Dear friends,
I'm behind on my blogging because I've been so incredibly busy these past four weeks. On Sunday, December 21, the Bureau of Education organized a trip for all the ETAs (English Teaching Assistants), LETs (Local English Teachers), and host families of the ETAs to go to Ping Dong county (Sandimen) & Mei-Nung. If you remember, I have already been to both of those places so I showed my co-teachers and host family around.

From left, the family of my host mom's colleague (whose son also happens to be my student!), me, co-teacher Chia-Ling, and my host family

When we went to Sandimen, I rode a swing made by the aboriginals. Two people need to be in balance to pull the rope strings that swing the swing. It was pretty fun.

Here I am on the swing...

After we played with the swing, all of the ETAs, LETs, and host families went to make clay pottery. Last time I went to Meinung, I made a cup, remember? This time, I made a wall decoration (see picture below). I had my host family and co-teachers sign it. The top two holes are for stringing ribbon through so it will hang. The bottom hole is for me to hang a picture of my host family and co-teachers.

There are lots and lots of pictures of this trip here. Be sure to check it out!

Dear friends,
I went to Sandimen Village, an aboriginal town in Pingdong County (Southern Taiwan) on Sunday. The aboriginals are famous for their artistic talent--singing, dancing, painting, and making crafts. They are characterized by darker skin and larger eyes. Up until this point, I thought there were only Han Chinese living in Taiwan. However, after seeing more and more aboriginals at my school and during this trip, I can begin to tell the difference between the two sets of people.

I went to Sandimen with Joyce, a co-worker from Ling Zhou Elementary School, her family, Kate, and Billy. We began the day by first heading to the Dragonfly Beads Art Studio, a particularly famous location in Taiwan because of its handmade beads. There are only a handful of these studios in all of Taiwan. The aboriginals use heat to melt the glass beads, which when cooled, are used to make jewelry. Each bead has a special meaning attached to it. One of their necklaces (pictured below) was used in the famous Taiwanese movie Cape No. 7. 

Above: The Pearl of Eternal Love (August)

There is a pearl for every single month. When we were at the Dragonfly Beads Art Studio, I decided to make the pearls pictured below for my family. I did not choose the pearls based on my family members' birth month, but instead chose the pearls based on aesthetics and meaning.

Top: The Pearl of Delicate Happiness (December)

Middle: The Pearl of Green Rich Harvest (March)

Bottom: The Pearl of Industrious Mind (November)

One of the artists helped me make the beads. She was part of the tribe, Paiwan, that specializes in making these glass beads. The population of the Paiwan is somewhat above 82,000. According to a brochure from the Bureau of Cultural, Park, Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Paiwan are the best at handicrafts. Apparently their expertise in handicrafts is a result of their heirarchical social structure; the nobles have a lot of time to refine their artistic skills because they do not participate in the daily-life productions. The Paiwan make a variety of objects, ranging from tools to architectural parts (i.e. wooden beams, pillars, etc.).

After making our beads, which took about 8 minutes to make and 40 minutes to cool, we headed to the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Culture Park. There, we saw the tribe members of Paiwan dance and light firecrackers. The costumes they wore were very beautiful and brightly colored. We took a bus to the indoor Naluwan Theater within the park and on the way, saw many beautiful scenic spots.

For more pictures of this cultural experience, please see this album: Taiwan Photo Set 19: Sandimen Village.