tylersteer

Wow. So, for lack of a better reason than being busy and unmotivated, I am not going to make any excuses this time for not writing as much. I'll just jump right into before my battery dies in this little cafe I'm in. Since the last entry looks like it was made in mid Septemeber, I'll have to relay these past few months via superseed. Honestly, its a little blurry for me, as every small side trip I've done just kind blends into a smoothie of curvy cliffhanger roads and neon signs. However, I have done my fair share of exploring, and for the few comrades that have stuck with me during my brief abscence...here's what you were missing. Over the Moon Festival Holiday in October a couple buddies of mine convinced their boss to let ... read more

So the past month or so has been nothing short of crazy. I went on some great trips and I've done some things here in Taipei I have never even thought about. Here it is in brief: Kaoraoke: So, the thing about Karaoke (KTV here) is that it isn't some wild crazy debacle that goes on after the night is winding down. This is more of a family type thing people tend to do on Sunday mornings before church. Sure, these huge 12 story buildings with 100's of private rooms stay open 24 hours a day, but a lot of the activity occurs on Saturday and Sunday mornings! I was lucky enough to be invited on Sunday afternoon a couple weeks ago. 2 other Taiwanese girls...only. So, the 3 of us go into our own private ... read more

So, a funny thing happened to me last Thursday. While I was preparing for a demonstration in front of all the students' parents, I was summoned by a fellow Chinese teacher to quickly run up to the 6th floor. There, I was instructed to hide as our small little school was getting RAIDED by the Taiwanese government. The official law prohibits foreigners from teaching English to Kindergarten-aged children. They believe that children should have the benefits of learning Chinese first before they start learning English. So...this law has been around for a while, and is almost never enforced. Today there are roughly 8000 foreigners teaching Kindergarteners English! The law is very outdated, and the Taiwanese government is slowly starting to make it easier for foreigners to teach kindergarters. But...anyway, the way my school gets around this ... read more

For 1 hour and 37 minutes, she was the love of my life and my best friend. We ran two errands together before she left without even saying goodbye. We became so close so fast, and then the heartbreak began when she left. I couldn’t speak to anyone. I could barely eat. Even now, a week after she disappered, I still quietly cry myself to sleep. I was simply head-over-heals in love! We all know that feeling that I’m talking about. Utter and tragic heartbreak…that day… that infamous day. That day that my bike was stolen from under my nose…my new bike that I bought last Saturady…she was my love, my life, and the fire in my soul… and I’m completely lost without her. Dramatics aside, I really did get my new bike stolen last Saturday. ... read more

Forgive me for my lack of eloquence I have tried so hard to pursue in my earlier blogs. The overwhelming anxiety of a hemispherical move can take its toll sometimes. Many things have changed, and I am sure each and every one of you are as anxious as I am to finally get the story. I arrived into Taipei, Taiwan on January 28th, two days after my 24th birthday. Actually, my plans took me to an unknown industrial city 30km outside of Taipei called Tao Yuan. Little did I know at the time, but this city was the bane of my existence for the 3 ensuing days. Shannon and I had made arrangements with a school called ESL4Asia.com. I should have known something wasn’t quite right with the play on words with the 4 and the ... read more