Work Ethic, Etc.

The work ethic here in Taiwan is absolutely nuts. Just to give you some idea: I leave school between 5 and 5:30 pm most days, after coming in at 7:30. The Chinese teachers leave anywhere between 5:30 and 7 pm. And the staff--at least the ESL staff--leaves after 9. I know this because I just got home after spending several hours either in a meeting or decorating for Halloween. It is now 9:10ish. There were still 6 people in the ESL staff room. I'm beginning to think an understaffed Bilingual school with separate faculties is the most time intensive and least efficient type of school imaginable. So much miscommunication and busy work it's unreal.

Speaking of Halloween, the school I work for LOVES Halloween. I have gathered from my Chinese co-teacher that a lot of Taiwanese, maybe even most Taiwanese, love Halloween. The amount of effort that is being put into decorating the classes, preparing for the Halloween party-thing, making costumes, is, again, unreal. And they assume it is the same in the States. While it might be for some, I cannot think of any point in my schooling where every single classroom was exploding with cheap Halloween props and posters. And bear in mind this is not an encouraged extra thing for my school; this is a mandatory show and spectacle every single class must take part in. All for the sake of the chairman, who will circumambulate the school four times (for four floors), more than likely nodding and smiling all the while, and then vanish.