In my previous post, I talked about how everything that could have went wrong went wrong. However, I was not prepared for the kind of week I would be faced with once I landed in Taiwan.

Originally, my host organization generously offered to house me for free during my stay in Taiwan. Given that most of the Laidlaw budget would have gone to housing, I was excited to know that I would be saving a lot of money on the trip. However, on the day that I flew out, I was informed that there were issues with the accommodation that they were going to offer me, and the alternative they provided was not something I felt completely comfortable with. As a result, I had to book a different hotel last minute, while looking for more affordable accommodation.

The first week in Kaohsiung was totally a blur for me. Between teaching classes and preparing new materials because we had to change our lesson plans entirely, I was looking for more affordable places that I could stay in for the next two weeks. It also did not help that Southern Taiwan was caught in the side-effects of a typhoon in Southern China, so I was soaked to the bone as I went around the city negotiating with hotel managers for lower prices. This was also how I discovered that Converse are not waterproof at all.

Despite my struggles, I found solace in the many people who were exceedingly kind and accommodating to me during such a stressful time. I would particularly like to shout out the assistant manager at the hotel I eventually booked a 2 week stay at, who was nothing but kind and understanding despite the language barrier between us (my Mandarin is decent, but definitely not good enough to bargain with). He kindly gave me a discount on the hotel room, and followed up with me for several days to ensure that I was doing okay in the hotel since I seemed to be the only foreigner there.

Getting to finally meet the kids was also a highlight of this week. I was pretty worried about having to teach in Mandarin, because it's been three years since I practiced it regularly. However, with the help of some other volunteers, classes went by smoothly. The children, though cheeky, are genuinely friendly with some interest in learning English. I was worried I would have to settle verbal bullying or disputes, which I have previously done in other teaching settings, but the kids were quite well behaved and kind towards each other!

In all, this week forced me to do something I am extremely uncomfortable with: having to pivot from a plan. I generally love planning things out in advance, so having to switch accommodations and lesson plans last minute was quite stressful for me. However, I am optimistic for my remaining weeks in Kaohsiung!