Being here for so many years, I have learned to change my ‘diet’ (so-to-speak) to Taiwan eats. I don’t have a lot of pictures of Taiwan foods, so you’ll just have to bear with me as I describe some of the foods here.

Over the course of 10 years, I have tried several types of foods available here. My friends may not believe it, because of my aversion to certain things, but I have.

Living in Canada and in particular, growing up in central Canada, namely Ontario, we didn’t really have a lot of seafood available to us. Most of the diet my family ate, consisted of potatoes and some sort of, how shall I say … land meat – beef, pork, or chicken. Rarely can I honestly remember eating seafood. Oh sure, we did at times have smelt, or cod, or perch, or ‘flipper’, but they were few and far between.

I suppose if we had grown up on the east or west coasts of Canada, our diets would have had some sort of seafood, but we didn’t.

Coming to an island nation, where there is very little land available to raise ‘land meat’, and so much of the local diet consists of seafood, was not so much a surprise to me, but more of a concern. I had ‘learned’ to enjoy things like clams and lobster in Canada, even though my family never really ate it. However, here in Taiwan, lobster is not a big item of seafood. It is available, but not as common as one would think.

Clams, fish, octopus, squid… these are the seafoods that a lot of people eat on a regular basis. When I look back at living in Canada, especially in central Canada, seafood tended to be a bit expensive. That is perhaps part of the reason we didn’t have a lot of seafood in our home. With six children, mom and dad, buying an expensive food item like lobster or clams, just were not in the budget.

Here in Taiwan, seafood, even lobster, is relatively inexpensive by Canadian standards. Octopus balls, barbecued squid, and all the varieties of fish you can imagine, are not only easy to find, but cheap.

Not far from Tainan city, actually, about a 1/2 hour scooter ride, is a place called Sing-da Port. This is a major fish market in the Tainan area. It is actually in Kao-hsiung county, but close enough for a quick trip on a Saturday morning – if you don’t mind driving along the Tainan Strait. I enjoy this trip a lot, but there really isn’t a lot I will purchase in this market. My major thrill, is seeing the different kinds of seafoods that are available.

I think part of my NOT wanting to purchase anything, is not so much that I don’t want to try to eat seafood. My problem is seeing these creatures – shrimp, lobster, clams, fish, etc. – all alive and living in the various vats and containers, just waiting for their fate. Obviously, people generally don’t think of these creatures as anything more than food.

When I see a blue lobster (yes, BLUE) walking around in the pool of water, and knowing in my gut that at some point, someone is going to purchase this creature and boil it up for dinner, makes me sad. Seeing all the shrimp piled on top of each other, fighting for their lives, and again, knowing that at some point, someone is going to take them home and plop them on the barby or boil them and eat them, repulses me.

Again, going back to life in Canada, had I grown up on the coasts, perhaps my outlook on these creatures would have been different.

I suppose I should think the same way about ‘land meat’. We as humans, raise animals such as cow, chickens, and pigs, for the sole purpose of food.

There have been a couple of times over these years, that I almost gave up eating chicken. The first time occurred when I first came to Taiwan.

I was staying in a hotel in Taichung when I arrived in Taiwan in 2002. During the early evening, I decided to leave the hotel room, and walk around a bit to ‘get a feel’ for this country. Around the corner from the hotel, there was a ‘stall’. An older couple seemed to operate this stall.

I noticed that there were many cages with chickens, not just in the cages, but more or less ‘stuffed’ in these cages. A cage that I would figure would be comfortable for maybe one or two, may have contained six or seven of these poor animals. As I was looking (probably with a look of disgust or awe), someone had apparently wanted a chicken.

The old woman took out a chicken by the neck from one of the cages, and immediately dunked the whole creature into a vat of boiling water. She held it there for a few minutes, then pulled it out. At that point, she started to literally pull out its feathers. The head of the chicken was at an angle on her hand, but she didn’t so much as flinch an eyelid as she continued to pluck each and every feather from this poor beast.

The second time I nearly had a close call with the ‘execution’ of a chicken, was a couple of years ago in Tainan. I was looking for dumpling pastry, and had been told of a market to go to. While I walked up and down the aisles, I ended up at the end of the market.

Reminiscent of my Taichung experience, there was an elderly couple running a stand at the back. It was not very bright at this end, but I could see that again, there were cages of chickens. Just as I got there, I saw the man take out a chicken. Remembering my first experience, I immediately made a bee-line away from this area. A few seconds later, all I heard was the sound of a knife hitting wood. I knew, without looking, what had happened.

I’m neither stupid nor naive. I know where pork and beef come from. I do enjoy KFC once in a while, as much as I enjoy a great steak on the barbecue. However, I don’t need to actually SEE the creature being killed to know that I’m eating a cow or a pig or a chicken.

