My friend Rob sent me an e-mail the other day and it made me laugh because it sounded a lot like the first one that I wrote to my cousin Nichole before coming here, LOL!
As is the situation with most of my school mates, I believe, employment prospects in Canada are pretty dreadful right now, so Rob is considering following my lead and coming to Taiwan for a stint. I told him "Believe me: there is work here for you!"
To illustrate this, I related a story to him:
Nichole's boyfriend Cory is coming to visit her for a few weeks and as soon as my boss found out that he was coming to visit, she asked Nicole if he could work!
How crazy is that? So, Cory has agreed to work for Emily's sister for two weeks! He arrives here tomorrow (Friday for us) and starts work in TAINAN on Monday ...Tainan is another city 40 minutes away!... Emily (our boss) has agreed to pay his train fare to and from Tainan everyday because he is here to visit Nicole, NOT to work in Tainan! So how desperate do YOU think they are for foreigners who's first language is English?!?
Since Rob was asking about the lifestyle and salary here, I put my thoughts on paper, as it were. I thought I would take this opportunity to reiterate what I told him.
Since I am living and working overseas, I need to take both the Canadian dollar and the Taiwanese dollar into consideration when I discuss the value of things here. To give you an idea of the money here right now, $100 Taiwan Dollars was roughly equal to $5 Canadian... at least that's the way Nichole and I calculate it.
It is actually closer to 4.50... but $5 is easier to work with, and makes the exchange pretty easy to remember! The actual exchange rate right now is about 22%. This means that if you divide your Taiwan dollars by 22, you will get their value in Canadian money (for example: $100 NT ÷ 22 = $4.54 CAD).
My salary (in Taiwanese dollars) is $53,000.00 every month. That works out to about $2,400 Canadian every month... Yes, it is less than the average monthly salary in Canada, but it works out to more take-home pay in the long run because most of the everyday things are cheaper!
Speaking strictly in Canadian dollars, my rent here is only about $250.00 Canadian every month. I add to that the utilities (another $150.00 MAYBE) and spending money of $100.00 a week (which is actually a lot if you think about it!)... and that means that if I spend about $800.00 every month, I am still earning $500.00 that I am NOT spending! ..and I can just buy a money order and mail it home to my bank in Montreal to deposit!! Also, since my bank card works at the bank machines here, if I end up getting stuck at some point, I can get money from my Canadian account.
:-)
This salary is for a 26 to 34 hour work week... and I can also do private tutoring if I want to. Private tutoring is usually frowned upon by many schools, but my boss encourages it, and will even find private students for me if I want them. These private lessons are under the table (no tax!!) and I can get between $600NT (New Taiwan dollars) and $1000NT an hour (about $30 to $50 CND) per student!
Because I am a foreigner, I have to pay a lot of tax for the first half of the fiscal year. My salary is taxed at 20% for the first half of the year, after which it drops to the standard 6% (Can you imagine 6% income tax in Canada??). The 20% sounds like a bit of a bum deal, but once you get past the 160 day mark, you are officially considered a resident foreigner for tax purposes. This means that when I file my income tax at the end of the year, I will get back all but 6% of the tax money I've paid so far.
I know... it's confusing... but there is a good book that you can buy that explains the way things work in Taiwan pretty well (except they are wrong about a lot of local customs, LOL!). The book is called "The Lonely Planet". There is an edition of the lonely planet for almost every country in the world. Both Nicole and I bought the one for Taiwan, and have really enjoyed it!
I guess since I have been here a little while, I can offer some advice to people thinking of coming over, as I did for Rob.
It took me a month to get ready and go. The most difficult thing for me was the vaccinations! I just didn't have enough time to get all the ones they recommend. The only one I was unable to get was the Hepatitis vaccine.
If you are starting to consider coming over here to work, I would suggest that you go and get your hepatitis vaccine because it takes more than a month... and it is handy to have even if you don't end up coming. I wasn't able to get that one in Canada, and it would have been a relief to me to have gotten all my shots done before coming over here.
[ED NOTE (2007): none of the recommended vaccinations were actually necessary, except the Hepatitis shot, though they did make me feel more secure about coming to a strange country.]
In Canadian dollars, the flight here cost me about $1300.00, and one night's hotel stay in Taipei, together with the taxi to the airport cost another $200.00 before I was even ready to fly out to Chiayi. Be aware of this!
Your startup costs when you arrive would be the purchase of a moped and some incidentals (things you forgot to bring or didn't realize you would need) which, in my case, ran for about $700 CND.
The school advanced me the money, thank goodness! From what I have heard, this is a common courtesy here with new arrivals.
YIf you come, you will want another 200 to 300 for pocket money during your first week or so... if only because you aren't used to the conversion rate between Canadian and Taiwanese money! I went through about that much because I hadn't figured out that $150 Taiwan dollars for a cup of coffee at my hotel was actually $7.00 Canadian!! YIKES!!!
Coffee is one of the few REALLY expensive things here!
As I told Rob: so far, coming here has been a fantastic experience! Besides... even if it all goes horribly pear shaped: I've been to China! :D
Thursday, December 14, 2000
Saturday, December 9, 2000
Finally Something To Say About Chiayi
Until today, there really wasn't all that much to tell you about! I have been in pretty good health most of the week. I had a bit of the "welcome To Taiwan" cold yesterday, but I am all better today! This is the cold that, apparently, all foreigners get upon arriving in Taiwan.
I have settled in nicely to my new digs, and things are going well at the school. Eva (our receptionist, clerk, manager) accompanied me to the hospital on Wednesday for all of my tests. These are the tests that are necessary in order for my boss, Emily, to apply for my Alien Residency Visa (A.R.C.).
Once I have my A.R.C., I am offcially a landed immigrant in Taiwan, and I am entitled to work and benefit from their medical coverage.
The hospitals here are amazing! They are actually fast, efficient, and friendly. This part of the system is very similar to Quebec. We get a medicare card and everything! Once we have this card, any visit to a dentist or a doctor will cost me about $100NT ($5.00 Canadian). So I did the pre-requisite tests, did an ex-ray and had a blood test.
After the testing, Eva drove me back to where I had parked my moped (we had rendez-vouzed on the main street). I went back home, grabbed a bite to eat, and then scooted over to school for my first class.
I have three classes (soon to be four). My first class of the day is at 2pm (until 4:30), and consists of nine kids (ages 7 & 8 ...and one 6 year old who is my best student). Here they are:
Top row: Anthony, Joyce, Grace, Maggie, and Willa (my 6 year old)
Bottom row: Darren, Nathan, Jack, Lily, and Judy.
My second class is from 4:40 until 6:10 and there are three 10 or 11 year old girls in the class: Jackie, Kiki, and Mary.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I also have a class from 7:30 until 9:00, and there are two kids in that class (13 years old): Sean and Maggie.
Nicole is going to start teaching Kindergarten in a couple of weeks (we currently have no Kindergarten class, it is only scheduled to begin in a couple of weeks). When Nikki starts teaching the Kindergarten, I will take over her evening class on Monday and Wednesday night (11 kids, ages 11,12 &13). The new teacher who is supposed to start in January will take Nikki's day classes and the one evening class that Nikki does on Tuesday and Thursday.
On Friday afternoons there is a market in town where there are about 50 stalls of jade merchants and antique dealers. Nikki and I went this week for a little while. It was neat! I picked up a small jade piece for a friend of mine and Pierre's. She is a fanatic for Oriental items... I know she will love it! Getting there was half the fun, actually. You have to drive down the main strip until you get to this one little side street... you go down the side street for a few meters until you see a small opening between two buildings. The small opening opens into an alley wide enough for one or two mopeds.... you follow the alley until you come to a clearing behind a Buddhist mission...and there is a giant tent where the Jade market is held every Friday from 12 to 2.
Neat, eh?
We browsed around for a bit, and then we went to work.
The way school works here, the grade school children (gardes 1 to 6) only go to school half days except on Friday when they go for a full day. So, we have classes with them in the afternoons from Monday to Thrursday because the children are not at Chinese school. On Fridays, however, Nikki and I each only have 1 class from 4 to 6 because the students are at their full day of Chinese school. Since we have the free time, we also have our weekly staff meetings on Friday at 2.
There are really only about 50 non-Chinese people in Chiayi, and there is a girl named Natacha who knows all of them, so she is the chick to meet!! Nichole and I went and met Natacha (she is very nice... which is probably WHY she knows everybody, LOL!) and we got some Papaya Milk (the only word that you will ever realy need to know in Chinese, other than "hello" and "Thank You" is "Mogwai-Neonai"... it means Papaya Milk... this stuff is really good, LOL!
