Holy S*** – What have I gotten myself into?!?

Sun Yet-Sen memorial - about 4 blocks from where I work.
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I watch the sushi plates bump into each other before they go around the corner. Plate after plate of colorful seafood – tuna, salmon, eel, salmon, albacore, oysters, crab, fish eggs, and etc pass by on the conveyer belt of the small sushi restaurant. I lazily sip my green tea and try to unwind from my first day as a first grade teacher. I think the title of this entry explains it all …

I have a lot to learn – I realize that. I think today went adequate, but I need to work at maintaining classroom control. My class consists of twelve Chinese kids – ten who know English, one who knows a little, and one who was absent. I arrived at the Happy Marion School an hour before class in order to go through the day’s lesson plan and try to figure out how this whole teaching thing works. The school is very good at providing plans, books, and games to play but it’s still very hard to keep little kids paying attention. The kids go to Chinese school in the morning and English school in the afternoon. When they arrive they eat lunch, followed by brushing their teeth, and then sitting down at their desks for a ½ hour of nap time. Let’s just say they had way too much energy during nap time - and for the rest of the day too. We talked, played some games, the kids drew pictures of themselves, and … ran around, didn’t sit properly in the chairs, tattled on each other, kept getting out of their seats, and behaved like typical first graders. But I guess that’s all expected, and that’s why I’m just working 22 hours/wk and it feels like much more.

Door to the apartment
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On my walk home I turned my IPod up and listened to music. Today was an auspicious day- meaning fire after fire was lit on the street burning fake money and incense offerings for ancestral spirits. Smoke and the smell of chard paper kept filling my nostrils. The walk was long and hot, and I was stopped on the street by a mother who recognized me as teacher Chad’s girlfriend. As I approached the apartment I heard Mozart playing. What was this ... the Tapei garbage trucks! Oh yes, they play classical music, which lets people know it’s time to bring their garbage out to the truck. Another funny oddity – the trash guys give a quick look through your garbage and write tickets on the spot for throwing away materials that should be recycled. Anyway, I climbed the 6^th flights of stairs to the apartment and was quite happy to be back.