Adventurasia Community

(Written by: Candice Lim Hing, between 2001~2003)

How’s life? I can’t believe that I have only been here a week - it feels like it has been much longer.We moved out of the hotel this morning. I have found an apartment and I hopefully will be moving in in acouple of hours. The place is brand new but unfurnished so I have to go furniture shopping. I am going to be living with two American guys - don’t get too excited, they are definitely not my type.

The place is just over the bridge from Taipei city. It take about 5 minutes by bus to get to the city/subway station. There is a night market 2 minutes away and the school is a 10 minute walk. It is pretty convenient for me. My roommates are further away and they are planning to get mo-ped. After seeing the way people drive here and hearing about the many moped accidents that have happened, I think I will wait at least 3 months before buying one.

Today is the first day that I have had time to be on my own. I just walked around the city trying to get myself oriented. It is soooo hot here - I am always so sweaty and sticky. I was getting a little dizzy from the heat and the hoards of shops and people everywhere. It feels a little weird that I am all alone in this city. The past week has been filled with people and activities. I wish you guys are here to experience this with me.

I will be teaching my first kindergarten class tomorrow. I will have 21 kids (20 was supposed to bethe maximum) who are 4-5 years old. I met some of the staff from my branch and saw the classroom that I willbe teaching in. Even though we have been doing training, I still don’t quite know what to expect tomorrow. I don’t know how to teach little kids for 3 hours. I hope that everything goes well.

I want to get settled in soon. Hopefully I can buy a bed tomorrow, then I’ll be okay.

Filed under: Taiwan