Well, here I am again, serving up a title--and day--to which my writing/motivation for writing will not even remotely do justice. But I mean, really, what did I expect, channeling a C.S. Lewis title when beginning a blog post at 1am with my eyes already half shut?
Anyway, I'll do my best. Here, in a nutshell, was my day.
A Last
I woke up this morning sad--and more than a little sleepy. I instantly gave up on caring how I looked today and reset my alarm, but still, 8am found me at the front of the Hanmin 3rd floor meeting room, looking out at a sea of tiny faces for the last time. This week marked my last-ever Morning English, and it was with 1st graders, teaching them words like "cartoons" and "animals" and--their favorite--"candy." They were precious, and I didn't mind remotely that we didn't make it more than 2/3 of the way through the lesson--I just wished, for their sakes, we had made it to the videos.
Morning English has been, for me, something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it's the single most freedom I've had in my duties while here: I get to teach what I want, how I want, and so have been able to incorporate themes like going to the movies, and phrases like "What's up?" in my lesson plans. In addition, through Morning English I get to teach every single Hanmin student, 1st-6th grade, at least once a semester. And the kids really like it, what with my being a novelty and us throwing prizes at them for every answer and everything. So, for that, it's wonderful.
On the other hand, it's meant fighting horrific traffic and horrendously-timed stoplights every week, in order to complete my long commute by no later than 8am--and believe me, I've come within minutes of missing that mark more often than not. I'm not exactly what you'd call a morning person. (Just check the time stamps of every single blog post I've ever written, if you want proof.)
And now it's over, both good and bad. The worst of it is that it is a last, another last adding to the countdown till I'm done teaching (16 days--ahhh!) and leave Taiwan for good (35 days). Farewell, Morning English--you may be missed.
A First
As an added gripe this morning, after I finished Morning English, I had 2 hours to wait before I had anything else official to do. Normally I have an hour--Morning English ends at 8:30, and my first class is at 9:30--but this morning my classes had finals (yep, they do finals in elementary schools here) in their first class period, so I had nothing until 10:25am. So, in the meantime, I sat in the subject teachers' office and chatted with Maggie, Alison, and Fiona.
Around 9am, I was mid-sentence talking to Fiona, when I saw her eyes grow large; out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alison get up quickly and go to look at something.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Earthquake--don't you feel it?"
Nope. No, I did not. Even after having Alison, Fiona and Maggie all confirm that the ground was moving, and focusing all of my thoughts on being able to feel my first-ever earthquake, I felt it for maybe 2 seconds right before it stopped. If I had been alone, I doubt I would have ever known. Which seems to me as though it might not bode well for my sense of balance...
Anyway, the earthquake damaged nothing and no one anywhere in Taiwan (I checked), and didn't so much as put a dash of concern on anyone's face. Business as usual here. (Really, though--the report I linked above says this was a normal release of pressure.) Pretty anticlimactic, really--but at least I can say I've experienced an earthquake now, and no one was injured in the process!
A Doctor
Yes, in theory this could refer to the copious amounts of Doctor Who I've been watching lately, but that is not the case. Nope, today Analicia, Fonda and I went to a local dermatologist--and I will never be able to take myself seriously ever again.
I don't mean that the visit was funny or ridiculous in any particular way--though I couldn't quite help myself from chuckling as the dermatologist told Analicia she should wear sunscreen and a hat and a mask and a jacket and bring an umbrella every day. I just mean that I kind of knew from the start that was probably the advice we'd be getting, and I felt myself unintentionally joining the ranks of the skin-obsessed Taiwanese culture.
(For the record, I went to check out an odd mark on my skin--which turned out to be nothing, like I was figuring/hoping--and because healthcare is nationalized here, so the visit cost me $5USD out-of-pocket.)
So yes, I have now been to a Taiwanese dermatologist. But I'll keep my skin tanned anyway, thank you very much.
Like I said, this blog post is kind of short shrift. But, for today, anyway, it's the best that I can do--but at least it was an interesting day!
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