rayne_tesl

xD Save me candy!

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 06:51:21 GMT

rayne_tesl's Halloween party:

_chely dressed as a camel.
_jadeus dressed as something prime, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
_spacecoyote dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Order of the Anvil.
auntilori dressed as Rutherford B. Hayes.
careerlefty dressed as Jennifer Love Hewitt's mother.
chellerbee83 dressed as Thandie Newton.
driemal dressed as Rutherford B. Hayes.
elyneara dressed as a diplomat from Sudan.
ghastlyordeal dressed as Madonna.
kiandra_fire dressed as a witch, though it looked more like a character from Harry Potter and the Magic Prisoner.
love_nana_plz dressed as Ozzy Osbourne.
mylaeka dressed as Annika Sorenstam.
psychocharmer dressed as a outfielder for the White Sox, though it looked more like a new superhero: Element Maximus.
satan_ dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
serkwinder dressed as a junior button pusher.
sporkfrog dressed as a dull zombie.
spunky_karasu dressed as Tom Riddle.
starsxfading dressed as a shear football.
twitchyrabbit dressed as a cup of coffee.
zionchild didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.

Throw your own party at the Hallomeme!
Created with phpNonsense

: D

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 06:20:48 GMT

I'm in Taipei. And Adrienne's here.

I'm filled with this happy realisation that I did a lot of things that I thought I was unable to do, and this astounding happiness at realising that soon, I'll be back home with the people that love me.

It's awesome. Makes the whole thing really a lot better than it was. I enjoy being able to offer smiles that are really genuine and to joke about Invader Zim and show off my broken Chinese.

Today I went on a really fun tour of Taipei. Seems I missed Luke again online, but I'll try again tomorrow. It's okay.

I'll be home soon! Wee!

-Chris

:P

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 04:55:51 GMT

I'm still sick, and it's Wednesday. That means the day will come with great promise, I'm sure. Four classes. Joy.

I should post about my weekened. I made a friend from America and hung out in Taichung City. Her name's Sandi. I wound up staying all weekend and coming back earlier than I really wanted to because I thought someone might be worried, but they all left without me to go somewhere anyway.

The entire weekend was pretty cool except for Sandi having to go to the hospital.. we were at the Movies and she said she had chest pains. Then the doctors wouldn't give her a straight answer about what was wrong. I need to check my mail to see how she's doing. Honestly, that one event overshadows most of the weekend. I'm really worried about her.

We did have fun though. She showed me all these cool places and we had really basic conversations that I only wish I could have with most people here (Like, regarding the weird noises the Garbage Trucks make. Doesn't it sound like an Ice Cream truck? Isn't that *weird?*). It was awesome. I'm getting dragged off somewhere on Saturday as a goodbye thing by my Chinese teacher, and I found out that I actually leave Sunday instead of Monday, but I hope I can see her again before I go back to Canada.

I wish I didn't feel so dumb right now. I can barely see straight. Woo. It's a good thing I didn't stay home though (mumble mumble) because I only have a week left (-kicks boss-). Granted, I do want to see my kids, but hearing eight of them screaming the ABCs is not a good way to deal with a head cold.

I do have medicine. Maybe I should take some. I don't like taking medicine. For some reason I feel like I should just suck it up and take it.

Anywho. I'll be back in Canada really soon. And I only have four more days here. I don't know if I'll have the net in Taipei, so I may not post again for a while.

Hope everyone's well.

-Chris

Happy Birthday!

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 07:35:57 GMT

Rob turns 20 today, for anyone who forgot. If my internet connection works at home for a change, I'll call him tonight. That would be nice.

Send him loads of those stupid e-cards. XD

I just had my Chinese lessons. Damn. I feel like a complete moron sometimes. I can learn to say a phrase, and I can mimic it very well, but when it comes to remembering how or hearing it around me it's very very difficult. In any case, my Chinese teacher is taking me to Shingong Mitsukoshi in Taichung City tomorrow, which is a big mall. She speaks very little English, and I can barely speak Chinese. So it should be interesting.

I can now say useful phrases like 'I want to buy juice!' or 'Wait a minute!'. Good times.

Yesterday was my anniversary with Luke. I managed to phone him but we both wound up nerding out and talking about computers. This seems to happen a lot. 'I love you- Oh my god, I need to tell you about this port to Linux!'

It was nice to talk about something I have an interest in instead of whatever the people around me in Taiwan can speak English about. I can have conversations, but they're generally staged ones, ones where the lines are written in a textbook and everyone just kinda remembers that.

If you say 'How are you?' you will always be met with 'I'm fine thank you, and you?'. If you say 'What's up?' you'll be met with blank stares.

I have six more classes with my kids. I love my kids. I think this is the only part of leaving thats really starting to get to me. My boss has requested that I don't tell them yet- but leaving them is going to suck. I need to go back to school, but I have no idea when this will happen. Right now I would like to start planning the wedding with Luke. We've been engaged for two years. I think everything's gonna pretty much stay as stable as it is.

On that note, Mom's getting married on Friday- Tomorrow. I'm still not sure what I think of that. I don't know her new husband 'Mike' and I can't remember what her new last name is. I feel horrible for the way I'm doubting this whole thing, but I am. :\ I also know that this isn't really my problem, it's Mom's. But Rob and I are both kinda iffy on the subject- doing this the day after his birthday is a bit.. I dunno. Strange.

Anyway, one of my advanced classes had an assignment which was to e-mail me. I need to see if any of them actually did it.

I'll be around. Eleven more days in Taichung before I go back to Taipei. 21 before I go home. (Wo way jah luh!

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<i'll>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

Gwaahhhh.

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 05:53:58 GMT

So apparantly my day off means that today I need to work an extra hour that I won't be paid for.

Jeeebus!

And there are ants all over the desk at work and nobody cares and it's super gross because there are bugs everywhere..

Eeww...

I had a pretty good day yesterday though. I went to a sheep farm. It was interesting.

I will talk more about that when I can get back at this entry. This is unfinished.

----
edit
----

Pfft. It's my anniversary and I am very depressed. I wish I was at home.

Mom is also getting married on Friday. And Rob's birthday is on Thursday. I'm not extremely ecstatic about any of these things, really, but I'm still unhappy that I'm missing them.

Wednesdays are the long days for me. I have three classes totalling about four hours. I know it doesn't seem like much, but after all the lesson plans and not having time between classes to revise my notes and see the kids, it can be a real pain. My class starts at 1:30 today. I usually get home at around ten.

