It has been a slow week in Taoyuan so far. Everyone had Thursday off for a national holiday and we have had quite a few other days off as well because we weren't given any subs. Even though it has been slow, a lot of things have happened.
We had our first Chinese lesson with our tutor Bobo. A lot of the teachers at Gloria go to her for lessons and even after one lesson, I already feel like I know a lot more than I used to! I can officially order my favourite kind of bubble tea without using my little piece of paper that had it written on Chinese. It is kind of weird how accomplished I feel whenever I order it in Chinese, just makes me more excited to keep on going and learn more. We go back on Tuesday, once a week for now.
Another new thing that happened this week is that we went to Taipei to start the process to get our ARC. We have to go back in a week to continue the process but it was a lot of fun to go to Taipei just for a few hours. Really shows how close things are. We ended up going to Taipei again on Thursday night with Danielle for a night market. Lots of great food and one traumatizing experience seeing a turtle all cut up. Let's not talk about it.
The last exciting thing is I think we found our apartment! I am so excited and I don't want to jinx it so that is all for now. Back to writing my lesson plan for tomorrow morning..
Showing posts with label bubble tea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bubble tea. Show all posts
1 March 2013
30 January 2013
I knew you were trouble
Our Monday started off pretty boring. Rick was teaching in the evening at Da-Chu and I was at Tung-An (the school we live at, lucky me!). So we finished off our lesson plans and went for a walk. It was nice to just walk around, just the two of us. It reminded us of our very first day in Taoyuan when we went for a walk but we had no idea where we were and got lost. Today, we knew where we were.
Our day consisted of picking up my stamps!! It is kind of sad how excited I was but getting to use them last night was amazing! Yeah, that still sounds kind of sad. We went and got our favourite bubble tea and I somehow convinced Rick that browsing the pet store would be a good idea! The puppies were so adorable, of course, I picked about seven different ones to take home but still managed to leave with zero. This is the first time we checked out the rest of the pet store which we found out includes snakes, turtles, and tarantulas. I'm pretty sure I had nightmares last night about the things that I saw.
Finally we went back and Rick had to leave to go to Da-Chu and I was left watching my guilty pleasure, the Real Housewives series haha but then it was my turn to teach! My first class was a lot of fun, they were so silly but they worked when they were supposed to. It was nice considering I have this class for the next three weeks. The next class was a younger class and I was supposed to leave 15 minutes at the end to prepare for the demo but I didn't leave enough time, I felt so bad but the coteacher said it was okay. Hopefully next week it works out better!
I don't know if I explained what a demo is yet so I will now. For the kindergarten beginners all the way to mid way through the red book, the class has to do demos at certain points. A demo is basically when the parents come to the class one day and watch what you do. But you plan it out, each child will do a self-introduction, you'll play a bunch of games, sing a bunch of songs, gestures, and do some mini plays. It sounds very nerve wrecking to me and I am very happy that I haven't had to do one yet!
Our night ended with me making dinner (for the second time ever). Rick was going to be awhile since he was at one of the farther schools so I cut up some onions, mushrooms, garlic, ASPARAGUS, and prepared the rice. The asparagus was pretty exciting because we haven't eaten it or even seen it at the grocery store since we got here but I randomly saw it in this little market. I think the lady overcharged me though because I am a foreigner haha I paid just over $4 CAD for the asparagus and mushrooms. I know nothing about the regular prices of things here or back home though so I just said yes.
We played cashflow twice. Rick won in 10 minutes and then David won the second time we played. Let's pretend I didn't mention them winning though, I don't want to inflate their egos too much.
One more thing! Just want to mention my amazing little cousin Alicia. She isn't so little anymore, she just told me that in June she is going to Italy ALL BY HERSELF for a month! Just to visit and travel, I am so proud of her and I know she will do amazing! Her doing this makes me feel so old haha I have so many memories of us playing together when we were younger and I miss her so much! Good luck Alicia!
Our day consisted of picking up my stamps!! It is kind of sad how excited I was but getting to use them last night was amazing! Yeah, that still sounds kind of sad. We went and got our favourite bubble tea and I somehow convinced Rick that browsing the pet store would be a good idea! The puppies were so adorable, of course, I picked about seven different ones to take home but still managed to leave with zero. This is the first time we checked out the rest of the pet store which we found out includes snakes, turtles, and tarantulas. I'm pretty sure I had nightmares last night about the things that I saw.
