Pot stickers are officially my favourite thing to eat. I had a lot of free time yesterday as I didn't teach until 7 and I was subbing a class that was having a test so my lesson plan was pretty simple. So once Rickie left for the day, I walked to get some pot stickers. There is this place right by the dorm that sells them for 4.5 NT/pot sticker for the pork ones but I decided to branch out.
For 56 NT (Just under $2), I got 12 pot stickers and I was full after 6. The rest were left to feed Rickie later in the day. I think we are starting to see how much cheaper it actually is to eat out rather than to cook. While cooking is more convenient sometimes because you don't want to always get dressed before you eat, eating out seems to be cheaper. Going to try and investigate this more.
My class for the day was so easy. I had to meet with the coteacher beforehand because of the test and the fact that I had never given one before. She told me exactly what to do and it was a very simple day. It is funny the way it works here for grading. She literally told me that no student should receive below a mark of 90. It made me nervous so they all ended up getting 95+ but they were all so cute and a lot better than I thought. Did they deserve a mark of 95? Probably not but I guess that is the way they do things here.
After I was finished teaching, Rick and I decided to try this soup place that is right beside the dorm. We heard amazing things about their won ton soup and the lady was so helpful and sweet. It was amazing soup but the aftertaste was so peppery that I wasn't enjoying it and I felt bad not eating it. I decided I wanted to go elsewhere to eat so I had Rick fake call my cellphone and we pretended that I had to go meet someone. Even though she spoke no English, I still felt bad about leaving the soup there. But I ended up getting Mos Burger (which was amazing) and getting to see my favourite little puppy on the way (Pudding).
Have I mentioned how badly I want a puppy?
I'm off, going to get pot stickers haha
31 January 2013
30 January 2013
I knew you were trouble
Our Monday started off pretty boring. Rick was teaching in the evening at Da-Chu and I was at Tung-An (the school we live at, lucky me!). So we finished off our lesson plans and went for a walk. It was nice to just walk around, just the two of us. It reminded us of our very first day in Taoyuan when we went for a walk but we had no idea where we were and got lost. Today, we knew where we were.
Our day consisted of picking up my stamps!! It is kind of sad how excited I was but getting to use them last night was amazing! Yeah, that still sounds kind of sad. We went and got our favourite bubble tea and I somehow convinced Rick that browsing the pet store would be a good idea! The puppies were so adorable, of course, I picked about seven different ones to take home but still managed to leave with zero. This is the first time we checked out the rest of the pet store which we found out includes snakes, turtles, and tarantulas. I'm pretty sure I had nightmares last night about the things that I saw.
Finally we went back and Rick had to leave to go to Da-Chu and I was left watching my guilty pleasure, the Real Housewives series haha but then it was my turn to teach! My first class was a lot of fun, they were so silly but they worked when they were supposed to. It was nice considering I have this class for the next three weeks. The next class was a younger class and I was supposed to leave 15 minutes at the end to prepare for the demo but I didn't leave enough time, I felt so bad but the coteacher said it was okay. Hopefully next week it works out better!
I don't know if I explained what a demo is yet so I will now. For the kindergarten beginners all the way to mid way through the red book, the class has to do demos at certain points. A demo is basically when the parents come to the class one day and watch what you do. But you plan it out, each child will do a self-introduction, you'll play a bunch of games, sing a bunch of songs, gestures, and do some mini plays. It sounds very nerve wrecking to me and I am very happy that I haven't had to do one yet!
Our night ended with me making dinner (for the second time ever). Rick was going to be awhile since he was at one of the farther schools so I cut up some onions, mushrooms, garlic, ASPARAGUS, and prepared the rice. The asparagus was pretty exciting because we haven't eaten it or even seen it at the grocery store since we got here but I randomly saw it in this little market. I think the lady overcharged me though because I am a foreigner haha I paid just over $4 CAD for the asparagus and mushrooms. I know nothing about the regular prices of things here or back home though so I just said yes.
We played cashflow twice. Rick won in 10 minutes and then David won the second time we played. Let's pretend I didn't mention them winning though, I don't want to inflate their egos too much.
One more thing! Just want to mention my amazing little cousin Alicia. She isn't so little anymore, she just told me that in June she is going to Italy ALL BY HERSELF for a month! Just to visit and travel, I am so proud of her and I know she will do amazing! Her doing this makes me feel so old haha I have so many memories of us playing together when we were younger and I miss her so much! Good luck Alicia!
