Whew, two weeks already! Blogging might turn out to be more time-consuming than I had thought. Anyway, things are still going along at a fast pace on the "new" job, on which I am already nearing the two-month mark. And still it just feels like I'm getting my feet wet in the world of teaching. Still, every time I set foot in the classroom, it feels like I'm a bit more in control.
On the free-time front, I finally finished slogging through "Tender is the Night" last week (what a disappointment!) and decided to take a break from catching up on my Dead White Males literary fest to delve into Dead White Female territory for a bit. I'd been meaning to read "The Bell Jar" since high school and never got around to it, until now. It's something else! All I can think to say is, what a frank and intimate look at the world of depression. Definitely worth your while. But do yourself a favor and read something fun afterwards!
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Friday, April 16, 2004
Baby Workout!
So, after a month and a half, I find it my turn to lead Exercise Time for the first time on Monday. I know not what to make of this honor.
Exercise time is the first event of every day at our school. One of the English teachers leads an exercise routine set to three songs of our choosing and two songs from the kindy CD, the latter two usually being something either educational in English or encouraging good manners or both. It's often hard to get the kids to play along, but it's a lot of fun to watch when they do. For the past few weeks, we've been treated to 50 or so five-year-olds dancing to "Video Killed the Radio Star" - and singing the title line at the top of their little lungs, even though I'm sure they don't know what it means. Too cute. I'll miss that image, especially now that it'll be my turn to lead the event for a few weeks.
I do have my music tape ready to go. I settled on three energetic selections from a mix-CD I burned just before I left DC: "You Can't Kill Hope With a Gun" by The Kennedys (my own subtle reaction to the popularity of toy pistols among my kids lately, not that I expect them to take a lesson from it all), "Montego Bay" by Bobby Bloom (nice perky melody, good for warming up), and "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" by Fats Domino, just for fun - can't get the kids started on oldies too early. Now, of course, I have to figure out what exercises to perform along to those songs for the 10-15 minutes I'll be up there. I will probably wind up following the advice I've gotten so far from the more senior teachers: "when in doubt, do jumping jacks. The kids love 'em." Good to know! I can't wait to discuss in depth how this is going to turn out.
Exercise time is the first event of every day at our school. One of the English teachers leads an exercise routine set to three songs of our choosing and two songs from the kindy CD, the latter two usually being something either educational in English or encouraging good manners or both. It's often hard to get the kids to play along, but it's a lot of fun to watch when they do. For the past few weeks, we've been treated to 50 or so five-year-olds dancing to "Video Killed the Radio Star" - and singing the title line at the top of their little lungs, even though I'm sure they don't know what it means. Too cute. I'll miss that image, especially now that it'll be my turn to lead the event for a few weeks.
I do have my music tape ready to go. I settled on three energetic selections from a mix-CD I burned just before I left DC: "You Can't Kill Hope With a Gun" by The Kennedys (my own subtle reaction to the popularity of toy pistols among my kids lately, not that I expect them to take a lesson from it all), "Montego Bay" by Bobby Bloom (nice perky melody, good for warming up), and "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" by Fats Domino, just for fun - can't get the kids started on oldies too early. Now, of course, I have to figure out what exercises to perform along to those songs for the 10-15 minutes I'll be up there. I will probably wind up following the advice I've gotten so far from the more senior teachers: "when in doubt, do jumping jacks. The kids love 'em." Good to know! I can't wait to discuss in depth how this is going to turn out.
Sunday, April 11, 2004
Only in Taiwan
It occurred to me this morning that I had intended this blog to be mostly about experiences I've had here which I wouldn't have elsewhere, or at least not at home. I had one while waiting for a subway train in Taipei yesterday afternoon. It was an announcement over the loudspeaker, in Chinese and English: "In order to keep our stations and trains clean, please do not smoke, eat, drink, or chew gum or betel nuts."
Betel nuts are indeed everywhere here, and are always recognizable for the stands where they are sold, which are always staffed by scantily clad women sitting up all night under fluorescent lights. (Guess what the new teachers in town always think the women are selling, before someone explains it to them?) Juice stains are always visible on the ground anywhere near a stand, and apparently the juice stains your teeth so badly that it wouldn't have made much difference if Bloody Mary had used Pepsident after all.
