Chapter 17

Monday, October 12th

MIDTERMS!!! I hate midterms, but I have to give them, and it’s time! We’re reviewing all this week with the kids so they can be ready to take their tests next week. We’ll see how it goes…man, going to school in Asia is rough. The kids start school at 7:30 am or a little before, class ends around 4:00 pm (5:00 for junior high and high school kids), then they head to cram school (that would be English school or whatever else) until around 7:00 pm, and they’re expected to finish homework and take tests too! Ei yi yi, where’s recess? Don’t these kids ever get a chance to play? I need a break just thinking about it. My older kids get the shorter end of the stick too…they have more homework and more tests, and they’re much harder. Most junior high and high school students also have cram school on Saturday! They don’t get home until around 9:30 pm on weekdays and their only day off is Sunday…bummer! However, there is one upside; all Asian students do get nap time….all the way up into high school too!

My SPE Group Three with Jimmy and Scott just keeps getting better and better. Lately, Scott has been enjoying washing everyone’s dishes, including mine. He tells everyone to hurry along and eat so he can wash their plate (not exactly in those words, but that’s what happens). Then there’s Jimmy, he’s really into sweeping the kitchen floor right now. After he’s done eating he always goes to grab the broom. And Joe, I can’t forget him; he is a master at table washing. Each day, when class comes to an end, he asks, “Teacher, can I was the table please?” Ha, who asks to do chores? I love these boys, they are absolutely adorable! It’s so funny, if anyone tries to step in on their chores they get really upset, they are very territorial over their specific jobs.

Tuesday, October 13th

Minnie and Jimmy day…our only SPE’s for the day, I love it! There’s always a story….when I was in kitchen with the little munchkins we were going over texture…we were talking about how peanut butter is sticky. I had them repeat after me, “Peanut butter is tasty, peanut butter is sticky…” Jimmy turned to me pointing to his nose, “Teacher, boogers are sticky too!” Oh gross Jimmy, YUCKY! Hey, at least I know that he understands the concept! “Yes Jimmy, boogers are sticky; very good” Haha.

Tabbi met another foreigner at the track the other week, she traded contact info and all of us, along with some other expats, went to dinner tonight. Let’s see, at dinner there was me and my roomies, Zac (TN), Nick (CA), and Jeff (Canada)…they’re all English teachers too! It’s kind of fun to meet other foreigners. Only problem, I feel so socially awkward….when I get back to America I won’t know how to talk to people, my reasoning: many Taiwanese don’t speak much English, so I’ve become totally comfortable sitting in silence and not talking, I don’t know how that will fly back home. Also, I feel that my conversations are very, very simple here. Not only because I’m talking to people who use English as their second language, but I’m also teaching English to little children all day, everyday….the upside, I do have a group of good roomies here, who together, can keep each other somewhat normal.

Wednesday, October 14th

SPE News:
Like I said earlier, there’s always a story with these rugrats! So, I’ve noticed that the past couple weeks Little Jimmy has been sitting next to Mimi a lot. He always saves her a seat and beckons her to come and sit beside him when she walks into class. The other day Mimi cut her finger and had to leave school early, from behind the glass window, Jimmy kept waving and saying goodbye to Mimi, who was in her car driving away….hum, I thought, something’s up! I tried to ask Jimmy whether Mimi was his girlfriend, but his English isn’t up to par for that kind of conversation yet, I put our secretary, Emily, up to the task….I was standing there watching as she asked him the intense question, he started to blush and nod his head, YES! I knew it! They are totally going out…cutest seven-year-old couple I’ve ever met. In class I try to keep the two kids together so I can see them interact as ‘boyfriend’ and ‘girlfriend’…it’s pretty cute!

….continuation of SPE News:
We were all playing soccer in gym; the kids were having a great time. Usually I have to call time-out every few minutes to make sure we get some good dialogue going on between the children. Well, Scott took it upon himself to call time-out in class today. I was so confused, why? He came running up to me, holding his hands up in the ‘T’ position….”okay, okay,” I said….and I let him do his thing. He ran over to the mats that were situated on the floor as a divider between Team One and Team Two…a mat was out of place, he quickly put the mat back in its correct location, then he called out, “Time-In!” It’s so nice to have a rule enforcer in class. He keeps everything running quite smoothly.

….continuation of SPE News:
I was with another group of SPE’s in gym playing soccer when Jimmy shouted across the room, “Teacher, Teacher, Andy said S-H-I-T!” “What?” I said, confused on whether I heard little Jimmy correctly. He repeated, “Andy said S-H-I-T!” Was I hearing him right, I thought. I walked over to Jimmy just to confirm….sure enough, Jimmy repeated himself once more, whispering the word this time because I was now much closer, “Andy said S-H-I-T!” Haha, oh Andy….Andy really had no clue what he had said, and I didn’t hear it, but because jimmy’s been in school a little longer, he knows all about the no-no’s, and yes, bad words and gestures (the finger)! Never a dull moment with the children, they keep me laughing…..or yelling, either way, never a dull moment!

