During Chinese New Year, a one-week national holiday, and in an effort to see more of the island I purportedly travelled to in order to explore and experience, I went down to the cape of Taiwan, a beautiful beach resort called Kenting.

( In which things never go quite according to plan... )

As I type this, in the last dying minutes of 2011, it's time for me to take stock of my achievements and my shortcomings. It's been a busy year in some ways, and not at all in others. For the first time, I've had a full-time job on at least a semi-permanent basis. While this was novel in some ways, and the chance to establish and develop a rapport ( Read more... )

Hello Livejournal. Do you like music? I'm quite fond myself, although my taste tends towards eclecticism. In Taiwan so far I've mainly been attempting to salve the separation from my games consoles with video game remixes. This generally serves to have the opposite effect, and unfortunately Taiwan, like the West, has reached the point at which it ( Read more... )

Well, why not.

kevan.org/johari

( Read more... )

Last weekend I decided to take a gamble and head up to Taipei again for the first time since my training week, in which I had very little time to actually dip my toe in the comings and goings of Taiwan's cultural hub. This time I was going to make a proper go of it, and made arrangements to meet up with some native friends in order to size up a ( Read more... )

I've not been doing very well in terms of travelling while in Taiwan, I'm sorry to report. A combination of shortage of funds and time, fatigue and lack of confidence in my language abilities have impeded my ability to get around this island as much as I'd like. However, I managed to go some way towards rectifying this last weekend by travelling to ( Read more... )

So I've not been in Taiwan terribly long now -- just over a month, in fact. But one thing that's become apparent is that they really love their festivals. The latest celebration to rear its head was the Mazu Pilgrimage.
( Mazu Mazu Mazu Mazu Mazu )

For the past fortnight, I've been getting to grips with the fundamentals of teaching in Taiwan, quite aside from the lofty ideals poured down onto our naive little heads during the training week in Taipei.

( Well... )

Today I went on a social with the Changhua-based schools. In a convoy of four cars containing managers, teaching assistants, teachers, and families along for the ride, we headed Taichung-wards, and I got to learn a little more about another of the Changhua teachers, Captain Globetrotter.
( Batteries and ice creams and horses, oh my! )