Slightly off

So it's the first week of school. There is a fair amount of uncertainty and palpable sense of transition. Academic schedules - which are always settled much later here in Taiwan than at home - are just being revealed to us - both at Ryan's and my school. Once those are set, we can arrange child care. It's that limbo time where you hope the schedule is good - that both our time-tables mesh nicely allowing Ivo time for Ryan... while also longing for the sense of being settled in - knowing what Monday's like...

My 3 complaints of this transition-y week are as follows...

1. 2 less hours per week of teaching time for me while my prep time has been cut from 4 to 2 hours/week - even though instead of 2 different classes, I now have 3 different classes for which the books haven't been chosen and no curriculum set. I've been told if I want to do them without a book, I can. That's fine, except that's a lot of prep time. I feel a little under valued - and while I'm the only one with a kid/child-care expenses - I get the feeling that my time is worth less/worthless because I have Ryan and so I don't really need money - a point I guess I proved by working a ridiculous 6 hours/week this summer. I cringe at being thought of as more of a dependent than an agent... I'm also a bit paranoid about people thinking me an idiot when I'm pregnant - which my boss doesn't know yet... And part of my paranoia and distrust of people make me suspect that my boss may feel I'm trapped - ie, what am I gonna do for a babysitter if I change jobs...

2. The wires on my block - which have been menacingly dangling for 2 weeks - and may or may not have something to do with the street lights being out... have still not been fixed. Wires are taped to our awning!

3. The car got broken into Tues night or Wed morning - probably under cover of the dead street lights. The cheap cd-payer has been stolen - including the Wilco cd inside. I didn't notice til I was getting ready to go to work (early to talk to boss, see complaint #1). Ivo was sleeping and no one I contacted was available, our 4 immediate neighbors, with whom we are friendly, were all out. I looked up the police phone # online. I could only find the foreign affairs police - but I figured they'll speak English and be able to direct me. That was only half-right. The officer told me I had to go to my local police station to report the break-in. He couldn't tell me where that is or refer me to a phone # where I might be able to find out. He said I should ask my friends to help me. When I said I'm waiting for my friends to call me back - but they're at work right now, he said, I should ask my neighbors. It was 3pm - they weren't home either. I told him I have a sleeping baby and a car full of broken glass. Can't you help me find the police station? He kept repeating that I had to get a friend to help me. Finally I said, "so you can't help me?" to which he responded "no, I don't know where you live and besides, we are the police department." I hung up on him. Also, I was expecting the late afternoon thunder shower to drench the car any minute. I phoned my boss to ask her for advice - she snapped into action by getting a sub for my 4:30 class so I could "take my time."

Oh that was frustrating! I was so angry, too. And unsure what to do. Ryan didn't contact me til after his last class - I'd expected to hear from him on a break... So I ended up calling the mechanic who came right over and took the car to repair the window - police-report-less. But I think it's one of those Taiwan/western differences - police are largely considered fluff around here - not feared like at home. Ryan told our neighbors in the evening and Mr Chen took Ryan over to the li zhang (community leader) to report the event. The li zhang said he'd let the cops know. Everyone is/has been anxious about the street lights...

If I have 1 great thing to be thankful for this week, it's the mechanic. Maybe I should use the plural. They are an older couple. They LOVE Ivo and every time I go see them, we (have to) visit for at least an hour at their neighbors' house. It's a little like going back in time and place. Feels very Chung Hua 10 years ago... tea boxes, endless fruit I've never tried (sundried longyuan in the shells), candy, enormous fish tank, sitting in the first floor storefront/garage area, plastic furniture, plastic flowers, stale cigarette smoke (they don't smoke while we're there), mostly Taiwanese speaking - which I can't understand... Anyway nice nice people and Ivo loves it. They have 2 teenage girls living there - relatives, not their own, 2 mice and a mini dog. Ivo gets to go upstairs and play.

So this week, we've seen the mechanics every day because Monday the car battery was dead and they came right over, swapped it out for a loaner while they refilled my battery. I went to pick it up on Tuesaday and they charged no money! For the repair of the broken window - with tinting - and 2 trips from their place to my house - pick-up and delivery, it was only 1500nt!