Hey guys,

 

I can't believe how aweful some parents are. Last week, a kid was running in the classroom. He was told not to run, but he still did.

Eventually,he slipped and slid into a table, making a small chair fall on his head. It must have hurt a bit, so put ice and things will ge better.

If he feels pain during the night, give him a Tylenol. Do you agree? Not his parents, they were running to the hospital and to their lawyer! The doctor said that he was relieved the kid's eyes were OK, but he added that his eyebrow may be deformed a bit. So, my eyebrow is split, but most people don't notice that the first time they see me. Yet, the parents are concerned about this detail and are threatening to sue the school for not being responsible. Yeah, next time your kid wants to play, he will have to sit in a chair and watch his friends play. It is too dangerous and irresponsible to let your child play.

 

Now the same thing happened tonight. A kid ran into a chair and bumped her nose. She was fine for the whole class and never complained about anything. 5 minutes after she goes home, we get a call that her nose if swollen seriously and that she will be taken to the hospital. What?

How can a nose swell up so quickly yet so late after an impact? If that is really possible, slap ice on ice and it will be fine. It can't be broken because the child would have cried althrough the class had it been broken.

 

Parents in Taiwan seem to be like those in the USA. They will sue at the first occassion. This is sad and pathetic. Let's see what happens with both stories.

 

Oh, funny news. The new teacher who showed up to school on Friday, will not take the job. I guess we did not impress him too much. That is fortunate for us too because he seemed to be the type of guy you don't enjoy working with. Nonetheless, a teacher should arrive on Friday the 13th as expected.

 

I am dead, but I have to eat and work, then I can sleep.

 

Take care,

LeTouriste

 

Hey guys, how was your weekend?

 

On Saturday, I worked with the oldest kids in school. It was tough because they were very quiet, but they slowly came out a little bit.

It was still a bit interesting.

On Sunday, C and I went to the National Palace Museum. We visited the British Museum Exhibition to mark their 250th anniversary. It was really nice, they displayed a few artefacts from almost every place on earth. Someone said that they displayed several things from the countries they ploundered during their history.

 

Today, I went to school thinking that I would not last through the day. But, my first kids were awesome, so things went well. Then I took a nap and my second class went well. Then I felt sick again and drank two Cokes. After my first night class, I was high because the kids were very responsive. But the highlight of today came with the older students. When they saw me, there was a cheer in the class! Yes, I have seen this class twice as a substitute teacher, but I guess that my style is better than that of all the other foreign teacher which they have seen. So cheers to me, cause they like me!!!!

 

This was a good Monday, I hope to ride the wave until next Saturday. Oh and next week we have Thursday and Friday off, so I might go away to Taidung.

 

Bye-bye,

LeTouriste

Hey guys,

 

Yes, I know. I still have one more photo file to put up from my Korean trip.

This Wednesday was the new guy's last day of work. Why? We fired him because he did not want to work,

he did not show any interest in helping out at school and he was totally unable to teach appropriately.

This means that we are back in the same spot as before where we have to cover his classes. I pick up

the lion's share with 6 extra classes per week. In kindy, we were planning to combine his class to mine and have

a jumbo 34 kid class twice a week. But then, a light pierced through the clouds and a teacher from another school

volunteered to help us out until we find a new teacher. This means that I don't have to face such a large class and that

another teacher doesn't have to teach an extra kindy class 3 times a week.

 

This is the first joyful news that has come out of work in a long long time.

 

Cheers,

LeTouriste

It's almost 2AM. I can't fall asleep, I am not sure why. So, before I start working on next week's schedule, let me tell you what I did today.

 

It all began in bushiban where I taught a lesson because of the open house on Wednesday. My class has grown in since again. There are 3 new students, so we are up to 24 kids! That is a big class to control. There were a few kids spacing, so I had to be loud, funny, fast and picky. The class was not great, but it went well. By the time, I finished correcting their homework, it was 3PM! So, I went home, did some laundry, had lunch and dinner, labelled some pictures from Korea, then went to see a movie in the community.

 

The movie was The Prestige. That was an amazing movie! I loved it. I loved it because the characters became so consumed by hatred against one another and they were totally absorbed in their work. Why do I love this? Characters like this are usually uneasy to handle, unsensitive and self-centered. Well, it was funny for me to realize this during the movie, but that is how one could characterize me. None of my friends have become sufficiently close to discover this vice, but I could bind with either character and I could also pinpoint times when I acted like either one in the past two months. In the end, two characters die and a third (this is a shocker) lives on. So, it is in my best interest to chill off a bit from work and rivalries because both paths are self-distructive.

