Well my time in Taiwan is almost over. Tomorrow...or going by clock today is my last full day in Taiwan. Monday night I start what is to be a 3 month journey back to Australia. This journey will take me to Thailand, UK and USA. In many ways I'm sorry to see the end of this Taiwan experience. While I will return the next trip will be different....I'll know more of what to expect, I'll have a network of people here I already know....I'm not saying that is bad it's just going to be a different experience.
In someways I envy the new teacher coming in I mean yes while things can get ridiculously difficult here there is also all these new things she is about to discover, not only about Taiwan but also about herself.
While this year has shown me that maybe I'm not going to settle into a career of teaching I'm glad that I did it. That being said there is no amount of money in the world that would convince me to stay on any longer...at least for now.
So now my sights are set on Thailand, a new location, a new experience.....what could be better?
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
real post on its way soon
I'm exhausted today I was up at 7 and yesterday I was up a bit after 5. This weekend has been amazing. There are photos that need to be posted and whatever but I can't do it now.
I spent Sunday morning becoming better acquainted with the mountains and am completely smitten with the roads around the mountain areas.
Sunday night I was completely embraced by the family of a random girl I met in Jhushan last week.
Today I went and visited my orphanage again and got to know the worker better and had two babies fall asleep in my arms...(not together).
Work is busy, new project etc.
That's it for now, real post when I'm coherent....
I spent Sunday morning becoming better acquainted with the mountains and am completely smitten with the roads around the mountain areas.
Sunday night I was completely embraced by the family of a random girl I met in Jhushan last week.
Today I went and visited my orphanage again and got to know the worker better and had two babies fall asleep in my arms...(not together).
Work is busy, new project etc.
That's it for now, real post when I'm coherent....
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Road Trip 1: Sitou
Ok so today was my first real venture out into greater Taiwan and I decided to go to Sitou. One because it was highly recommended and 2 because I knew the general way to get there and 3 it isn't very far from JhuShan. So David and I set off this afternoon and all is going well. Except that due to communication problems we didn't actual leave JhuShan til about 2.30pm as it gets dark just before 6 here now that didn't give us a lot of time. We drove to Lugu which is the town I biked to last weekend and then went on towards Sitou. At first I was interested in checking out some awesome waterfalls but we missed the turn off so went right on to the end where we hit a national park.
Due to our lateness of departure etc we really didn't have more than an hour and a bit worth of sunlight left so we decided to give the national park a miss for the day and headed back down to try and find the road to the waterfalls.
After driving up and down a few times trying to find the turn off to the falls we stopped and asked in a tea store where we found a guy who spoke English. David was interested in seeing the tea plantations which were just beyond the falls so we asked about the road. At first everyone was saying it's too late which we took as meaning it's closed but really they were just saying that it is getting dark and thus not worth it. At first we didn't really understand but the guy explained that the road to the waterfall and tea plantation isn't like the main road it is narrow and poorly marked.....errrr ok but he did manage to explain exactly where the turn off was that we missed and we went on our way.
Now let me explain til that point we were driving on normal roads, 2-4 lane well surfaced roads. That ceased once we found the turn off for the waterfalls which looked more like a lane or driveway than a road.
The road was so beyond explaination. It was crazy...yet also amazingly exhilerating to drive. It was definately narrow quite often it narrowed to a point where they was about enough room for 1 1/2 cars....of course this is a two way road. Fortunately due to the time and the day we didn't encounter much traffic. So there we were winding out way around this beautiful mountain side on this little road trying to find some waterfalls. The road turned often and winded back on itself so much it was amazing. Top Gear would have a field day on these roads. So anyway with a bit of luck we followed the signage (Often chinese only) and made it to the lookout point for where I believe the waterfall is meant to be. We went passed that and saw some of the tea plantations and then doubled back and tried to actual see the waterfall.
There was a lone sign that pointed to clearing which held two paths. Both paths looked well dodgy. By that stage dusk was starting to settle and I took one look at the paths and the spiders that clung to the trees overhanging and surrounding the paths and decided I really didn't care to see the waterfall....The odd thing is though we couldn't even here the running water of a waterfall so honestly I dunno if we were even in the right spot though all the signs told us we were.
