Leavin' on a jet plane

Don't know when I'll be back again. But I will be back. Taiwan was too good to leave it forever.

The best laid plans . . .

I didn't make it to Lanyu, and I came back a day early. Here is a list of things that went wrong:

1) There were no seats available on the train. So I stood/sat on the floor for 5 hours. No biggie!
2) There were no ferries available to Lanyu until the next morning. Not really an issue, except that I was at a harbor far, far from Taidong (and the nearest hotel that I knew of).
3) After arriving at Green Island (a reasonable alternative), I discovered that the campsite I had paid for at the visitor's center did not come with a tent or a sleeping pad.
4) No one has tents available to rent after 6:00.
5) Scooters can run out of gas unexpectedly, at awkward times.
6) The sun rises very early, and the wind off the sea is cold without a sleeping bag.

However, it was still a good trip. I got to swim in one of the only two salt-water hot-springs in the world, which were conveniently open 24 hours. I made a bunch of pretty cool short-term friends to hang out with and have barbecued seafood with. The stars are AMAZING on Green Island at night. No one will bother you if you sleep on the beach (though you may be cold, and wake after only 2 hours of sleep, but if that's the case it's your own damn fault). The ocean is warm but still refreshing after the heat of the day.

I am tired, I am sunburned, and I never made it to my destination, but it was still worth it.

Winding down

Last day of work was on Friday, said goodbye to all the kids. It was a sad parting, of course, as these things tend to be, but a happy one, too. Mimi was especially sad, having been very close to me all year, and kept saying, "Today is a terrible day. I hate today!" I took her aside and told her that she'll always find days that are both happy and sad, and that it's okay to be sad, as long as you remember to be happy, too.


Saturday I went out to Danshui with Lizzy, Dianna, Hannah, and Alva, latter day friends of mine who I wish I'd met sooner. I guess that's how it will always be when I sign up to live somewhere temporarily. Saturday night was partying at Roxy and in my recently emptied apartment. We drank from milk bottles and wine glasses, lacking all other vessels. Sunday was a lot of reading, and a lot of sleeping in. And today I did my taxes, and shopped for camera lenses.

Things are winding down, but I've saved one more adventure for the time I have left: Monday morning I'll catch a train to Taidong, and from there a ferry (or perhaps a hovercraft) out to Lanyu, called Orchid Island. A few days on a tiny, quiet, tropical island sounds like a good thing right about now. One last bit of peace before I gotta figure out the next few years.

Beginning of end

I have a return date. I will leave Taipei shortly after 11:30 PM, August 30. I will arrive in San Francisco shortly after 8:00 PM the same day. TRAVEL BACK IN TIME!

I don't have a job in the States. But I have a massive family, and more friends than I think, and I miss them all quite enough to have finally decided to return.

Last call for anyone who wants neat Made in Taiwan stuff! Limited time offer! Don't let it expire!

Welp

Things fall apart, or so they say. I won't be heading out to Bali after all, and Marina won't be coming out to visit. Oh well. So it goes, right?

I haven't decided for sure whether this means I'll be returning prematurely. I'm leaning towards a short trip or two within Taiwan before flying home at the end of August to spend a couple weeks in the States visiting friends and family and generally catching up. Frankly, that sounds wonderful.

School has been going well. It's dawned on me that in a bare few weeks I will have taught Kindergarten for a year. That is, I will have been responsible for the education of 8 kids for an entire year. Unimaginable, 14 months ago. Easy, now. I could even do it again, if I had to. Hah!

Perspective shift

When things are looking bad from one point of view, take steps to move to another.

My plans for the time following my trip to Bali with Marina are in disarray. That is, I have no set plans yet. I have no job prospects, my applications seem to fall on deaf ears. I have a vague idea of where I want to live, and a pretty clear idea of what I'd like to do, but until I find someone willing to hire me, I am out of luck.

Short term, things are looking brighter than ever. My workload at school is minimal at the moment, due to relaxed expectations in the time leading up to Grad Show. It's stressful in a way, but it's also easier. Skimming stuff is both accepted and expected, and spending a few extra minutes at playtime is okay. Even better: I've been told that starting in August I'll be down to three kids, and that I'm expected to blaze through the remaining curriculum quickly in order to spend more time with them at the park, going to movies, or just generally chillin'.

Sounds like fun.

Continuing on

Two more adventures in socialized healthcare, dealing with Will's disappearance, the stress of co-directing a 45-minute musical featuring 36 3-7 year-olds, job applications, and food consultancy. Two weeks in the life abroad.

I developed a mystery rash on my leg on Saturday, and so set out for the clinic. Finding it closed, I took the MRT to the University hospital. Finding only the emergency room open I sat my butt down at the low end of triage (and felt guilty even for that). After a long chat with my neighbor, a young/old Indonesian girl here as a housekeeper (with her own fascinating story), wound up seeing a nervous young doctor who decided I'd had a bad reaction to a bugbite. 700 NT and a tube of steroids later, and I was on my way.

Today I wandered over to the other clinic after work and sat for an hour. The doctor took one look at my foot (big old blister, likely infected, totally within his domain as a general practitioner) and referred me to a dermatologist. Another half-hour wait for a five minute consulation and a prescription for a week of antibiotics. At least I got what I needed, and the wait wasn't really that bad. 200 NT, which works out to about 7 bucks, US.

Not having Will at school has had its ups and downs. Disciplining him was pretty much impossible, and he had a lot of trouble paying attention during play practice (more on this soon). He got the other kids riled up, and slowed down the class at times. He always had a smile on. He would come up to me and say, "I like you Teacher Ben!" Occasionally he'd call me Teacher Emma (my co-teacher) by mistake, and then laugh in embarrassment, hilariously. The kid was adorable, and you couldn't keep him down if you tried. I miss him in the way that I've realized means that I really valued him, which is a new kind of pain for me. It's no fun, but I'm glad to have recognized it and made its acquaintance.

Helping Celine run the grad show has been a magnificent pain in the ass. We have too few kids, too many requirements, too few costumes, too little time, and too little patience. It's the end of the year, everyone is cranky, and we're losing time from the curriculum that the kids need to have finished before they go on to grade 1. And all there is to be done is to continue on and find a way to make it tolerable for the kids.

Job applications suck. Sending out resumes and not even receiving confirmation receipts is frustrating and discouraging, and all I can do is continue on looking until I find what I need. It will all work out in the end. It's just making it to the end that's tough.

In other news, I have been advising the newly opened burrito stall in the night market on how to properly season and garnish their burritos. It has been a fun experience, and I have gotten to know the owner well enough to have been given his phone number and life story. New bullet on resume: Burrito flavor consultant, Taipei, Taiwan, 2008.