Typhoon Season’s a Comin’
The season’s first typhoon is right south of us, and there’s no telling if it will hit or veer off in the next few days! I’ve had my share of very strange and very crazy weather since I got here. A few weeks ago, we were on the ferry coming back from Ciao Liuchiu Island when we saw a funnel cloud in the distance drop and then rise up again.
And last week, on the way to University, after raining for 36 hours straight (or something) we scootered right through a massive flood near the river and had to get off and push our bike as I tried to keep my flipflops from floating away down the road. Luckily the bike stalled but then started again. But I was shocked to see that the first floor of many houses was flooded and people were starting up the barricades. Another problem when this happens is the insects. All the cockroaches and ants from below try to find refuge in people’s houses and other places. So even if you do stay dry you have to deal with all the bugs, and also with the aftermath of sewage smell on the roads. It’s not pleasant but at least the pollution has subsided for now.
So what’s new? I’m learning Chinese conversation twice a week. In my class there is another Canadian but also two Americans, two Japanese and one guy from Peru. The whole class is in Chinese, so we really have to pay attention to understand what’s going on. I’m loving it though and learning the Chinese (buhpuhmuhphuh) phonetic alphabet to help me learn to read and write the characters. I’m not sure if I’ll keep it up writing and speaking classes next semester, but we’ll see how I like it and how I can maintain working and class together!
The other news is that we are moving to another apartment. It’s not that our apartment sucks, it’s just that after seven months here and having seen everyone else’s apartments in the similar price range, we are opting for a place that is more comfortable. We are taking over an apartment from another couple who have been here for four years. There is a ton of furniture and it gets a lot more light. It’s going to be a little more, but I don’t mind considering it has a more European style and just plain more comfort in it. I sure am getting settled into Taiwan life!
I don’t know how long I’ll be here still, and I have a lot of things to consider. Although I like my job okay I really can’t do another year of working weekends and that’s starting to become apparent to me. I also want to spend more time at home. And with Mike potentially applying to law school I could be back as early as one year from now depending on what happens. I think sometimes people don’t really get why I’m here. At first I didn’t really get it either, aside from the fact that my boyfriend came, and I love travel so why not?
But in the end there is more reason to be here than not. I am learning Chinese which is going to be incredibly valuable in the future, and I really think that this is the best thing for me now. The University Mike and I go to is dirt cheap compared to back home…but not only that it’s GORGEOUS. I don’t think I’ve exactly explained to people how gorgeous it is: I will try.
Basically you drive 20 minutes just to the edge of the ocean and halfway up a mountain. The University (Sun Yat Sen aka Jhongshan University) sits on the mountain. In class, I sometimes see monkeys playing when it’s not too hot. Also you can see really cool bugs that you don’t see in the city, like a spider larger than an average bar of soap. Also with the ocean view from the school, it’s just a better environment to learn.
After teaching, I’ve also become a far better student. Since I see my kids’ mistakes, I can also recognize what the grammar differences are between the languages and where you would have a hard time learning Chinese as a Westerner. For this reason, my speaking is much better than the people taking the class but not working in Taiwan. For example, in English we would say something like “May I go to the bathroom please?” But in Chinese the direct translation would be ” I can bathroom?” or something like that. Some things there ARE no direct translation. There is also no future and past tense. So in a way, if you are good with pictures and replicating sounds, this language is possible to learn. But definitely easier having lived here for seven months and listened to it at school, on TV etc. You get used to the sound. I find myself picking up more and more. During break time, I get my students to teach me a new word and I think soon I’ll be getting a lot better. Anyway, it’s going very well and I’m really enjoying learning just a bit of this language!
The other thing here that is new is that my second cousin Tara is back from China. Since she’s around my age, I have a new friend to visit on weekends. She is here only two months, but before she was here for three years and is planning on going to India in September. She lives in Tainan which is only 45 minutes away from here, so it’s nice to have some family close by. I really miss home a lot but there is so much here to keep me busy that I don’t have too much time to be sad anymore!
Leave a Reply