Letter to Lisa part 2

Letters to Lisa Part 2
Work and Paul makes me crazy!!
Dateline: March

Dear Lisa,

Everything is going ok. My third graders are so cute! I really love these kids. I’m most happy when I’m in the classroom. No news on the Taiwanese woman I mentioned before. We go to the movies and dinner, but ALWAYS in a group. It’s really hard to get to know her. Chinese women are a tough nut to crack.

(As a quick aside here. I will use the terms Taiwanese, Taiwain People and Chinese interchangeably. These are all words that people in Taiwan use to describe themselves. After being here a year, I have a sense of when and with whom to use each term. But it’s too complicated to detail here. We can talk about it the next time I come home to visit. For now just know it all means the same thing.)

At work we have two new foreign teachers. Tina is ABC (American Born Chinese). She was actually born in Taiwan, then her family migrated to American when she was 2 years old, is a naturalized citizen and carries a US passport. She seems a sweet girl. 26 years old, funny and strangely innocent. Getting to know her will be interesting. The other new teacher is Oliver. He’s my age and from New Zealand. But get this, he’s as black as I am. When he told me he was from New Zealand, my response was “HUH?!” His story is even more complicated than mine. The short version: born in South Africa, but is of India decent. Grew up in S. Africa had a family, moved to New Zealand 13 yrs. ago, became a citizen there. Recently divorced and now teaching in Taiwan. Oliver is a funny dude. Light-hearted and kind. I look forward to getting to know him better.

Now, let me tell you about Paul. Paul is British and…..very intense. He is also the Lead Teacher amongst the foreign teachers. All of our lesson plans flow through Paul. I used to worry that I could never get them right. Well because quite frankly, I couldn’t. But I’m learning to write my plans in a way that work for him. The more we talk about my plans I’m learning that problem is in terminology, not in the idea or even the application. But because of his rather intense nature, we’re all afraid of Paul. I sit next to him. He’s a movie buff like me. So when we talk movies it’s great. When we talk work, I say little and just listen. My motto is it’s better to be the devil’s ally than be in his path. I wish the other teachers would learn this. We’d all be happier.

Paul is definitely on the inside with the Chinese administration here at school. They love him. I don’t get it. he’s rude and ill-tempered. But, maybe that’s just the difference in my mid-west U.S. upbringing and his British/European, “we’re god’s gift to the world” upbringing. BTW, Europeans in Taiwan do truly have an elitist air about them. And they really think American is stupid. Canadians are a little better, but only marginally so.

Anyway, Paul is special, and he scares the crap out of me. Everything I say to him is always safe.

Wish me luck.

D