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Published: February 11th 2006
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Dr. Sun Yet Sen Memorial
This guy was basically the George Washington of Taiwan. He brought the Republic to the island and he is reveared throughout the country. Inside is a huge statue of him guarded by armed guards. 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 .com in the company name. However, I felt that this place was perfect for Shannon and I. It was far enough away from the action of Taipei, yet it still was close enough to bus into Taipei every weekend. I could never have been so wrong. We arrived during the Chinese New Year, so the entire town was virtually abandoned. The woman that met
Taipei 101
This building was designed to look like a piece of bamboo. Almost everything about it has something to do with the number 1 and 0...101 floors, address is 101, elevator goes 1001 m/sec, #1 tallest building... us at the airport drove the “company car” (a 1985 Honda with no working lights…) to our “school” (a miserly excuse for a school, and almost indistinguishable from a road side restaurant or hostel). Then she led us to our “accommodations” (actually, converted classrooms into quasi-rooms on the 2nd floor of the school, where we shared a bathroom and kitchen with 200 Kindergarten-aged children). Then, she politely left us for dead with no key, no instructions, no support, and a simple “I’ll see you when school starts”. Needless to say, Shannon and I were thoroughly unimpressed, especially with the cockroaches that tucked us in every night.
So like any other normal human beings, we left. We voiced our opinions to the principle (who happens to live in America…still can’t figure that out.?) and explained that we didn’t feel comfortable even trying to begin a year long contract with the school.
Fast forward 2 weeks and I am sitting in the cozy living room of my old teacher from Cairo, Joe Earley. He and his wife moved to Taipei 7 years ago and have been loving it ever since. They teach at the Taipei American School, and have two fantastic
Classic Taiwan
Its even cooler at night. This was in Tao Yuan. The city itself was really cool, too. Too bad for the lousy school! young boys. They kindly gave Shannon and I some much-needed support and let us regain our legs under some more normal circumstances. These past 9 days have been filled with job searches, demonstrations at Kindergartens, information gathering, and even sickness. Somehow I caught a dreaded urinary tract infection out of nowhere that seriously sidelined me for 5 days. But the cranberry juice helped, and a full recovery is wrapping up as we speak.
In the mean time, Shannon secured a wonderful job in the south of Taipei, where she will be teaching 4-5 year olds a number of different subjects. I have been offered a similar position, but I’m still trying to figure out how to balance teaching with my other goal, learning Chinese. I may only teach part-time while taking an intensive Chinese course in the mornings. I may abandon that goal altogether and teach full-time to save some money. Whatever it is, the decision will need to be made quickly, as the new Chinese semester is starting next Monday!
But enough with the garbled business talk. Taipei is marvelous. It has a hint of NYC’s hustle and bustle combined with San Francisco’s easy-going attitude. The bounty of
From the World's Tallest Building
Taipei 101...take that Sears Tower! street vendors and night markets make for some extraordinary situations. The sea of Asians everywhere we go makes us feel a bit awkward, but I think a little awkwardness never hurt anyone. The Chinese New Year brought some big celebrations, and the Lantern Festival is happening as we speak to bring in the Year of the Dog. I am trying my best to not miss a moment, but coupled with the job search, the infection, and the jet lag, I am just now gaining my adventure muscles back!
With that said, I am headed down to the Chiang Ki Sheck Memorial Hall to witness a 40 foot lantern in the shape of a dog get set on fire! God bless this wonderful culture. I will write more as the comfort level progresses, I promise.
Ching Nay Qui La (Happy New Year!) and bring on the Year of the Dog!
Tyler
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Lisa Pavlecich
non-member comment
wow
What an amazing series of misadventures. I hope you can get everything sorted out as they say here in the UK. Best wishes