Around the world

Lantern Festival

Boarding Taiwan - March 2005

Shawn in front of the 101 tower

It is that time of year when preparations are underway for my annual migration back to the UK. Looking back on this past year it has been completely different to my first year. Both had their ups and downs, but on reflection my time has been a valuable learning experience.  When I arrived at CKS airport in Taipei to start my second year it was not quite as exciting. My girlfriend was supposed to meet me but got stuck in traffic and my boss didn’t even know I was arriving that day!

Lantern Festival

So there I was after my little jaunt to the UK on my own feeling a little lonely. Homesickness is a strange thing to deal with. Sometimes just a tiny reminder of England can spark it off, especially when watching TV and images of the UK. This is one reason I often think "is this job right for me?" Teaching so far away from friends and
family can take its toll. I have days probably like anyone else, where I just want to pack my bags and call it a day. Then I realise what I am actually doing!

I have certainly done a lot of growing up in the last two years. I have been made the deputy head. In fact, I was the acting head of the school for the last two months which was not as daunting as I expected. To be honest John, Jo and Tom who are the other
teachers, were more than capable of running the place. We all had a good time while Paul and Emily, the owners of the school were in England on an exchange programme. While they were away, we decorated the school with murals to brighten up the place. I was very proud of all the hard work the teachers put in.

Quite a few things have happened since my last report in the Chinese calendar. To start with we had Chinese New Year which was a week off work. This is a strange holiday as it is not how you would imagine New Year celebrations. Everything is closed for a week and the whole city becomes a ghost town. As the holiday is in February
the weather is not really that great.

I did manage to go with my friend John to Beitou which is up in the mountains. Beitou is famous for its natural hot springs. Luckily the weather was good that day so we got to go in one of the outdoor spas. The spring water is supposed to be good for aches and
pains. I actually did feel quite good after. Ten years or so skating can take it out of this old frame of mine.

The lantern festival is quite a beautiful sight. The city I live in had a big show of lanterns and other art works which was quite breathtaking. It was only for one day so the City hall was quite packed that night. It had the same feeling as Bonfire night in
Christchurch park. As the weather has been quite bad recently I have not been skating that much. We still skate the school park which is an indoor park and quite fun.

A few big names in the music world have graced our little island recently including DJ Krush from Japan. A unique style of Hip-hop and Breakbeat was displayed for the public in Luxy. Also Luxy had LTJ Bukem, DJ Green Lantern (Eminem's DJ) and next week the hop-hop legend Grandmaster Flash will be playing. I have seen a few live music acts playing at various venues also, so all in all the social scene has been pretty good.

My friends and I have been trying some new places to frequent. One strange place was the Party room. This is a quite unusual place, as it is on the 12th floor of a huge department store. It is only small but really nice inside - plus it has an amazing view of the city.

I will be hopefully travelling to the south of the island for the Spring Scream music festival. This will be two weeks before I travel back to England. I am really looking forward to the trip back to the UK as I will be home for my 30th birthday. I am having a bit of a birthday bash in the Ice bar on the 25th which should be good. Especially as 'Things found in sharks' my friend Barnie's band will be playing.