As I’ve gotten older, I suppose my sense of life and living has changed. I’ve also noticed that my ‘diet’ has changed somewhat. I tend to eat a lot more veggies here in Taiwan than I have ever done in my past. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy a great piece of steak, or deep-fried chicken, but I just can’t bring myself to enjoy some kind of meat that I know, was probably alive and living its life only a few minutes before I ordered it.

Granted, beef, pork, and chicken (for example) were living creatures, but I didn’t have a say in its demise. It was already ‘butchered’ before I ordered it at the restaurant.

I realize that creatures such as shrimp or fish are a lot more prolific than other creatures, and for the most part, we as humans consider them lesser lifeforms than ourselves, but let me say, I am glad that I didn’t grow up on a farm or the coasts, where I could have been exposed to the thoughts of treating other life, no matter what they are, as mere food items.

Is it truly enough for me to give up eating these ‘land meats’? Not likely. It is part of my diet. Will my not eating a hamburger or a roast of pork or KFC make a difference? Not likely. No matter what the vegetarians in our cultures may say, seafood and ‘land meats’ will still be a part of our diets. Unless you can convince a WHOLE culture or country to do away with the practice of eating these creatures, it will never cease. One person does not a difference make.

That’s it, that’s all… for now!

Since beginning this blog, getting in touch with my family, doing a lot more on Facebook, I had decided at the time to take a few pictures of the mornings (or in some instances, evenings) from the roof of my home in Tainan.

As I try to get up around 5-6am every morning, oftentimes I have great pictures of the rising sun over Tainan. A few times I’ve had great sunset photos as well.

At the top of this blog, you will notice that I have a photo of a sunrise. This picture was taken at about 5:45am, April 22, 2010.

I don’t often get pictures like this. I suppose, not often does ANYONE get these kinds of photos. I like this photo because, not only is it quite colourful, but with the sun just rising, you can see the outline of the mountains that are a few kilometers outside of the city limits.

It is not often in Taiwan that the air clears enough to see the mountains. Sure, I have had the opportunity over the years, but they are really few and far between. Remembering the couple of years living in Vancouver, from one apartment, I could see the sunrise and mountains every single morning!

Many years ago, I was involved with a youth group in our church. We had practiced and performed a play called, “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.

After performing this play at a few churches in London, we went on a trip and performed it in a couple of other communities in Ontario — although to this day, I can’t remember where. Not that that really matters.

As the final ‘piece de resistance’, we went on a day trip to Toronto. Our reason for going was to watch the same play at the Young People’s Theatre in Toronto. It was a great day. It was also the first time I remember actually being IN Toronto. We drove past Toronto City Hall. Anyone who has ever seen this building, will understand my awe of this structure.

We were driving around the city, and were stopped at light. I had my Kodak 126mm camera, and asked if I could just hop out and take a quick picture. Now, bear in mind, this photo is NOT my picture. Mine is somewhere packed away in a box somewhere in Vancouver.

This building is well over 35 years old. It was at least that long ago that I saw the building for the first time. To me, it had a sort of ‘alien’ feel about it. I particularly liked the pod in the centre.

By today’s standards, I suppose this building is not as innovative as it was when it was originally designed and built. But back then, it had a “Star Trek” feel to it… something from another world.

Finally, one last photo that I think is amazing.

When I was home in September 2010, I was so thrilled to see my family, but in particular, I was more excited to see my little nephew.

My brother, Scott, and his wife, Becky, had just welcomed home their second child, a boy, Carter!

Whether anyone knows it or not, I have a special connection to Carter. In the future, he may understand this connection. I have tried to explain it to others, but it just seem to ‘excite’ people as much as it excites me.

When I look back at my family, the JACKLIN’s, I am the oldest Jacklin grandson. Even though I have older cousins who are boys, they have different last names, because their mother is my aunt – my father’s sister.

To my grandmother, I found out in later years, I was the eldest grandchild with the family name.

Now, with our family, and my parents being the ‘grandparents’, Carter is the eldest grandchild with the family name. Yes, Carter has older boy cousins, but they have a different last name because they are Robin’s children, my sister.

So, in a way, because I was the eldest JACKLIN grandchild, Carter now has that title. While spending time with my brother and his family before returning home, I was able to snap quite a few pictures.

For anyone that has seen my ‘profile picture’ on Facebook, you will now know who the child is in my picture. For those that haven’t, here’s the picture.

OH, and one final picture that I really like… This one is of Carter holding onto MY thumb, while he is asleep in my arms…

That’s it, that’s all… for now!

A dream? Hell, ya! Recurring, no! Unless, of course, they are talking about dreams you have during the sleeping hours.

