Category Archives: daily life

Money in the Bank

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Fun Fact: You take a number for everything here: the bank, the post office, the hospital, any government buildings to get things processed, etc. I like it cause it’s more fair. And another thing, all the people who work in retail and the service sector are really really nice. They’re always smiling, always acting like they’re having the best day, and they’re really excited that you just came through their door.

I officially have a bank account, but the process made me want to cry. I get there, and I had to wait 30 minutes for my turn. Then when they finally called my number, and the whole process is done over the counter, so I got to stand for over an hour. Not like in the States, where you can sit in someone’s office and it’s comfy and you get a lollipop from their candy bowl. And of course because I don’t understand half of the Chinese language, I wrote the original application all wrong and had to do another one. And then, some technicality issues arose, and we had to deal with that. But all in all, I walked away with a debit card and my money in the bank. And the teller was really nice to put up with me and my dumb questions and confused looks.

This is what usually happens. I ask a dumb question in Chinese, people look at me blankly like I should know what the word says or means, or they misunderstood my question and are confused/offended as to why/what I’m asking, then I have to follow up with, “I’m sorry, I just moved here from America, and I have no idea what’s going on.” Then they immediately understand and will explain the situation to me, and sometimes I even get a, “Wow, your Chinese is pretty good for living in America for so long.”

But I’ve really been humbled here in Taiwan. I’ve always been an independent person, so constantly asking people for help is not my forte. I’m no longer the one who knows everything. I really can’t do things on my own if I don’t understand what I’m reading and having people walk me through documents and whatnot is quite an interesting experience. At least I know what it’s like to be on the other receiving end of what I’ve been doing with English my entire life with my parents and now my students.

Fridays = Mondays

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Fridays are not the beginning of the weekend for me.

I had my first junior high class tonight with five 12-year-old girls, and it was heaven. They were so quiet and smart, and they even talked in class when I wanted them to. I have another one tomorrow morning from 10-12, and then tutoring from 1:30-3:30. I’m not thrilled to have to wake up at 8am on a Saturday morning, but the dough sure is nice.

Yesterday, Riley asked me, “Teacher, why do you live in Tennessee? Why don’t you live in New York or California or Nevada or Colorado?” How can he judge Tennessee? He’s 7 years old!

Fun Fact: You’re supposed to save all your receipts here, no matter where you get it. The reason is that every two months, they will release a lottery number, and if your receipt number matches then you win! And even Jen & I, the foreigners, are allowed to win too!

Wow, So Yellow!

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Ugh, I’m sick.

I woke up two nights ago with a terrible earache, and as I went through the day yesterday, the ear got better but my throat got progressively worse. By the end of my classes, I was breaking out into a cold sweat and was shivering on the bus ride home, despite the fact that it was 80 degrees out.

When I got home around 8pm, Jen went with me to a clinic a few blocks away, and I was in and out in a a matter of 10 minutes. I didn’t have my health insurance card yet, so I paid $500NT ($15USD) as a sort of deposit and when I get my health card, then I can go back and get most of my money back. The doctor looked into my ear, said there was nothing wrong with it, and then he made me open my mouth and say “Ahhh.” He looked down my throat and then jumped back and exclaimed that my phlegm was so yellow. (I know it’s gross, sorry.) He then declared that I had a serious sinus infection and gave me 5 different pills to take at different intervals throughout the day. However, they already pre-package it for you into the different time segments, so all you have to do is just take the next packet of pills at the next time in the day. And the medicine is given to you at the doctor’s office so you don’t have to run to a pharmacy.

I got home and went to bed at 9:30pm, sweated my fever out throughout the night, and felt much better when I woke up this morning, 14 hours later. I’m really glad doctors are readily available after 5pm, the wait’s not long, and the medicine is ready as soon as you’re done with the doctor. And most importantly, not expensive.

9/11

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It’s strange being in a country where no one is making a tribute to the importance of today.

In other news, there is a typhoon coming this weekend. This will be Jen and I’s first typhoon, and we just have to make sure we have enough food for a few days. Typhoon days are like snow days back in Nashville. It’s a good thing when everyone shuts down the schools and their businesses because they don’t ever take time off.

I fixed the washing machine! It was leaking water from the water supply valve, and luckily there’s a convenient hardware store down the block where I bought a new pipe and now it works! According to Jen, I am the “man” in this house, since I fix things with my toolkit from Ikea, and Jen stays home and cleans the house (because she gets home earlier than I do).

I have been pretty exhausted lately. The school keeps adding hours for me, and now I’m up to 22 a week with tutoring plus a couple more, it seems like, in the next week. And I’m also tutoring my aunt and uncle for four hours a week. Here is my weekly schedule (so far):

Monday: 2:45-6:40pm
Tuesday: 4:40-6:10pm, Tutoring 8-10pm
Wednesday: 2:45-6:40pm
Thursday: 2:45-5:50pm, Tutoring 8-10pm
Friday: 2:45-9pm
Saturday: 9am-3:30pm

Now add about two hours of commute time to every day, and I’m officially wiped out by the end of the week. However, the money is good, and this is the time to be making as much as I can. So be it.

Mmm.. Ikea

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And we are furnished!

On the way to work yesterday morning, I passed by a store like two blocks away that sells second-hand TVs. After work, Jen and I walked down there and bought a 20inch old-school TV for $2000NT ($63USD) and taxi-ed it home. And the driver helped carry it to the elevator for us.

Then we had dinner at this buffet place a couple of blocks away. It’s a road-side buffet with a spread of about 30 different dishes and you get to pick whatever you want and then pay according to how much you get. Mine was $80NT ($2.51USD) for a plateful and rice. I think it’s the closest thing to a home-cooked meal for us.

The internet called me fat, right? So Jen and I walked to AsiaWorld, a mall, where the Ikea is. Ok, it was like a 30-minute walk and easily remedied by taking a bus. Anyways, we got a coffee table, pillows, toolkit, and some other things to make this place a little bit more homey.

We finally figured out the trash schedule. The garbage truck comes up to the alley at 6:03-6:08pm everyday except on Wednesdays and Sundays. There are recycling trucks that follow the garbage trucks, but you can only recycle certain things on certain days i.e. paper on mondays, plastics on tuesdays, etc. There are government-sanctioned trash bags that you have to buy at convenience stores where you can put anything in them and not have to sort it. Recycling stuff can go in any kind of bags and are a lot cheaper, therefore it kind of encourages you to recycle.

But there’s a problem.

Jen & I will never get home in time to meet the garbage truck. You have to take the trash to them because they don’t collect it. So as of right now, it looks like we have to be home at 6pm every Saturday night to be able to throw our trash away. Yuck.

Update: Jen ordered a bed base for her mattress from a furniture store across the street, so I took the opportunity to ask the salesman if he knew of the trash schedule around here. He told me there was another stop after 9pm which is perfect. So last night, we got to meet the garbage truck! It’s good to know that we won’t have piles of garbage laying around our apartment.