Dear friends,
I have not updated in a while because I have been so busy these past two weeks! With the end of the year coming, I have lots of things to wrap up. Two Wednesdays ago, I went to Xiao Gang High School to talk with some of my host mom's fellow English Teacher's students. They were such a special group of students! They performed a Mamma Mia song for me and then asked me lots of questions about American life, culture, and my time in Taiwan.

Singing the Mamma Mia Song

Dear friends,
I have not updated in a while regarding  my teaching experience in Taiwan because every single week I must write a weekly reflection report where I outline how my teaching is going. Thus, I tend to forget to update my website with stories about my teaching.

To remind all of you, I teach at Hua Shan Elementary School in southern Kaohsiung City. I teach 13 classes regular English classes (Grades 4-6), 2 special English classes (Grades 5-6), and Storytime (Grades 1-3). Altogether, I teach over 400 students. As you can imagine, teaching so many students makes it very difficult to remember all my students' names. I try, though, and the kids love it when I pronounce their names wrong, which I do often.

Each class I co-teach has about 30 students, which is pretty big compared to American classrooms. I teach in two classsrooms and one of the classrooms does not even have desks! This classroom is called the English Village classroom. Let me tell you a little about English Village.

You may remember from previous posts that there have been many English Village classrooms (or simulated environments of post office, restaurant, hotel, and airport) built in the elementary schools around Kaohsiung City. This was an initiative by the Kaohsiung Bureau of Education to stimulate interest in English and to help students improve their English speaking ability. Fifth graders from all over Kaohsiung must go to English Village once a year to do the English Village Activity. What is this activity you ask? Well, the Bureau has selected two environments to work with this year--the hotel and the supermarket. The Bureau would like the foreign teacher to run a dialog about the hotel or supermarket with 30 students and try to get each student to speak with the foreign teacher. How can one foreign teacher in the room manage 30 students in a dialog? Impossible, right? Well, the Fulbrighters decided to design stations and activities for English Village so that we would be able to get more individual time with the students. We created stations for each hotel and supermarket environment and divided the class of 30 into four teams of 7 or 8. Each English Village has three stations where they play English games and the fourth station is the dialog station where they speak with the foreign teacher. Each fifth grade class only gets 40 minutes at one environment (e.g. hotel) and then they must switch to the other environment (e.g. supermarket) for the next 40 minutes, and then they leave back to their school. The entire field trip to the English Village environments is only half a day.

The idea of English Village as a whole could be better. First, only fifth graders go to English Village once a year. That is not enough time to improve their English speaking ability at that age. Plus, once students get to English Village, they literally only play English games until they go to the dialog station. The dialog station is not a bad idea, but the foreign teacher only gets 5-10 minutes with each group. While I try to do the most with the dialogs, it is hard for the students to improve their speaking ability in just five minutes. So you can see how this activity, only for half a day and once a year for each fifth grade class, does not really achieve the goal of letting students improve their speaking ability. It may spark interest in learning English, but that interest is not supported or sustained. It would be good if the Bureau let each grade up until high school participate in the activities to sustain interest as the kids grow older, but right now it's a one time deal in the students' fifth grade year. Since so many English Villages have been built in elementary schools, it would be difficult to redirect funding for other projects (like reducing classroom size) now. As a person who is responsible for working at English Village, I hope this project can be better supported and the activity can be altered to be more effective. I will convey these suggestions to the Bureau at the end of this year. For now, let me get back to telling you about my teaching experience.

The English Village Classroom at Hua Shan (see how it resembles an airport? Look at the surroundings)

One of the classrooms I teach in is in the English Village Airport classroom. Of course, being an airport environment, there are no desks, but only comfortable seats. So, when my students come to class, not only are they really excited because they know me and my co-teachers always plan a fun activity/game at the end of class, but they have super comfortable seats to sit in that are incredibly close to each other so they can talk to each other in class! Ack! You can imagine the management problems we've had in classes trying to get our students to be quiet. For the most part, they students are well behaved, though.

