"We haven't got anything like this in Taipei",
said a mate from Taipei when he saw the heavy metal
band playing on the roundabout in the middle of Hsin
Chu. To be fair it's more a rotunda than a roundabout
built like an ancient Greek amphitheatre with a giant
Chinese style arch on top, which the Japanese blew
up at the beginning of the 20th century. It's called
Dong Men Chan or ‘Eastern Gate' and every weekend
they have a concert there, of often wildly different
music styles. So you can sit and watch a black metal
band in an audience with old people, young families
and teenagers. Followed by a Latin American percussion
band.
Dong men sits in the middle of a very scenic part
of the city. Stretching out on both sides of the rotunda
is a canal described on a plaque as "The only
existing canal round in Taiwan". It kind of cuts
the city centre in half. We think it was developed
from an ancient moat. It's a kind of semi-pedestrinised
area with palm trees and flowerbeds and, at occasions,
stepping-stones where children try to catch fish or
crayfish.
On one side of Dong Men the canal leads to the train
station and, on the way there, there is another venue
for live music. There's a wooden stage set up on the
banks of the canal where they play more traditional
music.
Once at the train station there's yet another venue
for live music. There's a large amphitheatre type
space opposite the train station. Bands from Hsin
Chu's high schools play there often, they're not very
good, insipid love songs mainly. However, we caught
a display of Chinese martial arts there on Chinese
New Eve.
On the other side of Dong Men are three pubs. There's
Mr 7's which is an ‘80's music pub'. It's been
re-decorated with an outdoor balcony terrace and nice
sofas a very relaxing pub. Then there's The Flying
Pig, which is a disco bar, and then there's the Sports
Bar where you can watch WWF wrestling and request
any song. If the barman doesn't have it you get a
free beer.
Pubs in Taiwan are quite dangerous. The beers about
the same price as a pint in Britain. However, instead
of having to elbow your way to the bar and wave a
tener in the air for fifteen minutes before getting
a glance from the bar staff they have waitresses who
mysteriously know when you are about to finish a pint
and ask ‘do you want another?'
Also, there are the 'beer girls' women who go from
pub to pub trying to persuade punters to drink their
brand of beer. They usually have little trinkets to
give away if you drink their beer, I have a Heineken
flute, a Corona pen and a Coors pack of playing cards,
but by far the most persuasive technique is their
scant dress. They usually look like women from a 60's
science fiction film with silver mini skirts and jackets.
We once got hit by a beer girl in the Flying Pig where
we went 'just for one'. At first we remained resolute
but she said she liked our English accent (she spoke
fluent American English) and drew us into conversation
like that. Then she asked if we wanted to drink some
Corona. "No thanks love", we said "we're
not interested. "But we have a sleigh outside,
if you drink four Coronas you can get your picture
taken on the sleigh with the snowman." She jerked
a thumb over her shoulder where we saw, on the dance
floor, a man in snowman costume dancing to Linkin
Park. We left a good few 1000 Taiwanese dollars down
that night.
Teaching
Teaching in Hsin Chu has been a fantastic experience
for me. I've had the full range of ages and levels.
I've taught kids as young as three who, as well as
being very cute, have excellent pronunciation. They
say everything exactly as you say it.
I've taught adult classes from beginner up to pre
intermediate. It's been very rewarding to see adults
with very little English slowly gain language until
they have enough to ask you questions about yourself
- sometimes very personal questions.
I've taught all the ages in between - primary age,
middle school age, and secondary school age. All have
been very rewarding in their own ways. I have learnt
so much about teaching and have learnt about what
can be applied across the age ranges and how to adapt
activities. Hsin Chu has been very rewarding for the
sheer variety of teaching experience that it provides
which is rewarding in terms of the experience and
in terms of one's CV.
This variety may seem very intimidating but there
is a lot of support from the Taiwanese staff and from
fellow teachers who are always willing to chip in
with suggestions and ideas. Often lesson planning
involves more teacher's room banter than heads down
activity. Also, Head office is a phone calls away
and can offer very useful advice on any area of teaching.
The teacher's room in Hsin Chu is apparently semi
famous for being well stocked. There is a flash card
for everything. If you want a flash card for a Flamingo
then we've probably got it. If we don't then just
ask the staff a couple of days in advance of the class
and you'll find it on your desk on the allotted day.
It also has a great profusion of blocks, hammers,
beads and tens of thousands of Taiwanese dollars in
plastic money for the teaching of maths.
Philip Scott |
