Final Countdown

Down to just a few hours in Taiwan.  Last couple of weeks have been fairly stressful with the boss changing our schedules five minutes before class. In the end, we just planned generic lessons and went with it. I had to tell students goodbye 18 times, because I never knew which would be the last class—chaotic for everyone.  Some students cried and some were kind enough to make me gifts.  

To add to the stress, Matt was hit by four cars in a matter of two hours. He was ok, just bruised and angry.  He was hit twice in Taichung in front of a police officer, who did nothing because, apparently in Taiwanese culture, if you move after an accident you’re ok, so in order to get a police officer to pay attention, you must sit down in the middle of traffic and not move—yeah that sounds like a brilliant idea.

We made it to Hemei, to food, and almost home when a car headed straight for Matt. It was so bizarre how every single vehicle was trying to run us over. The next day was nearly as bad, as Matt saw several accidents on his way to work and I saw one on my way home. 

Thursday went with the boss to the tax office. Met him at eight thirty in the morning in front of the school (who knows the last time we were out of the apartment that early) and drove right by our place on our way to a “short cut” that took 45 minutes for a normally 15 minute drive.  After discussing Matt’s injuries from the “car accidents,” G made a left turn in front of oncoming traffic which was blocking said short cut. We were in the middle of three lanes as a tanker came barreling towards us, narrowly missing the car, G kept his smiling countenance.

Finally made it to Changhua, only to park on the side of a busy road and wait for several minutes until it was made clear that we were waiting for the accountant. The accountant appeared across the street, wearing a purple shirt dress with some sort of cat on it and some pink shorts. She carried a manila envelope. G hopped out of the car, crossed the busy street and spoke with her for a few seconds as he checked over documents. Then the deal was done.

After the shady encounter with the accountant, we went to the tax office, which smelled and looked like an Asian hospital. The only difference really, was that the employees were wearing t-shirts and jeans of the most informal kind, some were just one step up from pjs. We filled out our forms and went to the ground floor where I realized my blouse had come unbuttoned and I was walking with my bra hanging out. I rushed to cover myself and failed to notice that G , typically Taiwanese, hadn’t held the door open, so I walked into the door. Drove past our apartment on our way to the school where we were let out.

Saturday, our last full day, started with a visit from the landlord. I had spent the entire week cleaning and gathering up our possessions. The landlord walked in and started complaining that he couldn’t possibly give us our money because how could he see from the “clutter” and we had better get that stuff (one pile of our luggage) out of the apartment. He then tried to knock off my lap top and overcharge us on the rent and then claimed we had stolen a magnetic fob from the spare key (which we had to have made because he wouldn’t give us spare keys). We did get our deposit back and a dirty floor to boot.

G kindly took us to the new teachers’ apartments to help unload their new furniture. G made sure all of their stuff was out of the car and drove off, leaving Matt and I to walk back home across town. Cooled off and then met with a couple of co-teachers for a farewell dinner in Taichung. Watched as bats flew out of the neighbor’s roof, like mice coming from a crack, and started devouring insects in the sunlight.