An Explanation
So, it goes without saying that I am a terrible blogger, but I will take this opportunity...
“What opportunity!?” I hear you cry. Well, let me get around to it, thanks!
Hmmm, this deviation from standard writing procedure might be explained by what you will read further on.
Anyway, with no internet connection at present, and no certain way to check, I’m pretty sure that my last blog was in around October. Potentially, before I even got a job, so I have a lot of writing to do.
Right, so there have been a fair few events since October, so I am going to go through them as chronologically and as in as much detail as I can in my current position.
October: So, I got a job. Hurrah! Don’t know if that was written yet, but I did. Hence why I’m not back home, I guess. Was subbing kindy during this time, but only ended up staying with that class for 3 months. I guess that’s a long time for subbing, but their actual teacher had been in a scooter accident, and she needed a while to fully recover. Anyway, during October, or at the end at least, is Halloween. We dressed up and went trick or treating. It was super fun. Bear in mind that these kids are 3 or 4 years old with very limited English. Very cute.
November: I don’t think November was a very eventful month. I think it’s when I started to actually make friends though, so I suppose it was pretty good after all.
December: So, with December comes Christmas and it was definitely very weird. Not only because it was my first Christmas away from home, but because I was in a completely different culture. Not that it’s not recognised here, but it’s not a holiday and people only really like it because it’s cute (The reindeers and snowman and stuff, not the religious symbology). But yeah, I ended up working on Christmas day due to not reading the piece of paper I’d been given properly, it was alright though. I just had to dress up as Santa and have my picture taken with my students and their siblings. After that, it was back to Mike’s for a nap, and Christmas dinner (In this case “Christmas dinner” means Ikea meatballs and a mountain of mashed potato. It was good.)
Approximately a week after Christmas, as I’m sure you’re aware, is New Year’s Eve, and it was kind of a big deal here, because Taiwan turned 100. If you youtube Taipei 101 New Years Eve 2011, you can get a basic idea of what the fireworks were like. Orginally, my friends and I were supposed to be going to Taipei Country Club to see the fireworks from a distance and have a jolly ol’ time, but we got stuck in traffic about a 5 minute walk from 101, so we went there to watch the fireworks instead. They were pretty good (if you’ve taken my suggestion and looked them up, then you can see for yourself). Anyway, it was PACKED, and we couldn’t move for ages, and then we lost the boys, so us girls decided to wander around until the traffic had died down enough for us to take a taxi somewhere else. On our travels, we came across a cafe/bar on its opening night. We went in and the guy who ran the place offered us free shots and food, the music was good and the beer was cheap, so we stayed there for a while. Turns out the guy who owns this cafe (It’s called Hey! Rhea, and it’s awesome) was one of the first people Mike met when he got to Taiwan, and they were in a band together. It’s a very small world. Anyway, the rest of New Years is a big blur, but it was definitely super fun.
January: I think January was relatively uneventful, at least I can’t remember anything super exciting happening, although maybe it did, and I’ve just offended somebody or something. If I have, then sorry, but maybe you’ll forgive me in 3 paragraphs time.
February: CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!! If you hadn’t gathered by my use of block capitals and several exclamation marks, I rather enjoyed myself. It’s the biggest public holiday here in Taiwan, and that meant 4 days off from work. Hurrah! So we took advantage of this, and like many others, headed out of Taipei. We went to Kenting, a town right at the bottom of the island, surrounded by beaches and parks and a distinct lack of Taipei crappy air. We all headed down on the High Speed Rail which took an hour and a half (I think the normal train takes about 5 hours). Once we had arrived in Kaosiung, there’s no station in Kenting, we had to figure out a way to get there. There were 11 of us in total, all staying in the same room (although one the boys and his girlfriend had decided to get a separate room, which turned out to be a VERY smart move). We got there, and the hostel was awesome, and the fun times began. There was a minor hiccup in the form of my friend, Sam, falling flat on her face in the middle of a road, and needing to go to hospital. Fortunately, there was no major damage, just a few stitches (she recovered quickly) and a slightly embarrassed demeanour (took a little longer). One of the best parts of the whole time was being invited to an aboriginal new years party, where we were the only westerners. To begin with it was just kind of awkward, but as we started eating and drinking and doing our English-teacher games with the kids, we were welcomed with open arms. Everyone wanted to drink with us and it was just good fun. There were local bands playing, and they were awesome. We’d just get up and dance, and soon everybody was joining in. It was bloody brilliant.
March: Again, Not a huge amount happened in March. Wait! No! That’s a complete lie! We got an apartment. Forgot about that. Which is weird considering that’s exactly where I am now. Idiot. Yeah, moved in at the end of March, just a couple of days before Rob arrived to stay for 2 and a half weeks. Was pretty lucky actually. It’s very nice. We like it a lot =). Anyway, Rob arrived safe and sound, with the assistance of Mike who was able to pick him from the airport for me. Which I am still super grateful for. Which brings us to....
April: The first weekend in April, we were supposed to go to Spring Scream... A music festival down in Kenting. But due to a lack of organisation on our part, we didn’t actually plan how we were travelling there, but we ended up going just about as far away from it we could have without leaving the country. We ended up camping on the beach at the northernmost point of Taiwan. It was super fun. An all you can eat BBQ place with 99NT (apprx £2) all you can drink beer, you can’t really go wrong. Well... You can, but it didn’t. We had an awesome time, with beach campfires and chatting and general fun times. Sleeping, was slightly more difficult where we had 3 people in pretty much a 1 man tent. It was cosy to say the least. The next week was full of us working, and Rob telling us about his adventures in the evening. It was fun. Then Sunday 10th happened.
Due to the lack of internet in the apartment, we went to 7/11 to use the wifi there, but we sat in the park, and when I got home, I found out I had 24 mosquito bites. That was annoying. But not the worst thing. So on Monday, I felt a little crappy, but I thought that a weekend of late nights in smoke-filled clubs was probably the cause, so I just went along with it. Tuesday I felt pretty rough, but I still went into work. I spent most of the evening coughing my lungs up, deciding that if I still felt bad on Wednesday, I would go to the doctors (something that I hadn’t yet done in Taipei, aside for the physical I had before I started working). So Wednesday morning, I felt ok so made my way to work. On my way to work, I didn’t feel great, and when I got there I felt like I was going to pass out, and my voice was going a bit, but I thought that maybe it’s because I needed to eat and drink some water. That didn’t help a great deal, but I went and taught my classes anyway. I got a cab back from work, because I couldn’t deal with public transport. On my arrival from home, I got into bed, curled up into a ball, shivering and sweating at the same time. My flatmate, Marcella, came into my room, to see if I was ok, and decided that we should go see the doctor. It was a good call. On my arrival, they took my temperature. It was 40.4˚C (104.72˚ Fahrenheit). I definitely needed to see the doctor. His English was awesome, and he wasn’t put off by the fact that I couldn’t stop myself crying. He told me that I have a very high fever and tonsillitis. And wrote out my prescription. However, I forgot to tell him that I was allergic to penicillin. When he went through what drugs I had to take and when I saw “Amoxicillin” I started crying again. I just pointed and said “Allergic”. The guy was so nice and said that he doesn’t usually prescribe it but thought it would be the best thing for me, and happily changed my prescription to something that won’t cause me more problems.
I’m now at the end of my day off that the doctor suggested I should take for rest, taking up to 20 pills a day for the next 2 days. Yay! But don’t worry, Mum. I’m ok. Don’t stress out. I didn’t tell you because I don’t want you to worry. =)
