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Published: June 20th 2010
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So sorry everyone- I realize that it's been over a month since I've written... living in another country is definitely different from traveling around one, so it takes a bit longer to do enough blog worthy activities to warrant a post. Anyway, let me start by saying...
I quit my job and it looks like everything is going to work out. When I told the owner dude that I didn't want to work there anymore, I concluded by telling him that if he ever needed a substitute to give me a call. That's when he offered me a position as a full time sub. Basically, the school is going to get me a working visa so I don't have to worry about my tourist visa expiring. Whenever they need a sub at any of their 6 locations, they'll call me. The lessons will already be planned and I won't have to worry about grading homework or writing homework sheets, so I'll be getting paid to just teach. I am a little worried that they might not always have work for me, so I'm going to be an English tutor and if need be, I'll get a job working at a
different school in the morning. Overall, I think it's a really good situation. The only downside is not all the branch locations are near the MRT (subway), so this means... I'm getting a scooter. I'm sure my parents are cringing at the thought of this, but all of my friends here assured me that this is a much safer way of getting to work than riding a bicycle which was my original plan. I was going to get the smallest scooter available, but the dude at the shop took one look at me and laughed at that idea... there is no way my long ass legs would fit 😉
Let's see... what else have I been up to? A few weeks ago I went to Tainan for the day. It's a city about 30 minutes by train. I went with my former student, Angela and we met one of her friends there. First we went to the Anping Tree House which is actually an old warehouse that has been taken over by this crazy banyan tree that grew around and through the building. I'll upload pictures as soon as I can. From there we got some lunch and walked
around the market they have on the weekends. We made a stop at the chihkan towers (which was at one time a confucius school) before going back to the train station. Overall it was a great day and I'm looking forward to going back sometime. Tainan is known for its temples and great traditional food.
I made a new friend while riding the MRT. I sat down next to this chick, pulled out my kindle and started reading. She took off her headphones to ask me about it and we started talking. Turns out, she used to live in Berkeley. I mentioned where I worked and she asked if I knew one of my former coworkers. Apparently she dated his brother! We decided that since it was such a small world, we should exchange numbers and hang out sometime. It was raining last weekend, so we met up and went to a movie with one of her other friends. Her friend is actually in a hash house in Taiwan- for those of you who don't know, hashing is this club that is all over the world where people drink and then run to the next bar or location to
get the next beer. They are known as "drinkers with a running problem". Anyway, I'm not really much of a runner (for those of you who have seen me run, you know I look like peewee herman), but neither is the other girl. She says that she goes and walks the course. Apparently, they occasionally do it in other places around Taiwan, so it sounds like a great way to meet people and do some traveling. I'm going to ask her more about it, and who knows... maybe I'll start hashing.
Last Wednesday we had the day off from work because it was a holiday. The holiday is known as the Dragon Boat Festival. In Kaohsiung, they race big paddle boats that are in the shape of dragons down the Love River. Teams of about 10 people paddle as someone at the front of the boat pounds a big drum to keep them all paddling in unison. Along the river were many food stands and vendors. The food that is eaten on this day is called zongzi which is sticky rice with other things like nuts, mushrooms and an egg wrapped inside a big leaf. I had the homemade vegetarian version thanks to Marco's mom. She was cooking this dish for about 4 hours on Wednesday. This holiday is to remember a poet who drowned himself in a river and the local people came out and pounded things together and threw food into the water so that the fish wouldn't eat his body. I'm not really sure where the dragon part comes into play, but all in all it was a great day.
Yesterday I experienced another part of Kaohsiung that I hadn't been to before. 2 coworkers, one of their friends, and I went to monkey mountain for an all day (7 hour) hike. It was super hot, but in the shaded jungle and cave areas of the mountain it was surprisingly cool. We hiked our way to the other side of the mountain until we got to an area with an incredible 180 degree ocean view. We stopped to hang out and eat some lunch. Luckily there weren't any monkeys there- apparently they can be pretty aggressive when they know you've got food. The next place we stopped at was this awesome free communal tea place that many people hike to and hang out for the day. I've never really experienced a place that gives you something and asks for nothing in return- not even a donation. The people were so friendly and hospitable. We continued to hike down the mountain and once we were done, we enjoyed delicious watermelon smoothies. Overall it was a great day except now I am super itchy because I have more than 50 mosquito bites on my arms, legs, and even a few on my face. They love me and I hate them so much. At least I'm no longer allergic and my bites don't swell up anymore.
Well, that's all for now. I guess I had more to write about than I thought. Hopefully it won't take another month for me to blog again. I hope you all are doing well. Take care and keep in touch. Oh- and for all you fathers out there, Happy Father's Day!
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