Finally we went back and Rick had to leave to go to Da-Chu and I was left watching my guilty pleasure, the Real Housewives series haha but then it was my turn to teach! My first class was a lot of fun, they were so silly but they worked when they were supposed to. It was nice considering I have this class for the next three weeks. The next class was a younger class and I was supposed to leave 15 minutes at the end to prepare for the demo but I didn't leave enough time, I felt so bad but the coteacher said it was okay. Hopefully next week it works out better!
I don't know if I explained what a demo is yet so I will now. For the kindergarten beginners all the way to mid way through the red book, the class has to do demos at certain points. A demo is basically when the parents come to the class one day and watch what you do. But you plan it out, each child will do a self-introduction, you'll play a bunch of games, sing a bunch of songs, gestures, and do some mini plays. It sounds very nerve wrecking to me and I am very happy that I haven't had to do one yet!
Our night ended with me making dinner (for the second time ever). Rick was going to be awhile since he was at one of the farther schools so I cut up some onions, mushrooms, garlic, ASPARAGUS, and prepared the rice. The asparagus was pretty exciting because we haven't eaten it or even seen it at the grocery store since we got here but I randomly saw it in this little market. I think the lady overcharged me though because I am a foreigner haha I paid just over $4 CAD for the asparagus and mushrooms. I know nothing about the regular prices of things here or back home though so I just said yes.
We played cashflow twice. Rick won in 10 minutes and then David won the second time we played. Let's pretend I didn't mention them winning though, I don't want to inflate their egos too much.
One more thing! Just want to mention my amazing little cousin Alicia. She isn't so little anymore, she just told me that in June she is going to Italy ALL BY HERSELF for a month! Just to visit and travel, I am so proud of her and I know she will do amazing! Her doing this makes me feel so old haha I have so many memories of us playing together when we were younger and I miss her so much! Good luck Alicia!
Grace, me and Alicia five years ago! We are all so different now!
28 January 2013
Momo Tea
Today we both started the first of our long list of subs for the next few weeks. Three teachers have just taken a month long vacation and since Rick and I both only have one day of regular classes, we have been given a lot of subs. Today I was at Nan-Kan and it worked out perfectly that Sam (one of our dormmates) was going there for the exact same time so he gave me a ride on his scooter.
We went early and I needed my daily fix of bubble tea. Sam went and got me this pancake flake filled with egg which was amazing but a tad peppery and, little did I know, he was meeting a girl at the tea shop for a semi-date haha I felt so bad and like I was intruding/I didn't want her to think of me and Sam as a thing or anything so as soon as he arrived, I got outta there haha but the bubble tea and food were worth my awkwardness! Sam assured me I wasn't intruding but I didn't wanna ruin his chances haha I would be the best wingman.
My first of three subs for this class went well! I loved my co-teacher Melody, she was so nice and SO helpful! The kids were pretty cute and fun too, but shy, either way, I am excited for next weeks class. I have subs literally every day this week except for the day of my regular class and then I also got a chatroom on Saturday. Its a one hour class with a variety of different level students and I teach it alone, NO CO TEACHER. I am nervous and its only Monday!
Off to make rice before Rick gets home and gets upset about no food!
We went early and I needed my daily fix of bubble tea. Sam went and got me this pancake flake filled with egg which was amazing but a tad peppery and, little did I know, he was meeting a girl at the tea shop for a semi-date haha I felt so bad and like I was intruding/I didn't want her to think of me and Sam as a thing or anything so as soon as he arrived, I got outta there haha but the bubble tea and food were worth my awkwardness! Sam assured me I wasn't intruding but I didn't wanna ruin his chances haha I would be the best wingman.
My first of three subs for this class went well! I loved my co-teacher Melody, she was so nice and SO helpful! The kids were pretty cute and fun too, but shy, either way, I am excited for next weeks class. I have subs literally every day this week except for the day of my regular class and then I also got a chatroom on Saturday. Its a one hour class with a variety of different level students and I teach it alone, NO CO TEACHER. I am nervous and its only Monday!
Off to make rice before Rick gets home and gets upset about no food!
27 January 2013
Sick Saturday
I've decided that I'm going to try and post every day that way the posts aren't as long, and more updates so here goes.
