Taiwan 4 March 4th

Today is my second day of teaching. Yesterday my first class was a little rough. I am taking over another teachers schedule so it is a guessing game for me to figure out how much English the kids know and what I need to teach them so they can pass their tests. The curriculum here is set and on a very strict timeline. I have to get into the swing of things very quickly. The kids are extremely cute but are exhausted by the end of the day.

This past weekend was a little sketchy. At one point our house was in chaos with nearly everyone changing rooms and two Aussie's moving in. The same day we had no water and no internet! That evening I had my first experience of being lost in a country with no one around who can understand English, me not knowing where I live or how to get home. How did I get in this situation??? It was innocent enough. It was quite late and I wanted to go home so I got someone to call me a cab. The driver got the instructions to my house in Mandarin, said he understood and drove off. Soon after I realised he had absolutely no clue where to go and I immediately demanded to get out of the cab. I fisted my keys and began to wander around until I found a landmark I recognized. I was definitely nervous. I knew I would eventually find my way I just didn't know how long it was going to take or who I would run into along the way. It ended up not taking too long and really the only thing I encountered was a pack of wild dogs. I just looked past them and kept on walking. Whew. Now I carry a business card with my address on it in English and Mandarin.

A great part of my weekend was a trek that Stephanie and Sonja went on. We busted out of Ilan by train and caught a rickety bus to a fishing village near Keelung. This is where many hikes start and where some strange geological formations are located. The hike was short but very steep. We were rewarded with a gorgeous scene at the top. The cut rolling mountains looked like the hills of Cinque Terre in Italy. Rich coloured water smashed the rocks, a pair of goats perched precariously and happy families wandered around enjoying the scenes are their time together. It was a great break from the pollution and noise of Ilan