Man. It really isn't that many hours. Ah, well.

Today I get to teach the kids from the American workbook too. I want to be openminded, but I really think that thing is filled with useless information that they really have no reason to learn. Like American history or Geography. It's.. okay.. but if they are going to learn Geography I would assume they would learn their own country first. Most of them don't even know where Taipei is. Thats really really sad.

In any case, today is the day I like the least with the most boring subjects possible. But I already know I'll miss them when I leave, so I've been trying to make them interesting.

More on the Sheep farm (because I said I'd talk about it,);

The farm is called 'Cing Jing' and I really don't know the precise location. We drove for several hours, and I fell asleep (Christine is LIVIN ON THE EDGE!) in the car much to the disappointment to my boss who thought I should be enjoying the scenery more. I was, really. But after a while, you're kinda like 'wow, there's another palm tree' or 'we sure are in the mountains..'. What can I say? I wound up daydreaming and completely stopped paying attention to where we were going.

We went for a hike up this steep incline that I really enjoyed. I don't get outside much, and the mountain air is a lot cleaner than the air in the city. I was disappointed that Yiyi didn't tell me we were going up a mountain, since I was expected to do this in sandals. (I don't even generally put on sandals unless I don't think my day is going to be boring enough that I don't need to walk much. We usually don't do much on the weekends.) I fell, but only once. The rest was good.

The sheep were really cute, and overly friendly. They reminded me of the goats at the petting zoo in Niagara (sp?) Falls back in Toronto. Right down to gnawing on my fingers when I wouldn't give them the cup of feed. Wound up dropping it. I thought it was great.

We sat through a show where they talked about how they sheathed it. Apparantly it was really funny, but I was totally lost to the humor since I don't know Chinese. Not that much, anyway. Truth be told, I was happy to sit down for a few minutes. I like hiking, but I hate sandals, and I only wear them because when I moved here my boss was insistant that my black Mary Janes made me too tall and I should wear something else. Sandals are totally inpractical and uncomfortable. And the noise they make drives me crazy.

So, I enjoyed my celebration of Taiwan's national day. It was really nice. I haven't done many things like that since I got here, and it was wonderful to get outside.

Though, I swear to God, summer never leaves this country. Gwahh. When will it get cold?!

Talk to you soon. I must be off.

-Chris

Oh boy! It keeps getting better!

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 11:08:21 GMT

If anything, on this trip I have learned that I can do many things that I didn't know I was able to do. A lot of situations that I thought I couldn't handle and a lot of things I thought I couldn't do, I have done.

Like, losing my computer, not eating anything but meat for a week straight, and going without fruits or vegetables of any kind for several days. I am very unhappy to be put through it, honestly. I don't think I ask for a lot, but it really sets me back.

I'm getting really sick of being asked to do shit I shouldn't have to do. 'Oh, can you make today's class two hours instead of one?' 'Hey, can you do this random thing unrelated to your job?'

I mean, I don't mind helping. I don't mind tutoring either. I don't mind reading with kids. But I get aggravated when it's out of nowhere, on a day when I am very busy, or, more than that, for no pay whatsoever.

I don't think I ask for a lot. But when I work I want to be paid for it. Jeeze.

In any case, today my boss decided it would be a good idea to open a new class. I could generally care less if we do or not (I don't really care as long as it's a real class and she won't watch over my shoulder the whole time) as long as I'm paid and the kids are able to learn from me.

Then she tells me it's Kindergarten.

I have *never* taught Kindergarten before.

This means she'll be my 'assistant'. ('Assistant' of course, meaning, the woman who shouts at me for doing things I have no way of knowing is wrong.)

There weren't many kids who were supposed to start, but it was cancelled anyway, since none of them came. This has filled me with glee. Maybe it's wrong, but why the hell would she ask me to start a class two weeks before I go back to Canada?

How stupid is that?

So now I need to go teach her daughter at home. I don't want to, but this subject will not be dropped.

Naturally, I won't be paid for this, either.

Doh.

There's also the matter of my computer. My laptop stopped working two weeks ago. I was busy for a week, but afterwards found my way to the computer store to order a new harddrive. For some reason they wanted to take the machine. This was weird, since I just wanted to order the part.

Having NO CLUE what they were doing, I left my laptop there. It has been a week, and I am beginning to question the intelligence of the people who work there.

'Do you have an extra power cord? Your battery died while we were working on it.'
'Do you have a Windows XP cd?'

Why don't you have those things?! Oh my gawd, you're a computer store... -dies-

I'm worried I'll never see it again. ;_; It's going to be all messed up when it comes back.

I don't like people touching my computer. It's just weird. They always put random crap on it that I don't need, like four versions of solitaire.

Anyway, I gotta run. ;) I love you guys and I'm glad my problems are becoming more trivial than anything else.

Love,

Chris

Tests.

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 05:52:21 GMT

I promised I wouldn't clutter my journal with tests, but these two are cool:

October 04, 2005
Free report for: Christine Salter

Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self -- always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

Idealists are sure that friendly cooperation is the best way for people to achieve their goals. Conflict and confrontation upset them because they seem to put up angry barriers between people. Idealists dream of creating harmonious, even caring personal relations, and they have a unique talent for helping people get along with each other and work together for the good of all. Such interpersonal harmony might be a romantic ideal, but then Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. This idea of a mystical or spiritual dimension to life, the "not visible" or the "not yet" that can only be known through intuition or by a leap of faith, is far more important to Idealists than the world of material things.

Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. More often, however, Idealists are the very soul of kindness. Particularly in their personal relationships, Idealists are without question filled with love and good will. They believe in giving of themselves to help others; they cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a "soulmate," someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.

Idealists are rare, making up between 20 and 25 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.

The Four types of Idealists are:

Healers (INFP) | Counselors (INFJ) | Champions (ENFP) | Teachers (ENFJ)

Took this test here: http://www.advisorteam.com/temperament_sorter/register.asp?partid=1

And then I took another one here: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Your Type is
INFJ

Introverted
Intuitive
Feeling
Judging

Strength of the preferences %

67
25
50
11

Qualitative analysis of your type formula

You are:

distinctively expressed introvert
moderately expressed intuitive personality
moderately expressed feeling personality
slightly expressed judging personality

INFJs are distinguished by both their complexity of character and the unusual range and depth of their talents. Strongly humanitarian in outlook, INFJs tend to be idealists, and because of their J preference for closure and completion, they are generally "doers" as well as dreamers. This rare combination of vision and practicality often results in INFJs taking a disproportionate amount of responsibility in the various causes to which so many of them seem to be drawn.

INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world. On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious "soul mates." While instinctively courting the personal and organizational demands continually made upon them by others, at intervals INFJs will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out even their intimates. This apparent paradox is a necessary escape valve for them, providing both time to rebuild their depleted resources and a filter to prevent the emotional overload to which they are so susceptible as inherent "givers." As a pattern of behavior, it is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the enigmatic INFJ character to outsiders, and hence the most often misunderstood -- particularly by those who have little experience with this rare type.

Aunt Cathy is INFJ too.

Thats so cool.

-Chris

Some relief.

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 05:06:46 GMT

The hotel was expensive, but it's booked. At least I know Adrienne will be here to pay half of that bill. I know 720 really isn't that much for ten nights in the city center for two people, but it seems like it to me.

Woo. She's like an angel in disguise, I swear.

I read her e-mail wrong, I recently found out, and she won't be here on the 14th- she'll be here on the 24th. Because of this, I've decided to just tell my boss whats going on on the 10th, when I'm paid, to avoid too much of whatever she wants to deal out. We'll soon see.

And I'm leaving on the 23rd so I can meet her on the 24th when her flight gets here.

I'm sitting at the desk and listening to the other two teachers talk to each other. It's Chinese, but I know they looked extremely aggravated when Yiyi was talking to them, and they seem really pissed off now.

Thank God it's not just me, then.

Anyway. I don't have much else to report. I'll be home the 2nd of November, and Luke and I are going to be staying at the Backpacker's Inn. As soon as I get a job (that should be easy enough,) I'll get a cell phone again so I can get calls from people. This time I won't be stupid and sign onto a plan for two years.

The Backpacker's isn't that expensive. It's much cheaper than Hotels here, thats for sure. And I won't stay there long, just long enough to get back onto my feet and find a place where we can take Ivy with us.

So. Yay. I'm actually pretty happy with all this. I'll be home soon, and then everything will be okay. Not perfect, but okay.

In my attempts to hide that I'm leaving soon, I wrote a Christmas play for each of my classes. In October, this might seem stupid since Christmas is two months off, but my boss insists on it, so I did.

I think Rudolph is ridiculed by the other Reindeer more than he needs to be, but otherwise they're okay.

I dropped off my laptop at the computer store today. I know.. a little about computers. As in, I know what I want when I go there, and I know how much it should cost. I know a 40GB Toshiba 120 harddrive should be 100 bucks or so, and not quite 120, but I won't bitch too much. Right now I just want my laptop back.

Besides, it's really hard to have a conversation with someone who knows none of your language. (Which made it kinda funny, and made both of us laugh, but still. XP)

Oh, and gosh golly, we're going out for STEAK tonight. I am constantly enthralled by how my boss spends ridiculous amounts of money on food that she knows I won't eat and then complains when I don't eat it.

I said 'maybe I'll just stay here, okay?' and she really wouldn't have it. I think I've convinced her on Hot Pot. I just don't wanna eat steak. Woo. I want to be a vegetarian again.

Besides, I'm trying to avoid too many arguments. If all goes well, she'll pay me for this month. That'd be nice.

Thats all that there is to report. My laptop should be back in 2-3 days, and if it was indeed just the harddrive that needed to be replaced everything should be fine.

^_^

See you soon.

-Chris

(I'm wondering if there's a way the family can meet again sometime. I really miss everyone. It seems the Salter nature to scatter to opposite ends of the country, doesn't it? :/ )

..well.. fuck you too, then..

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 04:06:36 GMT

I had originally decided that I would leave on the 30th of September because I thought it respectful to my boss.

Today she yelled at me over my wanting to keep my passport.

So I think I may leave sooner.

Adrienne and I were talking. She's coming to Taiwan on the 14th for the express purpose of visiting me. I think this is mighty cool- she's also leaving on the second for Japan.

What if I went to the airport with her on the second?

It saves us some trouble. And if it gets bad, there are two of us. We can take it.

So if I quit on the 20th after Adrienne gets here, and go to Taipei, we can stay in a hotel until the second.. when I can go back to Canada.

Thats extremely complicated, since I currently don't know how I'll get to Taipei. I think you can take a bus from Taichung City. So I could get a cab from Taichung County and then bus to Taipei. It could work, right?

Tell me what you think. I just want to leave.

Note: I got my passport back today.

Strange.

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 08:16:37 GMT

It's weird. I woke up this morning thinking about what a beautiful day it was, and wondered if maybe I was ovveracting to everything thats been happening.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not staying here, but I woke up wondering if maybe I was doing the wrong thing.

That was, until I poured my morning into a class I cared about a lot, thought it went really well, and then went through an hour of pointless critique from my boss who cannot determine the difference between an adjective and an adverb.

Then I realised how I want to go home.

Mmmhmm.

Not having the computer is lame, but it's not killing me. This is really bizarre in my eyes, considering I cried when I didn't have the internet. Something is just frusterating about having everything you normally could use right there in front of you saying 'Yeah, I know you want to use Skype. But you can't. Suck on that. :P' It's worse than me knowing that the computer won't fix itself and I need to deal with that until I buy a new harddrive.

I feel so much better now. Just knowing I'm going home soon has given me a lot of energy. It doesn't matter what happens, because I'm going home in a few months. Who cares if my boss is a crank? I get to see people I care about soon, and I don't need to be here that long, anyways.

I also discovered that, although not having the computer is a setback on the html end of my comic (We all know how good I am at html. Oh yes. /sarcasm>)it gives me the chance to draw more pages, since I have few things to distract me. Except my book. 'The Horse Whisperer' is *really* good, and I now regret blowing off going to see it a few years back under the assumption that it was just some smooshy romance movie.

My friend Eric (who is now writing Azale. He's so good at it..) has given me a complete rundown of the next *17* chapters of the book. This isn't the dialogue, but it's what will happen. I am completely enthused and extremely excited. It makes me feel very guilty about having only done the character pages and two of the new books.

He's looking into publishing costs already. I opened a Cafepress store. Neither has gone anywhere yet (I can't do design for t-shirts without my laptop- I also have no pages up, so the only one who would buy a coffee cup with my characters on it would be me or Eric. XD) but we're working on it, and I'm really happy about that.

So, even though I feel tired and kinda sick, even though I really want to get the hell home, I'm cheerful about small things that I never knew could really make me so happy.

So I guess everything is well on that side.

