Day 3 Taipei, Taiwan

So far this is my third day in Taiwan.  It has been a lot of fun so far, I haven't done any tourist things yet, I'm still adjusting to life and sleep here.  In case you haven't heard, Jennifer and I will be teaching English in Taiwan for a year.  Yesterday, I went to the hospital.  I got medically cleared to work and receive health insurance in Taiwan.  This included a physical checkup, x-ray, and blood work.  The cost for all of that $33.  Today, we signed our contract with HESS (the school we will be working in) the contract starts August 1, 2008 and ends July 31, 2009.  I will be teaching Kindergarden and 5th Grade (not sure about the 5th Grade part, but it is older kids in elementary school)  For the next two weeks I will be training to be a teacher.  They did put me on the spot two days ago, they made me go in and teach the Kindergarden class and the 5th grade class for ten minutes.  I played a word game with the K students and a past participle game with the 5 graders.  I'm really excited to start teaching Kindergarden...I get to go on Field Trips and engage in Nap Time....yes Nap Time....1hr and 30min of napping.  On another note, the food isn't bad.  I've been eating a lot of beef noodle soup.  7-11s are everywhere.  It very humid here.  I take a shower after I wake up in the morning and then another one when I return home.  I'm probably going to go find some shirts that are very breathable.  That is all for now, I'm working on my mandarin...it's getting better.

Псков и Печоры

So for the last weekend in Russia Tim and I travelled to Псков (Pskov). Pskov is about the same size as Novgorod. But we quickly realized that there aren't as many people walking the streets and the town reeks of eeriness. There are dogs that have creepy barks and other things too. Well the first day we walked around the city. We saw the Kremlin and the cathedral inside. We both noticed that the Kremlin in Pskov is nothing like the Kremlin in Novgorod. Novgorod's Kremlin at least has some other buildings inside, but Pskov's only had a cathedral and open ground. Tim made the comment that it resembles Forts out in the American West. Only walls and not much inside. We also went to the Museum there it was very interesting, they actually had to kick us out. There was an exhibit on The Great Patriotic War (WW II), icons (don't need to see anymore icons for a long time) and village life. We found that the people in Pskov were much more talkative towards us. We'll these kids asked for our help b/c their friend was puking, drunk, wet his pants, and so Tim helped pick him up w/another guy and brought him to a railing. An Orthodox priest blessed us later in the Kremlin. Immediately asked us which state we were from and then asked us if we were Christians. I told him yes and that I was Catholic and he told us how we all believe in the same God and then he blessed us. People also asked us for directions around town, I being a foreigner would have said, "Sorry, I'm not from Pskov." But Tim w/his trusty map would look on the map and try to help them out and he did. I thought it was a little bit funny that the Pskovians got help around their city by an American. hehe.

On Sunday morning someone set the trash can on fire (b/c he didn't put his cigarette out completely) in the toilet room of our hostel even though it is forbidden to smoke in the hostel/bathroom. That day we went to Pechori. On the way we saw a huge sign for a Kolkoz (collective farming from the time of the USSR), that was exciting for us. But the monastery at Pechori was really neat. Imagine a bunch of small orthodox monasteries placed in a valley and surrounded by a wall. On the bus ride back, the man sitting next to me asked if he could look through my Lonely Planet Russia and Belarus book, I said yes. He was looking through it with his girlfriend and he came to a page and told me there was a mistake in the spelling of a city. I told him to write down the correct way and we started talking for the rest of the busride. I found out that he is from the Agin-Buryat Autonomous District, it borders the Mongolia. He asked what we were doing here. I asked him why he was so far away from home, he tells me he is serving in the army. I asked him if he can do Mongolian throat-singing and he told me no I'm not able to do it. But his girlfriend brought out her cellphone and had us listen to some throat-singing, very cool. Tim asked him to speak some Buryat for us and he did, also very cool. It's related to Mongolian. He also told me that book is wrong saying that the Buryat language is Turkic. It's Mongolian. Sunday night Tim and I walked around the city, we saw towers, churches, and a ferris wheel. I arrived back in Novgorod yesterday. My host sister Ксеня left for Dubai yesterday. She told me that she and her friend decided to go there only a couple days ago! ha! I said goodbye to her. Today I have to pack for I will be leaving Russia tomorrow morning. Can't believe it has gone by so quickly. When I get back I'll post pictures up.

Монгольские Студентки и Вышибали

So another week has gone by, I have less than two weeks remaining in Russia. I have to say I'm torn: I want to go home but I also don't want to go home. Oh well. I'm surprised I'm not sick of potatoes yet, it's probably b/c I'm part Irish and I love potatoes. Anyways, this week Tim and I met the students from Mongolia. I initiated it, I asked if I could sit down and they said yes. Then asked where they were from and they said Mongolia. I said, "Cool, I'm from America. Are you from Ulaan Bataar?" They were surprised that I knew their capital, they responded with: "Yes, we're from Ulaan Bataar! How do you know Ulaan Bataar!!??" I responded with, "I know it is the capital of Mongolia." I found out that some of them study medicine and some study economics. They are here for 5 years. It was hard for me to understand them b/c they had a thick Mongolian accent. Thursday was the last day we ate in the cafeteria b/c all next week classes only go until noon. So we took pictures! It's not the prettiest cafeteria I've been in. Thursday was a holiday for the University, so there was a concert and afterwards a discoteque (not sure how to spell it, never wrote it in English) to go to. The concert was okay, little did I know that it was just a talent show for students. It lasted 3.5 hours. Ugh! But some of it was interesting. The club was fun, after the concert I was starving so I bought a half liter of Brahama and some pretzels, all together was less than $2! After I finished them off I entered the club, but the guards looked at me and said, "Can you stand okay?" I said yes. They said, "Your eyes ...(not sure what they said)" They were questioning me to see if I was too drunk to enter, so I replied with, "I'm a foreigner." They said, "Oh! Okay!" And they let me in. The club was fun, for the first time I drank Gin and Tonic from a can, most likely the last time I'll do that b/c it wasn't very good. Tim and I danced on the stage. We tried to enter Karambol but the bouncer wouldn't let Tim in b/c he thought he was too drunk. He was. Friday didn't do much did some homework. Tim went to Moscow last night for the day. I stayed b/c I have homework to do.

