Let’s Talk About... Your Family!!!!

How many people are there in your family?
I have, one mom, one dad, no sisters and one brother.
There are four people in my family!!!!!!!! 

We’ve now completed our fourth week of teaching and on September 7th it was our first pay day! A double celebration this past week. We receive our pay from our respective branches in the form of an envelope filled with cash. :D  We only worked for half the month in August so we only received half a regular pay “envelope”, but it was still really nice to have a little cash coming in instead of going out for a change.  

By the time the next pay day comes around we should have received our Alien Resident Cards and will be in a position to get our licenses and buy a scooter. I’m really looking forward to getting a scooter. At the moment I feel a bit like I’m attached to a ball-and-chain, and I’m not just talking about my significant other! 

On Saturday, I walked to meet Amanda at her branch after her Saturday class and we enjoyed a Taiwanese-Italian pasta lunch in a park, accompanied by some delicious freshly made pineapple juice. 

There are a lot a little family-owned businesses that surround the area where Amanda works and so there is always something cheap and delicious to eat nearby. My branch by contrast is in a very modern and clean area of the city but I haven’t had any luck tracking down any places to grab a quick and cheap bite to eat... I will continue searching! 

After lunch we took a leisurely walk back in the direction of our apartment, stopping along the way to pick up some school supplies and groceries, as well as to take a gander through the jade market that is not 10 minutes from our apartment. 

The jade market is incredible. My parents will be visiting us in one month’s time and I have no doubt that my mom be overwhelmed by what is there and that my dad will be overwhelmed worrying about how overwhelmed my mom is and about how on earth they’ll get any of it back to Canada. 

Let’s talk about your family.
How many people are there in your family?
I have, one mom, one dad, no sisters and one brother.
There are four people in my family! 

In case you are uncertain, the above jingle is an ESL song that has been haunting my mind for the last couple weeks. After having stayed in Taiwan for one year I think we will find that there are a lot of ESL songs that are forever inextricably infused into our minds. I certainly have no shortage of tunes to hum in the shower in the mornings.

Yonghang 2rd St. by Amanda's branch

There are 3 big kindergartens on the corner of the above intersection. Apple Kindergarten,...

... Sesame Street Kindergarten,...

... and Today Kindergarten.

I bet this faithful employee saves the company a lot of money!

Can you see the concentration in his face?

Wave that flag!

I actually think it is a pretty reasonable way to save on labor costs. Is it really always necessary to have a real human being standing around holding the flag? Probably not.