Anyway on the way back the light faded and so on went the headlights and thus began an amazing trip winding through this insanely narrow road not entirely sure if we were actually going the right way (although there were very few choices); trying to head back to civilisation.
David told me later he wondered if we were going to be sleeping on the mountain that night because quite honestly the lack of signage and whatever made it insane to navigate however it was all good we hit familiar landmarks and made it back to JhuShan around 6ish.
The weird thing is on the tourist map (which amazingly enough was in English) the road is quite defined...there was no idication the road was going to be insanely narrow and all twisty and turny, right on the mountain edge.
So that was it we drove around didn't see a whole lot of touristy things though the view from the roads we were on was amazing in themselves so it wasn't a waste...plus it taught me a valuable lesson about the deceptiveness of these stupid tourist maps.
Defintely going to need a decent road book before doing any serious exploring...I mean today was meant to be an easy leisurely drive somewhere close to home and half of the way was going on semi familiar territory.
So that was the first road trip. The national park did look beautiful though, we'll definitely have to check that out another day.
Huey (the car...yes it is named) performed amazingly, it doesn't have a lot of power up hills but that's not a huge surprise but for what it is I'm very happy...of course the cd player didn't seem to want to work which is an issue that I will have to deal with but otherwise I have no complaints.
Due to our lateness of departure etc we really didn't have more than an hour and a bit worth of sunlight left so we decided to give the national park a miss for the day and headed back down to try and find the road to the waterfalls.
After driving up and down a few times trying to find the turn off to the falls we stopped and asked in a tea store where we found a guy who spoke English. David was interested in seeing the tea plantations which were just beyond the falls so we asked about the road. At first everyone was saying it's too late which we took as meaning it's closed but really they were just saying that it is getting dark and thus not worth it. At first we didn't really understand but the guy explained that the road to the waterfall and tea plantation isn't like the main road it is narrow and poorly marked.....errrr ok but he did manage to explain exactly where the turn off was that we missed and we went on our way.
Now let me explain til that point we were driving on normal roads, 2-4 lane well surfaced roads. That ceased once we found the turn off for the waterfalls which looked more like a lane or driveway than a road.
The road was so beyond explaination. It was crazy...yet also amazingly exhilerating to drive. It was definately narrow quite often it narrowed to a point where they was about enough room for 1 1/2 cars....of course this is a two way road. Fortunately due to the time and the day we didn't encounter much traffic. So there we were winding out way around this beautiful mountain side on this little road trying to find some waterfalls. The road turned often and winded back on itself so much it was amazing. Top Gear would have a field day on these roads. So anyway with a bit of luck we followed the signage (Often chinese only) and made it to the lookout point for where I believe the waterfall is meant to be. We went passed that and saw some of the tea plantations and then doubled back and tried to actual see the waterfall.
There was a lone sign that pointed to clearing which held two paths. Both paths looked well dodgy. By that stage dusk was starting to settle and I took one look at the paths and the spiders that clung to the trees overhanging and surrounding the paths and decided I really didn't care to see the waterfall....The odd thing is though we couldn't even here the running water of a waterfall so honestly I dunno if we were even in the right spot though all the signs told us we were.
Anyway on the way back the light faded and so on went the headlights and thus began an amazing trip winding through this insanely narrow road not entirely sure if we were actually going the right way (although there were very few choices); trying to head back to civilisation.
David told me later he wondered if we were going to be sleeping on the mountain that night because quite honestly the lack of signage and whatever made it insane to navigate however it was all good we hit familiar landmarks and made it back to JhuShan around 6ish.
The weird thing is on the tourist map (which amazingly enough was in English) the road is quite defined...there was no idication the road was going to be insanely narrow and all twisty and turny, right on the mountain edge.
So that was it we drove around didn't see a whole lot of touristy things though the view from the roads we were on was amazing in themselves so it wasn't a waste...plus it taught me a valuable lesson about the deceptiveness of these stupid tourist maps.
Defintely going to need a decent road book before doing any serious exploring...I mean today was meant to be an easy leisurely drive somewhere close to home and half of the way was going on semi familiar territory.
So that was the first road trip. The national park did look beautiful though, we'll definitely have to check that out another day.
