16 September
First day that I actually had a class of students since yesterday was still orientation. Paul invited me into his class of Hospitality to speak about Blackboard and how we are going to integrate it into the course.
I have introduced using Blackboard here at NKUHT and Paul has agreed and anxious to use it for the first time as well with his classes. This will be the first time (that I’m aware of) that Blackboard will be tested here.
My class began at 4:30 and it’s a 2-hour class on Food Sanitation and Hygiene. After speaking to the students about the course and introduction, I spent the next 45 minutes or so on Blackboard.
I had already received the emails of all my students and sent out the invite prior to class. I asked my ‘teaching assistant’ to go through the process with the class on registering into the course and allowing everyone to observe for themselves how easy it is to do this.
I will say that the students caught on very quickly (but this is not unusual) as the students here seem to catch on to new concepts a little quicker than the students (in general) at Humber.
Enjoyed my first class of the week and I feel they will enjoy having me as their instructor for the semester. Their comprehension of English seems to be quite good (so far).
A non-contact day tomorrow so will try to sleep a bit later than 5:30 and just play it by ear what I will do for the day.
Finally met up with Hsaio-I early this afternoon. She’s been in meeting after meeting just like everyone else prior to classes. Was good to see her since last time I was here.
17 September
Well, I actually woke up around 5:30 (as usual) but fell back to sleep and woke up around 8am…WOW, that’s a first for me.
Lee was off today so we went to the local breakfast eatery. He told me that the owner was asking questions about me as to how long will I be in Kaohsiung and what do I do. He explained all of this to her and then afterwards I thanked them for breakfast and they just smiled. I’m hoping this begins a relationship so anytime I go (will be often) they will probably know what I will order. After breakfast I went to the Post Office to change my password prior to my third unsuccessful attempt of trying to remember. Last time I was here I tried logging into my account 3 times unsuccessful, which means a lot of paper work and identification checks before one can get a new password. I tried twice with no success so decided to go to the Post and have my password reset prior to trying again. Lee assisted me and I will say it was a lot easier this time around so I now have my new password for my account and wrote it down in 3 places. I have $14300NTD in my account. ($510CDN) and will leave it there for emergency use. I left $14000NTD in the account when I left Taiwan last time and since then had $300NTD accumulated interest.
Went to Café Bird around lunch time and just relaxed there for an hour before heading off to the ferry terminal area for yes, the shaved ice. I feel the pounds are already accumulating.
Once again the owner recognized me and low and behold, she speaks a little English.
She even gave me a sample of a milk flavoured shaved ice with red bean and it was tasty indeed. I feel I’ve already achieved a relationship with her…hahahaha Forming these relationships with the locals just simplifies everything when one visits their establishments. Gotta love it!
It was somewhat of a windy day and temperature was not above 30 or at least it didn’t feel like it was above 30. Apparently there is a typhoon not far off the coast of Taiwan hence why the wind.
Had dinner at the Mega Department Store on the 11th floor and now I’m so full.
The bad part (for me) is that there are more food options here than anywhere in a Canadian city. It’s almost ridiculous how easy it is to eat here.
Tomorrow will be my second class for this week and it’s a theory class and once again I will be introducing them to Blackboard so a repeat of what I did yesterday. It will be fun I know.
First day that I actually had a class of students since yesterday was still orientation. Paul invited me into his class of Hospitality to speak about Blackboard and how we are going to integrate it into the course.
I have introduced using Blackboard here at NKUHT and Paul has agreed and anxious to use it for the first time as well with his classes. This will be the first time (that I’m aware of) that Blackboard will be tested here.
My class began at 4:30 and it’s a 2-hour class on Food Sanitation and Hygiene. After speaking to the students about the course and introduction, I spent the next 45 minutes or so on Blackboard.
I had already received the emails of all my students and sent out the invite prior to class. I asked my ‘teaching assistant’ to go through the process with the class on registering into the course and allowing everyone to observe for themselves how easy it is to do this.
I will say that the students caught on very quickly (but this is not unusual) as the students here seem to catch on to new concepts a little quicker than the students (in general) at Humber.
Enjoyed my first class of the week and I feel they will enjoy having me as their instructor for the semester. Their comprehension of English seems to be quite good (so far).
A non-contact day tomorrow so will try to sleep a bit later than 5:30 and just play it by ear what I will do for the day.
Finally met up with Hsaio-I early this afternoon. She’s been in meeting after meeting just like everyone else prior to classes. Was good to see her since last time I was here.
17 September
Well, I actually woke up around 5:30 (as usual) but fell back to sleep and woke up around 8am…WOW, that’s a first for me.
Lee was off today so we went to the local breakfast eatery. He told me that the owner was asking questions about me as to how long will I be in Kaohsiung and what do I do. He explained all of this to her and then afterwards I thanked them for breakfast and they just smiled. I’m hoping this begins a relationship so anytime I go (will be often) they will probably know what I will order. After breakfast I went to the Post Office to change my password prior to my third unsuccessful attempt of trying to remember. Last time I was here I tried logging into my account 3 times unsuccessful, which means a lot of paper work and identification checks before one can get a new password. I tried twice with no success so decided to go to the Post and have my password reset prior to trying again. Lee assisted me and I will say it was a lot easier this time around so I now have my new password for my account and wrote it down in 3 places. I have $14300NTD in my account. ($510CDN) and will leave it there for emergency use. I left $14000NTD in the account when I left Taiwan last time and since then had $300NTD accumulated interest.