I almost exploded on my boss today for another reason- I agreed, when I first started here, to tutor two students for a very low cost over the period of a year. This was because the students are advanced and are just disruptive to the beginners English class. Today she made me teach them an additional hour for no reason.

It really pissed me off, especially since she didn't tell me about it beforehand. I had no time to prepare, and we wound up just messing around. I had them drawing for most of the class. It was very aggravating.

In any case, my class will start soon. Then I get to read for an hour to another boy for free.

So I work.. four hours today and get paid for one.

This is one of the reasons I'm leaving.

See you later. :)

Love, Chris

It's happened.

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 02:17:38 GMT

Last night was carried out in a very monotone manner.

For the first time in about 2 years, I sat down and watched some kind of television without other people being around to watch it with me.

It was just killing time. And I felt really lonely.

I went through all the drawers in my desk, and threw out anything I didn't need. I found all of my drawing paper that Yiyi's daughter had destroyed in the time she had forced her to be in my room, and threw it in the garbage. I put whatever I'm not currently using in my travel bag.

I'm leaving on November 30th. It seems a bit far off right now, but the last four months have been a solid blur to me anyway, and I really don't see time as being quite as big a deal as it once was. This morning I woke at eight am to take out the garbage (I've explained this practice before) and waited. Generally, Yiyi drives Nana to school at nine am. So I thought if I waited, she'd give me a ride to the school.

She didn't, naturally. She avoided me like the plague. The woman never cleans, but she did this instead, and her husband drove Nana while I waited for them to say anything.

I eventually asked for the keys to the school.

And this morning I called the airport.

My boss has no idea I'm leaving yet. I told her, but she did this stupid thing where she pretends she can change my mind by talking to me. Usually this is the result of me staring at her while she repeats THE SAME INFORMATION in a louder tone. She knows my opinion, but she doesn't like it, so she assumes whining and yelling at me will make me agree.

Instead I generally just stop talking until she finishes and then nod some sort of commitment that I don't mean. I have to, or she won't stop.

..

November 30th, I leave at 11:15 am from Taipei and I'll arrive in Vancouver at 10:15 the same day.

I've talked to many people, and nobody thinks I'm being foolish. Today I'll demand my visa. I think I really have to at this point.

I'll see everyone soon. I'm sorry about all the trouble I've caused. :(

-Chris

I'm going home.

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 04:42:08 GMT

I know this sounds absolutely childish at this point, but I need to go back to Victoria.

I have many reasons for this. Some might seem completely outrageous to you.

..see, I keep things to myself. When I think 'gee, this might upset my family,' I decide not to talk about it.

Here's the reasons.

-I'm yelled at constantly. For everything.
- She docks my pay.
- She's holding my visa.
- She's threatened how easy my replacement is several times.
- I'm sick. All I eat is rice and fish and I currently weigh about 110 pounds. That is not healthy.

And I need to go now. I'm at the school.

Please e-mail me. My computer at home is broken.

See you later.

- Chris

Thats done...

Thu, 22 Sep 2005 05:11:36 GMT

I didn't have the internet for almost a month.

Now, this might not seem like a huge issue.. but for me it is. Since my computer is my phone, the device I use for work, and my only way of contacting anyone, not having it was a real drag.

But now the internet is back.

Apparantly this was because of the last typhoon, which hit us before the gas prices went up on the first of this month. The power was shut out for the first night entirely, and nothing worked. The phones even went out.

Anywho. Sorry for not updating.

I am actually at the school today, since I came in early under the impression that my tutoring session was at one and not at two. I don't know why I thought this, because my tutoring session is never at two, but when I woke up extrememly late today that was the one line of panic that was flying through my mind.

Many things have happened since I was last on here, and at the same time, many things have not. I keep expecting something amazing and exciting to sweep through, but I've come to fall into a routine, and it's simply becoming a lot like being at home.

I recieved a parcel from Aunt Cathy a few days ago, completely loaded with books. I can't even start to say how ecstatic I was (I　can't spell ecstatic.). However, I've now read two of the five books and I'm starting to realise that I should chill out and not read them all at once. So I've taken to keeping them in my backpack for all the times my boss drags me out to visit her friends who can't speak a word of English. They saved my life.

I ordered presents online for both Luke (anniversary) and Rob (birthday). I don't know how that will work out. If either of you get it and the postman asks for money or something, let me know and I'll pay you back.

I'm real worried about that for some reason. I don't know why. I paid it up front on the card (come to think of it.. I guess it won't be a huge shock to Luke to get it considering he can check the bill just as I can..) but I have a fear of buying things online.

I dunno.

I restarted my webcomic. Sorta. The character pages are coming up, if slowly, and I have the coloured versions of those done. Two pages are drawn, but I won't start the story until I'm ready and I have at least the first chapter done.

I don't wanna do what I did last time. I kept running out of stuff and churning out pages until it started to make no sense. I have a writer now, so this shouldn't happen anyway, but I don't want the art to be crappy at all.

I figure, October 1st.

Which means I need to get on things.

Now I'll eat lunch.

Bye. ;) Hope everyone's well.

-Chris

Frell.

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 07:22:55 GMT

I'm alive, everyone. The internet is down at home.

I'm not dead, so stop sending me e-mails about how scared you are.

DX If I were dead, I would totally be haunting you about spamming up my inbox.

I'm joking.

I miss you guys. I might edit this later with more information.

-Chris

Typhoon. Again.

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 13:54:22 GMT

What is this, like, the fourth one?

I think it's the fourth.

Someone is obviously against me.

Today was actually a more interesting day than most.

First, I'll explain last night, cause I need to. I tried to sleep. I tried as hard as I could. But I just couldn't. I think I was up until five am. The sun was coming up. This is generally a bad sign.

Now I need to explain Taiwan's garbage collection.

Basically, you can't just leave your garbage outside for the garbage man. You need to take it to the truck and put it in the back yourself. If you don't do that, they'll leave your garbage on the curb and keep going.

So this morning, thats where I stood, with my bad of random garbage that had accumulated in my room, waiting for the garbage man. At nine am.

I'm really not a morning person. I wish I could say I was, but I must look something fierce at nine am.

Anyway, after the neighbor took it from me and said she'd do it for me (I think; she pointed upwards and shooed me away) I went back upstairs to sleep again.

If not lazy, I am pretty sick. I should sleep, right?

Ten minutes later, Yiyi came to knock on my door. A typhoon is coming. We need to go to Taichung City.

