An Update from the Island

Chopsticks have now become my friend. No wonder there aren’t really any obese people here-you cannot eat food that quickly with chopsticks, so your body actually has the time to realize its full! What an amazing invention, and so effective. You also look so elegant and graceful, and around other Westerners, you feel pretty good. But, they have also provided many other issues. I feel as though I’ve turned into a slob and that my mother would not be proud of me. Because I’m a chopstick newbie, I must pick and pull, and lots of times food ends up on the table next to my plate! Some foods you just CAN’T eat with chopsticks. Tell me, how does one eat a drumstick with chopsticks? Try it. You almost feel like you could start a band, you’ve got so many tools. Also, think about eating a tough piece of pork. It hangs from my mouth because the chopsticks have no power to rip the meat from my teeth. So, my next question is, “Do I use my hands?” I don’t know! I do, but I feel really bad about it. The Taiwanese are big into using sauces and marinades, so the whole affair turns into a sticky mess from mouth, to fingers, to chopsticks. Other than that, I’m enjoying them. I’m getting lots of practice. We get fed at school, so we must bring our own chopsticks and see how we get on. The food is kind of…interesting. It’s usually a meat, a vegetable, and rice. You can also have soup and a fruit. But the meat is sometimes super good: like yummy cinnamon chicken! Or it’s the worst: like tough pork on the bone that has lots of fat, has gristle in the meat, and is IMPOSSIBLE to eat. But I load up on the rice in case I don’t like something else on the menu. One day I gasped when I saw full squids on sticks as one of the choices. My body was just like, “No. nononononononon.” Even watching my friend across from me rip the tentacles off with her teeth was something of a nightmare. I like seafood and meat, but I can’t deal with squidgy. Squidgy is the worst.

So, here’s the school update. You have your usuals: hardcore individuals who are like “I’m going to use so many fancy things and every piece of technology I can think of and my lessons will always be amazing.” And then you have the normals, which I hope I fall into. They say, “Hey, I’ll give it a try and see how it goes.” This school is like SIA in just a couple of silly ways. We only got our classrooms like two days ago! And we’ve been frantically trying to prepare them. The classrooms were just recently built, that’s why. So, they’re in a different building, and it’s a whole hallway of cool people, separate from the main building, and we’ve been labeled “The Outsiders”. I’m two doors down from James, and some of the other people in the hallway I hang out with a lot too! It’s cool. But, getting back to ways it’s like SIA. Things are a bit last minute. We just are finding out the first day schedule, which is basically hectic with opening ceremonies, and fire drills, and book collections, etc. I won’t even get to meet my kids that day! And…for the silliest part of all. We didn’t get our student desks yet! So, I have an empty classroom, with my desk, placed in an appropriate feng shui manner, as well as a few posters and some cabinets. That’s it! So, wish me luck as I scurry to sort them in an “academically appropriate way” that’s “conducive to student learning”. Blah blah blah. Let’s just get them in here and get the suspense over already! It’s kind of killing me. I’m nervous because I didn’t expect to be back teaching, and I hope I remember how to teach, and I’ve never taught this age group before and all that, but I’m also excited. I’m teaching English literature and US History to 8^th graders, so it will be quite the learning experience. It’s fun to dig back into the history part. Anyway, hope all goes well!

We got the chance to do a three day teaching trip where it was mostly teaching training sessions, but we did get to do two great things! We went on a river trek, and we got to ride bikes to help weed and plant seeds at a community that helps poor children in the area. This is on the eastern coast of Taiwan. The river was literally an emerald color. It was a beautiful refreshing cool, and we went hiking up over the rocks and through the rapids as it wound up and up towards the cleft in the tree-covered mountains. And the bike ride was probably my favorite thing of my entire Taiwan experience! It was slow and meandering and through a little town. The heat was immensely uncomfortable, but watching the little buildings, the side food stalls, and the view of the fields and mountains was breathtaking, refreshing, and relaxing.

Taiwan is great. It’s rainy and hot and mosquitoey, but it’s fun! We’ve met some lovely people to hang out with who have been our guides. Last weekend we went to the beach, and this weekend I started moving my things to my new apartment! So, things are coming together, but it’s been a long process. It already feels like home. I’ve even got upcoming social events on my calendar. So much quicker than DC. I think we’ll be happy here. We shall see. But the school has been extremely helpful and kind and supportive, and teachers in international schools usually band together to survive! Talk to you soon. I miss you all and always do. Don’t forget me!