All things being equal, we'll be the equivalent of dual citizens of both Taiwan and Australia in a couple of months time! Were eligible to apply for a Alien Permanent Residents Card (APRC) due to the extended time we've lived and worked in Taiwan. In fact we've been eligible for many, many years. We've never bothered with the formalities before as the school sponsors our Alien Registration Card (ARC) each year and takes care of the application. With flights dwindling away to just a whiff of jet fuel, we might be in Taiwan for a while this summer, so we thought we'd do it legally!
The other big news is that we were surprised to get a call to initiate online learning again this week. This now makes a total of a month of online tutelage in two separate bursts. This week we've just finished a week that was far more arduous than the first incarnation: we taught our allotted classes one by one in regular time slots, allowing much more individual time and more boutique lessons to be developed and taught. It was exhausting and frustrating.
The sensational news was the "Zoom bombing" incident that happened to me! I was innocently teaching my period 7 class of about 25 students when I got "bombed" by about five or six outsiders who yelled and screamed, showed inappropriate language and even flashed a still screen of a porn site momentarily before I shut the whole thing down! It all happened in the space of about 10 seconds and I had my mouse hovering over the "end meeting" button, but very quickly I had to abort the lesson. The kids seemed oblivious to the extent of the "bomb" so I explained to them that the work they needed to complete was available on a different platform, set them to work, then reported the incident to the bosses. I was subsequently praised for my quick thinking and acting but couldn't help wondering what sort of morons do this type of thing to innocent kids trying to learn? The mind boggles!
As I mentioned, Cass and I were exhausted after a week of this: Brady Bunch screens with 27 participants, audio and video questions firing, as well as a dedicated "chat" line, all while teaching the lesson as well. 80 minute classes meant we were at the point of collapse after each one! We'd rush out in our lunch break to do a river walk and sometimes just get back in time to do our afternoon classes: I have to admit I did a couple in my stinky walking gear...one of the very few advantages of online instruction! We also had to speed downtown to the immigration office armed with our paperwork and photos one afternoon to beat the upcoming Tomb Sweeping Day's holidays. We did that, now we just have to wait for the slowly grinding wheels of bureaucracy to rotate through our applications!
Tomb Sweeping Day usually falls on or about Cassy's birthday and this year was no exception. We decided to take advantage of the fact that we could eat out at restaurant with impunity, one of the few places in the world that can still allow this luxury. Taiwan still has fewer than 400 cases: it's an amazing success story and a testament to going hard, going early, and a compliant and obedient population unselfishly acting in the community's best interest, not their own. We went to "Very Thai" in the SOGO building and ate all our favourites as well as enjoying a little bottle of Moet&Chandon for the champagne connoisseur! What luxury!
We're back at school today facing yet more challenges. The latest edict is that all teachers, staff and students as well as any (limited) visitors wear face-masks all day every day except when eating lunch or taking a sip of water. Yes, that means while instructing as well. It's been quite a trick listening to Iago's evil intent muffled through a face-mask or Lady Macbeth's witchery evoked through costume and makeup and dramatic flair with some part of the effect stolen by a sterile, white surgical mask! Oh well, just another punch to roll with...we're just thankful we're again face-to-face teaching, rather than Zooming.
Some flora on the river walk, precious toilet paper, masks are now compulsory on the MRT and birthday celebrations OUT!!