But you won't see the stains in the subway stations!
Betel nuts are indeed everywhere here, and are always recognizable for the stands where they are sold, which are always staffed by scantily clad women sitting up all night under fluorescent lights. (Guess what the new teachers in town always think the women are selling, before someone explains it to them?) Juice stains are always visible on the ground anywhere near a stand, and apparently the juice stains your teeth so badly that it wouldn't have made much difference if Bloody Mary had used Pepsident after all.
But you won't see the stains in the subway stations!
Nothing like Hollywood
I almost witnessed a man getting hit by a car last week.
I guess you could say I did witness it, if you count hearing the screeching tires and that terrible but undescribable sound of the impact, which you recognize instantly even if you've never heard it before and you didn't actually see the accident. I was facing in the other direction, while walking to school, when it happened. When I turned around, there it all was: a guy laid out flat in the street, his bicycle lying several feet away, and the driver of the car rushing over to help. I started back to offer a hand as well, until I remembered that I know little about first aid and less about speaking enough Chinese to be of any real use. So, to avoid getting in the way, I headed on to work. Every few feet, I turned around to see if the guy had managed to sit up or even move at all, but as far as I could see, he hadn't. At least other people were arriving on the scene to help, and there's a hospital just a block or two away from where it happened.
I haven't heard anything more about what became of the guy or even exactly what happened. Since Longtan doesn't have an English language newspaper and the accident wasn't big enough news to make it into the China Post or anything, I probably never will hear. I certainly hope he'll recover.
It happened on an awfully hazardous road, and one that I walk down every day! The main drag through Longtan is busy and crowded, and Taiwanese drivers in general really do treat most traffic regulations as if they were only suggestions. I know we all say that about every place we've been, but I've never seen another place more deserving of that description than Taiwan. The point being, of course, that I can't begin to imagine who might have been at fault that morning. Perhaps the bicyclist pulled out into the road without looking, or perhaps the driver of the car started to turn without using his blinker, or maybe they were both doing something dumb. I know it doesn't matter, but anyone who has ever taken Psychology 101 is likely to try to make sense of these things, even if there's no sense to be made of them. In a sad coincidence, a colleague of mine had mentioned just a week or so before that when she first arrived in Longtan, "another teacher told us the only safe way to travel down that street is to drive a cement truck." It really isn't much of an exaggeration. At least seeing the craziness every day keeps me in line whenever I get tempted to buy a scooter like so many other teachers have.
Needless to say, what I saw made the rest of the day, well, interesting. Every time I hugged one of my kindy kids, every time I reprimanded the class troublemaker, every time I laughed at another teacher's joke at lunchtime, every time I wished I didn't have to correct so much homework...it all seemed so relatively insignificant.
I sure hope that guy will be okay!
I guess you could say I did witness it, if you count hearing the screeching tires and that terrible but undescribable sound of the impact, which you recognize instantly even if you've never heard it before and you didn't actually see the accident. I was facing in the other direction, while walking to school, when it happened. When I turned around, there it all was: a guy laid out flat in the street, his bicycle lying several feet away, and the driver of the car rushing over to help. I started back to offer a hand as well, until I remembered that I know little about first aid and less about speaking enough Chinese to be of any real use. So, to avoid getting in the way, I headed on to work. Every few feet, I turned around to see if the guy had managed to sit up or even move at all, but as far as I could see, he hadn't. At least other people were arriving on the scene to help, and there's a hospital just a block or two away from where it happened.
I haven't heard anything more about what became of the guy or even exactly what happened. Since Longtan doesn't have an English language newspaper and the accident wasn't big enough news to make it into the China Post or anything, I probably never will hear. I certainly hope he'll recover.
It happened on an awfully hazardous road, and one that I walk down every day! The main drag through Longtan is busy and crowded, and Taiwanese drivers in general really do treat most traffic regulations as if they were only suggestions. I know we all say that about every place we've been, but I've never seen another place more deserving of that description than Taiwan. The point being, of course, that I can't begin to imagine who might have been at fault that morning. Perhaps the bicyclist pulled out into the road without looking, or perhaps the driver of the car started to turn without using his blinker, or maybe they were both doing something dumb. I know it doesn't matter, but anyone who has ever taken Psychology 101 is likely to try to make sense of these things, even if there's no sense to be made of them. In a sad coincidence, a colleague of mine had mentioned just a week or so before that when she first arrived in Longtan, "another teacher told us the only safe way to travel down that street is to drive a cement truck." It really isn't much of an exaggeration. At least seeing the craziness every day keeps me in line whenever I get tempted to buy a scooter like so many other teachers have.
