First Week of School

Like the firing of the gun at the Olympic 100m race, the beginning of the school year starts quickly. Ready or not, here they come. On Wednesday, our school year began. Nine days in a new country and school is simply not enough time to prepare for a year when teaching new classes and attempting to anticipate the interests of students. But, off we went and the first week was a good one. Krista and I are sharing many students and she teaches 6th and 7th grade Language Arts and I teach 6, 7 and 8th grade Science along with 6th grade math. Class sizes are small – ranging from nine to 15 students. I almost know all of the middle school students after the first week. The overwhelming majority of students in our classes are Taiwanese and speak remarkably good English as well as their native language, Mandarin Chinese. The possibilities for these students are amazing as they master two of the most used languages in the world.

Other than school, we have not had the opportunity to do much this week. Each morning, we walk down the street a few blocks to a small place that provides breakfast food. It’s a street food drive through that is constantly busy with people stopping on their way to work or school. The people who work there are nice and welcome us with large smiles each day and provide us with different breakfast choices. They want us to try everything!
In the evening, we return to the streets in search of food. Sure, we could go to the grocery stores and buy food to cook (we’ve actually done this once) but the available street food is quite good. We have visited a different place each day ranging from buffets, to “a choose your food and they cook it there”, to sitting down at a small table and laughing with the owners until they bring us something delicious to eat. One owner and his wife want us to learn Chinese and made us practice the names of the dishes before serving to us. Then, there is the tasty tropical fruit sold at multiple stands throughout the neighborhood. Pineapples, mangoes, bananas, kiwis... It has been quite nice to get fresh fruit on each outing into our community.

Audrey is doing well. Unfortunately, the quarantine location is on the opposite side of town so a few days a week we get a taxi for the cross-town trip. She is quickly putting on weight and has a different look about her. The trim physique earned through hours of swimming has morphed into the bulges of a couch potato in two weeks of limited activity and extra food. I guess that’s a warning to us all on the dangers of staying locked in a small area, eating too much and not exercising. The people who run the quarantine are nice and let us visit her after the posted visiting hours are over. Two more weeks are left and I’m sure she will come out a little confused but OK. She seems resigned to kennel life and doesn’t dash for the exit as we return from the small, concrete dog run. She is always excited to see us and will be ecstatic once we jail break her from there.
Friday ended with a special treat – our ARC cards have arrived. This opens our doors to transportation and communication. At the same time, we hope to begin bike commuting to school. Last week we went to the Giant (bike brand not monster) store to purchase bikes. Giant is manufactured in Taichung so I had hoped for a better deal than what we got but bikes are on the way. Bikes are made a bit on the smaller size for the locals so larger bikes need to be brought in for us.

I guess that does it for the moment. Thanks for the kind words and thoughts as we continue to transition to life in Taiwan. It’s amazing to think that we have only been here for 12 days.

The ARC

Our ability to get truly settled into life in Taichung is pegged to the lack of this card. The ARC, or alien resident card, is what we need for many things but do not have. Prior to leaving for Taiwan, we bought a car from a teaching couple that was leaving. Can we drive it? Nope, no ARC. It sure would be nice to have a phone to call people around town. Is it possible? Nope, no ARC. Internet? Don’t even think about trying to get service without an ARC. Scooter, it looks so much fun seeing people zip around town on brightly colored two-wheeled machines. Don’t get excited about driving one if you don’t have an ARC.

Our passports were whisked off a few days ago with the promise of returning attached to an ARC. One week, two weeks, who knows but the sooner the better!

Frank

New photos

Click here

Water (8.4.10)

Life on the 8th floor of an apartment building provides great views of the city. In this northern part of Taichung, most buildings are shorter than ours so between the north and south windows I see much of the city. On top of buildings, stainless steel vessels gleam like rockets polished for takeoff. These shining pots contain water. Reportedly, the source of water for Taichung is pure though somewhere along the pipe to where it flows into my glass it becomes questionable. Is it that the polished stainless steel covers a dark and contaminated inner shell? Or are the pipes laced with a visit to the infirmary. Maybe I'll find out but in the meantime, we are boiling a lot of water before drinking and hoping small doses of the contaminants will toughen up our tolerance.

Frank

Address Change

For the hordes out there interested in sending care packages, letters or other forms of love, we are going to be using the school's address instead of our home.

Please use:

American School in Taichung
c/o Frank (and/or) Krista McGowan
21-1 Chu Yuan Lane, Pei-Tun
Taichung, Taiwan 40661

Beginning

Four years ago, I became a Peace Corps volunteer and traveled from the Guinean capitol of Conakry to my village of Wonkifong. My house had been built by Canadians working on a long finished project and had been vacated for who knows how long. I was the first PC Volunteer to Wonkifong so it was sparcely furnished - a bed, a table and a few chairs.