We chatted for awhile, then Natacha came over to our place and met the kitten. Afterwards,
Nikki and I went for a drive over to the West side of the city.
Nikki and I live on the Eastern edge of Chiayi: the street that runs behind out building is literally the border of Chiayi and countryside (although the "country side" looks like suburbs). On a clear day, looking West, we should be able to see the mountains that tower over the city. Unfortunately, due to the constant pollution and haze: we never see the mountains. Nikki says she's has seen them ONCE in the three months that she has been here: the amount of smoke and dust in the air is terrible!
We headed out towards the west side of town (which is where Natacha lives) and we drove up, past the Western limits of Chiayi, into the mountains. The scenery is incredible! Lush fields of sugar cane and palm trees! It's unbelieveable what a difference it is from our side of the city! ...looking out our kitchen window, we see the fields and farms (and a few buildings off in the distance) but over here on the west, it is like the Rockies (except they are green all the way to the tips!)! The mountains tower up over the city, and they are covered with thick, rich, green vegetation!! Every square inch has been touched though: there is nowhere that you dont realize that these 'forests" are manicured... but they are certainly beautiful! Also, once we got up into the mountains, I saw whole flocks of what looked like humming birds! In fact, in the entire week that I have been here, I haven't seen more than a handful of birds: which is really strange! There are absolutely NONE to be seen, except in cages, so I was really pleased to hear the sounds of nature again, and see some actual birds!
Anyway, to finish my story, we drove up into the mountain today and stopped beside a reservoir called Reni-Tan. There is a huge dam of some sort, and beside it there was a "sight seeing" area where people can park their cars and mopeds (lots of mopeds, LOL!). People often spend the afternoons there on saturday and Sunday.
Tonnes of people were, believe it or not, flying kites. There were whole families up there doing just that, LOL! In fact, we were amused to note, it was mostly the older people flying kites and the children were standing around looking bored, LOL!
There were a bunch of food vendors, so Nikki and I had snacks. The one "snack" that she and I both avoided is something that Nikki calls "stinky Tofu"... it is literally what it sounds like. It is deep fried or baked or grilled or whatever (they use it in all kinds of things) but the smell is enough to make your stomach leap out of your throat. I had smelled it a couple of times this past week without realizing that it WASN'T rotting garbage that I was smelling. Yuck.
It is indescribably stinky. I don't know what on earth ever posessed someone to think that it might actually taste good!!! In fact, I think the first person to taste it must have done it on a dare. It smells vaguely like warm dog poo on a hot spring day, mixed with rotting vegetables and cheese gone bad. How is that for horrific?
They drench the stuff in sauces and spices (and sometimes bake it into pies!?!?) but no amount of burying it in condiments will EVER make me so desperate as to actually try it!
Anyway, after we successfull avoided the stinky tofu, it was starting to get dark... it was really cool because we had a HUGE red sun hanging above the mountains, and, if we turned around we had a huge white moon hanging over the lake!!! We noticed that a lot of the mopeds were starting to leave, so we did the same. We drove back down into Chiayi and stopped for coffee at a fancy sh-mancy coffee shop on the main road (called the Pahydophadilium). Coffee here really is very expensive: in fact, we each had a Cafe Latte and they were $7.00 Canadian each! (We figured that we might as well spend the extra $2.00 because just a regular filtered coffee was $5.00!) ...so you can well understand why I've asked Pierre to mail me a couple of packages of VanHoute coffee from home, LOL!
Well, that was our big outting for today. I know it doesn't sound like we did an awful lot, but it is about a half an hour drive up to the mountains, and a half hour back, and we did spend a lot of time up by the lake! :-)
The road that takes you up to the lake is reached via a fork in the road. If you turn left you head into the lake district.... if you continue straight (Which we are planning to do either on Sunday, or next weekend) you arrive at an IMMENSE statue of the Buddah! I can't wait to see it! I'll post pictures when we get there!
Well, that's it for now! I have to get out of this internet cafe: the smoke and noise is crazy, LOL! (I have found a way to get my own back at them, though, I have accessed my MP3s on line, and I am playing music full blast **hahaha** at least it is drowning out the noise form their damn video games, LOL!)
I have settled in nicely to my new digs, and things are going well at the school. Eva (our receptionist, clerk, manager) accompanied me to the hospital on Wednesday for all of my tests. These are the tests that are necessary in order for my boss, Emily, to apply for my Alien Residency Visa (A.R.C.).
Once I have my A.R.C., I am offcially a landed immigrant in Taiwan, and I am entitled to work and benefit from their medical coverage.
The hospitals here are amazing! They are actually fast, efficient, and friendly. This part of the system is very similar to Quebec. We get a medicare card and everything! Once we have this card, any visit to a dentist or a doctor will cost me about $100NT ($5.00 Canadian). So I did the pre-requisite tests, did an ex-ray and had a blood test.
After the testing, Eva drove me back to where I had parked my moped (we had rendez-vouzed on the main street). I went back home, grabbed a bite to eat, and then scooted over to school for my first class.
I have three classes (soon to be four). My first class of the day is at 2pm (until 4:30), and consists of nine kids (ages 7 & 8 ...and one 6 year old who is my best student). Here they are:
Top row: Anthony, Joyce, Grace, Maggie, and Willa (my 6 year old)Bottom row: Darren, Nathan, Jack, Lily, and Judy.
My second class is from 4:40 until 6:10 and there are three 10 or 11 year old girls in the class: Jackie, Kiki, and Mary.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I also have a class from 7:30 until 9:00, and there are two kids in that class (13 years old): Sean and Maggie.
Nicole is going to start teaching Kindergarten in a couple of weeks (we currently have no Kindergarten class, it is only scheduled to begin in a couple of weeks). When Nikki starts teaching the Kindergarten, I will take over her evening class on Monday and Wednesday night (11 kids, ages 11,12 &13). The new teacher who is supposed to start in January will take Nikki's day classes and the one evening class that Nikki does on Tuesday and Thursday.
On Friday afternoons there is a market in town where there are about 50 stalls of jade merchants and antique dealers. Nikki and I went this week for a little while. It was neat! I picked up a small jade piece for a friend of mine and Pierre's. She is a fanatic for Oriental items... I know she will love it! Getting there was half the fun, actually. You have to drive down the main strip until you get to this one little side street... you go down the side street for a few meters until you see a small opening between two buildings. The small opening opens into an alley wide enough for one or two mopeds.... you follow the alley until you come to a clearing behind a Buddhist mission...and there is a giant tent where the Jade market is held every Friday from 12 to 2.
Neat, eh?
We browsed around for a bit, and then we went to work.
The way school works here, the grade school children (gardes 1 to 6) only go to school half days except on Friday when they go for a full day. So, we have classes with them in the afternoons from Monday to Thrursday because the children are not at Chinese school. On Fridays, however, Nikki and I each only have 1 class from 4 to 6 because the students are at their full day of Chinese school. Since we have the free time, we also have our weekly staff meetings on Friday at 2.
There are really only about 50 non-Chinese people in Chiayi, and there is a girl named Natacha who knows all of them, so she is the chick to meet!! Nichole and I went and met Natacha (she is very nice... which is probably WHY she knows everybody, LOL!) and we got some Papaya Milk (the only word that you will ever realy need to know in Chinese, other than "hello" and "Thank You" is "Mogwai-Neonai"... it means Papaya Milk... this stuff is really good, LOL!
We chatted for awhile, then Natacha came over to our place and met the kitten. Afterwards,
Nikki and I went for a drive over to the West side of the city.
Nikki and I live on the Eastern edge of Chiayi: the street that runs behind out building is literally the border of Chiayi and countryside (although the "country side" looks like suburbs). On a clear day, looking West, we should be able to see the mountains that tower over the city. Unfortunately, due to the constant pollution and haze: we never see the mountains. Nikki says she's has seen them ONCE in the three months that she has been here: the amount of smoke and dust in the air is terrible!
We headed out towards the west side of town (which is where Natacha lives) and we drove up, past the Western limits of Chiayi, into the mountains. The scenery is incredible! Lush fields of sugar cane and palm trees! It's unbelieveable what a difference it is from our side of the city! ...looking out our kitchen window, we see the fields and farms (and a few buildings off in the distance) but over here on the west, it is like the Rockies (except they are green all the way to the tips!)! The mountains tower up over the city, and they are covered with thick, rich, green vegetation!! Every square inch has been touched though: there is nowhere that you dont realize that these 'forests" are manicured... but they are certainly beautiful! Also, once we got up into the mountains, I saw whole flocks of what looked like humming birds! In fact, in the entire week that I have been here, I haven't seen more than a handful of birds: which is really strange! There are absolutely NONE to be seen, except in cages, so I was really pleased to hear the sounds of nature again, and see some actual birds!
