Chapter 7

Monday, August 3rd

Because it’s the first of August we got some new SPE’s in school today. Now I’m starting to get more of a set schedule, it’s nice. I don’t have to work the afternoon SPE’s because I teach a lot of the older kids. We got a new Kevin in class, so ‘big’ Kevin’s parents changed his name to Max, so funny how that works. I keep forgetting to call Kevin, Max. He always gets after me about it. In kitchen one day we were washing our dishes and I called him Kevin, he just looked at me and said, “Try again.” Ha, it was so funny….at the same time, I was thinking, who’s the boss here, come on now!

Jamie and Alex are also new students, probably the cutest brother and sister ever! Jamie is the littlest five-year-old I’ve ever met. They hardly speak any English; in fact, Sarah actually named Alex….he’s still getting used to his new name. When he doesn’t realize I’m talking to him I’ll start to clap or snap to get his attention, he’ll look up and start copying me….he has no idea what’s going on.

It’s crazy how much the kids who have been here for just one month have advanced, I didn’t notice their improvement until Jamie and Alex came to school knowing nothing. The older kids are always so helpful. Kiki and Max especially….one day Jamie couldn’t understand, so Kiki just kept saying, “Say this….say this….” In frustration, Kiki looked at me and asked, “Teacher, can I just tell her in Chinese?” The kids can’t speak Chinese in school—it gets interesting when we try to teach them freeze tag or soccer, they just run around wild…patience!

We also got a new cook. Sue had to quit due to health problems. Linda is our new cook—she made us meatballs today. They were actually pretty good….some of the meat is sketch, but I had to try the meatballs because Changhua is supposedly famous for them. YUMMY!

Tuesday, August 4th

Nothing much new today, just still trying to teach Jamie and Alex a little English…they keep speaking Chinese in class. Every time one of them says anything that’s not in English, all the other kids yell at the top of their lungs, “NO CHINESE!” I think Max and Kiki are starting to get a little irritated in Gym….they don’t ever want Alex on their team, because he keeps using his hands in soccer. Pour little guy, he’ll get it, it just takes time.

We got another new student, Tim. He is a smart little devil. He already has the system down! He repeats everything I say, and he won’t stop until I recognize him. He’s a cutie!

It started pouring rain today—it does that a lot here in the afternoon. Sarah and I had to borrow an umbrella from school. I’m becoming pro at the one hand on the bike, one hand on the umbrella technique….that hold actually isn’t too bad, it’s when I need both hands on the bike and have to use my neck to hold my umbrella, now that’s were it gets tricky!

Wednesday, August 5th

Well, all of us teachers have been talking about what we can do with Joe….bless his heart; he just has some behavior problems. We decided to lay down the law, every time he acts out, Sherry’s office it is! When I arrived at school today Sam was escorting Joe out of class….then when I was teaching Joe, I found myself escorting him out of class. He was like Spiderman clinging to the walls, trying to latch onto anything within reach. When we got to Sherry’s office, she just looked at Joe and said, “Not again…” Poor kid, hopefully he will learn. Hanna walked by Sherry’s office and saw him sweating bullets, dang wall sits!

For my afternoon off, I decided to come home and get organized with some things, before dong so though, I stopped off at this large monastery that is near our apartment. It is huge. On my way there, this man pulled up to me on his scooter. He had a big thing of beetle nut lodged in his cheek—it’s just like tobacco, but red. All the old guys chew it, and then spit it out on the streets. You will see red crap on the ground everywhere. It very much stains, and not only the ground, but your mouth as well, teeth and all…so GROSS! Anyhow, this beetle nut guy came right close to me on his scooter, asked if I was American, then proceeded to tell me that I was ‘sexy’ and ‘beautiful’….all with a great big smile of beetle nut. Ugh, thanks, I thought…and the Taiwanese are known for their passive behavior.

Thursday, August 6th

We played Simon Says in games today….I was Simon, “Simon says wiggle your ears…” All my SPE’s started wiggling their ears with their little hands, then Jimmy, the cutest of all, comes up to me shoving his hands into my face, “Teacher, look…” Oh yes, he can wiggle his ears with no hands. Probably one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. He is adorable (I took a video of him so you can capture the goodness…hopefully I can get it up soon). We then played Jimmy Says…”Jimmy says touch teacher…” All the kids came and latched onto my legs…caressing them as many of the kids do. The kids love smooth legs because Asians don’t shave, they must have gotten that from the Europeans. I thought I was low maintenance before, and I’ve even gotten more low maintenance since I’ve been here, but I just don’t think I can go that far….no shaved legs…icky! They also don’t wear deodorant! Smelly. I brought deodorant into my oldest class to show them what it looks like and how you use it, they were amazed. I also brought them some small samples of perfume that they could have….they were lovin’ it. Even Martin wanted a sample of perfume!