Our day consisted of picking up my stamps!! It is kind of sad how excited I was but getting to use them last night was amazing! Yeah, that still sounds kind of sad. We went and got our favourite bubble tea and I somehow convinced Rick that browsing the pet store would be a good idea! The puppies were so adorable, of course, I picked about seven different ones to take home but still managed to leave with zero. This is the first time we checked out the rest of the pet store which we found out includes snakes, turtles, and tarantulas. I'm pretty sure I had nightmares last night about the things that I saw.
Finally we went back and Rick had to leave to go to Da-Chu and I was left watching my guilty pleasure, the Real Housewives series haha but then it was my turn to teach! My first class was a lot of fun, they were so silly but they worked when they were supposed to. It was nice considering I have this class for the next three weeks. The next class was a younger class and I was supposed to leave 15 minutes at the end to prepare for the demo but I didn't leave enough time, I felt so bad but the coteacher said it was okay. Hopefully next week it works out better!
I don't know if I explained what a demo is yet so I will now. For the kindergarten beginners all the way to mid way through the red book, the class has to do demos at certain points. A demo is basically when the parents come to the class one day and watch what you do. But you plan it out, each child will do a self-introduction, you'll play a bunch of games, sing a bunch of songs, gestures, and do some mini plays. It sounds very nerve wrecking to me and I am very happy that I haven't had to do one yet!
Our night ended with me making dinner (for the second time ever). Rick was going to be awhile since he was at one of the farther schools so I cut up some onions, mushrooms, garlic, ASPARAGUS, and prepared the rice. The asparagus was pretty exciting because we haven't eaten it or even seen it at the grocery store since we got here but I randomly saw it in this little market. I think the lady overcharged me though because I am a foreigner haha I paid just over $4 CAD for the asparagus and mushrooms. I know nothing about the regular prices of things here or back home though so I just said yes.
We played cashflow twice. Rick won in 10 minutes and then David won the second time we played. Let's pretend I didn't mention them winning though, I don't want to inflate their egos too much.
One more thing! Just want to mention my amazing little cousin Alicia. She isn't so little anymore, she just told me that in June she is going to Italy ALL BY HERSELF for a month! Just to visit and travel, I am so proud of her and I know she will do amazing! Her doing this makes me feel so old haha I have so many memories of us playing together when we were younger and I miss her so much! Good luck Alicia!
Grace, me and Alicia five years ago! We are all so different now!
28 January 2013
Momo Tea
Today we both started the first of our long list of subs for the next few weeks. Three teachers have just taken a month long vacation and since Rick and I both only have one day of regular classes, we have been given a lot of subs. Today I was at Nan-Kan and it worked out perfectly that Sam (one of our dormmates) was going there for the exact same time so he gave me a ride on his scooter.
We went early and I needed my daily fix of bubble tea. Sam went and got me this pancake flake filled with egg which was amazing but a tad peppery and, little did I know, he was meeting a girl at the tea shop for a semi-date haha I felt so bad and like I was intruding/I didn't want her to think of me and Sam as a thing or anything so as soon as he arrived, I got outta there haha but the bubble tea and food were worth my awkwardness! Sam assured me I wasn't intruding but I didn't wanna ruin his chances haha I would be the best wingman.
My first of three subs for this class went well! I loved my co-teacher Melody, she was so nice and SO helpful! The kids were pretty cute and fun too, but shy, either way, I am excited for next weeks class. I have subs literally every day this week except for the day of my regular class and then I also got a chatroom on Saturday. Its a one hour class with a variety of different level students and I teach it alone, NO CO TEACHER. I am nervous and its only Monday!
Off to make rice before Rick gets home and gets upset about no food!
We went early and I needed my daily fix of bubble tea. Sam went and got me this pancake flake filled with egg which was amazing but a tad peppery and, little did I know, he was meeting a girl at the tea shop for a semi-date haha I felt so bad and like I was intruding/I didn't want her to think of me and Sam as a thing or anything so as soon as he arrived, I got outta there haha but the bubble tea and food were worth my awkwardness! Sam assured me I wasn't intruding but I didn't wanna ruin his chances haha I would be the best wingman.
My first of three subs for this class went well! I loved my co-teacher Melody, she was so nice and SO helpful! The kids were pretty cute and fun too, but shy, either way, I am excited for next weeks class. I have subs literally every day this week except for the day of my regular class and then I also got a chatroom on Saturday. Its a one hour class with a variety of different level students and I teach it alone, NO CO TEACHER. I am nervous and its only Monday!
Off to make rice before Rick gets home and gets upset about no food!
Hansel and Gretel
On Sunday, the weather was shit so we were lazy. We stayed in, I read a lot. Played some video games. Went for a walk to see Jason and Carly's place as we are thinking of moving into a place very similar and went to the movies from there.
