Sept I, Weeks 5 & 6: Back to School

Good morning, class! During these past two weeks, I started teaching at 布袋國中 (Budai Junior High) and 過溝國中 (Guogou Junior High), and it's been an adjustment for sure. I've never taught middle school or culture classes before, but hopefully it goes well.

On Monday (Aug 28th), I spent the day doing chores, running errands, etc. Later, my roommate and I presented one of our coordinators with a little cake for her birthday (which was, unfortunately, the day before). I think she liked it! Then, I drove into the city with my roommate for a cohort dinner (all-you-can-eat hotpot). We rolled up half an hour late or so, but we had a good time chatting with everyone.

Tuesday was school planning day, which meant that I got to finally see both of my schools in person. I woke up at 6:50am, then spent my morning at Guogou, then my afternoon at Budai. My LETs at both schools seem very nice and welcoming!

The two schools have pretty distinct vibes, but I'm looking forward to seeing what teaching at them is like. Apparently, Guogou is known for wrestling and soccer, while Budai is known for ecology, particularly local flora and fauna. Also, both schools are relatively close to the coast, but Budai is famous for its salt fields.

The most surprising part of the day was spontaneously taking a cooking class at Budai with one of my LETs. The instructor showed us how to make fruit jelly, then we worked together to make lemongrass gelatin and cut up fruit. I liked having the opportunity to meet some of the rest of the Budai faculty, including the principal.

For dinner, some of the cohort and I waidai-ed dinner and ate at the Taibao townhouse. It was nice to hear about what everyone's lesson planning day and schools were like. Then, we all headed to bed early in preparation for the first day of school the next day.

On Wednesday, I also got up at 6:50am. Kind of an unfun time to be awake, but I was excited (and nervous) to see what my new students were like. The day didn't go as planned, admittedly, but I did get to give my self-intro presentation to one of my eighth grade classes at least. They seemed a bit shy, but still interested in the material.

The next day went better. The two classes I did teach were much less shy, and they were excited to ask questions and play the games I had prepared. One of the classes even had a very similar vibe to my 501 class from last year: fun, eager to participate, and not afraid to make mistakes.

The next biggest thing to note about Thursday was that there was apparently an earthquake that struck during lunch. At the time, I thought it was another drill, much like the many earthquake and artillery drills I experienced in Kinmen last year. It was apparently not a drill, but fortunately, the earthquake was very minor for us.

After school, I spent some time reading, then my roommate and I went to Taibao to have dinner with some of the cohort. We all recapped our first couple of days over ramen, then my roommate and I went back to Puzi and got mango shaved ice. It wasn't quite the same as the mango shaved ice in Kinmen, but it was pretty good. There were even pieces of dried salted green mango on top, too.

Friday was the last scheduled week day for me at Guogou. According to my class schedule, I spend Monday and Tuesday at Budai, then Wednesday through Friday at Guogou. This Friday, I taught two classes, lesson planned with some of my LETs, then went home (although apparently, I'll eventually also be teaching an English songs club with one of my LETs too). It wasn't a bad day. One of my LETs was very sweet and even handed me a box of banana-flavored chocolate cookies! The flavor combo was better than I expected.

That evening, the cohort had dinner in Chiayi City at an udon restaurant together. My roommate and I were besieged by bugs on our scoot over thanks to Google Maps redirecting us through the middle of nowhere, but we made it to dinner okay. The other ETAs and ETFs talked about their schools, their LETs, and their kids, and it sounds like most people are having a pretty good time so far. One ETA was even given a piece of cake by one of her students already.

We also had a little party at one of the city apartments to celebrate the homecoming of the cohort's "intern", who helped the coordinators during orientation. Although he's going to school in Kaohsiung, he's not too far away from Chiayi by HSR or TRA. It was nice to see him again and hear about how his first week of school's going. I also liked chatting with the cohort and playing a couple of different games together.

The next day, most of the cohort headed to Tainan. Nine of us had planned to go to a baseball game there and see some of the Kaohsiung cohort, so we met up at the train station, hung out at a cafe because the tickets we wanted were booked out, then headed into Tainan. It was my first time there, but I'd heard wonderful things about it from friends who went last year. Minus the heat.

We spent a good chunk of the day biking. We rented UBikes and headed to lunch at a Hong Kong place, then we rented more UBikes and went to the Hayashi Department Store, then got ice cream, then we rented UBikes again and biked to the baseball stadium.

Photo credits (bottom left) to Brittany Chen, 2023.

Although it was pretty hot and humid, I had a great time at the baseball game, which was the Wei Chuan Dragons versus the Uni-Lions. In the US, I don't usually even like baseball. I guess I do now?

Throughout the game, the cheerleaders led the crowd in a series of dances. For the members of the Chiayi cohort who went to a baseball game a week ago, they already knew some of the dances, but the rest of us (and the Kaohsiung cohort) just followed along. One of my favorite moments of the game was hearing them play a Chinese version of "Rasputin". Unfortunately, the home team (the Uni-Lions) lost, but between the dancing and the excitement of watching the game as a group, I had fun! If only I understood baseball better.

