I've climbed back onto the face of the Earth, sorry for dropping off!
To all those I love and miss,There is something about arriving in a new place that is always intimidating, no matter who you are. Whether it is intimidating and exciting, or intimidating and crippling, is the part that is up to the person involved. I can only suppose that most people in my situation will do as I have done here in Taipei, which is to vascillate schizophrenically between the two, taking everything in until you are completely overwhelmed and want only to hide in your apartment by yourself and read an English book.
So I'm sorry I haven't written, because I've thought about you all every day I've spent here, mentally blogging my experiences and wishing I had enough left in me at the end of each new and overwhelming day to transcribe those mental blogs into emails, postcards or phonecalls. But to draw from my nerdy FYP repertoire, I can only refer to the French Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre as my excuse, who told us that we cannot have our cake and eat it too -- a full existence forces us to choose between two options: "to live, or to tell".
This is my lame excuse for why it has taken me two and a half months to get settled enough to take a turn on the "telling" side of existence -- I had to first get over my insecurity about speaking Chinese brokenly to find the things I need, feel like learning to teach in a classroom for the first time is not a hugely overwhelming and all-consuming task, and of course, get familiar with where the heck you are supposed to go to find the things that were second nature to you back home, like Internet access, or simple things, like:
...a coin-operated laundromat, after your washer broke down because your landlady stores it on the back balcony, where rain has corrupted the CPU (as I look down at the skirt I am wearing that has had the same oil and soy sauce stain on it for 3 weeks),
...or your garbage pick up time - you have to meet the garbage man in person by lugging your trash across a busy intersection and wait patiently until you hear Beethoven's Fur Elise, which is broadcast from the truck as he turns the corner(...just like the ice cream man back home).
Then, when you finally find out what time he comes, it just so happens to conflict with your teaching hours 6 out of 7 days a week, so you have to find new and ingenius ways to compact the growing garbage stash in your freezer (to keep the ants away) because you've forgotten or been too tired to take it out 2 or 3 weeks in a row.
...or the common matter of finding directions you understand - I have often made the mistake here of thinking signs with arrows pointing left actually mean turn left (rather than go straight past 3 exits and THEN turn left)
...etc, etc.
Recently, I finally started getting serious about improving my Chinese, got a great first teaching review, and, using my improving Chinese, am learning slowly how to find my way through this curious city.
So now comes the fun part: telling you about all the goodies and secret corners, strange street people, foods and experiences I've had since coming to one of the world's biggest and most bustling metropolises.
Till soon - Yours,
Pam
posted by Pamplemousse @ 1:14 PM
8 Comments:
"To live or to tell" is something I struggle with all the time while being away, so I totally understand! Congratulations on joining the blogging world. I look forward to your postings.
Pam I love you! I wish you were my english teacher. Good luck, I'll be thinking of you and reading your blog.
-Tor
P.S. You should allow anonymous posts, because I had to sign up for a blogger account just to sign up.
oops! Done! Now anyone can post comments.
I love you too Tor! Where are you these days?
Hey Pamela! You remind me how small Halifax is as you talk about this metropolis of yours. Look forward to hearing more soon.
Hi Pam!! So good to hear from you! I was wondering how you were making out in Taipei. How is the teaching going? We should swap stories. I just finished teaching in a grade 3 class, and in the next few weeks will be teaching grade 6. I am having such an amazing time!
PS. Add me to your Skype. My username is amy.usher We can chat while I am all alone in London! Give my regards to Brian.
Yours,
Amy
Hey Pam,
Thanks for getting in touch! I'll be reading
Ned
Hi Pammie,
It's sooooo nice to hear from you! Very exciting to read a bit of your adventures, looking forward to more!
Tell me about your students. How is Brian making out? Would love to see more pictures!
All is well at HW, we are gearing up for our annual holiday gathering...recently thought about your cooking lesson last year!
Be happy and safe,
Danielle
Hey Pam & Brian!!
Fabulous blog, fabulous writing. I can't wait to keep up with you! Congrats on reaching the point where you can start to "Live AND Tell"!
I will echo Sam's sentiments about the constant struggle. Now that I've moved my life to Calgary, I basically have two lives to oscillate between: My old Ottawa life and all those friends and my new Calgary life. I find it so hard to keep in touch with my close, old, best friends who are away and also be totally involved in the active engagement and socializing in my new Calgary life...
I still haven't quite figured it out yet, but I have a blog too so come check it out! A great way to stay in touch when "away". I just had quite a strenuous time and didn't post for almost 3 weeks but I'm getting back on that bike as we speak.
Luck and love,
Lara
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