We had planned to go see Gangster Squad in the Royal Club. The Royal Club is this cool thing that they have at the movie theatres here. You get to sit and watch the movie on a reclining lazy boy, a blanket, and a waiter. Gangster Squad was no longer playing in the Royal Club and we really wanted the experience so we saw Hansel and Gretel. It was a lot better than I expected but we were sitting way too close. The fight scenes were so disorienting that close, but now I know where a good place is to sit.
I'm off to torrent Gangster Squad and start my Monday. Goodnight Canada.
27 January 2013
Sick Saturday
I've decided that I'm going to try and post every day that way the posts aren't as long, and more updates so here goes.
On Friday, I was very, very sick. In the morning, we ran some errands and I got my favourite bubble tea. The day went on, and I started to feel even worse. We ended up sitting around the dorm playing a new game that David and Monica showed us called, "Cash Flow." David describes it the best: it is like Monopoly on steroids. Instead of buying properties and houses/hotels, you have a job, a salary and you pretty much try to make it. It is very fun and I just so happened to win. We ended up playing twice and then I had to go to class. On Thursday, I walked to Wu-Ling (the school where my regular class is) and I think this is part of what made me so sick on Friday. So on Friday I decided to cab it and of course she got lost. Not fun. I was subbing so it was a pretty uneventful day. Which brings us to Saturday.
We ran some errands, David went off to work, and the rest of us went to eat at a pasta restaurant. Just over 250NT so under $10 for salad, soup, bread, pasta, and drinks. The salad was definitely interesting, very Taiwanese. But the soup was amazing. Monica and I ordered chicken while Rick ordered tuna and cheddar and we were all more than pleased. The chicken broth was amazing and it was just what I needed when I was sick. The pasta was pretty tasty as well, though not what I thought I was ordering and made for some great leftovers.
This Saturday was pretty uneventful so this is going to be a boring blog post haha. Rick and I went to Carrefour to grab some groceries and other supplies. I'm not sure if I have talked about Carrefour yet but it is a massive department store that is very close to the dorm. There is this really creepy alleyway that we walk through to get there, I'll take a picture sometime to show the creepiness. When I say it is a massive department store, I mean it. Three different floors. One is electronics/other housewares, the second is all food and the third is a massive food court. We often find ourselves there for little things; today it was a garbage can and rice. But we always manage to leave with much more and we are still getting used to the difference in money. It is always shocking to see $700 on your receipt but I have to remind myself that that is only just over $20.
We spent the rest of the night at the dorm just hanging out, other than venturing outside for some of my favourite bubble tea. About to watch a scary movie with the roommates. Good night!
On Friday, I was very, very sick. In the morning, we ran some errands and I got my favourite bubble tea. The day went on, and I started to feel even worse. We ended up sitting around the dorm playing a new game that David and Monica showed us called, "Cash Flow." David describes it the best: it is like Monopoly on steroids. Instead of buying properties and houses/hotels, you have a job, a salary and you pretty much try to make it. It is very fun and I just so happened to win. We ended up playing twice and then I had to go to class. On Thursday, I walked to Wu-Ling (the school where my regular class is) and I think this is part of what made me so sick on Friday. So on Friday I decided to cab it and of course she got lost. Not fun. I was subbing so it was a pretty uneventful day. Which brings us to Saturday.
We ran some errands, David went off to work, and the rest of us went to eat at a pasta restaurant. Just over 250NT so under $10 for salad, soup, bread, pasta, and drinks. The salad was definitely interesting, very Taiwanese. But the soup was amazing. Monica and I ordered chicken while Rick ordered tuna and cheddar and we were all more than pleased. The chicken broth was amazing and it was just what I needed when I was sick. The pasta was pretty tasty as well, though not what I thought I was ordering and made for some great leftovers.
This Saturday was pretty uneventful so this is going to be a boring blog post haha. Rick and I went to Carrefour to grab some groceries and other supplies. I'm not sure if I have talked about Carrefour yet but it is a massive department store that is very close to the dorm. There is this really creepy alleyway that we walk through to get there, I'll take a picture sometime to show the creepiness. When I say it is a massive department store, I mean it. Three different floors. One is electronics/other housewares, the second is all food and the third is a massive food court. We often find ourselves there for little things; today it was a garbage can and rice. But we always manage to leave with much more and we are still getting used to the difference in money. It is always shocking to see $700 on your receipt but I have to remind myself that that is only just over $20.
We spent the rest of the night at the dorm just hanging out, other than venturing outside for some of my favourite bubble tea. About to watch a scary movie with the roommates. Good night!
22 January 2013
EARTHQUAKE!!!