I know that we all dream while we are asleep. At least that’s what our medical and scientific communities tell us. Dreaming is a natural part of sleeping. Dreaming is a natural part of being alive. Anyone who has ever had or has a dog or cat, can attest to the fact they dream. How many times I’ve seen my cats twitch, and stretch, and meow while they are silently sleeping. It’s actually quite funny to see. I often wonder exactly what they are dreaming about.

Gabriel likes to chase butterflies. Does he dream about catching them? Eloise likes to get into tiffs with Arabela. Does she dream of being the “Princess of Power” of all cats?

Trying to remember my dreams is oftentimes, an effort in futility. Once in a blue moon, I can remember a portion of my dream after waking up. However, by the time I’ve gone to the bathroom and fed the cats, the thoughts of my dreams are gone. More often than not, I wake up having never really felt like I even slept!

Whether I get 5 hours of sleep or 10 hours of sleep, I always wake up feeling like a) I just fell asleep, and b) tired until I smell the coffee. Let me tell you, coffee is a wonderful way to wake up!

I read somewhere that cats sleep approximately 18 hours a day! I can’t even imagine sleeping for that long. Talk about a dream! I can’t imagine sleeping that amount of time away! Personally, even though I know that our bodies need time to regenerate and sleeping is that necessity, sleeping is a waste of time!

When I think about the mornings that I get up at around 5:00 or 6:00 am each morning, and the amount of work I get done until around 7:30, I often wonder how much more work I could accomplish if I could stay awake all the time.

I have, several times over my life, gone for periods of up to two days of not getting any sleep due to work, or in the case of school one year, a band marathon where we were raising money and played music for 48 hours.

However, back to dreaming. A few times over the years, I have had dreams where I do remember. There was a period of time, for about 3 or 4 months, where all the dreams I could remember, were about houses. I was told that houses represent you, yourself. The differences in the houses were representative of the changes that I was going through. As with any dream, the symbols in your dreams are exactly that – symbols. You have to adjust your thinking, and see beyond the literal image.

My mother once told me about when I was younger, and how I used to get up in the middle of the night and sleepwalk. My brother apparently did the same thing. I forget whether it was me or my brother, all my mom had to say was, “Don’t worry, we’ll fix it in the morning,” and that would be enough to send us back to bed and continue sleeping. Obviously, remembering nothing the morning after!

I have had recurring daytime dreams, but then again, I think everyone has those. Dreaming about what we would do should we ever win the lottery. What life would be like if we had made a different decision several years earlier. What would life have been like if we had been born a year earlier, or a year later. What would be different if we had had different parents.

So, do I have recurring dreams? In all honesty, I’d have to say no. Do I dream? Logically, I’d have to say yes. Do I remember these dreams? No. Does it matter? I suppose not. I know the difference between reality and fiction, life and dreams. Even if I could remember the images and symbols in my dream, I don’t think that it would really make a difference in my day-to-day life.

Do I dream about the future? Definitely. Will those dreams become reality? In some cases, I truly hope so.

That’s it, that’s all… for now!

I may have already answered that question, but I’m going to go further.

I consider myself a pretty decent person. I don’t try to go out of my way to piss people off. I try to maintain friendships, and try to keep people, especially co-workers and managers, from thinking badly of me.

I try to do my work to the best of my abilities. I get to work on time, and rarely take time off. I don’t go out of my way to make my students or fellow teachers upset. Sure, once in a while, tiffs will happen. That’s a fact of life. Hell, my cats can’t even get along EVERY day!

When I first got here in Tainan in 2003, I was working through an agent, and in particular, with two different schools. Each had asked me, when I was heading home to Vancouver for a holiday, that should I return and work with them, they would in return, pay me the sum they were paying the agent.

Great! It ended up the beginning of a relationship back home, but in retrospect, perhaps it was worth it. I enjoyed the work I was doing here, enjoyed seeing the students learn from my knowledge, and since then, seeing some of these students going on to greater things.

The one thing that I wasn’t prepared for, was that I would end up dealing with an organization that was willing to take advantage of me.

Now, let me explain a couple of things here. I feel that I am not the ‘typical’ foreign teacher. I do all my lesson planning at home. I have copies (normally, purchased by ME) of all the teacher manuals and students books I need for my classes. Any copies of materials I need for my students, I do myself on (now) two printers. I have never asked for reimbursement from any of my schools for any materials I use. To me, this is the cost of my ‘business’ here in Taiwan.

After the second year, one of my schools had asked if I could take a pay cut for a year, so they could get a new location up and running. In return, they did find me a few other jobs, but at the same time, decreased the number of hours I was working. In retrospect, I should have never accepted this offer. I was under the impression that they were acting in good faith.