I've noticed that Taiwanese students are pretty obedient and very good test takers. The entire society here is centered around exams. If you want to advance socially or professionally, you'd better ace that exam in your junior high school, which will determine your placement in high school, which in turn determines your placement in college and life. It's rather unfortunate that it seems your professional trajectory is locked and unable to change at such an early age.

The other classroom I teach in is the 5th grade English language classroom. This is a more traditional style classroom.

Me, Ashley, and our students in the other classroom I teach in

The classroom environment makes a big difference because it influences how students interact with each other and how they pay attention. I would much rather have my students sit in the uncomfortable wooden chairs, rather than the cushioned red seats of English Village because it forces them to not fall asleep. But, the students that come to English class never fall asleep. I say this without exaggeration. Since there are two teachers in the classroom, one of us can teach while the other "grazes" or walks around the classroom to make sure students are understanding and paying attention. It's really nice.

I will put a post about my specific co-teaching experience later. I think this blog post is pretty long. While I have to cut this post short, I want you to know that my teaching experience is going very very well. I've been learning a lot about effective teaching and how to improve as a teacher. I'm also building a strong relationship with my students, school staff, and fellow teachers. I am so lucky to be at a school where I am really getting to know the environment and people. They are willing to get to know me, too, so it's cultural exchange, both ways.

Dear friends,
It's about time I devoted an entry to my students. They make teaching so enjoyable every single day. I've made an album of them that I will update frequently here.

Do you remember that I teach at Hua Shan Elementary School and Ling Zhou ELementary School's English Village? At Hua Shan Elementary, I keep the students really busy so they usually don't have time to ask me a lot of personal questions. Although I teach at Hua Shan everyday and I feign not knowing Chinese (only works some of the time), I don't give my students a lot of opportunities to ask me personal questions (I give them lots of time to ask me culture questions, though). Please note that in Taiwan, people in general do not hold back in asking about your personal life. It's very typical. At English Village, I only teach two half days and they have the opportunity to ask me a ton of questions because there's more time available. Here are some questions I've been asked:

Curious Student 1: Teacher! How old are you?
Me: Hmm...(This is probably the third time I've been asked this question today and not just by students, but by other teachers) Good question. Guess!
Curious Student 1: 100!
Curious Student 2: 200!
Curious Student 3: 5!
Me: Wow, do I look 100 and 5 at the same time? Try again...
Curious students guess many times before finally guessing my age.

Another question I've been asked many many times:
Curious student 1: Teacher! Do you have  a boyfriend?
Me: Do you know Spider-Man? That's my boyfriend!
Curious students burst out into laughter. Sometimes, I change my boyfriend to be Batman & Superman. The kids get a kick out of it.

Dear friends,
Winter is such a splendid time--making snowmen, putting frosting on cookies, having a feast with the family, and giving gifts. In celebration of the many different ways Americans spend their holiday season, I showed my kids pictures of what some Americans do during this time. I made a powerpoint that explained:
1) shopping and exchanging/giving gifts
2) decorating your house with lights
3) how families get together and eat lots of food
4) the many celebrations that happen in America (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, winter solstice, etc.) during the winter time
5) how some little children leave milk, cookies, and a letter out for Santa Claus
and 6) the many winter sports that people do (skiing, snowboarding, snowball fights, etc.)

To me, the holiday season is incomplete if I do not give gifts to people who are close to me to show my appreciation. For Chia-Ling, Ashley, and my host family, I made each of them a photo album (idea was given to me by Joyce from Ling Zhou Elementary School who gave me my own photo album! We have a surprise for Joyce and her family later this year...shhh! I can't say anything right now because she's reading this blog). Each album took about two hours to make, but I really enjoyed making them because these people really mean a lot to me. They have made my experience in Taiwan so special!

My school celebrated Christmas with an end of the year performance. In Taiwan, not many people are Christians, but they still celebrate Christmas. It is not as sensitive of an issue here as it is in the United States where some people may be offended if you celebrate Christmas and are not a Christian or introduce Christmas into the classroom. In any case, I did my best to let my kids understand the diverse ways Americans celebrate the winter season and get together with their families.

