Reminiscing

I've said it before, and I will say it again every time, the constant fluctuations of the social group in Taiwan are easily the best and worst things about this job (and about this lifestyle in general).  I love the opportunity to meet new people, especially in an environment like this where everyone comes from vastly different places and different lives, but we go together like we were cut from the same cloth.  The problem, however, is that each job opening is created only by the departure of a current teacher, and in a job where the average contract duration is 1-2 years, people seem to come and go too quickly. This weekend I have said goodbye to one another one of my closest friends in Taiwan, Sakina.  One of the great things about a friendship is that each one is filled with a series of defining moments, those moments that when you think of a person's name you think, "I remember this one time when...".  For starters, I remember how it was Sakina who taught me how to drive a scooter.  Now, we'd both be lying if we didn't admit that the reason she taught me was in the hopes that I could chauffeur her around on her own scooter (thus taking the pressure of driving off of her), but that doesn't change the fact that I will always associate driving with her.  Our other major connection over these past few months has been guitar lessons.  Sakina's sudden and intense urge to learn the guitar is what motivated me to buy my guitar and take lessons, and while my playing is still pretty awful, it is still a connection to her.  If I had to pick my 'I remember this one time when...' moment though, it would be the night we were wandering the streets of Kaohsiung, desperately trying to find an ATM that would allow me to withdraw money with my international debit card.  We tried probably 6 different ATMs, got completely lost, missed countless calls from our group, and were gone for about an hour, but none of that mattered.  I would say that was the night we had our first 'deep' conversations, that was where we really got to know each other, and that was when I realized anyone who is willing to leave our friends and the night club to wander aimlessly with me for an hour is someone to be thankful for.

Goodbye Sakina

I really enjoyed this week, but most of it was just part of what we dubbed 'the goodbye tour', which consisted of visiting a lot of the local hang-outs including teppanyaki, the pool hall, Johnny Pub, and KTV.  I made a few purchases throughout the week as well (I'm like a kid in a candy store here, I just want all of the souvenirs), including my first name chop.  One of the common accessories for everyone in Chinese countries is to have a stamp and ink pad to easily sign your name, apparently known as a name chop (though I just call it a stamp), so now I too am part of that!  Its not much, just a small wooden stamp with a frog pattern (it's me, of course it has a frog), which 'lives' in a koi-decorated case, but I love it because it is mine.
My favorite moment in school this week was bitter-sweet.  The sweet was that two students brought me the first gift I have received as a teacher, which was a box of pineapple cakes and cookies from one of the famous old shops in Taichung).  The bitter is that, I took on a couple of adult students for 8-weeks of English classes which focused on business language, which came to a close this week.  These students were easily one of my favorite classes because their level of English knowledge was so high that they challenged me each week, and I was able to do a variety of things including reading/discussing articles, teaching common idioms (which I have recently decided is one of my favorite classroom topics), and teaching work-related topics like problem solving and phone etiquette.  Starting next week I will be starting a new class which is completely opposite from that class, another CE01 level class (I do love the little ones though, so this should be fun).
Thought of the week: when you imagine the food in Taiwan, what do you think of? I know that immediately you probably think of something weird like eating chicken feet, or lots of rice, which are, of course both parts of the cuisine here.  Overall, do you think of a fairly healthy food selection? I know I had the picture of automatically losing weight here because my image of food included a lot of fresh veggies and non-processed foods.  I was shocked when I got here by the amount of fried food, and more so by the fact that it is the only food choice.  Even vegetables (which are always cooked before served) are occasionally fried.  Speaking of vegetables, I often find myself feeling bad for vegetarians here, because it is not uncommon for vegetable platters to be served with pork on top or with small shrimp (pun acknowledged) hiding in them.
Wish me luck these next few weeks, the students are on break from Chinese school until the middle of February for Chinese New Year (this is essentially the equivalent of the US Christmas and Easter breaks combined), but we will continue teaching in the buxibans (which means students are not likely to be in much of a school mood).

Stay classy Taiwan