I hope you shouted the title of this post with urgency and dread inside your head. We survived our first earthquake this week. It was small and we both missed it, we were both standing up/walking and apparently you had to be resting to feel it. The best part about the earthquake was after when every single teacher came out of their rooms to see if they were imagining things. Every white person in the building needed validation that there was an earthquake while every Taiwanese person went on, business as usual. "Yeah.. that was an earthquake....so?"
On our Sunday off, we decided to go to a nearby town called Yingge. It is known for its pottery and the pottery making you could do there. David, Rick, and I set off for the train station in downtown Taoyuan and we decided to walk. It took about 45 minutes but we got to stop at a beautiful temple on the way and finally we met up with Monica at the station. Getting to Yingge was very easy and a short trip and the great thing about Taiwan is that there are always people willing to help you. If you ask for help and they don't speak English, you can bet that they will find you someone who can.
It was just our luck that right after getting off the train, there was an English speaking woman with a map who helped us out tremendously. We followed her directions and we were there. I have never seen so much pottery in one place, it was really cool. And after trying to make my own bowl and cup, I have a new respect for the crazy stuff people can do with clay. My bowl and cup ended up being pretty boring and simple and that was WITH the help of an expert. Every time she would walk away from me, I would somehow manage to change what she was trying to help me do. Rick made one bowl that he loved and then wanted to make a plate that had a lip and he had it perfect but he ended up losing it when he tried to work with it some more. He ended up with a plate/bowl that he wasn't really happy with but it was fun nonetheless.
For all four of us to each make and decorate two pieces of pottery, it cost about $70 CAD. And it was so much fun. That $70 includes the store we made it at mailing us our pieces because they have to cook it, I guess. Then we ventured on to eat and leave. While I have been trying some new food in Taiwan, once I find something I like, I notice that I try to stick with it. I bought dumplings and these desserts that I like. I also ended up buying a watch that I love for about $6 (Rick also bought a watch). It turns out it doesn't help keep the flow going smoothly while teaching if we have to keep checking our cellphones.
Until next time!
- Melissa
On our Sunday off, we decided to go to a nearby town called Yingge. It is known for its pottery and the pottery making you could do there. David, Rick, and I set off for the train station in downtown Taoyuan and we decided to walk. It took about 45 minutes but we got to stop at a beautiful temple on the way and finally we met up with Monica at the station. Getting to Yingge was very easy and a short trip and the great thing about Taiwan is that there are always people willing to help you. If you ask for help and they don't speak English, you can bet that they will find you someone who can.
It was just our luck that right after getting off the train, there was an English speaking woman with a map who helped us out tremendously. We followed her directions and we were there. I have never seen so much pottery in one place, it was really cool. And after trying to make my own bowl and cup, I have a new respect for the crazy stuff people can do with clay. My bowl and cup ended up being pretty boring and simple and that was WITH the help of an expert. Every time she would walk away from me, I would somehow manage to change what she was trying to help me do. Rick made one bowl that he loved and then wanted to make a plate that had a lip and he had it perfect but he ended up losing it when he tried to work with it some more. He ended up with a plate/bowl that he wasn't really happy with but it was fun nonetheless.
For all four of us to each make and decorate two pieces of pottery, it cost about $70 CAD. And it was so much fun. That $70 includes the store we made it at mailing us our pieces because they have to cook it, I guess. Then we ventured on to eat and leave. While I have been trying some new food in Taiwan, once I find something I like, I notice that I try to stick with it. I bought dumplings and these desserts that I like. I also ended up buying a watch that I love for about $6 (Rick also bought a watch). It turns out it doesn't help keep the flow going smoothly while teaching if we have to keep checking our cellphones.
Until next time!
- Melissa
15 January 2013
Bowling in Taiwan
Turns out bowling in Taiwan is the same as bowling in Canada. I suck, doesn't matter the country, continent, or time zone. Bowling is just not for me. I'm nothing if not consistent. But I still had fun. We went bowling tonight after teaching with Jack and Sam. Who, Sam failed to mention beforehand, were both excellent bowlers. Sam brought his own bowling shoes from home and Jack owned his own ball. It was a very one-sided game.
Today we were both subbing. Rick was subbing two classes at Dar-Zhu (pronounced Da-Chu) that he subbed for last week and is still subbing for next week. When a teacher goes on vacation and you get your subbing schedule, sometimes it will say x3 or x2 and that just means that you will be subbing that class for X amount of weeks. He really enjoys his second class which is an early red book (meaning that their English education is JUST beginning to advance) and his other class is a yellow book but their motivation is at an all time low. They have no desire to learn which makes teaching them exhausting.
I, on the other hand, subbed a kindergarten class tonight at Tung-An which is the school where we live. It was so much fun! The kids were all adorable and so much fun! It went a lot better than the last kindergarten class I subbed. I knew more of the gestures and the songs and the most of the kids were older so they knew more of what was going on.
