take advantage of me because I am a brand new teacher and they think I am desperate or stupid. When the school is desperate for foreign teachers (as this one had none in sight), no tactic is too low for them.

I headed back to Taipei. Matthew and I decided to switch it up and moved to a different hostel in the Shilin district of Taipei. We were lucky enough to find one right in the mist of the night market. It was great, walk downstairs and they we are; great cheap shopping, street meat, crafts, noise, smells, everything. It is quite something to see. The picture does not do it justice (it was a rainy day so there were less people out as well). Matthew did take a video that you can view here if interested:
http://pinterest.com/pin/550565123166119003/

 

We ate some interesting foods there as well, but I must admit, I was not as adventurous as Matthew. We ordered a plate of sea snails, but after watching him struggle to get them out of their shells, and some even had those two antenna type eye things, I just couldn't try them. Matthew loved them though and ate the whole plate.We wandered around the night market for three nights in a row because it's just different every night; the crowds, and even the vendors. One night, a guy came up with a tarp full of stuff and just plopped it in the middle of the walkway and was selling sweatshirts and t's.

During the daytime though there is no market and even most of the stores are closed. We decided to take a stroll to the Tianmu district of Taipei; Matthew wanted to check out a specific stationary store. Yes, stationary. Tianmu is the classier area; mostly rich Taiwanese or foreigners live there, like diplomats. It was a very pretty area but there seemed to be a lot of hills, which just got to be exhausting because we seemed to constantly be walking uphill and got lost so many times because google maps puts the store somewhere that it is not actually located at. We happened to find the store just by chance once we decided that we had enough and it probably did not exist. On our walk back we came accross a lovely street with some beautiful green trees that shades the road.

On Saturday we were invited to a Balck & White Masquerade goodbye party for a girl we met that night. That's right, we attended a going away party for someone we met just before the party began. Matthew and I did not know all the details, so I had bought a dress the night before at the night market. We got to Taichung and realized we would be underdressed, so while our friends got their hair and makeup done, I made us some masks and Matthew mostly sat in the salon. However, he did do a wine run! The going away party was for a girl named Melissa; she has lived in Taichung, Taiwan for seven years and has decided to move. She is actually a tattoo artist and is heading to Anthens where she will ride through Europe on a bicycle and tattoo people wherever she stops. She will have videos of her travels but she may also have a television show if the broadcasters decide they like it enough after she visits a couple of cities. She is originally from Montreal, Canada, so be on the lookout for her!

That was a very late night, we did not get to sleep until about 7am. But it certainly was fun! Sunday evening, we rushed back to Hsinchu with two friends who were at the party. What for? Well, for the Lantern Festival of course! The Lantern Festival is where people make pretty intricate lanterns out of paper and they release a whole lot of them into the sky. You can also enter your lantern into a competition. We really wanted to see them float in the sky, and the four of us drove around like maniacs on the scooters. No one seemed to know where they were being released, each person told us something different. Probably after about an hour of useless circling we asked an officer who told us it was cancelled due to weather. So, we ate some food, Matthew ate a fish eyeball, and we went home to bed. Monday morning I was headed to a little town called Erlin outside of Changhua city for another job interview.

Hopping Around and Learning

Well, dirving here is quite something. NO ONE needs to worry or concern themselves with anything going on behind them. It is weird. Just focus on what's in front of you, but at the same time people mostly anticipate what the other crazy driver is about to do. I don't even know why they bother painting lines on the road, because apparently they don't really mean anything at all. Be super careful when opening your car doors as it is common for scooters to come crashing into them, however, the scooter diver can sue you and will win every time. Bicycles are not as common but despite that they still get stolen all the time!

