Don't Ever Think People Are Not Good At Heart

Wow, I have probably had the most heart warming day yet.  After an amazing day at school, and finally feeling like I have had a break through with my students, I walked out to the pedal on my bike no longer being attached...poor Betsy she got sick.  Not only did that happen, but a thunderstorm was brewing.  Lightening flashing and thunder rumbling.  In my head I was thinking "Great!  Just my luck, who else would this happen to?"  Thankfully my wonderful apartment mate Larissa, who speaks Chinese was riding home with me.  We went to the security guards at school, they all tried to help put it back on with no luck but directed us to a scooter shop around the corner.  After walking the bike over to the scooter shop, through the crazy traffic, we were told they only fix scooters, not bikes...no bueno!

Larissa went on her way since it was storming, and I went back to school.  The security guards called my a cab while they continued trying to fix my bike for me.  They don't speak english, I don't speak Chinese but we communicated with smiles and hand gestures.  Once the taxi arrived and we managed to fit Betsy into the truck, I got a sweet message from Larissa saying the security guards at our apartment want to look at the bike before I try to take it to a bike shop.  Needless to say, the wonderful door man not only got his hands dirty fixing my bike, he was my hero for the day, but he also made me promise I would take it to another bike shop to make sure it was safe to ride.

After having all of these people take time out of their day to help me put back on my pedal, it really warmed my heart.  These people did this because they are nice, kind people.  They were not asking for anything in return, just being a good neighbor.  This is what life is all about.  If more people were to do this, help people out how much happier would we all be?  Take today to do something nice for someone else...it really goes a LONG way!  Just the little things can turn a bad day into something good and a good day into something great.

Now, I get to ride my sweet Betsy around the Love River with friends and enjoy the joyous view!

First week of school...SUCCESS

I am done with my first full week of teaching and as far as I can tell it was a success.  It is totally different than teaching in the states.  The students are amazing!  They do everything I say without question, everyone has their homework complete, they don't talk and they are excited to learn.  It is more work than I ever though it would be.  Probably one of my hardest first weeks to get used to.

The language difference is interesting.  I have found that they all just no their heads even if they don't understand so I really have to be observant, which can be difficult for me :)  I think I am going to love it.  Next week the students are going to have their first dance and I can not wait to chaperone.  It starts at 6:30 and is over by 9:00, not a bad job to have.

I am getting used to everything around here and even gaining an appreciation for tofu...who would have thought that could taste good?  I am craving a good ol American cheeseburger though.

Lesson #1 learned while riding a bike

You would think that I would know everything there is to know about bike riding, since I have had one for as long as I can remember, but after buying one as promised and riding it to school today for the first timeI had my first of many lessons on a bike.

I woke up today as usual and got ready for my first day of school.  I showered the night before, had my clothes laid out and ironed (be proud mom), lunch made and was good to go.  I put my bike in the elevator, walked out of my apartment, went to get on my bike and then, and only then did I think, "Oh crap, I have a skirt on!"  Well there was nothing I could do about it then, so I hopped on and rode.  I was good until that first gush of wind hit and my skirt flew up, literally to about my face.  Thankfully it was about 6:45 in the morning so people were few and far in between.  But still, I probably gave someone a good show.  But even worse was the ride home, not only did I have on a skirt, but I also had to get on my bike in front of my new kiddies who were staying after school to play basketball.

LESSON #1 OF RIDING A BIKE IN TAIWAN...DON'T WEAR A SKIRT!

Meet Betsy!

Probably my favorite night ever!

Since I have been here, I am discovering more and more things I like to do.  Of course I have done my fair share of eating and drinking...I always knew I liked to do those two things...just look at the picture below, this is what we did for happy hour, yes the hats and the goggles were behind the bar, not quite sure how they ended up on our heads but we sure had fun with it. 

But tonight I discovered the joy of biking.  Not just riding a bike to get from point A to point B, but biking for the fun of it, kinda like whenever you were a little kid on summer break with nothing to do, no where to be, and all the time in the world on your hands.  After waiting for a new refrigerator to be delivered and then going into school on a Saturday to get everything ready for my kiddies on Monday, I had the opportunity to go with some other teachers on a bike tour of Kaohsiung.  We rented bikes on the street and ventured out.  We started down a beautiful path along the Love River, which runs directly though the heart of the city.  This was incredible, it was like we had left the hustle and bustle of the city and were in this remote paradise.  

 

This is where we started...

After riding around the city for a while, we were famished (and a little thirsty) so we stopped for dinner and drinks at this wonderful restaurant right on the river.  It was nice to give my rear end a break, those bike seats are not very friendly.  The dinner and beer were just what we needed to get back to riding, we had to get home somehow.  It is amazing how much you can see from a bike.  I found myself running into things because I was too busy looking all around me, we all know I am not one to be the most observant or coordinated.  All in all this was probably my favorite night so far.  It was relaxing, beautiful and fun all at the same time.  

