At it again

It may be hard to start anew, but we often forget the lessons of the past and are thus allowed to move forward with more rewarding mistakes. I am "at it again" writing this blog, which begins in in December because I accidently erased it. I am "at it again" living abroad because I I erased from my memory the continous miscommunication and confusion of it. Luckly you can sit back in the comforts of your native language and culture and enjoy my adventures, hopefully with a laugh or snicker.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

To Green Island

I made a little vacation for myself. As we had Tuesday as a national holiday (no changing dates for convinent three day weekends here) I took my co-teacher's suggestion and used one of my five personal days on Monday to make a four day weekend. I convinced Colin to do the same thing. The two of us then took the 4 hour train and then the 50 minute boat ride out to green island, a tropical vacation spot of Taiwan.

What can be said of visiting a tourist site in the off season. For one things it's not crowded with people you must convince yourself you are not like. You also see what the place is without the facade of tourism and usually it's a little bleak. The island is only 16sq. km. and I wondered what people did on their free time. I answered that pretty quick, they watch TV. Anyway we had been warned not to go off tourist season, but what was the weather to us, I mean we went to Harbin in February. The first day was beautiful and I thought everyone must be crazy. We rented a tent, and set up camp at a beautiful sight that we could overlook the ocean from. We drove around the island 1 1/2 times and ate not quite fresh seafood. Infact I would call it meta-seafood- It was the version of seafood that is mass produced to seem like the sea food you would get at a place like green island, namely fish balls.

We planned to wake up to take in the sunrise from one of the only 3 salt water hotsprings in the world. However, it started thunder and lightinging in the middle of the night and by the mornining it was too gray for much of a sunrise. We tried to go to the springs on the second day but wind had knocked out the electricity. Finally we got there in the morning before we left on the third day. It was raining and a little cold. The pools out by the water had been so pummled by waves that they weren't particurally warm. None the less there was a nice bit of comradery created between the patrons on this unoptimal morning.

Hum so far this is ounding like a failure of a trip. Not true! We really enjoyed driving around the island on the second day. The sun kept picking out as we stopped and wandered around beautiful tidepools and along cliffs overlooking the ocean. The fact that the wind almost blew us away only made it more exciting. We ordered out and ate a lovely quite picnic lunch at our camp site just the two of us. And we hiked the one hike on the island and saw deer and goats.

Really the only bad part was the boatride. The waters between the island and the Taiwan were really choppy and I got really seasick. It's probably the first time I've been seasick since our boat trip and I kept thinkingabout it while I felt like vomiting. In retrospect I don't know how I was able to bare the seasickness, gross processed sea water, horrible food, and religious company.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Help with names

Three of my students are looking for new names to start highschool with. I've been around to many common names at this point to think of good ones. They all want names that are unusual and that sound nice. I think they should still be recognized as names. So far they are into Isabel, and Evonne.

Shortest post ever

My kids pronounce picnic "pica-nica" I like it.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

My Life is Molding

Sometime last week my housemate Annalily let out a terrible moan. She had found that some of the shoes she hadn't recently worn were covered in mold. I was ready for bed and knowing that I had stuff in her closet I put in ear plugs as she continued to wail over new grossnesses. In the morning she came to me and said, "I don't mean to alarm you, but I think your clothes are molding. Indeed they were. In total 5 pieces of clothing, one book and one bag all had mold on them. Jenny warned me that my life would mold and come to think of it so did the Fulbright handbook, but I had ignored it. After all after a few months of 80% humidity it doesn't seem that wet and you get used to the smells. Even the mold growing on our walls didn't alarm me too much, but my clothes? That's gross. Now don't let this make you think I'm a filthy person. Nope, it's not that. Mold is just a way of life and everyone I've mentioned it to hasn't said more than, "Oh yeah, you should get some desiccant." desiccant- which comes in oatmeal, bagels at 7-11, and any other product you might keep for more than a week. Yum.