The UBike ride back to Tainan's TRA station was a bit scary. Nine of us biked in a straight line through the city like a trail of ducklings. We relayed different directions and used turn signals, but sometimes we had to regroup or pull off to the side. Fortunately, we made it to the station without any injuries.

Sunday and Monday were typhoon days due to Typhoon Haikui. On Sunday, my roommate and I went to the grocery store and stocked up on things, then we sat around and did work. It was announced at one point that school would be canceled on Monday due to the incoming typhoon, which was scheduled to hit the east and southern parts of Taiwan (including Chiayi). It felt a bit like a snow day, but more severe.

That evening, the majority of the cohort hopped on a call and decided to play Codenames online, which was the highlight of my evening. After three rounds of playing, my team won! Yay us. Then, I hung out with my roommate, read some more of my books, then watched TV.

On Monday, I did almost nothing. I slept poorly, then spent most of the day reading. At the very least, I got to call my partner for a bit, then I took a nap. Outside, the storm battered the windows and nearby trees with heavy rain and wind, but inside, my roommate and I were chilling. No power outages either.

For dinner, I had hotpot at the Taibao apartment with my roommate, the other Taibao folks, and a cohortmate's visiting friend. It was nice chatting with everyone after a day of doing relatively little. We also played some Codenames, and there were some interesting hints given. Another ETF's hint of the evening was "kleptocracy", emphasis on the "kl" and the "cr".

Tuesday was my first day teaching at Budai! I only had one class, though, because all the other students in the morning had exams. At the very least, I got to lesson plan a bit and I got to try some locally-grown rambutans. The rest of the staff seem nice, just a bit busy.

That evening, I had dinner with more Taibao cohort members and a former Chiayi ETA. Minus experiencing my first actual earthquake, it was a nice dinner. I'm not sure what I expected an earthquake to be like, but it was much more jarring than I thought it'd be, and it felt a bit like being on an amusement park ride (if said amusement park ride were the tectonic plates).

On Wednesday, I went back to Guogou. Classes went well enough, and I also got to go to the school's pottery club for the first time. We didn't do much, but I'm excited to start making things! After school, I went to a Japanese café in Puzi with my roommate, then we hung out at home. It was a pretty chill day.

Thursday was similarly chill. The biggest event of the day was going to the Minxiong Dashiye Umbrella Festival, which was a combined religious event and night market. The religious side was a festival to celebrate the end of Taiwan's Ghost Month, which is the month during which the spirits of the dead return to the world of the living, so there were a number of temple festivities.

It was a thirty minute scoot out to Minxiong with my roommate, but it was worth it even with the rain. We had fun wandering around the market, and among other things, we saw different food stalls and temple displays. My favorite was the tree of glowing umbrellas in front of the Dashiye Temple.

Friday classes were so-so. I'm having a tough time adjusting to teaching ninth graders, but hopefully I can figure it out soon. My favorite part of the day was going to my first dance class in Chiayi City. First lesson: Shutdown by BLACKPINK. A couple of people from the cohort and I went together, and I had a great time!

I missed dancing and spending time with people so, so much. The city-county divide has had more of an impact on the cohort than I thought it would, unfortunately. At the very least, it was nice to see people and hang out with them throughout the evening. Good news: I carried my first scooter passenger in the rain! It was daunting, but doable. A little scary though given that my scooter's too tall for me.

The next day, a handful of cohort members and I hung out in the city. We had lunch, went shopping, then had scooter practice. Even if I didn't end up doing too much, I liked seeing people I don't get to see usually, including the other former Kinmen ETA. I also liked going to the Wenhua Night Market that evening. We met up with another ETA at the market and walked around, then eventually headed home. It was a nice day out.

Sunday was rainy, rainy, rainy. I called my partner, then went to brunch with my roommate and ran some errands. I didn't do much else, just productive things, then bingewatching TV. While we watched TV, the storm outside was so intense that when lightning struck outside the apartment, it felt like a cannon in our chests. The only upside to all the miserable weather was that school was canceled for Monday. Unfortunately, that also puts our Monday students not one but two weeks behind schedule. At this rate, I'm not even sure when we'll meet them.

Honestly, I'm pretty anxious about settling into the school year. I feel like even though I like that school's started, it doesn't feel like we have a regular routine yet. We haven't had a full week of classes yet, there's a ton of crazy weather, and I don't feel fully moved in. On top of that, I'm also trying to change my scooter for a smaller one (or at least a shorter one).

I know I'll have fun once I settle into my schools, but it's been tough adjusting since middle schoolers and preschoolers are a little different. I also miss my Jhuo Huan kids a lot: I miss seeing them wave at me in the halls, draw with me on the board, and play basketball with them between classes. I also miss having an existing rapport with my students. Hopefully, I get to know my new students soon.

Until next time!

Writer's Note: This blog post was originally written on Tuesday, September 12th, 2023.