Smokestakes, School, and Scooters

As I get settled into the "routine" of daily life one thing is certain and that is my routine is not boring. With that said, I the reason I haven't updated my blog in the last week in not for lack of material to speak about, it is filtering what I enter. I am not trying to censor my comments based on anything except I do not want to inundate you with basic information. Plus I guess that so many things that I am encountering are either things that I expected or that I do not think that much about. Even at home we all find different things noteworthy.

As I get up and start my day I have the wonderful luxury being able to look out over the city I live in, because I live in a building that is several stories taller than most buildings in the area. So as I gaze upon the city where I live I am struck by the sheer number of smokestacks from the oil refinery and plastics plant that are in this city. Now I will not be so bold in my sarcasm to say that it is a beautiful sight, mainly because you cannot hear the inflection in my voice. Also it reminds me of where the money is coming from that is paying for parents to send their kids to school so people like me can have a job.

I am reminded how connected we are with each other because these plants sell material all over the world, the greater percentage most likely being sold to the U.S.. For all the money we are investing in this country, I wonder how much am I investing in the people so that they have a greater reward than a paycheck at the end of the day.

I have started teaching at my school and I believe that I will enjoy working there. I am fortunate that I have teaching experience and have also worked with kids so I am not starting from scratch, but I had some humbling experiences already that has shown me that I still have much to learn about teaching.

As far as my teaching schedule, I get to the school at 2, spend about an hour and a half preparing for my classes, from 4 to 5 I work with the students as they have to memorize spelling vocabulary and grammar phrases. From 5 to 9 I teach my classes, I have four different classes that I will teach and all classes are at different levels. Making the changes definitely keeps me on my toes, plus my classes will go back and forth between different floors.

Now I almost forgot to mention that my school is not actually in the town that I live in but about 30 minutes away by scooter. Yes, among the things I had to do is get a scooter so I could get to work. I would not mind taking a bus to work, I did that often when I was in China, except there are none in the area that I live. Dashe is a "small" city just outside Kaohsiung, so there is no public transportation to speak of. But I digress. So every day I get on my scooter and make my track to the school where I teach. One of the good things about where I teach is that most of my ride is out in the country so I don't have to constantly fight with traffic. Now I could make many comments about my scooter ride to and from work, and I guess as I continue to make the trip and have more exeriences I am sure that I will in later bloggs. For now I will just say I enjoy getting on my pigglet, at only 125cc's it is not quite a hog, and zooming up to school. It gives me time to metaly prepare for teaching and at the end of the day it helps me wind down and release tension.

I guess this is where I will leave you. I will add some pictures as I can, but for now all I can do is borrow my roommate's camera and take select pictures. Most you you already know I have a facebook page and I have posted a few more pictures there.

I hope to hear from you soon and I will continue to update you as events here continue to unfold.

Blessings

Joshua