Over the years, my hours were decreased dramatically. Where in the beginning, I was working over 15 hours a week, of late, I had been dropped to 1 hour per week. I was expected to make up classes that were cancelled because of various reasons – national holidays, my being sick, or the school cancelling classes for one reason or another.

No other teacher is expected to ‘make up’ classes, however, I was. Again, I did so because they were the school that held my ARC. In other words, they were the school that hired me and allowed me to work and live in Taiwan. Even though I tried to explain some of these situations as unfair, it met with deaf ears. My hours were thus lowered again, forcing me to find other employment elsewhere.

Last year, in September 2010, I returned home for a holiday. I hadn’t seen my family in over 10 years, and this was my first, long-term trip back to Canada. Sure, I had taken a couple of holidays in the past, for a couple of weeks, but this was the first time I took almost a month.

During all these years with them, not at any time, did they deduct the required taxes as set down by law. As well, businesses who hire foreign workers (teachers or others) are required to make sure the worker has proper medical coverage, and worker insurance. Again, this was never given me.

Before returning home in September, I was told that I had to pay a huge sum to the federal government of Taiwan for taxes for the years 2008 and 2009! As a) I was going home for a holiday and b) had never been advised that taxes were never remitted, I requested that the school pay these taxes for me. After a heated argument, it was agreed that they would pay the taxes, but that I had to repay THEM upon my arrival back to Taiwan.

Then, to make matters worse, I discovered that over the years, even though I was paid WAY below the ‘acceptable’ level as set down by the Government of Taiwan, they had reported my income as almost 10x what I was actually earning!

The next thing, was they wanted to cancel the contract I had with them, because they didn’t want me to work with them any longer. They expected me to find another organization to take over my ARC. Luckily, that was not a problem.

Shortly thereafter, I received “T4″ slips stating that I had earned over 270,000nt in 2010! Considering I was only working approximately 2.5 hours per week, at a very, very reduced rate, I asked that they redo the slips to reflect the proper earnings of just over 32,000nt for the year. They refused.

What alternative did I have? I had to go to the Taxation Office of Taiwan, and show them my ‘pay stubs’ of actual earnings given. Compared to the reported income by the school, there was definitely a problem. The Taxation Office then requested that I show them all my ‘pay stubs’ for the previous years. Here we go… an audit.

Of course, they then contacted the employer and told them that I was initiating this audit. I am a foreigner! How can I initiate an audit on local company? Nonetheless, that was what the school told me. They wanted me to go back and ‘apologize’ to the Taxation Office, and all would be forgiven. I asked once again, for them to redo the tax forms to indicate the proper amount of income. No!

Proposal time. I gave them a proposal that would hopefully, be agreed upon. I agreed to take whatever measures were involved to stop everything. However, after 4 weeks of waiting for a response, I still have not heard anything from them.

Again, I now had no choice but to take this matter one step further. Off to the Employment Standards Branch of the City of Tainan.

So, what get me pissed off? People that INTENTIONALLY want to make their own lives easier at the expense of others.

I don’t like liars. I don’t like cheaters. A couple of years ago, this school had the opportunity to forfeit my ARC and have another school take it over. However, because they didn’t want to pay the standard rate for a foreign teacher, and wanted particular hours to be blocked by them, as they would be the main employer, they didn’t want to give up what they had with me.

I should have wisened up to their tactics then. Then again, they did have the ARC, and were once again, my ‘boss’. Had I been able to see into the future, I would have stopped all this way back then.

I never intended for this to go as far as it has. I have now reported to the Taxation Office and the Employment Standards Office. My next step, should it need to go further, will be legal action. Enough is enough! I have been ripped off for over 6 years, and I expect compensation.

I’ve been told that this is not, “… the Taiwan way…” Well, maybe “… the Taiwan way…” needs to be changed. Am I ready for a long drawn-out battle. Why not!

That’s it, that’s all… for now!

Growing up, all those years ago, St. Patrick’s Day was one of those days like, Valentine’s Day and Groundhog Day. They aren’t really ‘holidays’ as much as recognized days throughout the year that really don’t mean a lot.

Okay, so maybe to some people Valentine’s Day means something, but to others, it’s just a reminder…

Anyway, St. Patrick’s Day to me meant that a) my birthday was over, b) spring was coming, and c) spring vacation was only a week away!

I suppose that since my ancestors, the Jacklin’s, came from Ireland, that St. Patrick’s Day would mean something to me. We had to wear something green, and at school we’d make shamrocks, colour pictures of rainbows with pots of gold, and little leprechauns.

I always wondered what the various symbols meant, and thanks to various websites now, that information is merely a carriage return away.

