A bit of Exploring!

By show of hands, who has been to the top of the world's tallest building??? I have, I have! Over the weekend I hit up Taipei 101. It's over 500 meters tall. Physics and the Mother Nature have an interesting friendship here. The whole of Asia is no stranger to typhoons, raging winds, and earthquakes. So it seems like an unlikely place to build the world's tallest building. However, just looking at the design you can get a feeling that a lot of the "natural dangers" have been given their due credit. In the core of the building is a HUGE orb suspended by thick cables and hydraulic pistons. When the the wind blows fiercely or the ground shakes, this orb sways to counter the movement of the Tower keeping it thus upright. Fascinating!

There was an observation deck on the 85 floor. The speed elevator took 8 seconds to get from floor five to 85. That's crazy fast. The speed elevators hold the Guiness World Record for fastest elevator (people, not freight). So, this is Taipei from 85 floors off the ground -- note we weren't even at the top of the building. There's still 16 floors before you reach the top!

In the Land of the Hairless...I am King!

Interesting fact: Probably 90% of all Asians don't have arm hair. Indeed, beyond that I'm fairly certain they don't have much leg hair, back hair (god help them if they do), or chest hair. Given that, my students are fascinated by my light hair and my arm hair! They can't get enough. They come up to me and rub my forearms with their hands feeling my arm hair. I wore shorts the other day and two of my pre-schoolers, Stanley and Jaimie, couldn't stop playing with my leg hair. They just kept stroking my knees giggling. Such sillies they are!

The Joys of Teaching 1

It's been my first week at work -- The Uncle Sam American School. There's some ironies here: the first being, USAS us neither run by nor operated by Americans. On the teaching staff/faculty there are only three Americans. The rest are Chinese (Taiwanese). Regardless of said ironies, it has been an enjoyable week. I spent Monday - Wednesday observing varying classes, teaching styles, and games like Pronoun Pants (by Chad pictured here).

On Thursday I taught my first couple of classes. It wasn't as daunting as I expected. A lot of the kids I knew from observing and they were already warmed-up for me. Friday was a full day of teaching. The time really flies, especially since most of these kids aren't older than say, 3rd Grade. That said, it's the pre-schoolers that really work me over. I'm always the most tired and sweaty after teaching them (okay, it's more like playing).

At this point I need to tell you that pictures of the kids will come soon. So sit tight! For now, enjoy the pictures of some of my co-workers. We're a fun bunch. We're a couple of Americans and two South Africans -- but they don't count because they're heading out after this week.

Finding your way...

It's easy to let fear get the better of you. Here I am in the middle of a city with no clue where anything is. Though there's a lot of enlish or Pinyin (Mandarin written using Roman letters), there aren't a lot people that speak or understand it. What do you do??? Remain sedentary and only move between work and your house? I say nay! That first thing to do, indeed the sooner the better, is to get "lost". Obviously not actually lost. But a sort of "controlled lost"...

The other day, I made it a goal to explore a certain part of the city and I had to use the bus (written entirely in Mandarin!) and then find my way back to my place using only public transportation. It was the perfect time of day too; it was just before dusk and by the time I got home it was dark. I got to experience the city in daylight, dusk, and night. This place really comes alive at dark -- but that's a different entry.

Anyway, it was incredibly useful for me to learn the area by getting out and exploring. I even took a picture -- here's a scooter gang! (not really a gang. actually scooters probably outnumber cars here) This is typical at every stop light.

Days 1 and 2...

I'm here in Taiwan. Specifically I'm in Taipei the capital. What an interesting place! There's definitely a sense of being crowded and at the same time a great use of space that makes everything seem open and non-cramped. I'd say that Taipei is a lot like Boston only BIGGER and covers a larger area, oh yeah, and with a predominant Asian theme. All that aside, Taipei is a lot like Boston and other New England cities: wide streets, lots of apartment buildings, traffic, and some form of a metro.

Anyway, the parents took me to the San Francisco Int'l Airport for a 1:05 am flight out of the bay area to Taiwan. I didn't land until 5:30 am Saturday. What happened to Friday??? It's kind of interesting that I have lost a day. Friday, June 22nd, 2007 did not exist for me. Time's just crazy like that!


I was picked up at the airport by "Unlce" -- the elderly in Taiwan are usually refered to as "Uncle" or "Aunt" (in Mandarin: "Shoo-shoo" and "Shen-dsa" respectively). Anyways, Uncle didn't speak much English -- actually none at all, a bit silly since he works for the Uncle Sam American School......

Which is where he dropped me off! I was immediately thrown into the mix and when through the preliminary training stages. I was, and still am, suffering from some serious jet-lag following a 16 hour flight. It's to be expected right?

Not gonna lie, i was feeling some serious homesickness the first night here. That and I had to sleep on a bamboo mat in my apartment. Not so keen about that. Sunday arrived and I set out to find the LDS Temple in Taipei. It was a great opportunity to explore the city and familiarize myself with the MRT (subway/metro). Anyways, I found the Temple AND there's an English ward! It's awesome. I met some great people and made some great new friends. There were a few ladies that have been teaching in Taipei for more than 4 years! We all had dinner following church and they clued me into some of the ins and outs of Taipei. SO VERY HELPFUL!

Tomorrow, I start observing my classes. Very excited!