Catching Up: What makes someone a real teacher?

OK now that we've gotten health care out of the way, I can talk more about Taiwan. 

Sunday we had a girls' day. A bunch of us got on the bus to Taipei around 11 a.m. and eventually made it to Pinglin by 1:30 p.m. 

There was an incredible amount of traffic.

Pinglin is a sleepy little town in the mountains that is supremely proud of its tea. They have a tea museum and all over the place there are decorative teapots: teapot lamp posts, teapots on railings, teapot carvings. It was adorable.

It's also gorgeous. We hiked around a terraced tea field and there were some great views. I also walked around in the ecological park (think fancy name for garden). 

Unfortunately my camera is still out of commission (pending receipt of a package currently in route from my mother) and no one else has posted pictures for me to steal — I mean borrow with credit — just yet.

Originally we were supposed to go mountain biking but we got there a little later than planned and couldn't find the biking place so we just went with hiking.

Afterward, the girls and I hung out in Taipei. We met up with some people that we met on St. Paddy's Day at the same pub we had been at that night.

It's funny how great our group is at making friends. We make friends everywhere we go.

That said, I almost strangled a woman who boasted about her teaching credentials from the United States and how she teaches in public school in Taoyuan. She had the audacity to say I'm not a real teacher because I teach at a buxiban. 

I admit that sometimes I feel like an over-glorified babysitter, but those kids learn whether they realize they're doing it or not and they respect me just as much as their teachers in regular school. Well, most of them do anyway.

It was just incredibly rude of her to say. Simply put: I hope I don't see her around Taoyuan.

Since we had such a full day on Sunday I ended up sleeping all day Monday and didn't think Monday night at school was going to be very good, but somehow I ended up with all this energy and I was dancing and singing around the classroom. 

The kids like it when I do that because they think I'm crazy.

Then today was a super busy day. I didn't think I was going to get everything done.

I had my outside class at the junior high and they were hilarious. We were learning about shopping for clothes today and so I had them do a role play at the end of class where one student was a sales assistant and the others were buying from them. 

Several students chose to go with more risque purchases than I would have expected. 

Here was my favorite:

Pendy: Hello! May I help you?

Jimmy: Yes, I would like to buy something very sexy.

Pendy: Oh yes, well what would you like? We have a sexy nurse costume, a rabbit girl costume or a devil costume.

Jimmy: Oh I'm not sure. Tonight... Well... Tonight is going to be my first time so I want it to be very special. 

Pendy: Oh yes! Well then I recommend the rabbit girl costume. Your girlfriend will like it very much. 

Jimmy: OK, how much is it?

Pendy: It is 20 percent off, so that makes it 20,000NTD.

Jimmy: OK, I'll take it.

I'll take this opportunity to remind you that 20,000NTD is about $600USD. That's one very expensive first time.

Anyway, teaching 14-and-15-year-olds can be pretty hilarious. 

Then I had my demo with my wonderful babies class. They did so well and I was so proud of them. That said, I can't decide if it was actually that great of a demo. 

There's more energy on a regular class day than there was during the demo. I wonder if maybe they were nervous or afraid they would get into trouble if they seemed energetic. Or maybe I just wasn't energetic enough for them.

Finally, I started to burn out about half-way through my last class and went over the edge around the time one of my students asked me if I'm pregnant. 

I have not put on that much weight. Maybe five pounds, if that. 

That said, the dress I was wearing today is baggy and kind of bowls out just above my belly. The idea is that it hides your rolls, but I can see how it would just make you look fat. Either way, that made me feel a bit self conscious.

Damn kids and their honesty.

Why couldn't I have been observed today?

My name is Jimmie and I am addicted to reading.

I woke up this morning and read the news for an hour not coming out of my room until I heard my roommates say something about how they didn't think I was home. At that point I decided it was probably time to show my face (not to mention eat "breakfast").

After I ate (an apple) I stuffed my nose back in the book I've been reading. I'm in the 400-pages now. It's so good.

I told myself I would only read until 3 p.m. Then I would do yoga, take a shower and do my lesson plans before going to class. Three o'clock rolled around and I wasn't ready to put the book aside so I told myself 30 more minutes. Then I opted for 30 more. It was like a snooze button for reading instead of sleeping.

Finally 4 p.m. struck and I realized if I didn't get ready and do my lesson plans quickly I was going to lose my attendance bonus for the month.

Going to work was totally work it though.

Alice came to school with her hair wet so Angela blow-dried and combed it before the bell.

My kids were being so goofy and fun today. We joked and played and we were super loud, so of course I got out the camera.

Glenn was probably the goofiest of them all today. His English is awesome for a 6-year-old.

I like when it's like that with my classes but especially with this class because we're in the very front classroom in Dar-Nan and it has big windows. We're basically always being watched through the big windows whether its by the front desk, other kids or parents. That's also the class that I got observed in and didn't have to best comments in the world.

This is Jim. He can be a brat but he can also be a lot of fun. Today was a fun day.

Today I felt like it went off without a hitch. Why couldn't I have been observed today?

I taught them all the material in the suggested lesson plan plus had time to review other stuff. They're so smart that they even knew how to answer today's new QA (What's your favorite number?) before I told them how.

Me: Everyone, new question! What's... your... favorite... number? (All the while miming my words.)
Kids: What's...your...favorite... number? My favorite number is one.

I was shocked and thoroughly impressed. It made me feel really good that they actually recognized the sentence pattern (from the previous questions: What's your favorite color and What's your favorite animal). Since they already knew what a number is it was easy for them.

I tried to get Tim to say his favorite number is 13 (superstitiously seen as a very unlucky number, especially in Asian culture) but he didn't fall for it.

Alvine was not excited about getting his picture taken at first. Then he gave me the cutest dog ears. :)

I'm getting to where I truly enjoy my Tuesday classes. The kids are so much fun and they're really smart.

I love that I can spend a lot of the class joking around and not using robot-speak. They're smart kids and they deserve to have a real conversation instead of being little drones.

Hopefully I will learn to like my Wednesday night class half as much. We will see.

After classes I headed over to the Night Market. I saw four other foreigners (one being one of my roommates) while I was at the Night Market. It occurred to me that we are pretty easy to spot in a crowd.

I wonder if Taiwanese people recognize as many people they know at the Night Market when they go or if it's just because we go all the time (I estimate that each night there are at least three foreigners there after work). There are always such large crowds that I'm amazed whenever I do see someone I know.