In My Own Backyard

I think it often takes a while to get to know a place and often a year only allows you to know what you could know well if you lived there longer. This is especial true when all the information about your location is in a foreign language. The cool thing is that you can live somewhere for 6 months and still find amazing things at your doorstep.

For several months people have been half suggesting that I go to this temple on a hill that actually, I can see from my house. I had meant to go, but more often than not it was raining on the weekend and I was skeptical that I really needed to see another temple (there is a temple every block here), plus the directions to get there were vague. When I work up this morning the air was crystal clear, there were clouds in the sky, but the mountains seemed like they were just a few feet away. Colin and I hopped on the scooter and headed in the direction of the temple.

It was surprisingly easy to find and when we arrived the parking lot was filled with tour buses. There must have been some sort of temple festival because the people visiting were definately worshippers and not just tourists like us. Many wore vests that represented different temples. All around, people were burning incense and throwing oracles. Outside people were practicing something like Chinese reiki moving enery around another person's body with there hands. At one point this woman broke down in tears. It was quite intense. I realized only as we were leaving that many of the tourbus groups were bringing small statues of various gods with them in ceremonial order to the temple to pray. We saw one group walk out with flags and these statues and small houses and then bring them back over fireworks and burning paper money. It was similar to the ceremony I had seen in NanFangao but without anyone dancing in a trance with blood running down his face. On thing Taiwan has on the mainland is serious religious fervor. When we were in Beijing we went to on of the temples during Chinese New Year, one of the biggest celebrations. There were tons of people, but the general attitude seemd to be, Well, it's Chinese New Year I guess I'll go to the temple since that's what you do. Most temples we went were very quiet and everyone there seemed to more or less be a tourist.

After wandering around the temple we took a pathway behind it for a walk. We hiked through lush greenery for about 40 minutes before reaching a pavillion where we could turn around amidst tea bushes. We ran into a man coming from the other direction that said we could go on for another hour or so and reach an interesting spot. We turned around instead as we were getting hungry and saved the rest for later. On the hike Colin also spotted two Macaques. I knew Taiwan had them, but I didn't actually think they would be anywhere I would see them. All in all a reviving day. It both made me want to stay here longer to get to know Taiwan better and made me want to get out of work and travel about.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

The intricacies of English

In some ways I'm very lucky that I primarily teach Elementary school students because they don't ask the same sorts of trivial yet curious questions as adults. I've begun to think that if I were to get the answer in an interview "What is your shortcoming" I would have to answer that I'm not a detail person. I don't care enough if all the corners are trimmed up nicely or if all the margins are imperfect order. Along the same note, I don't really care in speaking a foreign language if I say notebook when what I mean is binder. This later fact may actually be because I couldn't really tell you why a notebook is different from a binder. This proves difficult when someone learning English wants to know the difference between different things. I just had a conversation with two not so great English speakers about what different types of towels are called. The kind you use at a pool- a beach towel? Is a beach towel just bigger or must it be used at the beach. Then what is a small bathroom towel? A hand towel? That was my first response, but as the conversation continued I became less and less sure. I do no that a small towel is a washcloths, but if you carry it in your pocket does it become a hankirchif? These are the types of befuddling questions I have to ask myself when I am addressed as the expert on the English language. This is a problem. I don't know about the English language, I just know it. I've spent a day puzzling the difference between a drawer a cupboard a cabinet and a closet and several lunches discussing the difference between tangerine and oranges (in a country where both can be green, tangerines are often larger than oranges).

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

My losers

I have an update on my ostrasized kids. It's not good though. The worst case, in 6th grade, has moved to another city which, sadly, I consider a relief especially since we are now splitting that class into groups they need to work with for the rest of the year and I knew fitting her in would be a problem.

