(Our hotel)
From the Taipei airport we were brought right to the hotel and conference center (The Howard Plaza Hotel) that we'll be staying at for orientation until August 7th. The hotel was much nicer than we expected. We were greeted by people associated with Ministry of Education (the school district we'll be teaching English through). All of the Taiwanese people we met yesterday were extremely welcoming and fun to be around! Their English is excellent!
We were also able to meet some of the other English teachers. There's 29 of us in all, but we only met about 12 of them yesterday. Everyone we met yesterday was from "the States". We ranged in age from 23 to about 55 or 60. Along with us, there are a few other married couples...one couple has two kids along (ages two and two months)!
(A view of Taipei from our hotel)
Once we settled in at the hotel, we decided to take a nap. We intended for it to be short, but we didn't wake up until six hours later...oops! Luckily, we woke up just in time to go to a night market with everyone. Night markets almost have a carnival feel, but they are open every night, year round. We had good luck with food! We were able to try sweet potato dougnut holes, fresh passion fruit juice, fried mushrooms, waxed apples, dragon fruit, Chinese buns (steamed bread), Chinese porridge, a variety of teas, and salmon stir fry!
(Night Market)
We start our orientation tomorrow (August 3rd) and we are excited to learn more about what is in store for us. Our orientation goes until August 7th and then we will be taken to the cities where our schools are located and hopefully find a place to live! :)
Your Blog is most helpful. My wife and I are doing what you guys did this fall of 2010. We are with the MOE and havent even gottoen to Pick our school yet. How did that work anyway?
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