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Thursday, March 31, 2005
69.17 - One more night.
Greetings All,
Day 69 in Taiwan and I'm without my passport! Don't worry they've only detained it for a week to adjust my visa. While I was really stressed out about it for a day I'm okay now that I know it is a normal part of the routine here.
I just finished a pretty hard day at work. Thursday's are my most challenging day. Junior high is not an easy class to adapt to as a new teacher. I'm gaining a great sense of respect for what my teachers must have gone through! Any time I get down I just remember that it is only one class out of hundreds that I'm going to teach.
The kids are really bright but there are always one or two discipline challenges to keep me on my toes. Additionally I have the language barrier to deal with. While most of the children have been taking English classes their entire lives, some of them are not gifted with language. I have to constantly test the waters to see what the students can understand and what they do not. Usually there are one or two bright students that will help with translating any concepts or instructions but I'm just learning how to best utilize that in class.
Yesterday was a good day. I didn't do much but teach and work on some flashcards, assignments and lesson-plans. However, I've experimented with using music in my drama classes and it seems to make a big improvement on my lessons. My first pay-check will include a CD player purchase for my classroom.
Today was the first day that all 6 of us foreign teachers at the school went to lunch together. We went to TGI Fridays just down the street. The service was superb and in English! That's a pretty good accomplishment from what I've seen up until this point. The majority of places I've eaten have pictures of meals or a translated menu to use when using the "point to order" method.
Tomorrow I move into my new apartment. I'm so happy to get out of the hostel. I liked meeting new people for a while, but after a while it gets hard on me. I kind of like to have some private down-time to get my head wrapped around life. Plus I'm looking forward to space to create. Finally, a place to settle. Tonight I'm going shopping for plastic crates to keep my stuff dry for when my apartment springs a leak. I'm told it does that during typhoons.
I've added the protest photos to my photo-blog. I'm working on getting more photos up soon. Maybe I'll add more later after I get some food.
Day 69 in Taiwan and I'm without my passport! Don't worry they've only detained it for a week to adjust my visa. While I was really stressed out about it for a day I'm okay now that I know it is a normal part of the routine here.
I just finished a pretty hard day at work. Thursday's are my most challenging day. Junior high is not an easy class to adapt to as a new teacher. I'm gaining a great sense of respect for what my teachers must have gone through! Any time I get down I just remember that it is only one class out of hundreds that I'm going to teach.
The kids are really bright but there are always one or two discipline challenges to keep me on my toes. Additionally I have the language barrier to deal with. While most of the children have been taking English classes their entire lives, some of them are not gifted with language. I have to constantly test the waters to see what the students can understand and what they do not. Usually there are one or two bright students that will help with translating any concepts or instructions but I'm just learning how to best utilize that in class.
Yesterday was a good day. I didn't do much but teach and work on some flashcards, assignments and lesson-plans. However, I've experimented with using music in my drama classes and it seems to make a big improvement on my lessons. My first pay-check will include a CD player purchase for my classroom.
Today was the first day that all 6 of us foreign teachers at the school went to lunch together. We went to TGI Fridays just down the street. The service was superb and in English! That's a pretty good accomplishment from what I've seen up until this point. The majority of places I've eaten have pictures of meals or a translated menu to use when using the "point to order" method.
Tomorrow I move into my new apartment. I'm so happy to get out of the hostel. I liked meeting new people for a while, but after a while it gets hard on me. I kind of like to have some private down-time to get my head wrapped around life. Plus I'm looking forward to space to create. Finally, a place to settle. Tonight I'm going shopping for plastic crates to keep my stuff dry for when my apartment springs a leak. I'm told it does that during typhoons.
I've added the protest photos to my photo-blog. I'm working on getting more photos up soon. Maybe I'll add more later after I get some food.
Posted by T. Destiny in Taiwan at 5:46 PM 
