V+T English School

Hey!
Well, it was back to work for the foreign teachers following last weekend's festivities. I took some shots of my bushiban and the three classes I teach at this school. A bushiban is a synonym for 'cram school'. They are private institutions that the children attend after regular school hours. In Taiwan, like many other Asian countries, you pretty much have to go to school for 10-15 hours per day, depending upon your age. If you don't go to cram school then you won't score well on your pre-university exams, if you don't score well on your pre-university exams then you will not go to university, and if you don't go to university you are destined to have a service job and make a very poor living. So, in many ways, only the elite can continue to be the elite because it costs money to go to a bushiban.

But, on the bright side, these kids are great. Really and truly! They seem to enjoy school and class very much. It's a fun atmosphere with lots of laughter. You'll see what I mean in the photos.

Playing "Teacher Says" (aka Simon Says) with my Purple Class. They are only five and six years old.
Oscar from my Purple class. He is possibly the cutest kid ever.
Playing musical chairs with the Purple class. They love this game.
Another shot of Purple class. They're such a good class and very sweet.
Inside V+T school. It's always clean and still looks new.
Outside of V+T school. Right above a 7-11, they're everywhere here. But at 7-11 you can get tea-eggs (eggs hard boiled in black tea), boiled fish sticks, steamed pies made with a completely different dough, and, of course, sushi. Oh, and look at the traffic! This isn't even downtown!
Another view of V+T school.
My Apple class. There are 16 eight year olds! I have to crack down on them pretty hard sometimes but generally they're a really great class too. Yesterday I had them read their books for 15 minutes instead of playing a game. I'm such a battle axe! The kid in the front with the blue sports shirt, Tom, is hillarious. We have a good relationship and I know that we REALLY wants to be good but just can't stop himself sometimes. He loves to come up to my desk and show me his drawings.
Another shot of Apple class.
This is my Orange class. They are excellent! It's hard to believe but they're only 9-11 years old. They act much older and you can have full-on conversations with them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

This weekend has been incredible for me, truly. I can't express how grateful and fulfilled I really am. Although we all missed our friends and families over Christmas, we made the celebration our own. Because of this, we concluded the weekend with a sense of thankfulness and peace, which I think is the true essence of the 'Christmas Sprit'.

Below you will see many pictures of our celebratory weekend. I hope they capture the feeling that overtook us all. It's true that this was our first Christmas away from home, but I believe that we successfully worked together to create our own and unique Christmas in Kaohsiung.

Alright now, from the top...

Last Wednesday my school celebrated Christmas with the kids. Although the vast majority of Taiwanese people are not Christian, they still enjoy Santa Clause, Christmas trees, and loads of glittery decorations. In fact, Christmas is essentially a 'couples' holiday' here; a time to go out for dinner with your partner and buy him/her some flowers.

We had a great time with the kids! We planned games (mine was 'pin the nose on Rudolph') and we had a Christmas card competition. Santa also came to the party and handed out gifts.

On Friday evening my work had a staff party with all of the local and foreign teachers. They had a wonderful meal including Western food (pizza ~ BIG treat here because it's so expensive) and Asian food (Kimchi with seafood). Also red wine and cheese cake for dessert. The hillarious part of the evening was the gift exchange. We spent about 30 minutes playing various guessing games (they love them here ~ must teach them to people when I get home) in order to decide who would select a gift when. I got a DVD and some popcorn!

On Saturday we cleaned the apartment and went shopping for Christmas day brunch. April and I also went to the salon to get our hair done (hence the straight hair in the pictures, don't worry, it'll wash out Jer!). It was wonderful! Two hours later and a full head message for only 7 dollars CAD!

That evening we went to April's work party at the Grand Hotel. The venue was incredible and so was the buffet. Huge plates of sashimi, smoked salmon, roast beef, salads, soups, seafood, etc, etc, etc. We also had wine on the table. April works for a large chain of school in Kaohsiung called 'KNS'. It's clear how much business these institutions pull in. Also, the party was a costume competition as well. Some of the outfits were fantastic (check out the Geisha down below).

We arrived home and our friends Matt, Lisa, Heather, and Mark were there to spend the night. We had a gift exchange (I got a sweet juicer!) and we drank far too much. I had to tap out at about midnight. Definitely worth it though.

