Just Another Day in Paradise

I have no great stories from this week, no big adventures, nothing to tell.  This was just another week, and I think the only spectacular aspect of it was the fact that for me it was spent in Taiwan.  I wouldn't say it was a bad week, I enjoyed it, but you'll laugh at the moments that stood out to me, because they are seemingly insignificant.  It's hard to brag when the highlight of your weekend is buying a shower curtain and toilet paper roll holders (but I'm proud of them, and that is what matters).  The thing about shower curtains and toilet paper roll holders, is that neither of them are essential in Taiwan.  Toilet paper is primarily sold in sheets, not rolls, so before yesterday it hadn't occurred to me that wall-mount roll holders exist here, but they do, and now I own one, so I will count it as a mini-victory.  As for the shower curtain, bath tubs are essentially non-existent in Taiwan, and even when they are in a bathroom (which is not the case for my apartment), they are usually not covered by a shower curtain, instead the entire bathroom is considered the shower, and it is not uncommon to soak everything in the room (sink, toilet, etc.) in the process of showering.  For 8 months this has been how my bathroom has operated, but now I have a shower curtain to protect my now-properly displayed toilet paper.  Ok, I get it, nothing about that was interesting to you, but sometimes you need to take joy in the small things, like discovering your laundry detergent is on sale, finding a dollar on the floor, or, in this case, hanging your toilet paper on the wall.
Another seemingly unimportant, yet pride-inducing moment of my week was getting the chance to help translate the menu at a local cafe.  I am always very appreciative of the restaurants that provide English translations of their menus for the foreigner population, but I often think that it shouldn't be too difficult for businesses (especially big businesses) to have someone proof-read the English before it is printed, especially if it is a national campaign (like the slogan which is printed all across Taiwan for Chavana which reads "Do you could find clothes? You always lack one.") because some of us (for example: me) would be willing to do do simple editing for free.  That is exactly what I did this weekend, I helped fix things like "Braise the Chicken Leg" so they read nicely for foreigners, and without asking for anything in return was rewarded with free cookies and a notebook.  I would gladly do little projects like this more often because they are fun for me and they allow me to sit and talk to local business owners, practice my Chinese, and help someone else with their English.

The gramatically challenged national campaign for Chavana: Do you could find clothes? You always lack one.

School was equally unexciting yet rewarding.  I taught my classes and covered an extra handful of hours because both of my coworkers were out of commission at various times.  I really enjoy being a cover teacher, because, as I've said before, you almost everything you do is new and interesting, so the students tend to be more engaged (which is pretty much the opposite of the impression I have of being a substitute teacher back in the US where students tend to be more out of control with an unfamiliar teacher in the room).  The only time when being a cover teacher is stressful for me is when it involves covering a parent presentation (lucky for me, the presentation I covered was for CEI10, and they are a well behaved, intelligent class who performed very well for the parents.
One of my favorite classes of the week was about the durian fruit, a fruit which is really only common in Asia (I had never come across it before living in Taiwan) and has just come into season (thus allowing me to to use realia by bringing in a sample for everyone to taste and smell).  Durians tend to be very large heavy fruit (between the size of a cantaloupe and a watermelon), covered in hard spikes, but their most prominent characteristic is the odor of the husk, which has been compared to rotting garbage.  The smell of the durian is so strong, and lingers for so long, that it has been banned from certain hotels and methods of transportation.  The consistency of the flesh of the fruit is similar to custard, very soft and shapeless with a slightly nutty taste to it.  Overall, I would say this fruit tops the list for my least favorite foods in Taiwan, and between the price (I spent around 400NT which is just under $15 US on one fruit), the difficulty to serve it (due to its shapelessness and thorny exterior), and the taste, I do not expect to find myself buying it again.