Thursday, October 15th

Tabbi and I planned to wake up early and go running this morning. It’s starting to cool down a bit outside, so we want to get up and moving because it’s not scorching hot anymore, thank goodness! Well, Tabbi came and woke me up early, but it wasn’t exactly the wake up call I was anticipating: Tabbi’s grandmother died last night. She had a stroke about a week or two before and just couldn’t hold on. I feel so bad for Tabbi—she was very close with her grandma—so we just sat on my bed for awhile, giving back scratches and chatting. Rest in Peace Gussie….Tabbi loves you! Well, we still ended up going running to get Tabbi’s mind off of things. It’s never good to get this kind of news when you’re so far away from family. Tabbi isn’t sure whether she’ll fly home or not for the funeral yet, we shall see.

After work, the girls and I took Tabbi to get a bing—an amazing ice dessert that is covered in different beans and fruit, then topped off with a little sweet and condensed milk….(I never thought I’d say, amazing)…lets see, we had some almond bean, taro, sweet potato, and tapioca pearls on ours, can you say tasty??? We then went and hung out at the bookstore for a bit, but I quickly got bored because none of the books were in English, bummer…it’s alright though, I’m currently working on reading three books right now (I’m horrible, I never finish the books I start).

p.s. Megan, my 2A (second grader), brought me some yummy brownie bites from Costco today, pure chocolate….love them. I am so thankful for thoughtful students who continue to give me the motivation to teach!

Friday, October 16th

The kids were so GOOD today, YAY!!! I gave Jimmy and Scott’s group some brownie bites, they were so excited to get some sweets—they don’t get candy and sweets all that often here. I then informed the little ones that the chocolate handouts were a secret and they couldn’t tell anyone…I was whispering all this information to them to show them just exactly what a secret was, and they started whispering back, holding their fingers up to the mouth in unison saying, “Teacher, we will not tell..” Can they get anymore adorable than that?

Tabbi decided to book a flight home to America for her grandma’s funeral and burial. Her family needs her and she needs her family. I’m glad she’s able to get home for everything—she leaves tomorrow and will be gone for the whole week. I get to cover her classes. Sammy and I will be splitting the afternoon SPE’s into two groups (we’ll see how that goes) and I will teach her 2A1’s…my old class, the ‘Angels’, YAY!

I booked it outta class again tonight…gotta another trip planned to the south, well….south east! I’m going home with Torry to Taitung—she says it’s beautiful there, better than Kenting. I don’t know if it gets any better than that, but we shall see!

Saturday, October 17th

I met Torry and Leongan (her nephew) at the train station last night. After picking me up, we went to get Joesph, our friend from Feng Yuan, and then hit the road for our six hour drive to Taitung. Luckily, I got to sit in the back with Leongan so I could fall asleep, too bad I couldn’t sleep a wink. The night was dark and it was hard to see anything beyond the window, but I could tell we were weaving through the mountainous countryside because of all the sharp turns and sudden jerks this way, and that. I could feel myself getting car sick, but I did my best to stay focused. I literally thought we were going to run into the mountain or one of the many logging trucks that continued to pass us….that’s how narrow and windy the road was.

We arrived to Torry’s family’s house around 3:00 am. Torry’s mom has been out of town for the last month with the new grandbaby and her dad isn’t much of a housekeeper, so…lets just say, I wish I could have waited to use the bathroom until morning, but there was no more holding it, I couldn’t stop myself from engaging in the potty dance. Home standards are very different here, and when you get farther away from the city, I feel that homes become less Americanized. Man, there was another dang cockroach in the bathroom…what’s up with these roaches. They love hanging out in the bathrooms and they love scaring the gibes out of me!

We woke up early so we could, once again, make the best of our short weekend outside of Changhua.

1. Beach: We went to a gorgeous beach. The beach was secluded and we were pretty much the only peeps out strollin’ on the sand. Torry walked with Joseph while Leongan and I ran from rock to rock, digging for cool sea shells. I felt like a little kid again, and yes, I found some SWEET shells! The ocean was beautiful and blue, surrounded by palm trees and flourishing mountains from every side.

2. Sanxiantai/Eight Arch Bridge: From the beach, we continued our journey along the coast down to the Eight Arch Bridge, which connects Taiwan to the small island, Sanxiantai. Sanxiantai is one of the most popular tourist attractions on the East coast, and for good reason…..it is BEAUTIFUL! To get to the island we walked across the Eight Arch Bridge that was just built in 1987—its design looks like a gigantic dragon swimming across the ocean waters to the island, pretty fun! After crossing the bridge to the island, we marveled at the beautiful scenery. We then walked around for a bit and we found ourselves three naturally formed, pools of water. The water in the pools was crystal clear and they were engulfed with all kinds of different fish. We then came upon some eerie coral caves, which we entered hesitantly because not one of us could see our own hand in front of our face…..and then we ended our little excursion with a short hike to the top peak on the island, which consisted of a small light house, the only man-made structure on the island besides some steps here and there.

