Pros and Cons

And so ends another day out here in Taiwan, and let me tell you, I am seriously exhausted. Did any of you ever watch the show Animaniacs? Well, if you did, you will already know what I am talking about, but if not, here's the point. They used to have these segments called Good Idea/Bad Idea that were absolutely hilarious. It would be like "Good Idea-riding the bus to work. Bad Idea - riding the bus to work while playing an accordion." Too funny. Well anyway, that's kind of how I have felt this day has gone, so we're going to riff on that with Good Thing/Bad Thing bullet points.

Good Thing: I woke up nice and early, got coffee and breakfast, and chatted online with Sze. Always a good way to start the day.
Bad Thing: I did so after an absolutely rotten night's sleep.

Good Thing: I went to the market right at the peak of selling time to get groceries. It was an utterly amazing experience. There were people EVERYWHERE. It was different from the open-air markets in Europe. The energy was so high and positive. The vendors were shouting and hawking their stuff, people were bartering, and all of the food was so fresh you could just taste it in the air.
Bad Thing: I almost got run over by several scooters in the process of getting to the market, and I seemed to have a "SELL TO ME!!!!!" sign on my obviously Caucasian forehead.

Good Thing: I bought chicken without being sick, I used my one trusty phrase of Chinese to get me through a dozen transactions, I bought a BEAUTIFUL plate of fresh strawberries so ripe they look like rubies, and I even got limes, ginger, and cilantro without having to resort to English.
Bad Thing: I went to the fish stand where I have been the last few times to get tuna, salmon, and shrimp (no heads, thank you.) As I am reaching over to gesture to the fabulous salmon steak I ended up buying, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Creepy glassy-eyed angel fish the size of dinner plates and vicious silver pike the length of my arm? Par for the course. Spindly wicked chickens hanging from stands on display? No problem. Pigs feet on the sidewalk? I can deal. Movement? Not so much. Especially when I turned my head to the source of the movement, which was the biggest mistake I made all day. ONE OF THE FISH WAS STILL ALIVE. I mean, I am ALL for freshness, but that sucker was still respirating, or really well he probably wasn't actually breathing but he was STILL ALIVE on the ice bed from which I was purchasing my dinner.

I almost passed out. *Shudder*

Okay, on with the list.

Good Thing: I got my spoils back to the apartment with plenty of time to spare.
Bad Thing: That was after walking 3/4 of a mile with seriously heavy groceries.

Good Thing: I taught a full day today, 3:20-8:40.
Bad Thing: See above.

Good Thing: I taught a class of 4 and 5 year olds who were absolutely heart-meltingly adorable. I really, seriously, wanted to take all of them home with me. They were so precocious and bright and active and fun... I was completely in love.
Bad Thing: I taught a class of 12-15 year olds who were normally taught by a part time teacher that no one seemed to be able to find and who the school had failed to inform that they had a new foreign teacher who would be sharing the class. So, lucky me, I walked into that classroom without even knowing what book they were working on.

Good Thing: Most of my younger classes went really well today, even if I was a bit scatterbrained.
Bad Thing: By a bit scatterbrained, I mean I left markers, books, or magnets in almost every classroom and had to go back the next break to get them.

Good Thing: My "classroom management" skills seem to be improving as I managed to keep a class of 16 10-13 year olds mostly under control without killing them.
Bad Thing: I ended up having to physically separate a group of kids who were beating each other with books.

Good Thing: I bought a new watch today.
Bad Thing: My new watch broke today. It's going back tomorrow, if I can remember where in the world I bought it. That's one that will require help.

Good Thing: I survived the day :)
Bad Thing: And now it is definitely time for sleep.

All my love, and thanks for reading.