Buddha Head Fruit

So much to blog about this week, so little time left in the weekend.  So I think I will use what time I have to talk about a new discovery for me- the Buddha head fruit, also known as a custard apple, also known as a sweet sop, also known as a sugar apple- and pictured here.  

The Buddha head fruit was introduced by a colleague earlier in the week, when she brought in this bizarre shaped fruit, ripped off the top, and told us to help ourselves to the fruit.  You basically grab a chunk of the fruit and eat around the long black seed that lies within each chunk.  It tastes like a sweet custard, especially when it has been refrigerated- which I guess is how you are supposed to eat it.   Anyway, I liked the fruit so much, that I purchased my own at a night fruit market and had it for breakfast this week.  This fruit is really filling. I have yet to finish anywhere close to a whole one yet.  I can eat the top part and then I am stuffed- most likely because the BHF is really high in calories.

Then, this weekend, we traveled to the Taitong area- which I guess is known for their production of Buddha head fruit.  We rented a scooter- more on that in a future blog- and as we scooted around, we found Buddha head fruit stands everywhere.  There were even statues and billboards dedicated to the glorious BHF and so here is Myron on a scooter next to a giant replica of the Buddha head fruit with a Buddha head fruit billboard thrown in as well in the background, for good measure. 

The Last 2 Weekends In Pictures

Last weekend Myron and I headed out to the art museum (see picture above). The art was quite modern, surprisingly, and Myron and I had fun interacting with some of the art as pictured here.

 This weekend we decided to head out to the night market.  The sights, the smells, and the amount of people was a bit overwhelming.  By far, the most overwhelming smell of all was that of a dish known as stinky tofu.  Apparently, it is a local favorite, but in attending this particular market, I can say that the smell of stinky tofu did not entice me to want to eat it nor anything else at the market.  Myron and I commented that it would have been nice if we had had a night market guide- someone who could recommend what to try that we wouldn't later regret. 

 

Finally, this weekend we also hiked up Monkey Mountain, which is my very favorite of all that we have done in Kaohsiung thus far.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  Truly beautiful and minutes away from where we live.  

Next weekend we are heading out of the big city to Taitung, which is up in the mountains and out on the eastern coast,  where supposedly we will relax in hot springs, one of which will apparently be in our 5 star hotel room.  Want to come visit yet? 

Abnormal Norms

Myron and I made it through our first week of school!  The week was very busy and we have enjoyed relaxing this weekend.  We have also been having a fun time discovering some of the social norms of our new country. 

Norm Number One:  We have a swimming pool in our housing complex.  As you can see from the pictures, the pool is quite beautiful.  We went swimming this weekend and it was great!  
However, in Taiwan, you must wear a swim cap in the pool.  Also, gentlemen are not allowed to wear trunks into the pool- they must wear speedos- a strange social norm for a country in which they don't seem to reveal a lot of skin on a regular basis. 

Here is a picture of us in our new swim caps.  
Norm Number Two:  Recycling is a big deal here, which I think is wonderful.  You must sort your trash, and pull out all plastic, paper, and glass to be recycled.  You are also supposed to pull out your leftover food and put that into a separate container.  We thought that this was for composting, but have also heard that it is food for the Taiwanese pigs.  Yum, yum. 
Norm Number Three:  I think we have decided to purchase a car instead of a scooter, so we are about to learn a lot more about norm number three, which is basically that when it comes to driving, there really seems to be no rules.  A red light here is taken as more of a suggestion than anything else, pedestrian crosswalks or right of way mean absolutely nothing, and apparently the best advice that anyone can give you when it comes to getting around is to just focus on what is in front of you.  We were told not to use our rearview mirrors as the second you take to look behind you is the second that you will probably crash into the pedestrian, scooter, or car that just pulled in front of you.  Actually, that seems to be a good metaphor for life- focus on what is in front of you, don't worry about what is behind you.  
And dear reader, that is what I will leave you with, as it is time for me to start focusing on what awaits me this week- our second week of school.  

First Day of School

Congratulations must go out to my husband who has now taught his first class on the first day of school.  After the summer off, I am reminded just how hard this profession is.  Only halfway through the day, my throat was dry and my back was aching.  My thoughts go out to all the teachers heading back into the classroom for the new school year.  May this be a great year!

My first day was great!  Tiring, but great! I knew I was no longer teaching in an American classroom based upon the following:
1).  When Myron and I showed up this morning students waved to us, looked us in the eye, said things like "Good morning" and "Hello".  There were no nods of acknowledgment or heads cast downward- and these students did not even know us yet.
2).  Students didn't pack up their backpacks before the bell rang.  The students waited to be dismissed and even after being dismissed at the end of the school day after a full day of class, students stayed in my classroom! 

