Long Walks and Substitute Teaching

I unintentionally made Michael walk all the way from school to Taipei 101. Now Robert did this walk almost daily before, but I knew it was quite a ways, and I was planning to take the bus, but I walked the wrong way. By the time we reached the next bus stop, I knew it would only be two more stops until we had to get off, because for some unfathomable reason, there are very few buses that stop at Taipei's most famous landmark, and so we would have had to get off a few blocks before reaching it. So, we walked and walked and walked and walked.

We did stop at a computer market for my USB flash drive. It was less than $10 Canadian for 1GB.

There was a large book showcase going on at the Convention Centre right before Taipei 101, so there were lots of workers/volunteers walking around. Two of them saw Michael and insisted on each getting a picture with him. Michael was a little shy and kept on trying to hide behind my leg, so it took a few minutes before he would show his face for a picture. I'm sure that my leg also figured prominently in the pictures.

We went straight to the food court as I hadn't eaten lunch, but it was so large and crowded, that I just gave in to Michael when he saw the ice cream booth. Plus, I was still feeling a bit guilty for making him walk so far. He looked at the colours and said he wanted green ice cream. Now green here is usually green bean or green tea flavoured, neither of which I wanted, so I was happy to find a green apple as well. It was surprisingly good.

Then we shopped at Jason's Marketplace which is the best supermarket in Taipei to find foods that we're used to. They have kid's sized shopping carts, so Michael had a great time pushing it around, trying to knock over every display in the store. We found some yoghurt there (everywhere else just has sugar laden yoghurt drinks), and a few other things. As we go through milk fairly quickly (with Michael's breakfast cereal and hot chocolate every morning), I also bought 2 one litre containers of milk (they're the only size that will fit in my fridge door, and there's nowhere to put them upright in the rest of the fridge). Because I had so many things requiring refridgeration, I decided to go straight back to the school rather than walking around 101 as I had planned.

On our walk back (to the nearest bus stop this time - even if it was for only three stops), I found a "big dumpling" stand. They spread a thin layer of pork over a large wonton wrap (maybe it's a spring roll wrap?), then fold it all up and make a noodle soup with them. I ordered two of those, gave the woman too much exact change again, and then got on the bus.

Now I was holding a large shopping bag in one hand and two noodles in the other, which left no hand for Michael. A dangerous situation on any bus, but especially in Taipei. I don't know who designed them, but they are the lurchiest, bumpiest buses you will ever ride. Even when they're going on a flat straight road (which is what we were doing). I had Michael grab onto the nearest railing with both hands and hoped for the best. There were a few close calls in the five minutes we were on the bus, but we managed to get off unscathed (physically at least).

The after school Grade 5 teacher was sick, so they had asked me to substitute, which is why we were going back to the school. Michael didn't seem to mind going off with his friends after spending all afternoon with me, so I had a little time to prepare. I had a pretty good mental lesson plan all set, and then they arrived.

These kids were in my Grade 1 class my last year in Taiwan. Now they are all a lot bigger, but they act exactly the same. I was astounded. I thought they would have matured a little, but they are still the hyper, non-attentive kids they were four years ago. There goes the lesson plan. They concentrated as long as I turned everything into a game. I still felt like I was teaching Grade One.