Maybe it's just me, but if a typhoon is coming *maybe* we should just stay home? I was skeptical. She explained that it was the last day of the month. I had to renew my visa.

So off we go, to Taichung City, in the beginning winds of a typhoon, just so I'm not illegally stationed in Taiwan to teach English tomorrow (we didn't finish this, because once we got there, the police office where I need to go to finish everything was closed anyway...). I was actually pretty awake as soon as the wind hit me when I went outside. I marvel at the fact that I never have a sweater when I need one, and whenever I bring one, I'm too hot.

We had Starbucks. Starbucks is bad in every country. I've made this deduction now. Anything that isn't real coffee is fine. Their 'real coffee' is horrible. Ech.

Came back a while later, to the school, to send home the kids who had wandered there even though there was a freakin typhoon coming. Waited around for about two hours for the parents to come get them, and then went home. I took my medicine, passed out for about three hours, and woke up to AGAIN be brought outside to eat dinner.

If it's so dangerous, why do we keep going outside? I find this outstanding.

Tomorrow is supposed to be really really bad. We can't go outside. I won't work then either. Yiyi has told me this is much worse than the last ones I have seen.

So.. I'll keep you posted. ;)

-Chris

I'm sick.

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 15:33:53 GMT

No, not in the good ways of 'hahaha! You totally didn't just shove that up your nose! Thats SICK' kinda of sick, in the ways of 'geeze, she threw up in the bathroom again' kinda sick.

I exaggerate a little. I haven't thrown up yet.

A few days ago I started feeling really ill, but I ignored it. Why? Because it's just a cold, right? It will go away. Who cares?

It's been progressing, though, over the last few days. Yesterday, when I almost let my advanced class out half an hour early, I realised I was sick and I needed either a doctor or medicine.

I swear, thats stupid on another level. I have to wonder how I look to my kids in such a state.

It's not that bad, really. I'd be sicker than I am, but I was given some really good medicine from a pharmacist here. Yiyi took me to see him, asked me exactly what was wrong, and he gave me three doses of pills that are supposed to completely cure me of what's made me sick.

So, after three meals, I should be better.

This is astounding to me. What gets me even more is how much it cost. It was only eighty dollars Taiwanese. Thats less than three dollars Canadian.

So, for three bucks, I got medicine that will actually help me, won't have a bunch of side effects from something that has nothing to do whats wrong with me, and is actually aimed at the problem I have.

The only side effect is how tired it makes me. I try to refrain from muttering 'what' as often as possible, since I think it makes me sound completely retarded, but I find myself spacing out or totally being incapable of concentrating on what I'm doing.

I'm sorry I haven't answered e-mails. I'll do that tonight.

In other news. I've ordered a scanner (the store didn't have them) and on Thursday I'll have it. I'm going to get back on Azale again. This time I have someone to help me write.

Wee.

I'm gonna go answer e-mails now.

Thanks for everyone who's said nice things to me.

-Chris

Still here.

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:31:10 GMT

I've decided a few things over the last few days, and realised a few more. A lot of people stated I would grow up a lot when I came to Taiwan to work this job. At the time of this statement, I was really quite aggravated. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not a child, I have not been anything less than an adult since I was sixteen years old when I left Ontario to come to British Columbia. Through trial and error, through mistakes and goals met, I grew up a long time ago.

But this is not the same as what I thought it was.

I am slightly naive to the way that I see people. I'm foolish in the way that I assume there is ever a set good or bad side to anything. Everything has a right and a wrong. Every person thinks in a slightly different way. Every culture is different. Respect is earned, not given. Growing up has many steps that I'm certain I'll pass through in a broader sense as I age.

I also have learned some things that are a bit bothersome. Not everyone cares about people they should. Not everyone understands things the same way. Not everyone is heartfelt and emotional. And many people are very selfish and bitter.

But I stand by the same thought I have had for years. You should try to understand and respect everyone, regardless of what they want, who they are, where they are from, etc, unless it becomes dangerous or makes you feel profoundly uncomfortable.

Taiwan is a nice place, but I feel quite alone. I have, since I came here, spoken to two native English speakers, and I have noticed a great change in my speaking patterns, the way I carry myself. I have difficulty feeling optimistic about much of anything. I speak whenever I can to friends from home. Michelle has been offline since she came home from Japan, so I have heard nothing from her in two months. I phoned Taber, twice now, but he is rarely available either.

Walking down the street, people stare at me, sometimes ask me questions in Taiwanese that I'm still unable to answer, and.. I now respect the foreigners who come to Canada a lot more. Nothing is more frusterating than someone speaking to you in another language, you answering incorrectly, and having everyone laugh at you for reasons you don't understand.

I have drawn many things since I got here. Nothing I'm terribly proud of, although I am getting better at cging images. I wish I knew more about realism. I think I could pull off better things if I understood those proportions better.

My classes are easier, as I've now realised that my boss with most definately never be happy with what I give her. I can follow her instructions to a T and she still finds some reason to complain to me. I managed to escape the 'free babysitting' fiasco, but it was a long and artuous argument to get there.

I'm desperate for someone to interact with personally. People need companionship. I just want a friend to be around who I can talk to, in my own language, about things that I don't find insanely boring. (Or that they don't find insanely boring..)
I really miss playing Dungeons and Dragons. I'm a nerd, and I demand my nerd socialities, goddamnit.

Woo.

I'm really looking forward to October, which is when my friend Adrienne is actually coming to Taiwan to visit. Few things excite me the way the concept of seeing someone makes me feel. And in January, both Luke and Terri are meeting with me in Thailand for a nice Vacation of 9-10 days.

Today I was given the great pleasure of teaching my class all about American customs and symbols. Not only did I find it completely frusterating (Like I know what the 'Liberty Bell' is), I think it's totally useless to them. And when we went to count the Stars on the Flag that the school had hung up, it didn't have fifty stars (like the book says it's supposed to), it only had fourty one. I don't know why.

I was then brought to dinner by my boss, where we met with her husband's very stupid and drunk friends. I wouldn't call them stupid if they weren't so adamant on pushing me to drink every time I was with them.

'I can't drink' I say 'It makes me sick.'

They ask again, again, again, and eventually fill the glass anyway, until they get really pissy and whine like five year olds when I don't drink it.

Well, no duh. And I know the culture, I eat whatever they give me, even if I don't want it, but booze is something else entirely. You can make another foreigner look like a blasted idiot and laugh at them. Not me.

Eventually we go home. Where they try to make me drink again.

Until I get pissed off and go upstairs to my room early. I can handle different cultures, but no means freakin no. Goddamnit.

Okay. I'll end this here. Forgive the length of this.

Have a good one, everyone. I'm thinking of you.

- Chris

From the school.

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 09:22:04 GMT

I'm at the school. Posting anything from the school is always an adventure. For some reason the kids are thrilled with the speed of my typing. And since it's in English that makes me friggen brilliant.

I took an IQ test today online and did very poorly on it. Yep. Just thought everyone who didn't already know would like to hear that I still do math to save my life. I also don't know anything about American history.

Oh, how terrible.

When I first got to Taiwan, I found myself extremely depressed for the first few days. Dad told me that would go away, come back a few months later, and then fade again.

And he was right. I'm now waiting for the depression to fade. I have a few friends in Victoria who have completely dropped contact with me. One of whom I considered a very good friend of mine for a long time. Because of that, it's really sent me over. I really don't know what the problem is. I sent him an angry letter. Such rage I hold. Oh, such rage.

This morning I woke up half an hour later than I was supposed to. There was a glorious carnival act of me getting out of bed, tripping on most everything that was around the bed, hitting the floor, whining for about five minutes, and then running to the bathroom to get dressed. I have a great mess on the floor of my room, which is probably attributed to the fact that I know nobody will see it, and nobody will really care if I'm messy. This is depressing to me, because if Luke were here, I'd feel really bad about being a total slob. But I just don't care.

Anyway, after panicking, yanking a comb through my hair, spilling half a bottle of mouthwash down the sink and then going through a panicked search for my books, I realised it was actually 11:30 am, and not 12:30, and that I'd freaked out and destroyed many of my belongings for no reason.

I am as agile as the softest butterfly, and you know it.

The reason I say this random thing is because I have very little to report here. Somehow I thought I'd have lots to talk about when I was in Taiwan, but I usually don't. I sent a parcel home to Victoria yesterday- there are many letters inside, but I haven't written everyone back yet. Yesterday I ate pig's blood. After everyone insisted I'd love it, I realised I really don't, and they were wrong.

This makes me weary of the chicken's feet.

I ordered a coffee. On my own. In Chinese. And got what I actually wanted.

A crazy woman at the McDonalds yesterday from America asked me to join her church. I laughed and then realised she was serious. Felt pretty stupid afterwards.

Things are okay, if not passing quickly. I'm learning a lot, and the kids are learning too. I think things will be fine, even if I am a bit tired lately and homesick.

I'm looking forward to cold weather. Maybe then my face won't be oily all the time.

Dad, I got your postcard last week. Sorry I forgot to say so. Thank you so much.

Oh.. and I totally screwed up the cake, everyone. :( I'll write more about that, but not now. I gotta go home.

-Christine

The Typhoon missed us...

Sat, 13 Aug 2005 16:39:34 GMT

Everyone can stop worrying. The typhoon hit Mainland China and passed right over Cingshuei. Joy!

I did a quiz, because I'm sure nobody is interested:

My lj wedding by chynafox
username
age
city
you will marry	sporkfrog
flower girl	spunky_karasu
best man	serkwinder
bridesmaid	careerlefty
you will have your last fling with	auntilori
registrar	psychocharmer
secretly wants to marry you themself	_spacecoyote
date of the wedding	July 14, 2024
number of times you do it on your wedding night	64

Quiz created with MemeGen!

I'm not sure I like that I'd have a fling with my Aunt. Scandellous!

I'm also not sure I'd like the fact that Megan and I got the same answers for who we'd marry. How strange.

Anyway. Onto real things.

A few weeks ago our class went to the Sunflower Gardens in a city close to Taipei. It was really very pretty there, and it reminded me a bit of the house my parents had in Lyndhurst (sp?) when I was a kid. Not in the sense of the house, but in the way of our garden, the fields, etc etc.. it was nice.

Unfortunately, my camera died shortly after I got there. I have no pictures of anything. It was neat, though, and I really enjoyed showing the kids how to plant a seed, or where to find them (in the head of the flower)... we also found a frog, which they were all massively impressed with. It was really nice to do something somewhere that wasn't as clausterphobic as the city.

My courseload has gotten a bit heavier, which I enjoy. I have more work to do, which takes my mind off of a problem I'm having with my mom.. and how I miss Luke and everyone.. etc.

This is such a short entry. I'm sorry. I have so many things to do by tomorrow. See you around. :)

-Chris

Things!

Sat, 30 Jul 2005 16:09:13 GMT

I'm sure my subject titles are absolutely riveting to everyone. I do my best. Haha.

First, I need to apologise for being so lax with my e-mail. I checked my inbox today to find two e-mails from almost everyone I knew- one saying what was going on, and another saying what was going on, and also, wondering where I was.

I promise I didn't die!

I'm still alive, honest. I think. I'm pretty sure.

I spent the last month working. Not just my normal job, but I was also suckered into a babysitting job.

Now, a babysitting job isn't a big deal. I can suck up almost anything to take care of two kids for two hours a day. I dont' care, honest.

But this was so much more aggravating than that. Turns out, I was hired so that I could tutor them in English while I was there. Surprise! We're not paying you for it, but you get to be a teacher here every morning too! Hee!

After many cases of the children ignoring me or not really caring how to say 'car' in English (Throwing blocks at my head is much more entertaining, apparantly,) and the parents complaining to my boss that they weren't learning anything, and hearing 'Ten little indians' about a million times, I completely lost it and just quit. I'm not giving up on something thats my responisibilty. I'm just not a damned babysitter. Not when I came here to do it.

If I wanted to make next to nothing watching bratty kids, I could have done it in Victoria. If they want their kids to learn English, they could enrol them in our cram school...

My Adult's class was also postponed this month. There were a lot of things that happened to a lot of people (One of my students has a Father who is dying, one just had a baby, and two of them had to go to Taipei for something for all of August.) leaving me with one student, and we all decided it would just make more sense to put it off until later.

My Kindergarten class starts when my older kids go back to school in September. Tomorrow I start teaching an Advanced kids class at the school.

I love my kids. Teaching them has become something I actually look forward to. I love seeing them every day. I spend my days at the school just so I can play with and read to them.

Everything's becoming pretty simple to me lately. I'm accustomed to the culture, I can now use chopsticks, I can sing 'Tian Kong' by Jolin in Chinese, and I've started to like rice. Luke is coming to visit in December, and he and I are going to Thailand for Christmas. Terri is supposed to come too. It makes me pretty excited.

Months have gone by now. I can't believe how long I've been here. Sometimes I wonder what home will be like when I go back. Every time I return to a place I've left, it changes.

I'm excited to see.

If anything, I've become closer to my family since I came here. That really brings me up a lot. Nothing's as good as coming home to an e-mail from someone I care about.

Even if I promptly fall asleep after reading it and then forget in answer for a few days. D: How horrible of me. I'm going to stop doing that, I promise.

I am reading the new Harry Potter book now, so no one need worry whether or not I've forgotten to jump on the bandwagon. I've read all those books now. I'm not sure if thats good or bad. But it really makes me happy..

And yesterday I went to Taichung City to finish renewal of my visa. I had Starbucks. Starbucks tastes awful in Taiwan too, unless you get something that isn't what they call normal coffee.

I had normal coffee. The sandwich was good though. At least I had coffee. It's hard not to start my mornings without coffee here. It's also hard to eat Taiwan's bread. I swear, there is nothing good for you in that bread. At all.

I can't stand the grain bread my Dad eats, but I do eat whole wheat now thanks to Luke. I miss that.

Anyway. I've droned on long enough. I'm going to answer my e-mails and then.. write a lesson plan so tomorrow I can sleep until noon.

I may be lazy, but at least I have it down to a science.

-Chris

And More on the Typhoon

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 16:32:04 GMT

I say this in the most calm sense possible. I finished freaking out over the fear of drowning in rain or being blown away last night when the typhoon finally ended.

I know it might be pathetic, but I was scared out of my mind. When my boss asked me to go to work yesterday morning I stared at her like she was insane until she agreed that, oh, maybe we SHOULDN'T go outside when the wind was kicking the crap out of everything out the doors.

The two days I had off this week were used for important things. Resting and writing lesson plans.

You have no idea how happy I was for my mini vacation. Sweet, sweet vacation.

We drove up to the mountains halfway through the storm, which scared the living daylights out of me. I wound up dizzy halfway up, but I don't know why...

Everything was.. quite broken. Signs lay everywhere, the street was littered with different articles from different yards, trees were down EVERYWHERE.. It totally blew my mind.

For anyone who lived in Ontario when it happened, it kinda reminded me of Ice Storm 98, but without all the snow and ice and.. more rain and flooding.

Ah.. sorry to complain so much.

Many people are injured as a result of all of this. It's worse in areas outside of Taichung County, where the floodwaters have reached to waistlength or worse, and many people have died. They had to airlift many people from their homes, and a lot of buildings were destroyed.

They're calling this the worst storm Taiwan has seen in five years.

And I was here to see it.

Somehow I know I'll be bragging about this later, and I feel kinda bad for it.

-photos will be updated soon. I have many of my class, but very few of the typhoon aftermath. My camera batteries died the day it happened.

I know, pretty lame, eh?-

Thats all for now,

-Christine

Articles related to this:

Flood waters devastate southern Taiwan

Typhoon's winds, rain pound nation

Typhoon leaves destruction in its wake

(P.S.- Dad, thank you so much for the recipe. You saved my life.)

Typhoon!

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 06:42:37 GMT

Yeah, I know it's probably actually not a very big deal.

But to me, living through a typhoon is huge. I'm sure it won't be when it's done, however..

Okay, I didn't update when I said I would. I'm sorry. I'm really busy lately. Work is getting to be a bigger stress than I thought it would be. Kids make me tired.

So very very tired.

My friend Michelle is back in Canada, now, after spending about a year studying in Japan. I'm a bit envious of her, and kinda sad too. I wanted to see her when she got back... especially since almost the full year of her being away happened while I was still in Victoria.

For anyone who wonders, my visa has been *authenticated* (I don't think thats a word, but thats what the reciept says) so I'm now legally here. Kinda.

I will not post the details of that in my journal. It isn't a bright idea.

For some reason, my boss feels that it's okay for her kids to play in my room without asking me. I'm kinda pissed off, so now I'm going to go talk to her about not doing such things.

I know she only sends them here so she doesn't have to deal with them. I work with kids all week. I don't want to be the free babysitter on the weekend.

Damnit.

I wouldn't mind, but usually, they make a huge mess and then leave it for me to clean up. Or try to play on my laptop. Or pull out things from the drawers of my desk.

Ah.. how lame.

Anyway. Regarding the typhoon. We went to get groceries, which is an unusual thing for my boss. She spends most of her money on pre-cooked food, so we don't go out to buy groceries much. I offered to cook her something if she wanted. She bought instant noodles.

This is probably for the best. She doesn't have a conventional oven. I recently found out that nobody does. She wants me to bake a cake.

Me: You just can't bake a cake in a toaster oven.
Yiyi: You made cookies in the toaster oven.

Eesh.

... I'm in too bad a mood. I can't stand having people bother me when I want to be alone.

I'll try to update tonight. If the power doesn't go out. -_-

-Chris

I promise that tomorrow I'll update an actual entry

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 19:28:16 GMT

But for now..

http://www.bedthem.com/Rayne

Onoes!

Happy Canada Day!

Sat, 02 Jul 2005 14:21:29 GMT

I do realise I'm a day late, but since this isn't the case where most of my family and friends are, I'll say it anyway.

I had an interesting Canada day, being as it was the only one I've ever had where nobody else was celebrating it. I kept telling people it was Canada day, but being as nobody knew what I was talking about, nobody really cared. I soon gave up trying to broadcast this. I did draw a little flag on the blackboard though. I'm pretty rebellious, I know.

Two of the four students in my adults class simply didn't come. I was a bit frusterated, namely because of the size of the class. You see, normally when two people don't show, it's okay, they just get the info from the other students. But I know they won't, and now they're going to be left behind. Jerkfaces.

I have 'irate teacher' syndrome. Thats how you act when your students demand results but refuse to study to get them. Of course you don't remember five different sentances in a new language! You never look at your books outside of class!

I know this is the first school I've taught at, and I realise I'm like, half their age, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. I taught adults before. They need to study, damnit.

The adult women's class, on another note, is doing very well. They catch on easily and study hard. They're about four pages ahead of the men's. I think it's cause the class is bigger. I don't know.. the men dislike studying.

Sheeze. o.0

I went to 'KTV' last night, which is kinda unusual, but kinda fun too. It's Kareoke.. in a sense. They give you your own room, and two mics. There were a few English songs, but I didn't know what most were. This is cool, because I didn't need to sing much. Bonus.