The Shamrock

The Irish have considered shamrocks as good-luck symbols since earliest times, and today people of many other nationalities also believe they bring good luck.

Leprechauns

Treasure hunters can often track down a leprechaun by the sound of his shoemaker’s hammer. If the leprechaun is caught, he can be threatened with bodily violence to tell where his treasure is, but the leprechaun’s captors must keep their eyes on him every second. If the captor’s eyes leave the leprechaun – he’s known to trick them into looking away – he vanishes and all hopes of finding the treasure are lost.

The Color Green

Many long years ago, playful Irish children began the tradition of pinching people who forgot to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day and the tradition is still practiced today.

I’ve noticed lately that people are discussing the idea of wearing ORANGE on St. Patrick’s Day. Basically, the discussion involved the fact that ORANGE and GREEN are both national colours of Ireland. As ORANGE could cause problems in some areas of Ireland, GREEN was the accepted choice.

March 17 was chosen as St. Patrick’s Day, as this is the day it is generally believed that St. Patrick (the person) died. If you search on wikipedia.org for “Saint Patrick”, there is a lot of information about the man.

The only thing that I had, up until I did a search, was that it was generally believed that St. Patrick was responsible for driving all the snakes out of Ireland. Below, are a couple of other ‘myths’ surrounding St. Patrick (the man):

St. Patrick banishes all snakes from Ireland

The 12th century work Acallam na Senórach tells of Patrick being met by two ancient warriors, Caílte mac Rónáin and Oisín, during his evangelical travels. The two were once members of Fionn mac Cumhaill’s warrior band the Fianna, and somehow survived to Patrick’s time.

So, there’s your little piece of non-essential, boring history, of St. Patrick’s Day. Impress your friends and family next year with all the information you’ve now learned!!

That’s it, that’s all… for now!

First, I get pulled over by the police because I had my lights on. Apparently, since very few people use their lights during the daytime, it tends to annoy people when others keep them on. Or maybe, they still have that idiotic belief that the electrical system and the fuel system are somehow connected. You keep your lights on, you use more fuel.

I’ve tried to explain a few times that if that were the case, every vehicle in the country would explode the very second it was turned on! There is no possible way that the electricity run your lights is in any way connected to the fuel system. For this, the police made note, checked to see if there were any ‘priors’ on the plate, and basically, made me late for my class.

Meanwhile, other scooterists are zipping past us at speeds WAY in excess of the 50km/hr limit, scooterists without the required safety helmet, running red lights, and making illegal turns. A couple of times, I mentioned to the other officer and pointed it out, but he said that they can only do one scooter at a time.

Okay.

Then, my scooter is towed away from a ‘red zone’ in Kao-hsiung. Cost to retrieve – 825nt and an hour waiting.

On the way home that same evening, Sunday, witnessing the most horrific scooter mishap (and hopefully death of each and every one of the idiots), ever, in all my life on this planet.

And now we get to Tuesday.

In recent weeks, Giraffe has asked if I could help out with the students’ telephone testing. Basically, the teachers provide me with material for the students to read, questions to ask, and of course, I always add in my own ‘ad hoc’ questions. I realize this is not necessary, but for some students, they are only willing to do what is absolutely necessary for these phone calls – read the required text, and answer the questions that, in some cases, has already been provided to them.

On Tuesdays, I have two classes from 5:30-6:30. I head out for a couple of minutes break, and because of some small-minded neighbours, have now resorted to standing about half a block away, at a small intersection.

The things that I’ve seen at this intersection are, to say the least, incredible. I guess it doesn’t really matter what the rules of the road are. It doesn’t matter who you are. Everyone is in a hurry. Everyone is the only one on the road. Lights and lines are mere suggestions.

Okay… so here goes. I’m watching the corner. I see this black-tinted windowed black car, suddenly decide to turn left on the green light. In the process, he cuts in front of a BUS, and not just a little city bus, but one of those BIG highway-type buses. The bus screeches to a halt just inches from the front of the car. Now, the car cannot see the oncoming traffic because of this dinosaur bus in front of him, but that doesn’t stop him.

He continues driving. Just as the corner of his car inches past the bus, KABOOM! Two girls on a scooter connect with the car.

I think that most car drivers either can’t see, or don’t car about scooters and cyclists. I don’t think most of them even care about anyone else but themselves.

Nonetheless, the scooter’s front end cracks, and pieces fall off. The girls are lying on the road, and slowly get up and pick up the scooter. Meanwhile, other people are still trying to drive around this little mishap as if nothing is happening. No stops to offer an assistance. I go over, and snap a couple of pictures. The driver of the car, once the scooter was off to the side of the road, continues on his merry little way.

