Taking a break in Taiwan

August 11th, 2010 by Shane No comments »

After 3 weeks at camp ALV I was a little tired of the summer camp lifestyle. The camp, itself, wasn’t so bad, in fact the kids were great as were most of the teachers and teaching assistants, some of which I will miss. The bad part was that I pretty much only saw the golf resort for 3 weeks straight. Granted it was a nice area and I woke up to a gorgeous view outside everyday, I really needed to get out of there before I went stir-crazy. So on the last day I collected my pay and accompanied the students on their bus to Taipei.IMG_2018

The following day I took a train to Hualien, a city on the east coast of Taiwan, and famous for it’s sights, surfing, and beach-town atmosphere. Upon arriving and stepping out of the train station, I knew it was true. The park in front of the train station, lined with fruit stands, locals cruising around on their scooters in shorts and flip-flops, and the smell of salty ocean air, told me; “this, this is a paradise”.

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Summer Camp in Taiwan

July 25th, 2010 by Shane 1 comment »

One week down at the summer camp and two more to go. It’s been an interesting and for the most part fun time so far. I now know at least 5 different dances to random songs, 3 different chants, and can now sing loads of songs. I also have to pretend that I can’t speak any Chinese (which isn’t too hard), I take at least $2 from a kid if he or she speaks Chinese, and another $2 if they call me “Teacher”. I have a name, it’s not that hard, I also wear a name tag all day long.

The days are long, and start at 6-something with a shower; dancing warm-up follows at 7:20, then breakfast, classroom teaching, activities, and situational teaching. Next is lunch, more situational teaching, activities including chants and dancing and acting (being somewhat of an actor is helpful here). Dinner comes next at around 6 PM, followed by a meeting and then followed by an activity of some sort like dancing, or games, then there’s night snack before kids get ready for bed. By 10:00 PM all the kids are in their rooms and presumably in bed (of course they aren’t really, they’re watching TV quietly till midnight I’m sure). That gives the teachers and teaching assistants time to shower, relax and take care of their own business. If I actually went to bed at 10 like the kids did, I probably would be so tired, but like that would actually happen. I don’t think I’ve gone to sleep before midnight here, usually 12:30 – 1:00 AM.

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Arrival in Taiwan

July 12th, 2010 by Shane 1 comment »

Last night I finally arrived in Taoyuan, Taiwan. But only two days beforehand I was sincerely worried that I wouldn’t make it so smoothly. I guess that’s just how things work in China; nothing is definite, no matter how much you try to make it.

It all started with getting my visa, which will allow me to come back to China after my month-long stint in Taiwan. I was able to get all my papers in order for that, or so I thought, but when I went to my visa appointment I was told that my new school, Xi’an International University (XAIU) was unable to get my Foreign Expert Card on time, so it would be submitted late. This led to my visa maybe being ready by Friday (the day that I leave), well that just leaves one other thing until the last minute.

I still need to be paid by SUST, desposit that money in the bank, submit my grade sheets, make sure everything is moved out of my apartment, move a good portion of my stuff to XAIU, leave a few things in my colleague’s apartment, and finally say good bye to quite a few people before going to the airport. It all sounded easily doable, but when the visa office, and the financial office at SUST decide to delay until Friday afternoon, things start to get a bit stressful.

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One School Year, Gone

July 4th, 2010 by Shane 3 comments »

The end of this week, July 9th 2010 specifically, will mark the end of my English teaching position with Shaanxi University of Science & Technology. I’m a little sad to be leaving, I had a hard time telling my students because I felt bad, and I didn’t want to make them feel bad about it. I’m also feeling a little nervous about what’s in store for the future because I’ve gotten quite comfortable here. I know the foods I like to eat, the people who make the food usually know what I want, I know a lot of students, I know where and how to get things done, I don’t get lost around here anymore… I could go on and on. I would be lying if I said everything was sugar and spice and everything nice. But really, other than a few small problems, most everything else is just fine.

So why am I leaving? Where am I going?

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Drowning Controversy at SUST

July 3rd, 2010 by Shane 1 comment »

Controversy has been swirling around Shaanxi University of Science & Technology for the past week and a half. The cause? An unfortunate drowning accident in the image1school swimming pool, and the consequential handling of the situation. There are no protests, or vocalizations, but if you ask students about it, or read their comments online, they are less than pleased. Some of the common consensuses are that the teacher didn’t do enough to save him, that the school leaders didn’t take responsibility and inform the family of the truth. About one week later it was learned that the family received 130,000 RMB from the university, a large amount to the peasant family of the child, but in most students’ opinions; a laughable amount for a human life. Read on for more.

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Adventures in Seoul

June 25th, 2010 by Shane 1 comment »

Yeah, I’ve been back in Xi’an for two weeks already and having written about Seoul, so I figured I should get around to that.IMG_1624

 

I never realized how hard it would be to meet up with people without having mobile phones. Upon arriving in Seoul I couldn’t contact anyone unless I found a wifi  hotspot. No phone service and no one to call. Fortunately, my travel buddies and I are rather tech savvy, and carry smartphones around with us, allowing us to email each other or leave messages on Google Voice. That made meeting up in the airport extremely easy.

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