In regards to the end of the year performance, I was not originally planning to go to the performance because I got the day-off and was going to leave for Taipei with my host family. However, some kids let me in on a secret: they were going to surprise me with a performance...about me! So, I decided to check it out.

The surprise was:

The...

...BAND!

Click on the pictures above to enlarge.

During the Christmas performance, there were classes singing holiday songs in Chinese and there was even a kung fu performance by a second grader. The parent's association of our school also got up and performed a little dance right after the aboriginal student club performed a dance. At the end, there was a plethora of classes pretending to be rock bands. The very very last performance, though, was the surprise: The Shiela Band, performing "I am falling in love with you!" Talk about a surprise! The students were lip syncing to a song and it was so cute. It was such an honor to have a band named after me and the students really touched my heart. The performance was in front of the entire school (See picture above).

I am so thankful to have such a warm school and loving students. I have really developed a strong relationship with my students and the faculty at Hua Shan. I hope my students know how lucky I feel to be their teacher. They make me smile everyday =D.

You can find more pictures here in Taiwan Photo Album 25.

Dear friends,
Last Wednesday, I was invited to Ruei-Siang Senior High School to cook with thirty-nine high school students. This was the second high school I've been to since coming to Taiwan. The first high school I visited was Xiao Gang High School (please see previous posts), where I gave a Q&A session on American life. This time, I made steamed dumplings with the students. The high school not only invited four of us Fulbrighters (me, Billy, Vicky, and Nicki), but they also invited two Rotary foreign exchange students from America and Germany. It was neat to talk to all of these high school students about their experience and life in Taiwan. We also had lengthy conversations about American pop culture. Little did I know that the students were going to put on a singing show for us! One student, Amour (His name is actually "Mo," but the students like to call him "Amour" because it stands for "love" in French), sang a song from the famous Taiwanese movie Cape No. 7 with two other students.

Amour with two other students singing songs from Cape No. 7 (left), Vicky singing with Frank (right)

Afterwards, Vicky (another Fulbrighter) got up and sang "This Moment" by Kelly Clarkson with Frank. All of the students were so talented! I know this because after Vicky and Frank sang, the entire class of 39 students got up and sang traditional Taiwanese songs.

After their singing performances, I taught the students the Hokey-Pokey and Macarena. They were not shy at all! When I taught my elementary students in English Club the Hokey-Pokey and Macarena, they were running away because they did not want to be embarrassed. The high school students, though, were not afraid to shake their bootie =D Cooking and dancing with the high school students was a great way to end a day!

All the students + me + Tai-Shia

Dear friends,
This afternoon I visited Xiao Gang Senior High School for two hours. My Host Mom teaches English at this high school and she invited me to come speak to one of her English classes. The students prepared 41 questions to ask me! Some of the questions we discussed include:
1) How are you adjusting to Taiwanese life?
2) Why did you choose to come to Taiwan?
3) Have you faced any racial discrimination since coming to Taiwan?
4) How is the education system in the United States different from the Taiwanese?
5) What suggestions do you have for preparing a speech?
6) What is the current economic situation in America?
7) How is the food different in America?
8) What is college life like in America?
9) Have you been to any pubs in America and what are the differences between pubs in America?
10) What is your favorite food in Taiwan?

In answering these questions, I delved into issues of:
China-Taiwan relations (Northern Taiwan is more blue or pro-China + Taiwan relationship and the South is more green or pro-independence), American identity (what does it mean to be American? Must you have white skin, blonde hair and blue eyes?),
Differences in American and Taiwanese students (American students: very vocal, may challenge the teacher, Taiwanese students: more obedient & respectful of the teacher),
Obesity (America has larger portion sizes than Taiwan),
Voting (Taiwanese can only vote in person, not by mail),
Teaching styles (American teachers ask students for input a lot--why do you think this? Why do you think that? Taiwanese teachers teach by memorization of sentence patterns),
UV (ultraviolet) Ratings (In America, the UV rating is zero. In Taiwan, the UV rating is seven. So, lots of people in Taiwan where funny arm garments to cover their skin when driving in the car and walking down the streets. Parasols and sunscreen are also very popular. Needless to say, I have already bought myself a parasol, sunscreen, and funny arm garments.)
Scooters (There are virtually no scooters in America, but in Taiwan, they're ubiquitous. I explained to the students that people in America drive motorcycles and they wear leather clothing to protect themselves if they get into an accident. The students did not understand why Americans wear leather because scooter drivers only wear a helmet and the funny arm garments that protect against the sun in Taiwan. If they get into an accident, they deal with the scars.)
and many other topics I can't remember off the top of my head.