Huey (the car...yes it is named) performed amazingly, it doesn't have a lot of power up hills but that's not a huge surprise but for what it is I'm very happy...of course the cd player didn't seem to want to work which is an issue that I will have to deal with but otherwise I have no complaints.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Beep Beep. Beep Beep, Yeah
Jade has a car. Jade has a shiny red car yay! Yes my car is red.
So after tossing up options and generally feeling completely in over my head with this whole finding a car thing I finally tracked down Brian my local music provider and all round saviour who in a matter of minutes had found me a promising specimen and set up a morning inspection for the next day.
So he drove me meet his mechanic friend who he has bought all his cars from and who his family uses etc and they show me this great little ford festiva. It has a few bangs but in Taiwan that's standard. Then he lets me take it for a test drive. It took a while for me to figure things out as I've never driven a car in Taiwan before. The whole left hand drive thing was weird. I kept putting on my windscreen wipers when I was trying to signal heh. Still the car ran great.
The guy offered to throw in all the paperwork fees and insurance for under my car budget so I went for it. After a couple of quick trips to the DMV the car was mine and I managed to navigate the signs back to school. I also now have a funky stamp with the chinese equivalent of my name which is well cool.
So without further ado here are some photos of my baby
Now I just have to name it...
So all in all an eventful day. Unfortunately I have a school thing all day Sunday so no road trip this weekend....but next weekend is filled with possibilities.
So after tossing up options and generally feeling completely in over my head with this whole finding a car thing I finally tracked down Brian my local music provider and all round saviour who in a matter of minutes had found me a promising specimen and set up a morning inspection for the next day.
So he drove me meet his mechanic friend who he has bought all his cars from and who his family uses etc and they show me this great little ford festiva. It has a few bangs but in Taiwan that's standard. Then he lets me take it for a test drive. It took a while for me to figure things out as I've never driven a car in Taiwan before. The whole left hand drive thing was weird. I kept putting on my windscreen wipers when I was trying to signal heh. Still the car ran great.
The guy offered to throw in all the paperwork fees and insurance for under my car budget so I went for it. After a couple of quick trips to the DMV the car was mine and I managed to navigate the signs back to school. I also now have a funky stamp with the chinese equivalent of my name which is well cool.
So without further ado here are some photos of my baby
Now I just have to name it...
So all in all an eventful day. Unfortunately I have a school thing all day Sunday so no road trip this weekend....but next weekend is filled with possibilities.
Monday, December 1, 2008
all in a days work
So today was a really pleasant day weather wise. I decided yesterday that I wanted to try riding to Sitou if it was nice so I jumped my bike and headed for the mountains. Sitou is meant to be stunningly beautiful, maybe more so than Sun Moon Lake. It is also in the mountains which meant I had to struggle up the mountain on my bike which really isn't ideal for mountain riding. I made it to Lugu which is stunning in itself with spectacular mountainside views of the county. Lugu is about 1/2 way between JhuShan and Sitou and I realised that while I could have made it to Sitou I wouldn't have had any energy left to explore so I gave Sitou up for another day and just enjoyed the little mountainous town of Lugu.
No real luck on the car front but it's ok it's still early days.
I finally got around to baking cookies today. I decided to do anzac cookies though I don't think I've ever made them before. The results were not perfect. They thinned and spread more than I was expecting so the first batch of four (which is all my oven could handle at one time) burnt. After that they got better but the truth is they are still stupidly thin and they don't taste right. I think it is the ingredient substitutes I had to make, the brown sugar that I used didn't taste as I was expecting and using honey instead of golden syrup didn't really work either. Still the kids at school are sure to eat them and once my body's sugar level goes down I'll try a cookie that isn't actually burnt and see how that tastes.
All that aside there isn't a whole lot going on.
I'll get around to posting pictures eventually, I have some from the Halloween thing we did at school and some from today including photos of my poor baking attempts.
But now I'm tired, it's been a long day.
Oh I found a great little spring near by that I could totally swim in. It's at the bottom of the mountains and it runs for ages. I know people fish in there and I saw a frog there as well. Plus I don't have to wear a stupid little cap like I do at the swimming pool. Seriously what is so terrible about letting people have their hair in water....
