Back in Taiwan and ready for action

Well, here I am back in Taiwan and things seem to be just the way I left them with minor variations. The school is still so last minute and unorganized that I'm amazed at how well it does, the ward is still full of warm and kind people that make me feel so loved and accepted, the Taiwanese people are still so accommodating that it makes me want to be a better person, and Kaohsiung is still a wet hot mess. The minor changes to the atmosphere are just the people that I see often. Because the school did not get all of their certifications in on time and everything their Kindergarten that has been successfully built is now going to be used by the high school students as classrooms until they do get that certification done, which means that our International department just hired two more teachers than normal and now don't have the classes to satisfy the contracted amount that they said they would give them. Therefore they had to talk to our part-time teacher Mark, who was told that they would still have need of his services, and kind of had to say "psych!" and tell him that they actually didn't have enough classes to give him this year. Also, all the English Honors classes need are three teachers to manage it so they gave those classes to the three new teachers, which cut into my hours a lot. But, never fear! Superhuman Clinton can also speak Chinese so he can handle all of the vocational English classes which are very much like the overseas Chinese class that gave him such a headache last year because of all of the little stipulations that a regular Chinese teacher would know about because of the familiarity of the educational culture and the fact that they know how to read the announcements on the website. I am definitely a little nervous about this whole situation yet like last year I'm sure that everything will work out. Another change of scenery is that my "companion" from last year to which I relied on for inspiration, elocution-al accuracy, vocabularical prowess, and all around buddyness, Erica, has left my side to go on to bigger and better things. I'm happy and excited for her future yet sad that our futures are not coinciding this year.

Yet we're starting off with a bang! I already saw my beloved 2-13 class and have warned them that this year is going to be a step up from last year because they are now third years and are expected to aim higher. Hopefully that speech but the fear of God into them so they are more pliable and willing to work. I'm such an evil teacher and gave them homework on the first day of school :). It seems like every night this week I also have been out seeing the people that I love and getting to know the people that are new. I've already taken my new co-workers out to an island called 旗津 (Qijin) and one of them already got sick from that outing and another got yelled at by a security guard for trying to swim in the ocean which I in turn got yelled at by my co-worker because he was upset that he couldn't swim. Definitely a change from last year but I love the different dynamic. Life has a way of making things different just to make things interesting and non-stagnant. I also have some personal goals and expectations for myself this year that I hope will be met with excitement and motivation instead of the usual laziness and waning desire. Hurrah for Israel! The work still goes on in my life as I hope it goes on for others.