My life and other things that have happened

As the timetable at work has developed, I've found that I'm supporting mostly Maths classes with a few Science and one English. When I found out that's what I would be doing I was in all honestly utterly terrified. Maths has never been a strong subject for me and I can remember years ago at school where I would fake illness to avoid it. I don't think any of my ex-teachers would believe me if I told them that I was supporting students in learning Maths. They'd laugh.  To my surprise I've discovered that, despite my terror and disbelief that I would be any good at the Maths that I'm supposed to be helping kids with, I actually understand it. Today for instance we were doing improper fractions and after one example from the teacher it just all clicked and I got it. I feel like I've been given a second chance to get Maths right. It may have taken 15 yrs but for the first time since 7th grade I actually feel like I get it. And it's a very nice fe

I can't believe it's only been a week since I last posted. This first week at work has felt like a month! My work timetable has changed about 10 times and I'm now working 4 days a week instead of 3. Suits me as the extra money will come in handy but by the time Friday came round I was totally exhausted.  I'm supporting mostly Maths and Science, which is fun, but I do feel slightly out of my element. My week is split in to in class support and one to one support with a student who is behind his peer group. It's very challenging work and takes a lot out of me but I think I'm really going to enjoy it.  The school is really nice and my colleagues have made me feel really welcome. I did feel a bit as if I'd been thrown in at the deep end this week and I guess that's why it feels like I've been at work for a month.  We had a day off work this week due to Typhoon Trami passing close to Taiwan. I'm not sure if it actually made landfall but t

This week has been really good. Long and tiring but also good.  Wednesday night we went out for dinner with Greg, George, Sasha, Michael, Scott and Rob for Greg's birthday. We went to a local restaurant and ordered the most random food. It was a fun night. There were frog legs and all sorts! We then retired to a small cafe for more drinks. George and I have discovered that Greg and James should not be allowed to sit next to or even be near each other. They are too alike. It's scary. It was a good laugh though and I'm looking forward to spending more time with them soon.  Thursday I spent the day packing up our things at the hotel in preparation for our move to the flat. After work James turned up with a man and a van full of our boxes and we made our way to our new home. We spent the evening unpacking and sorting out the flat. It was good fun and the place really feels like home now.  Friday was a half day. We spent the morning up at the school. I worked on the

I've had people asking me what the food is like here. Well considering I am a rather picky/fussy eater, it is incredible! This restaurant - Song Jiang Pie and Porridge - is my current favourite. Their fried pork dumplings are to die for and I've never had egg fried rice like it before. Their shredded beef with scallions is my favourite main meal at the moment closely followed by their chicken sweet and sour. Now that sounds like a cop out having something that I could get in the UK but I only tried it for the first time the other day. Until then I'd been trying other things that I'd not had before. It's a very different sweet and sour, much less sweet and more flavour full, and also it comes with bamboo not pineapple or other vegetables. They also do these things call green onion cakes, which sounds odd but they are really good. They come hot and really should only be eaten hot (like dumplings). They are made of a springy kind of dough that's flat and f

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. It's been a busy few days since we started work and Sunday seems like it was a long time ago now.  Sunday was a pretty nice day. We woke up late and relaxed in our room at the hotel until about 12.30. At 1pm we met the other teachers at the primary campus and went on a bus tour of the city. It started off in our home area of Tianmu which is in the Shilin district of the city. It turns out that our apartment is actually in Beitou district but we're just on the border of Tianmu and Shilin. Beitou mostly comprises of the mountain areas from what I can tell. The area is stunning and so green. The road going up the mountain from where we are is called the Monkey Road, as there are apparently monkeys there. I've yet to see any.  Anyway, after that we headed further into Taipei city which included the Ch iang Kai-Shek memorial .... and the Taipei 101 building... To give you an idea of where our flat and the

We got the keys to our flat today! Excited moment!! We haven't properly moved in yet as we still need to get a few things from the shops and some boxes of essentials from the school. We've decided to stay in the hotel for little while longer until everything is ready and just move things over slowly. The internet, tv and phone still need to be installed and we're waiting to her from our estate agent about when that will be.  It's all very exciting and we're having fun buying things. James keeps taking pictures of dinner plates and cups and things that we see that we like. We can't afford to buy a lot at the moment but it's nice to have a picture inventory to work from when we do.  Anyway, just a little update today. 