Needless to say, what I saw made the rest of the day, well, interesting. Every time I hugged one of my kindy kids, every time I reprimanded the class troublemaker, every time I laughed at another teacher's joke at lunchtime, every time I wished I didn't have to correct so much homework...it all seemed so relatively insignificant.
I sure hope that guy will be okay!
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
Crime of Passion?
I finally went to see "The Passion of the Christ" Saturday night. It was never high on my list of must-sees, but the alternative was "Along Came Polly." Yuck. And a bad night out of Longtan is still a night out of Longtan.
I'd heard from a number of sources I respect that the movie was anti-Semitic, but I'd always figured I really ought to see it myself before passing judgment of my own. I couldn't help but think of the morons who think "Huckleberry Finn" is racist just because it portrays racism honestly, or a number of people I knew in college who refused to watch "Forrest Gump" on the grounds that it was "a celebration of anti-intellectualism" - most of whom had never seen the movie. I never missed a chance to ask "How can you tell if you haven't seen it?", but to the best of my recollections I never got a reply. In any case, no matter the risk of spending my money on something that would only offend me, I was not about to fall into that uninformed opinion club.
And the verdict? Well, there's no question that it serves as fodder for those who already are anti-Semites, but I'm a firm believer in not judging a work of art by what some extremely unreasonable people might think of it. Then there's Mel Gibson's own family background and his history of support for right-wing causes, which shouldn't be ignored. But taken at face value, I see nothing especially offensive. It tells the story of the crucifixion as it is commonly accepted, nothing less or more. The Roman soldiers are presented as at least as much at fault as the Jews, if not much more so. And as a Christian friend of mine said in the cab we took home from the theater, "The 'they murdered my lord' thing isn't even close to any real Christian doctrine anyway." So from where I sit, it's offensive only to people who want it to be.
Which is not to say the movie is for everyone. For one thing, it's extremely graphic. I don't think I've ever seen a more violent movie (unless you count "Kill Bill," but that violence was cartoonistic and clearly not intended to be taken seriously), and the subject matter is obviously going to be of an extremely emotional nature to a lot of people. Still, I think a lot of the controversy is overblown. And at least I can say I've now earned the right to say so.
By the way, could someone explain the pamphlets they give you at the box office when you buy the tickets? They didn't have any of them in English at the theater we went to. I seem to recall reading something about them being part of an effort to smooth the waters around the movie. Thanks.
I'd heard from a number of sources I respect that the movie was anti-Semitic, but I'd always figured I really ought to see it myself before passing judgment of my own. I couldn't help but think of the morons who think "Huckleberry Finn" is racist just because it portrays racism honestly, or a number of people I knew in college who refused to watch "Forrest Gump" on the grounds that it was "a celebration of anti-intellectualism" - most of whom had never seen the movie. I never missed a chance to ask "How can you tell if you haven't seen it?", but to the best of my recollections I never got a reply. In any case, no matter the risk of spending my money on something that would only offend me, I was not about to fall into that uninformed opinion club.
And the verdict? Well, there's no question that it serves as fodder for those who already are anti-Semites, but I'm a firm believer in not judging a work of art by what some extremely unreasonable people might think of it. Then there's Mel Gibson's own family background and his history of support for right-wing causes, which shouldn't be ignored. But taken at face value, I see nothing especially offensive. It tells the story of the crucifixion as it is commonly accepted, nothing less or more. The Roman soldiers are presented as at least as much at fault as the Jews, if not much more so. And as a Christian friend of mine said in the cab we took home from the theater, "The 'they murdered my lord' thing isn't even close to any real Christian doctrine anyway." So from where I sit, it's offensive only to people who want it to be.
