雙十節快樂！－ Happy Double Ten Day!

Today is Taiwan's National Day (read more if you're interested at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_10_day).  For me, this means I get today off.  Normally I'll be working at Kojen Schools Monday through Saturday with only Sundays off, a little different than my schedule in the States.  I've made the most of my free time by a) sleeping in, b) watching Star Wars Episode V on my computer, and c) having dinner with my two good friends here Chris and Debby (you'll notice this is the only actually productive or exciting thing I've done today).  I know them from the UW, and they've already been living here for a year, so they know their way around pretty well.  They've been extremely helpful to me so far, and I'm looking forward to meeting some of their friends and co-workers tonight at a birthday party.  

My week had a slight change of plans from my last entry.  I believe I left you guys off saying that I would be observing classes for another week at my home school and then actually start teaching next Friday.  This is for the most part true, but I had the chance to sub for an instructor yesterday in one of her classes and got to teach for two hours.  The lesson plans look like they'll be pretty straightforward.  Kojen provides its teachers with books, workbooks, and basic supplies to make classes fun for children from elementary school to junior high.  But anyway, the basic story goes like this:  I'm sitting in the back of my second observation class of the day when the director of the school knocks on the door and asks if he can borrow me for a minute outside.  Once I'm out there, he says, "One of our teachers wasn't able to make it to her class starting at 8:00.  Would you like to take over for her and put your observations to good use?"  Frankly, at this point I'm thinking in my head, "No way in heck am I going to go in front of a bunch of kids I don't know without a lesson plan I've worked out well in advance," but he looks kind of desperate for a solution, so I say sure, I'll give it a shot.  I get about half an hour to look over their workbook and listen to the rest of my observation of the class, then after briefly meeting with a senior teacher who recommends some games, I go to the classroom and start teaching...

Surprisingly, I had a blast!  The way the books are set up, it's very easy to transition from one subject to another, and the games I tried out with the kids were a hit.  I think it's going to be a lot of fun figuring out new games and creative ways to make the lessons more interesting, and apparently you get a lot of free reign with what you can do during class.  I think the tricky part will be striking a balance between having fun with the kids, and maintaining an atmosphere where I'm the boss and there's no misbehaving.  On the bright side though, I still have another week of observation and I'll get to takeover for the same class on Friday and give them their final written exam.  

Probably the most rewarding part of my week was yesterday night when I was leaving the school, and one of the students from a class I had observed earlier waved at me and said, "Teacher Devin, Teacher Devin!"  Then she turned to her mom and said, "Look, that's Teacher Devin."  For some reason, just being recognized and greeted by one of the students I'll be teaching was an awesome feeling.  I think I'm going to like teaching these kids a lot (stand by though for more posts after I actually start working, haha).  

Ok, it's about time for me to head out with Chris and Debby.  Miss everyone and hope to hear from you all!  I really like opening my e-mail or facebook and seeing messages from friends and family back home.  Plus, now I have a reliable internet connection in the temporary housing facility, so I might even be able to catch people on skype or AIM.  :)