28.02.2007 - Back to Asia

So here we are again. After traveling 6000 plus mile for close to thirty hours I finally find myself settling back into life as I have come to know it. The cold which I had contracted in the UK has unfortunately failed to be shaken off so easily and has resulted in my taking a day and a half off the beginning of a new term. Not the best timing I know, but at least I made it physically back to be able to work once this bronchitis medicine does its thing. Luckily tomorrow is a national holiday, which gives me another day to rest up. The medicine the doctor gave me is making me incredibly lethargic and aside for trips out for food and supplies, my time post UK has been mostly spent playing PSP and watching South Park season 10 in its entirety.

The morning period I did spend in my new class however was very promising. I felt incredibly bad to be in such a sickly jetlagged state but I was relieved to find that the children, classroom and the co teacher were all really nice. It’s a difficult situation for anyone to deal with, having to start everything from scratch and I really feel that the Chinese teacher is handling it extremely well, at least on the outside that is. It’s hard to explain the way that a very individual routine and structure is built up in a classroom environment once a teacher takes a class upon themselves. I’m sure this is the case with my old class and it’s incredibly evident with my new one. Once I get back into the swing of things teaching wise, its going to have to be a case of working around what work for them already and subtly guiding things into a routine that works for me whilst firmly keeping the mantra “If it aint broke don’t fix it” in mind. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a daunting task, but I’m sure once I get back in good shape ill be up for the challenge.

Well, I buckled and ate one of my prized British canned foods today in a moment of weakness, maybe it was because I’m in sick mode but I just needed some big soup to make me feel better. It did make me feel better and then instantly worse when I realized it was the last can in Asia. One can of baked beans and two cans of stag chili remain in the “break out in case of homesick emergency” cabinet. How long this metaphorical cabinet will remain intact remains to be seen. I’m guessing the first to go will be the stag since there are two of them.

One final thing, I will be working on my pod cast once I get my voice back, I really feel like I should give it a shot since it means I can cast a sort of distant stone into the pool of people I know and care about overseas. I do think there are huge possibilities for the medium based on what I get up to and I have recently become starkly aware of how massively different British and Taiwanese lives are. So expect the resurgence of that little MMI offshoot as soon as I get better.

Till next time,
This has been MMI



Farewell my nakama!

10.02.2007 - Saturday

Just checked the date and its seven days till I make my first leg of my journey back to motherland. One final week of school to get through unlike some of the other schools in the area. Been feeling a little ill this weekend but im sure that will be out of system by tomorrow and I can get on with packing and organising the thing. Its time to encode some junk to mp4 to keep me busy on the flight and also make a shopping list of food to bring back from sainsburys. Ive already had a bunch of requests from fellow brits but stag chilli is top of my list.

Not a great deal to report since the past post. Been playing Advance wars 2 obessively and beginning to realise why it comes so highly recommended online. Listening to ICRT, Taiwan's only english radio station and getting gradually more depressed by their choice of music. Its good to have background noise on these lazy pointless Saturdays where aside from laying about, I never usually get anything done. Its starting to get hot again here, especially at night which means there was no really middle ground weather to enjoy between freezing and what will soon become sweltering heat.

Mostly been watching Anime as usual, still working through Welcome the the NHK and of course bleach.Its good to have Bleach back on top form, the animation is fantasic again and the character designs are looking really sharp, unlike the malformed wooden puppets that starred in the filler episodes. My friend upstairs is long gone to his new country and I have inherited quite alot of his stuff when he left, the list including a new chair, speakers and yet another turtle with whom I am yet to properly bond.

Well, detirmined to make something of this saturday before the sun goes down, Im going to put on some washing and clean my apartment. Its not all fun and games you see.

Till next time,
This has been a rather lackluster MMI