I guess he must have seen me snapping photos, because he eventually stopped, with his car still running, walks down to the corner, and starts yelling at the girls!

I asked the girls if they had email. I had a couple of pictures, one showing the mishap, and another showing the license plate of the car. They didn’t know what to do with it. I ‘suggested’ to them, that if it were me, I would be printing off the photos, and heading over to the police station.

I couldn’t actually believe that the guy in the car, would have the audacity to come over and start yelling at the girls, saying that it was their fault for not watching where they were going. Apparently, he turning LEFT at an intersection, thus crossing over 3 lanes of traffic, he had the right-of-way.

Here are the photos. You be the judge.

Here we are, the middle of March. It’s that time of year again, when Giraffe begins the process for the Giraffe National Storytelling Contest.

For the past 4 years that I’ve been involved, it has been amazing. I’ve discovered that there are a lot of kids, not only at our location, but all over Taiwan, who really can speak English. I am proud that I have had a small part in our students being able to compete at the national level.

From what I understand, the ‘theme’ for this year is ‘proverbs’. That is, a story with a meaning. You know the type – “The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf”… that kind of thing.

I was a bit daunted when Janice asked me to look through the stories that the teachers had submitted as suggestions. She placed in front me, two huge piles of books and papers of stories that the teachers were suggesting! My only thought – O – M – G!

Much like an editor in a publishing company, or at least the images I have, I began sifting through the first pile. Quickly glancing over the story, trying to figure out what the ‘meaning’ or ‘moral’ of the story was. If I got something, it went in one pile. If it was just a story, the ‘discard’ pile.

I wasn’t too concerned about how long or short the story was. Over the next few weeks, these stories will be edited to accommodate the time constraints of the contest.

Halfway through pile number 1, Janice asked about some stories that Giraffe corporate has at the moment. I’ve been teaching some of the classes a couple of these stories, and have actually memorized some of them now.

I don’t know who wrote some of these stories, however, there is a page that was sent to the schools, giving a brief of the stories, as well as the ‘meaning’ of the story.

After a bit of discussion, and based on last years’ placing, Janice decided she wanted to go with these stories. There would be no ‘confusion’ on the judges’ parts, the students are already learning the stories, and all we had to do was basically decide which level would learn which story.

So, here they are for your reading enjoyment. As most of my students at Giraffe don’t read my blog, and it is HIGHLY unlikely that ANYONE else across Taiwan even knows of my blog, sharing these stories are more for my friends and family back in Canada. Please note, not that it really matters to you, the reader, a couple of these stories have been edited down to the required time limit.

Kindergarten Level – A Missing Shoe

Ashley walks on the street. She sees a shoe with a red shoelace.

“Someone needs this shoe, and I know who,” she says to herself.

Grades 1 and 2 – Saturday

Poor Nick is sick in bed.
He feels hot, and his face is red.
What is this? A red pen?
It’s time to get out of the den.

The next day, when the skies are grey.
Nick is up on a Saturday!
Today I feel like such a fool.
When I’m all ready and set for school.

Grades 3 and 4 – Voices in the Dark

A painter named Joe had been famous for his paintings. He was good at painting natural scenes, such as mountains, lakes, and trees.

The painter knows that all of them can do all their jobs with joy, and he feels happy as well. After that, he understands that he should finish each painting before starting another, or else he might not finish any.

Grades 5 and 6 – Hank

Hank was ten years old.

Hank’s teacher is pleased that Hank has become more popular. She also notices that Hank is much happier. Now, Hank has a lot of friends who study and play with him and always stand on his side.

I have my own opinions on who will be able to perform these stories, however, I am obviously NOT the only person who makes that determination. And besides, in a couple of weeks, the students will be competing at the school level, to see who will represent us at the regionals. I’ve been surprised a couple of times in the past, so you never know…

I wish all the students who are competing, the best of luck. Have fun with the stories, and let’s bring home four 1st Place trophies this year!

That’s it, that’s all… for now!

Not really a lot, but enough to almost wonder what the hell is going on lately.

First, on March 11, 2011, the tsunami in Japan. That even woke up, not only Japan, but the rest of the world. It shows us, and forgive my language, that when Mother Nature is having a pissy day, nothing is going to stop her! If you prefer that I say Father Nature, whatever…

Now people are getting paranoid. There are news articles about Canadians stockpiling iodine, Taiwan residents are encouraged to wear face masks… I guess no one really understands weather patterns, or don’t realize that Japan is just a little far away from either of these places to have a significant effect.

As I told a few people here, I’d be more concerned about the shit that comes out of cars, buses, and scooters when I’m driving, than the chance that the weather patterns are suddenly going to change, or the earth is suddenly going to revolve in a different way and the radiation from NORTHERN Japan will hit SOUTHERN Taiwan.