This time, the stars aligned themselves and Krista and I entered an apartment vacated by teachers who have moved on. They were quite kind, leaving furniture, kitchen items, place settings and other items (key among these is a french press for Krista as ours broke somewhere in security - the x-ray people were a bit worried with all the shards of glass she was packing).

So, where are we / how are we living? At first glance, Taichung is bigger than I expected though relatively calm. We live in the north/northwestern part of town near the forested hills. Our apartment is spacious - three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen area and a living space. Several of the rooms have window AC units, which have been greatly appreciated as we adjust to the tropical environment. Our kitchen contains a stove top but no oven - apparently ovens are not a common appliance. The heights are interesting with counter tops being too low for me whereas cabinets are almost too high. Maybe the low set sink is my path out of dish duty...

Frank

In Taiwan!

How often does a plane arrive early? Our long 13 hour flight to Taipei wound up being only 12 and we safely arrived. It seems as if tomorrow allows for no time to slowly adjust to the time, culture, weather, the fact that the currency is such that we have to carry a wad of cash and deal in the thousands, etc. Off and running!

Our address is:
8F, No. 505 Jyunhe St
Beitun District
Taichung Taiwan 406

Frank

A Strange Smell (7.29.10)

The Redwoods are majestic. These tireless sentinels watch the Pacific Northwest Coast for hundreds of years at a time. What would be the catalog of sites from a Redwoods grove? We woke on our second day of travel from Portland to San Francisco and continued south along the Redwoods Highway. The air was cool and fog blanketed much of the area though it shifted in a way that hinted of a beautiful day to come. We were in search of Gold's Beach and the hopes of arriving early enough to find a campsite.

The road narrowed and the dense fog limited visibility in all directions, making us feel as if the only ones moving this morning. It was a moment of tranquility, a time to relax into thoughts when the hint of a powerful smell reached my nostrills.

"Do you smell something?" I aked Krista. Of course she did. Her sense of smell is so much more sensitive than mine.

"Yuck, it's like something died. Where is it coming from?"

We rolled down the windows. The smell intensified. Heads out the window, we realized that this smell was internal. "What could it be?"

"Audrey..."

We pulled over at the next shoulder to see Audrey staring out from her travel kennel, covered in poop. She has to be in the kennel because of space and the upcoming plane trip but this was gross. The walls, her blanket, the top of her head and everything in between was covered. The smell was almost overpowering. What to do? Her eyes begged for some immediate action but that was not possible. There was no water around. The door slowly closed as she likely cursed me for not rescuing. We hopped back into the car, rolled down all the windows and raced towards the closest campground. The beauty of the Redwoods Highway was now a thought of the past as the crisis set in.

Reaching Elk Prairie campgrounds, we found a water nozzle with enough pressure and set to washing Audrey, the kennel and a few bags unlucky enough to be near the kennel windows. Unfortunately, Audrey was sick. A 3:00 am jaunt that morning likely led to a smells-so-good-that-I'm-gonna-eat-it delicacy. As she commenced vomiting we snagged a remaining camp site, called it a recovery day, and hope to see Elk.

Frank

1 cubic meter + 4

We are coming down to the wire! I think that we have finally whittled our belongings down to the items that will go to Taiwan (in these photos). Four bags (each barely under the 50# limit) and one nervous pooch will accompany us on the plane while one cubic meter of other "stuff" will take the slow boat. This afternoon, we will take the items to be shipped to the freight forwarding company and drop off. In theory, it will take a minimum of four weeks for the boat to make it to Taichung.

We begin driving south to San Francisco on Wednesday if Audrey's clean bit of health returns from the State Stamper of Official Well-Being.

Frank

Two weeks left!

Sometimes I get the feeling that when exciting events are on the horizon, time has a way of slowing down. Days painfully crawl forward. Our departure acts as if it is toying with us. Originally, the plan was to be heading south today on a big road trip. We had anticipated one last visit to our favorite spots on the Oregon coast and then an exploration of the northern Californian coast to see the redwoods. Unfortunately, health requirements for Audrey require us to stay around the area until the 28th or so.

At the same time, it's not that we have been idle. Last weekend, we gathered at Krista's grandmother's house with some family and friends on a beautiful summer evening. The wind died down and the mountain was crystal clear from the knoll that the house rests upon. The view east is over acres of nursery fields that have leafed out until the foothills begin to rise and then Mt Hood takes over. Ridge lines are well-defined by rock though the snowfields are still a brilliant white.

We also spent a nice evening at a former student's house sharing a great dinner and have been treated to some wonderful Portland restaurants. On Monday, our car drove away and on Thursday we cleaned our apartment for the last time. We're heading out to Hood River for a week before we return to get Audrey checked up and take some items to the famous slow boat.

Enjoy summer!
Frank