Just one more day

I started this winter class 9 days ago and it's been a pain. Mostly because the class is huge with 24 students with different levels ranging from students who can't even write an English letter to students who can write full sentences. I'm teaching phonics which I don't feel I'm good at and it's hard when I only teach them for a mere 10 days. I have disliked teaching this class and I can't wait because tomorrow is the LAST DAY! That means I don't have to get up early in the morning anymore and I won't have to teach them anymore. Let's just say it's been an exhausting experience.

It's one thing if they were good students but they aren't. They continuously speak Chinese, they fight with one another, and they misbehave, treating me with disrespect. It's a horrible learning environment and I'm sure I don't make it better by yelling at them. I'm just glad that they aren't a regular class and I will be over with them tomorrow. It's crazy how I was so happy to not have my half-day class but my half-day class is so much better than this winter class. I'm so excited for tomorrow morning to be over with! :)

-Chihchat

Almost home...

Since today is the first day back to work from the Chinese New Year break, I was teaching an early winter class and evening class. I did errands during the day and I was going to go to my uncle's but my aunt and I got mixed up on the times so I ended up not going for the night. Earlier, Drew called me from Cambodia and he wanted to get a computer but his credit card wasn't working so he wanted me to stop by our coworker's place since he was with her traveling and I had a spare key to her apartment and he wanted me to go to her place to get her credit card so he can use it since his credit card wasn't working.

But that also meant I wouldn't have time to go to my uncle's and at the time I thought I was going to their place. It turned out that his credit card worked in the end and he got the computer and that I wasn't going to my uncle's. I was going home and I even got dinner when I was close to my apartment to grab my keys out of my purse but I couldn't find them! I quickly called my coworker to see if I left them at work. Luckily she found them and so I had to go back to work again. I was relieved though and I didn't mind going back to work since I rather leave them at work then somewhere else. I'm so tired though and I'm definitely ready to go to sleep! I'm glad I'm not sick anymore (knock on wood!)

-Chihchat

I'm a sixth grader

I finally got the chance/time to go to the library. I tried to get a library card at this famous library near Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall but I needed my passport and it's pretty far from my house. I wanted to start reading Chinese books to improve my Chinese and to see what my "level" is but I never had the chance to get a library card and figure out which library was good to go to. Today I went to the Taipei Public Library near my house so it's nice so I don't have to travel too far away. I officially got a library card and checked out a book.

It took me awhile since I was looking at normal, regular books but they were way too difficult. I finally went to the children's section and saw some books that I could actually read lol They were for middle schoolers and I was picky since I wanted to read a book that interested me so it took me a couple of hours to finally decide what book to get. Most of the children's books were about themes like animals or categories like math.

Later, I showed the book to Cala's friend and she said that it was about a 6th grade level book lol Yay! I can't read all the characters in the book but I can definitely get the gist of it. I'm happy I'm around 6th grade level for Chinese hehe I liked the book also because it had pictures and I think it's a love story..I think lol

-Chihchat

Chinese New Year weekend

For the past couple of days I celebrated Chinese New Year and I ate a lot! First on Fri. I went to my uncle's in Taipei and I just had lunch/dinner while my aunts and uncles played mahjong. My cousins and I just played some games and saw youtube videos etc. for about 7 hours or so! lol Then that night I stayed at my aunt's house in Xinzhu. We went to the hot springs (including my two cousins) the next day and we ate a good restaurant which she ordered a ton of food. Then today we left Xinzhu and had lunch with my mother's sister's husband's younger brother (did you follow that?) and then we met up with my other cousin in Taipei and all 4 of us went shopping at this area which sells really cheap clothes. Then we had dinner around Daan Park. I'm exhausted! I just got home and Kenny has been freaking out since Drew and Cala have also been gone so he's been home alone for a couple of days. But I really liked Chinese New Year because it was nice to spend time with family although I do wish my mom and sister could have came. I'm so happy though that I have one more day left of the break. Definitely going to enjoy sleeping in! :) Pictures above are from the hot springs and Xinzhu.

-Chihchat

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

This year is the year of the rabbit which is my year (people born in 1987 and the other years which I'm not sure about) lol I'm really excited for this year (2011) since it's the year of the rabbit, Taiwan's 100th birthday, and a new year of change and hopefully good news. Today was nice because I just had a chance to sleep in and do nothing. I slept in which was glorious and it was nice not to work or teach. I just did my laundry, cleaned the apartment, and worked on Chinese. I even took a nap today lol

I'm still recovering from my sore throat last week so I can't do a lot without still being fatigued. I wanted to play DDR today but I don't think I have the energy. I should definitely just take a break since tomorrow I'm going to spend the holidays with my aunts/uncle and I'm going to my aunt's house in Xinzhu tomorrow night, outside of Taipei. I don't have to teach until Tues. so I'm going to enjoy my break while it lasts!

-Chihchat

Chinese New Year Eve.

Today was the first day of my break and it was nice to just relax and not to work. Drew left for his 2 week vacation and I started to give Kenny his medicine. I went to my uncle's tonight and I had dinner there. Then afterwards we played mahjong. I definitely wasn't as lucky as I could be since I lost money and had to pay my cousin lol It's weird to be in Taipei around Chinese New Year because there wasn't actually a lot of people on the streets and everything was closed for the holidays. When I was walking home from the MRT, there were fireworks going off. I'm so happy tomorrow is Chinese New Year so I can sleep in and just relax!

-Chihchat

Good food and Kinect

For lunch, my Taiwanese coworker took my American coworker and I to this really good restaurant. The food was fairly cheap and we ordered a ton of food. The picture above is of our meal. It was delicious and it was definitely filling. Today was a good day since it was the last day of work before the Chinese New Year break. We get 6 days off so it's nice to get a break away from teaching. Tonight after work, my coworker bought a scooter so he was nice and took me to my house so I can throw out the garbage haha Then he had people over at his place to play the Xbox 360 Kinect game. We also had dinner at Shida night market where we ate a Korean style restaurant so yes, two good meals in one day lol We played some sport games and they were so much fun! We also played Dance Central. It's definitely a workout for sure and I can see how people can lose weight by playing the game.

-Chihchat