day 2

I will learn how to be independent and optimistic in the face of anything by the end of this year. I guess that's why I wanted to do this in the first place. I knew that eventually I would need to stop relying on my parents who have always lived 15 minutes away. Anyway it's not easy adjusting so far but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm just not sure why I picked somewhere sooo far and sooo different.

Today was interesting. I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't fall asleep again so I talked online a whole bunch and waited for people to wake up, but everyone sleeps pretty late it seems. Jerry came over around 10 and we hung out until 11 when we had teacher training with Bill. He's awesome. He's been here for like 15 years. He taught us about 15 games we can play and taught us grammar rules and told us about the path that students follow in their education here. It all started to make a lot more sense.

After that, I went with this guy Kobe who barely speaks any English to the hospital for a check-up. It's the first stage in applying for a work visa and getting an ARC card. It was normal except for the woman taking some of my blood and I had to get a chest x-ray.

Then Jerry and I went to Carrefour, (http://www.carrefour.com.my/), and it was pretty funny. He bought some crab chips. I bought a towel which I needed badly. This morning I showered and dried off with half a sheet I found on some shelf in the common room. And we had lunch at Starbucks. We had delicious croissants with a slice of like roast beef and cheese melted on it. Yum.

Then tonight I observed 2 classes. It seems like the key to classes is keeping the kids busy at all times and not doing activities that only engage 1 kid at a time. They get really out of hand when you aren't paying attention to them. I had to teach at the end of it and I played Simon Says and it didn't go over well because I couldn't catch them, they were such good listeners.

After I was done observing classes, I hung out in the lounge upstairs and talked with the people who live in this dorm. They're all really nice. I hope I can start hanging out with them soon.

Overall, I did well today. I'm comfortable with my street and how to get to Carrefour. By the end of next week, I'll know how to get to the 2 schools I'm teaching at so far. So the outlook is good.
My mini-goal is to start eating things other than noodles and bread products. Up until tonight, all I had eaten was a lot of chicken noodle soup and random rice things. I took a multivitamin and felt instantly better. I think I'm just nutritionally out of whack right now.

The only thing I really can't get used to so far is this weird smell that you encounter on the street. I guess it must be the sewer system because sometimes I smell it in the bathroom. It's really strong and putrid and gross. I don't know how to explain it.

day 1

It feels weird that I just got here this morning because I had a full day. After I saw Alex, I called mom and dad again on Skype and then Jerry came by to see me. It makes me feel better to see him relatively well adjusted since he was pretty shaken up when he first got here. If he's only been here for 4 days and he's already doing so well, I'm sure it'll be fine. It's been funny because all of the existing teachers just met Jerry and he told them all that I'd be coming shortly, so every time I meet someone they say 'oh yeah, Jerry told us you were coming.' They all seem really nice. I hung out upstairs for a little while tonight while I made my chicken noodle soup (thank goodness for that website that told me to bring it), but I'm too tired to stay up and chat.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
After Jerry came by, I just hung out for a few hours before meeting with Sandy, the woman who's basically in charge of everything. She's super nice and she explained all of the rules to me. It's funny how regulated everything is. If you call 4 hours ahead of time, there's no penalty, but if you call 3 hours ahead, $100NT is docked, 2 hours $200, etc. And you get incremental bonuses and there seems to be a reward/consequence for everything imaginable.
She also told me that flip flops are house shoes and you're not supposed to wear them outside or to class. :(
Finally, I observed my first class tonight. It was insane. The teacher, Brandon, was super loud and his class was off the wall hyper and they were screaming the whole time and being totally crazy. Apparently some classes are like that and some are really dead. I had to play a game with them for 10 minutes at the end. It's pretty overwhelming but I'm sure I'll figure it out.
Overall, I think this seems doable. I've definitely had a few 'I don't think so' moments, but in general, the people are nice and I think I'll be fine.
Oh! The toilets are crazy. It's like a urinal on it's side in the floor. With no water. It's crazy.
But I found a regular toilet on the 5th floor thank goodness.

