Cornel Language School

Mark's school

Real life.

I've decided I should post something about our jobs and teaching and so on since we've both just been posting things about trips and adventures we've had.

Mark and I are working at an English school called Cornel Language School (http://www.cornel.com.tw/) . There are 2 campuses about 20 minutes apart and I am at one, and Mark at the other. Mark's is newer and smaller and mine is much bigger and also the original school. This is Mark's school's first real year of classes so he has had lots of obstacles becuase of this - such as getting books and other resources because almost everythign is at my school. They're finally getting all this sorted and we're both really enjoying our seperate schools.

Both schools have 3 levels of kindergarten and go up to grade 6. I teach grades 3 and 5 and Mark teaches grades 4 and 5. He also teaches a parent class which is new and something he has had to setup on his own. We work from 10 to 7 with a 2 hour lunch (provided by the school) and start late on Tuesdays at 4pm. In total we are supposed to teach 20 hours and have 10 hours of paid prep. time each week. I substitute for kindergarten classes to fill my hours and make some extra cash.

Before I came here I was interested in learning Chinese and figured I would be taking classes. I since discovered the easiest (and cheapest) way to learn the language is through a language exchange. I found my partner (Alison - cool, eh?) about a month and a half ago online and we have been meeting once a week. It is going very well and I am finally feeling like I am really taking to the basics. It is hard because it's so very different from English and French but it's coming. Alison is a fabulous girl, in her 4th year of University studying medicine. She told me the first day she just wanted to practice english conversation with a Native speaker and she would teach me Chinese from the ground up - so it's very easy going and easy for me. She, Mark and I are going to Lukang this weekend to tour around and see if it is somewhere I should bring my family when they come in December.

Mark and I are both doing a little extra money making on the side aswell. Mark is starting to tutor a boy once a week, the parents want him to use magazine articles and make writing assignmnets for the kid. I am teaching a junior high class on Saturday mornings. I have 31 13 year olds and have basically been hired to help them improve their confidence and let them have a little fun. Kids in Taiwan work WAY harder then I ever did, extra classes on top of Chinese and English school, some in school right through till 10 pm. Wild. We will put some pics up of our kids soon, the little ones are so very cute.

Another Beautiful Day in Sunny Taiwan....

So I woke up this morning, threw on one of my many new skirts, a tank and my $2.95 flip flops, begrudgingly said goodbye to a sleeping Mark and, after failing to kill a speedy cockroach, was on my way by 8:30am. I walked out to my scooter, grabbed my helmet and luckily glanced inside to find a gigantic moth who had made a home in the warm lining. I was forced to delay my departure by a couple minutes trying to shake the critter out who was holding on for dear life. The construction dudes, who have had the road dug up beside my building for the last couple weeks, must have got a chuckle out of the white girl shaking her helmet and cursing. I don't think i've ever really seen them do any work, except for the one night last week Mark and I walked by and noticed one of the guys shirtless down in a hole operating a welding gun of some sort... sparks flying everywhere. There are no safety standards in Taiwan. I never did see where the wasp went but was eventually confident enough to put it's home on my head and head to school.

As usual, I stopped at my favorite Dan Beng stand and was greeted with the standard "Zhow - Pacon Dan Beng?", "Shyie Shyie, han Hong Cha" I happily replied. I waited the 3 mintues for my delicious bacon, egg wrap and ice red tea to be ready and handed over my 20NT - about 75 cents. I proceeded to school on my usual route and at a stop light observed another accident waiting to happen; two workers were disassembling the store sign of our former favortie small grocery store. I watched as they stood on their ladders that leaned against the building and were set up over a parked car. They shook the sign (and themselves) to tear bits of plastic off and threw pieces of the metal back lighting fixtures into the street, the light turned green and I was on my way again.

Everyone I passed on my way to school was sporting long sleeves, pants and proper shoes - most had the type of winter jacket that we Canadians wear to fight the blistering snow when we walk back and forth to school - uphill both ways.

Now I'm at school killing time before my next parent/teacher conference. I've been here about 10 minutes and have heard the garbage truck go by, singing Beethoven's 'fleur de lis', and what we think what a political parade - a series of blue trucks that drove past shouting chinese slogans while someone hit a gong. I think one of the things we're enjoying most about this whole experience are these little everyday moments that are becoming so normal. I'm having a blast, realizing the importance of paying attention to every little wild and wonderful detail that surrounds me and thankful to my cousin that inspired me to take on Taiwan in the first place.

All Expenses Paid Spa Weekend (Staff Trip)

On the way home we stopped for a Chinese lunch. There were some interesting dishes to say the least. This is generally how fish is served here. It tasted wicked but it still freaks us out a little.

A view of Taipei 101 - the tallest office building in the world.

This is the park portion of our resort. Nice ponds, waterfalls, gardens, wildlife etc. A pretty sweet place all around!

This is Lisa, Al and Jen standing behing the waterfall. To the left, you can see some serious jet action going on. They had all kinds of jets, sprayers, massagers etc. After a weekend in these pools, you are SUPER relaxed. (Also didn't hurt that school picked up what I would imagine was a pretty hefty tab.)

Another view of the hotsprings. The pool to the right was one of the hotter ones. (38 degrees celcius). The one beside it was an almost unbearable 42 degrees.

A view of the hotsprings at our resort. There were two levels of hotspring pools that were surrounded by beautiful mountains.

Devon and Adam enjoying their view...

B.B.Q Surprises

So............this is the chicken that they gave us. It was hilarious because we started cooking it with the other side facing up. Then we flipped it, and had that god damned head staring up at us. It was slightly shocking - I'm sure you understand.

This is Lisa and Allison. Before the picture Lisa told Al to get something to make it look like she was helping with the bbq. Al found matches and was content!

This is at our spa/resort that we stayed at for our staff trip to Taipei county. They had a huge bbq area and every group was given two big boxes of food and bbq necessities. This is Honey, Shannon and Adrienne lending me a hand!

Sanshia Tsushr Temple

I think that we heard that this was the oldest temple in Taiwan. It was built about 300 years ago and rebuilt twice - after WWI and the 1999 earthquake - an enormous quake that killed more than 2000 people when it toppled buildings all over Taiwan. The temple was amazing, these pictures don't do it any justice.

Mini temple carved on one point of one roof of the temple.

ceiling...

One small rooftop section of the temple - the detail everywhere was insane. Everywhere you looked you would see different scene all carved and painted - the feeling was very similar to entering Notre Dame or any other huge Catholic Cathedral. We heard that each of the temples columns took over 5 years to carve.

The Driving Test

This is our friend Lisa doing her driving test. I had gone before her and failed! You have to drive between the yellow lines (very narrow) and you have to do it in over 7 seconds. This means you must go VERY slow and keep your balance. It is damn hard and very few people pass. However, I am still utterly ashamed of myself for not passing. Lisa was doing well here (you can sort of see the 8 seconds on the clock), but then she got excited and drove off the track, settin off the "fail buzzer". A sad day for all involved.

At my driving test, doing the "medical" tests. Guess it's important to be able to squat if you're going to drive a scooter. Good form wouldn't you say??