Идёт Снег!

So last night was tim's birthday, he went to a play with a girl. And afterwards we had dinner at his house. Let me just say that his host dad is awesome! He walks around the house in his underwear and a beater! And yesterday he and his grand-daughter and his daughter performed the Three Bears for Tim! haha! I got Tim Talladega Nights and Super Bad all in Russian of course for his birthday. Saturday we visited the wooden architecture museum, it was very interesting but not everything was open unfortunately. We then went to Urevev monastery and walked along the coast, the river is almost completely frozen over and there are ice fishermen all over the place. We had a small lunch at a cafe on the beach (which we didn't know about) around the monastery. It was very good, шишлики (pork shishkabobs) and pike from Ilmen Lake, yum yum yum! Friday night we visited the banya again, this time we bought branches to beat ourselves with and I brought a hat to wear in the banya to protect my hair and my ears. I also tried an amazing beer its called Brahma its a Brazilian beer. Thursday night was a little weird met a rapper named Stan (but I think its just a hobby of his) and a skinhead named Igor. It was all double Dutch to me b/c they were either using a lot of slang, using words I don't know, or slurring all their words together. I tried cow tongue that night, tasted just like beef but it was just weird eating it because I've felt a cow tongue before. Today people are voting for the Duma. It'll be interesting to see who wins.

Ещё Неделя

Another week gone by, not too much has happened this week. Birthday was good, Tim came over with a cake from Jennifer and candles from Jennifer, so nice of her! Tim got me two DVDs: 300 (in russian of course) and a russian film that I don't remember off the top of my head. My host family bought me a Russian Dictionary, and as they said, "so you can stop asking us what a word means!" I didn't think I asked them that often, haha. I thought that was a very nice of them and also a very useful gift. Dinner was full of toasts with vodka that incidentally shares the same name as Putin's Political Party, Единая Россия or United Russia. The elections for the Duma is Dec. 2nd so naturally I asked my family who they're voting for. My host mom, Nina, told me that she and Sasha will be voting for the Communist Party because they grew up under communism and life was better for them under communism. Free education, free healthcare, free daycare, free apartments, food was very cheap, travel and transportation was also very cheap. Life since perestroika began has been harder for them. But she did say in the last two years it has gotten a little bit better. Ksenya (Ксеня) my host sister didn't tell me who she is voting for I think Nina said that she's voting for Единая Россия. This week I met some more students, this time from Jordan and Syria. They'll be here for 6 years.

Мой День Рождения!

И День Благодарение (Thanksgiving) but that was Thursday. Well today is my birthday, big 22. Today so far I've cleaned my room a bit, did a little bit of homework and caught up on my hand written journal. Thanksgiving, was the first time I went to class and the first time I wasn't with my family for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Russians aren't thankful for the Mayflower or the Pilgrims or the Native Americans that helped them. Remember that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in the New World and not in Russia. So Tim and I decided to go to an Asian restaurant for Thanksgiving. He got soup, sushi and some ice cream desert with an apple. I got soup, plov (an Uzbek dish with rice and mutton, it was okay) and green tea ice cream. We also had a little bit of sake, it was warm too! Later we played some pool at Карамболь (Karambol') and finally we watched Диверсант. My host dad told me that Russia's soccer team is the champion of Europe or maybe of their bracket because Russia beat Andorra but England lost to Croatia! haha! earlier this year Russia beat England. Friday we went on an excursion to the art museum, it was interesting. I've found that I'm becoming a big fan of landscape paintings. Saturday I went to the central market, didn't buy anything. I just wanted to look around. I've always wondered where people buy racing jackets b/c I see them all the time, answer: at the market. I think thats where most of the people of Russia buy things. Not so much at stores such as Addidas or Nike, but at the market where things are dirt cheap. I've also noticed that a lot of people here where clothing that advertises a company, not clothing companies like Ralph Lauren, but other companies such as: HP, Marlboro, BMW. I've seen these on jackets, sweatshirts, and hats. Anyways Saturday night, Tim and I went to a club but this was an exclusive club. We were at a car dealership! ah yeah! It was for battle of the DJ, I don't know who won b/c Tim and I left at 2am and it went on till 6am. But it was a lot of fun.

Почти 22 года

Last weekend Tim and I visited St. Petersburg where we visited the Russian Museum (an art museum) it was lovely and we also saw Peter the Great's house. He had a a small house, only three rooms while St. Petersburg was in the process of being built. We, of course, bought some souvenirs from Tim's dealer. He's got a hookup and he gave us the friend discount. Sunday we visited the ballet back in Novgorod and saw "The Nutcracker" I enjoyed it very much. But then I was wondering to myself, all this for a nutcracker...hmm interesting. I mean why not a G.I. Joe or something cool. haha! Time to eat.