Anyway, to finish my story, we drove up into the mountain today and stopped beside a reservoir called Reni-Tan. There is a huge dam of some sort, and beside it there was a "sight seeing" area where people can park their cars and mopeds (lots of mopeds, LOL!). People often spend the afternoons there on saturday and Sunday.
Tonnes of people were, believe it or not, flying kites. There were whole families up there doing just that, LOL! In fact, we were amused to note, it was mostly the older people flying kites and the children were standing around looking bored, LOL!
There were a bunch of food vendors, so Nikki and I had snacks. The one "snack" that she and I both avoided is something that Nikki calls "stinky Tofu"... it is literally what it sounds like. It is deep fried or baked or grilled or whatever (they use it in all kinds of things) but the smell is enough to make your stomach leap out of your throat. I had smelled it a couple of times this past week without realizing that it WASN'T rotting garbage that I was smelling. Yuck.It is indescribably stinky. I don't know what on earth ever posessed someone to think that it might actually taste good!!! In fact, I think the first person to taste it must have done it on a dare. It smells vaguely like warm dog poo on a hot spring day, mixed with rotting vegetables and cheese gone bad. How is that for horrific?
They drench the stuff in sauces and spices (and sometimes bake it into pies!?!?) but no amount of burying it in condiments will EVER make me so desperate as to actually try it!
Anyway, after we successfull avoided the stinky tofu, it was starting to get dark... it was really cool because we had a HUGE red sun hanging above the mountains, and, if we turned around we had a huge white moon hanging over the lake!!! We noticed that a lot of the mopeds were starting to leave, so we did the same. We drove back down into Chiayi and stopped for coffee at a fancy sh-mancy coffee shop on the main road (called the Pahydophadilium). Coffee here really is very expensive: in fact, we each had a Cafe Latte and they were $7.00 Canadian each! (We figured that we might as well spend the extra $2.00 because just a regular filtered coffee was $5.00!) ...so you can well understand why I've asked Pierre to mail me a couple of packages of VanHoute coffee from home, LOL!
Well, that was our big outting for today. I know it doesn't sound like we did an awful lot, but it is about a half an hour drive up to the mountains, and a half hour back, and we did spend a lot of time up by the lake! :-)
The road that takes you up to the lake is reached via a fork in the road. If you turn left you head into the lake district.... if you continue straight (Which we are planning to do either on Sunday, or next weekend) you arrive at an IMMENSE statue of the Buddah! I can't wait to see it! I'll post pictures when we get there!
Well, that's it for now! I have to get out of this internet cafe: the smoke and noise is crazy, LOL! (I have found a way to get my own back at them, though, I have accessed my MP3s on line, and I am playing music full blast **hahaha** at least it is drowning out the noise form their damn video games, LOL!)
Saturday, December 2, 2000
Arrival in Chiayi!! DAY ONE!!
Yesterday I arrived safely in Chiayi!
I stepped out of the airport in Chiayi and the smell of fresh pineapples washed over me as I stood in the warm sunshine! What a change from the slush in Montreal two days ago! It was so nice!
Emily picked me up with Nikki and dropped us off at our apartment. The apartment is unreal! I can't believe how nice it is!
There are two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a dining area, a "guest" room called a tatami room (it looks like a traditional Chinese meditation room, but we will use it for guests), two small balconies, and there are two bathrooms (with showers).
My bedroom has a separate bathroom, and the other bathroom is between the doors to our two bedrooms. The apartment is very spacious and bright during the day: at night however, it suffers from NEON lighting!! EVERYWHERE!!!
I am already desperate for a real lamp (so, apparently, is Nikki!).
The other thing my apartment has is a third roommate: Gaoshung (AKA Baby Gao).
"Gaoshung" is Nikki's little kitten... she is nine weeks old and very, very playful! She is all white except for a black patch over one eye and a black tail.
Nikki found her while she was out shopping with Emily in the city of Kaohsiung (pronounced Gao-Shung)... so she named her after the city! Nikki has taken her to the vet to check her out, and she has washed her and bathed her repeatedly (yes: she was FULL of fleas, apparently). She has been checked for worms etc.. and the vet says she is fine.
Nikki has decided that, once she returns to Canada she will take Gaoshung with her (she has looked into this, and apparently, cats are considered "carry on" luggage... and they don't need to be quarantined upon entering Canada)...
Back to my story... Yesterday, after Emily dropped us off at the apartment, I dropped off my stuff and spent the afternoon touring the city with Nikki (on the back of her moped).
Honestly, you would not believe this place! It is really nifty... but it isn't really all that different from Montreal (except that everyone is Chinese and the stop signs actually say "STOP", LOL!).
You also would not believe the number of mopeds in this city: it is unreal! ..and they drive worse than Montrealers!! So far I have seen it with my own eyes: while driving on the right side of the street is technically the law... it seems to be only a suggestion! Cutting people off is the norm, and so is scooting through the red lights!! it's terrifying, LOL! ... it is crazy, but the school is not far. In fact, our apartment is in what is considered the Westmount of Chiayi.... it is almost the suburbs!
After a bit of driving around, we stopped for a bite to eat.
Pierre, as always, was right about something: chopsticks! Forks and knives are NOT given out anywhere!!! In fact... they don't even have forks and knives to give you if you ask for them (not that you COULD ask for them if you don't speak Chinese)!
I was rather proud of myself, though: I had a huge plate of fried noodles for lunch and I successfully figured out the chopsticks all by myself... Nikki was impressed... I think hunger must be a great motivator, LOL! I think this was really the first time I EVER got the hang of chopsticks!
It was the funniest thing too... you know how malls have food courts with tables in the center and little restaurants all around them? You can choose the meal you want then go sit at the tables provided... ? Well Nikki brought me to a food court for lunch today and the funniest thing was that EVERY SINGLE RESTAURANT was Chinese food, LOL! I swear they were all selling pretty much the same thing: rice or noodles, LOL! It was strange! I suppose back home it's the same with multiple burger places... but this was surreal... I honestly couldn't tell the difference between any of the restaurants!
Later in the afternoon, I got a "papaya milk" with Nikki. It is like a milkshake (they make it with fresh milk). They take a fresh papaya, blend it up, add a little sugar, add milk and crushed ice, then blend it some more... It is really yummy (I was surprised... it wasn't too sweet at all!).
As for jet lag... so far so good! I was fine all day yesterday and only started getting sleepy around 10:00 last night... so I was in bed by 11:00 or so... this morning, however, I woke up around 6:00 am... (that has to stop, LOL!)
I took a shower and played with the cat, made coffee and finished the last of my unpacking.... and Nikki was still asleep! Finally (around 9:30), I got dressed and went for a walk.... I am in an Internet cafe about 3 or 4 blocks from my house... it was very interesting trying to book an hour of Internet in Chinese, let me tell you, LOL!
This cafe is insane... they have about 30 computers, and there is a 9 to 13 year old boy attached to each one! The kids are all playing networked games... they are all playing dungeons and dragons (or something like it) against each other!
It looks like all of them are smoking, and the noise level is barely below "bleeding eardrums"... it's kind of fun, actually (but I now fully understand why Nikki insisted to our boss Emily that we needed an Internet connection at the apartment)! ..even though this place is cheaper than using the Internet at home, it is a little crazy (and it is certainly NOT easy to sit and write an e-mail in here, LOL!)
Here is the last bit of news... I start working tomorrow (Monday) afternoon!
Emily was all set to give me two weeks vacation before I started to work, but then Nancy (Nikki's old room mate) quit on THURSDAY! She kept it a secret from Emily until then! Can you believe it?
Columbia is a very small school (I saw it yesterday: it's really really cute!)... including Nikki and myself, there are only 4 employees.... so I understand why Emily asked me to start right away... there is literally no-one else to take over Nancy's classes! ..oh well, I might as well get the first day of classes over with! LOL!
I still can't believe that I am on the other side of the world! (even if everyone is always saying "NI-HOW" instead of hello! LOL!) ... the weather is awesome and people here are really, really friendly!
I stepped out of the airport in Chiayi and the smell of fresh pineapples washed over me as I stood in the warm sunshine! What a change from the slush in Montreal two days ago! It was so nice!
Emily picked me up with Nikki and dropped us off at our apartment. The apartment is unreal! I can't believe how nice it is!
There are two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a dining area, a "guest" room called a tatami room (it looks like a traditional Chinese meditation room, but we will use it for guests), two small balconies, and there are two bathrooms (with showers).