Which is not to say the movie is for everyone. For one thing, it's extremely graphic. I don't think I've ever seen a more violent movie (unless you count "Kill Bill," but that violence was cartoonistic and clearly not intended to be taken seriously), and the subject matter is obviously going to be of an extremely emotional nature to a lot of people. Still, I think a lot of the controversy is overblown. And at least I can say I've now earned the right to say so.
By the way, could someone explain the pamphlets they give you at the box office when you buy the tickets? They didn't have any of them in English at the theater we went to. I seem to recall reading something about them being part of an effort to smooth the waters around the movie. Thanks.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Taipei, baby
Two days of teacher training might not sound like much of an adventure, and, well, it isn't. But the chance to be back in the big city after a month out in the sticks was truly Just What I Needed this past week. It was also a bit like going home.
Understand, of course, that prior to this past weekend, I had spent a grand total of, I think, ten days in Taipei in my entire life. But those were my very first ten days in Taiwan, when I learned just about everything I know about this grand country. They were also spent with all the other members of my training class, several of whom I made fast friends with. I hadn't seen any of those friends in the ensuing month (with one too-brief exception) and we had all had far too little time to write to each other beyond your garden variety hey-how-are-ya quickie. So being called back for follow up training was plenty of reason to rejoice in civilization and reunions with old friends.
Yep, old friends. Until you go to work in a country where you know little of the culture and less of the language, you really can't appreciate how fast and deep the bonds are with people whose backgrounds are more like your own. Perhaps we'd all known each other for just a week and a half and that was itself just a few weeks ago - doesn't matter! You'd have thought we were old college buddies who hadn't seen each other in five years or something. (Actually, I did go to my five-year college reunion - itself about five years ago now - and this weekend was a lot more fun than that weekend. There is definitely something to be said for not pretending to be 18 again.)
Taipei is just a fabulous city in its own right. From the moment the bus got into town, everything felt a bit more vibrant and cosmopolitan. It was pouring rain and I was lugging my overnight bag along as I ducked into the subway to get to the school branch for the training, but it was all a great feeling all the same. The subway is fairly new, and it's pristine. You could probably eat off the railbeds, really, which is amazing considering how polluted Taiwan is in general. While struggling to read the subway map and find the station I needed, I was once again reminded of what a great country this is: an older woman came up and asked me in more than passable English if she could help me. It's never any trouble finding someone to help you in Taiwan: just look lost!
Arriving quickly enough at my destination, we had to dive right into the day's training activities, but it was a joyous reunion all the same. When we'd all gone our separate ways a few weeks before, it was a rather anticlimactic parting, everyone getting their luggage together and nervous about what godforsaken town they were heading off to (Longtan isn't the garden of eden, but from the stories I've heard I'm pretty lucky), and of course there were lots of plans to get back together that very next weekend - none of which came to fruition - so why exchange any pleasantries? This time it was hugs and handshakes all around, and you could definitely tell we'd all been hurting for contact.
Training came and went, and the rain, unfortunately, did not. But 5:00 rolled around soon enough, and - just like old times - we all piled into the bus for the trip back to the First Hotel, which hadn't changed at all in those four weeks. More catching up and laughing about old times (one month ago, for Pete's sake!) and big plans for the evening, rain or no rain. The clique of which I was a member ended up at Citizen Cain, a great western-style bar and grill with terrific thin-crust pizzas, among other things. (I'm usually a thick-crust man, but this place is really something else, especially by local standards!) We had all spent a particularly beer-soaked night there not so long before, and one of my friends had even brought pictures of that evening, which served as a pleasant reminder not to overdo it tonight, since there was another day of training yet to come. On the actual trip there, we happened to draw a cab driver who spoke English and was in a mood to talk about the elections. Every day is an education here!
Saturday came and went back in the classroom, and we were free to go home that evening. But of course, there was no question that many of us would be staying right where we were. So much catching up left to do - and of course, not all of it ever was done! But we put a pretty good dent in it, with a trip to the Ministry of Sound, the largest nightclub in Asia (or so they claim, and it was awfully big) that lasted well into the wee hours. I never have cared for dance music, but hanging out with everyone was great as always. This was preceded by ruminations on where to eat which lasted so long we ended up having to settle for Subway, because it was all we had time for. Island time at its best!
