I know. I'm a terrible blogger. Does anyone even read this thing?? Well, again I have to same dilemma as last time in that there's so much to write that I don't know where to begin so I'm going to start by reposting the mass emails because I'm actually good at writing those!
Settling in Keelung 02/12/06
So training went well and for our 'graduation' party we went to a function floor at the main office (very posh) for a 'wine, cheese and beer' party. After that we went to this thing called KTV.. it's very popular here. It's kind of like karaoke but you go into a private room so it's just you and your friends singing along... or drunken screaming along as it turns out :) The alcohol is apparently expensive at KTV but you can bring your own so we just got beer at 7/11 and took it in. After that we went to a nightclub that had just reopened and so cover was free. All in all it was a good night.
Keelung so far has been nice. It's much prettier and the air is much cleaner than in Taipei. Everyone at my branch is really nice and helpful. For the last three days I've been observing classes taught by other teachers. I observed my last class today and I start teaching Tuesday evening. Right now i work mondays and tuesdays 6:40pm-8:30pm, Wed, Thurs, and Fri 4:30pm-8:30pm and Saturdays 10am-11:50 am and 1:30pm-3:20pm. So, not too bad. I'll have mornings off at least until February and then I might be able to pick up some kindergarten classes. It doesn't seem like a lot but I get paid about $30-$35 CAD per class (each class is 2 hours) and the cost of living is pretty cheap (rent is 2 hundred and something and you can get big meals at street vendors for $2-$4) Speaking of street vendors, I've been eating some crazy stuff. Last night Gabriel (the South African guy who lives in my complex) and I went to the night market. The night market here is 'famous' for it's food. Anyways, we tried fried chicken feet!!! yes real chicken feet, i have pictures that you'll see later. We also had bbq'd octopus tentacles!!! They were both pretty good but I couldn't stand the concept of eating chicken feet so I only had a few bites.
Update from Keelung 13/12/06
Teaching has been pretty great so far. The kids are amazing. They're so smart and cute. A lot of kids here go to school from 7am to 9pm. They go to regular school during the day and then cram school at night for their different subjects. So, I teach at English cram school. They also go Saturday mornings/early afternoons.
I've been adjusting to life here. I was physically sick on Friday so I stayed home from work. I slept all day and when I woke up I got really homesick. So, I've been recovering physically and emotionally since. I'm getting into a routine and I still really like it here. But home is so far away both in distance and in time until I see it again. We don't usually get home until after 10pm every night because we stay at school and grade homework. So, by the time we get home all the restaurants are closed and only street vendors are open. Gabriel and I found one that we really like and so we've been going back there every night. It's pretty funny. One of the girls there speaks English so she always serves us. Tonight they'll be closed so I think we're going to go to the night market in Keelung and get some sushi. I want to try the raw fish kind. I've tried the vegetable and cooked meat kind and I like it so now I'm getting more adventurous.
Contact and Pictures! 17/12/06
*Not posting contact info on here so contact me for my phone number and address*
I also made an online photo album with all my pictures. There's 170 of them so make sure you look at them when you've got a lot of time :) The address is
http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q87/lauraohearn/ If you click on a pic it will get bigger and you can see my captions... you can also go to the navigate to other pictures from there so you don't have to keep going back and forth.
Merry Christmas to all!! 25/12/06
Merry Christmas!! Santa found me at 10am this morning. He must have gotten confused when he went to Prospect and I wasn't there. He brought me a shiny new air conditioner (yes, it's bizarre this time of year but it acts as a dehumidifier so it's a good thing to have here any time of year) He also brought me a shiny new internet connection!!!! Just what I wanted. And it also came with a home telephone line.
So, Saturday night I went to my work Christmas party. It was fun. We went to a nice restaurant and had secret Santa. The funny part is that I bought the same present for my 'angel' as i got from my 'Santa'. They were gift boxes from the body shop with shower gel and stuff like that. Then a few of us went bowling again and got a little drunk hehe. Yesterday all of the girls went and got our hair done. I didn't know what I wanted so I just told her to do whatever she felt like. Well that was interesting. She straightened the front bit of my hair and kind of swept it across my forehead and pinned it to the right side of my head. Then, she took the end of that piece and wrapped it around into a circle and pinned it down. then she pinned the rest so it was half up and then she teased it a little. I felt like I should have been on the Jetsons hahaha. I have some pictures so I'll put them on photobucket when I get a chance. We went to the Outback Steakhouse in Taipei for dinner. We were there for 3 hours!! The service was crap and the food wasn't that great. We waited for an hour after we ate just to get the bill!! One girl waited almost 2 hours for her meal only to send it back to be cooked more. I spent a lot on the dinner, too. At my house we have lobster for Christmas dinner so I felt I had to get it last night. It was 'Maine Lobster'. Naturally it wasn't as good as at home but it was okay. Then we went to a chill little bar for a few drinks so that was fun.
Today some people from my training group called and wanted to meet for lunch, so I went to Taipei again. We went to Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world: the CN Tower is the tallest structure so don't get defensive you Canadians out there.) It was nice we only ate at the food court but we did some shopping too and it was nice to see my friends again, and get out of the apartment to save me from missing home too much.
So, I think that pretty much brings you up to date. I'm liking Taiwan more and more. It really is a great country and I love teaching my kids. I'm also going to start learning Mandarin in January so that will come in useful. Well, take care everyone and enjoy the season!!