I spoke to the students with a microphone, which is very common in classrooms. You're usually teaching about 30 students in each class so a microphone is necessary. When break time came, the microphone automatically turned off to signal to the teacher that it's time to let the kids go. Break time was actually sweeping time, a time where all students clean their school. I think that sweeping is such a great idea because it teaches the students how to keep areas clean and to be responsible for your own messes. I think American schools should adopt sweeping times to make it easier for the school janitor.

I forgot to mention to the students that in America, we not only don't have sweeping time in schools, but we also don't have nap time. Taiwanese students (elementary to high school) all take naps from 1pm to 1:30pm. Additionally, I forgot to mention that the Taiwanese calendar starts on a Monday whereas the American calendar starts on a Sunday. I've been teaching my fourth and fifth graders about those two differences, "no nap time in America" and "calendar starts on Sunday."

Here are some pictures of me with the high school students.

Speaking to the students. On the far right was the student host who selected questions to ask me. All the students wrote questions for me.

Another pictures with all the students

Me with some of Tai-Shia's English students

Isn't this part of the high school so cool?! The students told me that during break time, they'll stand and just look out into the distance on this cool "bridge hallway."

Dear friends,
After a week of silence, I am happy to announce that I finally got Internet installed in my apartment. I am staying with three other people in our spacious 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment complete with kitchen, living room, laundry room, basic furnishings, and a balcony. The apartment (pictures to come)  is quite comfortable despite the occasional cockroach that pops up. Our apartment is right across the street from the South gate of the Kaohsiung Cultural Center. This is an excellent location because it is near Normal University where I can take Chinese classes. There are also lots of events, fairs, festivals, and activities that happen in the Cultural Center. For instance, every morning and evening I see Tai Chi classes and aerobic dance classes taking place in the Cultural Center. I hope to join one of these Tai Chi classes in the Cultural Center when I have a more concrete idea of what my schedule will look like. My current schedule is pretty relaxed; I take the bus to San Min Elementary School every morning and sit the whole day participating in orientation activities. Do not be fooled, though. Things have only just quieted down for us Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETAs). Everyday of last week was jampacked with activities. From applying for our Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) to waddling in the water at Qijin island, the Fulbright Program Coordinators kept us extraordinarily busy. Let me recap some of the highlights of last week when I did not have Internet.

When I first arrived, I stayed in the Hotel Kingdom with a fellow Fulbrighter. Since this fellow Fulbrighter and I were arriving a day before everyone else, we walked the city. My first impressions were:
1) There are a ton of scooters in Taiwan,
2) Taiwan's stoplights have a timer on them so you know how long you have to wait for the red light (pretty nice),
3) Aforementioned scooters do not pay attention to aforementioned stoplights, making crossing the street extremely crazy,
4) People love to stare at foreigners (well, they don't like to stare at me all that much because they think I'm a local. Then, they hear me speak and they laugh because my Chinese is "ma-ma-hu-hu" (so-so) and are impressed by my Caucasian friends who speak better Mandarin than I. It's a rather funny situation.),
5) There are palm trees lining the streets, and
6) There's a 7-11 convenience store almost every two blocks! At the 7-11, you can pay your utility bill, buy a SIM card (pre-paid phone card) for your cell phone, get hot dogs, umbrellas, etc. The function of the 7-11s here in Taiwan are much more versatile than in the United States.

The night I arrived, I had dinner with just our Program Coordinators (see pictures in Photo Set 1: Arrival & Settling In) and we went to the Taiwanese Film Archive.  The next day, I met all the other Kaohsiung ETA Fulbrighters. Most of them had a layover in Taipei before coming to Kaohsiung so they were able to chat and get to know one another. On that day (the 2nd day I arrived), our program coordinators took us on an AMAZING shopping excursion.