(It's fun with friends, but when there's like, fifteen people around you who don't participate and just listen, it gets kinda scary and nerve racking.)

I sang 'Ironic' by Alanis Morisette, and 'The Phantom of the Opera'. I tried to sing this other song, but I don't remember what it was called, and I'm pretty sure I broke a window a few blocks over. Singing is not my art. I accept this.

They offer beer, and other alochol (I don't drink), cigarettes (I don't smoke) and free food (which is pretty cool.) Everyone dresses fancy, and they dance like it's a rave between songs. I was in the Hello Kitty shirt and long skirt I wore to work. You know me, always making a fashion statement. Haha. (Yes, Chelsea, I wear my Hello Kitty clothes when I teach. Because I can. :))

The odd thing was that my students really wanted to take me to this place. I thought they didn't like me very much (what with never studying, coming to class ten minutes late if at all, and whatnot,) but they offered to take me to KTV and pay my way. It was actually lots of fun, and it was kinda nice to be able to go out and get to know my students better.

I also taught kids how to make cookies yesterday. Seems pretty basic, but chocolate chip cookies aren't really something that people commonly make out here. Nobody had ever done this before, and despite me substituting a lot of ingredients and baking them in a toaster oven, they were... edible. I personally think they were awful. But the kids had a lot of fun making them, and they tasted kinda like cookies when they came out, so everyone was really happy. Yiyi wants to make cake. She's never made cake either. I told her we need a stove first. She's positive the toaster oven is the same as a stove. Eee.

It's really hot here lately. When I step outside of the car (which is airconditioned) my glasses fog up. I think that if my glasses fog up from something like that, it's too hot. Even assures me it gets hotter. I'm not surprised, but I'm not looking forward to it, either. I've had these headaches from being in the sun too long...

Nana's been a serious brat lately. I don't know what to do. She's spoiled, so I understand why she's the way she is, but I draw a line at the kid kicking me every time she looks at me. I'm not joking. She goes out of her way to come and kick me in the shins. She also smacks me. Or, on occasion, bites.

She's not my kid, and Yiyi's response is usually something like 'Nana! Buu-shi!' (Nana! Stop that!) and going back to whatever she's doing. I don't know why the kid is suddenly so volitile. It doesn't seem normal. Maybe it is. She's three. Is it normal for three year olds to do stuff like that? Let me know.

Not much else to report. Sorry for the lateness of updates, and also my lack of e-mails. I've been really busy lately (same excuse,) but I do intend to come back again soon.

If anyone's interested, I drew some pictures on the computer with my mouse. My tablet's broken. Or not working. Same thing..

They're in my photobucket.

Tell me about Canada Day! I missed it!

-Chris

Barbecues and 7-11

Mon, 27 Jun 2005 08:57:22 GMT

I think the one thing I miss most lately is my complete inability to have any time to myself.

One thing that I find interesting about being out here is how busy everyone is. Everyone is *always* busy. If you aren't, the people around you will assume you're bored, and you will be taken somewhere to do.. something. I probably seem really lazy to them, with my enjoying sleeping in on Sundays and wanting to simply stay indoors when it's hot.

I like doing nothing! I'm lazy! Not all the time, of course, but on occasion...

Another unusual thing I've notice is that we never seem to eat at home. I have had one meal at the house since I moved in here a month ago, and that was thought to be unusual. I'm not sure if it's because Yiyi simply dislikes cooking, or if this is commonplace. It might be rude to ask, so I've decided to flat out not.

In any case, I've been busy. I'm only teaching two classes now, both adult level. My beginner kindergarten and elementary levels start next month. The advanced elementary class starts in August. I'm a bit disappointed by my lack of hours, but Yiyi has offered me substitute classes once she finishes training me. This training isn't really 'learning to teach' so much as learning how Taiwanese children learn. I'm still mildly offended every time she asks me if I know how to teach elementary now. I know what she means, but it just doesn't sound right.

I spent $112 Taiwanese at the 7-11 today. This concept horrified me until I realised that I'd only spent about $3.80 Canadian. Not bad for ten packs of instant coffee and something to eat. I'm a bit surprised by how much bread costs here, but.. everything is different everywhere.

I really miss my coffee pot. I also miss instant food thats really really bad for you, like pop tarts and sugar cereals. I know it's awful, but there's just something that makes me feel all happy when I have a chocolate pop tart. My stomach doesn't agree, but we can't all be friends.

To get past my whining... I went to a barbecue yesterday. Taiwanese barbecues are very interesting. They cooked something like, six or seven fish, three full chickens and corn on the cob. Beer was also served. This is a bit different than what I'm used to, but still really fun. I have no idea what this one guy was saying to me the whole time, but he seemed facinated with talking endlessly to me in Chinese. Every once in a while I'd nod, as if I understood, and say 'ah'. He seemed pretty nice though. Yiyi assures me that he was putting the moves on me, but he wasn't doing very well for someone who I didn't understand.

I think that's really funny.

Aferwards, I went to Yiyi's kindergarten class. They were graduating. It was very cute. I have pictures, but my batteries in my camera are dead. I don't know how to ask to buy them yet from the 7-11, since they're behind the counter, so I need to wait until I figure out how to get to another store where I can just kinda nod and hand the money to someone.

I shop for everything at the 7-11, because if you spend $60 Taiwanese, you get a Hello Kitty magnet. Thats about $2.35 Canadian. I have six magnets now. I really only go to the 7-11 so much because it's cheap and it's sorta like something I recognise from home. I'm a pathetic person sometimes.

Anyway.

At the Kindergarten graduation, I met another native speaker. He teaches English at Yiyi's school, and his name is Eric. I found him to be quite obnoxious , but apparantly everyone else thinks he's very funny. Maybe thats what I need to do. Act more obnoxious. Sure.

He asked me if I wanted to go out with a bunch of other English Teachers. I'd love to, but I really dislike bars, and I know thats where I'd end up.

Since I can't drive and don't know my way around, I hate the concept of being stuck somewhere I don't know. I know if I went out it wouldn't exactly be safe, and I have no idea who is his! Also, he's obnoxious. And really loud!

I was happy to see that the girl who had cracked her head open had still gone to the graduation. She seems to be doing well. Good news.

I'll post those pictures as soon as possible. I need to go get ready for my adult class now.

Oh. Since I was asked, but haven't answered yet... I teach Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for Adult level, currently, from 8pm to 9:30. I'm really not working much. It's troublesome, but I wasn't supposed to work at all this month, so I guess it's not too bad.

Goodbye, then.

-Chris