Week #4: Our First Typhoon

I received a rather unpleasant wake up call this morning from the winds on the

forefront of Typhoon Fanapi banging on our windows. The powerful winds have continued

to whistle through the windows and sliding doors onto our patio area all morning, spraying

hard rain against the thin panes of glass. We had intended on jumping on a train yesterday to head to Kaoshiung (pronounced as if the K is a G), which is about an hour train ride south west of Chiayi and also happens to be the second biggest city in Taiwan. However, neither of us were particularly thrilled about the prospect of experiencing our first typhoon while traveling so we'll save that trip for a weekend with more ideal weather conditions.

Although our jobs continue to challenge our patience in terms of how unorganized the school is (at times), how little we have in the way of support with classes, and overall discipline with many of the classes (several of the kids are quite spoiled), we both feel that we have a pretty good handle on things. Each class, and even each individual student, has their own learning style and specific motivator(s), and it's taken an effort to discover these through trial and error. Emphasis on the error part. I have rarely felt as ridiculous as when I find myself in front of a class, feeling utterly incapable of trying to present material in a way that a confused student can find accessible. Keeping a class of tired (and very self-aware) teenagers interested in a story about Mud Volcanoes in Azerbaijan, which lacks any frame of reference for the students, while trying to encourage conversation, is about as close to impossible as I can imagine. I have found myself resorting to playing a lot of games to get the kids laughing and a little more comfortable with communicating, but you can only keep them speaking English for so long. One of my classes consists of four thirteen or fourteen year old boys who all tend to have a bit of an attitude and insist on chatting in Chinese all the time. I've told Sara a few times that I would love to pull a little "football coach" mentality with them and have them run until their too tired to chat, but unfortunately I don't think that's an option. Again, I feel obligated to send out an apology to all those teachers and coaches (and parents) to whom myself and my friends were infuriating at times. Your patience astonishes me. Please don't take these minor complaints as a message of overall frustration. We have certainly faced challenges so far but overall, our students are very intelligent, easily engaged, and quick to pick things up. I've found great pleasure in engaging in conversation with some of the higher level students, and it's hard to compare any other feeling to leaving a class with the knowledge that a lesson has sunk in for your students.

We continue to discover odd, hilarious, and beautiful things every day. For instance, we were at a nearby supermarket getting some groceries and other supplies (it's called Carrefour, but you can just think Meijer, minus any English), and I recieved an urgent call from nature. I hustled to find the nearest restroom and opened the stall door only to find this floor level toilet staring back up at me. I don't know if people don't go #2 in public restrooms here or if everyone simply has excellent balance, but I decided not to test my luck.

Another very interesting experience we have stumbled upon are the water refill stations. The tap water here in is unfit for consumption, so everyone simply purchases filtered jugs of water at the store. We had been doing this since we arrived, and although a five gallon jug is just over a dollar (American), it tends to add up. We were told to check out the refill station down the street from our apartment, so the other day we grabbed a few empty jugs and some coins and headed out. The refill station was indeed close to our apartment and literally looked like a small, coin operated gas station. There are three levels of purity, costing NT$5, 10, 15 each (less than 50 cents) for 5 gallons. We've been making trips ever since and certainly appreciate the extra money we've been saving.

It's hard to believe we've been here nearly a month now, and harder to believe that many of these very odd new experiences and sights are quickly becoming commonplace for us. I no longer laugh out loud when I see someone driving their scooter with their dog between their legs. I'm certainly growing accustomed to going out in public and not seeing any other foreigners. And I am getting used to deducing how to prepare food that is in a bag with zero English on it. Next up on our list of things to do: figure out how to pay bills, begin Chinese lessons, and make our first trip out of Chiayi. Until then, I hope you are all very happy and healthy, and I implore you to appreciate the overabundance of English cooking directions on your food!