In the tropics and freezing! 16 March 2014

What's with the weather here! I checked on a map that we are 100km north of the tropics and its been really cold! If it's not raining it's around 10 degrees and cloudy. We've been missing the sun terribly! So much for sunny DaJia!!

We just completed week 2 of our year here at Hess in DaJia and what a hectic 2 weeks it has been!

In fact we got here Thursday 27th Feb by train from Taipei and spent the first two nights in a somewhat dingy DaJia hotel...on a round bed nogal! We got introduced to the branch staff on Thursday and were then treated to a vegetarian lunch. To say I no longer tolerate lots of carbs is an understatement! The lunch options were either rice or noodles, and not wanting to appear as fussy as I really can be, I opted for noodles, which were very tasty...I didn't say I don's like carbs.

We then had our very brief "branch training" in which I could barely keep my eyes open (carbs)! Not a problem I usually have after lunch any more. We then went to see 4 places the branch staff had picked out as possible apartments for us. Taiwan has a "clean after you move in" culture, which is quite strange to us. All but one of the places we saw were a mess. The first place was the right size but in a serious state of disrepair, the second place, in the same building was huge and would just have been too much for us to maintain, and furnish. The third place we saw was smaller, was relatively clean and was very conveniently located. The last place we saw was a 3 story house which was once again way too big for us, but it was immaculately clean. Someone pointed out that, had we taken it, we could possibly have rented out the top floor to someone in future. 

We settled for the third place, on the seventh (ground + 6) floor, near the train station. It is 10 mins walk from work and conveniently situated. The local fresh food market in 3 mins walk away, there is a 7-eleven, a supermarket and numerous pharmacy/toiletry stores, similar to Clicks or Boots downstairs.

Friday 28 was peace day in Taiwan, commemorating the 228 incident in which KMT forces massacred hundreds of local Taiwanese. We spent the day walking around DaJia buying supplies we would need when we signed the lease the next day. 

We could only move in late on the 1st as the landlord wasn't available on the holiday. We spent the day buying a bed, a plastic wardrobe and some other odds and ends. We arranged for our bed to be delivered after 8pm!

Signing the lease was quite frustrating. The landlord spoke no English, so we had to work through Selena, one of the branch staff. I would ask her to ask something and they would speak for 10 minutes. I would get a short answer, ask another question and get another answer 10 minutes later! I need to learn the language!!

That Sunday we realised that there were a number of things we missed on Saturday so we went and did more shopping. We definitely needed a table and 2 chairs as working at a bed just wouldn't work. We got the stuff delivered after some more translation by Selena on the phone. I found that we hadn't been charge for the chairs so I asked Selena to help. Turns out that the store owner's child is at the school, so no problem!!

Teaching Week 1

Then our first week started. I think to say we were thrown into the deep end is a major understatement!   We are replacing staff members who are leaving and the head English teacher went on holiday for a week so we had a full schedule from Monday! Four teaching hours a day, with observations (2 hours each) three days that week. Considering we spent about 2 hours planning a 2 hour lesson, as we are completely unfamiliar with the material, we were exhausted! 

I had an early Saturday morning class, and after doing some laundry, the rest of my weekend was spent planning! I had three lessons in a row on Monday, which I think I mostly did justice to. The rest of this week was pretty much heads down, exhausting hard work. It's sad because at the moment I'm not really enjoying it, there are moments of pleasure when some kids look up at you and nod or smile or laugh, but mostly it feels like I'm not quite doing it right. 

Renalda and I made a realisation last night or this morning though. We need to plan the lessons we find easier first. Just like exam technique... the harder work takes longer and puts pressure on you to do the easy work in a shorter amount of time. This week we will get the easy wins done first, it will make us feel more confident and give us more time.

We're still loving the food here, it's great! I'm a whole animal person...if you are going to do an animal the injustice of killing it, give it the honour if eating it all. Taiwan does this! If you go look at the fish meat store it is all there and you can buy everything from liver to tripe at many restaurants.

Renalda and I make breakfast every morning and it is usually eggs with some freshly bought vegetables and kimchi. The market, as I said earlier, is 3 mins walk away so most mornings I roll out of bed and stroll or jog to the veggy lady to buy some "tshing tsai" (green leafy veggies sold everywhere). I'll  post a picture of a breakfast one day when I remember, but I think we are eating quite healthy...

I hope I didn't bore you with my long update, but nothing particularly exciting has happened for some time!