What a dizzy whirlwind the past couple of weeks have been! After a couple of months of rest and recreation, we hit the ground sprinting, as is always the case, when we arrived back in Taiwan. There were household essentials to be bought, modified and repaired, processes to be adjusted and bills to be paid. When we eventually got things vaguely livable on the home front we fronted up to the biggest change we've experienced in the last 16 years of our professional lives: new division, new procedures and new classes for yours truly, with Cass having to re-assure her delicate new colleague that everything would turn out OK in the end!
As usual, we were physically assualted by a freight train of heat as we exited the terminal at Taoyuan Airport earlier in the month. The unrelenting heat battered and exhausted us day by day: we were so thnakful that we'd upgraded to new air-conditioners last year. Virg'nMary were ecstatic to see us (or at least we like to think so!) and although noticeably skinnier and more frail, they were alive and kicking, seemed to be in good spirits and sharp of eye and mind. The computer had decided to have a major meltdown, so we've only got it half running, all photo software and downloading capability disappearing into the ether. Hence, no photos of yet, but I'll update in the next week or so....check back! One of the AC remotes had a hissy fit and refused to cooperate, but luckily the other one can service both units, while my phone went totally postal on me: that's a wound yet to be healed.
So, after putting out various spot fires on the home front (almost literally in the scorching heat!), we visited our battalion of shops to source and re-stock our food supplies. Reasonably satisfied that we could survive for a few days, we hunkered down inside and luxuriated in the cool, only venturing outside when it was absolutely necessary or when the awful brunt of the burning day had faded into evening or night.
Nothing, however, could prepare me for the shock of my new position. At times over the past week, I've felt conflicting emotions of euphoria and despair, running the gamut of emotions in the spectrum in between. It was exciting to be joining a new division, there was no doubt. The freshness of approach, the civility of colleagues and the welcoming embrace of so many was palpable and genuinely expressed. I was loving being treated like a responsible adult and professional, one who only needed clear and explicit instructions once to be able to perform a task capably and with the minimum of fuss: how novel!
It was difficult to brush off years of the opposite type of approach: I kept wondering when pedantic further instructions would come or when superiors would feel the need to check on whether I was doing my job properly. That didn't happen, in fact, quite the opposite. Colleagues were keen to ease my transition, no more so than my darling Cassy, who is now essentially my immediate boss, particularly for the regular Grade 8 English curriculum! She has eased a lot of my tension by delineating each day's activities and getting materials ready. This class, while the most important, is so well planned and organized, it's my easiest to teach.
My more frustrating times have basically just come from unknowns. There are so many different items of administrivia with my Grade 8 homeroom kids and all my other classes, that it has been slightly overwhelming at times. I've needed to get myself linked up with photocopiers and printers, sign up for and do a crash course in various new administrative and teaching platforms. There are numerous tools that I need to learn and use, while at the same time, get my head around three completely different and gargantuan English programs for grades 6,7 and 8. I'm slowly getting there!
Don't get me wrong: this is the greatest thing to happen to me for more than a decade in a professional sense: I'm rejuvenated, happy, excited (and a little terrified!) and re-energized. I'm glad to be back teaching more mature kids...I've been down with the littlies for long enough. I suspect each day will continue to bring challenges, but I'm really looking forward to it. One thing I can tell you is....I wont be getting bored in a hurry!
We both feel quite exhasted when we get home each day, and our summer of bliss is fast receding in memory. We had the most amazing time back home: our daily routine of relaxed meals wrapped around our daily "job" of our six kilometre coastal walk was interspersed at times by visits to family and friends, sharing experiences of theatre and meals and parties and re-unions: all great fillips for the soul.We're back on track now...next blog, next Monday!