Saturday 30 July 2011
Best Drink in Taiwan
Three days ago, I finally went to the bubbletea shop near the hotel. I'm not sure why I never went before. I decided to select the drink with the most stuff. It was a milk tea with tapioca, jelly, and ice cream. I have never liked milk tea in Canada but this was, hands down, the BEST. DRINK. EVAR. The ice cream sweetened up the taste just enough. It was so good that I had one each day since I first had it. I even managed to convert several people into joining me. Sadly, the quality of bubbletea in Canada pales in comparison by a landslide.
Goodbye Taiwan
Today was the last day at Heng Yee. We had parent/teacher interviews, a final performance, and then we had to keep the kids entertained for the afternoon. I played Bolt and set them free. I got a cute goodbye note from each student courtesy of my EA. Actually, my kids pretty much forgot that I was leaving forever so when they left they were just so happy to be free of school that they just ran out and then they all ran back to say goodbye to me.
Performance photos and videos are going to be sent out to us later. My class along with two others put on a "teacher fashion show" so the three class teachers put on ridiculous outfits and did a catwalk while our strongest students read a little blurb about us. It was fun and embarrassing. Actually, the other two classes had been bringing stuff for their teachers to wear and I told my kids, "You have to bring me cool stuff to wear or I'll look bad on stage!" They didn't do anything at all until today. Three kids brought things for me: a hat, a scarf, and a sparkly floral pin. The hat was awesome but I'll leave that for the photos.
It's been a fun trip. Time to finish packing! I have to wake up at 5am tomorrow to get to the airport on time. Heading to Hong Kong for about a week. See you all soon!
Performance photos and videos are going to be sent out to us later. My class along with two others put on a "teacher fashion show" so the three class teachers put on ridiculous outfits and did a catwalk while our strongest students read a little blurb about us. It was fun and embarrassing. Actually, the other two classes had been bringing stuff for their teachers to wear and I told my kids, "You have to bring me cool stuff to wear or I'll look bad on stage!" They didn't do anything at all until today. Three kids brought things for me: a hat, a scarf, and a sparkly floral pin. The hat was awesome but I'll leave that for the photos.
It's been a fun trip. Time to finish packing! I have to wake up at 5am tomorrow to get to the airport on time. Heading to Hong Kong for about a week. See you all soon!
Tuesday 26 July 2011
Sunday 24 July 2011
Sun Moon Lake
Just returned from a weekend trip to Sun Moon Lake. Actually, we've been told to keep it hush-hush that we got to go on this trip because the school actually paid for half the trip and our program paid for the other half. The teachers at the other school didn't get this treatment so mum's the word.
Awesome time! We went to see an earthquake memorial museum, a very expensive and impressive temple, Sun Moon Lake (with a boat ride) and then to our hotel where we were given vouchers for the hot spring. I didn't go to the hot spring because I didn't think my asthma could stand it. I can't even be in a hot shower for too long. But lots of people didn't pack their bathing suit so they didn't go. Instead, we fought against Chinese tourists for the karaoke room. Then after the karaoke room closed down, we went to a lounge room and did our own sing along party. We have some really talented musicians in the group. The next day, we went to an amusement park!!! We were given NT$300 worth of vouchers to spend on food and souvenirs. Not bad at all. I went on the UFO which is sort of like Drop Zone and I went on a water boat ride. Both were terrifying. I clung on for dear life. They weren't actually that bad but I'm a lightweight. Then we had a 4 hour bus ride home. Now to make sure everything's good for the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!
Awesome time! We went to see an earthquake memorial museum, a very expensive and impressive temple, Sun Moon Lake (with a boat ride) and then to our hotel where we were given vouchers for the hot spring. I didn't go to the hot spring because I didn't think my asthma could stand it. I can't even be in a hot shower for too long. But lots of people didn't pack their bathing suit so they didn't go. Instead, we fought against Chinese tourists for the karaoke room. Then after the karaoke room closed down, we went to a lounge room and did our own sing along party. We have some really talented musicians in the group. The next day, we went to an amusement park!!! We were given NT$300 worth of vouchers to spend on food and souvenirs. Not bad at all. I went on the UFO which is sort of like Drop Zone and I went on a water boat ride. Both were terrifying. I clung on for dear life. They weren't actually that bad but I'm a lightweight. Then we had a 4 hour bus ride home. Now to make sure everything's good for the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!