We all loaded up onto this huge tour bus and went to IKEA and Carrefour (a large supermarket) to buy stuff for our apartments. There are twelve of us Fulbright ETAs and three apartments; four people live in each apartment. Two of the apartments are near each other and are in the same security-guarded complex (that's my apartment, Apartment A, and Apartment B). Apartment C is about two blocks from where we live. We all loaded up into this tour bus and went shopping for four people and an apartment. You'll see pictures of us fooling around in IKEA (sitting at desks) here. After buying all this stuff, we moved into our apartments and were utterly exhausted the rest of the night.

The next day, we rested and took a boat tour on the "Love River" and went to Qijin island. It was incredibly fun and I got to see much of Taiwan. On the boat tour, I saw the Hong Kong Navy (I'm not too sure why it was there), and an oil rig. When we arrived at Qijin, a group of us decided to hike to the top of the lighthouse on Qijin island. The lighthouse was closed, but the scenic overlooks were absolutely beautiful. I had yummy barbecued squid for dinner later that day at Qijin. There was also a Taiwanese boy band playing in the open space at Qijin island. You'll see in the pictures a group dancing and holding a boat on top of their heads.

During the next few days, we applied for our ARCs (Alien Resident Certificate) visited Xiziwan Beach, visited English Village (a place where 5th graders and other students can come practice prearranged English dialogs), and ate/shopped at the night markets (specifically Liuhe Yeshi and Zhong Xiao).

Xiziwan Beach was very windy when we went, but the restaurant there was excellent. I've been eating some amazing food here in Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung is a seaport so there's lots and lots of seafood--my favorite!

In Kaohsiung, the government has been spending lots of money on establishing "English Village" sites. These are places where students can go to practice specific English dialogs. Since Kaohsiung, Taiwan will be hosting the 2009 World Games, the government wants the students to be able to interact with English speakers and introduce to them the city's history and people. However, the sites are not exclusively geared toward this goal. The English Village sites have over 20 environments (i.e. hotel, grocery store, airport, bank, post office, etc.) where Taiwanese children can practice conversational English. The English Village we went to in Ling Zhou was housed in a huge building with four levels. The ETAs will be participating in English Village a few hours each week in addition to teaching English at a specific school.

After visiting both Xiziwan Beach and one of the English Villages, the next memorable outing was at the night markets! I really like the night markets because I can practice bargaining. I got a wallet here for NT$150, which is a little over US$4. The food at the night markets were amazing. They had fish balls, barbecued squid (like the kind I ate at Qijin), bubble tea (which I never tasted until coming to Taiwan), and other assorted seafood. Liuhe Yeshi is the tourist night market and Zhong Xiao is a night market by where we live.

We've been very busy these past few weeks and now that I have Internet, I'll be updating much more frequently. This weekend, I planned a day trip for all of us Fulbrighters to go to Lotus Lake (Lianchitan) to visit Confucius Temple (Kong Miao), Spring and Autumn Pavilions (ChunQiu Ge), and the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (Longhu Ta). It should be amazing and I hope the weather will be nice.

The weather so far has been very very humid and hot. I think it's a little more intense than Hong Kong. Kaohsiung is past the Tropic of Cancer so I wouldn't expect it to be cooler. I was very worried about the humidity damaging my clothes, but I bought so many water absorbers for my drawers and closet that I think I'm fine. My apartment also bought a dehumidifier to help dry our clothes in the laundry room.  If you come visit me, though, be ready to get drenched in sweat from the hot and wet climate.

So far, I am loving Taiwan and am so excited to meet the Local English Teachers (LETs). We meet them next week and depending on who we choose, we will go to their school. The Fulbright ETAs will all be teaching at elementary schools because our Kaohsiung group is the pilot group; the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange wants to be sure that the program is successful before moving it to the middle school level. It has been so much fun and I can't wait to begin the year, meet my kids, and mix with the locals!