My bedroom has a separate bathroom, and the other bathroom is between the doors to our two bedrooms. The apartment is very spacious and bright during the day: at night however, it suffers from NEON lighting!! EVERYWHERE!!!
I am already desperate for a real lamp (so, apparently, is Nikki!).
The other thing my apartment has is a third roommate: Gaoshung (AKA Baby Gao).
"Gaoshung" is Nikki's little kitten... she is nine weeks old and very, very playful! She is all white except for a black patch over one eye and a black tail.
Nikki found her while she was out shopping with Emily in the city of Kaohsiung (pronounced Gao-Shung)... so she named her after the city! Nikki has taken her to the vet to check her out, and she has washed her and bathed her repeatedly (yes: she was FULL of fleas, apparently). She has been checked for worms etc.. and the vet says she is fine.
Nikki has decided that, once she returns to Canada she will take Gaoshung with her (she has looked into this, and apparently, cats are considered "carry on" luggage... and they don't need to be quarantined upon entering Canada)...
Back to my story... Yesterday, after Emily dropped us off at the apartment, I dropped off my stuff and spent the afternoon touring the city with Nikki (on the back of her moped).
Honestly, you would not believe this place! It is really nifty... but it isn't really all that different from Montreal (except that everyone is Chinese and the stop signs actually say "STOP", LOL!).
You also would not believe the number of mopeds in this city: it is unreal! ..and they drive worse than Montrealers!! So far I have seen it with my own eyes: while driving on the right side of the street is technically the law... it seems to be only a suggestion! Cutting people off is the norm, and so is scooting through the red lights!! it's terrifying, LOL! ... it is crazy, but the school is not far. In fact, our apartment is in what is considered the Westmount of Chiayi.... it is almost the suburbs!
After a bit of driving around, we stopped for a bite to eat.
Pierre, as always, was right about something: chopsticks! Forks and knives are NOT given out anywhere!!! In fact... they don't even have forks and knives to give you if you ask for them (not that you COULD ask for them if you don't speak Chinese)!
I was rather proud of myself, though: I had a huge plate of fried noodles for lunch and I successfully figured out the chopsticks all by myself... Nikki was impressed... I think hunger must be a great motivator, LOL! I think this was really the first time I EVER got the hang of chopsticks!
It was the funniest thing too... you know how malls have food courts with tables in the center and little restaurants all around them? You can choose the meal you want then go sit at the tables provided... ? Well Nikki brought me to a food court for lunch today and the funniest thing was that EVERY SINGLE RESTAURANT was Chinese food, LOL! I swear they were all selling pretty much the same thing: rice or noodles, LOL! It was strange! I suppose back home it's the same with multiple burger places... but this was surreal... I honestly couldn't tell the difference between any of the restaurants!
Later in the afternoon, I got a "papaya milk" with Nikki. It is like a milkshake (they make it with fresh milk). They take a fresh papaya, blend it up, add a little sugar, add milk and crushed ice, then blend it some more... It is really yummy (I was surprised... it wasn't too sweet at all!).
As for jet lag... so far so good! I was fine all day yesterday and only started getting sleepy around 10:00 last night... so I was in bed by 11:00 or so... this morning, however, I woke up around 6:00 am... (that has to stop, LOL!)
I took a shower and played with the cat, made coffee and finished the last of my unpacking.... and Nikki was still asleep! Finally (around 9:30), I got dressed and went for a walk.... I am in an Internet cafe about 3 or 4 blocks from my house... it was very interesting trying to book an hour of Internet in Chinese, let me tell you, LOL!
This cafe is insane... they have about 30 computers, and there is a 9 to 13 year old boy attached to each one! The kids are all playing networked games... they are all playing dungeons and dragons (or something like it) against each other!
It looks like all of them are smoking, and the noise level is barely below "bleeding eardrums"... it's kind of fun, actually (but I now fully understand why Nikki insisted to our boss Emily that we needed an Internet connection at the apartment)! ..even though this place is cheaper than using the Internet at home, it is a little crazy (and it is certainly NOT easy to sit and write an e-mail in here, LOL!)
Here is the last bit of news... I start working tomorrow (Monday) afternoon!
Emily was all set to give me two weeks vacation before I started to work, but then Nancy (Nikki's old room mate) quit on THURSDAY! She kept it a secret from Emily until then! Can you believe it?
Columbia is a very small school (I saw it yesterday: it's really really cute!)... including Nikki and myself, there are only 4 employees.... so I understand why Emily asked me to start right away... there is literally no-one else to take over Nancy's classes! ..oh well, I might as well get the first day of classes over with! LOL!
I still can't believe that I am on the other side of the world! (even if everyone is always saying "NI-HOW" instead of hello! LOL!) ... the weather is awesome and people here are really, really friendly!
Thursday, November 23, 2000
Ready to depart for Taiwan!
Having made the decision to quit my job at the Blue Cross here in Montreal, I have accepted a position at a small school in Chiayi, Taiwan. My cousin Nichole (AKA Nikki) is working there, and I got the job through her!
I have gotten my visitor's visa. It took less than 48 hours (and I did the whole thing by MAIL!), so I was pleasantly surprised!
:-)
Maria (my travel agent) is forwarding the plane tickets to me today.... so everything is all set and I am ready to go! (All I have to do now is pack!).
I have asked Maria to look into the allowable luggage weight, and I am allowed 2 suitcases, 32kg each. When I arrive in Taipei I will be taking a domestic flight to Chiayi... and apparently they only allow 20kg per bag on the domestic flights. Maria assured me that if I tell them that I am transfering from an international flight, I will have no problems, but I was hoping that Nikki could confirm this for me (*which she now has!).
....and here is a little story that you might find amusing:
My uncle Bryan (who has travelled extensively and is really knowledgeable about these things) warned me that I should expect to be unable to orient myself in Taiwan if I can't speak Mandarin (no puns intended). When I arrive for my overnight in Taipei, I will need to get around a little bit: at the very least from the international airport to the hotel and then to the domestic airport in the morning... this got me thinking.... Just because Maria has booked the hotel (and the plane ticket) doesn't mean that I won't have to communicate a little while I am in Taipei... and there will be nobody to help me!
Rather than panic (which was starting to look like a viable option, LOL!) I went to the Chinese restaurant near my house last night and got one of the waitresses to translate some things for me!
I took a few pieces of paper and I wrote a sentence on each. I tried to think of things that I might need to ask while I am alone in Taipei. I wrote things like "Can you drive me to the Sheraton?" because I figure the Taxi driver might appreciate knowing exactly where I want to go, LOL!
I also thought that it might be a good idea to have a card written out asking for an early wake-up call. I thought this would be good to show to the hotel desk clerk when I check in, so that I don't miss my departure time in the morning!
Well, you can laugh if you like, but I feel a lot better knowing that I have a few "sentences" in Chinese at my disposal should I need them!
:-)
I am very excited, and I can't wait to join Nicole in Chiayi!!!
I have gotten my visitor's visa. It took less than 48 hours (and I did the whole thing by MAIL!), so I was pleasantly surprised!
:-)
Maria (my travel agent) is forwarding the plane tickets to me today.... so everything is all set and I am ready to go! (All I have to do now is pack!).
I have asked Maria to look into the allowable luggage weight, and I am allowed 2 suitcases, 32kg each. When I arrive in Taipei I will be taking a domestic flight to Chiayi... and apparently they only allow 20kg per bag on the domestic flights. Maria assured me that if I tell them that I am transfering from an international flight, I will have no problems, but I was hoping that Nikki could confirm this for me (*which she now has!).
....and here is a little story that you might find amusing:
My uncle Bryan (who has travelled extensively and is really knowledgeable about these things) warned me that I should expect to be unable to orient myself in Taiwan if I can't speak Mandarin (no puns intended). When I arrive for my overnight in Taipei, I will need to get around a little bit: at the very least from the international airport to the hotel and then to the domestic airport in the morning... this got me thinking.... Just because Maria has booked the hotel (and the plane ticket) doesn't mean that I won't have to communicate a little while I am in Taipei... and there will be nobody to help me!
Rather than panic (which was starting to look like a viable option, LOL!) I went to the Chinese restaurant near my house last night and got one of the waitresses to translate some things for me!
I took a few pieces of paper and I wrote a sentence on each. I tried to think of things that I might need to ask while I am alone in Taipei. I wrote things like "Can you drive me to the Sheraton?" because I figure the Taxi driver might appreciate knowing exactly where I want to go, LOL!
I also thought that it might be a good idea to have a card written out asking for an early wake-up call. I thought this would be good to show to the hotel desk clerk when I check in, so that I don't miss my departure time in the morning!