When we got back to the dorm, we were told that our water would be out from midnight tonight until 6AM on Wednesday aka 30 hours. Since Monica and I were one of the first ones back, I showered immediately since I was lazy all day and didn't shower and then we went to work on the dishes. After those were finished, I filled up all of my own water bottles with the filtered water. It probably would've been easier to not rush and fill up our water and just go to 711 to buy some but the idea of having no water stressed me out. I later found out that it is this whole area of Taoyuan that is having our water turned off, still no idea why but at least its not just us.
In other news, there is a leak in one of our rooms. Thankfully it isn't in the room where we sleep and its coming from the wall that we have nothing on but it still sucks. I told the people from Gloria about it so we'll see. Hopefully it gets fixed. I don't know if its the constant rain, the humidity, or my allergies but I currently have the worst cold that I have ever had. If I blew my nose every single minute throughout the day that still wouldn't be enough. It doesn't help that I am constantly cold. I have started taking my Reactine again just in case it is my allergies but no changes yet so I'm thinking it is a cold. All I want now is for my mom to come take care of me. Someone make that happen please :)
- Melissa
Today we were both subbing. Rick was subbing two classes at Dar-Zhu (pronounced Da-Chu) that he subbed for last week and is still subbing for next week. When a teacher goes on vacation and you get your subbing schedule, sometimes it will say x3 or x2 and that just means that you will be subbing that class for X amount of weeks. He really enjoys his second class which is an early red book (meaning that their English education is JUST beginning to advance) and his other class is a yellow book but their motivation is at an all time low. They have no desire to learn which makes teaching them exhausting.
I, on the other hand, subbed a kindergarten class tonight at Tung-An which is the school where we live. It was so much fun! The kids were all adorable and so much fun! It went a lot better than the last kindergarten class I subbed. I knew more of the gestures and the songs and the most of the kids were older so they knew more of what was going on.
When we got back to the dorm, we were told that our water would be out from midnight tonight until 6AM on Wednesday aka 30 hours. Since Monica and I were one of the first ones back, I showered immediately since I was lazy all day and didn't shower and then we went to work on the dishes. After those were finished, I filled up all of my own water bottles with the filtered water. It probably would've been easier to not rush and fill up our water and just go to 711 to buy some but the idea of having no water stressed me out. I later found out that it is this whole area of Taoyuan that is having our water turned off, still no idea why but at least its not just us.
In other news, there is a leak in one of our rooms. Thankfully it isn't in the room where we sleep and its coming from the wall that we have nothing on but it still sucks. I told the people from Gloria about it so we'll see. Hopefully it gets fixed. I don't know if its the constant rain, the humidity, or my allergies but I currently have the worst cold that I have ever had. If I blew my nose every single minute throughout the day that still wouldn't be enough. It doesn't help that I am constantly cold. I have started taking my Reactine again just in case it is my allergies but no changes yet so I'm thinking it is a cold. All I want now is for my mom to come take care of me. Someone make that happen please :)
- Melissa
14 January 2013
Three Weeks in Taiwan
Sorry that it has been so long since my last post, I had some computer problems so I wasn't able to come online. Since my last entry, we both started our own regular classes and subbed some more. Subbing has been fun, especially on Saturday when we were both at Tung-An School (which is the school where our dorm is located) so we literally had to get out of bed and walk downstairs to get to class. Very easy money, I would love to get a regular class at Tung-An but I doubt I'll be that lucky. It will be easier and less of a hassle to get to class once we own a scooter, let me know if you know anyone who is selling for a reasonable price!
Now I will back track to our regular classes. Mine was a red book (10 years old around) and I was warned, thankfully, beforehand that they are a difficult class. Apparently prior to the teacher I was replacing who just left without saying goodbye to any of their classes, they were without a foreign teacher for four months. Prior to that, they had a horrible Taiwanese teacher who used to hit them. Safe to say, they're not very trusting of teachers and coupled with the fact that most of them are lazy, I did not have fun during this class. They were so hard to motivate and I left feeling so exhausted and worn out. I'm still looking forward to this coming Thursday when I get to see them again though, I've been thinking all week for ways to motivate them and I'm excited to attempt it. Wish me luck.
Rick's two regular classes on Thursday went amazingly. His first one was a Kindergarten Beginners class (we call it a kindy class) so they are usually 5 or younger and this is their first time learning any sort of English. Rick had a lot of fun with them and they liked him a lot, not to forget his amazing coteacher who was with him for his next regular class as well. The next class was a Gloria English 1 class so they have just finished the previous class that Rick was teaching so this class was around 7 years old. Again, he had an amazing time with them and breezed right through it. Rick is so amazing with children, in general, so I would love to get to watch him teach one day. (Don't tell him I said any of this though, I don't want to inflate his ego too much.)