I thought things were going well for our girl in 5th grade. The only incident was at the beginning when one kid wouldn't sit with her. This is a sad Valentine's day story. If you ever got to few Valentines in your brown bag at school listen up, that ain't nothin. The lesson on Valentine's Day included making cards. Since I couldn't have them make one for everyone I taught them about secret admirers with a bit of a platonic spin. They then drew names from a hat and made a card for that person. I gave them supplies and a list of generic V-day sayings- "I like you." You are special to me" "Be my friend." It worked great in 3rd grade and the only snafu in the first 5th grade class came when, after the cards had been delivered, on kid was teased about a girl loving him. My dear 5th grade outcast got her card, which I remember thinking would be okay because it was made by another girl and in the end was in a nice envelope. Stupid teacher, envelopes effectively hide mean things. The card said "You are ugly. You are not special to me." It's a shame that the only time they can manage to break from the linguistic mode is when they want to be cruel. Anyway, Vicky cried, I took her for a walk and couldn't think of anything good enough to say in my limited Chinese and I guess Roxanna and Ruby talked to the class. Roxanna told her after class that if she like other people they will more likely like her back. That's hard to do when you've been hated since 1st grade. I tend to agree that her best bet is to kill them with kindness, but where Roxanna seems to think she started the meaness, I'm pretty sure the other kids did. She has som physical problems and that is not something kids easily accept.
On another note, two new kids in my third grad class seem to have already found best friends and fallen seamlessly into the social groove. I'm I just blind? Is it possible? If it is, why can't I make friends that fast?

Monday, February 13, 2006

Return

So I'm back from my three+ weeks of vacation and back at work. I'll write more about Beijing when I get the chance, but overall it was just nice to be somewhere else and to be with people who have known me for more than 6 months. I probably would have gotten a closer, more inside look at Chinese New Year staying here and going to people's houses, but I really don't mind.

Coming back to Taiwan, I realized how much I like this place. I love the green everywhere, the rice fields everywhere, the general human warmth. I was also able to see anew some things, like how much of this country is built with aluminum siding and how truly ugly Taiwanese fashion tends to be. My elation was tempered by reality a bit. I went out shopping to pick up some things I had decided I need and I remembered just how hard it is to find somethings you want. I went to at least 4 stores looking for candles, before finding them at a random stuff store. In the States I know what kind of stores sell candles, but often it doesn't translate. I also don't carry a dictionary around like I should and am thus unable to look up words like candle and ask. I suppose I could go up to the clerk and say in Chinese "I want a thing that has fire, a lamp, but not," but I'm not willing to face the confusion that would ensue so I'm left wandering.

I returned to work yesterday and that has put me right back into normalcy. I realized though, something that I have been telling myself, but not believing, that everyday at school is really an intense cultural exchange. After 3 weeks spending my time almost exclusively with other Americans I realized how much simpler that is than the communication I had grown used to. My work is not hard, but I'm tired at the end of the day because each class I teach I teach with a local teacher and we struggle amiably to understand eachother's ideas and plans for the classroom and more often than not I'm not sure I understood everything they wanted and I'm not sure if they understood me. Plus our perceived execution of the idea is often different as well and plays out in the classroom. I think that co-teaching may be best for the students and I know it is providing a more valuable experience for both myself and my co-teachers, but I also think I would be a more effective teacher if I could simply plan a class as I wanted to and then have the class, without having to incorporate another person and their ideas and before the class check my ideas out and explain them to another teacher who is not always available.

On another note, I think I have clarified some of my priorities for the next semester. I am going to try (and I hope I can find) a Chinese tutor to work with me one on one for 2-3 hours a week instead of spending 6 hours a week, 2 of which are commuting to go to Fo Guang. I think it is still important that I take Chinese here as I never want to be on of those foreigners that puts out no effort to learn the language, but there are things that are more important to me and I think potentially more important to my future that I am neglecting, like my photography. At Eben's house there was a discussion amongst us and his housemate about people studying Chinese. Wendy said "But I think it is like Med school and enough people will find it hard enough to not follow through." I said that I felt I was the equivalent to that med school dropout, but then I have to remind myself that if I look back in time I took Chinese by chance, because I didn't like German and had a Chinese Art History professor who praised me for my first time in my Reed career. That would be like going to med school on a whim because your friends were doing it.