We've not done a whole lot the last few days. James attended a cross cultural orientation the other day which was apparently really good. I stayed at the hotel and pottered. I also had a nap. Naps have featured a lot in our daily life this week. I feel old for having mid day naps but my goodness they are wonderful.  My boss Grace took me swimming yesterday which was fun. The pool wasn't quite as nice as I had hoped but I likely won't use it often as we have our own up by our new apartment. As to that, we're hoping to move in tomorrow but we need to get some bits (sheets, towels etc) before we can actually stay there.  We had our medical exams today. We had to have our blood taken which was horrible. It hurt so much. Thankfully it was reasonably quick and James was having his done at the same time so I wasn't alone. We also had to have chest Xrays (to check for TB) and I had to wear a rather fetching maroon Moomoo. The guys didn't have to wear them, much

Today was our first day with the school, meeting our new colleagues and getting all the necessary paperwork done. The day started early and in truth all the stuff we had to do could have been done in well under half the time they set aside. It was a long day of very little and by the end James and I were knackered.  Dinner this evening at Fang's Restaurant (organised by the school) was lovely and a great chance to chat with all the new people we met in the last few days. There's Scott from Melbourne, Rob from Vancouver, Mel and her family from the UK, Katrina and her family (from UK and New Zealand), George and her husband from the UK and a whole host of others. A nice bunch of people. Some have found places and others haven't. We all seem to be in limbo a bit but we're all coping well.  James and I have fallen in love ...... (wait for it) ....... with the head of the German section who is frankly the most smiley German man in existence. His name is Emmanuel an

Today it was hotter than Satan's arsecrack after a very spirited game of demonic softball.  I think that probably tells you more than you need to know about the state of James and I after a morning of flat hunting with our first agent Jason. A very pleasant man who took us to see a whole range of things. We went what seemed like all over Taipei, though really I'm sure we stayed within about 1 square mile of the hotel. We saw 7 flats with Jason and then a further 5 with Jane in the afternoon. We narrowed it down to two but in the end we decided on one and have asked them both to see what kind of deal they can get.  It's a two bed, two bath with an office, large living room/dining room, kitchen and utility. The flat is rather large and benefits from access to a pool just down the road. It's on a quiet street and we'll have to walk to catch a taxi but there are worse things. All in all I think we are pretty pleased that we've found something so quickly. Fi

We finally arrived in Taipei last night at 9.30pm. The flight with EVA was a rather quite good. James had me fearing the worst (Asia's answer to Ryan Air was said more than once). But I think we were both pleasantly surprised. There was good legroom, the seats were wider than normal and had lumbar support. The food (as long as you stuck to the asian dishes) was good and the entertainment was satisfactory. The flight was pretty uneventful and included a stop in Bangkok. This surprised us both as we were convinced that we were flying via Shaghai. We followed everyone else and had a smooth transfer though security and back onto the same plane we're just left. The walk was appreciated though and the chance to change/wash up ect in a bathroom bigger than a closet.  Coming through immigration in Taipei was really quite quick and much less eventful than I had thought it might be. The lovely man at immigration said I was more beautiful in person than in my passport photo. Score one

So today is the day. Packing up the flat and our lives was incredibly difficult not just because of the sheer amount of stuff it turns out that I have but because it really did finally dawn on me that I’m leaving. I’ve been a moody cow the last few days and James and my family are saints for putting up with me. I’m exhausted and I’m not really sure I'm prepared for this. I kinda have to be now. We are surprisingly flying via Bangkok which was a shock to both of us. We were both convinced we were flying through Shanghai. Ah well. An experience if nothing else. My hand luggage is over weight apparently. If they weigh it at the gate I'm kinda screwed but if not then woot. At this point I'll just pay.  Leaving home was really hard but it was lovely to have the entire family there to send us off and my best friend. Both James and I are really tired now and anxious to be off. We just want to be there now. I'm looking forward to putting my head down in the hotel and