Garden delight

First, the kids had to say what part of a plant the fruit/veg was, and then we made a salad of our learning equipment.

I forgot to mention the funny translation I saw on a t-shirt a few days ago. The Polo read: "Ultraviolent Skin Block."

Classroom decorations

Okay, classroom decoration. Only one. I have more up, but this one seems presentable enough.

Today was my first day of teaching the second summer camp. It didn't really feel like a first day though, because I only had to learn the names & personalities of three new students. I've already taught all the other students before in my previous summer camp.

My schedule is slightly different, and now I teach Circle Time, and English Theatre no longer. Circle Time involves greetings, songs, the weather, and weekly vocabulary. Science class has also changed in that the focus is Life Science now, and not Earth Science.

During lunch hour I had to go to RT-Mart to get some supplies for upcoming classes. My co-worker and I went on her scooter. It was pouring when we headed back to the school, and my helmet did little to keep me dry. Good thing the school is close by.

Bali and Danshuei

This morning as I waited at the school to be picked up, I visited the outdoor rabbits. Here, a baby escapee in its natural habitat: mop and foliage.

We drove to Bali first, and went to the Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology. Ancient pottery, weapons, and ironwork. The building itself is a piece of modern art - award-winning, as a matter of fact. This picture doesn't do it justice. An archaeological dig display as seen from above:
On the top level of the museum there's a glass floor with grid paneling, but you can still see well to the floors below. Right after you walk across, you see this sign:
A lot of the museums here are very affordable to visit. How nice.

Leaving the museum, I wanted to get a drink. I reached into this cooler to grab an iced tea, but I found that the bottle was empty. Most of the bottles were empty. I may never recover from this shock of a lifetime. Yes, this is photo- and blog-worthy.

P.S. I drank watermelon juice instead.
A beach in Bali:
The shoreline reminded me of the beaches in Vancouver, with the main exception being that there are many more people here.

Down by the water we caught crabs and tiny "special" fish with lungs. There were also countless rolly-polly, wide millipede-like bugs scurrying amongst the rocks.
After the shoreline stroll, a short ferry ride from the Bali Wharf to Danshuei. Here are the old streets of Danshuei:

We walked through the streets, and later ate dinner. It remains busy here day and night. The sun starting to set:
Danshuei night shopping:
There are many things to see. This man can cut a piece of paper into the shape of the side profile of your face in a few minutes.
Interesting ... ?
Would you like to "copy myself hand"?
The ferry ride back to Bali, though short and less than dry, was a highlight of my day (err, night). It was too dark for my camera to capture the view, but I'm sure you can imagine. Breeze + lights in the night + being on a boat = good memory.

Lost in Taiwan

Look who I saw in Taiwan, on the side of a bus:
I didn't do much today. God I love having a real weekend.

Tomorrow I'm going on an outing with some of the school staff, so I did some prep work today. Plus fun errands.

My neck is a bit sore from sitting at my desk for a long time today, so I used my sheet to tie my pillow around my neck. It helps ... ?

They call it the solar system

Solar systems, now complete.

Today was the last day of summer camp (the first of two). Farewell Earth Science, and welcome Life Science. I'll still have some of the same students, but my course schedule has been slightly altered.

Each kid gets to take home a copy of the Power Point made up of pictures taken during class activities throughout camp. I think it's more for propaganda than for memory revival. I should mention that I've been called the most cynical person in the world...

Paper & Water Museum

Our outing began with a bus ride to Taipei. Robots, in Mandarin, was on the TV screen. I listened to the trailers in English though. Guess Who, Fever Pitch, and Night Watch (?).

First stop: the SuHo Paper Museum. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the first three floors of the museum. So, my only pictures are of the fourth floor where we made paper.

Everyone got to make a sheet of paper to take home.

Next stop was the newly opened Taipei Water Park. The kids played in pools and sprinklers for most of the time. Before we left, we did stop in at the Museum of Drinking Water, which is on the grounds. The building is nearly 100 years old, and is rooted in the history of Taiwan's public drinking water supply. The museum is inside the pump house.
Another tour that I couldn't understand.

Taken from the bus, here are some police scooters!