Saturday night we decided to try out the night market again. I couldn't not stop at the pet store and this time I got to hold my little puppy. (Big mistake on Rick's part for letting that one happen considering it just motivated me even more to buy the puppy.) Still working on convincing Rick, help me out! I need more positives to getting a puppy while we're here to bring home, all he can think of are the negatives haha. I went and got the chocolate banana crepe again, except this time Rick was smart enough to get his own and David and Monica were there as well to enjoy it. I swear that lady is going to know me by name the next time I go there. I also tried this baked potato that everyone had told me about and it really did live up to its reputation. It was amazing, and thankfully Rick was there to point out that she was about to put tuna on it and we stopped her just in time.
Tonight we went to see Zero Dark Thirty. Jury is still out on that one. Yes it was an amazing movie but should it really have been made into a movie in the first place? Who knows. Regardless, it was fun to go to the mall. Tomorrow I am subbing a kindy class at Tung-An (YAY) and Rick is at a further school for his second week of subbing two classes there. Sometimes when you get asked to sub somewhere, it will say x3 or x2 which lets you know that they need you for however many weeks.
Maybe the next time I write in the blog, I will have my little puppy named King sitting next to me. A girl can dream...
- Melissa
Now I will back track to our regular classes. Mine was a red book (10 years old around) and I was warned, thankfully, beforehand that they are a difficult class. Apparently prior to the teacher I was replacing who just left without saying goodbye to any of their classes, they were without a foreign teacher for four months. Prior to that, they had a horrible Taiwanese teacher who used to hit them. Safe to say, they're not very trusting of teachers and coupled with the fact that most of them are lazy, I did not have fun during this class. They were so hard to motivate and I left feeling so exhausted and worn out. I'm still looking forward to this coming Thursday when I get to see them again though, I've been thinking all week for ways to motivate them and I'm excited to attempt it. Wish me luck.
Rick's two regular classes on Thursday went amazingly. His first one was a Kindergarten Beginners class (we call it a kindy class) so they are usually 5 or younger and this is their first time learning any sort of English. Rick had a lot of fun with them and they liked him a lot, not to forget his amazing coteacher who was with him for his next regular class as well. The next class was a Gloria English 1 class so they have just finished the previous class that Rick was teaching so this class was around 7 years old. Again, he had an amazing time with them and breezed right through it. Rick is so amazing with children, in general, so I would love to get to watch him teach one day. (Don't tell him I said any of this though, I don't want to inflate his ego too much.)
Saturday night we decided to try out the night market again. I couldn't not stop at the pet store and this time I got to hold my little puppy. (Big mistake on Rick's part for letting that one happen considering it just motivated me even more to buy the puppy.) Still working on convincing Rick, help me out! I need more positives to getting a puppy while we're here to bring home, all he can think of are the negatives haha. I went and got the chocolate banana crepe again, except this time Rick was smart enough to get his own and David and Monica were there as well to enjoy it. I swear that lady is going to know me by name the next time I go there. I also tried this baked potato that everyone had told me about and it really did live up to its reputation. It was amazing, and thankfully Rick was there to point out that she was about to put tuna on it and we stopped her just in time.
Tonight we went to see Zero Dark Thirty. Jury is still out on that one. Yes it was an amazing movie but should it really have been made into a movie in the first place? Who knows. Regardless, it was fun to go to the mall. Tomorrow I am subbing a kindy class at Tung-An (YAY) and Rick is at a further school for his second week of subbing two classes there. Sometimes when you get asked to sub somewhere, it will say x3 or x2 which lets you know that they need you for however many weeks.
Maybe the next time I write in the blog, I will have my little puppy named King sitting next to me. A girl can dream...
- Melissa
10 January 2013
Taoyuan Night Market
Yesterday I was only teaching until around 6 and Rick wasn't teaching at all so we decided it would be a great night to check out Taoyuan city's Night Market. Rick had already been once before when we had first arrived to Taiwan and I was in my zombie-like state of sleeping and sleeping some more. But it was good that he had already been because then he could easily lead us there!
I don't know if Rick was fully aware but on the way there, we saw a pet store. The puppies were way toooo cute and I literally wanted to take home each and every one of them. They were only around $500 CAD, pretty much a bargain, right?! Now I just need to work to convince Rick...
Also on the way there, we stopped at a helmet store because we both need to buy helmets. Even though we don't have our own scooter yet, other teachers have been giving us rides and we have just been using random helmets. I was able to find one I liked for around $25 CAD but Rick wasn't. It is nice to have my own helmet now though.