Oh my goodness, there were two flying bugs in my 2A class today, the kids were freaking out…..and I was right there with them. All of us were screaming….I kept thinking, pull it together T, pull it together! I had to stay calm, so my kids would stay calm. The bugs weren’t even that big, but for some reason, the fact that they could fly got to me. I went and grabbed a broom from the bathroom and tried to swing at them….obviously missing! Killing bugs is not in my job description—it is now! One minute the girls were freaking out, then I couldn’t hear a thing….I turned around and they had all booked it outta class, no bugs for them. Hankie pinkie came to our rescue…he got his grammar book, grabbed a chair for a little lift, and slammed that book down with all his might, that bug didn’t see it comin! “That bug was so stupid,” Hank said. Then Engine piped in, “That bug wasn’t stupid, he was just tired from us chasing him.” My classroom is now bug free.

It started pouring rain again this afternoon….luckily this time I had my umbrella, unfortunately, I didn’t have my poncho. Umbrellas don’t do much for ya here, their real purpose is to block the wind, because in all reality, the rain comes from every direction and there’s no getting away from it. Emily, our school secretary, lent me and Sam a poncho, so nice. As Tabbi and I were getting ready to jump on our bikes we realized our shoes were going to get all ruined. I was wearing my hot pink rattlesnake shoes….I couldn’t stand to see them ruined, so Tabbi and I rode home barefoot, yes….in the acid rain!

An hour or so after arriving home we received a phone call from Sherry….Typhoon coming! No school tomorrow. Yes, no school, we all thought! Then we realized we weren’t at all prepared for the Typhoon, so we got all geared up to brave the storm and headed to the corner market to stock up on some supplies. Tons of people were at the market….I couldn’t believe how fast supplies were going. We got the essentials: toilet paper, water, and ramen (who would have thought).

Friday, August 7th

You would think no school would be nice, but then you’re quarantined to your house because of a typhoon and everything changes, ha! It didn’t rain much today, but the wind was howling! It was pounding against our windows all day. Tabbi, not really thinking, opened up the laundry room door, which is on our balcony, mistake! She could barely hold on to get that door shut again…she is just a little thing, only 5’2”. She had to use all her strength to get the door shut. We read an article that said winds in most of Taiwan were around 90 mph, but south of Taipei, were we live, they were getting up to 120 mph.

My first typhoon…kind of exciting! Because none of us dared to leave the house, I was able to talk to mom and catch up with some other friends. I also worked on my talk and finished watching ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic.’ After we were all going crazy from a day inside, Hanna, Sarah, Sam, and I decided to do a 7-11 run, 7-11 is always open. We walked outside and were pleasantly surprised, no rain, and the wind wasn’t too bad. We got some dinner on Food Street and then grabbed some junk food in case we got the munchies!

Saturday, August 8th

Manti called, our fun trip to the theme park for the day had been canceled due to the typhoon, bummer! Good new though, he asked whether I wanted to hang out with him and Sean in Tai Chung. Never wanting a dull moment, of course I was up for it…but I still wasn’t sure how the weather was with the typhoon. Manti said it should be fine. Well, come to find out, because of poor service and lack of power, we couldn’t get a hold of friends in Tai Chung, but we still made a day of it.

Manti and Sean took me swimming! Wow, when an Asian says, “Lets go swimming,” It’s not as if you splash around and play in the pool, it’s actually, the real deal, oh yes….we swam laps! No worries, I had my cap and goggles. You aren’t allowed into the pool area without your cap or goggles. Something about hair clogging the drain and um….water contamination irritating your eyes, haha! We had a good time. Manti tried to teach Sean and me some technique with the breast stroke and butterfly—I was all over the place. Manti told me I needed to be, one with the water, apparently I wasn’t too graceful! He gave me some drills to practice.

Alright, now let me back up a bit….this swimming experience was great! First, before getting into the pool we had to drink some water, and then we sat in the sauna to release the toxins from our bodies. This is were I realized that Speedos are in…all the men were wearing Speedos, and if they weren’t, they were wearing knee-length shorts, but not the ones you are thinking of….the Speedo brand, which happens to be a little too tight!

