(We have no internet so this is a blog that I've written over about a week plus)
17/10/2011
Ed and I have moved into our very own apartment! Oh, and it is beautiful. I have never lived in such a place. It is located north of Kaohsiung, behind the Hanshin Shopping Department Store. It is minutes walk from one of the biggest night markets in the city, and tea shops, 7/11s and the MRT.
 |
| This is our TV!! And there are little birds painted on our wall! |
 |
| Spare room - Ed's studio/Katie's practice room! |
 |
| Shower!! |
 |
| Living room. |
 |
| Kitchen! |
There are two balconies on either side of the open plan kitchen and living room. The balcony situated next to the kitchen has a washing machine and drying facilities. The view isn’t anything special, although the sunset today was breathtaking because in the distance Monkey Mountain lies. The sun was hovering above, making the sky a gorgeous pinky orange; set against the pale blue sky and mackerel clouds. Wow.
Aside from furniture, there wasn’t much in the apartment. We’ve managed the basics so far: bed clothes, towels, a few bowls, plates (plastic, we’re on a budget!), knives and forks, a peeler and a pan. The next things to get are a kettle, toaster, an oven (don’t worry, they have these mini ovens, only £20), a frying pan and loads of other stuff. But we’re getting there! Today is our full proper day in the apartment, we moved in yesterday! And instead of Ed having to leave an hour to get to work, he only left half an hour before because the station is so much closer! So he was pretty happy with that. We have no internet yet... which is pretty annoying, but that should be getting sorted tomorrow. And OH MY GOD!! The shower is amazing! It has one of those massive heads, and it feels like you’re in a warm thunder storm. Heaven.
Getting the apartment was very easy. We were meant to be meeting a man called Mr Chen on Friday (14.10) but he never made it, however, we decided to see what this Estate Agents just opposite to where we meant to be meeting Mr Chen had to offer. They had one apartment for rent which was exactly where we were planning to live. They said it was brand new and available to live in immediately. It was a bit over budget, but we thought we’d just have a peep. And I fell in love as soon as I saw it. We negotiated the price, and managed to get it lower, so we had to take it! The only problem we could foresee was the second room, which was completely empty... but it’s now a music room! Ed is going to buy a second hand desk and a chair and set up a studio, while I’m going to buy a music stand and use it to practice my flute and singing. Woo!
I’ve got interviews coming out of my ears at the moment; I had one on Saturday, and have another one on Tuesday (tomorrow). Which is good, but c’mon! I’m waiting to hear back from one which I really want... But as I can’t check my emails I have no idea! Ed and I are going to this bar called Lighthouse tonight which has free Wi-Fi, so should hopefully check then.
Continued... 23/10/2011
A week later and the apartment is still amazing! I can’t believe we get to live in it for a whole year! We still don’t have internet... we really need to sort it out. At the moment I am sitting in Starbucks, about a 10 minute walk away from our apartment. It’s $100 for 24 hour access... which is about 2 quid. Very reasonable.
I’ve started teaching as well! I had my interview at this school last Thursday, which went well. I really liked it! After arriving home I get a call from my interviewer Eva, saying they need an emergency substitute teacher at another school, also down the road from our apartment, for a lesson that started in 10 minutes! I was in shock, as I have never taught English to children, so to be thrown into a three and half hour shift with three different classes, three different levels was overwhelming. Was this what I really wanted to do with my afternoon? Yes, yes it fucking was! I was sick of just lounging around the flat, doing nothing. So I inhaled deeply and rang Eva back, saying that I was available. She picked me up on her scooter 5 minutes later and drove me to the elementary school where I was needed. I was greeted by a very grateful teacher, Jessica, who quickly briefed me about what I was teaching, handed me about 10 books and shoved me into the classroom filled with about 12 Taiwanese kids, who stared at me with intrigue. Eva shouted at them for a bit in Chinese while I took a look at the material that I had been given. And started to teach. After the first class which was from 3:30pm to 5:00pm, there was an older class from 5:00pm to 6:00pm, yes no break! Luckily another teacher helped me out, as I was warned that this class was particularly troublesome. Oh and that they were! Loud, chatty, rude. But with the Chinese teacher there, I was able to get my points across and I think they were learning. Then from 6:00pm to 7:00pm I had my last class. They are the oldest children I teach. And they are angels. This class really wanted to learn English, so the lesson flew past, and finally I was able to go home.
I was mentally, emotionally and physically drained. I had no idea how tiring kids are!! It was a reality shock to be honest, and I can now to relate to what Ed has been doing everyday for the last month. Wow. Respect. But I think kids are naughty with new teachers, especially subs. So the next day I went in again, this time I went in an hour before to plan my lessons. Which was helpful... to a certain extent. I find this job hard because I have not been trained as a teacher, yes I have my TEFL, but that was months ago and such a short course that I didn’t really offer anything practical. So I don’t really know what I am doing at the moment! So it’s hard. I am surprised they have taken such an inexperienced “teacher”! But everyday I am learning. For example, the second class I have are definitely the worse behaved. They are aged from 9 – 10 years of old, and boys are just unbearable. But with a bit of discipline I'm hoping they will get better!
Continued 26/10/2011
So I'm actually going to post the blog up today!
I write this sitting in one of the numerous free internet cafes in Kaohsiung, munching on some delicious pork noodles with 'spoon' green vegetables, spring onions and a cooling iced black tea. Superb. It only cost me $117 to eat and drink here, which is £2.40!! I have a day off today - Wednesdays like in France, the kids don't have school, well apart from Ed's school where the super keen kids have extra lessons! So he's just gone off to work. But the kids I'm teaching - which is three classes, one after the other, no break - their behavior is improving every day. So quiet and responsive to me. This feels great. And the other two are great now too, especially the last one of the day, there are some kids in there who have serious talent for English!
It's Halloween this weekend, and omg, they LOVE it here!! More then England. I guess because they're are so Americanised in some ways, it's only natural that Halloween is taken seriously. It's also "celebrated" in schools, like there's new vocab to be learnt, songs, costumes to be made for the little kiddlies! So yeah, Ed and I are actually making an effort this year, with our new friends Hazel and Dom, I won't tell you what we're going as... it'll be a surprise for my next blog! There's a huge night on at this club where everyone goes dressed up, so we thought, when in Rome!
Bad news, I lost my camera! I'm not sure exactly how I lost it... I think it must have fallen out of my pocket on Saturday night. Oooops. So until I get a new camera, I can't upload any new photos! Sorry! But with the money I earn this week should be enough to get one!
I have to leave, so I'm going to just put up some photos from the past couple of weeks!
 |
| these are deep fried shrimp with icing sugar and 100 and 1000 sprinkled on top. strangely delicious... |
 |
| Ed and Dom |
 |
| This is us and some friends eating and drinking at what they call a Ganbai. They are cheap and delicious! |
 |
| Woop!! Ed's first session at Brickyard! Smashed his set, everyone loved him!! He's got another date coming up in November! |
 |
| Boysan loving it! |
 |
| Vibing out. |
 |
| Lexus and Pauline! |
Sorry this has been a bit of a rushed blog! We should be getting internet sorted today! I will blog soon! xxxx
