My Taiwan Adventure

It is October 10th... Double Tens here in Taiwan. With nothing terribly exciting to report, I'll fall back on my blathering style of writing. Hope I haven't bored my audience to death.

I have moved into Shijhih. (Yes, I'm still learning to spell it.) The apartment is enormous and I would have drooled happily over it at any other time in Canada. It sports 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and 2 and a half balconies. I've taken residence in the master bedroom with private bath. (After all I'm the only female employee in this company shouldn't I have my own bath?) It's a dream house with white tile floors. There is a 24 hour security guard downstairs and a luxurious little sitting area next to the mailboxes. The place is upscale in a way that I wouldn't have expected from my company.

The downside is that the company I work for has some serious communication issues. For instance, I was told the apartment was ready for habitation. When I arrived I discovered the A/C is installed in the wrong bedroom. No big deal, it's cold right now anyway and can be moved. Except the gas isn't turned on so I can neither cook nor take advantage of the wonderful bathtub that I've been longing for since I moved to Taiwan. They had cable installed and I have a total of six Chinese channels to watch. There's a Chinese speaking assistant to ensure things for the apartment get done - but I don't think he understands a word I'm saying. It's sadly stereo-typical of a lot of the experiences I've had here. Hurry up and wait folks... theres more to the story.

I landed a private teaching deal today when I was approached by a lady from the other tower across from my building. She seems nice enough and it remains to be seen what her sixteen year old son thinks of this deal of learning English on Sunday mornings. However, it will be a bit of extra spending money for me now that I'm living so close to so many great little cafes. I could line a few of these up and make more doing privates than I do in my "real job."

My month long sore throat had to end somewhere so I went to the doctor on Thursday and he says my cough sounds like it might be bronchitis. I've been given until the end of the weekend to clear it up or go for chest xrays. Oddly they only give you 3-4 day courses of antibiotics which is what helps the bugs here get stronger and stronger. Welcome to the land of SARS.

My cousin was so wonderful as to describe Thanksgiving dinner in excruciating clarity for me. It almost brought tears to my eyes. You never fully appreciate the little things until you are totally isolated from them. In the grand scheme of things on the little scientific chart of culture shock, I'm at the bottom of the second cycle of lows. I can not wait to get on a plane bound for the land of pumpkin pie and Tim Hortons. The place I lovingly call home.

Oh Canada, I miss you with a longing that makes my chest ache. Or is that the bronchitis?
Love and Hugs
T. Destiny.

Post a Comment