Around fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the Night Market. Rick said it wasn't as busy as it was when he went, probably because it was earlier and we decided to go on a very dreary, rainy day but there were still so many options. So much food that I had no idea what it actually was and so much cheap clothing! I didn't get to shop a lot but I want to go back already. If only for the desserts that were offered here. We kind of ate dinner backwards as we got out desserts first. The first item we got was basically a small waffle filled with custard, three of them for 25 NT so less than $1 CAD. Then we got these deep fried balls that were filled with cabbage and some meat, they were okay. But my favourite part of the night market was the chocolate banana crepe I ordered. It cost me just over $1 CAD and it was easily the best thing that we got at the night market. Not to mention that the woman who made it was the cutest thing ever. I can't wait to go back!
A funny thing that happened at the night market was Rick tried to order the same beef and noodle dish that he had got last time he was there but we ended up getting something entirely different. We ended up (somehow) ordering a soup that Rick hated, I enjoyed, and that we ended up giving to Sam (one of the teachers in the dorm). But our night was not over yet! On the way back from the night market, we had to make a stop for bubble tea and the fruit and vegetable market.
We had tried bubble tea a week ago and Rick loved it but our friend David got passionfruit bubble tea with jellies (rather than the tapioca bubbles) and we liked his so much more. We decided to try and get it and success! Easily the best bubble tea I've had (keep in mind I have only had two so far). Our next stop was the fruit and vegetable market for some pineapple and to take some pictures of fruit we had never seen before and aren't brave enough yet to try.
With one final look at the cutest puppies ever in the pet store, we were back at the dorms with time to plan my lesson for today and relax. It was really nice being done work by 6. Did I mention that we both start our first regular classes today? Hopefully they don't hate us and aren't asking where their old english teacher was. Wish us luck!
- Melissa
I don't know if Rick was fully aware but on the way there, we saw a pet store. The puppies were way toooo cute and I literally wanted to take home each and every one of them. They were only around $500 CAD, pretty much a bargain, right?! Now I just need to work to convince Rick...
Also on the way there, we stopped at a helmet store because we both need to buy helmets. Even though we don't have our own scooter yet, other teachers have been giving us rides and we have just been using random helmets. I was able to find one I liked for around $25 CAD but Rick wasn't. It is nice to have my own helmet now though.
Around fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the Night Market. Rick said it wasn't as busy as it was when he went, probably because it was earlier and we decided to go on a very dreary, rainy day but there were still so many options. So much food that I had no idea what it actually was and so much cheap clothing! I didn't get to shop a lot but I want to go back already. If only for the desserts that were offered here. We kind of ate dinner backwards as we got out desserts first. The first item we got was basically a small waffle filled with custard, three of them for 25 NT so less than $1 CAD. Then we got these deep fried balls that were filled with cabbage and some meat, they were okay. But my favourite part of the night market was the chocolate banana crepe I ordered. It cost me just over $1 CAD and it was easily the best thing that we got at the night market. Not to mention that the woman who made it was the cutest thing ever. I can't wait to go back!
A funny thing that happened at the night market was Rick tried to order the same beef and noodle dish that he had got last time he was there but we ended up getting something entirely different. We ended up (somehow) ordering a soup that Rick hated, I enjoyed, and that we ended up giving to Sam (one of the teachers in the dorm). But our night was not over yet! On the way back from the night market, we had to make a stop for bubble tea and the fruit and vegetable market.
We had tried bubble tea a week ago and Rick loved it but our friend David got passionfruit bubble tea with jellies (rather than the tapioca bubbles) and we liked his so much more. We decided to try and get it and success! Easily the best bubble tea I've had (keep in mind I have only had two so far). Our next stop was the fruit and vegetable market for some pineapple and to take some pictures of fruit we had never seen before and aren't brave enough yet to try.
With one final look at the cutest puppies ever in the pet store, we were back at the dorms with time to plan my lesson for today and relax. It was really nice being done work by 6. Did I mention that we both start our first regular classes today? Hopefully they don't hate us and aren't asking where their old english teacher was. Wish us luck!
Loving my chocolate banana crepe! Can you see the excitement in my face?
Rick enjoying his amazing bubble tea in a random store
Crazy fruit number one!
Crazy fruit number two!
Crazy fruit number three!
- Melissa
9 January 2013
Mosquitoes
I currently have a mosquito bite on my knuckle. My knuckle. There is nothing like the buzzing of a mosquito in your ear to shock you out of a deep sleep. There is always at least one mosquito buzzing around our room in the night and while they usually bother Rick (who has about 10 mosquito bites), they are still very annoying. From what I'm told, mosquitoes are one of the only bugs that frequent Taiwan. I'm told that no one has ever seen a bee in Taiwan so I will have to wait to find out if that one is true come summer time.