On Friday, I was very, very sick. In the morning, we ran some errands and I got my favourite bubble tea. The day went on, and I started to feel even worse. We ended up sitting around the dorm playing a new game that David and Monica showed us called, "Cash Flow." David describes it the best: it is like Monopoly on steroids. Instead of buying properties and houses/hotels, you have a job, a salary and you pretty much try to make it. It is very fun and I just so happened to win. We ended up playing twice and then I had to go to class. On Thursday, I walked to Wu-Ling (the school where my regular class is) and I think this is part of what made me so sick on Friday. So on Friday I decided to cab it and of course she got lost. Not fun. I was subbing so it was a pretty uneventful day. Which brings us to Saturday.
We ran some errands, David went off to work, and the rest of us went to eat at a pasta restaurant. Just over 250NT so under $10 for salad, soup, bread, pasta, and drinks. The salad was definitely interesting, very Taiwanese. But the soup was amazing. Monica and I ordered chicken while Rick ordered tuna and cheddar and we were all more than pleased. The chicken broth was amazing and it was just what I needed when I was sick. The pasta was pretty tasty as well, though not what I thought I was ordering and made for some great leftovers.
This Saturday was pretty uneventful so this is going to be a boring blog post haha. Rick and I went to Carrefour to grab some groceries and other supplies. I'm not sure if I have talked about Carrefour yet but it is a massive department store that is very close to the dorm. There is this really creepy alleyway that we walk through to get there, I'll take a picture sometime to show the creepiness. When I say it is a massive department store, I mean it. Three different floors. One is electronics/other housewares, the second is all food and the third is a massive food court. We often find ourselves there for little things; today it was a garbage can and rice. But we always manage to leave with much more and we are still getting used to the difference in money. It is always shocking to see $700 on your receipt but I have to remind myself that that is only just over $20.
We spent the rest of the night at the dorm just hanging out, other than venturing outside for some of my favourite bubble tea. About to watch a scary movie with the roommates. Good night!
On Friday, I was very, very sick. In the morning, we ran some errands and I got my favourite bubble tea. The day went on, and I started to feel even worse. We ended up sitting around the dorm playing a new game that David and Monica showed us called, "Cash Flow." David describes it the best: it is like Monopoly on steroids. Instead of buying properties and houses/hotels, you have a job, a salary and you pretty much try to make it. It is very fun and I just so happened to win. We ended up playing twice and then I had to go to class. On Thursday, I walked to Wu-Ling (the school where my regular class is) and I think this is part of what made me so sick on Friday. So on Friday I decided to cab it and of course she got lost. Not fun. I was subbing so it was a pretty uneventful day. Which brings us to Saturday.
We ran some errands, David went off to work, and the rest of us went to eat at a pasta restaurant. Just over 250NT so under $10 for salad, soup, bread, pasta, and drinks. The salad was definitely interesting, very Taiwanese. But the soup was amazing. Monica and I ordered chicken while Rick ordered tuna and cheddar and we were all more than pleased. The chicken broth was amazing and it was just what I needed when I was sick. The pasta was pretty tasty as well, though not what I thought I was ordering and made for some great leftovers.
This Saturday was pretty uneventful so this is going to be a boring blog post haha. Rick and I went to Carrefour to grab some groceries and other supplies. I'm not sure if I have talked about Carrefour yet but it is a massive department store that is very close to the dorm. There is this really creepy alleyway that we walk through to get there, I'll take a picture sometime to show the creepiness. When I say it is a massive department store, I mean it. Three different floors. One is electronics/other housewares, the second is all food and the third is a massive food court. We often find ourselves there for little things; today it was a garbage can and rice. But we always manage to leave with much more and we are still getting used to the difference in money. It is always shocking to see $700 on your receipt but I have to remind myself that that is only just over $20.
We spent the rest of the night at the dorm just hanging out, other than venturing outside for some of my favourite bubble tea. About to watch a scary movie with the roommates. Good night!
10 January 2013
Taoyuan Night Market
Yesterday I was only teaching until around 6 and Rick wasn't teaching at all so we decided it would be a great night to check out Taoyuan city's Night Market. Rick had already been once before when we had first arrived to Taiwan and I was in my zombie-like state of sleeping and sleeping some more. But it was good that he had already been because then he could easily lead us there!
I don't know if Rick was fully aware but on the way there, we saw a pet store. The puppies were way toooo cute and I literally wanted to take home each and every one of them. They were only around $500 CAD, pretty much a bargain, right?! Now I just need to work to convince Rick...