Christmas day we got up at 11 o'clock to open all of our presents and our stockings. I couldn't believe the beautiful gifts that I received! April bought me a wallet, book (The Alchemist, which I've been wanting for quite some time), and a sweater (really nice green colour). Dan got me a purple skirt and some unique earrings. They both know my style so well! Mom sent me a mint-condition vintage nightie that she got at an annual clothing sale held in the Chateau Laurier. It really is amazing. Genn sent maple syrup, yum! What a treat! And some other uniquely Canadian gifts. Dad and Chris sent me cash for the trip to South Korea!!! Whoooeeee! That's only a month away! I am so blessed. Thanks to everyone who sent a gift, you don't know how much I appreciated them and of course, your cards. I miss you all!

Afterwards we made a huge brunch which included fruit salad, maple syrup (thanks again Genn!), french toast, eggs, bacon, champagne and orange juice, and croissants. It was a hit, very delicious! We pretty much collapsed after that. Some of us watched a movie, others spoke on the phone to Canada, and at 4:30 I went to an English church service. I'm really glad that I went. We sang carols and read the Christmas story.

At 6 o'clock we headed to a restaurant called the Lighthouse. It's a foreigner pub that also serves food from home. There were actually 16 people in our party and we had a great time. The meal included red wine, ginger carrot soup, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, brocolli, peas, carrots, stuffing, apple pie, and vanilla ice cream. It was delicious but Dan had to finish all of our dinners (April and I) because we had reached capacity for the weekend. Another exciting thing was that the Lighthouse also served egg nog with nutmeg and rum. Oh man, that was a treat. We even got Desiree (my violin student from South Africa) into the nog, she loved it!

We headed home afterwards and said goodbye to everyone. I called Tomek super early (sorry babe!) so we could open our gifts together over the phone. It was perfect.

The weekend ended with us watching the Queen's address on BBC. Wouldn't have been Christmas if I hadn't!

So that's the weekend in detail. I really did have a fantastic time and feel like I'm even closer to my roommates now because we created something really special together.

write soon, Merry Christmas
peace and love,
Rachel

Our tree on Christmas Eve!
Dinner at the Lighthouse on Christmas Day.
Dan and Matt with my new orange juicer.
Mark, Heather, Lisa, and Matt on Christmas morning.
Our table for Christmas brunch. We even made little place cards for fun!
Another view of the brunch table.
Lisa, Rachel, and April on Christmas Eve.
Our festive apartment.
Stockings! Mom sent these from Ottawa and they arrived just in time, thanks Mom!
The Grand Hotel. Gorgeous! This is where April's work party was held (in another building on the property).
The banquet hall where April's work party was held on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve at April's work party.
It was also a costume competition! This Geisha was gorgeous and I had to get a picture with her.
Rachel and April about to go to the Christmas Eve party.
Friday, December 23rd. My work party at V+T English school.
V+T Christmas party with the kids. These five students were from two of my classes. They all the won the "best Christmas card" competition. Sean, another foreign teacher, was Santa!
Our Christmas tree. Beautiful eh? I was so pleased with how the apartment looked ~ very festive.
Stockings from April's mom (her sister glitter glued our names on the front!).
April opening her Christmas package from home.

Scenes from Hong Kong...Finally!

Passing a street car on our way to dim sum.

Two views of the Hong Kong harbour from the ferry.

 

 

Elise's lovely family at our dinner out.

 

Street markets below the huge office buildings.

 

Ducks in a butcher's window. Varying degrees of roasting?

 

View of HK from the Peak.

 

Rachel at the Peak View, overlooking HK.

 

Elise and I doing the Asian thang. In a Hong Kong street market.

 

The tallest building in Hong Kong, situated in the financial district. It's also right by the bay.

 

The Night Markets

I've been referring to night markets pretty frequently in my up-dates. That's because they're everywhere and very popular. We even went to one last night. It's a good place to get food, play some games, and haggle over clothes, jewellery, shoes, etc. Here are some night market scenes. This is a shot of some random meat. We have NO idea what it might be but it's just out in the out air, waiting to be sold.
Another shot of some night market food, wish I could tell you what it is...
This one I know. These are incredibly popular. In fact, people were climbing over each other to get to this stuff. It's a little heated box of duck bits. No joke, every imaginable part of the duck, head included.
A shot of the Yuchen night market. Food everywhere, people everywhere, and lots of energy. It's a great place to go to at night. Always an adventure.