Anyway I've done the exercise thing and the domestic thing today so now it's time to unwind with a movie or two before going to bed.
No real luck on the car front but it's ok it's still early days.
I finally got around to baking cookies today. I decided to do anzac cookies though I don't think I've ever made them before. The results were not perfect. They thinned and spread more than I was expecting so the first batch of four (which is all my oven could handle at one time) burnt. After that they got better but the truth is they are still stupidly thin and they don't taste right. I think it is the ingredient substitutes I had to make, the brown sugar that I used didn't taste as I was expecting and using honey instead of golden syrup didn't really work either. Still the kids at school are sure to eat them and once my body's sugar level goes down I'll try a cookie that isn't actually burnt and see how that tastes.
All that aside there isn't a whole lot going on.
I'll get around to posting pictures eventually, I have some from the Halloween thing we did at school and some from today including photos of my poor baking attempts.
But now I'm tired, it's been a long day.
Oh I found a great little spring near by that I could totally swim in. It's at the bottom of the mountains and it runs for ages. I know people fish in there and I saw a frog there as well. Plus I don't have to wear a stupid little cap like I do at the swimming pool. Seriously what is so terrible about letting people have their hair in water....
Anyway I've done the exercise thing and the domestic thing today so now it's time to unwind with a movie or two before going to bed.
Friday, November 28, 2008
ni sure zhongwen ma?
Apparently my Chinese is on the up especially my writing...though I can't read what I write lol.
Today I managed to finally sort out my Taiwanese drivers permit so once again I can legally drive in Taiwan.
Now all I need to do is find a car.....err yeah let the fun begin. Actually I've seen a few that sound and look promising one is even here in JhuShan, although I've not taken it for a test drive so I have no idea how the engine is...but it looks to be in good condition.
Basically when it comes to car hunting I'm in over my head, firstly what I know about cars themselves could fit in the palm of my hands....secondly my inability to speak or understand most Chinese makes an already challenging task damn difficult. But I'm putting out feelers, trying to get as much advice as possible, I know people who know people so hopefully somewhere along the line I can find a car that won't leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere.
I'm amazed at how fast time is moving. I mean it's almost December which means it is practically Christmas and then New Year and then Chinese New Year and before I know it it'll be Easter....
The weather is getting colder. My boss just rang to see if I wanted a blanket as it is the coldest night here in a while, I'm wearing a nice big jumper and I'm quite cosy. I like the cold..although it's not so fun when my hot water refuses to work and I'm forced to have a cold shower....still easier to get warmer when it's cold than colder when it's hot.
oh and if you don't know what the title says then the answer is no :D
(the title is Jade pingyen for do you speak Chinese?)
The answer
wo busure zhongwen. (I don't speak Chinese)
and so endth the lesson.
Today I managed to finally sort out my Taiwanese drivers permit so once again I can legally drive in Taiwan.
Now all I need to do is find a car.....err yeah let the fun begin. Actually I've seen a few that sound and look promising one is even here in JhuShan, although I've not taken it for a test drive so I have no idea how the engine is...but it looks to be in good condition.
Basically when it comes to car hunting I'm in over my head, firstly what I know about cars themselves could fit in the palm of my hands....secondly my inability to speak or understand most Chinese makes an already challenging task damn difficult. But I'm putting out feelers, trying to get as much advice as possible, I know people who know people so hopefully somewhere along the line I can find a car that won't leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere.
I'm amazed at how fast time is moving. I mean it's almost December which means it is practically Christmas and then New Year and then Chinese New Year and before I know it it'll be Easter....
The weather is getting colder. My boss just rang to see if I wanted a blanket as it is the coldest night here in a while, I'm wearing a nice big jumper and I'm quite cosy. I like the cold..although it's not so fun when my hot water refuses to work and I'm forced to have a cold shower....still easier to get warmer when it's cold than colder when it's hot.
oh and if you don't know what the title says then the answer is no :D
(the title is Jade pingyen for do you speak Chinese?)
The answer
wo busure zhongwen. (I don't speak Chinese)
and so endth the lesson.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Legal
So it's been almost a month since I posted here, I just got preoccupied and sidetracked in various orders.