Sunday was even better, though - actual shopping! My apartment is still looking quite bare, and a trip to Ikea was definitely [in order]. We also got a chance to browse for books and CDs; I didn't buy any, but the option was nice for a change. And in one of those only-in-Taiwan moments, one of our gang had forgotten her camera at a convenience store by the First Hotel, so we took a swing by there on the off chance that they would still have it - and they did! How could you not love this town?
It all ended where it began - at the subway station - with an agreement to meet up again in two weeks for a friend's birthday. Here's hoping I come with a shopping list that time. I had a few nervous moments waiting for the bus back to Longtan, but it stopped exactly where I had been told it would. Whatever my company's faults, they really are very good with the logistics and advising people how to get around Taiwan without being able to read most of the street signs. It's amazing what you can notice as landmarks and such when that's your only real option.
And I've still only scraped the surface of Taipei. But all in all, I'm glad to be back here in Longtan. As one of my friends said over a marvelous pasta lunch on Sunday, "If we lived here, we'd eat and shop like this all the time and we'd be broke and fat!"
Too true. Too, too true.
Understand, of course, that prior to this past weekend, I had spent a grand total of, I think, ten days in Taipei in my entire life. But those were my very first ten days in Taiwan, when I learned just about everything I know about this grand country. They were also spent with all the other members of my training class, several of whom I made fast friends with. I hadn't seen any of those friends in the ensuing month (with one too-brief exception) and we had all had far too little time to write to each other beyond your garden variety hey-how-are-ya quickie. So being called back for follow up training was plenty of reason to rejoice in civilization and reunions with old friends.
Yep, old friends. Until you go to work in a country where you know little of the culture and less of the language, you really can't appreciate how fast and deep the bonds are with people whose backgrounds are more like your own. Perhaps we'd all known each other for just a week and a half and that was itself just a few weeks ago - doesn't matter! You'd have thought we were old college buddies who hadn't seen each other in five years or something. (Actually, I did go to my five-year college reunion - itself about five years ago now - and this weekend was a lot more fun than that weekend. There is definitely something to be said for not pretending to be 18 again.)
Taipei is just a fabulous city in its own right. From the moment the bus got into town, everything felt a bit more vibrant and cosmopolitan. It was pouring rain and I was lugging my overnight bag along as I ducked into the subway to get to the school branch for the training, but it was all a great feeling all the same. The subway is fairly new, and it's pristine. You could probably eat off the railbeds, really, which is amazing considering how polluted Taiwan is in general. While struggling to read the subway map and find the station I needed, I was once again reminded of what a great country this is: an older woman came up and asked me in more than passable English if she could help me. It's never any trouble finding someone to help you in Taiwan: just look lost!
Arriving quickly enough at my destination, we had to dive right into the day's training activities, but it was a joyous reunion all the same. When we'd all gone our separate ways a few weeks before, it was a rather anticlimactic parting, everyone getting their luggage together and nervous about what godforsaken town they were heading off to (Longtan isn't the garden of eden, but from the stories I've heard I'm pretty lucky), and of course there were lots of plans to get back together that very next weekend - none of which came to fruition - so why exchange any pleasantries? This time it was hugs and handshakes all around, and you could definitely tell we'd all been hurting for contact.
Training came and went, and the rain, unfortunately, did not. But 5:00 rolled around soon enough, and - just like old times - we all piled into the bus for the trip back to the First Hotel, which hadn't changed at all in those four weeks. More catching up and laughing about old times (one month ago, for Pete's sake!) and big plans for the evening, rain or no rain. The clique of which I was a member ended up at Citizen Cain, a great western-style bar and grill with terrific thin-crust pizzas, among other things. (I'm usually a thick-crust man, but this place is really something else, especially by local standards!) We had all spent a particularly beer-soaked night there not so long before, and one of my friends had even brought pictures of that evening, which served as a pleasant reminder not to overdo it tonight, since there was another day of training yet to come. On the actual trip there, we happened to draw a cab driver who spoke English and was in a mood to talk about the elections. Every day is an education here!
Saturday came and went back in the classroom, and we were free to go home that evening. But of course, there was no question that many of us would be staying right where we were. So much catching up left to do - and of course, not all of it ever was done! But we put a pretty good dent in it, with a trip to the Ministry of Sound, the largest nightclub in Asia (or so they claim, and it was awfully big) that lasted well into the wee hours. I never have cared for dance music, but hanging out with everyone was great as always. This was preceded by ruminations on where to eat which lasted so long we ended up having to settle for Subway, because it was all we had time for. Island time at its best!
