ambiguous age

Apparently I could look anywhere between 20-30. That's TEN years!

One of my 9th grade classes thought I didn't graduate from college yet. Seriously. They really thought that. We were in the middle of another chaotic class period when somehow the topic of education came up. They were amazed to find out that I graduated. I was amazed to find out that they thought I hadn't. They told me that they thought I came back to Taiwan for summer vacation and decided to teach while I'm here. That was when I suddenly realized and understood why they gave me such little respect. Things are much better now between us, but they are still my craziest class.

I wrote about the twins in my other 9th grade class and from that story you can tell that they are the ones who thought I was older. My other classes (8 and 10) have not tried to make a guess yet since only a few students have opened up to me.

Though all my classes have a different idea of how old I am, the same question keeps coming up: Do you have a boyfriend? I don't know why all my students think I need a boyfriend, but it seems like most of them are in a hurry to find me one when I tell them I don't. What is wrong with being single? Some even suggested that I date one of the other teachers in this school. Hmm...

the secret

The big "secret" that I mentioned on facebook a week ago is something you all know very well - I can speak Chinese! Because the students are NOT allowed to speak Chinese in English class and because they are a sneaky group, who like to slip in a Chinese word here and there just to test me, I told them that I don't speak Chinese. Of course, the students are skeptical and my incoherent answers just add to their confusion. Oh, it's so much fun!

Anyway, my school had a Parent Teacher Conference last weekend and it was interesting to meet some of the parents. During each one-on-one meeting, I discovered some startling things about some of my students. The most surprising thing was that one of my students is the youngest brother of this guy who graduated from my high school two years before I did. What are the chances of that happening? No wonder that student looked familiar when I first met him. The mom was super supportive and excited that I am an alumnus from the same high school her other two sons went to.

Now, the reason why the cat was almost let out of the bag was because my student's mom obviously knows that I can speak Chinese. I mean, I didn't tell her directly but I sort of knew her oldest son and most of the people who went to my high school can speak Chinese. It's not a big deal if all my students knew, but I know they'd just start getting lazy and take the easy way out by using Chinese instead of English to talk to me, which defeats the purpose of practicing and learning English! So, I emailed the mom and told her to please keep everything a secret. 16 hours later, she emailed me back saying she's glad I didn't tell the students that I could speak Chinese and to please keep this a secret for as long as possible. She didn't want her son to know either. Interesting. Did I mention she's really supportive? Yeah. It would've been perfect if only she kept my yearbook pictures a secret from her son as well. I threatened told him nicely to never ever bring any of the yearbooks to school.

For now, my secret is safe with... this parent, my supervisor, and some of my colleagues.

more blogs

http://msvickyfu.blogspot.com/

I'm still undecided about whether I should have a blog for my students or not. I don't want them to add me on facebook because of too many reasons - pictures and random comments. However, I'd like to randomly share some fun stuff like the Halloween pictures on the blog above with them. Hmm... what should I do?

mischievous twins

These twins are very bright but also very mischievous. The things they say - if taken seriously - can be hurtful. I don't even know if they mean what they say or not anymore since they always say things so lightheartedly. Like the other day, we were discussing why they should use Mister, Miss, or Missus for all their English teachers and after the discussion, they wanted to know if they could call me Mrs. Fu.

"No," I said, "I'm not married yet."

"You're not? Will we ever be able to call you Mrs.?" joked one.

"Will you ever get married?" laughed the other.

"Why are you in a hurry to marry me off?" I asked.

Suddenly another student chipped in and asked, "Can we call you Mr. Fu then?"

"Of course not!" I said. "I don't plan on getting a sex change."

One of the twins seized the opportunity and said, "Oh, don't worry. You are a man already anyway. You won't need one."

Little rascal.

Do I look like a man? I recently cut my hair. Darn. Now they're making me all self-conscious.

new job

Hi ladies!!!!!!

It's been a while since I updated my blog. SO MUCH has happened! I left my previous job. Now I am a.... teacher. That's not much of a surprise though, isn't it? I'm sure I've told you about how I might go into teaching a couple of times before. I guess what's surprising (at least to me) is how quickly it all happened. Anyway, now I am a teacher and it's great. The first few weeks were tough, and the students really tried to test my limits. Now, we are approaching the end of week 4 and things are going a lot more smoothly. I love my crazy students. I hope you are all doing well. Please write to me!

Taiwan #2

Ask any local Taiwanese where you can buy some limes and they'll look at you with a confused look on their face. As far as I know, Taiwan only sells lemons. (I don't know if they sell limes at Costco as I'm too poor to be a member.)
"But wait!!!" you say. "Isn't that green thing a lime?"
I'm sorry. That's a lemon. Taiwan lemons are green. No limes. Just lemons.
I tried educating someone by using Skittles but, alas, the results were... fruitless. Sorry for the pun.

Sour!!

