Week 42: Heat, Heat Waves

Hot. Hot, hot, hot. This week, there was a typhoon heading for Taiwan. Thankfully, the typhoon didn't hit us, and there wasn't really any rain, but it was ridiculously hot and humid here in Kinmen. Despite the heat, it was a fun week filled with lots of new experiences like going to new beaches, night swimming, judging an English recitation competition, and being in a dragon boat.

This Monday was my first Monday teaching in three weeks or so! I missed seeing my kids, especially my little 小班 students. They were adorable, even when they struggled with learning "A", "B", and "C". They did their best, though! 501 and 601 went well, too. Then during lunch, I went to FamilyMart with my partner and accidentally took a nap. Oh well.

I also had 201 that day to make up for a different class, then there was a schoolwide assembly. Unfortunately, that meant I didn't get to teach 101 (for the fourth time in a row), but at least I got to see a Taiwanese puppet show.

After school, I went to Sushi Express with my partner, then since neither of us had Chinese class/tutoring, he took me to a beach right next to the apartment. I'd never been before, but it was stunning. The sunset, the view of the bridge, the way the shadows were tracing the waves... perfect.

Since our view of China was the clearest we'd ever seen it (likely thanks to the incoming typhoon and its weather), we drove over to Little K and watched the Xiamen light show. Every night, there's a light show displayed across the skyscrapers in the city, and Monday was the first time we'd been able to watch it. I liked seeing the different visuals, which transformed from images like a burst of white birds to a swaying ocean of white boats and orange trees. It was captivating.

I didn't do much on Tuesday. I had my classes, which went well, then tutored my sixth graders for the spelling bee contest next Wednesday. There're two teams of three students each, and all of the students are relatively good at spelling, but it's definitely tough for them since there're six hundred English words to memorize. It's also a little hard for them to distinguish some vowel sounds from each other. Hopefully, they do well at the competition.

After school, I checked out the ongoing city god procession in Jincheng. Tuesday was the biggest and final day of the city god celebrations, so the entire procession with all of its performers looped through the city from noon 'til night. As on Sunday, I liked watching the different gods, dancers, drummers, and palanquin bearers make their way through the city. I especially liked seeing the kids dressed in hanfu and other traditional clothing (so cute!).

Due to the heat (as well as the intensity of the different firecrackers, fireworks, and smoke bombs), I didn't stay out for long. I just spent the rest of the evening at home doing work. Even from the apartment, I could hear the gongs and firecrackers as they passed by.

Wednesday was a half day, as usual. All my classes went well especially 601, which is always a particularly sweet class. I'm going to miss them so much—their graduation is in two weeks! I can barely believe it.

In the afternoon, I got a mango smoothie, then came back to school to help them learn their next dance. The very last dance of the school year for the dance club is "Solo" by Jennie (of Blackpink). The girls are learning it ridiculously quickly, and allegedly, they're learning it for the sixth grade graduation in two weeks. 加油, dance club!

After dance, I spent ten minutes playing a little basketball with a couple of my kids. I didn't do great, but I had fun with them. Then, I headed to Chinese class, then I went night swimming with some other ETAs at Houhu Beach. I'd never gone night swimming before, but even though I could barely see anything, I found my way over to my friends and we had fun splashing and wading into the water. The star-speckled sky was beautiful, and I loved the glow of ship lights and the rest of Kinmen in the background.

Thursday was the first day of June, and the beginning of the last month of the grant period. I spent the morning judging an English recitation class for the school, then taught my kindergarteners and third graders. The classes went well minus one kid suddenly falling ill with a fever (the latest in a recent wave of colds, flus, and COVID cases).

During lunch, I went to the honey shop again with my partner, and I finally got to see the beehive! It was considerably smaller than I thought it'd be, but it was still pretty cool since I'd never seen one before. I also got to chat with the owner's wife, who told us about how all the bees are caught and what kinds of bees there are.

On Friday, I went to EV, but I also had a not-great interaction with someone visiting the office. All I can say is yikes! The rest of the school day was fine though. I got noodles with the other ETAs, then we ate in our coordinator's office to soak up that sweet, sweet AC.

After school, I scooted to a part of Tai Lake I hadn't been to before and walked around a little. I also got to check out the bird island in the lake a bit closer through some binoculars. I got Thai food for dinner with my partner afterwards, then we walked around Tai Lake trying (but failing) to spot some otters. Although we didn't see any, one of our friends nearby saw one.

Saturday was our first dragonboat practice ever. Since there're so many ETAs, we have two different teams: the Fulboaters, and the Kinanigans. My team, the Fulboaters, was down five of our ten team members (all of whom were rowers). Practice wasn't bad, but it's definitely not the same when you have three out of eight rowers present. As a drummer (sans drum), at least I learned how to keep a relatively steady beat for the rowers to row to. I went to brunch with the other ETAs after practice, then I went home and tried (but failed) to be productive. Oops. I also brought my partner some orange juice since he was sick.

For dinner, I went to the new night market in Jincheng with two other ETAs, and it wasn't bad. I also saw one of my second graders in FamilyMart. I felt tired and nauseous afterwards, though, so I didn't get to hang out with everyone else. It's unfortunate; I missed both KTV and a Kaohsiung visitor.

Sunday was another dragonboat practice day. I went to dance with another Hong House ETA, and we were each given a small bag of dried plums (I think). Interesting.

I had lunch at Sushi Express with my partner, then went to Carrefour, and we saw not one, not two, but three more second graders there. Hooray for Jhuo Huan second graders on Big K.

We had a couple more people turn up to dragonboat practice on Sunday, so it felt a little more like a full boat. Our team had a scrimmage against the other one, and we won! The rest of the day was spent doing work, then going to hotpot dinner with everyone. I liked hanging out, as usual. One of the other ETAs had just climbed Yushan, the tallest mountain in Taiwan, so I also enjoyed hearing how the hike went.

That evening, I was accidentally locked out of my apartment, so I had to wriggle through half of a window (which was... not large) to get back in. I guess that's also a fun new experience from this week: climb through a 1' x 2' window.

As the grant period enters its final month, I keep worrying about what it'll be like afterwards. What it'll be like when there aren't any more kids to teach, no Little K to drive to, no fellow ETAs to come home to. I'm getting a little antsy about not seeing my family or friends back home, so I'm excited to see them, at least. I'm also just worried about coming back and finding that the home I come back to isn't the home I left.

Even so, I'm glad that even in this final month, I'm trying new things and having fun with the kids. I've been trying more and more to take advantage of the time I have left, and I think it's going well. Hopefully, I can keep finding new things and places to do, especially when it looks like the next couple weeks are gonna be pretty stressful. The end of the semester (and graduation season) is coming up fast. I don't think I'm ready!

Writer's Note: This post was originally written on Thursday, June 8th, 2023.