Sunday was even better, though - actual shopping! My apartment is still looking quite bare, and a trip to Ikea was definitely [in order]. We also got a chance to browse for books and CDs; I didn't buy any, but the option was nice for a change. And in one of those only-in-Taiwan moments, one of our gang had forgotten her camera at a convenience store by the First Hotel, so we took a swing by there on the off chance that they would still have it - and they did! How could you not love this town?
It all ended where it began - at the subway station - with an agreement to meet up again in two weeks for a friend's birthday. Here's hoping I come with a shopping list that time. I had a few nervous moments waiting for the bus back to Longtan, but it stopped exactly where I had been told it would. Whatever my company's faults, they really are very good with the logistics and advising people how to get around Taiwan without being able to read most of the street signs. It's amazing what you can notice as landmarks and such when that's your only real option.
And I've still only scraped the surface of Taipei. But all in all, I'm glad to be back here in Longtan. As one of my friends said over a marvelous pasta lunch on Sunday, "If we lived here, we'd eat and shop like this all the time and we'd be broke and fat!"
Too true. Too, too true.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
When you can't find a friend, you've still got the radio!
In other news, I finally got a radio/CD player two nights ago. If this sounds like no big deal, consider: I've been in town for three weeks, and in that time I've had no radio or computer in my apartment. As a fellow teacher commented last week, "Your place must be like a tomb!" Too close to the truth.
No more. I got a Lucky brand one, which I've never heard of before and, from what I can tell, with good reason. It's an economy brand, and I don't get the impression it'll be terribly durable. But it only has to last for a year, and it plays .mp3s. That was a deal-breaker for me in buying a CD player here, because I went to the trouble of burning 131 Jimmy Buffett songs to a CD and 164 doo-wop classics to another one just before I packed up my record collection back home. Hard to imagine life without those two ingredients for a year - and now I won't have to, at least as long as this cheap stereo holds up!
Another great thing about Taiwan - even in small towns like Longtan, stores stay open very late. So a guy like me who works until 9:00 every night can pick up a little something like a stereo on the walk home from work. I did just that on Tuesday, and lugged the thing all the way home down the main drag. By the time I set it down on the floor at home, I had that feeling where your arms are so tired you have to concentrate hard to even lift one to scratch your nose. Oh, and it was drizzling, too, as it has been all week here.
All totally worth it. From the moment I had the speakers hooked up and the power on and "A Pirate Looks At Forty" cued up, my humble abode was a little corner of heaven in the stormy sea. The sound quality was about what you'd expect playing .mp3s on a cheap stereo, but it didn't matter. I can't afford to be an audiophile at the moment anyway.
My paycheck said "Let there be music," and there was. And it was good. Very, very good.
No more. I got a Lucky brand one, which I've never heard of before and, from what I can tell, with good reason. It's an economy brand, and I don't get the impression it'll be terribly durable. But it only has to last for a year, and it plays .mp3s. That was a deal-breaker for me in buying a CD player here, because I went to the trouble of burning 131 Jimmy Buffett songs to a CD and 164 doo-wop classics to another one just before I packed up my record collection back home. Hard to imagine life without those two ingredients for a year - and now I won't have to, at least as long as this cheap stereo holds up!
Another great thing about Taiwan - even in small towns like Longtan, stores stay open very late. So a guy like me who works until 9:00 every night can pick up a little something like a stereo on the walk home from work. I did just that on Tuesday, and lugged the thing all the way home down the main drag. By the time I set it down on the floor at home, I had that feeling where your arms are so tired you have to concentrate hard to even lift one to scratch your nose. Oh, and it was drizzling, too, as it has been all week here.
All totally worth it. From the moment I had the speakers hooked up and the power on and "A Pirate Looks At Forty" cued up, my humble abode was a little corner of heaven in the stormy sea. The sound quality was about what you'd expect playing .mp3s on a cheap stereo, but it didn't matter. I can't afford to be an audiophile at the moment anyway.
My paycheck said "Let there be music," and there was. And it was good. Very, very good.
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