I have a job and a new apartment

July 26, 2009

I have a job and a new apartment... I stayed at my friends apartment for a week or so, but unfortunately it was pretty far away and I was having to take the bus and metro for an hour each way to get anywhere and the cost of them were adding up. Me and Cala have been looking at a few places since we got here and we finally found one and we moved in the same day I started my new job.

First about the job~~ I am the newest teacher of the Shilin branch of Kojen Language Schools. I am currently in training... which means I sit in on 4 hours worth of class every day and just watch... which is kind of boring. But on Tuesday I have orientation and on Saturday August 1 I officially start teaching (and making money). I don't know exactly how much I will be teaching... I just know as of now I teach 2 one hour classes and 1 two hour class on Saturdays. I will be teaching Monday - Saturday, but one day off wont be terrible since on those other days I may work as little as 2 hours, but we will see soon my full schedule. I think that I will really like it though. The little kids seem to be a lot more fun to teach than the older ones. The younger ones are really excited to play games and learn but the older ones don't want to be there and they don't want to talk or pay attention. I met one class that I will start teaching and they seem like they will be a good class. Hopefully I will have internet by Saturday so I can write about how my first day of teaching was. The school itself is kind of small, so that is good since I can make friends with the teachers, and surprisingly I ran into one right outside of my new apt today. It turns out she lives right by me so we can be friends. I am kind of nervous to start teaching, and since I am the only new teacher there in a while it is kind of awkward to be thrown in it. Hopefully soon I'll fit right in though and be ready to teach. It is in a good spot too... it takes about 20 ~ 30 minutes to get there from my apt which is just a short walk to the metro, then a ride on the metro 3 stops away, and then another short walk.

Now for the apartment~~

Its kind of a fixer-upper though... its a good price for the place considering its location. Its right off one of the main streets in Taipei, very close to the metro, very close to downtown, and right near a super market and 7 eleven. Its on the 4th floor though (the Chinese don't like that very much) so that may be part of the reason. It looks like no one lived there for quite sometime though, and it looks as if they were smokers. It has black and white checkered floor but white is more of a yellow... and same with the wall paper. Which is why we decided to paint. We have almost all of the wallpaper stripped off but we are both in training so we haven't had time to run out and find some paint. But it will look nice and there will be pictures. I also had to get a lot of other stuff such as lights, a mattress, sheets, blankets, pillows, dishes... basically everything you need if you move into an empty apartment and have nothing. Hopefully I will start getting paid soon though since I had to charge all of that stuff at Ikea... I might also get a couple of kittens. One of my friends here has a bunch of them and will give me and Cala a couple for free, so why not?

Since we just moved it the place is still a mess and disgusting and we are without internet so the next time I post will probably be when I have internet installed because right now I am at starbucks using theirs. So if you would like to help with the furnishing of my new apartment I am taking donations!!!