Jan I, Weeks 23 + 24: Season's Changings

Writer's Note: Hello everyone! As a heads up, this blog post will be the last one uploaded for a couple of weeks due to the upcoming winter break. Thank you for your patience!

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As 2024 begins, my first semester at 布袋國中 (Budai Junior High) and 過溝國中 (Guogou Junior High) ends. It's been a tiring time, but as always, there's something new to look forward to. There've been some smaller seasonal changes, like the different winter fruits at my local market, as well as a bigger one: Taiwan's latest presidential election.

Tuesday, January 2nd, was a recovery day, but admittedly, the whole week was a bit of a recovery week. Classes were ok, and I hung out with my roommate after school. We laid around the house, bought some fruit I've never tried before, etc. Fun fact: abius (黃金果) are a light, juicy, delightful fruit, and they taste like caramel.

I did slightly more on Wednesday. We had grad photos at Guogou, which probably turned out... interestingly thanks to each and every one of us staring directly into the sun. Classes were ok again. I finished glazing my myna bird and received my reglazed money frog, whose name may end up being Ribberto. Or Mr. Frog. Either way, he looks great!

At home, some county cohort members, my roommate, and I had hotpot at the Puzi apartment. We never really got around to watching the movie we meant to watch (any Studio Ghibli movie, actually), but we did watch more Avatar: The Last Airbender, so that was nice.

On Thursday and Friday, I taught more oral exam review classes at Guogou. Some of the kids also received their rewards for ClassDojo points at the end of class, so they got a ton of different snacks. There was also a spontaneous smoke bomb/firework display outside on Friday, which was a bit startling, but it looked cool.

In the afternoon, I taught my first Kpop lesson to English Songs Club. It went relatively well! I taught them some of the lyrics and part of the dance to "The Feels" by Twice, which is fully in English, and the kids seemed to like it. If nothing else, they were transfixed by the music video and the dance practice videos.

After school, I picked up my partner from the HSR station, and we cooked dinner at home with my roommate. The three of us made airfryer salmon, sautéed veggies, and vermicelli noodles, then we made airfryer flan that took entirely too long but tasted wonderful.

I chilled on Saturday with my partner, and we went to a café with my roommate and two other cohort members. We spent five hours doing random work, drinking tea and hot cocoa, etc., then went to the Puzi Night Market and wandered around.

I also didn't do much on Sunday. I cut up another abiu and hung out with my partner, then spent the rest of the day doing productive things. I did a dance workout, folded laundry, etc., and it was nice. Although it was a pretty quiet weekend, I think I needed the time to recharge and just hang out with a couple of people.

Monday, January 8th, was the beginning of the last full week of classes. I taught my ICRT classes on an exoplanet called WASP107b, then the kids did an English review Blooket. On the way home, I explored part of Yizhu Township. There wasn't much, mostly just cornfields, small towns, and an abandoned elementary school, but it was peaceful. Then, I cooked dinner with my roommate and we watched more ATLA. Good news! I think we might make it halfway through season three by the time conference comes.

The next day, I did very little. I taught my remaining ICRT classes and lesson planned for next semester, then I went to Ershen Café (二屾) with another ETF. We wrote a little together, and it was nice. The ETF's roommate joined us for dinner at the excellent sushi restaurant near Wufeng, then we hung out at Poya.

Wednesday was ok. School went well enough. I gave the first round of oral exams at Guogou, then gave some of the kids their ClassDojo prizes and had them fill out anonymous feedback forms on my lessons. So far, it seems like most of them liked my YouTube and holiday lessons.

In the afternoon, I went to pottery class and received my finished myna bird. It's ugly. And needs to be reglazed in some parts. But the colors are nice, at least. I also made little clay keychains with my students, and I got to chat with some of the other ninth graders I don't get to talk to as much.

I went to the doctor again after school (oh joy), then had dinner at an eel restaurant with some other ETFs and hung out with some county people. I've liked seeing handfuls of people throughout the past couple of weeks, but I'm still bummed about not being able to see everyone before conference and winter break. 怎麼辦 (zěnme bàn, what can you do), I suppose.

The next day, I had more oral exams, then I tried out a new club: indoor rollerblade hockey. I've never rollerbladed before, so I spent most of the club period learning how to skate. On the downside, I embarrassed myself in front of a lot of my kids. On the upside, now they know that I, too, am just trying my best. Overall, I had a good time, and I think I'll keep going next semester.

After school, I checked out Bingoo Ice Cream with my roommate and an ETA. The fruit ice creams were pretty good, and the store owners gave us free cream puffs too. We also got dinner together, then I had tutoring later that evening. Although I didn't do much at school, I had a pretty good day.

Friday was my last day of the semester at Guogou! Of course, I had more oral exams, but I also had my final English Songs Club meeting. We learned some of the lyrics to "Permission to Dance" by BTS, but we spent most of the club time playing games. As excited as I am for break, it felt a little bittersweet that the semester's coming to a close.

On Saturday, my partner and I went strawberry picking in Miaoli. We rented a scooter and drove to Liuhe Strawberry Farm in Dahu, passing gently-sloping mountains and open plains as we went.

When we arrived, the farm handed us a basket and a pair of scissors, then assigned us a row of strawberries. Thankfully, the strawberry picking experience was much more spider-free than it's been in the US.

Afterwards, my partner and I tried some of the strawberries we picked. Although they weren't as intensely sweet as some US strawberries are, they also didn't have the same tart aftertaste. As a synesthete, I'd also describe the taste as... round? We also tried some white strawberries, which I've never had before. They were also incredibly sweet and refreshing, but also pretty expensive.

The two of us had Hakka food for lunch, then we walked around a little before going to a café called Twin Peaks Teahouse. The views going up the mountain were lovely! The café itself was also wonderful. It was nestled at the top of the mountain, and the temple next to it overlooked the valley. There was also a striped calico that wandered around, which was sweet.

We had chrysanthemum and jujube tea, then I watched the sunset and walked around while my partner did some work. Despite it being the presidential election, I think our Saturday was pretty calm. Dahu was beautiful, and we had fun seeing different parts of Miaoli.

On Sunday, we went to a botanical garden near our hotel. The ice cream was so-so but some of the flowers were pretty. Then, my partner and I parted ways, and I headed to a cohort birthday celebration in Chiayi. Everyone in the cohort came! We had dinner at an American restaurant in Minxiong, and I caught up with all the other cohort members while we had some cake. Then, I hung out with my roommate a bit in the city before heading home to sample some of the Miaoli strawberries I brought home.

During the past couple weeks, I've been doing okay, but honestly, I've been feeling pretty burnt out and restless. I've also felt a little disconnected from people and places at times, which I think is exacerbated by end-of-semester burnout.

I'm glad that winter break's coming soon, because I think I need some rest, but it's also surprising how quickly the end of the semester's approaching. The grant period is halfway over already, and there's still so many people, places, and things to see. Here's to a wonderful final conference and a winter break spent with family and friends!

Writer's Note II: This post was originally written on Monday, January 17th, 2024.