There are some interesting things I have learned here. Like for example, if you are a Taiwanese couple and get a divorce, custody of the children automatically goes to the man. However, if you are a foreigner married to a Taiwanese, custody will always be denied to the foreigner and always go to the Taiwanese parent. Another interesting fact about this country; teaching to kindergarten students, as a foreigner, is illegal. Yes, that's right. The majority of the ESL positions here are for young students who would be in kindergarten but the Taiwanese government does not want foreigners to be on the same premises as their young children. They believe that their children must master their mother tongue before learning a new language. It's actually pretty corrupt here. The big chain schools will hire foreigners to teach kindergarten, the officials will call the school ahead of time to let them know they are coming for an inspection. The school will notify the foreign teachers who will then either leave the school for a couple hours, or hide in a closet, etc. The big chain schools also pay off the officials and will not be busted. Some of the police officials are parents of children in these same schools. The same type of things go on in the smaller schools, but if the foreign teachers get caught, it's deportation. The reason, the smaller schools, mostly privately run, cannot afford to pay off the government officials and so they get the boot. In this case both the employer and teacher are in serious trouble. After the teacher is deported, the employer will normally have to close that school and open up a new school under a new name, in a new location and pay a fine, etc. So it's some pretty serious stuff. Henceforth, I have been turning down every kindergarten teaching opportunity that I have been offered.

On to the more positive stuff, this place is absolutely beautiful! After exploring Hsinchu we headed to Taipei, however, we did not stay there long; one night. We headed to Yilan to visit Stephanie. Stephanie was a girl who did a home stay with Matthew's parents back when she attended high school in Smiths Falls. She then continued to visit his parents on weekends when she was attending Queens University. Yilan is a very beautiful city, right on the East China Sea. Yilan is located on the north east coast of Taiwan. We got to meet her parents and see a little bit of Yilan. It was a very neat place; houses along narrow roads surrounded by rice fields.

Stephanie's family put us up in the Shangrila Boutique Hotel in Yilan. It was very lovely. We ate a huge buffet dinner and drank. Well actually, it was mostly Matthew doing the drinking. He just cannot be stopped once the Sake is out. After dinner we headed to our room for some zzzzz. It was probably the most comfortable bed I have slept on in ages. The next morning we got some FREE buffet breakfast. Before leaving we decided take advantage of their hot springs pool and the sauna. There is nothing better than pure relaxation. On our way out Matthew got caught trying to sneak a towel. Tsk tsk tsk! the little Asian woman came running out after him, all the way to the car. FAIL. The drive home was shorter than we had expected as we luckily did not get stuck in the crazy traffic that seems to be the norm here.

Fate...?

I have arrived in Taiwan!!! Woot woot! And I have the craziest story to tell you; it makes me believe in fate, hahaha! Our flight from Ottawa to Detroit was full and so Matthew (the boyfriend) and I were not able to sit together. I am not sure if I have mentioned that but essentially I told Matthew back in November that I needed to get out of Ottawa and once I left for Calgary in December (to visit my mother) I seriously consider this; that is when I was applying to jobs in China. Matthew followed me here and it has definitely been great so far and without him I think I probably would have been sleeping on the streets right now; he knows lots of people.

Anyway, back to the story. The flight was full and Matthew and I were separated. Our flight was also delayed because of weight problems; the airline had to ask for four volunteers to disembark the plane and wait for the next flight, thank goodness we weren't delayed by too much so we did not miss our connection. Matthew ended up sitting next to a man his age and they started talking; asking the basics like where are you headed, where are you from, etc. This man said he was headed to Taiwan, as our we! But actually this man has been living in Taiwan for the last 13 years. Matthew told him he was from a small town half way between Ottawa and Kingston; and this man is from that area too. He told Matthew that his town was called Smiths Falls and Matthew remembered him right after that. His name is Grant and they both went to high school together and were in the same year! Small world I would say. Grant accompanied us throughout our travels thus far. It has been great so far having him take us around and especially as he has been teaching English here in Taiwan for years and had a lot of great advice to give; we have learned tons of new information.

Grant made the long flight from Detroit to Tokyo more interesting and he had so many positive things to say about Taiwan, he really loves this place. We landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and took a shuttle bus (for $1CAD) to the high speed rail station. Then we took the train to Hsinchu (also known as the Windy City) where Grant was headed. We have made 5 new friends, all foreigners and also all English teachers last night; and spent the night here at Grant's friend's place. Grant needed to come here because his friend has been taking care of his dog and car while he was away for holidays back in Canada.

Today we are planning to take a walk along some park paths here in Hsinchu and later this evening we will head to Taipei with Grant in a car, so we will get to experience what driving is like here (they drive on the same side as we do).

The first day is ahead of me and I cannot wait to explore this place!