Cheers-ing duck hearts in Kenting

After returning back from my Ghana/Hong Kong trip, stuff has been a bit different. I started year two in my contract with Hess. This means a few things: I'm working more hours (with a higher pay, yay!) and I changed schools. I now work only at kindergartens, no more buxiban (cram school) classes for me. I am still teaching my small class kindergarten, which has now become middle class (age 4-5). In addition, I picked up another kindergarten class at a different kindergarten - big class (age 5-6). I kept my Treehouse class, which were my 1st graders who are now 2nd graders. I now have 31 teaching hours minimum, which doesn't sound like much, but that's actually A LOT. If you think about a teacher back home who teaches 4 one hour 20 minute classes (and one prep class) each day x 4, that's about 26 hours a week of actual teaching time. So yes, 31 is a lot! We don't, unfortunately, get paid for grading, prepping, meetings, etc. But that's pretty standard for English teachers in Taiwan.

Anyway, my new schedule rocks and I'm liking this year much better.

To top it off, right away we got a 4 day weekend (I don't work Saturdays anymore so I can actually have a 4 day weekend!!) which a few friends and I decided to go down to Kenting.

Because everyone in Taiwan had the same idea as us, we almost didn't get bus tickets. After some talking from my Taiwanese friend the bus driver let us stay in ... the luggage compartment. I'm serious.

 We made little beds down there and played cards. It was actually kind of cool. But being the only foreigners on the bus, the people on the bus made a huge deal and kept coming down to see if we were okay and volunteering to take our place and letting us take their seat. I can only imagine what they told the people on the bus, "WHITE PEOPLE IN THE LUGGAGE! WHITE PEOPLE IN THE LUGGAGE!"


We got to Kenting at about 6 in the morning (we took the night bus) and set up our tents on the camping ground.

Then walked over to the beach.

Beer at 8 am. Classy as always.

Perfection.

We then went go-karting, which I have not done in over a decade, but it was fun regardless.

I laughed so hard at this guy. How embarrassing.

One of the nights we went out to dinner at "Duck Baby" where you pick raw food and throw it in a bucket.

I picked this. I didn't think it would be too much, right?

WRONG WRONG WRONG SO WRONG. This meal could feed a small country. This is the before picture.

This is the after picture. Hardly any different.

Here's a picture of us cheers-ing with our duck hearts. Totally normal, right?

 

 In conclusion to an awesome trip, here is a picture I found in a bathroom on a pit stop on the way back (where we still had to sleep in the luggage compartment).