Also on the way there, we stopped at a helmet store because we both need to buy helmets. Even though we don't have our own scooter yet, other teachers have been giving us rides and we have just been using random helmets. I was able to find one I liked for around $25 CAD but Rick wasn't. It is nice to have my own helmet now though.
Around fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the Night Market. Rick said it wasn't as busy as it was when he went, probably because it was earlier and we decided to go on a very dreary, rainy day but there were still so many options. So much food that I had no idea what it actually was and so much cheap clothing! I didn't get to shop a lot but I want to go back already. If only for the desserts that were offered here. We kind of ate dinner backwards as we got out desserts first. The first item we got was basically a small waffle filled with custard, three of them for 25 NT so less than $1 CAD. Then we got these deep fried balls that were filled with cabbage and some meat, they were okay. But my favourite part of the night market was the chocolate banana crepe I ordered. It cost me just over $1 CAD and it was easily the best thing that we got at the night market. Not to mention that the woman who made it was the cutest thing ever. I can't wait to go back!
A funny thing that happened at the night market was Rick tried to order the same beef and noodle dish that he had got last time he was there but we ended up getting something entirely different. We ended up (somehow) ordering a soup that Rick hated, I enjoyed, and that we ended up giving to Sam (one of the teachers in the dorm). But our night was not over yet! On the way back from the night market, we had to make a stop for bubble tea and the fruit and vegetable market.
We had tried bubble tea a week ago and Rick loved it but our friend David got passionfruit bubble tea with jellies (rather than the tapioca bubbles) and we liked his so much more. We decided to try and get it and success! Easily the best bubble tea I've had (keep in mind I have only had two so far). Our next stop was the fruit and vegetable market for some pineapple and to take some pictures of fruit we had never seen before and aren't brave enough yet to try.
With one final look at the cutest puppies ever in the pet store, we were back at the dorms with time to plan my lesson for today and relax. It was really nice being done work by 6. Did I mention that we both start our first regular classes today? Hopefully they don't hate us and aren't asking where their old english teacher was. Wish us luck!
- Melissa
I don't know if Rick was fully aware but on the way there, we saw a pet store. The puppies were way toooo cute and I literally wanted to take home each and every one of them. They were only around $500 CAD, pretty much a bargain, right?! Now I just need to work to convince Rick...
Also on the way there, we stopped at a helmet store because we both need to buy helmets. Even though we don't have our own scooter yet, other teachers have been giving us rides and we have just been using random helmets. I was able to find one I liked for around $25 CAD but Rick wasn't. It is nice to have my own helmet now though.
Around fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the Night Market. Rick said it wasn't as busy as it was when he went, probably because it was earlier and we decided to go on a very dreary, rainy day but there were still so many options. So much food that I had no idea what it actually was and so much cheap clothing! I didn't get to shop a lot but I want to go back already. If only for the desserts that were offered here. We kind of ate dinner backwards as we got out desserts first. The first item we got was basically a small waffle filled with custard, three of them for 25 NT so less than $1 CAD. Then we got these deep fried balls that were filled with cabbage and some meat, they were okay. But my favourite part of the night market was the chocolate banana crepe I ordered. It cost me just over $1 CAD and it was easily the best thing that we got at the night market. Not to mention that the woman who made it was the cutest thing ever. I can't wait to go back!
A funny thing that happened at the night market was Rick tried to order the same beef and noodle dish that he had got last time he was there but we ended up getting something entirely different. We ended up (somehow) ordering a soup that Rick hated, I enjoyed, and that we ended up giving to Sam (one of the teachers in the dorm). But our night was not over yet! On the way back from the night market, we had to make a stop for bubble tea and the fruit and vegetable market.
We had tried bubble tea a week ago and Rick loved it but our friend David got passionfruit bubble tea with jellies (rather than the tapioca bubbles) and we liked his so much more. We decided to try and get it and success! Easily the best bubble tea I've had (keep in mind I have only had two so far). Our next stop was the fruit and vegetable market for some pineapple and to take some pictures of fruit we had never seen before and aren't brave enough yet to try.
With one final look at the cutest puppies ever in the pet store, we were back at the dorms with time to plan my lesson for today and relax. It was really nice being done work by 6. Did I mention that we both start our first regular classes today? Hopefully they don't hate us and aren't asking where their old english teacher was. Wish us luck!
Loving my chocolate banana crepe! Can you see the excitement in my face?
Rick enjoying his amazing bubble tea in a random store
Crazy fruit number one!
Crazy fruit number two!
Crazy fruit number three!
- Melissa
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