31.07.2006 or "Chinese Valentines Day"
(Added Link to Anime Blog Site above, do I have time to do that?)
(Removed Link to Myspace cause all the cool kids are jumping ship)
Today was my first day of school and since I am typing this message then you know I survived. It has been a long and tiring day but Im glad to say that it was worth it. The children in my class are funny and energetic and all seem to get along with each other very well. Noone in my class was unhappy for the whole day so I count myself very very lucky since I know some of the new teachers in the other classes had a pretty rough time of it. I learnt alot from today, namely how much work needs to go into planning in order for a day, with my particular age group to go smoothly. That would be lots, lots of planning because the thing is, one idea on paper can be done and over with within a matter of minutes.
What I quickly noticed was how short and attention span five year old children have and It takes all of your energy to come up with things to constantly amuse them. To that end I tried my best today but I can see lots of room for improvement. There is one major upside to my job however and that the fact that when the children sleep, you can usually sleep too, which meant I was able to have about a 1&1/2 hour nap after lunch. I can go into school tomorrow with a foreknowlege of what the children are like, what resources to arm myself with and a better vantage point from which to plan my day, something which I did not have until I actually met them. In conclusion, today went very well and I am very grateful for the comments of encouragement I recieved in reply to yesterday's blog, its nice to see so many people have my back even though I am over the other side of the world.
Anyway, enough about work, Im sure there is still some remenants of normal me left underneath the work centric beast I have been shaping myself to be over the past couple of weeks. Today is Chinese Valentines day and unfortunately we have been unable to celebrate it pretty much at all. We are both so worn out from work and this accursed heat that all of the drive and motivation to do anything of substance in our free time tends to get sapped away. I really have become quite accustomed to being out here which is something which I seldom say. Even though I speak no mandarin, im meeting enough English speaking people that I feel myself inhabiting a bubble of my own creation, a bubble made from routine and a shaping of this culture to my own whim. I feel quite at easy cycling around the area both in the day and at night.
I was cycling home the other day and It was dark but the neon lights which are pretty unavoidable out here created this wierd purple and green haze. It is really odd to pass through the streets and shops like that, its unlike anything I have experienced and only ever seen in movies. At the same time, the crowding and the neon dont intimidate me any more, you just kind of learn to accept it as part of the scenery. It's like I mentioned before, it can be a little odd poking your head out of the window at night and seeing a spralling neon sea and giant towers but I have always loved that kind of thing ever since I saw Blade Runner when I was little. That comparison is even more acurate here in Taiwan where things are just a little dirtier than in Tokyo where the buildings and streets are clean and organinsed like big neon circuit boards rather than a smoggy distopia. I really should take more pictures.
Im going to leave you now with the intention of doing at least one thing of value with my free time rather than sitting infront of this screen. I hope all is well for everyone. Please continue visiting arcadefinger in its new home as I see our boy Dave has recently updated with a rather detailed blog on his latest activities. If you are at all inclined towards anime please visit my newly created anime blog schoolgrumble. And finally, keep coming back here where I will attempt to maintain as much content as I can whilst I become increasingly busy elsewhere,
Till next time,
(Removed Link to Myspace cause all the cool kids are jumping ship)
Today was my first day of school and since I am typing this message then you know I survived. It has been a long and tiring day but Im glad to say that it was worth it. The children in my class are funny and energetic and all seem to get along with each other very well. Noone in my class was unhappy for the whole day so I count myself very very lucky since I know some of the new teachers in the other classes had a pretty rough time of it. I learnt alot from today, namely how much work needs to go into planning in order for a day, with my particular age group to go smoothly. That would be lots, lots of planning because the thing is, one idea on paper can be done and over with within a matter of minutes.
What I quickly noticed was how short and attention span five year old children have and It takes all of your energy to come up with things to constantly amuse them. To that end I tried my best today but I can see lots of room for improvement. There is one major upside to my job however and that the fact that when the children sleep, you can usually sleep too, which meant I was able to have about a 1&1/2 hour nap after lunch. I can go into school tomorrow with a foreknowlege of what the children are like, what resources to arm myself with and a better vantage point from which to plan my day, something which I did not have until I actually met them. In conclusion, today went very well and I am very grateful for the comments of encouragement I recieved in reply to yesterday's blog, its nice to see so many people have my back even though I am over the other side of the world.
Anyway, enough about work, Im sure there is still some remenants of normal me left underneath the work centric beast I have been shaping myself to be over the past couple of weeks. Today is Chinese Valentines day and unfortunately we have been unable to celebrate it pretty much at all. We are both so worn out from work and this accursed heat that all of the drive and motivation to do anything of substance in our free time tends to get sapped away. I really have become quite accustomed to being out here which is something which I seldom say. Even though I speak no mandarin, im meeting enough English speaking people that I feel myself inhabiting a bubble of my own creation, a bubble made from routine and a shaping of this culture to my own whim. I feel quite at easy cycling around the area both in the day and at night.
I was cycling home the other day and It was dark but the neon lights which are pretty unavoidable out here created this wierd purple and green haze. It is really odd to pass through the streets and shops like that, its unlike anything I have experienced and only ever seen in movies. At the same time, the crowding and the neon dont intimidate me any more, you just kind of learn to accept it as part of the scenery. It's like I mentioned before, it can be a little odd poking your head out of the window at night and seeing a spralling neon sea and giant towers but I have always loved that kind of thing ever since I saw Blade Runner when I was little. That comparison is even more acurate here in Taiwan where things are just a little dirtier than in Tokyo where the buildings and streets are clean and organinsed like big neon circuit boards rather than a smoggy distopia. I really should take more pictures.
Im going to leave you now with the intention of doing at least one thing of value with my free time rather than sitting infront of this screen. I hope all is well for everyone. Please continue visiting arcadefinger in its new home as I see our boy Dave has recently updated with a rather detailed blog on his latest activities. If you are at all inclined towards anime please visit my newly created anime blog schoolgrumble. And finally, keep coming back here where I will attempt to maintain as much content as I can whilst I become increasingly busy elsewhere,
Till next time,
posted by Aaron | 4:51 AM
2 Comments:
Hey man, great to hear that your first day went so well, I hope you carry on having a good time. I'm so jealous that you get to have a nap at work...do you get free milk and cookies as well?? Nice to see you pimping Daves blog on here - he was gutted when his blogger broke, so its nice to know that his new site is getting noticed. Peace out!
Good news on your first day man, I can only imagine what teaching those kids much be like. Also nice to hear that you're feeling settled over there. Liz already mentioned but thanks for the link to arcadefinger!
Hang Tough
Dave
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