Just a typical day

I can’t believe I get paid for this.

The past two weeks have been awesome. I’ve been working for the World Games in Kaohsiung, helping to evaluate local businesses and giving them a pass/fail, three, four or five star rating. So usually I wake up, and visit three or four places with a Taiwanese partner and then teach my regular classes at night. It’s usually quite a long day, about 9:30-7:00 but I often find myself thinking: I can’t believe I get paid for this. In many ways, if this was a permanent job, I would never want to leave. Unfortunately it’s only a job leading up to the World Games that will happen in Kaohsiung in July.

So my typical day, what is it like?

Today, I wake up at 9:00 and drive my scooter to the meeting place, an MRT station about five minutes from my house. It’s quite hot out and I have to somehow maneuver my scooter out of the front of my building because there is a massive cement mixer out front redoing our entire street and thus angering my sleeping boyfriend. I digress…

Location 1: Bakery

I drive to the meeting place where at first we stop at a bakery near Formosa Boulevard that is Taiwan-based and sells traditional cakes and sweets. Enter the bakery and taste many free samples as they are expecting me. Breakfast is served. Am brought oolong tea, and walk around the establishment evaluating signs and finding any English mistakes on the introduction, business cards or signs. Start oral test. Ask about ten questions, all relating to the food, and evaluate English skills of the employees. Spend about an hour filling out the relevant forms, drinking tea, and finally when we’re ready to leave, we are presented with several free goodies. Ten mung bean cakes, 12 muffins and a jar of jam. This is typical.

Three stars.

Location 2: The Woman’s Spa

I was extremely interested in the Woman’s Spa because a> it’s right around the corner from my house and b> I LOVE Taiwan spas/hair places/nail salons and massage parlours. However all of these things can greatly fluctuate in service standard and services provided. Was greeted at the door by about five people, two of whom spoke English. So far, so good. Began the oral test and examining signs, and ask for a tour of facilities to check English signs. There are two points here.

1> This is a woman’s spa, and what does that mean in Taiwan?

It means that upon entering the facilities me and the Taiwanese partner (there for translation and additional evaluation) we walk into a spa full of naked women walking around. Never seen anything like it in my life. On the surface, looks like a regular sauna/hot tub/massage situation, but on deeper glance and in actuality it is a full-on nude spa with no signs that say nakedness was mandatory. Have heard a lot about these places but have never actually visited one. It’s quite common here, but I pointed out to the owner that informing the English-speaking guest of nudity requirement would be strongly recommended to save a lot of embarrassment.

2> Services in Taiwan differ:

Signage states that a ‘back rub’ is NT$400 but I know better, from personal experience. I kindly ask the owner, “Is this massage just for your back?” “No, no, all over!” she says, enthusiastically. Ummm okay. How to inform? After asking for a full body massage one time at a spa, I got the ‘full body’ massage all right, breasts and all. Ooops. I informed the spa owner that the words ‘breast massage’ or ‘full body massage’ should be included to save more embarrassment.

Before leaving, we were served orange juice and then I was given ten free spa tickets. On condition I must go naked. Well, it is right around the corner from my house but something about it is still really weird to me. Maybe I’ll raffle them off with some charity…I left pondering how a country so conservative on the outside could be so open in other regards. How strange.

Four stars.

Location 3: The Dentist Office

Holy geez! Who walks into a dentist office with a grand piano right at the doorway that plays by itself? And the BEST. COFFEE. EVER.

Five stars.

After evaluations, I went to my regular classes and still can’t believe I get paid to do this. Lucky a little?

~ by globalciti on March 17, 2009.