But I don't want to create too perfect of a picture.  Teaching three new preps is going to be a challenge and is going to require a lot of work- Myron and I went into school from 12- 7 on Sunday, which I guess is common practice here, and means since we have arrived in Taiwan, we have only really had one day off.  Expectations from both students and parents are high, which I feel creates a higher pressure situation than I am used to.  I understand why there are high expectations- parents are paying around 15000 US dollars for their kid to attend our school.  Finally, my students definitely have a varying degree of English comprehension- some are very fluent and some clearly struggle to write a full sentence or to even understand what I am saying- and they are all in the same class.  To try to read Shakespeare with these students- any suggestions?  ideas?  Offers to be a para in my class?

Well, I must go eat dinner and get ready for Day 2. 

Top 10 Highlights of First Week in Taiwan

10.)  Getting to know the critters that we have/and thankfully so far don’t have in our apartment. I have included a picture of our living room- flat screen tv- Hooray!  Our first!  Overall, our living space is wonderful and much better than I had pictured in my mind. We also have a pool, and a ping pong / pool table, and they show movies on Saturday and Sunday at 3:00.  They describe our building in English as Paradise in the Sky.  However, I guess in Taiwan because of how hot and humid it is, it is very common to share your living space with little critters.  Most people have cockroaches- we thankfully so far do not, but we do have little ants, though we seem to have killed them off with ant poison.  We also have little lizards- very quick moving and kind of scary when you aren’t expecting to see them.  Myron trapped the first one we saw- and accidentally cut off its tail, which continued to move on the ground- Gross!  However, then we heard that the lizards eat the bugs, so now we gladly welcome them as family members. 

9).  Discovering English speakers in a city where only 1 in 3 people speak English!  So far my favorite English speaking Taiwanese person is our doorman, whose English name is Wilson.  This is the cutest and sweetest man ever.  We didn’t understand where our mailbox was, and he is not supposed to leave his place at the door, but he really wanted to help us, so he ran as fast as he could over to the mailboxes to  show us where ours was.  You see everywhere that the Taiwanese people are extremely devoted to their work and very diligent. 

8).  TEA!  In terms of tea, I may have died and gone to heaven.  The Taiwanese people love their tea.  Everywhere they have whole shops devoted to making delicious combinations of tea- tea with boba, tea with milk, tea with ice cream, tea with fruit.  I set out one day determined to get some tea.  The two girls behind the counter did not speak much English, and I speak very little Mandarin, and so ordering the tea was a bigger challenge than I thought it would be.  I ended up pointing to what the woman in front of me was getting and saying, I want that.  Unfortunately, she was ordering four teas.  So I too ended up with four teas!  But at least I got to try a lot of different types of tea. 

7).  Our location- we live right by this beautiful park that is currently filled with wildflowers.  Above are pictures.  The building that you see in the background is ours.  Kaoshiung actually has a lot of green spaces, which I think is wonderful.  We are also right by the subway system, which may be the cleanest subway system you have ever seen in your life. 

6).  The interesting interplay of East and West.  Over the course of this last week, we have dined both locally as well as tried out some of the Western restaurants that are scattered around the city.  Friday after school we headed out with work colleagues to Smokey Joes- a tex mex restaurant.  The picture shows me dancing with the Asian Mariachi Band. 

5).  Eating the local food.  I think my favorite place we dined this week was a local seafood restaurant.  You pick out what seafood you want and they cook it up for you.  We had softshell crab and salmon, plus noodles and sesame balls.  The food is cheap-  we ate typically all week for no more than 10 dollars a person, and often ate for about 5 dollars a person. 

4).  Exploring the City- We still have so much more of the city to explore, but here you can see the view from the highest building in Kaoshiung, called the 85 just after sunset.  We went up to the 75^th floor and looked at the obvervation deck for 3 dollars a person, and then had drinks in the lounge.  Drinks were American priced- about 10 dollars a person, but the view was stunning.  I would go back. 

3).  The people that we are working with.  Here is a picture of all the new hires.  Last Sunday they took us out for lunch at a place on the beach.  Everyone at the school has been so friendly, so helpful, so nice.  I am really excited about getting to know better the people that we are working with. 

2).  English translations.  Here you will see that the fried calamari was translated into English as “Deep Fat Seafood”.  Truth in translation! 

1).  As much fun as we have had this week, we miss all of you reading this blog!  Please come and visit us so that you can create your own Taiwan highlight list.