Well, you can laugh if you like, but I feel a lot better knowing that I have a few "sentences" in Chinese at my disposal should I need them!
:-)
I am very excited, and I can't wait to join Nicole in Chiayi!!!
Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Frets and Finalizations
I am at work this afternoon, but I have taken a minute to write this up.
Here is the saga of my attempt to book a flight:
I have been in discussions with a travel agent for the last little while, and everything looked to be going smoothly until I told him that the person who will be paying for the plane tickes, my uncle, is overseas at the moment. As it turns out, his Travel agency prohibits him from accepting payments from overseas if they don't know the client. So there goes all the planning and details down the tubes!
DRAT!
Rather than let that get me down, I looked into arranging to get the same Air Canada
flight booked on-line. Because my departure date is less that 15 days away, however, the price for the ticket is over $2000 now, even with their so-called "seat sale"!!
I absoluetly cannot get the same price as the travel agent by myself...
DOUBLE DRAT!
My friend Pierre was discussing this with his colleagues this afternoon, and our
mutual friend, Ida, mentioned that her sister Maria is a travel agent. Two phone calls
later: I am reserved on a flight leaving Dorval Airport on November 30th!! It is
with North West Airlines.... and the cost of the ticket, open-return good for
one-year, is only $1150.00 (taxes included)!
I think that the problem with the other travel agency was the risk of fraud from abroad, so because Ida vouched for me, her sister has agreed to do the transaction with my uncle for me.
HURRAY!
The itinerary with North West is not too bad, although I would have
prefered the direct route with Air Canada. On the bright side, there is only one
additional stop and the price makes up for it. In fact, the additional stop is in
Tokyo, so the longest flight is not too long anymore....
Here is the itinerary (all in local times):
9:15.....Departure from Dorval
11:15....Arrival in Detroit
12:45....Departure from Detroit
4:10pm...Arrival in Tokyo
6:00pm...Departure from Tokyo
9:25pm...Arrival inTaipei
Now that THAT'S sorted, I can allow myself to panic about some other things!
I am still waiting for confirmation like my visitor's visa, but it looks like all the plans are nearly finalised! In fact, Nikki has even confirmed that I will have a scooter when I arrive! Her roommate and co-worker, Nancy, is leaving Taiwan and she has agreed to sell me her scooter!
Unless something goes terribly wrong, I will be in Taiwan on December 2nd (It is the earliest I could do it). I have just e-mailed Emily and told her that I will be there by the first week of December. I did this in order to give myself some leeway in case my flight plans change... and to get a chance to explore, sight-see, and get over my jet lag!
I have been reading about Taiwan on-line, and it looks like a beautiful place, I can't wait to see it for myself!
The only drag so far is that I arrive in Taipei at 9:30pm on December 1st, but the only flight from Taipei to Chiayi is the next morning! I will be staying at the Fortuna hotel in Taipei overnight, and then I will be off to Chiayi in the morning!
I have a couple of questions that I keep forgetting to ask Nichole: What do we wear to work? Is there a dress code or a uniform? Should I buy a couple of ties? Do I need to bring a suit jacket?? There are so many things to consider!
I was also thinking about the Visa application: Instead of saying that I am going to visit Nikki, maybe I should say the exact same thing that she said when she applied for her visa.
Apparently you are not allowed to apply for the visa to go to Taiwan if you tell them you are going for employment. This is because you haven't got a work permit... and you can only get a work permit once you are in the country and hired by someone... Explain to me how THAT works...???
So I need to apply as a visitor and put the school's address and put Emily, the boss, as my contact... But what should I put as the reason for the visit? Should I ask Emily what I should put?? I don't know. I guess I'll proceed in whatever way Emily suggests!
Something else I was wondering about: Should I buy converters for my appliances? The voltage is the same in Taiwan as in Canada, but are the plugs the same size?
**SIGH**
Well, gotta run! Off to bed! I still have a job to go to here ...but I gave them my two weeks notice yesterday!! It was nerve wracking, but what a load of my mind!
Here is the saga of my attempt to book a flight:
I have been in discussions with a travel agent for the last little while, and everything looked to be going smoothly until I told him that the person who will be paying for the plane tickes, my uncle, is overseas at the moment. As it turns out, his Travel agency prohibits him from accepting payments from overseas if they don't know the client. So there goes all the planning and details down the tubes!
DRAT!
Rather than let that get me down, I looked into arranging to get the same Air Canada
flight booked on-line. Because my departure date is less that 15 days away, however, the price for the ticket is over $2000 now, even with their so-called "seat sale"!!
I absoluetly cannot get the same price as the travel agent by myself...
DOUBLE DRAT!
My friend Pierre was discussing this with his colleagues this afternoon, and our
mutual friend, Ida, mentioned that her sister Maria is a travel agent. Two phone calls
later: I am reserved on a flight leaving Dorval Airport on November 30th!! It is
with North West Airlines.... and the cost of the ticket, open-return good for
one-year, is only $1150.00 (taxes included)!
I think that the problem with the other travel agency was the risk of fraud from abroad, so because Ida vouched for me, her sister has agreed to do the transaction with my uncle for me.
HURRAY!
The itinerary with North West is not too bad, although I would have
prefered the direct route with Air Canada. On the bright side, there is only one
additional stop and the price makes up for it. In fact, the additional stop is in
Tokyo, so the longest flight is not too long anymore....
Here is the itinerary (all in local times):
9:15.....Departure from Dorval
11:15....Arrival in Detroit
12:45....Departure from Detroit
4:10pm...Arrival in Tokyo
6:00pm...Departure from Tokyo
9:25pm...Arrival inTaipei
Now that THAT'S sorted, I can allow myself to panic about some other things!
I am still waiting for confirmation like my visitor's visa, but it looks like all the plans are nearly finalised! In fact, Nikki has even confirmed that I will have a scooter when I arrive! Her roommate and co-worker, Nancy, is leaving Taiwan and she has agreed to sell me her scooter!
Unless something goes terribly wrong, I will be in Taiwan on December 2nd (It is the earliest I could do it). I have just e-mailed Emily and told her that I will be there by the first week of December. I did this in order to give myself some leeway in case my flight plans change... and to get a chance to explore, sight-see, and get over my jet lag!
I have been reading about Taiwan on-line, and it looks like a beautiful place, I can't wait to see it for myself!
The only drag so far is that I arrive in Taipei at 9:30pm on December 1st, but the only flight from Taipei to Chiayi is the next morning! I will be staying at the Fortuna hotel in Taipei overnight, and then I will be off to Chiayi in the morning!
I have a couple of questions that I keep forgetting to ask Nichole: What do we wear to work? Is there a dress code or a uniform? Should I buy a couple of ties? Do I need to bring a suit jacket?? There are so many things to consider!
I was also thinking about the Visa application: Instead of saying that I am going to visit Nikki, maybe I should say the exact same thing that she said when she applied for her visa.
Apparently you are not allowed to apply for the visa to go to Taiwan if you tell them you are going for employment. This is because you haven't got a work permit... and you can only get a work permit once you are in the country and hired by someone... Explain to me how THAT works...???
So I need to apply as a visitor and put the school's address and put Emily, the boss, as my contact... But what should I put as the reason for the visit? Should I ask Emily what I should put?? I don't know. I guess I'll proceed in whatever way Emily suggests!
Something else I was wondering about: Should I buy converters for my appliances? The voltage is the same in Taiwan as in Canada, but are the plugs the same size?
**SIGH**
Well, gotta run! Off to bed! I still have a job to go to here ...but I gave them my two weeks notice yesterday!! It was nerve wracking, but what a load of my mind!
Sunday, November 12, 2000
Flight details and woes
My Uncle has suggested that I fly with United Airlines, as Nichole did when she flew out to Taiwan in August.
The one thing that I absolutely dread about flying, though, is the take-off and the landing. Everytime that I have ever flown (albeit, that isn't very often) I have gotten a very bad headache, earache and pain in my eyes when the plane takes off or lands. I was told to try chewing gum to equalize the pressure, but it didn't seem to help at all. In fact, I have the same problem, though far less severe, when I am driving through mountains.... so the thought of the multiple ups and downs with United Airlines (there are 4 or 5 stops in the proposed itinerary), sort of tied my stomach in knots.
I have done some looking into more direct flights and I have found that Air Canada can get me there with the least amounts of up-and-down or delays. Their proposed route is Montreal->Vancouver->Taipei
My reason for wanting to fly with Air Canada is two fold however: my other reason is the cost! The cost that I was quoted for Air Canada was just over $1200.00 (as long as I fly before December 1st) and Air Canada can issue a virtual ticket which I would pick up at the airport on the day of the departure.
According to Nicole, the school will NOT be re-imbursing the entire cost of the ticket: only $300.00 USD each way (so they will give me $300.00 upon arrival and $300.00 as I leave). I would rather save the extra money if I can, and in the process avoid all the extra stops along the route that United Airlines suggests.
Oh well... we'll see what happens... at least it's getting sorted!! :)
All the prices I have been quoted are for a 1 year open-ended return ticket:
$1225.00 if the departure is before December 1st.
$1530.00 from December 1 to December 7
$1750.00 from December 8 onwards...
As for my departure date: aside from the fact that I am anxious to get there, for monetary reasons I would like to leave on November 29 or 30! Before I state emphatically that I will be going that soon, however, I have to wonder if I will have time to get my Taiwanese visitor's visa in a week!
In a nutshell: The Taiwan tourist office is in Ottawa. They say that it takes 3 business days for them to issue a visitor's visa. Because there is no office in Montreal, I have to mail it to them and they will return it to me by registered mail.
I need to include my passport with the application, but I've never had a passport before, so I had to apply for one last week. I will only receive my passport this coming Friday!
I'm afraid that this might not be do-able and I will have to bite the bullet and get the December departure date for an extra $500.00. *ARGH!!!!*
I hate the fact that I am ALWAYS freaked out about money. I really hope that Nichole is right, and that I can make a lot of money in Taiwan, and maybe get rid of some of my debt!
I am starting to get really excited about this trip now, but everytime I think I have it all settled I end up with more questions!! :-)
The one thing that I absolutely dread about flying, though, is the take-off and the landing. Everytime that I have ever flown (albeit, that isn't very often) I have gotten a very bad headache, earache and pain in my eyes when the plane takes off or lands. I was told to try chewing gum to equalize the pressure, but it didn't seem to help at all. In fact, I have the same problem, though far less severe, when I am driving through mountains.... so the thought of the multiple ups and downs with United Airlines (there are 4 or 5 stops in the proposed itinerary), sort of tied my stomach in knots.
I have done some looking into more direct flights and I have found that Air Canada can get me there with the least amounts of up-and-down or delays. Their proposed route is Montreal->Vancouver->Taipei
My reason for wanting to fly with Air Canada is two fold however: my other reason is the cost! The cost that I was quoted for Air Canada was just over $1200.00 (as long as I fly before December 1st) and Air Canada can issue a virtual ticket which I would pick up at the airport on the day of the departure.
According to Nicole, the school will NOT be re-imbursing the entire cost of the ticket: only $300.00 USD each way (so they will give me $300.00 upon arrival and $300.00 as I leave). I would rather save the extra money if I can, and in the process avoid all the extra stops along the route that United Airlines suggests.
Oh well... we'll see what happens... at least it's getting sorted!! :)
All the prices I have been quoted are for a 1 year open-ended return ticket:
$1225.00 if the departure is before December 1st.
$1530.00 from December 1 to December 7
$1750.00 from December 8 onwards...
As for my departure date: aside from the fact that I am anxious to get there, for monetary reasons I would like to leave on November 29 or 30! Before I state emphatically that I will be going that soon, however, I have to wonder if I will have time to get my Taiwanese visitor's visa in a week!
In a nutshell: The Taiwan tourist office is in Ottawa. They say that it takes 3 business days for them to issue a visitor's visa. Because there is no office in Montreal, I have to mail it to them and they will return it to me by registered mail.
I need to include my passport with the application, but I've never had a passport before, so I had to apply for one last week. I will only receive my passport this coming Friday!
I'm afraid that this might not be do-able and I will have to bite the bullet and get the December departure date for an extra $500.00. *ARGH!!!!*
I hate the fact that I am ALWAYS freaked out about money. I really hope that Nichole is right, and that I can make a lot of money in Taiwan, and maybe get rid of some of my debt!
I am starting to get really excited about this trip now, but everytime I think I have it all settled I end up with more questions!! :-)
Saturday, November 11, 2000
Uncle Bryan to the rescue with plane tickets!
I took Friday off of work and my father and I drove to Toronto to see my grandmother. She was supposed to be moving to Montreal to live with my parents, but she recently took a turn for the worse and she has had to be hospitalized. She is comfortable and in good spirits, and it was very nice to see her yesterday.
This weekend was a little tough: but Nanny is in very good spirits and had us all laughing last night. I am really glad that I went to see her. I would like to hope and pray that she gets better, but I don't think that it is going to happen this time. In the meantime, however, she was happy to see everybody and was with-it and alert. I don't think that she is aware of how serious her condition is, but if she is aware, she is certainly not letting on.
She knows about my upcoming trip and is all excited for me. I had to promise to send her a postcard (but not in Chinese LOL!). She also thinks that it is wonderful that my uncle has offered to lend me the money for my ticket!
My uncle Bryan has offered me a loan for the airfare to Taiwan. It would certainly make this entire operation a lot easier, so I have gratefully accepted! From what I gather from Nikki, I would be fairly well paid for my work at the school, and I should be able to repay him any money that he would lend. I am not too keen on going into debt before I even get to Taiwan, but it seems like the best way to manage this.
I am using my cousin Christopher's computer to write this, as I am still in Ontario at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Oshawa. Tomorrow, Dad and I will head back to Montreal and I will formally give my two weeks notice at work.
I am really anxious to get to Chiayi: I am hardly a world traveller.... and this opportunity is simply too good to pass up! I have often mentioned that I would love to teach English abroad, and I have looked into it before, but this opportunity to go to Taiwan is the first time that I have ever felt that it might actually be feasible!
The timing couldn't be better either as I am currently employed in a job that is slowly making me miserable. I have been working as an insurance claims adjuster for Blue Cross, but the office atmosphere is dreadful. There is a distinct dislike of Anglophones from many of the French employees and it is pretty oppressive. Add to this the fact that I have just ended an 8 year relationship and am soon-to-be homeless... well... it just makes sense to take this opportunity to travel to Taiwan!
I need a job and a new place to live... Taiwan certainly fits the bill!
As I said above: Monday I will hand in my two weeks notice and it will be official. It's a little scary, but I am excited to start this new chapter in my life!!
This weekend was a little tough: but Nanny is in very good spirits and had us all laughing last night. I am really glad that I went to see her. I would like to hope and pray that she gets better, but I don't think that it is going to happen this time. In the meantime, however, she was happy to see everybody and was with-it and alert. I don't think that she is aware of how serious her condition is, but if she is aware, she is certainly not letting on.
She knows about my upcoming trip and is all excited for me. I had to promise to send her a postcard (but not in Chinese LOL!). She also thinks that it is wonderful that my uncle has offered to lend me the money for my ticket!
My uncle Bryan has offered me a loan for the airfare to Taiwan. It would certainly make this entire operation a lot easier, so I have gratefully accepted! From what I gather from Nikki, I would be fairly well paid for my work at the school, and I should be able to repay him any money that he would lend. I am not too keen on going into debt before I even get to Taiwan, but it seems like the best way to manage this.
I am using my cousin Christopher's computer to write this, as I am still in Ontario at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Oshawa. Tomorrow, Dad and I will head back to Montreal and I will formally give my two weeks notice at work.
I am really anxious to get to Chiayi: I am hardly a world traveller.... and this opportunity is simply too good to pass up! I have often mentioned that I would love to teach English abroad, and I have looked into it before, but this opportunity to go to Taiwan is the first time that I have ever felt that it might actually be feasible!
The timing couldn't be better either as I am currently employed in a job that is slowly making me miserable. I have been working as an insurance claims adjuster for Blue Cross, but the office atmosphere is dreadful. There is a distinct dislike of Anglophones from many of the French employees and it is pretty oppressive. Add to this the fact that I have just ended an 8 year relationship and am soon-to-be homeless... well... it just makes sense to take this opportunity to travel to Taiwan!
I need a job and a new place to live... Taiwan certainly fits the bill!
As I said above: Monday I will hand in my two weeks notice and it will be official. It's a little scary, but I am excited to start this new chapter in my life!!
Sunday, October 15, 2000
The start of something new...
This week, my cousin Nichole sent out an e-mail to her family and friends describing her new life in Taiwan. She has been hired as a teacher and is working for a woman named Emily Hsu at a small school called Columbia.
I wrote the following reply to her.
Thank you for the e-mail, even though it was generic: It was great to hear from you!
The last two weeks have been really crazy hectic for me. Here are a couple of the highlights:
I just bought The "Rocky Horror Picture Show" DVD... It was finally released last week! It looks great on DVD, and they added a second disc full of "gimmicks": outtakes, games, etc...
