It's a zoo out here!

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.

On the subway

View from the platform at the train station 

The ZOOO!!!  I was more excited about the Zoo than any other part!

The outside front of the zoo

The inside front of the zoo

The view at the zoo was incredible!

The decorations and landscape were very interesting!

This is one of the pathways through the zoo.  Quite beautiful 

The panda was sleeping and did not want to wake up.

More of the landscape

These little guys were so active!

He was trying so hard to get the food on the other side of the fence.  I guess it's true what they say, the grass is always greener...

The Formosan Bear.  It is the only bear native to Taiwan.

Glass bottom Gondola

View of the ground under the gondola

View from the top of the gondola ride

Erin in front of a teahouse

Burial grounds (close ups to come)

We found some trails so we went off roading...

and got some close-ups of the burial grounds.

Garden

Another garden

Not sure where this leads...

View of Taipei from the gondola

Thanks for reading!  Hope you enjoyed the wild life and wildlife of Taiwan!!  :]
Love and miss y'all!
Jodi

Brainwashing, Water fun, and Typhoons

Hello y'all!

So I have been successfully brainwashing my students!  

 Go Frogs!!

They pick up on English so fast!!  Today I started teaching Ian (the one in the picture with me) to say "you're welcome" after someone says "thank you" and by the end of the day, he and two others picked up on it!  It's incredible!  I am also starting to pick up on more Chinese also.  For instance, I now know that anytime one of them says bù (sounds like boo), they are saying do not (want, know, like, etc.) so I just say yes, then they say no and I turn to my Chinese teacher for help, because arguing with a 4 year old in a different language just isn't very productive or professional (or fun).  I can also order tea in Chinese, to a very limited extent.  And I love you is (phonetically) is woah eye knee.  :]

We learned about body parts this week and Erin had them make their own bodies and they turned out super cute, and only a little creepy.*

(*some of them were not too happy by the end of the day)

Penny 

Mia

Doris

Levi

Felix

Joshua

Ian

They also have water play every Thursday and they had so much fun and were extremely cute! 

If you have not heard, we are expecting a typhoon, Soulik to be precise.  We were all hoping that we would get a Typhoon Day (similar to our Snow Days in Texas), but he decided to wait until the weekend to start making his way here.  He still hasn't hit yet, and isn't expected to hit us (in Taichung) to bad. It should be fun!

Sometimes I forget that I am in Taiwan and not just away at school again. It's weird, but I feel surprisingly comfortable and at home here.  It's going to be weird leaving here in 2 weeks for China, but I am excited (and I'll admit, nervous) to start that adventure.  I'm also ready to put up pictures and hang up my flags and begin making my room actually feel like MY ROOM.  

Erin and I don't have our Visas for China yet though, so at some point next week, we get to go the HONG KONG for 2 (maybe 4) days, so that will be a lot of fun.

That's all for now!  Thanks for reading about my adventures and daily life (and for any and all typos and grammatical errors that you may find)!

-Jodi

Pictures from Sun Moon Lake

View from the dock

Approching the ropeway

Let's go fishing!

 





Rode in these to get to the amusement park



Beautiful view of the lake from the car





The stairs to get to the amusement park...no thank you!





The amusement park

There are clowns in Taiwan...and they like bubbles!



These are just some of the pictures that I took, but there were plenty more that the Taiwanese people took.  We were like celebreties!  Some people would try to be sly about it, but others didn't care if we saw them.

First Day of School

Hey y'all,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been pretty busy and I just haven't gotten around to it.  

I've noticed a few things in the past few days. 

1. I don't enjoy this time difference. It stinks when I'm up and want to share something funny or frustrating or completely insignificant with someone back in the States and I can't (really just a lack of immediacy in the response... I know...rough life!)

2. None of my run trackers (yes, none because I do have more than one) work over here.  Apparently the GPS on those apps wasn't set for Taiwan. 

3. Wardrobe wise, I love it here! I could wear a tshirt to school everyday if I felt so inclined and you CAN'T wear shoes inside (unless you buy shoes specifically to keep inside). Best Life Ever!

4. Everyone is so nice! I smile at people and they always smile back.  I say "ni hoa" and they always say it back. Then they normally try to talk to me in Chinese and that's where the conversation stops. 

5. I won't want to use cars when I come back home. We go everyone on foot, on bikes, or on scooters and it's wonderful. Scooters are so much fun and even though I won't be here much longer, I'm probably going to get lessons from one of the teachers here soon. That should be a fun story!
6. The play American music all the time! 

The last two days were prep days and were good, but I'm subbing this month for one of the teachers who went back home so it was all pretty planned out. This led to a very bored me. When the school year is starting and you only have 8 (yes, only 8. How great is that!!) kids, there isn't much to do.  And I don't function well on nit enough to do as most of you know. It's ok though, I survived!

Today was the first day of school and it was great! I am teaching New Chung Ban (4-5 year olds) and  my kids are adorable. Some of them speak a little English but others don't know any. They did all pick up on the high five today though! Success! One of them even decided to take it a step further and use her head.  It was great!

Overall, I love it here. I'm surrounded by great people (foreign and local) and I love experiencing all the new things(especially the food).  I won't forgot about home though and fully intend to wear my red, white, and blue tie dye shirt tomorrow!

That's all for now!
Love, Jodi