Tuesday, June 7, 2005

Update
I'm so not used to the time it is here. I think maybe I have jetlag. Thats entirely possible.

I freaked out on some friends of mine this morning for something completely ridiculous just because I was tired and I couldn't understand something. I'm sure they understand now, but I'm worried I was a bit out of line. It's nice, in a way, to argue with someone though.

Yiyi's husband; whose name I cannot remember (I don't think they ever even told me,) cannot speak any English whatsoever. I spent an interesting day with him.

Ah, thats ovveracting. He can say 'lets go', 'ok', 'lets have lunch' and 'hello.' Which is about as much Mandarin as I know. So it was interesting.

He came to get me at about 9:45 am. I was on the computer. (Why wouldn't I be? I'm me. I didn't even know anyone was awake. The house has four floors and I live on the third.) He knocked, and I opened.

'Lets go,' he says. I nod, and go. Yes, thats all it took. I turned off my laptop, didn't say goodbye to anyone, deleted half of a really good post in the process, and took off in a hurry.

I want to be openminded, but today was boring as sin. He basically dragged me to his workplace. The worst thing is that I really don't know why.. cause he can't speak English at all.

I found out later from Yiyi that he works for a shoe factory. He places orders and makes sure things get done. I didn't know that. My first glimpse of a Taiwanaese factory was a bit frightening though. They are much different than Canadian ones. Very damp, very very hot, and the workers are not in safe conditions. I guess it's different everywhere.

I ended up following him along to a few different places. It wasn't so bad. In each place people offered me either a drink or food. I think thats customary in Taiwan, as everyone does it.

There are a few common English phrases that are repeated over and over here. 'How old are you?', 'Where are you from?', 'My English is bad.', 'Do you speak Chinese?'. Any time anyone opens a conversation with any of those phrases it usually goes pretty dry, because neither of us have enough skill to continue the conversation.

Still, everyone's really nice.

This morning I watched Yiyi's husband play poker.. or something resembling poker. Then I sat with him while he argued or something about these different panels of fabric.

Honestly, I don't know why he brought me. It was really boring, and I have a feeling I was really in the way. Maybe he didn't want to leave me home alone cause I'd be bored? I'm not sure.

I did learn about factories in Taiwan though. Maybe thats why he brought me. I don't know.

People are allowed to smoke and drink everywhere here, though. That blows my mind. People will be anywhere, and they'll just light up a smoke. It's pretty icky. Thats not a commentary on Taiwan, I just don't like smoking.

And I'm relieved to find out that it's not common to eat beef and pork; it was a welcoming ceremony. They were welcoming me to Taiwan. Mostly fish is eaten, and I can live with that.

I found out that 'Jappan' in Taiwanese means 'Lets eat lunch.' For such small people, they sure eat a lot. It blows my mind.

Luke will be happy. I'll probably gain like fifty pounds while I'm here. I was a vegetarian. Thats why I'm small and skinny. Thats gonna pass really damned quick.

(yes, my boyfriend likes fat girls. I don't know why.)

I went to the school today. It's almost all set up. It's so cute, and it's not too big. My first class will be next week, apparantly. Sooner than I thought. I'm just waiting for Open Office to download, so I can write a lesson plan. Next month, I will start my kindergarten/grade one class. I'm the only teacher in the school.

A cram school, for anyone who doesn't know, is an extra school students go to after their normal ones. The classes last one hour and fourty minutes long and are generally very expensive. It focuses on one certain subject, and is designed to force students to study hard to prepare for higher education.

I'll be teaching six days a week. o.o Scary.

But since I have a textbook, it won't be too hard, I don't think. I mean, everything is laid out, in order for me, right here.

Not much else to report. I had a pretty uneventful day. I like those.

I miss Luke a lot, though..

-Christine
Comments (3)