 

I'll have to quote a friend's friend's friend's blog:

If you are quick to take offence, then you'll be under the control of those who you find offensive.
If you are easily angered, then your actions will be dictated by those who anger you.
If you are obsessed by what other people think, then you will be imprisoned by their thoughts.
If you yearn for easy answers and quick solutions, you'll fall prey to people who offer you nothing but promises.
If you find the truth too difficult to bear, you'll be enslaved to those who tell you what you want to hear.
When you have the courage to think for yourself, the strength to accept what is, the commitment and discipline to make a difference, then you are free. You are truly free to live with purpose, joy and fulfillment. Let your life be defined, not by reactions to what others do, say, or think but rather your own unique vision.
Raise your eyes above the pettiness and follow the path of the greatness that is within you.

 

Enjoy your sleep, while I roam in sleeplessness,

LeTouriste

 

 

 

 

Hey guys,

 

I am almost finished posting my pics. I have one more album, sadly, its the biggest one too. Yeah, the next album is composed of all the imperial palaces and ceremonial halls of which there are at least 7 in a 5 km radius in the center of Seoul. The problem is labelling all of them since I have forgotten all of their names. This probably will not occur tomorrow, since I wish to go out and check the last day of the lantern exposition at CKS Memorial (soon to be rebaptized to Taiwanese Place).

 

Cheers and thank you for your patience,

LeTouriste

Hey guys,

 

I am getting closer to finalizing my Korean trip's album. Yeah, I have 6 more sections to label and upload. Afterwards, I will write the descriptions. The sad note is that I am starting to forget some names which I then have to look up on the internet. This memory loss will definitely slow my write up.

 

Health-wise, I am slowly getting better although my kids are becoming sicker and sicker. I have had two brilliant days at work where my energy levels actually surpassed that of the kids and everyone was playing amazingly together. My older kids still totally suck at creative writing. My younger kids have a wide range of parental help. We are studying fairytales. Some kids know all the classical fairytales, the others have never even heard of them. Its not only a problem with the titles noth being in Chinese, these kids don't recognize the characters and the story which means that they have never been read those stories at night.

 

On another note my bushiban class is starting to graps drama. I find that the curriculum is moving too swiftly, but the kids are enjoying theatrics that I do a bit more than before.

 

On a sad note, the new teacher is heading towards being a total failure. Claiming to be sick he headed home and refused to observe classes. Now, he is refusing to help with the extra load caused by a teacher leaving on vacation. Managers are scrambling to accomodate his requests... which are actually well founded since, he miserably failed his first teaching test last Wednesday, so how could I assume that he could pull more classes. So much for the extra helper!

 

Anyway, I am hopefully taking a break from him this weekend and will tackle the 45 hours/week for the next two weeks.

 

Cheers,

LeTouriste

Ouf! What a tough weekend. Remember, I mentioned that I'd have to go to training on Saturday. Well, I was awefully sick on Friday night. This totally prevented me from going. I was so bummed out that I slept all of Saturday. Sunday was not as bad, although my body had not fully recovered. Nonetheless, I went out to see the lantern display at the CKS Memorial. Then I went to the graduation party to introduce the new teacher to the managers. He faired pretty well versus some of the other teachers. Can you imagine, a new teacher drank too much within 15 minutes of meeting his new boss. He then acted strangely. What an amazing first impression! Afterwards, some teachers and I went to the Lantern God's birthday. This is the craziest event in Taipei. I'll describe it later as I post the pictures I took.

 

Monday, I was up at 5AM to pick up the new guy in Taipei and bring him over here. He observed some classes and got somewhat settled in a temporary room. Today, he visited apartments and potentially found one that he likes. If all is well, he could move into the apartment on Thursday or on the weekend. Tomorrow, he starts teaching on his own. He seems really nervous. I took him out for spicy stinky tofu tonight. It was hilarious because he did not like it. I wolfed my bowl down quickly, but he did not touch more than three of four spoons. He'll get used to the food or he'll visit McDonald's very often.

 

Ok, I've posted 3 albums from Korea. I'll try to put up one every day. The blogs will come once they are all there.

 

Cheers,

LeTouriste

Hey guys,

 

I met the new teacher yesterday. He's a 28 years old guy from New Zealand. He seems like a nice fellow. All those who've met him yesterday think so too. That's great for all of us. Now, I have to find him a place to stay. That won't be as difficult as I imagine because a teacher is leaving, so as long as the new one likes that place, I'm OK. Otherwise, I'll have to work more.

 

Now, I won't be able to post my pictures this weekend as I was informed that I had training on Saturday! What!!! Yes, I am stuck for an 8 hours training on Saturday in Taipei, then Sunday, I have to attend the new teacher's training graduation, then on Monday, I have to pick him up in Taipei at 7:30! That means that I have to get up at 5AM! I am starting to think that this managerial job is not as desirable as I imagined.

 

Cheers,

LeTouriste