As for other news, Well there really isn't any, LOL! Can you believe it? Buying a DVD was the highlight of my week!
It's been a crappy boring week , but EXTREMELY busy! I wonder why the crappier the week is, the busier it seems, LOL!
I also wanted to let you know that I am interrested in the last little sentence of your e-mail: "my boss Emily is really desperate to find 2 English teachers for January " ...who do I have to kill to get this, LOL!
Seriously: I am very interrested in this opportunity! Please let me know what I should do in order to put forth my candidacy! ..and of course you have my permission to give Emily my e-mail address if you like!
... and with that little e-mail, I started my Taiwan oddysee!
I wrote the following reply to her.
Thank you for the e-mail, even though it was generic: It was great to hear from you!
The last two weeks have been really crazy hectic for me. Here are a couple of the highlights:
I just bought The "Rocky Horror Picture Show" DVD... It was finally released last week! It looks great on DVD, and they added a second disc full of "gimmicks": outtakes, games, etc...
As for other news, Well there really isn't any, LOL! Can you believe it? Buying a DVD was the highlight of my week!
It's been a crappy boring week , but EXTREMELY busy! I wonder why the crappier the week is, the busier it seems, LOL!
I also wanted to let you know that I am interrested in the last little sentence of your e-mail: "my boss Emily is really desperate to find 2 English teachers for January " ...who do I have to kill to get this, LOL!
Seriously: I am very interrested in this opportunity! Please let me know what I should do in order to put forth my candidacy! ..and of course you have my permission to give Emily my e-mail address if you like!
... and with that little e-mail, I started my Taiwan oddysee!
Thursday, October 5, 2000
Saint Etienne in concert! A highlight during my hectic week!
I finally got to see one of my all time favourite bands in Concert!!!
I am a huge fan of the British indie-pop band SAINT ETIENNE, and they just played in Montreal for the first time (October 2nd)!! I am not a big concert goer in general, but I am really happy that I finally got to see them!
My best friend Pierre bought me the tickets for my birthday and he came to the show with me. We also met up with fellow AVENUE member, Nathalie Q.
...and then to top it all off, I got to go backstage and meet them! Talk about cool! (I got some pictures,too, but I look like a dork in them!).
Another highlight of the evening was that I got to give the band's keyboardist, Gerrard, a copy of the CD I made for AVENUE: "Under The Covers With Saint Etienne". (copies for Sarah, Pete, and Bob were mailed to them in London).
"Under The Covers With Saint Etienne" was a project that I worked on for a couple of months, and then made available to members of AVENUE. It was a double CD that compiled many of the cover songs that Saint Etienne had recorded over the years, along with the original versions of those same songs.
One disc was all the versions as recorded by Saint Etienne, and the other disc was all the same songs, in the same running order, but as performed by the original artists. In keeping with the spirit of Saint Etienne's earlier recordings, there were snippets of dialogue from films and television between some of the songs. There were also a few snippets of interviews with the bandmembers themselves.
My favourite bit of dialoge was the disc openers.
Disc one opens with dialogue taken from the BBC television pogramme Doctor Who. In it, the Doctor (as played by William Hartnell) explains that "we are now traveling through time and space", and the disc then proceeds to present the various songs as recorded by the original performers. These songs span the decades with songs from the 40s all the way through to the 90s.
Disc two opens with another clip from Doctor Who (this time as played by Patrick Troughton for the first time). The Doctor has just changed his appearance (regenerated) for the first time, and he explains to his disbelieving companions that life is about change. The disc then procees to present the same songs as disc one, but this time they are all performed as interpreted by Saint Etienne.
Pretty clever, if I do say so myself! :)
Here is a review of the concert that I wrote for AVENUE (the Saint Etienne mailing-list):
I just got in the door (It's about 1:30 in the morning here) and I simply have to say that I was blown away by tonights concert. I am not the type of person who normally gushes, so I am going to try and tell you all a little about the night's events without getting too freaked out! :-)
Nathalie and I spoke to quite a few people before and during the show: we were both amazed by the number of people who had never even heard of Saint Etienne before SOW! ...and also by the number of people who had only ever heard of Good Humor!!
There was an opening act: Lullaby Baxter Trio. (A sort of country/blues/jazz/acoustic kind of thing ...I didn't think that they were bad at all, just very mellow for a crowd that wanted to get hyped.) They will not be accompanying the band on the rest of the stops, as I believe they were only booked as a one-off local band.
The crowd started out rather small, but filled up the place nicely, and they started to dance and sway almost immediately!
I was unable to get a set list (they went very very quickly!).
Now: highlights of the music....
"Filthy" was really wonderful live, and although Sarah didn't rap at all, she did sing the chorus, which was lovely (of course!) ...My God that bass line is unbelievable when it's played that loud!!! talk about a kicker of a show opener!
...I thought that my legs were going to melt and dribble out from under me when they did "Only Love Can Break You Heart"... it was that good! It is actually one of my least favourite songs by Saint Etienne (probably due to it being played to death... cause I loved it when it first came out!) They managed to make it even funkier (and somewhat heavier) than the original, but also, they played it very much like the "Mix In Two Halves" version by Andy Weatherall! It was a far superior version than the studio version: and Sarah's voice on it really created a new feeling to the song as well!!
...."How We Used To Live" is beyond amazing as a live track! Wow! I'm not sure how to really describe it, except to say that they really did a fantastic job at re-constructing that song for a live band! The backup singers were, as a few people have stated, wonderful! ..and Sarah's voice soared! It was...well, just... Wow.
Their guitarist really pulled a few tricks on us during the evening! He did some very heavy feedback stuff during "People Get Real", and he did a phenomenal guitar solo (not the first thing I imagined hearing at a Saint Etienne concert!) during "How We Used To Live".
...Most of the songs were extremely well received (judging by crowd reaction, and sudden fits of dancing in the gallery).
Some other of my personal favourites from the show were: "Lose That Girl", "Sylvie", "Shoot Out The Lights", "Like A Motorway", "Nothing Can Stop Us", and "He's On The Phone".
They also played a great version of "Sycamore", "Heart Failed", "People Get Real" and "Ready or Not" (but I wish they had chosen to do "Coastal Town"!)
...then the show was over! Nathalie, myself, and her friend (who's name escapes me again: sorry!!) hung out for a bit .... there didn't seem to be any guestlist being tended by the ape-like bouncer guy; so we hung out and chatted together for a few minutes, then we wandered quietly backstage!!!
Meeting Sarah and Pete was a blast! They are, as others have said, extremely personable and very pleasant! (I almost got the feeling that they were genuinely pleased that people like their music!) I spent a little time with them, snapped a few pictures, and got a couple of autographs... loads of fun!
I mentioned to Sarah that I really like "Judy Don't You Worry" which seemed to please her, as I got the impression that she is rather proud of it. She asked Gerard if he had heard that I liked that track. I told her I was a little disappointed that "Downtown" isn't on KELLY'S LOCKER: she kind of cringed and said she's not overly fond of it, LOL!
I gave Gerard a copy of the COVERS PROJECT, he seemed really excited about it, as did Sarah and Pete... (Sarah asked me twice where hers was, LOL! When it quietened down a bit I told her that it was waiting for her at the HEAVENLY offices in London!)
Gerard was really excited by the Doctor Who samples that I used on the CD: he's a bit of a fan.
Pete cracked up when I described Dishwalla's "Interview With Saint Etienne"... it seems he'd neither heard of it, nor heard it!
I spent the next couple of hours talking with Gerard about all kinds of things... many of which might be of interest to you: here are the highlights...
New York City is the last stop on the tour, then it's back to London... any concert that you see listed as being AFTER the shows in New York is not going to happen! ...sorry!
"Thank You" was originally intended to finish side two of SOW, but after "How We Used To Live", it felt wrong to have another full song... so they recorded "Place At Dawn" to round out the album, and dumped "Thank You" in the b-side bin.
"Shoot Out The Lights" was released on the Japanese version of SOW to satisfy the contractual need for a minimum of 4 bonus tracks... but as it is, the track is still unfinished, and might possibly be worked on further before it gets released on "Interlude"...so the version there will likely be slightly different than the one that is currently available.
The stuff that people have been asking about on AVENUE lately, the songs that Bob was playing while Deejaying before the saint Etienne shows on the West Coast, is basically the same material that he plays on his "Monday Monday" gig in London.
The intro to SOW is actually someone named (I believe) Nathan, who is friend of Bob. It is NOT from a live album, it was recorded specifically for SOW, with Nathan speaking into a microphone plugged into a guitar amp and Gerard messing with the feedback.