Yesterday, my second class in Kaohsiung. Now, I’ve opted to drive the scooter to Kaohsiung for a number of reasons. The distance from my home to the Kaohsiung location, door-to-door, on scooter, takes approximately 55 minutes – depending on traffic lights.

The time it takes me to drive to the train station here in Tainan, find a parking spot, walk to the station, stand in line to get a ticket, wait for the train, and have to stand ALL the way to Kaohsiung, then walk to the location, takes almost 1.5 hours. At least on the scooter I can sit!

So, as I said, second class. I get there about 6:55 or so, and park the scooter in the usual place. Next to the building, on a little alley. There are already 500 scooters, bicyles, trucks, taxis, and various other non-vehicular crap sitting along both sides of this alley.

A few minutes later, someone asks me where I parked. I showed them. Lo and behold, the scooter is not there! All the other crap is still there though!

Apparently, unlike Tainan police, the Kaohsiung police don’t like it when you park your scooter in a red zone. That is, the lined area, usually rounding a corner, that there is a painted red line. If you so much as park your tire on it, it is hauled away! Great. Well, no need to worry about it right now. Whether I get it now or later, it will still cost me to get it out of hawk!

Okay, class finishes, a couple of the people offer to take me to the yard where naughty scooters are put in jail. It ends up costing me 825nt and about an hour of time wasted getting it. Apparently, many other scooters were naughty tonight as well. Or maybe Kaohsiung was a little short of cash tonight. Again, whatever.

Off I go home. Now, most of the highway driving I do to get home, the speed limit is 70km/hr. Since the road is fairly busy, most of the time, scooterists are aware of what’s going on – at least I THINK they are…

On the way back, I pass through a few small towns/villages along the way. Between Chiaotou and Gangshan, the road splits just before Gangshan. At this point, you can opt to go toward the Gangshan rail station, or through town. I usually take the rail station route, as it is quicker, and fewer lights.

Just after passing through Chiaotou, these idiots, and quite frankly, there is no other word for these assholes – OH, there’s another word! Hahaha… Nonetheless, these stupid little boys, who have nothing better to do on a Sunday evening, than see what kind of problems they can cause, come up from behind.

Now, realize, that there is a lot of traffic along this roadway on a Sunday night. People are returning home after a day or weekend away, most are definitely going over the speed limit, however, if everyone is doing the same, there is no problem.

These dickheads decide to play leapfrog with the traffic. They weave in and out of the scooter lane, as well as the traffic lanes. They consist of two low-life, idiotic, scum-of-the-scum, teenage (and I can only assume that!!) boys. There are two per scooter, no helmets, no lights. The scooters look practically brand new (for argument sake, let’s just say they are probably NOT theirs, since it would be HIGHLY unlikely that amoeba of this level could possibly be the owners of these souped-up vehicles), and generally, are behaving as if they are the only neanderthals on the roadway at 10:30 at night. No one else exists but them.

After weaving their way, recklessly ahead of the other scooterists, slow down to a snail’s pace of about 40km/hr. This on a roadway where the limit is 70km/hr, and most people are pushing 100km/hr.

They begin to chat with each other until there is a group of scooterists behind them. We all start to make our pass around them. When everyone seems to have passed, they decide to leapfrog again, getting in front of everyone, and slowing down traffic again.

At one point, there is a cement barrier which divides the scooter lane from the vehicular lanes. Well, lo and beheld, these doughboys decide that they will form a line, side-by-side across the roadway, and begin chatting with each other. Of course, they need to slow again, because, hell, you can’t talk and watch where you’re going, if you’re zipping along at 100km/hr!

Suddenly, the most intelligent of the pack, who happens to be on the far left of this line, realizes that the scooter lane is coming up!

Now, from a distance, all I can see of these intelligent earthworms, is the taillights from their scooters. The most intelligent one, I assume, being the farthest away, in the inside of the highway, decides to cut across all his boyfriends, and doesn’t quite make it into the scooter lane. The others start to weave back and forth, trying to save their scooters I guess, and the next thing – KABOOM! All of them end up in a big pile in front of the barrier.

Well, I have never, in all my 31 years of driving, EVER seen an accident like this. All the other scooterists around me, as well as car, trucks, buses, start to slow down… all you can really hear is the crunching of metal and squealing of brakes!

As I drive pass this carnage at about 20km/hr, I look over at what appears to be, a crumpled up piece of tin foil! Nothing else can describe this!

There are scooters all piled on each other, and bodies. I was thinking about stopping to take a picture, but then again, with all the traffic slowing down, and the shear numbers of other vehicles, it would have seem unwise to even try.

