My Taiwan Adventure

HAPPY CANADA DAY!
With a speed that has dazzled my poor brain I'm unemployed again. I know I should count myself lucky that I have enough resources to be so lucky to have this break in my employment but all I can say is that it was decidedly odd to wake this morning with, once again, nowhere to be. Now, I've nothing but time on my hands I have no excuse not to complete the list of things to do that I've written down.

Today I chose to spend on myself. I wrote letters, indulged in my first sit-down breakfast in ages and read. I spent the day simmering in the gentle heat on my roof reading "Flowers for Algernon" for the second time in my life. I polished off the 300 page book in 4 hours. I'm a fast reader?

I heard back from the after-school program I was hoping to work with. Due to what they consider to be a "tenuous ARC situation" they have decided to go with another applicant. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'm really not in the mood right now to be running about the country looking for work and going through the application process of a supplicant and I've become very discerining in the jobs I'll even apply for.

I finally got everything straightened out for my income tax information here in Taiwan. The only question that remains in my mind is whether I should simply take a short vacation that will enable me to renew my visa to make the 183 day cut off to get my tax refund next year. That way if I decide NOT to return to Taiwan I'll still get a nice $1,000 CDN + cheque. Of course this means messing around and changing my flight plans and finding a flight to somewhere nice and tropical like the Phillipines or Thailand. Both are reportedly easy to get around and cheap as pineapples. (Dirt here is expensive.)

I'm looking forward to my summer camp experience with the university down south. Things there at least appear to be going smoothly so far. I'm excited by being able to "upgrade" my teaching style to students who WANT to learn. I can't help but be a little depressed by my junior high students poor performance in my drama class. At least on the last day a grade 8 girl ran up to me and gave me a piece of paper with the few words "You're a good Teacher" scrawled on it with her name. It made me tear up. Is it normal for kids to have more faith in you than you do yourself?

A neat thing happened to me today. I'm a local at a restaurant near my apartment: "The Everyday Cafe" and last week the creamy pumpkin soup was off. I didn't complain because it was so near closing and the girl at the front obviously had people waiting for her to go for a night on the town. I was feeling generous and the soup is less than $2 Cdn. Today when I went in and ordered breakfast there was a morning person on -shift. After I finished breakfast lo and behold the regular girl came to me with a bowl of soup and a polite Chinese apology! I was very surprised. Taiwan does that to me sometimes.

That's about all... it's creeping up on dawn in Canada and I can't help but be torn between my desire to be there and here simultaneously. The delay of 2 weeks before going home would simply be enough to make me stay in Taiwan without a break this summer. I remain undecided. I'll keep you posted!

T. Destiny

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