TGIF
I went to class this morning pretty much having decided to stay in the
level 3 class. But the teacher was surprised to see me and basically told
me to find a harder class! So I left, ah well. Thought I could just skate
by this quarter. :) I went in search of my new classroom (with Gao lao
shi), but she must have changed rooms because it was completely empty! So
I went down to the main office but they didnÂt know anything about the
room change and directed me back up to the ninth floor receptionist who
was finally able to tell me where to go. And yet again, I arrived to a
class late. Not starting off with a good record. Heh. But this
time, it really wasnÂt my fault.
There are 4 other girls in the class and only 1 other guy when I walked
in. I couldnÂt believe there were so few! But later I learned that the 2
other guys were transferring out. And the final remaining guy is also
thinking about changing classes!! So it might end up being a class of 5
girls! Hee hee. It was really fun. The class is really talkative. I think
the class might be a little higher than my level, cuz thereÂs some vocab
and stuff I donÂt understand that everyone else seems to know already. Ah
well. Lots of catching up to do then I guess. Gao lao shi assigns daily
homework though so IÂll actually have to start studying now. :) After
class, my classmates hung out at the seventh floor lounge, but I couldnÂt
cuz I was meeting up with Jennifer, who was passing on some last minute
info before she left for the states about her tutees and stuff. That kinda
sucked cuz I really wanted to get to know my classmates better. Ah well,
IÂll just have to wait till next week I guess. I ended up going out to
lunch with Jennifer and her friends which was cool. My first meal not
alone and on my own! One guy came from Tennesee, went on Love Boat twice
and has been working in Taiwan for 11 years (including a couple years
studying Chinese at ShiDa)!!!!! He was also trying to get me to join the
Dragon Boat Racing team or something like that. They begin training in
April and race in June and stuff. Sounds cool, but I donÂt know if IÂll be
around by then. And the training is crazy! You have meet at like 6am to
train!! Ick. But itÂd be a good workout hrm could be my replacement for
ultimate. :)
After lunch, I went back to the ShiDa computer lab to check email and type
up some blogs. Yay! I'm almost caught up!! And I did a little research on
SIM cards for my cell phone. I was about done using the computer when some
guy with SUCH stinky feet sat down at a computer near me (not even NEXT to
me, just NEAR me!) and I could smell (yi gu cou wei). It was really really
quite awful! I can still smell it vaguely just thinking about it!! I left
as quickly as possible. (Oh yeah, you have to take off your shoes before
entering the computer lab must have something to do with static and stuff?
ItÂs a little weird, but whatever, itÂs fast!)
Today was also my first day tutoring the 8-year-old girl in conversational
English. Oh my gosh it was SOOOOOoooooo hard!! She refused to speak. I
mean, I could barely get her to answer Yes/No questions with more than a
nod or shake of her head!! It was torturous and I think I did a lot more
talking than she did! SheÂs got great listening comprehension, but I donÂt
understand why she refuses to say anything. I mean, I even asked her to
speak in Chinese if it made her more comfortable. But I think sheÂs just
really shy. Hopefully sheÂll get over it. IÂm not sure what I can do to
help. IÂm so clueless around little kids! And it didnÂt help that her
grandparents and dad were around while we worked. Made me kinda nervous
cuz I wasnÂt getting much out of my student. And IÂm not sure if the
grandma likes me. I donÂt think she does, but I donÂt know what I did.
Anyhow, after the session was complete, I was sooo exhausted! Oh my gosh!
All the energy was drained right out of me.
I stopped by a 7-11 on the way home to get a SIM card and phone number,
but apparently, with all the con-artists making crank phone calls using
convenient store bought SIM cards, theyÂve really increased the
restrictions on it. Now you have to be a Taiwanese citizen (and show your
passport and ID card) in order to get a SIM card. So I couldnÂt get it
then.
I called another potential tutee. This one was for a high school girl who
wanted some help with talking about scientific stuff in English,
especially biology. IÂll be meeting the mom and student tomorrow morning
at a park near home. We havenÂt even discussed salary and how often yet
though. What should I charge? Definitely not going to make the mistake of
asking for < $600NT/hr again!
