So today was my first day working in Taiwan and first at the public junior high school where I’ll spend the next year teaching at. I just wanted to say how impressed I was at my Taiwanese coworkers. I’ve taught in China, Japan, and the USA before but this was probably the warmest reception I’ve ever received from a school. Everyone was super helpful and willing to go out of their way to lend me a hand. My first surprise was a lunchbox and utensil kit that they had waiting on my desk for me to use.
They also prepared a cup full of stationary supplies.
Did I mention the free USB?
One of my very eager co-teachers came to my desk to tell me how much her class was looking forward to meeting me then proceeded to give me a microphone, a stack of printing paper, and a photo guide to all her students along with their grades.
[photo redacted]
Did I mention that I didn’t teach one class the entire day? The director said to just relax and prepare for the rest of the week. She also informed me that I’ll need to perform a dance at an upcoming festival and asked me what size I was as she needed to order me an appropriately fitting costume. As I sat at my desk all day chewing gum and drinking warm water (they didn’t have cold), my Line was peppered by various faculty and staff informing me of this or that. I was overwhelmed with attention and drowning in details! The students in the hallway kept peeking at me through the windows trying to wave hi to me. Oh, and the office AC was running the entire day! The best part was that I didn’t wear a mask at all and no one batted an eye.
But not all was rosy. Lunch, while looking okay, tasted like shit.
They also gave me the maximum number of classes allowed on my contract whilst my recruiter had previously assured me that that was unheard of. But all-in-all, I was quite taken away with how kind, hardworking, and friendly the Taiwanese can be. We’ll see how the rest of the year goes!
