It began pretty normally, Anthony and I just joined a gym at SOGO, a huge department store with a fitness center on the 9th floor located conveniently right across the street (maybe you already knew that). So my alarm went off and we decided we were too tired to go. Give me a break we JUST joined and have already gone twice! So we went back to sleep, got up an hour later, got ready for work, and out the door. Today was filled with lovely bouts of rain, so we walked to to work with our umbrellas and splashing water. By work I mean the branch in Jhongli that Anthony always works at and the place were I meet my ride every Monday, Wednesday, Friday at noon (rough morning huh?) We arrived around 11:15 though because Anthony had a lot of homework to grade and I needed to run some errands.
So from there I went to the post office (please read the updated post of We Won... to hear about this bit) then I came back, we got lunch, and then I met Helen and Daniel and we were off to YangMei (where I work). As we were en route to YangMei we came to a red light. A plastic bag man (I say this because when it rains, everyone wears huge ponchos (I'm having deja vou that I've written about this before.. somewhere?) (Why am I using so many damn parenthesis!) so the ponchos, they are large and look like big sacks draped over the scooter riders, I feel like they're just gonna blow away right off the scooter))))) So I noticed this man waving his arm, at first I thought he was just another weirdo trying to wave at a foreigner (I swear I'm not conceited) but then he kept on. I mention to Helen that I think this man is trying to convey a message. She rolls down her window and they begin a back and forth and I gather something about the tire on her car. She thanks him ( I can understand at least ONE thing!) and tells us that yes, the man let her know that her back tire is very flat, almost no air. "How are we still going?" Helen asks, and then adds "Taiwanese people are so kind, he kept calling me 'may-may.'" This means little sister, it's a thing the Taiwanese have with calling complete strangers endearing names like this. "May-may" I actually knew, too! I've decided this kind stranger probably figured the tire was flat from the 2 fat Americans slouching down the right side of the vehicle (me in front, Daniel in back). Helen thinks we should stop quickly for her to get the tire inspected, so we do. We pull into one of the thousands of mechanic garages on the street and someone comes up to speak with her, fills all the tires with air, let's her know that her tires are worn down rather thinly and she should replace them soon, and we're back on our way to YangMei! Yay.
The fun has only just begun. We arrive to our school in YangMei and I'm enjoying the twenty minutes of peace until Uncle (this is what all of the Chinese Teachers refer to the bus drivers as, there are 2 in YangMei, both are "named" Uncle. Yea I have no idea what their real names are, maybe it really is Uncle? That's what I refer to them as) pulls up with a bus full of screaming children that will start to run a muck around begging for candy and treats and screaming and laughing like lunatics. Shortly after these joyous children that I teach arrive, I notice Helen in a dispute with a man near the door. At first I figure he's just a parent, you know trying to get a free HESS water bottle or sticker book. Then their voices get louder and quicker and I decide he's just an angry man fighting with Helen about some other issue. They go back and forth for a few minutes, and one of the secretaries joins in, Helen walks away and makes a phone call. Then both Uncle's are there, and I start to piece together that something happened between the man and one of the Uncle's. I figure maybe Uncle was driving like a maniac (I've been in the bus before, sans children and he takes turns quite sharply) and hit him or he ran into the bus or who knows. By bus I actually mean more like an extended mini-van, no where near to the size of an actual school bus from the US. So the 3 men go outside and are inspecting the back of the bus. I was right!
By this time Helen comes over to me and explains that the man is upset because at some point he ran into the back of the bus and broke a light or something, and Uncle charged his 500 NT (like 15 US dollars) and now he's come back because he thinks it's too much and he doesn't want to be screwed over. Hm.. The next thing I know, the police have arrived! There were 3 or 4 of them there, all staring at the back of the vehicle. Then they moved inside and more yelling commenced. By this point I had gone into my classroom (which is on the 1st floor and you can see the main lobby/front doors from my door window) and was trying to keep the kids from all staring and running out to eavesdrop on the unfolding drama. Although perhaps I should have and had them translate for me! Now the next time I check on the action, there's another man there. Helen comes into my room to explain that this is the man's father. Oh of course, it makes sense that he should be there. It's now a big argument with the secretaries, the Uncles, the police, the man and his father. WHAT IS GOING ON?! I turn back out to look a few minutes later and now the original angry man is sobbing, trying to blubber out his Chinese sentences. What a mess. They are all gathered around the video cameras in the corner and apparently one of the secretaries wanted to show the man's father how angry and rude he was when he first came bursting into our school. I guess he was ashamed of himself now for such actions. The last glimpse I caught of this story was the man and his dad walking away down the street with the father tugging at the man's arm and he seemed to be scolding him. The man was at least in his 30's I'd say. Off they went into the rain. Helen's last comment, "He is definitely crazy."
I started my class soon after this. TreeHouse 1, with kids around 7 years old. One girl who's a real treat was staring at me today.
"Teacher my are black and you are blue"
"What?"
"Your eyes, I am black, yours are blue"
"Yup, they are"
"Your eyes are broken teacher."
Then during break time today- this same girl has become the sugar mama with treats during break time. The story is, she used to never listen to me and one day she came in to class and threw her book at me. I took her books and threw them out into the hallway and told her she could leave if she was going to be rude to me. Then the whole class started chanting for her to leave. (I don't think I could quite fit the standards of teaching in America, they slightly encourage yelling at the kids here) This just so happened to be the same random day that her grandma decided to show up and bring her a snack for after class. Well she arrived to find her crying and they had a talk and now everyday her grandma brings her snacks. Since this encounter we've gotten along much better. Anyways during break time today she was passing out and sharing her snacks with the other kids and said to the naughtiest boy in class "You see you have to be good, more people give you candy." She should take her own advice!
After this class I went out to my desk area and there were two boys sitting in the seats next to me. They are brothers, and I have them both in classes. At first they were just goofing around, laughing and looking at me to tell me how crazy the other one is. Then it escalated into some heavy pinching and hair pulling and before I knew it one of them had gotten all of his items together and left the building. Apparently he was running away or something. One of the Chinese Teachers called him back and once he was inside again he went over to his brother and started pounding him in the arm and more with the pulling of the hair and they were going at it. She pulled them apart and was talking to them, again in Chinese.. I can only infer what was going on. Well the end result was the one who tried to leave ran upstairs crying and the other sitting next to me still was also crying. They are 11 and 12, oh boys. I got to witness my first mild Asian school fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment