Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Taiwan, one of the many countries on Earth which has barely heard of the holiday. One of the weird things about celebrating Thanksgiving in Taiwan was the fact that, unlike Halloween which was some-what acknowledged in stores, and was well known among all of the foreign teachers, Thanksgiving is a strictly American (and Canadian) tradition, which meant it wasn't only new to my students, but also to most of my friends.  While the original intent was for the American teachers to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for our group, those plans were eventually extinguished with the realization that none of us has an oven, no one knew how to find a turkey here, and no one had time to cook because we all teach until 9pm on Thursdays.  Plan B was a modification on tradition which included the gathering of our "Taiwan family", and the consumption of a delicious (though non-traditional) Italian dinner.  It served its purpose well.  This year I am incredibly thankful for the opportunities that my life has awarded me, the bravery it took to leave my comfort zone, and the support I have been given by friends and family (both here and in the US), I am very blessed indeed.

Happy Thanksgiving from my CEI02 class, proudly displaying our hand-print turkeys.

The big update from school this week is that I had my first observed lesson from head-office on Tuesday.  Each of the Shane schools in Taiwan is observed by our head-office supervisors [at least] 3 times a year, and in each visit two lessons by two of the school's teachers are observed.  For small schools like mine this system means there is the possibility of the same teacher being observed every time.  Observations cause a stressful atmosphere in the school, as a lot of pressure is put on the manager to showcase a productive and high-functioning school, the TA's to showcase organization, and the teachers to demonstrate competence in the classroom.  The irony in such a stressful environment is that the teachers tend to be the least worried about the observation, and it is focused on us.  Most teachers understand that an observation is an opportunity to hear what we are doing well, and a chance to get advice about what we can improve upon.  As the newest teacher of the school I knew that I was due for an observation the next time head office came to town, however, I did find it frustrating that I was notified only 24 hours in advance when it is common to receive 1-3 weeks warning, in order to allow the teacher ample time to complete the paperwork (as I found out in a discussion with my observer, he had sent notification to my manager over a week prior, but communication issues and likely a lack of e-mail checking caused a delay in the message).  My observation went well, and I was complimented on my fun personality, good rapport with the students, and my ability to address the target language in an entertaining manner.

Outside of work this was not a particularly noteworthy week.  On Tuesday I had my first guitar lesson, which went well.  I am (as are most beginners) pretty bad at it, but I can now "play" 8 cords! In other news, I finally felt the urge to buy a comforter for my bed.  Since arriving in Taiwan, the thought of buying something to make me warmer sounded like a terrible idea, considering the temperature has been around 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit every day since I arrived, however the nights have dipped to a cold enough temperature to have something warmer than the thin blanket I have used for 3 months.  Don't let this deceive you, the daytime temperature is still 80-85 degrees, so it is plenty warm here (doesn't look like I'll be having a white Christmas this year).

Speaking of Christmas, I have received my first care-package since arriving in Taiwan (from my parents), which was Christmas-themed.  Along with my game-bag (which I am incredibly excited to have in Taiwan because it means I can start playing Bananagrams with my students and start hosting game nights with my friends), it was full of Christmas decorations (including an artificial tree which I intend on setting up on my desk) and presents for me and my students which still have a month to wait before they can be opened).  Being in a primarily Buddhist/Taoist country, Christmas is not a 'big deal' here, meaning that most businesses remain open (including schools).  Because Shane schools hire a great deal of foreign teachers we were given the choice of whether or not we would be available to teach on Christmas, and we opted for a day off so we could spend the day together, but many other buxibans don't have this luxury.
This week's unrelated thought pertains to superstition, because as any foreigner will learn when living here, the set of superstitions believed by the Taiwanese are very different from those believed in western culture.  In the past I have mentioned the relationship between the number 'four' and the word 'death', which causes an avoidance of using that number for floor numbers, but that is just skimming the surface of these superstitions.  One of the biggest categories of superstition involve ghosts.  It is believed that whistling at night can attract ghosts, swimming in a lake/ocean during ghost month can put you at risk of being drowned by ghosts, seeing the reflection of a coffin at a funeral can cause you to be possessed by ghosts, and other various activities which cause various ghost-related responses.  The superstition that I have found to be most interesting this week (because it would be completely unacceptable in the US) is the superstition about facial mole hair.  It is believed to be good luck to grow out your mole hair, so on occasion you will see inches of hair sprouting from the middle of a person's face.  Facial hair isn't as common in Taiwan (in part, I'm sure, due to the superstition that un-groomed facial hair or abnormally shaped facial hair (particularly moustaches) is bad luck) so it is very noticeable when you see an individual with long mole hairs.