Pictures!

This was taken from the top of the building where I teach. A fire had broken out in the distance. It was already a nasty air-quality day, this made it especially bad. The fire is pretty far away yet pieces of burnt paper were landing on our building...crazy.

Another in my series of kid close-ups. He is a cutie. His name is Jason and he was more than happy to let me snap this one.

A nice little park area across the street from my apartment. A pleasant spot to get some relief from the madness of the big city. The detail in the roofing is impressive.

Strolling down the street I live on. A typical scene at the big intersection. Actually, I only see about a half a dozen motorcycles...not very busy. My apartment is just to the right of the building with the big "Hotel" sign on top.

Pics!

I can't resist putting pics of the kids on here. This is a fun group that I teach every couple of weeks. They all wanted to be in the picture.

This is downtown, across from Taipei 101. Oddly enough, this place is called New York, New York. It's pretty neat. Lots of fun stuff to do inside. Check out the miniature Statue of Liberty.

My apartment building. It's kinda grungy looking on the outside because the pollution here is brutal. It's actually a very nice building, pretty modern. My apartment is on the top floor. See the two air conditioners on the top, left side of the building? The one on the right is my place. I dig it, very good location.

This is a shot from the top of Taipei 101. Yes, it's insanely tall!!! Looks more like a shot from an airplane. As you can see, the buildings in the pic are not one-story houses, they are big office buildings. Taipei 101 is one of the most remarkable structures I've ever seen. I didn't take this shot, I stole it from another blog...lol.

A Big Nose & Far Too Much Hair

Christina thinks I have funny looking ears, Gary says my nose is way too big for my face, and Sarah can't stop trying to pull the hair on my arms. These are a few of the more interesting experiences I've had with the kids at my school. Each and every one of them is priceless. There is something so incredible/genuine about the interactions I have on a daily basis with the little rug-rats.

They have been running re-runs of the last season of "Lost" here. I have been eating it up, what a great show. The reason I've brought it up is because there was an interesting scene on one of the episodes recently. It took place between the older, balding guy and the young women who has the baby. Anyhow, they were talking and she asked him why he never gets angry. He replied with a line that went something like this: "because I am no longer lost". That line really struck a chord with me. WARNING WARNING!!!! I am about to get sappy here! I can't help but feel the same way. When people ask me about my work, I can't help but gush about how wonderful it is and how I feel that I have found my niche. As most of you know, men generally define themselves by the work they do, I'm no exception. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of little things that frustrate me regarding my job, but they all pale in comparison to the things that make me feel like a million bucks.

In case any of you feel compelled to send me something, here is my address:

#280-9th Floor-E
Nen Hua Road Section 1
Banchiao City
Taipei County, Taiwan 220

I would love a care package from anyone back home with stuff that's inherently American. i.e. Reese's Cups, Mother Jones Magazines, pictures of the family, cool t-shirts with an Akron/Cleveland/Ohio connection, etc. (hint, hint)

I'm in the process of trying to figure out if I can make a trip home sometime in the near-future. It's super-expensive and trying to determine the length of stay is tricky. I'm gonna do it either in July/August or October/November...we'll see.

Birthday Surprise at Work

Sorry for the lag in posting, these past few weeks have been kinda wacky. A combination of work craziness, my birthday, and home improvements has eaten all of my time.

The second phase, or the post Chris and Brent era as I like to call it, is in full-swing.

It has been much more pleasant than I had anticipated. I think my boss and the Chinese teachers now realize that I am more than capable of taking the reins as the lead teacher in the office. Carol, the boss, has been very supportive of me. She has arranged my schedule so that I can concentrate on my writing class and a few other classes that are considered very valuable to the school. I think she is working hard to keep me happy...how cool!! Further evidence of this theory came today; she bought me a couple of my favorite doughnuts while she was out shopping today...hmmm.

