From a Texas Y'all to the Chinese Wall: July 2013

Hello everyone!

I can't believe that I have been in Taiwan for over 3 weeks! It has gone by so fast and I feel like I have done and learned so much. I am extremely grateful for all of the experiences that I have had and the people that I have met in these 3 short weeks! It makes me excited to think of all the adventures that are still waiting.

Initially, this coming week was supposed to be my last week in Taiwan. Erin and I were supposed to fly to China on the 27th and start teaching at the beginning of August. That is no longer the case though. We don't really have a set day to leave Taiwan yet and will still have to go over to Hong Kong at some point to get our Visas, but we don't know when that will happen yet either. My thought process over the past few weeks was that we are getting more time in Taiwan and everyone is doing the best that they can. We are starting the English program at this relatively new school in China, so they are trying to figure all of this out. What I didn't know until we met with the Principal at Cornel (school in Taiwan) is that Erin and I will be the first foreign teachers to LEGALLY go to China to teach. That blew my mind! They expect that we will leave for China around the second week of August and then won't start the English program until September. So until then, I will continue to enjoy all Taiwan has to offer.

There are some things that I have gotten used to in Taiwan that would be completely bizarre back in the states! I wake up most mornings and get to eat breakfast and "watch" the Rangers on GameCast. It's weird watching live baseball in the morning, but I'm starting to get used to it. Also, there are 7-Elevens on almost every street corner.

The most noticeable though is traffic system. Getting from place to place is so much different. My main way of getting from point A to point B is walking or biking, and for those that know me well, you'll know that I will choose biking every time because it gets me there faster! :] Even if that wasn't the case though, I have really come to enjoy biking a lot. The other way that I get around is by being scooted (the act of riding on the back of a scooter that someone else is scooting) around. Taking taxis and buses are also pretty common. Cars aren't very common but they a are sign of wealth. I have only ridden in one car since I arrived (aside from buses and taxis). The trucks are what really let me know I'm not in Texas. Back home, there are trucks everywhere!! And they're huge!! And loud. Here is a picture of the only kind of trucks (that I've seen so far)in Taichung.

Here are some other differences:
-the lanes on the road are merely guidelines that you should/could follow.
-people often run red lights, which if you know to just expect it, it's fine. BUT, people also start to drive before their light turns green. I'm extremely surprised that I haven't seen any wrecks yet.
-if you hear an ice cream truck, it's actually a trash truck! They play classical music as they are pulling up to buildings to let people know to bring their trash out. The locals all bring their trash out as the trash trucks come around, so it's a community experience also It was very strange at first, but now I like the idea. It brights up an otherwise stinky process. Here is a video of one of the trash trucks.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DRvgmLLlhp0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDRvgmLLlhp0
Some of us went to Taipei yesterday. We went to the zoo(the ticket to get in was $1!!!!), rode in glass bottom gondolas, and had tea in an traditional tea house. I also experienced my first subway ride! I took a TON of pictures of the zoo because it is so different from the Fort Worth Zoo back home and I kept thinking that my kindergartners from last year would have loved to see the differences. It was interesting also to see the difference between how natural the habitats are in Taiwan versus other zoos.