It came about because a few people were referring to SOW as Saint Etienne's prog rock album. ...Tongue firmly in cheek, this intro was conceived.
"Heart Failed" was originally written in all major chords... but was switched to minor chords to change the mood. ...this gave the song a reprieve because, aside from being too peppy for SOW, it didn't sound right in all major chords and was nearly chucked. (** see footnote)
....Well, I can't think of anything else to say! I had a fantastic time and I am still on a high: so if I rambled, sorry!
The last hour of the evening was spent celebrating Trevor's birthday! Trevor is the sound-guy, and he did an amazing job tonight! ...So Sarah was passing around the champagne after Trevor blew out the candles, and everyone was wearing really cute little party hats and blowing noisemakers (yes, even Pete, Sarah and Gerard).
(The major-chord version of "Heart Failed" has since been released in demo form on the 2006 fan-club only CD "Nice Price" - Editor)
I am a huge fan of the British indie-pop band SAINT ETIENNE, and they just played in Montreal for the first time (October 2nd)!! I am not a big concert goer in general, but I am really happy that I finally got to see them!
My best friend Pierre bought me the tickets for my birthday and he came to the show with me. We also met up with fellow AVENUE member, Nathalie Q.
...and then to top it all off, I got to go backstage and meet them! Talk about cool! (I got some pictures,too, but I look like a dork in them!).
Another highlight of the evening was that I got to give the band's keyboardist, Gerrard, a copy of the CD I made for AVENUE: "Under The Covers With Saint Etienne". (copies for Sarah, Pete, and Bob were mailed to them in London).
"Under The Covers With Saint Etienne" was a project that I worked on for a couple of months, and then made available to members of AVENUE. It was a double CD that compiled many of the cover songs that Saint Etienne had recorded over the years, along with the original versions of those same songs.
One disc was all the versions as recorded by Saint Etienne, and the other disc was all the same songs, in the same running order, but as performed by the original artists. In keeping with the spirit of Saint Etienne's earlier recordings, there were snippets of dialogue from films and television between some of the songs. There were also a few snippets of interviews with the bandmembers themselves.
My favourite bit of dialoge was the disc openers.
Disc one opens with dialogue taken from the BBC television pogramme Doctor Who. In it, the Doctor (as played by William Hartnell) explains that "we are now traveling through time and space", and the disc then proceeds to present the various songs as recorded by the original performers. These songs span the decades with songs from the 40s all the way through to the 90s.
Disc two opens with another clip from Doctor Who (this time as played by Patrick Troughton for the first time). The Doctor has just changed his appearance (regenerated) for the first time, and he explains to his disbelieving companions that life is about change. The disc then procees to present the same songs as disc one, but this time they are all performed as interpreted by Saint Etienne.
Pretty clever, if I do say so myself! :)
Here is a review of the concert that I wrote for AVENUE (the Saint Etienne mailing-list):
I just got in the door (It's about 1:30 in the morning here) and I simply have to say that I was blown away by tonights concert. I am not the type of person who normally gushes, so I am going to try and tell you all a little about the night's events without getting too freaked out! :-)
Nathalie and I spoke to quite a few people before and during the show: we were both amazed by the number of people who had never even heard of Saint Etienne before SOW! ...and also by the number of people who had only ever heard of Good Humor!!
There was an opening act: Lullaby Baxter Trio. (A sort of country/blues/jazz/acoustic kind of thing ...I didn't think that they were bad at all, just very mellow for a crowd that wanted to get hyped.) They will not be accompanying the band on the rest of the stops, as I believe they were only booked as a one-off local band.
The crowd started out rather small, but filled up the place nicely, and they started to dance and sway almost immediately!
I was unable to get a set list (they went very very quickly!).
Now: highlights of the music....
"Filthy" was really wonderful live, and although Sarah didn't rap at all, she did sing the chorus, which was lovely (of course!) ...My God that bass line is unbelievable when it's played that loud!!! talk about a kicker of a show opener!
...I thought that my legs were going to melt and dribble out from under me when they did "Only Love Can Break You Heart"... it was that good! It is actually one of my least favourite songs by Saint Etienne (probably due to it being played to death... cause I loved it when it first came out!) They managed to make it even funkier (and somewhat heavier) than the original, but also, they played it very much like the "Mix In Two Halves" version by Andy Weatherall! It was a far superior version than the studio version: and Sarah's voice on it really created a new feeling to the song as well!!
...."How We Used To Live" is beyond amazing as a live track! Wow! I'm not sure how to really describe it, except to say that they really did a fantastic job at re-constructing that song for a live band! The backup singers were, as a few people have stated, wonderful! ..and Sarah's voice soared! It was...well, just... Wow.
Their guitarist really pulled a few tricks on us during the evening! He did some very heavy feedback stuff during "People Get Real", and he did a phenomenal guitar solo (not the first thing I imagined hearing at a Saint Etienne concert!) during "How We Used To Live".
...Most of the songs were extremely well received (judging by crowd reaction, and sudden fits of dancing in the gallery).
Some other of my personal favourites from the show were: "Lose That Girl", "Sylvie", "Shoot Out The Lights", "Like A Motorway", "Nothing Can Stop Us", and "He's On The Phone".
They also played a great version of "Sycamore", "Heart Failed", "People Get Real" and "Ready or Not" (but I wish they had chosen to do "Coastal Town"!)
...then the show was over! Nathalie, myself, and her friend (who's name escapes me again: sorry!!) hung out for a bit .... there didn't seem to be any guestlist being tended by the ape-like bouncer guy; so we hung out and chatted together for a few minutes, then we wandered quietly backstage!!!
Meeting Sarah and Pete was a blast! They are, as others have said, extremely personable and very pleasant! (I almost got the feeling that they were genuinely pleased that people like their music!) I spent a little time with them, snapped a few pictures, and got a couple of autographs... loads of fun!
I mentioned to Sarah that I really like "Judy Don't You Worry" which seemed to please her, as I got the impression that she is rather proud of it. She asked Gerard if he had heard that I liked that track. I told her I was a little disappointed that "Downtown" isn't on KELLY'S LOCKER: she kind of cringed and said she's not overly fond of it, LOL!
I gave Gerard a copy of the COVERS PROJECT, he seemed really excited about it, as did Sarah and Pete... (Sarah asked me twice where hers was, LOL! When it quietened down a bit I told her that it was waiting for her at the HEAVENLY offices in London!)
Gerard was really excited by the Doctor Who samples that I used on the CD: he's a bit of a fan.
Pete cracked up when I described Dishwalla's "Interview With Saint Etienne"... it seems he'd neither heard of it, nor heard it!
I spent the next couple of hours talking with Gerard about all kinds of things... many of which might be of interest to you: here are the highlights...
New York City is the last stop on the tour, then it's back to London... any concert that you see listed as being AFTER the shows in New York is not going to happen! ...sorry!
"Thank You" was originally intended to finish side two of SOW, but after "How We Used To Live", it felt wrong to have another full song... so they recorded "Place At Dawn" to round out the album, and dumped "Thank You" in the b-side bin.
"Shoot Out The Lights" was released on the Japanese version of SOW to satisfy the contractual need for a minimum of 4 bonus tracks... but as it is, the track is still unfinished, and might possibly be worked on further before it gets released on "Interlude"...so the version there will likely be slightly different than the one that is currently available.
The stuff that people have been asking about on AVENUE lately, the songs that Bob was playing while Deejaying before the saint Etienne shows on the West Coast, is basically the same material that he plays on his "Monday Monday" gig in London.
The intro to SOW is actually someone named (I believe) Nathan, who is friend of Bob. It is NOT from a live album, it was recorded specifically for SOW, with Nathan speaking into a microphone plugged into a guitar amp and Gerard messing with the feedback.
It came about because a few people were referring to SOW as Saint Etienne's prog rock album. ...Tongue firmly in cheek, this intro was conceived.
"Heart Failed" was originally written in all major chords... but was switched to minor chords to change the mood. ...this gave the song a reprieve because, aside from being too peppy for SOW, it didn't sound right in all major chords and was nearly chucked. (** see footnote)
....Well, I can't think of anything else to say! I had a fantastic time and I am still on a high: so if I rambled, sorry!
The last hour of the evening was spent celebrating Trevor's birthday! Trevor is the sound-guy, and he did an amazing job tonight! ...So Sarah was passing around the champagne after Trevor blew out the candles, and everyone was wearing really cute little party hats and blowing noisemakers (yes, even Pete, Sarah and Gerard).
(The major-chord version of "Heart Failed" has since been released in demo form on the 2006 fan-club only CD "Nice Price" - Editor)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
