Culture Shock 101

In our training, they lectured us on the stages of culture shock. It seems like such a big deal before you actually realize you are going through it. Then, it is frustrating and manifests itself in weird ways.

I’ve mentioned before the celebrity status white people seem to have in Taiwan. That got old really quickly. A couple of weeks ago, Bethany and I went to RT Mart, which is a big store that you can buy anything (comparable to Wal-Mart), to buy groceries. We had to buy some French bread for a friend’s birthday party. She had requested 6 rolls. That doesn’t seem to odd, right? We also wore some warm hats because it was cold outside. The majority of the Taiwanese in the store found the combination of 2 white females in hats buying 6 french bread rolls to be utterly fascinating. We had people actually stop what they were doing, point, stare, and laugh. Not just a few people, but about 60% of the people in the store.

I keep thinking how weird it will be to go back home and not be a minority. I experienced this when I lived in Guatemala, and I remember being frustrated by it then as well. As a child, I had Guatemalan children staring at my eyes and saying that it was weird my eyes were blue. Here, my students call my hair “yellow” and often ask me if I have a baby in my stomach because I am bigger than most of the Taiwanese women!

It will also be weird to go home and not be able to talk openly when I am in public because I know the people around me don’t understand what I am saying. I think I will have to get out of the habit once again of commenting openly on weird style preferences.

This is the point in my stay where it has become a little harder to find positive aspects of my time here….mainly because I would like to be home right about now, seeing as it is the holiday season. There are still things that I love about Taiwan and that I have found to be beautiful about this place and this culture. Those things are not as exaggerated as the negative things, but I’ve been told that this will pass.

school daze

I'm trying to keep up with blogging, I really am. I feel like a lot of my computer time is in 30 minute intervals at school, so it takes more planning to blog.

It seems like there has been a lot going on lately. At school, the weeks are flying by. There are good days and bad days, but overall, the weeks fly. And I need that. My thoughts on teaching are still in the making, but right now, I don't think it is something I will be doing forever. My opinions may be influenced by the school and the kids that I work with. My least favorite part of the day is teaching my 4:30 until 6:30 elementary class. It may seem easy; I have 8 students, its only an hour and a half, and the lesson plans are made out for me already. But the kids don't want to be there. I found out last week that most of my students in elementary start school at 7:30am and go to school all day, come to my class, and then sometimes have another drawing class, dance class, or music class. Can you imagine?? Would you want to go to a Spanish or Chinese class for an hour and a half when you were 10? I feel for them, I really do. It just stinks for me because I have to deal with a class of mostly boys who don't want to be there and won't do most things I tell them to do. At least I didn't have to go to school 12 hours a day when I was growing up.

And the rest of the day, I get the joy of my kindergarteners. They are great. They make me laugh, they make me scream, and I get to play with them for most of the day. All the girls have started to come to me after nap time every day to have me do their hair, so now I have my own real live barbie dolls(I'm getting really good at pig tails). It really is a lot of fun. I even get to nap almost every day if I want to. If you know me well, that truly is a great thing for me.

More later. I have to tell you about Bethany's birthday and Thanksgiving still!

Things I like about Taiwan...

I needed an uplifting post, so here we go:

1) Scooter riding. I was scared at first, but it has quickly become one of my favorite activities. Crazy law-breaking, wind in your hair, maneuvering between cars fun.

2) Cheap food. An average meal out in Taiwan costs about $7-$10 US dollars for a drink or two and a main dish. For great food.

3) 7-11's on every corner. Literally. And if its not a 7-11, its a Family Mart, OK Mart, or something of the sort, with essentially the same supply of goods.

4) Cheap rent. I pay about $130 US a month for rent and utilities. Beat that California.

5) My new cats. Despite the previous belief(held by me) that cats are annoying, bratty, unfriendly, stinky creatures that should never be owned by humans, I have fallen for these cute little things. I think its gonna last too.

6) Bethany. I get to hang out with one of the coolest people every day and get to know her better than I have in 15 years. How lucky am I?

7) Cute kids that love me. As annoying as they can get sometimes, they are really adorable most of the time, and I have taken to them. I've also somehow convinced them that I am cool.

8) Being a celebrity. Everyone in Taiwan says hello to me and Bethany because we are white and have light hair. We feel like celebrities, and although it can be annoying, we secretly enjoy it.

That's all I can think of for now. More to come later maybe.

just two pictures because it takes too long...

Fajita on my birthday. You have no idea how wonderful this tasted.



In Hualien at the Farmtastic Hostel. Beautiful place, really.

Names

Well, we named the cats....or at least we came up with names we like. The black one will be Ziggy and the tabby one will be Jet Li. He is more of the Kung-Fu type.

Not much going on lately here. But since this blog is such a hit, I just have to keep the fans satisfied ;) Saturday was Open House at school and I got to meet some of my Kindergarteners' parents. Lots of excitement there, and we don't get paid for it.

Saturday night I sang Karaoke. Don't asked me what possessed me. We were at a place that had it and it just happened. That's what they all say, right??

In other news, Bethany and I just booked our flights to Bangkok for Chinese New Years(end of January). We get about 18 days total off, and we are taking that entire time to travel around Thailand, and hopefully Cambodia and Vietnam. Can't wait. Really really really can't wait. Before then we have Thanksgiving and Christmas to get through. That's gonna be hard. Feel free to send me stuff:)

Till next time...

Kittens!!

Bethany and I got new kittens last night! They are really the cutest things I have ever seen and I think they like me :) We got a black one and a tabby one. Still thinking on the names....

any suggestions?

Typhoon Days

Before I came to Taiwan I had heard of typhoon's and had some idea in my mind that they were something like a tidal wave. I don't know why I thought that, because I think it is more like a hurricane than anything else. So, if there is a really bad one, all the businesses close and the government declares it a Typhoon Day. Since I have been here(two months almost exactly), there have been 3 declared Typhoon Days. Two of them have been on weekends, which means the only thing I get to do is sit indoors and pout. One of them was on a weekday and we got to stay home from school. I just don't know why there can't be more during the week. Do they plan it this way?

Today, Bethany, Sam and I decided to brave the typhoon and go to FE21, the department store in town. We got a cab there, which was slightly scary because the cab was actually rocking a few times(winds can get really strong during a typhoon). We made it there, wandered around for a couple hours, spent some of our paycheck, and when we were ready to leave, we went to the front desk to have them call us a cab. "No more taxi's" we were told. What? No more? Okay....

So, we went downstairs to have a cup of coffee and decide what we were going to do for dinner. When we were just about done, we ran into a girl from work who informed us the department store would close in 10 minutes. Now it was time to really figure out how we would get home(we were not within walking distance, and it didn't really seem that safe to walk with sign posts flying around and all). Basically, we stood by the front door for about 20 minutes(yes the place closed) looking at each other, wondering what we were going to do. We asked for a taxi, and they kept telling us there weren't any. Finally, I guess we looked distressed enough and some lady came up to us and handed us a slip of paper with a four-digit number on it and said "Your taxi number". Thank goodness someone decided to call a cab company that was working and we didn't get stranded in the mall! I didn't really think anyone would just abandon three helpless-looking white people, but you just never know....

We came home and I cooked some more fajitas. Yum, that was worth it.