Another typhoon might be coming! :( Supposedly itÂll start to affect us in
Taiwan someime this weekend and itÂll really hit on Monday. And people are
saying itÂll be worse than the last one! TheyÂre not even done cleaning up
after the last one yet (Ali)! I hope itÂs either not too bad at all or
itÂs REALLY bad, otherwise, itÂll be really sucky having to go to school
in really windy & rainy weather!
level 3 class. But the teacher was surprised to see me and basically told
me to find a harder class! So I left, ah well. Thought I could just skate
by this quarter. :) I went in search of my new classroom (with Gao lao
shi), but she must have changed rooms because it was completely empty! So
I went down to the main office but they didnÂt know anything about the
room change and directed me back up to the ninth floor receptionist who
was finally able to tell me where to go. And yet again, I arrived to a
class late.
time, it really wasnÂt my fault.
There are 4 other girls in the class and only 1 other guy when I walked
in. I couldnÂt believe there were so few! But later I learned that the 2
other guys were transferring out. And the final remaining guy is also
thinking about changing classes!! So it might end up being a class of 5
girls! Hee hee. It was really fun. The class is really talkative. I think
the class might be a little higher than my level, cuz thereÂs some vocab
and stuff I donÂt understand that everyone else seems to know already. Ah
well. Lots of catching up to do then I guess. Gao lao shi assigns daily
homework though so IÂll actually have to start studying now. :) After
class, my classmates hung out at the seventh floor lounge, but I couldnÂt
cuz I was meeting up with Jennifer, who was passing on some last minute
info before she left for the states about her tutees and stuff. That kinda
sucked cuz I really wanted to get to know my classmates better. Ah well,
IÂll just have to wait till next week I guess. I ended up going out to
lunch with Jennifer and her friends which was cool. My first meal not
alone and on my own! One guy came from Tennesee, went on Love Boat twice
and has been working in Taiwan for 11 years (including a couple years
studying Chinese at ShiDa)!!!!! He was also trying to get me to join the
Dragon Boat Racing team or something like that. They begin training in
April and race in June and stuff. Sounds cool, but I donÂt know if IÂll be
around by then. And the training is crazy! You have meet at like 6am to
train!! Ick. But itÂd be a good workout hrm could be my replacement for
ultimate. :)
After lunch, I went back to the ShiDa computer lab to check email and type
up some blogs. Yay! I'm almost caught up!! And I did a little research on
SIM cards for my cell phone. I was about done using the computer when some
guy with SUCH stinky feet sat down at a computer near me (not even NEXT to
me, just NEAR me!) and I could smell (yi gu cou wei). It was really really
quite awful! I can still smell it vaguely just thinking about it!! I left
as quickly as possible. (Oh yeah, you have to take off your shoes before
entering the computer lab must have something to do with static and stuff?
ItÂs a little weird, but whatever, itÂs fast!)
Today was also my first day tutoring the 8-year-old girl in conversational
English. Oh my gosh it was SOOOOOoooooo hard!! She refused to speak. I
mean, I could barely get her to answer Yes/No questions with more than a
nod or shake of her head!! It was torturous and I think I did a lot more
talking than she did! SheÂs got great listening comprehension, but I donÂt
understand why she refuses to say anything. I mean, I even asked her to
speak in Chinese if it made her more comfortable. But I think sheÂs just
really shy. Hopefully sheÂll get over it. IÂm not sure what I can do to
help. IÂm so clueless around little kids! And it didnÂt help that her
grandparents and dad were around while we worked. Made me kinda nervous
cuz I wasnÂt getting much out of my student. And IÂm not sure if the
grandma likes me. I donÂt think she does, but I donÂt know what I did.
Anyhow, after the session was complete, I was sooo exhausted! Oh my gosh!
All the energy was drained right out of me.
I stopped by a 7-11 on the way home to get a SIM card and phone number,
but apparently, with all the con-artists making crank phone calls using
convenient store bought SIM cards, theyÂve really increased the
restrictions on it. Now you have to be a Taiwanese citizen (and show your
passport and ID card) in order to get a SIM card. So I couldnÂt get it
then.
I called another potential tutee. This one was for a high school girl who
wanted some help with talking about scientific stuff in English,
especially biology. IÂll be meeting the mom and student tomorrow morning
at a park near home. We havenÂt even discussed salary and how often yet
though. What should I charge? Definitely not going to make the mistake of
asking for < $600NT/hr again!
Another typhoon might be coming! :( Supposedly itÂll start to affect us in
Taiwan someime this weekend and itÂll really hit on Monday. And people are
saying itÂll be worse than the last one! TheyÂre not even done cleaning up
after the last one yet (Ali)! I hope itÂs either not too bad at all or
itÂs REALLY bad, otherwise, itÂll be really sucky having to go to school
in really windy & rainy weather!
posted by ss @ 8:03 AM
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