I’ll tell you one thing… the traffic was a LOT slower after that! I don’t think anyone was speeding!

Someone asked if I had called the police. I figured, since there were SO many other people, and the fact that everyone in Taiwan has at LEAST one cellphone, chances are the police had already received enough phone calls. There was no sense, in someone who doesn’t speak English, try to call the police and try, in broken Chinese, explain what I just witnessed.

I have seen many accidents, and I mean MANY accidents in Taiwan. I, personally, have been involved in more accidents and witnessed more than I have EVER been part of, either as a witness or party to, in Canada! However, this pales in comparison to anything I have seen in Canada!

I am always amazed at the fact that there are over 23,000,000 people on this island, which is half the size of Vancouver Island. With an accident like this, and that accidents are a daily occurrence in this country, there should only be about 200,000 people!

This may be crass, but I hope to whatever deity you believe in, every single one of these idiots are off this planet! They were not only a nuisance on the road, they were rude to other drivers, they didn’t care about anyone but themselves, they were a danger to everyone on the highway.

My only blessing is that, no matter what may have happened to them, either dead or paralyzed or otherwise injured beyond repair, they are now OFF THE ROAD! I was asked if I feel sorry for what happened to them. My flat out answer – “NO!” I thought that perhaps I would feel sorry for their families, but then again, who raised these idiots? Kids only grow up to be the people their parents raise them to be! I’m sorry. So, do I feel sorry for the families of these kids? Again, “NO!” Live with it. Realize that you did a piss poor job of teaching your brainless idiots to be brainless people!

What happened to them, could have easily been me or countless other innocent people!

I don’t know what is in the male mentality that requires them to act this way. I don’t know who they are trying to impress. I am only thankful, and again, this being a blessing in disguise, that my parents were a bit more tough when I was growing up.

They did not budge one iota on getting me a car when I wanted. Sure, I was pissed off at the time, but in hindsight, I’m sort of glad they didn’t budge on this issue.

That’s it, that’s all… for now!

I just want to say thank you to: Julie Huang, Carrie Tu, 歐伯, Fotini Ieremia, Giwrgos Ntap, Eli Arvanitou, Athina Tsiouni, Yi Chung Chang, Sarah Ellis, Mina Valalaki, Yiannis Karayiannis, Heather Crough, Lori Patterson, Eric O’Connell, Litsa Samakovli, I-hsien Chen, 劉文芳, Jeff Lin, Michelle Fuller, Stefanos Asimakidis, Sofia Pantazopoulou, Dora Goulioti, Gary Billard, Sias van Schalkwyk, Bonnie Clarke-Haist, Katerina Tsiouprou, Decker Song, Ilona Willfong, Ann Borden, Rosalia Jacklin Mills, Patricia Ellis-McCoy, Chryssovalanto Roussidou, Sophia Μανωλαράκη, Barb Jacklin, Ruth Pratt, Linda Kenneson Dezan, Beth Delion, Cheryl Weber, Trent Miller, Doug Muir, Andrea Jacklin, Ken Heavilin, 習品涵, Danielle McLean, 林宜德, 蕭如玲, [another] Barb Jacklin, Bill Jacklin (dad), Sharon Yates, Marie Boucher Nugent, Sébastien Hsu, Marios Argyropoulos, Christos Kastamonitis, Peter Jacklin, Rylee Livingston, Giwta Theodoridou, Georgia Lymberopoulou, Gergana Naneva, Pam Mosher-Mccaslin Matheson, Evi Bourouni, Linda Jacklin, MaryEllen Jacklin, Peter Ellis, Donna Westman, Mike Delion, Lea Madsen, Robin Harvey, Becky Howard Jacklin, 吳冠穎, 顏永全, 劉昱良, and of course, all my fellow teachers, managers, and students…

for wishing me a Happy Birthday.

That’s it, that’s all… for now!

P.S. What else should there be to write about on my birthday!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/major-tsunami-8-9-quake-devastates-japans-eastern-20110311-015219-970.html

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/photos/quake-and-tsunami-rock-japan-slideshow/commodities-energy-markets-grapple-shutdowns-japan-quake-photo-20110311-060101-478.html

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/world-22186928/japan-devastated-after-massive-quake-24489630.html

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/world-22186928/comparing-japan-s-quake-to-other-recent-events-24490696.html

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/world-22186928/raw-video-boat-caught-in-japan-s-swirling-water-24493975.html

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/strong-earthquake-jolts-east-japan-tsunami-warning-20110310-220309-642.html

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/watch-raw-footage-japan-earthquake-tsunami-20110311-065851-258.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03/earthquake-in-japan/100022/

That’s it, that’s all… for now!