Do I have plans for Chinese New Year? It depends on how much time they give me. At the beginning of this semester there was talk about "clamping down" on local foreign teachers, and not giving us as much time off between semesters. If this proves true two things will happen: a) this year will be my last year in the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, and b) I'll be in either Pingtung or Taitung for the 9 days of Chinese New Year vacation. If I get more time off I'll probably head up north, to Taichung or Taipei. 我寒假想去哪裡玩 ? 這取決於學校給我多長的假 . 這學期一開始就聽到有人討論要 "控制" 當地的外師 , 縮短我們的寒假 . 如果這件事是真的話, 那這次春節我不是在屏東, 就是在台東 . 而且我下學年就不會繼續參加教育部的外籍教師計畫了 , 如果是如一般教師放寒假 , 我大概會去台中或是台北 .
I. My House 我的房子
The landlord fixed the leak in the upstairs bathroom, and my house isn't leaking or peeling anymore. 房東修過樓上浴室漏水的地方 , 所以現在不會漏水 , 油漆也不會剝落了 .
My neighbors are much quieter now. What happened? Every Friday and Saturday night used to be KTV time, and now the KTV place behind our house has gone mysteriously quiet. Did everyone lose interest in KTV all at once? 我的鄰居變得好安靜 . 發生了什麼事 ? 以前每個星期五六都是K歌的時間 , 現在我們房子後的KTV沒有歌聲了 . 大家都決定不要唱歌嗎 ?
II. My Cats 我的貓
All five of my cats are fine. Mango and Milky are annoying when they get trapped in the upstairs bedroom. Christmas is annoying when she eats too much food and pukes on the floor. Jojo is annoying when she sits on my lap and makes it diffiult to read. Smokey is annoying when she meows in my ear at night. All my cats are either cute and annoying in equal measure. 我的五隻貓都沒事 . 只是Mango跟Milky被困在樓上的臥室時很煩人 . Christmas吃太多而吐在地板上時很煩 . 我看書的時候 , Jojo躺在我的大腿上也很煩 . 深夜的時候 , Smokey在我的耳朵旁亂叫更煩 . 我的五隻貓有時候很可愛 , 有時候很煩 .
III. My Family in Taiwan 我台籍的家人
My wife is now working at Danlu, Tsaopu and Fenglin elementary schools, all on the Southern Cross-Island Highway between Pingtung and Taitung. She is a special education teacher in all three schools, and yes, it's a lot of driving. 我太太在南迴公路上的草埔國小 , 丹路國小跟楓林國小上班 . 她在這三所學校當巡迴輔導特教老師 . 你想的沒錯 , 她每天開車有一段路 .
My older daughter is still at Wenzou University in Kaohsiung. We don't see her as much lately, but she seems to be fine. 我的大女兒還在文藻大學讀書 . 我們最近見面的時間比較短 , 可是她好像沒問題 .
My younger daughter is still at Kaohsiung Hospitality University. She was working at Cafe Grazie in Dream Mall for a short time, but quit because it was conflicting with her school schedule. She often comes down to Fangliao on Fridays. She seems fine also. 我的小女兒還在高雄餐旅大學五專部 . 她前一陣子在夢時代的Cafe Grazie上班 , 可是上班時間和學校的課表衝突 , 最後辭職了 . 她星期五常常回來枋寮 . 她一樣沒事 .
IV. My Family in the States 我美籍的家人
My sister, her husband and their baby moved to Reno, Nevada. I always liked that town. It's a great place to study human behavior, and the mountains west of there are pretty. 我妹妹和她的先生跟他們的寶寶搬到內華達州雷諾市 . 我很喜歡那個地區 . 附近的山景很美 , 在那邊觀察人們做事也很有趣 .
My brother is on tour, I think. I tried to call him a while back, but his band was playing a show in New York and he couldn't take the call. 我弟弟還忙著他的演唱會 . 我最近打給他 , 可是他的樂團在紐約表演沒辦法接電話 .
My mom and dad are fine. I talked to them on the phone not long ago. 我爸媽沒事 . 我最近才跟他們通過電話 .
