So, as many of y'all know, my departure date for Taiwan has been pushed back due to several things:
a) Covid has finally reached the Island of Taiwan and they aren't hiring people right now. They are in level 3. The restaurants are all closed except for take-out, etc. All the language schools (I'll be working in one of that type of school for at least the first one to two years, by the way) are all closed, so the need for English teachers is down to nil. As a matter of fact, many of the foreign language teachers have left the island to go back home until this all blows over.
b) The schools won't even hold interviews with prospective teachers unless they have an actual photograph of the person's college diploma. When I finally received mine mid-June, Covid had already made its way to the island. Now, it is a waiting game as to when they'll start hiring again. The good news is that their levels of Covid infections are significantly less than what ours were here in the states. Also, they're already receiving the vaccine (Thanks USA and Japan!), so they'll liking reach herd immunity--as we have here--much, much sooner than it took us to do. My AWESOME Mandarin teacher, Diane, told me yesterday that they are 'down to 100 cases'; however, I don't know if that means 100 deaths, or just cases and if it means a day or a week or a...month, etc. I guess the point is that they are already on the downswing. I have a friend from the Taiwan expats Facebook group who says he thinks they'll be back in the swing of things by October. I'll keep y'all updated.
So, when I'm leaving is up in the air, yeah? However, that does not stop me from dreaming or making plans!! I'm writing my first Taiwan bucket list item in this blog today. Now, understand that the bucket list items will be added as I think of them and not necessarily in the order in which I'll do them.
I'll preface by asking y'all if you realized how much I have really enjoyed watching Korean and Taiwanese language television series on Netflix over the course of the last year? I have become a fanatic. (and I guess--cards on the table--it doesn't hurt that the swoonworthy Taiwanese and Korean male lead actors they choose really illustrate God's amazing ability at creating 'good scenery!' LOL) It's mostly all I watch now. I know I won't be able to easily pick up language that way, but--at least--I'm getting some hints about what the culture is like in these two Asian countries, yeah? That being said, I just finished watching a Korean television series called, "Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol." (Those of you who don't recognize the title can imagine you're singing the first four words of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and you'll have a very good idea of what one of the major themes in the series is. I really enjoyed the series. However, if you're going to watch it, just know that the last fourth of the series is kinda sad and that the last six minutes of the series is non-sensical. It's still good, though.
The fictional town in which most of the action is set is called 'Eunpo.' It is not a real town; however, most of the filming is done in a southern South Korea town called Mokpo. It has just recently become a tourist town, of sorts, and several films/t.v. series have been filmed there. It is very colorful and looks like a fun place to be. The town has taken it upon themselves to preserve many of the television and film sets from the filming of various of the shows, so that fans can go visit.
Therefore, the first item on my Taiwan bucket list is--during a summer vacation trip to Korea--I will go spend a day or two in Eunpo/Mokpo and take photos of the colorful city and visit the sets from 'Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol' and maybe go fishing. I'll be sure to bring my camera and my computer to write blogs about my adventures there. I hope y'all will join me on that future trip via our pensivepollyanna (or even in person! :)
