Episode 3: And the teachers wished for no more Typhoon Days

Yes, that's right, I've been copped up in my apartment due to the Super Typhoon Jangmi, or Typhoon Jumanji as I like to call it. Did you know there were super typhoons? Neither did I. Yesterday, I went out for groceries and was completely soaked in under 10 seconds. This morning I watched as rain feel sideways. Man, Taiwan is weird.

While Jangmi is doing it's damage outside, I took some time to think about what I should write about next. If there hadn't been typhoon, this episode would have been called Episode 3: The Games I Play. We all know "What's in my dinner roll?" but I spend most of my day playing games. Now there are the language games I play with my students, Phonics Bingo, Word searches, the standard stuff, but there are so many other games you can play in Taiwan.

The first games is Paper, Scissors, Stone. you might know it as Rock, Paper, Scissors. I play PSS all day, everyday; anything in class is solved by PSS. To get the kids to answer a really boring reading comprehension question, they get one point for answering and if you beat Teacher Beth you get two points. I've gotten really good at this game. ( note to the females: Always throw paper when playing against a male. They will undoubtedly throw stone; it's a masculinity thing.) Paper, Scissors, Stone can solve any conflict outside of the classroom, who gets to use the copier first, who pays the bar tab, or even who has to do ex cerise time for the kindergarten. It can solve anything, try it!

I also find myself playing frogger often. No not on my computer, not out on the street.You remember frogger...Step 1) Imagine Beth as a small killable amphibian. Step 2) Frog must get across the playing field also known as Ming-An West Road. Goal ) Get across the street from the bus stop to work. (You might say Beth, just walk all the way to the crosswalk or to the foot bridge, but rules are for wimps.) Taiwan Frogger involves avoiding taxis, speeding buses, cars, and those annoying scooters. Alright let's play! So the little frog tries to get off the bus and is sideswiped by a scooter. (By the way, who passes a stopped bus at a bus stop on the right?) Okay so the frog waits for two speeding buses, okay go left, left, wait for scooters, more scooters run back! okay forward, forward, slowly, right right, run run across! Congratulations you've made it to work without losing one of your lives.

The third game that comes up often is "How do you spell that?" While everything here is in Mandarin characters, pinyin allows us to have an "English translation" So I live on Ming-An Road near Fu Ren University. Thanks pinyin! However, pinyin isn't perfect. Depending on who you ask, I live in Hsin Chuang, Sinjhuang, or Xinzhuang. It can make things tough especially for a girl who is trying to figure out the stops on the bus monitor. I sit attentively watching for the stop Gillin High School, but the monitor quickly flashes Jilin. Is that the same thing? I don't know, I'm just trying to get to Ikea. (Don't worry I found Ikea. It was easy because there was a big blue building that said IKEA.) So while pinyin makes things easier, it manages to make your life equally difficult at the same time.

So those are some games I play. There are others such as "Are you sure you want to eat that?" When looking for a friend in a crowded metro, you play "Spot the tall white guy."

My friend Audrey, asked the other day, "So how are you dealing with the staring?" I hadn't told her how much it bothers me. Apparently she can see as everyone stares at me when we are out. Most people double take and stare after I walk by. They only stare at her because she is speaking English with the white girl. Being pale is really desirable here whereas Westerners try to tan. Women wear long sleeves shirt year round and use sun gloves and umbrellas. I guess they just never seen someone this pale before. Taiwanese women would probably kill for my ability to only burn and not tan. The curly hair also doesn't help. It's just another thing I'm getting used to.