Advance screening: Taipei Water Park

I was reading a printout of the online information about Taipei Water Park, and I came across this morsel about rent-a-bike stations:
"When holiday comes, it is turned into a waterfront pub for young people to meet and to kill their time."

I love these translations.

The inedible kind

We painted Styrofoam balls for our solar system models today. The kids were really messy today, and I'm glad to say that all the painting is finished for this group.

Tomorrow we're going on a field trip to a museum or two. Hooray for outdoors teaching!

It's been cooler here lately. Not cool, but not as hot as it was when I first arrived. It's nice.

Edible solar system

Science class always seems to be one of the most interesting parts of my day. Today the students had to arrange vegetables and fruits - the Sun and planets - in their proper order. After that, I made a salad from the lettuce, cherry tomatoes, corn, mushrooms, and salad dressing. The students were motivated to eat the salad and fruit because one of the planets was made of chocolate, and I told them they could eat the chocolate after they ate the others foods. It's amazing what kids will do for six M&Ms. Suddenly, they become so focused.

It bugs me

This morning as I was heading out, I saw a large stick-like insect in the hallway near my room. I tried to squish it with the bottom of my garbage bag as much as I could. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your personality - I didn't have my camera with me.

I teach a class called Magazine, and we read one with a particular theme each week. Today we began our magazine about bugs. I didn't actually have to teach Magazine class today, because another teacher has taken over that course for this week because there isn't much else for her to do. One less lesson plan for me per day, so I like this!

Kindergarten graduation

This morning I had to get up early to help decorate the theatre where the kindergarten graduation ceremony was to be held.

Some buildings across the street:
The stage:
First the graduation ceremony, then the students performed a play/dance. There was a bubble machine, costumes, and glow sticks for the audience near the end. Closest thing to a kindergarten rave.

All was over by noon, which was followed by clean-up time. All the staff and their family went to a buffet for lunch. The food was a combination of Western and Japanese.
The blue and red in the following picture is the symbol for recycling in Taiwan. The hand-drawn Es are an example of what the symbols look like on a chart for eye exams. When I had one done here I didn't know that I was supposed to point which direction the legs were pointed, and I said "backward e."

P.S. At the ceremony I was sitting on a chair behind row 24. Just sayin'.

Stores and streets in Zhongli

Interesting name for a store:This one, uhhhh...
On my day off today I went for a walk. I came across the waiting area for the free shuttle to the department store Sogo, and I decided to go there to have a look about. I had to wait around 30-45 minutes to catch a shuttle. When I got on, I was handed a ticket. Oh no! I don't know what this means! I later realized that it was just to keep track of the number of people on the shuttle. Strangely though, I didn't get one on the shuttle back. I was the 24th person in line both trips.

I didn't end up buying anything from Sogo. The department store has many mini-stores inside, with staff in each store, and no walls to separate the shops. I prefer the old shopping district with the stores scattered all over the place.
Here's a roadway near where I live. It continues underground. The side lanes are for scooters. I've been through the tunnel on a scooter, and the view reminded me of a video game because of the narrowness, and curve of the tunnel.

Deception! It turns out that Anna Sui is not cheaper than Maybelline. Anna S, is though. I'm thinking that the latter may be an imitation product.

Smoothie constellation

In Happy Kitchen class today we made smoothies with banana, dragon fruit, apples, strawberry yogurt, and orange juice. Fun to make, and the kids seemed to enjoy them.

In Science we made individual glittery Milky Way galaxies. Later, we also drew our own constellations, poked holes where the stars were, and used a flashlight to project the image onto the wall in the dark. I think this class has given me a few ideas of things to try at home myself!

I'm glad the weekend has arrived because I'm tired. Today was unexpectedly hectic, and I found out that I had to change classrooms, so my old room can be decorated. Apparently I'll be in the new room until the end of August, which is as long as winter camp runs. (Winter camp starts after Summer camp finishes.)

Modern Toilet

Modern Toilet is a restaurant nearby where I live. It's quite popular too. A restaurant with crappy meals is open to all sorts of puns.

There's a clothing store called Enemy of the People. You'd think they'd do something awful to whoever walked into the store, because the place is the enemy of the people. But no.