V. My Job 我的工作
I only have 7 classes at Fangliao now, and 10 at Yuguang. Fangliao doesn't seem to care about English the way they used to, though Yuguang is very supportive. This is weird because Fangliao is supposed to be my "base school," while Yuguang is supposed to be my "satellite school." 我在枋寮有七節課 , 在玉光有十節課 . 這學年枋寮好像沒有跟以前一樣重視英文 , 可是玉光給我很大的支持 . 奇怪的是枋寮是我的基地學校 , 玉光是巡迴的學校 .
Tomorrow is my second-to-last class at Nanzhou Junior High School. My last class won't be until January. It's an easy gig, and the students there are eager to learn. The average level of English is low, but they try very hard. 明天是我這學期在南州國中第五次教課 . 總共六次 . 最後一節是一月的時候 . 在那邊上課很簡單 , 學生的學習態度很好 . 英文程度比較低 , 可是他們很認真 .
VI. The Pingtung County Government 屏東縣政府
Foreign English Teachers still get information from the Pingtung County Government on a very last minute basis. I'm a bit better informed because one of my coworkers passes along messages from the Chinese-language Line group. Even so, a lot of their meetings, activities and decisions seem very haphazard. 屏東的外師還是一樣, 縣府給的資訊我們都是最後一分鐘才被告知 . 我的狀況好一點 , 因為我一位同事會把中文的訊息傳給我 . 就算如此, 縣府的會議 , 活動跟政策似乎都是最後一分鐘才決定的 .
Last month we attended a 3-day workshop for local foreign teachers. The first two days were at Wandan Junior High School, and on the third day we visited an elementary school and a junior high in Tainan. My biggest problem with this workshop was the location, which was difficult for almost all of us to get to. I also thought the teaching demo we watched at the junior high in Tainan was a joke. They literally had the foreign teacher standing in the corner, waiting to say the names of colors while his Taiwanese coworker taught the actual lesson. Before this teaching demo one of the speakers urged local schools to not use foreign teachers "like CDs," and yet this is exactly what they did. 我們外師上個月參加了三天的研習 . 前兩天在萬丹國中 , 第三天在台南的一所國小和一所國中 . 我參加這個研習最大的問題是萬丹國中離我家很遠 , 對大多數的外師來說交通非常不方便 . 我也覺得台南那所國中的教學示範很可笑, 中師負責教課, 而外籍教師只是站在角落等待機會說出顏色的英文名稱 . 看這個示範以前 , 有講師勸告中師不要把外師當成CD撥放器 , 可是這所學校卻是這樣做的 .
VII. Pingtung in General 屏東縣
We still go up to Pingtung City to visit Carrefour or the movie theater there. We still go to Kaohsiung to visit our daughters. I'll be going to Hengchun tomorrow, to have lunch with another foreign teacher living there. 我們跟以前一樣去屏東市的家樂福或是電影院 . 我們也會去高雄看女兒 . 我明天要去恆春跟另外一位外師吃午餐 .
VIII. Taiwan 台灣
I'm not a good person to ask about this, but I believe the big news story is the referendum that will be voted upon this month. I know nuclear power is part of the referendum, but there may be other parts that I'm not aware of. Something about imported pork? I saw part of a debate on nuclear power not long ago, and both sides seemed to be presenting very lopsided arguments. 我不是常常看頭條新聞的 , 可是最近最大的新聞是這個月的公投 . 我知道核電是公投的一部分 , 還有其他我不知道的部分 . 進口豬肉呢 ? 我有看過部分關於核電的辯論 , 我沒看完兩方完整的意見 .
IX. The World 我們的地球
Omicron! Honestly, I'm having trouble worrying about COVID these days. I've been double vaxxed, and when I hear people talk about booster shots I just can't up enthusiasm for that idea. Omicron變體喔 ! 說實話 , 我最近不是很關心疫情的新聞 . 我已經打了二次疫苗 , 有人討論打第三次, 我真是沒有什麼意見 .
I will say that other countries' recent support for Taiwan has been encouraging. Trying to exclude Taiwan from things like democracy summits is patently ridiculous. 其他國家給予臺灣的支持讓我看了很感動 . 不讓臺灣參加民主峰會真是一件笑死人的事 .
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