Wednesday 20 July 2011
Pictures!
Pictures have been posted on facebook. If you have access to it, take a look! If not, ask someone who does! Unfortunately, this blog can't support that many pictures.
Halfway through the teaching! Now we come to report cards and preparing for the year-end presentation.
Bug bite count: 15...no wait, 16...
Halfway through the teaching! Now we come to report cards and preparing for the year-end presentation.
Bug bite count: 15...no wait, 16...
Sunday 17 July 2011
Taroko Gorge
First week of work is over!!! It's been a stressful, busy week. Finally we can all breath.
A bunch of us teachers booked a day tour to Taroko Gorge. We had to wake up at 5 am to be picked up at 5:30am. Then we were taken to the airport for a short domestic flight to Taroko, Taiwan. There we met up with our tour guide, Josephine. We went on our tour bus and went all around the gorge. It was very interesting and probably would have been more fun if we hadn't been sooo tired. We had gone out the night before and didn't return home until 3am so we were all surviving the day on 2 hours of sleep. We saw lots of rocks and trees. Then we went to lunch. After lunch there was a marble showroom tour (in which we were not allowed to take pictures) and then we went to the seaside and played in the Pacific Ocean.
Pictures! Lots and lots of pictures so I'll split it up. More news when I decide how to best display the large amount of photos. Back to work!
A bunch of us teachers booked a day tour to Taroko Gorge. We had to wake up at 5 am to be picked up at 5:30am. Then we were taken to the airport for a short domestic flight to Taroko, Taiwan. There we met up with our tour guide, Josephine. We went on our tour bus and went all around the gorge. It was very interesting and probably would have been more fun if we hadn't been sooo tired. We had gone out the night before and didn't return home until 3am so we were all surviving the day on 2 hours of sleep. We saw lots of rocks and trees. Then we went to lunch. After lunch there was a marble showroom tour (in which we were not allowed to take pictures) and then we went to the seaside and played in the Pacific Ocean.
Pictures! Lots and lots of pictures so I'll split it up. More news when I decide how to best display the large amount of photos. Back to work!
Wednesday 13 July 2011
My School and Classroom
Still alive! Prepping and teaching is just making me super busy. But here's some pictures of my school and classroom!
Saturday 9 July 2011
The First Day in Taipei
So I woke up and went down to the complimentary breakfast. Our hotel is actually two buildings. The main building has all the double rooms and suites. The second building which is just down the street has all the single rooms. I'm in the second building but my colleagues are all next door and down the hall. On weekends, there is a complimentary breakfast from 7am - 10am. We ended up waking up earlier than we thought and went down to breakfast in the other building.
It was a nice spread with bread and croissants, congee with lots of different toppings, breakfast pasta, scrambled eggs, random chinese food, and some dimsum buns. Great breakfast!
We went to explore for the morning.
We saw some really cute stationary stores (cheap and cute stationary packs are good souvenirs!), a shoe store, a pet store, a fruit market, a Watsons (like Shoppers), and a whole street of fruits/veggies/meat. Nicole got freaked out by the live chickens in cages. No pictures...
Now we're all just chilling until 1pm when we're going to meet the others and get a little tour around the area. Starting to get tired again...
We went to explore for the morning.
We saw some really cute stationary stores (cheap and cute stationary packs are good souvenirs!), a shoe store, a pet store, a fruit market, a Watsons (like Shoppers), and a whole street of fruits/veggies/meat. Nicole got freaked out by the live chickens in cages. No pictures...
Now we're all just chilling until 1pm when we're going to meet the others and get a little tour around the area. Starting to get tired again...
The Landmark Inn
As soon as we walked out of the airport into the night, our glasses immediately fogged up and we began to sweat. It's terrible! We were fortunate to have a bus come pick us up from the airport. But...it was a karaoke bus?!?
Then we got to the hotel. Tomorrow we will tour around to see the surrounding areas.
So that's it for now. I'm going to try to sleep.
Then we got to the hotel. Tomorrow we will tour around to see the surrounding areas.
So that's it for now. I'm going to try to sleep.
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