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Taiwan Diary: Long Weekend
Oct. 9th, 2022 11:42 amFriends, I am so sad that my current school does not have a fall break. It’s like I’m back in the US. No fall break. Two weeks off at Christmas. Sure, we get a week off for Lunar New Year, but the slog between starting in August and Christmas Break in mid December is long. Which is why I am super grateful for this long weekend. Monday is National Day here in Taiwan, 10/10, so we get a three-day weekend.
Yesterday, I did a little day-drinking with some colleagues. There is a Caribbean/South American restaurant about a block from my apartment. We met up there and it was great! The outing was organized by Dom, one of our science teachers. He’s from England. His partner Petra is a kindergarten teacher, and she’s from Croatia. Lee, Tim and I are all from the US, and Sounia is Persian-Canadian. One of the things I do love about my current school is that the staff is very international. Aside from the above-mentioned staff, we have staff from India, South Africa, Ireland, Russia, Vietnam, Philippines, and a few more Canadians, as well as local Taiwanese teachers. Plus our Spanish teacher is either from South America or maybe Italy — I haven’t spent much time around him, and I can’t remember what he said. Our student body is far less diverse than my last school, which is a shame in some ways because I think my students learned so much by interacting with peers from around the world, but at least the kids here are getting exposed to different ways of thinking, even though we have an American curriculum. And I really enjoy having my horizons broadened. Although beware — if you’re three drinks into lunch and having a conversation about the shortcomings of the American education system, you might find yourself sarcastically saying, “Oh, Hitler’s okay,” loudly.
For the record, I do NOT think Hitler’s okay. We were talking about curriculum and how many places in America are whitewashing history with regards to racism and slavery, and Petra asked about teaching about fascism, and I was like, “No, HItler’s okay because he was European. We can talk about the bad stuff in Europe all we want. We just can’t talk about American fascism or things like lynchings.” I had to explain this to an understandably-alarmed Sounia, who had been talking about something else with Lee and Dom.
Anyway, today I’m in Taipei. I’m going to a viola recital because I am obligated to give fellow violists love whenever possible. I just took the train in for the day, and can I say how much I fucking love trains? Because I do. I fucking love them! If I were in Idaho, I’d think nothing of driving four hours round trip to see a concert in Boise. I’d grumble, but I’d do it. But here, I can take the high speed train and get to Taipei in 30 minutes. Heck, I can get to the other end of the island in two hours. But today it’s an afternoon concert and some Mexican food for lunch.
And tomorrow, I’ll have brunch with Ms. Mayi, the fellow BTS Stan on staff. And probably grade a few papers.
Yesterday, I did a little day-drinking with some colleagues. There is a Caribbean/South American restaurant about a block from my apartment. We met up there and it was great! The outing was organized by Dom, one of our science teachers. He’s from England. His partner Petra is a kindergarten teacher, and she’s from Croatia. Lee, Tim and I are all from the US, and Sounia is Persian-Canadian. One of the things I do love about my current school is that the staff is very international. Aside from the above-mentioned staff, we have staff from India, South Africa, Ireland, Russia, Vietnam, Philippines, and a few more Canadians, as well as local Taiwanese teachers. Plus our Spanish teacher is either from South America or maybe Italy — I haven’t spent much time around him, and I can’t remember what he said. Our student body is far less diverse than my last school, which is a shame in some ways because I think my students learned so much by interacting with peers from around the world, but at least the kids here are getting exposed to different ways of thinking, even though we have an American curriculum. And I really enjoy having my horizons broadened. Although beware — if you’re three drinks into lunch and having a conversation about the shortcomings of the American education system, you might find yourself sarcastically saying, “Oh, Hitler’s okay,” loudly.
For the record, I do NOT think Hitler’s okay. We were talking about curriculum and how many places in America are whitewashing history with regards to racism and slavery, and Petra asked about teaching about fascism, and I was like, “No, HItler’s okay because he was European. We can talk about the bad stuff in Europe all we want. We just can’t talk about American fascism or things like lynchings.” I had to explain this to an understandably-alarmed Sounia, who had been talking about something else with Lee and Dom.
Anyway, today I’m in Taipei. I’m going to a viola recital because I am obligated to give fellow violists love whenever possible. I just took the train in for the day, and can I say how much I fucking love trains? Because I do. I fucking love them! If I were in Idaho, I’d think nothing of driving four hours round trip to see a concert in Boise. I’d grumble, but I’d do it. But here, I can take the high speed train and get to Taipei in 30 minutes. Heck, I can get to the other end of the island in two hours. But today it’s an afternoon concert and some Mexican food for lunch.
And tomorrow, I’ll have brunch with Ms. Mayi, the fellow BTS Stan on staff. And probably grade a few papers.
