We had our first two classroom skypings today: dad (and then mom and Julia) caught us just starting the morning lessons, and later Brian H. almost won the “Hey Cow!” competition, except Skype for Mac apparently doesn’t do video yet.
It was the first time for the kids and they were a little intimidated, but once they do it one or two more times they’ll be really into it (if the first day of class is any indication).
———
Had the webcam aimed into class all day. During nap time (even working adults take ‘siestas’ here) the students were goofing off but thinking they were getting away with it. They were getting out of their seats, looking at the webcam stashed in the corner, and making funny faces. What they didn’t know was that I was in our office doing homework, and recording everything. After nap time I said, “Time to watch a movie!” and they were all excited (we use powerpoint and video a lot). “We’re going to watch a movie called ‘Nap Time at P.E.I.’” They weren’t really listening (also happens a lot) because they were all excited about the movie. It was soooooo funny to watch the realization hit their little faces. (In the end it was all a big joke and we scored some major cool points.)
———
We’re leaving for two nights in Hong Kong on Sunday, travel and lodging compliments of our employer… Happy Valentine’s Day to us! (We have to apply for our work visas from outside Taiwan). That’s also when our first two major papers are due for our online component of our grad classes. We’ll try and crank them out before we leave, but at that’s gonna rough… it’ll probably boil down to getting an extension or just taking the grade.
———
We found the ‘wet market’ in our neighbourhood (open during the day for fresh produce, meat, and seafood) and… wow. Let’s just say they don’t let anything go to waste. We didn’t take pictures because we were just passing through and didn’t want to get all up in people’s business. Once we’re regular grocery shoppers and they recognize us we’ll get some photos.