After the sauna, we did some lap swimming. From the laps, we went over and had ourselves a little water massage fest! Wow, what is with these Asians and pain, they love it! In the pool there were all sorts of massaging machines, kind of like the massaging Jacuzzi’s, but much bigger, and much more extreme. Water spews out from the nozzles like a fire hydrant and it’s supposed to feel good? At one machine, Manti told me to lye down on my stomach…I did as I was told, Manti flipped a switch and the water came pouring down on me as if I was under a waterfall. It hurt so badly! At first, I thought it was a joke, so I rolled out of the water to see if I was the victim of a nasty trick, nope…it was definitely for real. I rolled back under the waterfall and tried to take it like a man, but it wasn’t happening. Manti said that where it hurts is where you aren’t as healthy….so, all over, I’m not healthy at all? Haha, alright, slight exaggeration, the Asian water spa was pretty sweet, but nonetheless, still a little painful.

The water massage didn’t end after that. We went to another machine (in waist deep water) that pounded out water onto your back and neck. Everyone made it look so relaxing….then I took a turn…or a hit, whatever you wanna call it. I could literally lean against the water and it would hold me straight up. Manti kept telling me to relax, but I couldn’t stop tensing up—it hurt! Our last water massage must have been the cool down because it was really nice. There were massage beds that we lied down in, luke warm water, with a gentle massage—the ones I am more accustomed to, it was nice!

After the massages, Manti and Sean took me over to a pool that looked like it was filled with pee….yep, pee water! Ugh. Manti said we must immerse ourselves for 30 seconds…it was an herbal pool, filled with tea or something of the sort. Doing as the Asians do, I immersed myself in the warm herbal bath before jumping into a pool of ice cold water to wash off, freezing. We ended our day at the “spa” by entering the steam room where I once again, released any toxins from my body! It was a sweet time….and I would definitely do it again! Oh…and yes, I convinced the boys to go down the water slide with all the little kids a few times…it was fun!

After swimming it was still pretty rainy outside so we decided to grab a bite to eat and head to the movies! We went and got some dumplings, so good, and some noodles, not so good. The noodles were covered in a peanut sesame sauce that tasted much like dirt; I couldn’t bring myself to finish them. So we went and saw ‘GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.’ It was a really good movie. I hadn’t even heard about it, but I mean, I’ll see anything with Channing Tatum, so good looking. It was action packed, and suspenseful….a bit sci-fi, which I’m usually not into, but good nonetheless…even had a love story. I recommend this flick!

As we were making our way into the theater, I could smell something sweet, I looked over and saw…..POPCORN! I knew my senses wouldn’t lead me a stray. I told Manti and Sean to hold up, so I could see how much the popcorn was….Manti turned to me and said, “Oh yeah, I forgot you’re an American!” Haha, we like our popcorn, especially when it’s only 75 cents US.

The movie theater was huge—the biggest I’ve ever seen. Before the movie started, Manti got up to go to the restroom. At that moment, I thought, I should go too. I turned to Sean and pointed to the bathroom, trying to ask if that’s where I go…he nodded his head. I got up after Manti and trotted right over to the bathroom, which is just a door off of the theater. I swung open the door, and to my dismay…it was a room full of guys. They were all in shock, haha! First words out of my mouth, “This is the boys’ bathroom isn’t it?” “Uh huh,” they all said in unison with their jaws dropped. I turned right around, to a crowd full of Asians snickering at the silly American. I couldn’t stop laughing; I thought it was sooo funny. I gave Sean the ‘look,’ he was just laughing and pointing to another door on the other side of the theater…the girls’ restroom. When I got back from the bathroom, Manti and Sean were still laughing….I was too! I couldn’t believe Sean didn’t warn me…well, I could actually…he doesn’t really speak that much English and I walked away so fast he couldn’t catch me to say anything. No worries, I still have my innocence.

After a day with the boys I came home and Sarah and I watched ‘House Bunny’. Then I worked on my talk and called it a day!

Sunday, August 9th

I woke up around seven this morning so I could go over my talk and get ready for church. Ten minutes before stepping out of the door we received a call that church had been cancelled because of typhoon, Morakot. I didn’t realize that the typhoon was that bad, but after chatting with my friend Julia for a moment, she said the East side was hit pretty hard, more so than it has been hit in 50 years. Her friend down in the southeast had water in her apartment up to her knees. Six people are missing or dead and another dozen have been injured. Changhua is on the west side of the island, and luckily we are blessed with the mountains….Julia said that has helped us a lot. All I’ve seen here is a tropical storm, nothing too scary! It’s crazy that just two hours away from me all of this is happening…no worries, I am safe, but it’ll be another day inside!

Love you all! T