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!!!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
First post from Taiwan~~
Friday July 17, 2009
I made it to Taipei alright. Emily and Laura were kind enough to drop me off at O'Hare and I arrived to Los Angeles with no problem. When I got there I found my friends Cala and Vicki who were going on the same flight as me to Taipei. We had a few hours so we just sat around until our plane left at 140 AM. The flight went very well, but it was a bit crowded. We arrived about 13 hours later in Taipei and I got a taxi to my new apartment.
Now when I first came into my new (temporary) place, I thought it was kinda small and dirty... but thats Asia for you I guess (TIA). My room is the size of a closet and my bed is a roll out mat... but at least there is AC!! Which I really am happy about since it feels like 117 every day with the humidity. Basically I sweat through my clothes within minutes of exiting my room (the rest of the apartment doesn't have AC... just the bedrooms)... the asians dont seem to sweat though, I don't know how they do it. Even when they are wearing jeans and three shirts and a sweater they don't sweat but I am soaked when I wear a tshirt and shorts... Well anyways it is now Friday and we arrived Monday... so what have we been doing since then? We have been walking A LOT. We walked just about all over Taipei and had a short day trip to visit Jiufen (<--- you can click on that to read more about it Mom and Dad) and thats about it. We are planning on a daytrip to Taizhong (<---- another link... see the color?) so I'll write about that later...
As for the job... I had an offer for another job at Uncle Sam's school to teach but it didn't work out in the end. But with the original company I was going to work for, I now have a meeting this Tuesday to discuss things... I'm not sure exactly what, but I'll write about it after.
The food is great and I'm glad to be back! Hopefully I'll start working soon though, but for now its nice to be able to spend the day seeing the sights that I didn't get to see last time I was here. .. I'll get some pictures up soooooooonish
Oh yeah... and there was an earthquake my first night here.. here is a link with info about it
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009jabu.php
It happened about 83 miles from Taipei where I am so it wasn't super strong but it did wake me up because all the doors to my wardrobe were banging. I was also kinda out of it with the jet lag but I did get up and run to the door because I thought it was worse than it was, but the next morning I saw it wasn't too bad... just the first of many I guess
I made it to Taipei alright. Emily and Laura were kind enough to drop me off at O'Hare and I arrived to Los Angeles with no problem. When I got there I found my friends Cala and Vicki who were going on the same flight as me to Taipei. We had a few hours so we just sat around until our plane left at 140 AM. The flight went very well, but it was a bit crowded. We arrived about 13 hours later in Taipei and I got a taxi to my new apartment.
Now when I first came into my new (temporary) place, I thought it was kinda small and dirty... but thats Asia for you I guess (TIA). My room is the size of a closet and my bed is a roll out mat... but at least there is AC!! Which I really am happy about since it feels like 117 every day with the humidity. Basically I sweat through my clothes within minutes of exiting my room (the rest of the apartment doesn't have AC... just the bedrooms)... the asians dont seem to sweat though, I don't know how they do it. Even when they are wearing jeans and three shirts and a sweater they don't sweat but I am soaked when I wear a tshirt and shorts... Well anyways it is now Friday and we arrived Monday... so what have we been doing since then? We have been walking A LOT. We walked just about all over Taipei and had a short day trip to visit Jiufen (<--- you can click on that to read more about it Mom and Dad) and thats about it. We are planning on a daytrip to Taizhong (<---- another link... see the color?) so I'll write about that later...
As for the job... I had an offer for another job at Uncle Sam's school to teach but it didn't work out in the end. But with the original company I was going to work for, I now have a meeting this Tuesday to discuss things... I'm not sure exactly what, but I'll write about it after.
The food is great and I'm glad to be back! Hopefully I'll start working soon though, but for now its nice to be able to spend the day seeing the sights that I didn't get to see last time I was here. .. I'll get some pictures up soooooooonish
Oh yeah... and there was an earthquake my first night here.. here is a link with info about it
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009jabu.php
It happened about 83 miles from Taipei where I am so it wasn't super strong but it did wake me up because all the doors to my wardrobe were banging. I was also kinda out of it with the jet lag but I did get up and run to the door because I thought it was worse than it was, but the next morning I saw it wasn't too bad... just the first of many I guess
Thursday, April 9, 2009
WOWWWWW its been a while
April 9, 2009~~
HELLOOO! I doubt anyone will actually read this, but it has been QUITE a while since my last post... mostly because I am just finishing out my last year at Indiana University. Just 4 weeks left and I will be a college graduate. What will I do with my degrees in French, Chinese, Arabic, and Linguistics?? Well I am going to move to Taipei, Taiwan to teach English. The goal is to stay here for several years both to gain teaching experience and to get a lot better at Mandarin... I don't know when I am moving there yet, hopefully within 2 months or so. I don't have an actual job yet but I have been accepted by Reach to Teach which is basically an agency that will find me a job in Taipei. My friend Cala who was there with me last Spring will also go there so we will probably be roomies.
More later :o)
HELLOOO! I doubt anyone will actually read this, but it has been QUITE a while since my last post... mostly because I am just finishing out my last year at Indiana University. Just 4 weeks left and I will be a college graduate. What will I do with my degrees in French, Chinese, Arabic, and Linguistics?? Well I am going to move to Taipei, Taiwan to teach English. The goal is to stay here for several years both to gain teaching experience and to get a lot better at Mandarin... I don't know when I am moving there yet, hopefully within 2 months or so. I don't have an actual job yet but I have been accepted by Reach to Teach which is basically an agency that will find me a job in Taipei. My friend Cala who was there with me last Spring will also go there so we will probably be roomies.
More later :o)
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