Needless to say, tomorrow I AM GETTING A BIKE!

I have figured out the weight loss secret!!!

I will keep this one short and sweet...

After eating a wonderful traditional (I think) Chinese meal tonight with a fabulous group of fellow teachers, it dawned on me why Asians seem to be so skinny...the ultimate weight loss secret...CHOPSTICKS!

I was sharing a great meal of scallop dumplings and beef noodles with a friend, and trying to accustom myself to the culture here, I used chopsticks as I have with 2/3 of the meals I have eaten here.  In trying to get the noodles out of the bowl along with the veggies and beef, and to dip my dumplings in the delicious sauce, I ended up taking about 45 minutes to get the equivalent of uber small portion.  At this time, I was not longer hungry! 

Moral of the story, use chopsticks whenever possible!

Oh what to say...Life is good!

Well, I have been in Kaohsiung for less than a week now and I still can not tell people what street I live on.  The good thing about all of this is I have a little card I keep with me that says "please take me home" then gives my address in Mandarin.  So don't worry, I just hand that to the cab driver, sit back and relax.

Life has been totally different, I have to take about 3 showers a day since I sweat more than I ever have before in my life.  I can not read any of the street signs unless they are in English, which some signs actually are, I can not talk to anyone unless they speak English,  so for the first time in my life I feel illiterate.  I am using a new currency where I carry around $1,000 bills in my wallet and spend them like they are nothing, because in New Taiwanese they are worth about $34.  I have to get the super sweet women who work in the office to translate any mail I have.  My air conditioning units only turn on when I walk into a room and turn off when I walk out and I do not have a shower curtain.

LIFE THOUGH HAS BEEN WONDERFUL!  This is probably one of the best things I have done in my life so far.  I am working with amazing people.  I feel as if I walked into automatic friends.  They like to go out and do things, but are hard workers in the process.  I have found restaurants which not only have Jack and Diets but also serve quesadillas and nachos.  The city is HUGE with anything and everything I could ever want.  People here are more friendly than people in the south.  They are willing to literally bend over backwards to make sure you have everything you need.  At dinner tonight the waitress asked if we wanted the leftover salsa to be boxed up.  You do not have to tip anyone for anything, the price is what it is.

My staff training so far has consisted of going to the mountains one day,

and then the next day being able to put my feet in the ocean!

The best part about all of this is they are only about 20 minutes apart.  I am already learning more about myself as a person.  I have totally stepped out of my comfort zone and have enjoyed doing it.  Tonight I was able to walk by myself to meet people for dinner and then walk home!  This is what life is all about.  I know it will be hard at times, but I can already tell this is something that I not only needed to do, but something that will change me as a person forever...of course for the better!

First day craziness

Well I am finally here in Kaohsiung.  After what seemed like traveling for a week, even though it was only 26 hours I landed, got picked up and managed to make it to my apartment, which by the way was changed at the last minute.  I of course could not sleep, so I unpacked most of my things and watched one of the 5 channels I get in English before finally crashing.

I woke up this morning and got to skype with mom, dad and Syd which was wonderful.  I could not wait to hear their voices.  It made everything seem somewhat normal.  I then made my way up to my new school.  It was totally different than what I expected.  The whole campus it wide open with plants and water fixtures everywhere.  I loved it!  The middle of the campus is a track and soccer field and they are in the process of building a new cafeteria.  I met some of the people I work with, most of them were native to Taiwan, but there is one lady from North Carolina, Beth.  It was so nice to hear a southern drawl.  She is a retired teacher from the mountains, super nice and friendly as most people in North Carolina tend to be.

After taking my first cab ride by my self, and giving the cab driver the little slip of paper which says "please take me to ..." I made it back safely and decided to venture to the grocery store.  This store was in the basement of the mall I live beside.  Kinda crazy but they had everything I would want, I just had to look at the pictures on the packages because I could not read anything.  The mall was crazy though.  It is 2 times the size of any back home and is literally on the corner of the street I am on.  This could be trouble.  Now I am sitting here.  I have to say I am a little homesick, but I hope after tomorrow when I get to meet all the rest of the new hires that will get pushed aside for a little bit.

I would say so far this has been a pretty successful day.  I am overwhelmed but I know I will eventually get the hang of everything.  It is just really weird to be one of the only Americans in a city.  I know that is not really the case, I just have not seen a lot.  I will have to say everything is a lot nicer than I thought.  Especially my apartment.  Below are some of the pictures of the place.  It is two bedrooms so PLEASE come to Taiwan and visit!