Ok time to try to sleep.

arrival

I made it all in one piece! barely. I had a few meltdowns. Ok more than a few.
I cried every airport and on every plane, but I think I'm ok now.
My flights to Dallas and to LA were both delayed, but thank goodness for my dad and his blackberry. He kept up with my flight and gate info and I wasn't too worried.
A nice man, Jim, sat next to me on the flight to LA from Dallas. I know his whole life story.
The flight to Taiwan was long! I had a man with no deoderant one seat away from me
on one side, and a mom with the only crying baby on the other side when I first sat down. Luckily, the mom ended up having to move because she was in the wrong seat. She was replaced with a really nice American girl. I was fortunate to have the empty seat next to me and I slept on and off laying down in the 2 seats for a lot of the flight.
Once I got to the airport in Taiwan, the guy who was supposed to meet me, Steve, was nowhere to be found. The good thing about not looking like anyone who belongs here is that everyone wanted to help me since I was obviously lost. A lot of the taxi drivers let me use their cell phones and one guy let me use his laptop. The number I had for Steve didn't work, and I tried calling Alex but it was 6am so he wasn't awake. Just as I logged on to the internet on my laptop and was in tears talking to mom and dad, Steve found me. He was very apologetic.
Anyway he took me to the dorm and showed me around.
(I know this post is pretty scattered, but I'm exhausted).
As I was setting my computer up, I heard a knock on the door and it was my friend Alex. He's been here since October. Upon seeing him, I burst into tears again. He said mom had sent him an email that gave him an idea of how close we are, as it was evident she was having a pretty hard time without me already, which just made me cry even more.
But he and I walked to the French grocery store, I forget the name of it now. It's right down the street from my dorm though. I bought some juice and toothpaste. Then we ate breakfast at this little street vendor cafe thing that didn't have a word in English.

Anyway here are the pictures of my room.
Empty..


Full..
Do you think I brought enough underwear, shoes and books?! sheesh. Lesson learned.

jacket

the search has ended:
http://www.thenorthface.com/opencms/opencms/tnf/gear.jsp?site=NA&model=AS0M&language=en

freya stark wins

"To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasant sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown and accept whatever comes in the spirit of which the gods may offer it."
--Freya Stark

I'm going to try to make that my mantra in spite of my hypochondriaical ways.
I bought my plane ticket yesterday after concluding that the travel agent the school uses doesn't know what he's talking about. He kept trying to put me on flights with 7 hour layovers. $1600 later, I booked my own flight. 1 hour layover in Dallas, 2 in LA, then a 13 hour flight to Taiwan.

At dinner tonight, the only Mandarin word I could think of was 'pijiu' which is 'beer.'
Countdown: 11 days.

steinbach

So far, Alice Steinbach says it best.

"But something was working deep inside me and, like a tropical storm, it gathered momentum before hitting me full force with its message: you are a woman in search of an adventure, said the voice inside. Take the risk. Say 'Yes' to life instead of 'No.'"
--Without Reservation, the travels of an independent woman

travel books

I read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert last month.. she traveled to Italy, Indonesia and Bali and wrote a book about it and I looooved it. I probably would have kept reading travel books just based on that, but now that I'm going to Taiwan they seem all the more relevant. It's interesting to read a book when you know everything actually happened. And the people who pick up and leave everything to travel are definitely a certain breed. I guess I'm one of them now.

Anyway I bought..
Way off the Road, Bill Geist (for my dad for father's day.. but I'm going to read it first :X)
Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes ..it's been calling my name. I watched the movie last night and it jumped out at me on the shelf at both Half Price Books locations
The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson (Marisa and countless bookstore employees have told me Bill Bryson is the best [travel] writer in the wooorld)
The River at the Center of the World, Simon Winchester
Without Reservations, Alice Steinbach
and Lonely Planet's book on Taiwan
and Lonely Planet's Mandarin phrasebook

So I'm all set with books.