Went to Café Bird around lunch time and just relaxed there for an hour before heading off to the ferry terminal area for yes, the shaved ice. I feel the pounds are already accumulating.
Once again the owner recognized me and low and behold, she speaks a little English.
She even gave me a sample of a milk flavoured shaved ice with red bean and it was tasty indeed. I feel I’ve already achieved a relationship with her…hahahaha Forming these relationships with the locals just simplifies everything when one visits their establishments. Gotta love it!
It was somewhat of a windy day and temperature was not above 30 or at least it didn’t feel like it was above 30. Apparently there is a typhoon not far off the coast of Taiwan hence why the wind.
Had dinner at the Mega Department Store on the 11th floor and now I’m so full.
The bad part (for me) is that there are more food options here than anywhere in a Canadian city. It’s almost ridiculous how easy it is to eat here.
Tomorrow will be my second class for this week and it’s a theory class and once again I will be introducing them to Blackboard so a repeat of what I did yesterday. It will be fun I know.
18 – 20 September
Thursday and Friday back to school for the finish of the first week of introductory. The students in the two classes that I’m using blackboard are adapting very quickly so this is a positive move for the class.
My Friday class is going to be awesome because the students I’m teaching this day in practical baking and pastry were the same group of students I taught when I was here last time when they were in their 2nd year. This is their 4th and final year at NKUHT.
Some of the students even came up to me and give me a hug and they all seem quite happy to see me again. I don’t recall such a welcoming moment from any of my students at Humber. Once again, I point this out to a ‘cultural’ matter.
(Saturday, 20th)
Didn’t do a lot today but rode scooter around with Lee and frequented a few different places of interest. We went to my regular breakfast eatery to begin the day. The more I frequent this place the more I feel comfortable with the owners and they in turn are patient with me when I’m trying to order…hahaha
Afterwards I went to get a haircut to the same place I went last time I was here and yes she remembered me. She said it was a long time she didn’t see me so we told her that I was back in Canada for the past year.
Price of haircut hasn’t changed. $100NTD for a cut and $20 more if you want a wash. I never had a wash from her before so decided to try it today.
Not quite like you might experience at any given barber or hairdresser at home but nonetheless, it’s an experience and my hair was clean when she finished.
One sits on a small stool facing forward with your head leaned over into a trough shape washbasin. The stainless steel basin was similar to a pots and pans dishwashing area industrial style. A very simple concept but who cares and it was only $20 more (.70CDN).
There’s a typhoon warning out and word has it that it will strike Kaohsiung sometime late tonight, early hours and Sunday is to receive the brunt of it. It has been raining off and on most of today.
As we were riding past the exhibition centre (just at end of my street), we noticed an ambulance, a man lying on the road next to a fallen scooter, a few parked cars around and many people. I thought to myself oh no, not another accident and perhaps a more serious one because of all the commotion the area seemed to attract.
As we rode close and stopped we saw that there was a filming crew there. A couple of people asked us nicely to not get too close.
21 September
Well, it began to rain in the night at some point. When I woke up around 7:30am I looked outside and the rain has intensified and the wind is picking up. The typhoon is moving slowly so the brunt of the storm or the outer core will be at it’s highest at some point later today.
I rode to the breakfast eatery and it was closed L I was so disappointed as now what. I continued riding and found a place that I stopped and could only point and hope for the best as to what will I receive. Nasty riding as the rain and wind was somewhat intense at times but nothing I couldn’t manage. Not a lot of people out and about on the streets so that made it somewhat easier to navigate around.
22 September
I called Peter (taxi) yesterday and asked him to drive me to school tomorrow as I haven’t seen him since my return. Peter was somehow chosen as the taxi contact for us when in need of his services and his English is OK. He’s a great individual and knows any visiting Humber faculty well.
He presented me (as usual) with a breakfast bread (pronounced jyien bau) that is similar to a bread dumpling filled with either meat or shredded cabbage and (pronounced yoltzi) a pomelo.
It was great catching up with him and like many of us, our lives do not change too dramatically throughout the years.
I decided on this day that I would take the MRT back home after school so it was simply a one-way taxi ride to NKUHT.
My first practical class with the students of the bachelor program (Pauls’ students) and these students are in their second year but first time for any of them to prepare baking and pastry of any kind.
Students were (as most are) very enthusiastic and engaged in what I was showing them. After completion of my practical demo, the students get into their groups (of 3) and begin to prepare what I demonstrated. Mid way through the class I could observe who was somewhat unconfident of what they were doing but I know that will pass over time. Some groups of students were (again as most are) quick and responsive to completing all the necessary tasks in a timely manner.
At the completion of the class I had a good talk with them and pointed out the various characteristics of their products and the comparison to mine to ensure each student understood.
Today was also a bit of a set-back for me as I found out that the advanced class (4th year) baking and pastry students had already taken my course I taught them 2 years prior. So now what I need to do in a rather short turn around) is assemble and put together class lessons for the next 17 weeks from scratch. I was somewhat perturbed when I found this out but realizing it is what it is and I just need to move forward.
As many people reading this know, it’s not a quick process to put together 17 weeks of teaching material.
Since I had no scooter today I decided to walk to the MRT station for the ride home. The school is approximately 1.5 km to the station but the best part is that there are food vendors (fruits, vegetables and snack food) along the way for browsing. Actually enroute to the school Peter was telling me that the fruits and vegetables are up to 30% less expensive in this area than in any other.
Somewhat exhausted from the heat, it was a relief to be sitting in the cool MRT train car for the ride home.
No comments:
Post a Comment