One of my students always writes his words so close together that they look like one loooong word. Today I noticed that he wrote "The penis purple." I sure hope not.

Dog days

I don't envy the dogs here who are outside in this weather. I often see little heaps of fur panting away, laying on the cement streets. Nearly every dog I've seen has been small, but today when I walked to the grocery store I saw, for the second time, a big dog. They do exist.

My students made space suit helmets out of paper bags, and we had a walk on the moon in science class. Without the helmets, we wouldn't have been able to breathe, you know.

The man with the fish

Walking home from work several days ago I came across this fish in a bucket. The splashes focused my attention. By the time I whipped out my camera to take a picture, a man walked out of his home/store - which had been shut up - then proceeded to try to sell me the fish. He soon found out that I didn't speak his language, and that I didn't actually want to buy the fish.

Today my class went to the pool again. I think this'll be a regular weekly thing for the next month and a bit.

Some of the students wanted to watch an English movie in class, so I had to take it home to preview it. The name of the movie is written in characters, so I didn't know what it was until I actually loaded it on my computer. Turns out it's Music and Lyrics. A cute movie.

For some odd reason, when I look out my window, I'm reminded of what Ewan McGregor's character in Moulin Rouge sees when peering out from his apartment. My second floor view is mostly of an unfinished building across the street. Maybe it's the lighting from the sky that does it...

Liquid brown

I bought this package of instant-mochas a few days ago. It's oh so gross. At work we have a coffee machine, but I feel like I'm the only one who makes and drinks coffee regularly. I thought this would be a good experiment for hot caffeinated beverages on the weekends. So I thought. Now I have 15 packages of this brown-flavoured water.

I continue to be sick. Last night and this morning I felt better, but after morning classes I felt exhausted again.

Relaxed day

I didn't do very much today, which was really nice. I slept in, did my laundry, and went grocery shopping. When I was putting my clothes in the washer, I could hear someone playing the piano.

Since the rest of my day was spent doing things that won't really interest you, I think now's a good time to mention a few things I forgot to write in my previous posts:

-I saw a lizard! in the wild! At Little Ding-Dong Park one of the kids pointed out a lizard climbing on a tree. Despite my best efforts, I didn't manage to take a picture before it scampered off.

-When I was getting my hair straightened, six hair dressers worked on my hair over the course of the night. At the end, three women were blow-drying my hair. It was quite funny.

-I commonly see funny English translations on signs, but the t-shirt industry is possibly the jackpot. There are many t-shirts with words in English on them, and a lot of them make absolutely no sense. Some are just letter scrambles mish-mashed together. I plan on looking out for the most ridiculous one I can find, buying it, and then wearing it when I go back to Canada.

Transit, Taipei, & markets

This morning I went to Taipei with a co-worker. First, we took the TRA - the train - from Zhongli to Taipei. It took roughly 40 minutes.
Then we took the MRT, which is the subway here. Recently, the MRT has implemented a fare program that uses tokens. It's a great way to recycle, but it's not scrapbook friendly! I wasn't allowed to keep my TRA ticket stub either.

One MRT transfer before arriving at the Luizhangli stop, where we met a few others. Lunch was at a Sri Lankan joint. A small eatery, tucked away in an alley. The food was very good, and very cheap.
We ordered more food than that, but you get the idea. The round middle dish is pumpkin curry.

I also rode the bus today. Many transit firsts.

A Taipei intersection:
This picture makes it seem less busy than it is.

We passed through Daan Park:
Then headed to a series of markets. First, the flower market:

Next, the jade market. This one was absolutely huge. Endless tables, and piles of jade.
The last market we went to was the disabled market, which is a market where disabled persons sell things.

Afterward, we got drinks, then went to a few eye glasses shops to try on/buy glasses. I was invited to go out tonight and stay overnight in Taipei, but I wanted to go back to my place to unwind. I'm still a bit sick, and I want to rest and get ready for the upcoming week.

So, I took the subway and train back to Zhongli. I was worried about getting lost, but the signs were mostly clear, and I'd been given directions from the people I was with. One good thing about Taipei is that a lot of the signs and menus have some English on them. In other words, they're me-navigable, in theory.