Answers #1

I had to conduct a bunch of speaking tests last Saturday and one of the test items had a series of pictures in it where the test candidate had to make up a story. Here's the first picture:

And one of the test candidates started her story like this:

"I have a very cute daughter and she likes to play with balls."

Okay, okay. Aside from the fact that I was thinking in the wrong direction, I do believe this is a boy and it's just one ball. And no, points were not taken off for the gender of the toddler.

Speak English

This is an ad from a few years ago for Let's Talk, an ESL TV show.
I love it.

The main question is: "Can you speak English?"

Clothes Guidelines #1

Your lowcut top is high enough if there aren't any females staring at your boobs.

have you met someone who...

- accepts you completely for who you are?

- sympathesizes with your worries and troubles?

- offers comfort and encouragement when you're down?

- stands by your side no matter what?

- fights your enemies with you?

- spends time with you when you need it?

- shares your joys with you?

- understands when you are kidding and when you are not?

- knows that you don't always mean what you say?

- you are willing to do all of the above to?

Helloooo... I'm right here!

Okay, so I meant to write something like this for a long time already. Seriously, Taiwan culture and US culture = so different! "No way!" you say? Allow me to explain.

One of the "strange" things Taiwanese like to do is to speak about or for you to another person while you're sitting right there. Apparently, this is rude in American culture. And yes, I know. I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of this on occasion. It's habit and it's hard to break. Now you must think it's weird why we do this. I mean, you're sitting right there! Why not direct the question to the actual person and let them speak for themselves? I think that is because we were taught from a young age that it is bad manners to brag. Then it was probably taken to the extreme where we'd think it's bad to even state the facts like "I graduated from UCI" or "I have a GPA of 4.0 (No, I don't)" when people ask you, even if we said it in a tiny squeaky voice to prevent people from thinking we're proud of this achievement. We just feel oh-so-guilty. So, how can we share our joy in (and sneakily talk/brag? about) our achievements, especially the ones they don't ask about? Well, you get the next person to say it for you, of course! If someone else says it, you cannot be charged with being arrogant! Tadaaa... I am awesome because she said so.

I only spoke for you because I loved you so much that I wanted others to know how great you are.

movie 5

So my friend told me that they saw movie 5 in Taiwan. He said there were thunderstorms that day and in the middle of the movie, the power went out! Right as everything went pitch black someone yelled, "VOLDEMORT!"

I wish I was there to witness that scene!

Book 7

I finished it!

...so sad and happy at the same time. I'm amazed at how everything fit in together. I think I might have to reread books 1-6 to catch all the details. My favorite line in this book is, "He must’ve known you’d always want to come back." Their friendship is really something, isn't it?

BTW... I wonder why my background changed colors? I thought it was green?

Hi, I'm 23 and you?

I keep getting asked about my age! grrr... The old people, the young people, teachers, students... everyone is curious! Why does it matter anyway? Maybe I need an "older" hairstyle.

Like this?

Yesterday, the new guy in my office asked me my age so I responded by saying, "A lady's age is supposed to be kept a secret, right?" I thought I was so smart and was secretly praising myself for cleverly evading the question but nooo... He said, "Oh, isn't that only for older women? You are... Well, I'm just asking because you look so young." Sigh... So then we had like 30 seconds of awkward silence until he got it and said, "Oh, so you just don't want to tell me." Then walked away. Okay, there must be a better way to get out of this situation. What should I do next time? What would you do?

need donut!

Where can I find donuts this worthy in Taiwan?

I want a powdered donut.

fashion idiot

So, I had this brilliant idea:

I'm going to visit Victoria Secret's website every once in a while to help with my fashion impediment.

Bad move.

I looked through the site today and ended up wanting to buy a bunch of stuff. Fortunately (I guess?) there is no VS in Taiwan. Oh well.

Why do their models make everything look so pretty?

electric box

This is a fun game. Try it!
Electric Box

Hip hip... *waits for response*

I played around with the HTML to fix the header. It nearly drove me crazy (both the placement of the header and HTML)!!! Grrr.... I'm not going to touch it again. I'll have to deal with the polka dots.

Now you can subscribe to my blog! Yay! Yay! Yay!

And finally, I'm so happy I got comments from all three of my favorite people. Now I know you don't hate me.

LOVE

relationships

LOL! This is from Speed Bump. So are you dating a pencil or a pen?

OUR relationship (you and me) better be a really thick permanent marker!

guppy fry

I finally found a clear picture of them. Now imagine about 40 of them!
I've got 8 adults, 8 juveniles, and about 40 fry. Hmm... fish soup, anyone?

too busy

"Deadline made me do it! I wanted us to be BFF too!" wailed the girl as she stared wide-eyed with horror at the shadow of Procrastination... *dun dun dun*

I demand comments... or emails! You pick...

requests

As per Ms. Strawberry's request...

SOMETHING COOL!
:p

weeeeeee

My first post! Yay!
Before you ask, I don't know why I chose a polka dot layout... I don't like polka dots!
Maybe I'm just confused... The colors confuse me...
I need more sleep.
Any suggestions on color coordination?