Let's just be friends.

Typed on September 22nd, waiting to be proofed, never done, posted now.

Well, at school yesterday, I was having trouble teaching. My Kindergarten is next to the biggest naval base in Taiwan. Almost every day, when I drive to school, I pass flatbed trucks with tanks loaded on top going into or out of the base. On my way home, I have to park in the main base entrance gate to make my left turn at the light, it's interesting to see the guards and what machine gun they are carrying for the day, sometimes M-16s, sometimes M-4s and when it's wet, they have this little green zippered bag over top with only the trigger sticking out.
Anyways, Friday, there were fighter squadrons flying overhead and they were so noisy, usually we get a squadron every 90 minutes or so, but these just kept coming, along with choppers and big C-130 radar planes. This never happens in Canada.
Well, thanks to Wikipedia, I looked up the Taiwanese military and they could totally kick Canada's ass although the whole country fits between Saskatoon and Regina.
Both have 4 subs, but Taiwan's work. Taiwan has 7 destroyers to Canada's 3, and 22 Frigates to Canada's 12. This is not terribly different except for the fact that Canada has 202,973km to Taiwan's 1,566km a ratio of 130 to 1.
The big difference is the Army and Air force. Canada's 66 Leopard Tanks (120mm and 62 tons)
would be up against Taiwan's 1831 tanks (M60 Pattons 105mm and 60 tons). At Taiwan's 32,26okm2 to Canada's 9,220,970km2 land area, that would put Taiwan at a much higher tank density. And Canada's 98 fighter jets (80 F-18s) to Taiwan's 421+ fighters (146 F-16s, 57 Mirage 2000s, 128 IDF Sky sword IIs, and 90+ F-5s) just doesn't stack up well. Also, Taiwan has 290,000 active troops (9th in world) for Canada's 62,300 (77th).
However, Taiwan spends only half of what Canada does on military, 8B compared to 16B, maybe it's the wages that are paid to soldiers and maintenance, also, maybe fuel costs as Taiwan never really needs to go far.
Well, lets just say that Taiwan stretches from North Battleford to Regina and is about 100km wide... and it would probably kick Canada's ass. Nice to know that Canada doesn't need all the investment in protection that some countries have.

However... this is nothing on what China's got... I'm not going to even go there.

An Offer I Can't Refuse.

Well, I quit my job last Friday, my afternoon Christian school, my ARC (paper that lets me live in Taiwan) school. It was tough... she told me I had to stay at least the semester, another 5 months, and I said that I can promise two weeks, and we can hope for a little more.

It came down to me making 20% of my wage at this school and taking up about 70% of my extra work time (most of the extra work I do, is for this school). A year ago, I signed with the school and told her I wanted to help her build her school for a year. In return, I start my employment with a 6 week vacation and she applies all my paperwork for me so that I have all the benefits of citizenship while on vacation (health care, visa, aid, retaining my drivers license and bank stuff). My year is up and there have been MANY bumps along the way, mostly because my boss is new at this school thing, though she tries.

The first day at that school, I watched a class to see what was going on; the teacher was reading the kids a story book and 3 of them were climbing up his shirt and trying to wrestle the book from him as he read, the other three students were rolling around on the floor playing, completely oblivious to the story. Anyways, my student numbers have tripled, EVERY student who has come to try for one day has signed up, and I haven't lost a student unless they have moved houses. Sounds like a good deal to me. I have picked ALL the books and thrown out the old ones (ten years old), written question books for the reading books, written countless tests, designed homework and homework books, made flashcards, installed a student reward system and punishment system complete with toys and enforced a 'No Chinese' environment within the school that is fairly well followed. I designed DM (flyers) that have yet to be distributed and simply managed to kill or maim any students in the process.

Contract expired and after 4 months of requesting to go over a new contract, I quit. We did do a simple contract for the government, but it's simply to create valid paperwork (Yes, I know, but it's complicated and common here, I know what I'm doing). So, the actual contract never got discussed or resigned. I asked for a raise and a bonus (the usual practice) and to be paid something for the last test I did (it took me a long time to write).

Anyways, the school can't afford to give me a raise or a bonus... partly because the boss is paying off the original school owner for purchase of the school last year... not really my problem. As for the test payment... I am a teacher, not a blue collar worker, so it is my duty to do this extra stuff on my own account. Fair enough, but every other school I have worked for has managed to sort this out, and I'm not building their curriculum for them; it's also more or less the Taiwanese mentality. Like I said, I was getting a 'decent' wage, and yes, what she said is true, it's a teacher's responsibility. But, if I alone am raising this school from the depths, and the school is making a crap load of money because of it, I simply want my cut. Maybe a simple difference of opinion, but that's life. The school was no longer working for me and I had fulfilled my promise. So, that was it; I quit with two weeks notice and told her maybe more, depending on my schedule.

The money was merely the chosen straw for the ill-fated camel. Before, there were some other issues bordering on racism that left a foul taste in my mouth and that affected my social life. When I went to Thailand, my school had asked me to find a substitute teacher, I asked a friend who I knew had good students, as I had taught for him before. She didn't want him because she once had a poor teacher by the same name, I told her it wasn't the same teacher but she wanted to play it safe and get some one else. So, my best friend said he'd do it, it was 34C out and his face was a little red... she didn't want him either because he was an alcoholic (red face), he hasn't had a single beer for a year but because I'm not Taiwanese or a member of the church, she can't take my word for it. She trusts me, but I'm a foreigner and foreigners lie... huh? Nothing to do with the fact that I have taught there for a year and haven't lied to her yet. She seems to be more conscious of this issue and has seemed to see the light... or been more careful with what she says. I think she's trying to get herself sorted.

I currently have a few pending job offers. All paying good money and all requiring some input on my part. Afternoon nap time might be nice, too.

Well, she asked for a lunch date with me today... apparently I'm not allowed to quit because the school can't afford it. Last week, she said the school couldn't afford to pay me an annual bonus or give me a 4% raise. Today she offered me a 20% raise and a bonus as well as half pay for anything I do that isn't teaching and it's up to me what and if I do. I was wanting a 7% raise, so 20% seems nice. Anyways, so I have decisions to make. It wasn't about the money, I just wanted to feel a little more appreciated and money seems to be the only actual way to keep score. "Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score." - Donald Trump.

Quitting was a hard decision to make, I thought it was over, now it just gets harder, but little chance of a poor outcome. I told her I'll let her know on Thursday, any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm leaning at going back, just because I get to do what I like and the pay is better than it should be... to make up for what it should have been? I did say that if I stay, it won't be for a year, but it will be for a while. I feel that it's up to an employer to evaluate it's workers and to give them worth, it's the employee's decision whether to accept the price.

Cons... It's a church school, meaning they take the kids that have issues that the other schools may not take, makes for a much more interesting class when into the second week; you tell a kid to stop running with a pencil and he takes a running charge at you with it yelling "Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h!". I have since picked him up, thrown him out on the balcony, and when he's banging on the door, opened the hose on him through the screen door... That did it.

The best part...
It feels damn good to be non-disposable or even essential to an institution. I like the fact that there's no way for her to let me go and she'll do whatever it takes, I just wish she would have done it willingly off the bat.