I made it back just fine. The whole trip took over an hour. Transferring between MRT lines and the TRA contributed to that extra time. It was very busy at all of the stations I went to.

On the train back, a young boy sitting next to me said something to me in Mandarin and handed me a ticket stub. I had no clue what he said, and I told him that I only spoke English, but he didn't seem to notice. It was odd. A few minutes later I gave the stub to his sister, and she looked at me like I did something very strange. It occurred to me that the boy might have asked me to throw the stub out, but that's also strange.

Taiwanese currency

NT, or the New Taiwan Dollar, just in case you were curious.

Everytime I go shopping, I have to remind myself that items with price tags with high numbers aren't necessarily expensive. My mind is my calculator.

Let me get this straight

After work tonight, a few co-workers, two members of their family, and I went to a salon to get our hair 'done.' You don't need to make an appointment, you just show up. Apparently the wait time, if there even is one, is never very long.

Step 1 Coat hair in chemical goo, then saran wrap hair:
Step 2 Sit under heat bulb (my term, btw). Wait 18-22 minutes.
Step 3 Remove saran wrap, wash, and then dry hair. Flat iron. Spray hair with foamy, blue liquid, then sit still for 15 minutes. Wash hair again. Dry again.

Product: straightened hair:
I never thought I'd straighten my hair. So many clones, I mean girls, get this done in Vancouver. Everyone dresses in the same brands and styles, and I try to distance myself from that in some respects.

Anyway, I've sat through over two hours worth of hair manipulation, and I must say that I like it. This picture is salon-day hair, so who knows how out of control it will look after the first at-home wash.

It's very cheap to straighten hair here. An added bonus is that longer hair does not cost extra (well, at least at the salon I went to). Besides the straightening, my visit also included tea, and a scalp and shoulder massage. If you want a haircut, book a flight to Taiwan.

A sprinkling of news

My students finished their paper mache volcanoes, and today we exploded them. Good, messy fun.

The day that they painted their volcanoes, I'd already been warned by two other teachers that it'd be quite messy. After giving out instructions, it didn't take ten minutes for one of the students to cry "Teacher!" because she had paint on her ear and hair. Other than that, it wasn't overly messy.

Today in science class we made fossils out of clay, and in Kitchen we made ice cream sandwiches.

Yay, it's the weekend! Tomorrow I'm planning on tagging along with a co-worker to Taipei. It'll be my first time taking the train.

I still have a cold. Runny nose in all its glory. A staff member pointed out to me that this my first Taiwan cold.
Francais in Taiwan?

Swim like a fish

For P.E. class today, the kids and I went to a nearby pool. What a big building. There were several pools, and hot tubs, as well as a massive kid swimming area with slides and waterfalls. I don't think I've ever seen so many lifeguards in one room before. (Besides Baywatch, maybe.)

A few days ago I had a sore throat, and since going to Little Ding-Dong, I've had a runny nose. Noooo!

Under the volcano

My class is making paper mache volcanoes, and they're going to look something like these ones. We explode them on Friday.

Tomorrow we're doing something with rocks, so tonight after work I walked to a nearby stream and gathered rocks. They're not easy to find in the dark. I managed alright though, and I did see a snail and a slug along the way. Compared to the snails I'm used to seeing, the ones here are huge.

Hey Jude, unbreak my heart

Last night I went to Party World, which is a karaoke place, with some co-workers. This was my first time going to a karaoke venue, and I knew that I didn't want to sing. I'd just be there.

I sang:
Unbreak My Heart, Hey Jude, Dancing Queen, I Will Survive, Let It Be, Close to You, and This Love.

I should say, though, that I duet-ed all those songs. But still! I had solos, you know. It's funny too, because noone had to beg me to sing; someone passed me a microphone and I went with it. We picked out four more songs, but we ran out of time. Of the songs I did sing, I picked two of them (guess which ones), and the rest were chosen by another person.
The karaoke rooms are really nice, and the sound quality is quite good. I'd definetly go there again. Just outside of the rooms, there's also a buffet with a lot of different types of food and drink. Had I known, I wouldn't have eaten dinner beforehand.