Life in Kaohsiung

What's my typical day in Kaohsiung like?  Drive to work in rush hour ... think 500 speeding scooters!  Teach kindergarden for a few hours, then take my two hour lunch break.  Try not to get sunburned on the 15min ride home and eat at a "lunch box" stop, like a buffet, or stop for dumplings or noodles on the street. Around 2pm it's back to work at my second school, where the older students come after their regular full day of school.  Teach for a few more hours, then get out by 6pm and head home among the speeding scooters again.  Relax, and then fall asleep to the sounds of the musical trash trucks :)

I had this morning off, because the kids are going on a field trip to the Museum of Hakka Culture.  Too bad they don't pay us to chaperone.  Unfortunately, their chinese teachers are paid much less an hour so it is more practical to have them go.  Im planning on checking out some museums here (mainly the MFA) before I leave.  This weekend I am really looking forward to the mediation course at Fo Guang Shan.  It is the largest Buddhist temple in Taiwan.  I've driven by it a few times but I have never been inside.  It will be interesting to learn more about it.

Weekend Road Trips

Now that I've started subbing full time I have been really busy with work but I have been having a lot of fun and the teaching schedule isn't so bad because I never have to work on the weekends.  The weekend before last the four of us went to Guanziling.  It's a town a few hours north of Kaohsiung in the mountains known for it's muddy hot springs.  It happens to be one of the most famous hot spring sites in Taiwan because it releases methane, which has been burning consistently for about three centuries.  The ride up there was beautiful and we stayed in a hot spring hotel where our bath water came directly from the spring. We stopped to check out some temples as well and ate in Tainan on the way back to Kaohsiung.  I pretty much love eating at the markets in every country and Taiwan is no exception!

A popular ice dessert - it was delicious!

Last weekend Danielle and I took the train to  Hualien, and then went on to Toroko National Park.  Anthony and Ryan took the week off of work and rode their bikes across the central cross-island highway to get there.  It ended up raining all weekend, and we were camping but Toroko was so beautiful I didnt even care :)

Wearing our safety helmets: (falling rocks actually hit us)

Here we are walking in a section of the old road called the Tunnel of Nine Turns.  The road through the park (part of the central cross island highway) is insane.  It was the first roadway connecting the west and east coast of the island, finished in 1960.  It was made completely by hand (with only pick axes) and surprisingly only a few hundred people died during the construction (I would have guessed many more!).  Many of the men working on the road were former soldiers and they refer the construction as a war they were fighting because it was such a demanding job.   Pictures do not to the park justice!

Last week we had Wednesday off for Dragon Boat Festival.  The holiday celebrates the life of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan and is celebrated in many parts of Asia.  We watched the dragon boat races and walked around the Love River area.  It was nice to have a day off in the middle of the week :D

I'll  be uploading the majority of my pictures to a picasa album before I leave and will post a link when it's finished.  I have about two more weeks of subbing and then Kathyrn comes and we'll start traveling.  Im ridiculously excited to travel again!  We'll fly into Malaysia and will work our way north to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam from there.  After she leaves I'll have another two weeks and plan on checking out Singapore as well :)  Then it's back to the states for Christa's wedding in Colorado!

A few days off :)

I finished my first full week of teaching!  This week I was subbing for one of the teachers at Walton School, where Dan and Anth work.  I had a kindergarten class in the mornings (4-5 year olds), and 7 year olds in the afternoon.  Then I had another class at a buxiban, which is where many kids go after school - sometimes until 9pm at night!  My class there was a mix of 9-13 year olds.  Teaching takes a lot of energy but I really like it.  Luckily, most of our teaching materials are provided but Im looking forward to the long term sub I'll be doing next week because I will have a chance to prepare for my lessons ahead of time.

Starting Wednesday for a week I'll be subbing for Anthony while he goes on a road trip with his friend Ryan who's visiting.  Dan and I are planing on taking the train to meet them in Taroko next weekend.  So I have Monday and Tuesday off this week which will be nice :)

When Anthony returns I will be subbing for another teacher here for about four weeks, which Im looking forward to because I will hopefully be able to do more with my classes (and actually learn all the kid's names!).  When I finish subbing Im going to travel for about five weeks until my flight back to the states.  I am really excited to start traveling.  I found a cheap flight to Malaysia so I'll start there and then travel around to the surrounding countries.

I have almost completely recovered from my sea urchin injury.  Yesterday I pulled a spine out of my foot that was more than an inch long!  I had no idea how big it was but there are only a few pieces left in my foot and I can walk pretty well now.  Im looking forward to running on the bike path at Lotus Pond when my foot is completely healed.

If you're reading my blog on facebook you can view the original page and more pictures here.  :)