So here's a breakdown:
My paperwork is through, I'm officially allowed to stay til the end of August 2009, then I'm gonna get kicked out.
School is fine, things are jsut routine, weeks go by quite fast. I really only have 1 sometimes 2 classes a week that take any significant prep time.
I need to work on my classroom management but the truth is I'm hesitant to do that because it changes the energy of my classes. I mean yes a lot of my classes are noisier than they are with their chinese teachers and I know it's just cause I'm the foreign teacher. As soon as a chinese teacher walks into my class they shut up...but then they turn to zombies. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. It's either they are noisy and whatever but I can get really reactions from them or they switch to being almost insanely quiet but turn to robots.
My weekly grammar class for the other teachers is by far my most challenging intellectially and preparation wise. But I learn a heap of theoretical grammar during the prep for that class. I literally prepare in the morning, learning the stuff as I compile the lesson and then walk into school and teach what I've just learnt. Maybe not the best way to do it but eh.
My internet is back and this time it is officially mine which is nice. I had to go out and buy a bunch of blank dvds just cause my hard drives are running out of room. I could have bought another hard drive but dvds seemed easier.
My Chinese ability is slowly on the up, I am better at understanding conversations that go on around me although my vocab is still pitifully small. I'm starting to figure out sentences. In some ways Chinese is easier to learn to speak than English although I think maybe English is easier to learn to read.
This weekend is being spent in JhuShan. David is coming down to enjoy some 'country' living. I found a great botanical garden about 5 minutes from my apartment last weekend which is cool which I'm looking forward to showing him as he's more of a nature freak than I am, how he survives in Taichung is beyond me.
So that's pretty much it from me for the time being.
Oh last week I went ten pin bowling for the second or third time in my life. It was comical. I started out guttering every ball but managed to come back and even win the second game. Game playing is big over here, like arcade games and stuff. Night markets are full of both adults and children playing such games and there are quite a few game places around even in JhuShan.
Actually last weekend was impressive, I'm getting much better at navigating Taichung and JhuShan. I haven't been lost in a few weeks. Which means I probably should explore further out.
So here's a breakdown:
My paperwork is through, I'm officially allowed to stay til the end of August 2009, then I'm gonna get kicked out.
School is fine, things are jsut routine, weeks go by quite fast. I really only have 1 sometimes 2 classes a week that take any significant prep time.
I need to work on my classroom management but the truth is I'm hesitant to do that because it changes the energy of my classes. I mean yes a lot of my classes are noisier than they are with their chinese teachers and I know it's just cause I'm the foreign teacher. As soon as a chinese teacher walks into my class they shut up...but then they turn to zombies. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. It's either they are noisy and whatever but I can get really reactions from them or they switch to being almost insanely quiet but turn to robots.
My weekly grammar class for the other teachers is by far my most challenging intellectially and preparation wise. But I learn a heap of theoretical grammar during the prep for that class. I literally prepare in the morning, learning the stuff as I compile the lesson and then walk into school and teach what I've just learnt. Maybe not the best way to do it but eh.
My internet is back and this time it is officially mine which is nice. I had to go out and buy a bunch of blank dvds just cause my hard drives are running out of room. I could have bought another hard drive but dvds seemed easier.
My Chinese ability is slowly on the up, I am better at understanding conversations that go on around me although my vocab is still pitifully small. I'm starting to figure out sentences. In some ways Chinese is easier to learn to speak than English although I think maybe English is easier to learn to read.
This weekend is being spent in JhuShan. David is coming down to enjoy some 'country' living. I found a great botanical garden about 5 minutes from my apartment last weekend which is cool which I'm looking forward to showing him as he's more of a nature freak than I am, how he survives in Taichung is beyond me.
So that's pretty much it from me for the time being.
Oh last week I went ten pin bowling for the second or third time in my life. It was comical. I started out guttering every ball but managed to come back and even win the second game. Game playing is big over here, like arcade games and stuff. Night markets are full of both adults and children playing such games and there are quite a few game places around even in JhuShan.
Actually last weekend was impressive, I'm getting much better at navigating Taichung and JhuShan. I haven't been lost in a few weeks. Which means I probably should explore further out.
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