Noms, children and roof top swimming pools

Taiwan, as expected, has brought some of the best noms I have ever nommed on into my life. From the night market just underneath my house to the sit down air conditioned fancy eateries that line every street in Taichung (pronounced Tai'djung) I have had some amazing food, and amazing experiences while eating it.

Dumplings, Korean BBQs that involve your own hob and hot plate in the middle of the table, night market lunchbox buffets, hole in the wall tea shops where tea is mixed like a cocktail with ice in shakers and fruit infusions, fish that comes straight out of an aquarium that I thought was a design feature, lunchbox deliveries to school with slimey noodles that have that overcooked spaghetti slurpiness but a melting quality as soon as you bite, korean pizzas and hotpots and, well, a lot...

No English on menus has turned out to be a blessing although the occasional sea snail dish has infiltrated my table. It has been one wholly overwhelming expieriance for my mouth, in the best possible way.

Dumplings

Night market lunchbox

No idea what this is, but it tasted too good!

Una (one of my co-teachers) and our dinner tonight, Chinese hotpot and fish. That's apple green tea there on the side.

Teaching has been a steep learning curve. My head office training, although intensive, didn't prepare me for the adventure that would be 19 kids in a classroom tired after a whole day of school and more fascinated by my odd looks than my incomprehensible English accent and grammar patterns. The first week felt long and hard, hours of planning, overthinking and a need to script my lessons wasn't helpful. In my second week I have been using sticky notes and a general attitude of come-what-may. The second method has undoubtedly been working much better. The kids are too awesome for words! I love them, even when they shout out answers, walk around behind me impersonating me and complaining about their poor test results. Taiwanese kids are, in essence just good nice, polite and very hard working little beings.

My favourite student is one that bangs his hands on his head when he can't spell, I can't help myself it's just so damn cute!

I'm super excited about the first week of October, I have a new class, and get to name the kids! They all need to have English names so we actually get to choose their names! (Personally I have about 5 Apples, an Audi, about a bazillion Candy's and Cindy's and one Beck (?!))

A while ago I posted a picture on FB of all my dissertation notes. I found myself in a similar position at school, with the big difference being the awesome tea I had to comfort me (green tea and passion fruit)

Needless to say the tea made this lesson planning a pleasure.

Argh, I have so much to say, but after an afternoon spent swimming at a friends roof top swimming pool, and two classes tomorrow the words aren't coming out, and when they do it's garbled nonsense... badly written blog posts are becoming a bad habit....

Dx