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Legal Leila
Entry 16 of 28 | show all | print this entry |
Hey guys! Sorry for the delay in the update goodness...I find that now that I have a laptop...I spend most of my time surfing the internet or watching movies and stuff and not posting my blog entries like I usually do. I just needed to get caught up on all my shows and stuff and new anime that have out and various assortedness. The novelty of the laptop is wearing off now though and I can actually get myself to bed at a reasonable time and don't feel the need to keep surfing all night long. You need to understand...I was deprived of the internet for a good 2 months I think...and only accessed it when I was desperate enough to brave the smokey/stinky internet cafe.
Anyway...the first thing I would like to tell you about is my birthday. My birthday was on November 19th...I turned 29 years old. Man...I will be 30 next year. It's strange cuz I don't feel like I am 29 and it just seems like a number right now...but on the other hand I sit there and wonder where the hell time went. I wish I had started traveling earlier in my life...I discovered that I really LOVE traveling and experiencing other cultures and it just seems like time is running out and stuff. I would like to return to Canada by 2010 and start looking into a place of my own and a place where I will likely stay put for a while. Anyway...the plan was to go to this popular club in Taipei called Luxy. One of the co-teachers had said she knew a promoter there and he could get us in without paying for cover. I worked til 7:40 that Saturday night and came home and showered and started getting ready. Some people had gone into Taipei earlier and scored a hotel room in the same building as the club (holy convenience). I waited around for Meghan to come home. Tom, Alex and (another) Megan also taught late and came in. We headed off together for Taipei. We picked some beers up at 7-Eleven and then boarded the train to Taipei. 40 minutes later we were in our hotel room getting changed. We went downstairs and all the people had already gone into the club. The five of us who were left behind ended up having to pay cover. I was a little annoyed by that...the whole idea was for the birthday crew (especially the birthday girl) to get in for free and there I was...on the outside...looking in and having to pay my own cover. So in we go...I was looking pretty smokin' in this low cut (front and back cleavage) red dress. I was given some drinks upon my entry and there was this famous DJ dude there playing some hip-hop-rap mix live. I found that I couldn't really get into the music much. I need words in my music and not random music noise. LOL. Picky, yes, I know. Anyway...people were off doing their own thing and I did not want to keep going around asking people to buy me drinks. I think that if someone doesn't want to buy you a drink that they should not feel obligated to do so just because it's your birthday. I didn't want to put people on the spot and so I just didn't go and bother anyone. After I had purchased myself a drink and realized that I just wasn't drunk enough to be enjoying the scene....I decided to call it a night and head up to the hotel rom (this was round 2:30 AM or so). So ya, I was somewhat disappointed with the whole birthday outing...but I have had a birthday in 4 different countries now (Canada, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Taiwan) and not many people can say they have done that in their lifetime. The next day Meghan and I walked around Taipei for a bit and then I took the train home to rest some more while she stayed in Taipei and did some sightseeing.
Item #2: After having had some issues (my original application was rejected cuz the person I piggybacked with got rejected) and spending some $150 on assorted paperwork...I was able to get legalized in Taiwan. I am an official resident and get to pick up my Alien Resident Card on the 14th. This will make life much easier for me...as I will be able to open a bank account here and get myself a credit card (I had to cancel the one from Brazil when my purse was stolen). I also don't have to worry so much about being busted for illegally working here (as I have been doing for the last 2 months or so). That will be a nice weight off my shoulders. Somehow...the big 'deported' stamp on your passport would not be a good thing. :p
Item #3: Work is going well. I am now in the full swing of the routine and what the books I teach from are like and how to teach the material. I am also more comfortable with my students cuz I know them a lot more now than I did (obviously). I had my first 'parent-teacher' meetings on the 27th of November. I was nervous as hell. It's so weird being in that position. I mean...I remember when my parents went to those and how I was always worried what my teacher would say about me...and here I was being the one talking to parents about their kids. Kind of a bizarre twist on things. Thankfully they went well and I didn't have any problems. This one father actually wanted constructive criticism of his son (I had only sung his praises). Anyway, the administration was quite pleased with how things went and they complimented me on my professional look (I wore a black skirt and black blazer...company suit-wear I had from my Brazilian Oil Company stint).
Item #4: Some kids completely crack me up and sometimes I am laughing so hard I have a hard time teaching properly. I have this one kindy class in which one of my students is called Chi-Chi. The other kids spontaneously started called her 'Lychee' one day. So now when I call her up to play a game...everyone is like 'go, go lychee!'. Seriously...how can one keep a straight face through that? In my other kindy class I have kids with strange names: 'Bright' and 'Smile'. I like calling them up together for games. Can I have Bright Smile please? LOL. Ha, I crack myself up sometimes...OMG...this beginner class I teach...I have a kid named Wei-Wei. I was like...that's a strange English name. My co-teacher said he never got an English names and so he just used his Chinese one. I tried calling him 'Way-Way' but then he corrected me: 'It's Wee-Wee' teacher! Man...let me tell you...it's pretty damn hard to keep from bursting out laughing during attendance when you have to shout out 'Wee-Wee'. I told my co-teacher what the name meant and she was appalled. I asked her if there was any way she could talk to his parents and perhaps suggest an English name for him to have. She said she would and then forgot about it for a few weeks. Finally one day she came in and informed me that his parents had chosen an English name for him. I semi-jokingly said "Let me guess...they called him Willy?". My co-teacher was shocked "How did you know?". LOL!!! I laughed. "Call it intuition."
Most of the times kids are just clowns and their limited English and propensity to mispronounce things adds to the humor factor. Most of the times I am just in stitches. These are the best teaching days...when they feel more like fun and games instead of actual work. Other days...not so fun.
Item #5: So there is this guy who lives on the 4th floor called Alex. His friend Kimmi came down to Taiwan to work as a teacher here for a year. She got a job with this school in another town and found a homestay family with a girl 22 years of age (same age as Kimmi). She stayed in Alex's room for about a week and then moved out. During that time we did some things together and hit it off. Meghan and I hung out with her a couple of times. So after Kimmi was all settled in...she invited me and Alex for dinner at her homestay's family. We went and the food was delicious. Edie is the 22 year old and she was a really fun and cool person. She sent us home with a giant bottle of Prego spaghetti sauce and some pasta (which I turned into a fabulous dish) and told us that her family has a membership at a Costco in Taipei(Kimmi has since returned to the U.S...she couldn't handle being away from her boyfriend and family). We were invited to go out and buy some stuff there the next time they went. Well, this Sunday we had our big Costco outing. Let me tell you...I haven't been that excited about grocery shopping in quite some time. It has been over 2 years since I last stepped foot in a Costco and had actual North American food. It was hard not going nuts and just buying a shitload of stuff. I managed to keep it down to salsa, tostitos, tortilla wraps, spare ribs, bagels, cream cheese, cranberry-raspberry juice, muffin multi-pack and an assorted cheese platter. The Mexican food goodness was the best part...I missed Mexican food like nobody's business. Especially salsa. That is truly my favorite condiment of all time. Anyway...Edie told us that we could make the Costco experience a monthly thing...which makes me extremely happy.
I belive that that is all for now. We plan on spending Christmas day in the Grand Hotel in Taipei. You should see this thing...t's huge and just amazing. It's also all done in traditional Chinese architecture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Hotel_(Taipei_City). The rooms are reasonably price and it has a great view of Taipei. Take care...update soon!
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