Rick and I have both been given our first regular classes! We both start on Thursday. Rick was actually given two regular classes. I believe that we were given these classes because a teacher who had been living in the dorms just picked up and left without giving any notice, so it worked out well for us! Not so much for our employer who I assume had to scramble to fill the spot. Regardless, we're excited.
Today we have a mini-workshop for yellow book. It is kind of funny how they do things here. We're thrown into subbing classes (I've already subbed two yellow book classes) but I was never actually trained on HOW to teach yellow book. I observed yellow book, but no one explained it to me. You'd think the mini workshops would be first and then training but I digress. My yellow book sub classes went well and now I will actually learn to teach them so they can only go better.
- Melissa
Rick and I have both been given our first regular classes! We both start on Thursday. Rick was actually given two regular classes. I believe that we were given these classes because a teacher who had been living in the dorms just picked up and left without giving any notice, so it worked out well for us! Not so much for our employer who I assume had to scramble to fill the spot. Regardless, we're excited.
Today we have a mini-workshop for yellow book. It is kind of funny how they do things here. We're thrown into subbing classes (I've already subbed two yellow book classes) but I was never actually trained on HOW to teach yellow book. I observed yellow book, but no one explained it to me. You'd think the mini workshops would be first and then training but I digress. My yellow book sub classes went well and now I will actually learn to teach them so they can only go better.
- Melissa
8 January 2013
Substitute Teaching
We have officially been in Taiwan for over two weeks and we are almost finished the observation part of our training. We had to sit in on multiple classes and we were supposed to trial teach for the last ten minutes each time. While I usually got away with not trial teaching, Rickie was forced to do so every time. But somewhere in the middle, we have been given sub classes. When another teacher is sick or on vacation, they send you a schedule (usually the day before) that you will be subbing one of their classes. You get a detailed schedule that states which textbook and what pages they are on and you plan their lesson. Usually, you get there and this all changes and you just have to wing it.
For my first sub class, I was nervous as all hell because all I could think about was the way that I, when I was young, used to treat substitute teachers. Having a substitute teacher in Canada was like having a free day where you barely had to do any work and you could sit with anyone you wanted to. This is not the case in Taiwan. The Taiwanese co-teacher is there with you so the students still can't just play around. Having a good co-teacher can really change the class dynamics. I have been lucky with every one of my subs to have an amazing co-teacher but I have heard horror stories of co-teachers undermining the foreign teacher or speaking Chinese all throughout the class to the students. (Which is counter productive when we're trying to provide an all-English environment.)
Anyway the point of this blog was to talk about my sub class that I had yesterday. They were AMAZING. They were a Smartchoice 3 class so they were pretty advanced and I could actually have a conversation with them. I wish they were one of my regular classes and they all seemed to like me a lot as well. But in other news, I have a regular class now! Thursdays from 7-9 I will be teaching a Red Book Class which means they are younger, probably around 8-10. I am so excited!!!! But before that I still have a sub tonight and one tomorrow. Rick hasn't been given a regular class yet which he is happy about because he really doesn't want to work haha he just wants to hang out in Taiwan.
Heading off to a mini workshop now then off to the hospital for a measles shot. Excuse me while I cry.
- Melissa
For my first sub class, I was nervous as all hell because all I could think about was the way that I, when I was young, used to treat substitute teachers. Having a substitute teacher in Canada was like having a free day where you barely had to do any work and you could sit with anyone you wanted to. This is not the case in Taiwan. The Taiwanese co-teacher is there with you so the students still can't just play around. Having a good co-teacher can really change the class dynamics. I have been lucky with every one of my subs to have an amazing co-teacher but I have heard horror stories of co-teachers undermining the foreign teacher or speaking Chinese all throughout the class to the students. (Which is counter productive when we're trying to provide an all-English environment.)
Anyway the point of this blog was to talk about my sub class that I had yesterday. They were AMAZING. They were a Smartchoice 3 class so they were pretty advanced and I could actually have a conversation with them. I wish they were one of my regular classes and they all seemed to like me a lot as well. But in other news, I have a regular class now! Thursdays from 7-9 I will be teaching a Red Book Class which means they are younger, probably around 8-10. I am so excited!!!! But before that I still have a sub tonight and one tomorrow. Rick hasn't been given a regular class yet which he is happy about because he really doesn't want to work haha he just wants to hang out in Taiwan.
Heading off to a mini workshop now then off to the hospital for a measles shot. Excuse me while I cry.
- Melissa
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