Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

So there I was, staying in a stranger’s house in the small town of Zhushan (竹山). It didn’t take me long to discover that there weren’t many other foreigners. In fact, strangers like myself were so rare that it wasn’t uncommon for locals to stop what they were doing, point at me with surprise, and yell “way-gwa-ren” (外國人), which means foreign person. Though, sometimes I think they were saying “may-gwa-ren” (美國人), which means American (person).

Who was I to correct them? Canada is in North America, so I suppose they weren’t wrong.

In all honesty, sometimes people – especially children – still point and yell this at me (or other foreigners). I suppose it’s one of the quirks of living in small towns; I don’t think it happens too much in the cities.

Learning to Ride

Anyway, to get around in Zhushan, Mia had allowed me the use of a scooter. She asked me if I knew how to drive one, and I assured her I did. In reality, I had never really done it before, but I was confident I would learn quite quickly. I did get a few raised eyebrows when I had to ask how to turn the scooter on (for those who don’t know: turn the key, hold the brake, and then press the ignition button).

To be clear, by scooter I mean a two-wheeled open motor vehicle with a whopping 125 CCs of pure power, not a foot-propelled children’s toy.

It turns out that I wasn’t wrong, and I was quite adept at driving around on 2 wheels even though it was my first time. The adventuring could fully commence!

Eventually, I bought my own scooter. I called it the Grey Pilgrim, and it served me VERY well for many years. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take many good pictures of it, but it survived flying into a rice field, flipping down in a concrete ditch, towing a motorcycle and its driver out of the forest, and hauling all my brewing supplies.

After a while, I yearned for something more stylish and started looking at motorcycles. Shopping for one was quite an interesting experience. I had seen a few I liked on the street and at various shops and was about to make a purchase. That was when my boss told me she found out that Hartford Motorcycles had a showroom in the nearby city of Taichung (臺中市).

As it turned out, they were getting rid of their 2014 models to make room for the 2015s. So, we took a trip up there and looked around. I found one I liked for a great price, and they arranged to have it shipped to a dealer close to Zhushan.

I had never driven a motorcycle before, but I watched a quick video on how to change gears and only stalled a couple of times after picking it up.

Given enough time, it’s not hard to start a bit of a collection.

A Surprise Guest

During one of my first nights in Zhushan, I had settled into the room I had been offered by Mia. The house belonged to her sister, Mandy, and Mia had gone away on a short trip, which she liked to do often. I turned off the lights, crawled into bed, and drifted off to sleep. After a while, I became aware of someone else in the room. In fact, there was actually someone else in bed with me.

A small body crept closer, and then eventually lay right on top of me.

Meet Perry. He is Mia and Mandy’s nephew. Unbeknownst to me, he often slept at Mandy’s house during the week because it was very close to his elementary school. When he did, he would use the room I had settled in. It turns out I would have a squirmy bed partner during my stay there.

Apart from occasionally sharing a bed, Perry and I would take walks to the playground, cook sausages in the toaster oven, and watch cheesy Taiwanese TV shows.

I would also become his English teacher at the buxiban for many years.

Class Is in Session

My days of freedom were coming to an end, and it wouldn’t be long before I would officially start work as an English teacher. I wondered about some sort of training or orientation, but I guess I had sold myself well enough with my resume that I was just going to be thrown straight into the classroom. My boss even asked me if I could help train the other new teacher, which I found a little strange considering I hadn’t done any actual teaching yet.

The school I started working at was called Tom Kindergarten (南投縣私立湯姆幼兒園). It can also be referred to as a nursery school because they look after young kids anywhere from 2 years old until they are ready to enter elementary school. I would work there from 9 am-3 pm Monday to Friday (with occasional weekend events). We would teach the kids English through a mixture of stories, crafts, various activities, and traditional bookwork (ABCs, phonics, etc.). We would also take them on monthly field trips.

It wasn’t hard to fall in love with these kids, and they seemed to enjoy having me around. I decided quite quickly that I would remain there for three years. That way, I could see my youngest students move on.

I soon noticed a flaw in my original plan; when one group of students ‘graduated‘ from the school, they were replaced by another. Each new class of youngsters was just as delightful as the last, and I found it hard to leave. My salary was decent, the work was enjoyable, and the students were adorable. In a way, I considered this a bit of training for when I was to become a parent. I got comfortable and remained at Tom Kindergarten for over seven years.

In July, the school year would end with a graduation for the children who were moving up to elementary school. Everyone would get dressed up and we would put on a big show for the parents. The children wore costumes, put on plays in English, and did various dances and musical performances.

At around 3 pm every day, I would head over to the buxiban and teach elementary-aged kids until 7 pm. These kids were not always the best behaved, but we still managed to have a little fun and learn something.

I will write more about schools, teaching, education, etc. in a separate post.

Better With Two

Both schools were quite large and had a lot of students, so even though I was teaching a lot every week (~30-35 classroom hours), the job was too big for just me. Mia had mentioned that I would have a coworker, and I didn’t have to wait long.

Emily arrived in Zhushan not long after I did, and she was also given a room in Mandy’s house. She is an American, and I believe this was her first big solo adventure away from her family. Seeing as we were the only two English-speaking people around, we spent our free time together.

Emily and I would often jump on the scooter and explore the local area. I would drive and she would sit on the back, relaxing and taking the occasional nap.

We enjoyed heading into the mountains to wander around the misty tea fields that are so plentiful in Nantou County (南投縣).

After a while, we grew tired of crashing at Mandy’s house (plus, I yearned for a bed without Perry). So, with the help of Mia, we began searching for our own accommodation.