3. Hot Springs: When I think of hot springs here in Taiwan I think of ‘natural’ springs, much like the ones I’m used to in Utah….I mean, I am on a tropical island, right? Well, hot springs here are nothing what you might think. They just remind me of enormous Jacuzzi’s—large heated swimming pools, some with water massagers too!

Last stop of the evening….the famous hot springs! Don’t get me wrong, I still loved going to the hot springs, but if you’re expecting to find some small pools of water that smell like sulfur and are enclosed by giant palm trees or some thick mountainous landscape….you won’t find them in Taiwan. Torry’s cousin came with us to the hot springs. We had a great time taking advantage of the water massagers and the different pools. There were some pools filled with tea or lavender that we just had to dip ourselves into, Torry told me they would make me ‘more beautiful’….oooh, just what I want….and need!

After the hot springs, we showered off and headed out for the one and the only, STINKY TOFU….I knew I’d have to try it one of these days….I just didn’t know that day was today! Taitung is known for its Stinky Tofu, so it was a must that I try it. We got the goods to eat and drove down to the ocean to hear the wave’s crash against the shore, so peaceful. Alright, Stinky Tofu, yes….it really stinks, BADLY too! Well, I tried it, and basically, it tastes just like it smells, STINKY. There’s no replacing that smell. So, it wasn’t that bad, but let’s just say I don’t think I’ll be craving that dish anytime soon.

Sunday, October 18th

We slept in a little bit today, but not much….we were out the door by about 8:30-9:00 a.m.

1. Bike Ride: We grabbed some fruit on-the-go for breakfast, and went for a lovely bike ride around Taitung. We strolled through a fun, little park that took us to a small lake and then eventually to the ocean. We got off our bikes and walked down to the beach where we witnessed 20 foot waves crashing to the shore…..AMAZING…..but wouldn’t want to get caught in those white caps! Along the beach were huge wooden logs that had been torn off the nearby mountain by the typhoon, washed away to sea, and then spit back out up onto the sand. I couldn’t believe all the typhoon damage we saw…the south east really got hit hard.

2. Grandma’s House: Well, I can now say I’ve seen how the other half lives, and not the half you’re thinking off. Taitung is much more rural than any of the other places I’ve visited. We went to visit Torry’s grandparents today and it was all very humbling. The small shack-like-house was standing with old, cracked concrete floors and walls and, what seemed like, a tin roof for cover. For ventilation, there were portable fans, for washing, I didn’t see a washer…I would assume a tub and a scrubber, clothes were hanging out to dry on the line. The family room and kitchen were combined into a small room with a sink here and a table there….nothing too fancy, but some family pictures tacked on the wall for decoration and memory. I am almost certain there was no indoor plumbing because the house smelled like pee, but what great people. Torry’s grandparents seemed as happy as can be…her grandma talked to me in Taiwanese, she kept telling me how smart her husband used to be….she offered me some special rice (fried rice with fish)….after eating a bowl of rice and continually nodding my head as if I understood what her grandmother was saying, we thanks the couple for their hospitality and were off to our next stop.

3. Pagoda and Swimming: We rode our bikes up to the temple and pagoda on the hillside….dare I say, once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all? However, we did take the stairs to the top of the tower and looked out over Taitung. We then swung by the church to return our bikes to Torry’s neighbor. We also got a bite to eat from the members (peanut butter and jelly)….I’ve found that a lot of wards eat together after church here….I’m grateful…American food, YUM!

We found this little canal and the boys took a dip into it before we headed back home to Changhua. The water was freezing cold, there must have been a spring somewhere…it smelled so fresh that it reminded me of Pine Valley….heading up to the campground and playing around in the creek.

When we were at the canal, someone must have made a couple of phone calls and said that the Americans were in town, because all of the sudden the paparazzi showed up….everyone was there, watching us—it was funny! That’s one thing I may miss when I leave Taiwan…I feel so important here. I mean, people ask to take pictures of us all the time, now when do you get that kind of attention in American, NEVER!

So, the coolest thing EVER happened when we were swimming….some older Taiwanese ladies came down the walkway to the canal and did their wash right there, in front of us! They had their buckets, their soap, their scrubbers; they were just doing their laundry, scrubbin’ away. Greatest experience ever! I loved it!

Taitung was such a FUN trip! Now I can say I’ve been to all sides of Taiwan…north, east, south, and west!

P.S. Greatest purchase of the trip…$6.00 swimming suit, now I just need to rid myself of the unwelcomed rice-roll I have sitting around my waist!