It's All About Hemei!

Daodong Academy in Hemei

The last two weekends I have spent in Hemei. The weekend of the sixth, attempts to visit the sea fell through. Instead, I graded mid-term exams while the next door neighbor practiced Fur Elise and the wedding march over and over and over again on the piano during a thunderstorm. On Sunday, I headed out in search of a stationary store to buy birthday cards. I went to the catch-all general dry-goods store—I think it’s called 101. This store carries just about anything.

I spend almost an hour each trip to 101 just trying to find what I need. I found the cartoon- themed cotton swaps on isle 14, but when I got to isle 5, there were the regular, cheaper ones in with the nail polish, and then some surgical ones in the first aide items on isle 3. Feminine pads everywhere around the store—like a mad game of hide the maxis (seriously, why have tampons not caught on here!?!).  Anyway, after what seemed like an eternity, I made it up to the counter with my 4 items that came to six USD. I left the store and turned right instead of the customary left.

I walked a bit down the road to an unassuming open gate. I peeked in to find a beautiful Chinese-style house. I cautiously stepped into the gate, not really sure if it was a public or private place. No one shooed me away, so I causally walked around the yard. My attempts at taking pictures were thwarted by two cute kids coming over to say hello and introduce me to their parents and the owner of the teashop next door who asked to please, please come by and have tea with him.

I eventually found the stationary store and managed to kill forty-five minutes buying cards. I went back to the academy on Monday to write the cards, enjoying the cool winds that were bringing a typhoon. The week went on without too much happening. The typhoon started on Friday night, but I went to the language exchange anyway. We played games and ate tons of junk food to send off the native teacher I am replacing.  We called it a night at 11, and I got a very windy ride back to my apartment.

By the time I woke up on Saturday morning, the typhoon was in full force. Heavy rains and heavy winds prevented everyone from leaving their houses. I sat twiddling my thumbs for most of the day. I did attempt to open the window at one point, only to get a face full of water, cartoon style. Some parts of Hemei flooded, not too badly, but enough to cause some issues. It lasted all day, but by nine PM, I was able to wander out and get food. On Sunday, I met up with the teacher who is leaving to eat hot pot with the TAs and collect some things for my apartment.

Lukang

In my attempts to befriend the neighborhood cat and the geckos, I seem to have attracted the attention of some overly friendly, creepy neighbors. How I came to be so lucky when it comes to being irresistible to blood suckers, creepers, and gravity, I’ll never know. And after all that, I still haven’t won over the four-legged creatures. I have however befriended the ladies at the sandwich shop across the street from the temple. We had a lovely conversation the other morning. They were very curious if I am married to the other teacher, and if I have kids. Then they seemed to suggest that I was a mother to seven children, but I am guessing it was their way of asking if I was a teacher. But it is hard to tell exactly what was being said, with my Chinese being so great and all.

I am learning Chinese slowly. I have learned the symbols for rice, noodles, beef, pork, chicken, and small. Please don’t ask me to pronounce them though. I have also learned how to say “delicious,” “thank you,” and “hello.” Also thankfully, “bye-bye” works pretty well here. I have joined a language exchange group and was gifted a set of flashcards, so I should be well on my way to learning Chinese. I’ve also learned my first word in Taiwanese. Apparently “decide,” is almost the exact pronunciation for the Taiwanese word for pig poop. Of course that would be the first word I’d learn. Have to love nine year olds.

Teaching is going well so far. The nine year olds find me satisfactory and are warming up to me quickly. I’m already adored by the six year olds and I adore them, especially when they get upset when I make them take a potty break after 40 minutes of class. The jury is still out with the high school students. There is quite a Mean Girls scenario going on in that class. So let’s hope I can get through to them. I have met one private student so far, and we are so much alike—down to the love of writing essays. And, a fact that all of us foreign teachers are in awe of, her sister has blue eyes.

I am also getting to know my co-workers fairly well. On Saturday, one of my co-workers took me to her grandmother’s house. Her grandmother lives out in the country in a little park called “Baggie Park.” The house the grandmother grew up in occupies the park, but is now just a squat crumbling, red-brick shack used for storage. The grandmother and some of her children live in a three story “modern” house, with an identical house next door for the grandfather’s family. Several aunts and uncles live in neighboring houses too. So, naturally, I met many of the aunts and uncles, cousins, and nieces. Surprisingly, quite a few of them speak a bit of English.

After ensuring I was stuffed with a traditional meal of fish, tofu, rice, eggplant, lotus, and other veggies, four of us girls piled in one car, and two boys and the six-year old niece got into another. We drove to the neighboring town of Lukang—one of the oldest towns in Taiwan. It used to be a center for Dutch trading. Much of the architecture has a European feel to it, while still being distinctly South-East Asian.

Matzu

Once in Lukang, we abandoned the car and headed to the most famous temple in Lukang—Matzu (of course worshiping the God, Matzu). We accompanied one of the girls around the temple as she burned incense (yumm incense) and money (don’t worry, it isn’t real) and prayed for a safe trip to America, as well as good grades in her intensive English course. It was great to have my co-worker as a tour guide to explain the various gods and rooms of the temples.

Hanging out at the mouth of "Touch Breast Lane"

After the temple, we wandered around the old city market area, eating some local ice cream, then to the more modern market to eat pineapple and grass jelly shaved ices. I drank my first bubble tea too. And then we headed to another temple and then to Lukang’s narrowest street (no longer used except by tourists), “Touch-Breast Lane.” It’s pretty dang narrow. Could have made for some pretty interesting photo ops, but sadly, it just didn’t happen. Then we crammed back into the cars, headed back to the grandmother’s house and had mango shaved ice. Exhausted and burned from the heat of the day, I headed home and relaxed.

This week could be deemed as the Koreans call “nothing special.” I have spent a lot of time remembering too late that I need to purchase some sort of slipper for the apartment. I am getting really tired of practicing my figure skating and gymnastics whenever I step out of the bathroom with wet feet.

  

Otherwise, I’ve had a few adventures in communication both here and at home. Also, as I mentioned above, I have joined a language exchange group—basically a very small group from the local church who want to learn English and in exchange teach the English teachers Chinese. I’ve decided to continue the tradition, even if I don’t learn any Chinese, they are a great group of people. For example, my ride home warned me that she was a “crazy driver” and that if I fell off the back of the scooter, not to worry because she’d come back and get me.