Not so exciting week....

Hey all.

Well, this week has just been the usual. The weekend just gone was one of the best i've had, simply because I did nothing and slept for most of it. I really needed it. I was exhausted and felt awful! So I think I managed to stave off a bad something.

I also got bored on the Sunday evening so I did a few lesson plans. Which made this week go, oh so smoothly. It was great! Though it did feel like I had no time off.

This weekend though...well, Sunday shall be spent in Kaoshiung. I am so excited about it! After work tomorrow (I have two classes) I shall attempt to get a direct bus to the High Speed Rail in Taichung to get my train. Failing that I can get a regular bus into central Taichung and get a taxi from there. No problems.

My language exchange partner was very helpful this week and taught me the Chinese for the bus stop I need and how to talk to the cabbie. Great stuff :D

Next update will be after my awesome time visiting great folks down south.

Chung Tai Chan Monastery

Zach, Renee and myself went for our mini-adventure on Sunday. First was an equally mini-adventure trying to get oil for my scooter. I went to one mechanic, which was closed, but recommended by a fellow English teacher.

The second I went to, the folks didn't seem able to understand what I wanted. They kept trying to say it was the fuel that needed refilled. But we managed to get there in the end, after me getting a lecture in Chinese about how I shouldn't let it get that bad again. haha. It's amazing what you can understand from hand gestures and tone :)

Then we set off. We did one circuit around Caotun and Nantou...mainly becuase I wasn't sure where we were going. Second time lucky, drive through Caotun and then head on the road to Gaosing. Finally we saw a sign to Puli in Caotun.

The drive there was stunning! Cruising through the mountains was trully spectacular. I wish I wasn't driving. Next time, i'll stop along the way to take lots of pictures :)

The rear view of the Monastery

Three Buddha's, zoomed view of back wall of Monastery

Main entrance

The Buddha that greats you as you enter

The Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings

The Great Majestic Hall

A couple of close-ups of the Buddhas

We didn't manage to look around the whole monastery, it was so big! So we will be venturing back there again some time.

American cooking greatness!

Three of my good friends, Zach, Perry and Renee, came to Nantou to use my kitchen to cook. Which, I in no way protested about :)

Renee was a master in the kitchen and made delicious chilli. Then her and Zach made, let me see if I can remember the name, 'no bake cookies'. Pictures below.

I also treated myself with a bottle of white wine purchased from Carrefour. Well, I of course did not drink the whole bottle.

This morning Perry had to leave early to get back to Hsinchu, the other two are currently fast asleep :) but later today we will be adventuring mini style to Puli to search out Chung Tai Chan Monastery.

I can't wait. I have looked up the map and written down the directions. All I have to do is get an oil change for my scooter and off we go later. Yay.

The cuteness of kids

On friday, the 13th of all dates, haha, one of my kids Elbe gave me a picture and wrote a song about her Teacher Gill. It was in perfect English, it had a chorus and everything.

It was so sweet! It is something I will treasure forever.

Sometimes I find my job challenging but I really do enjoy it. It's not the kids fault if they're having a tough time behaving, they're kids.

October 2009

October:

Again, lots to put in but I will add that later.

September 2009

September:

Lot's to put in but will add that later.

August 2009

August:

The first thing was the intense training at company headquarters in Taipei. Looking back on it, I have fond memories, but I do know that at the time it was hard going and worrying because I didn't know if i'd make it through the training process. I did, and now I have been teaching for three months. yay!

The weather was amazingly (not in the good way) hot! I did manage a little exploration with fellow trainees, which was awesome!

Here are a couple of photos of Longshan Temple in Taipei.

I met my new boss, Betty, during training and was informed I would be in Nantou City. I had no clue where that was or what I was in store for. I had to google it when I got in to the hotel that evening...I had spent the whole day envisaging a tiny little place in the middle of nowhere, but thankfully what I could find on the internet was not so bad.

To cut a long story short, after training and a couple of days in Taichung for further training (which were glorious), I was taken to Nantou and my new apartment. Which is huge! Uncomfortably so methinks.

I spent the first week just about managing to teach the material...time management was a huge problem for me in the beginning. It can still be like that now, occasionally.

I escaped to ChangHua on my first weekend. I managed to navigate the bus system to meet my soon to become good friends Gareth and Geoff. It was a great weekend of food, drink (naturally), and making new friends :D We also visited the giant Buddha that makes ChangHua famous.

Here is a photo of the giant Buddha




This is the Temple that sits behind the Buddha
This is another shot of the Buddha taken on a later visit:
I love this photo: it's of the fish jostling for food in the pond behind the temple. It is amazing to feed them!
I didn't do much else in August...get used to teaching and visit ChangHua at weekends.

Here is a video of me feeding the fish at the Great Buddha Temple :D

First Post

Well, i've been in Taiwan since the 1st August. As you can see by the date today, I have been here for three and a bit months. It has only really been now that it's dawned on me that I could be keeping a blog and anyone who wants to know what i've been up to can check here.

So here is my brainwave. I'll spend the first while writing a review of what i've been up to thusfar and then continue from there.

This is mainly for my family *waves* because I love you lots and would like you to have some kind of resource to see what I get up to daily :) because I know you care and worry...especially now that I have a scooter and the attention span of a magpie that has seen something shiny. haha.

Love to all!