My Taiwan Adventure

Greetings All,

Well, after my little whinefest about not learning Mandarin... I finally got off my duff and just threw caution to the wind. (Took me long enough!) I spent most of this morning diligently studying my phrazebook, cross referencing with my pocket dictionary, and re referencing with my travel guide which has words in the back... *lol* after all that research I went and found an enlish speaking cell phone store! *lol* Actually I found a few stores, I used the phrases I had learned and learned a new one - "no problem" which I half remember but will have to learn again as it is avery useful phrase here. I'm sure I cause a lot of embarrasement to the Taiwanese people and "no problem" forgives them for any loss of face by making it me apologizing for faux pas. At least I think that's how it works. *shrugs* Off on another tangent again. It seems my blog is less than focused.

Cell phone shopping actually turned out to be fun. With much blushing, gesturing, and laughter on my part for my really broken Chinese and lack of verbal skills I was flattered for what I did know and try. I went to 5 different stores which is my signature style of trying to find a bargain. I ended up settling for a 3 month old used phone for $100 cdn. which I had seen in one store brand new for $135. Not a bad deal. (Yes I'm frugal... can you blame me for wanting to save until I get a job?) I still have to get a SIM card which will activate the phone and give me a number, but I need Jeremy's help for that.

I could have gotten a top of the line phone with a memory stick, that takes pictures and movies and plays mp3's and also operates Word/Excel etc. at the first store I went to. It was pretty harshly used but I talked him down to $3300 ($130 cdn). Which was still more than I wanted to spend. Plus it's a MICROSOFT phone made by panasonic?, but can you imagine a microsoft software package on a phone? "We're sorry but the call you just made performed an illegal function...."!! Actually, I was all set to buy it but he wanted cash and the first 2 bank machines I used refused my card. So I had to walk a few more blocks which put me within feet of another store. Which naturally I went into. I was having so much fun using my 3 broken phrases: "I want to buy a cellphone" "How much is it" "Thank you" and rudimentary knowledge of counting that I went to a few more stores... always intending to go back to the first for the "loaded phone."

My cell phone buying adventure ended in a store close to the train station where the clerk phoned her English speaking boyfriend and we conducted business on the phone, both ways! I now have 2 new friends in Taiwan. She thinks I am beautiful because of my white skin and curly hair... yay humidity?! *lol* It was very embarrasing, but I will call and go to KTV - which is the Karaoke palace with them some time soon. It will be nice to know someone who can speak the language and help me learn it better. I also bought the cell she was offering and now have a cell-phone with 2 chargers? One cradle and one plugs directly into the wall. I'll feel better having a contact number and knowing i don't have to search for a pay phone... though they are much more prevalent here than in Canada.

For a day that started with me feeling pretty down and out... tired, grumpy and uncertain as to my future I feel much better now. I also sent out 3 resumes this morning and have already heard back from one of the schools which is 1.5 hours from north of here. Things sound legal enough, but they have already offered to cut a few corners to make it an appealing offer and are also offering housing for free. From the sounds of things I'll be able to negotiate an even better deal as females apparently can demand a higher salary then men in the teaching industry. We are seen as good patient nurturers. HA! They haven't met me yet!

More fun news. I went to see if I could walk past the SDA church here and it turns out that there is an English school in the same building. I was thinking that I might apply for a job there and maybe it would be a buxiban that doesn't require Saturday work... as I can't imagine it operating during church hours?! And coincidentally enough, just down the street there was another Buddhist place to eat good vegetarian food. Now that I know what the sign looks like (it is 3 characters plus the backwards swastika) I've spotted several places that looked promising. Including one just up the street from the apartment that I don't think Jeremy has noticed.

Again I feel so fortunate and blessed to have Jeremy offer me a place to stay for a while as it is getting me on my feet much more equipped to deal with the country than staying at a dumpy hostel. That being said I don't want to take advantage of this situation. I'm considering hitting the road next week to go see more of Taiwan before accepting a position. This puts me in a perilous position with new years being Feb 5th and prime travelling/accommodation rates at that time. I'll play it by ear. I'm interested in seeing Kaoshing particularly as all the foreigners here in ChangHua talk about it as if it is some Westerners mecca. Though I can not imagine living in a more polluted place. I didn't see the sun at all today.

Finally i lost myself today too... had to wander the streets for a good 10 minutes before I found a familiar landmark. And after dark too... probably why nothing looked the same.
Love and kisses to all. Maybe I'll write more in the morning (It's only 7 pm here.)
T. Destiny

Post a Comment