Borah the Explorer

August 18, 2009

Week 1

Taiwan is both hot and humid! In comparison to Virginia summers those in Taiwan are completely different. Just being outside means that I start sweating profusely. It's like a free sauna constantly surrounding me but more humid. I learned that quickly upon my arrival. The following are some pictures of what I saw and did during my first week in Taiwan.

Day 1: Arrival

Yilan Fulbright ETAs 2009

1st ride on the MRT in Taipei (l-r: Deborah, Jessica, Maria, Owen, Joe, Jean, Professor H, Eric, Kim, Aimee, Monica, Kevin, Nikka, Courtney, Jill - not pictured Gabe & Lillian)

Gate in front of the Grand Hotel or Yuan Shan

The Grand Hotel

(many receptions and dignitaries are hosted there)

Taipei Skyline

(This is view from the restaurant inside the hotel. Taipei 101 is the tall green building in the background)

Eating in the restaurant

(Da jiu looking at the menu)

Day 2: Moving to Yilan County - Luodong city

Our lovely tour bus that drove us around for the first 2 weeks.

My room

(it's huge and has a great view)

View from my bedroom window of Luodong

The Living Room

(Jessica my roommate lounging on the couch after moving in)

The Kitchen

Roommates

Hot Pot soup/veggies

Grilling our own meat

(for the carnivores in the group)

Day 3-7: Training

Wai-Ao Beach

(one of the elementary schools is right off of the beach and they have surfing classes)

The group at the beach

Since the typhoon was coming we weren't allowed to swim in the water. We could go in up to our knees but if you had a surfboard you were allowed to go in deeper. Perhaps having a surfboard means you won't drown. Jessica and I also attempted to learn how to skimboard. This requires that you wait for a wave to come in and begin to recede then you throw out the board and run and jump on it. It's amazing how many times I missed the skimboard or failed to stand up and balance correctly. Perhaps with more time I can master the art of running and jumping on. Or I can just switch to learning how to surf since the elementary school we visited offers classes.

Typhoon Morakot preparations

(window taping, stocking up water, bread, and ramen)

The typhoon did not end up hitting us particularly hard in Luodong which was fortunate for us. We got together and hung out with the other kids living in Luodong, went to Family Mart for ramen, and watched movies.

Welcome to Taiwan

First Impressions

Well, coming off the plane I smelled CHINATOWN except this time I was actually in Asia for the first time! I spent the first day in Taipei awake so that I wouldn't have jetlag. It was somewhat painful considering I had slept for a total of possibly 6 combined hours since I left Richmond. It was great to finally arrive although I am definitely not looking forward to a return trip on the plane. On the first day soon after I got to Taipei I got to see my Da Jiu (oldest uncle on my mom's side) who I haven't seen in years. He later took me to this shopping area Ximen Ding and then to the Grand Hotel where we ate and could see the whole city. It was pretty awesome.

My second day in Taiwan I took a bus to Yilan County which is on the northeastern side of Taiwan and moved into an apartment in Luodong city. There are 16 ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) in Yilan County and we were split in half with 8 of us living in Yilan City and 8 living in Luodong. My apartment is pretty spacious and I only have one roommate, her name is Jessica, and she is also Chinese like me! Unfortunately we only had one air conditioner (an extremely necessary device) so we have been sharing my room which is much larger and has an air conditioner.

Since arriving I have been utilizing my limited Chinese speaking skills and I know enough to order food which is wonderful. There are so many types and it is always soo cheap. I also live pretty close to the Luodong night market which contains tons of shops and food! I have also tasted the famous stinky tofu and enjoyed it, specifically the crispy kind. The conversion rate is about $1 US to $32 NT. My language skills have also come in handy when asking random people on the street for directions or information. So far everyone has exercised a lot of patience and kindness with me. I have noticed that I am much less inhibited in asking for information here in comparison to the states.

As for natural disasters the first weekend I was in Taiwan we were warned about a typhoon that was

projected to land near our county. This involved stockpiling food (i.e. bread, water, and ramen- I don't understand why Chinese people stockpile foods you still have to cook it), staying indoors, and taping our windows. We were really fortunate because Typhoon Morakot did not affect us much here in the north of Taiwan but in the south it was really devastating. In addition, this morning I felt an earthquake when I was at the train station and about to buy a ticket to go to Yilan (we have to travel there for training every day). The ticket seller stopped us (my roommate and I) and asked us if we could feel the earthquake (the booth was visibly shaking) but it wasn't too bad. So I have now truly been inducted into the world of Taiwan having experienced some of their normal occurrences.

Every day that I have been here we have had training. This involves some theoretical lecturing from our advisor Dr. Hoopingarner, school visits, lunch boxes, LET (local english teacher) presentations about subjects such as reading/writing or songs, and scooter practice to round off the day. The days have been extremely long where sometimes I don't get back to my apartment until after dinner. I've been practicing scooter riding also because that will be our main system of transportation to whatever school we are placed in. It's a little scary to think about riding around the city.

This coming year I will be teaching in the junior high schools here in Yilan County. There are only 4 of us teaching junior high and I decided to do it because I thought it would be more challenging to teach older kids and because I wanted the opportunity to teach more content. I have visited all the schools and am looking forward to working with the LETs and teaching students this year!

August 12, 2009

Farewell to VA

I've had many goodbye's to say before leaving for Taiwan. The following are a few places and people that I saw. I'll miss all of you! Thanks for being so supportive and amazing.