Even more importantly, the Chinese teachers have been great! I've come to the realization that in order to be a truly successful foreign teacher here, you have to accept that you know very little. Lately, I have been approaching the Chinese teachers and asking them how they would approach/teach the various lessons. As a result, I think they see that I am serious about being a great teacher and it has strengthened my relationships with them. I have had nothing but positive feedback from them and it feels great!

I had a wonderful surprise on my birthday. I was wrapping up my work day in the office when Lydia, one of the secretaries, came out of the break room with a great birthday cake. All of the Chinese teachers sang Happy Birthday to me and we had a cool little party. It shocked the heck out of me. Afterwards, Scott told me that he was shocked because no one in the office had remembered Chris' or his birthday...interesting.

The apartment is great, I love this place. Recently, Scott hooked me up with some fabric. His girlfriend works for a company that makes textiles so she had a bunch of free fabric. I have been trying to figure out a way to get some curtains for my place on the cheap. The curtains that are on the windows are off-white...not much good for blocking the sunshine in the morning. As a result, I have been waking up waaaay too early lately. Well, I was in an industrious mood this past weekend so I made some curtains, kinda..lol. I managed to get them up by utilizing paper clips, safety pins, and velcro...lol. They work great, but look a bit odd.

Finally, I would like to congratulate my niece Jami. She recently was awarded an internship with Greenpeace. How freaking cool is that!!!!!!! Good luck Jami. Have fun and conquer the world.

Pictures!

this is the street i live on. i walk along this road for about 8 minutes to and from work every day.
this is almost the same shot, during the day. the scooters/motorcycles rule the road here.
the Bancaio train station. i catch the train here every day. it's a beautiful building.
any doubt that Lebron James is a superstar? this billboard is across from the train station...it's great to see a kid from home doing so well. Go Cavs!
this is inside the train station. if you look closely, you can see a fine example of asian style english...the sign says "wish you have a nice trip". we refer to this as "chinglish"...a fine meld of chinese and english...lol.

The Land of Bathroom Tile

I'm in full apartment mode. I went out this weekend and bought a bunch of stuff in order to make this my home. Nothing fancy, cleaning supplies and mundane stuff like that.

One aspect of this country that is kinda nutty is the use of tile. EVERY apartment and business is floored with wall-to-wall tile. I understand that clean-up is much easier, but it's not very warm. Not to mention the rain factor...ya see, it rains here all the time and the sidewalks are all made of bathroom-type tile. Tile is not the easiest surface to walk on when it's wet. Walking down the sidewalk during or after it rains is like walking on ice...ugh, I hate it. I've had several moments when I thought I was going to take a dive on my way to work.

This week at work is going to be interesting. I have a meeting Tuesday with some folks to discuss the Superwriters class. There are some issues that need resolved. The primary issues are the direction of the class and the pace. Do we want to follow the order of the text book and how quickly can we effectively make it through? The duration of the class is important because the parents are paying for their kids to be there and expect an efficient and cohesive program.

Pictures!

some shots of and from my new apartment.

this is the view from my apartment window. that is WenHua Rd., it's always busy.

my living area. just bought the laptop computer, it's great. got it for about half of what it would cost in the US.

the kitchen. not exactly the most expansive cooking area...it's great for me, don't need lots of space. I love this little place.

I Found an Apartment!

Forget about it. Didn't do the apartment mentioned in the last post...found something better. I just got back from checking out a great little studio apartment in Banciao (an out-lying area of the city). I liked it so much, I gave Sher (the girl currently living there) a few thousand bucks to hold it for me, I'm moving in!

It's pretty small, but it's all mine. I just wasn't digging the idea of having roommates. It's on the top floor of a 9-story building, which means very little road noise. One of the best features is its down the road from the train station and VERY close to work. It's nestled nicely between the subway and train stations, very convenient. The apartment is furnished which means it has a bed, tv, wardrobe, desk, microwave and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember right now. There is a washer/dryer that the 5 or 6 apartments on the floor share...that's a good deal.

The rent is a somewhat more than the other place, but it's worth it to have my own place. Can't wait to get in the place and make it home!