Evergreen Laurel Taichung

... Day Teacher Ashley" on all his papers. It was great. Then on Tuesday he wasn't being quite as good and I was telling him how impressed I was with his behavior on Monday. His response was, "But teachers it was Teacher's Day" and he looked at me like I was stupid. I asked him, "Can you only behave for me on Teacher's Day?" and his response was, "Yes!" haha Well he at least I got one day of good behavior out of him!

This week marked the first issue with my scooter....flat ...

... rapidly. This week we found out that on of our 4th grade students has it. So the school has started to take precautionary measures. I showed up to school one morning to find out I had to get my temperature taken. If our temp was too high, you would get sent home for the day. They now take temps of everyone that walks in the front gate, students, teachers, and parents. Our kindergartners get their temps taken 2-3 times a day because they are there all day. Some students and ...

... and strong winds. On Friday the rain had stopped so we went out looking for something to do. We were going to go to the Art Museum but it was closed....everything was closed except for the 7-11's and the movie theater! Since nothing was opened we headed home to relax. When we were out and about we saw many trees uprooted, scooters tipped over, power lines down and tree branches scattered about. On Friday night we went to a teachers apartment for a game ...

... next chapter of our lives with the travelling subsiding for a while. We will finally progress into an apartment with all the necessary rooms one needs to lead a comfortable life and working will be a welcomed foray since it means that we will have income our way once again! The next three weeks will indeed be those of change and transition, but will end with the same fond ...

There are a lot of little things that are different here than in the states so I figured I would write one blog and tell you about some of them!

1) You never where shoes inside a home or our school unless they are your inside shoes. Many of the students just wear socks and some of the staff teach barefoot. I have a pair of inside sandels I wear.

2) You don't tip taxi drivers or waiters! This is hard ...

... turnout was really not as strong as I expected. Of the combined 32 students I teach in my 2nd and 6th grade courses, only about seven parents showed up. Granted, the program only lasted about 30-45 minutes, and I had to leave at exactly thirty minutes past due to the fact I was scheduled to tutor a student. But it did really surprise me about the parental involvement as I expected a lot stronger support ...

... me as "Scot, the White Prince from Wisconsin"). I then tell the story. Halfway through the program, Linda says another few lines. We then go into the project, re-tell the story, and then it is time to go home! The whole process takes one hour from 10am to 11am. Jonathan was a lifesaver for me that morning. He has been working with the storytelling program for a few years and had the whole experience down pat. He really ...

... have absolutely no problem getting along well in society. He was very modest and refused to believe such a thing. He ended up leaving class with an issue of Sports Illustrated that I brought from home. I have little doubt that he will probably read the whole thing from cover to cover with very little problem. We will be reading the Gary Paulsen novel, Hatchet, in the weeks to come. I am anxious to see how much they will enjoy it!

... do in America. 3) We saw the movie at 8pm, and it cost about $7 to see. Slightly cheaper at that hour than in the states, but still relatively the same price. 4) Popcorn and soda are sold here and are still rather expensive. Though, again, slightly cheaper (and no free refills). You can get caramel corn as an alternative to regular popcorn if you desire. They also sell churros (a Mexican cinnamon stick ...

... one by the tail and asked one of the students to open his mouth! We got to the top of the mountain where we had a gorgeous view of the city. Afterwards, we kept walking down where he showed us his pig barn. He had all of us line up just a few feet downhill while he opened the barn gate and unleashed a flood of 40-60 pigs that ran down the mountain. Apparently he was setting them out to graze in the Taiwanese jungle. The final stop on ...