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,
Last weekend, I went to Nantou and Jiji in central Taiwan. My host mom is a high school English teacher and her school participated in the Natural Disaster Youth Summit (NDYS) 2009. The NDYS Summit is a conference for high schoolers all over the world to discuss how to prevent natural disasters. Students present their country's most common natural disasters and then discuss with others how to prevent, control, and anticipate these events. NDYS was formed by a group of teachers in 2004 and the first conference was held in Kobe, Japan. This year, the conference was hosted by Taiwan because it is the ten year anniversary of the devastating JiJi earthquake that struck central Taiwan.

The participating countries this year included Russia, Turkey, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, and Taiwan. The two-day conference was filled with lots of activities. The students each gave 7-9 minute presentations on their region's natural disasters, participated in a video conference with other NDYS teams around the world, and visited Nantou & Jiji, the places struck by the September 21, 1999 earthquake (the picture to the left is a piece of the Earth's crust where distinct layers in the Chenglongpu fault line are visible). The students also discussed with each other their different cultures, lifestyles, and education systems. I think NDYS is a really rich experience for these students and I wish I could have had something like this back in the United States. Perhaps when I go back to the U.S., I can do something similar to NDYS.

The September 21, 1999 earthquake was one of the most devastating earthquakes to ever hit Taiwan. At 1:47 am that day, Nantou and JiJi in central Taiwan were hit by this 7.3 magnitude earthquake. According to the 9-21 Museum brochure, the earthquake killed 2,415 people, injured 11,305 and caused NT$300 billion dollars in property damage. To reflect on this event, to remember lost loved ones, and to educate people about earthquakes, the Taiwanese built the 921 Earthquake Museum in Nantou. We visited this museum on the second day of the conference. The museum is really interesting because it's built on the Chenglongpu fault line and there are many structures around the museum that reflect the devastation the earthquake caused. If you look at the pictures, an elementary school building that is a part of the museum has utterly collapsed except for a few columns.

The museum and the conference was a really memorable experience. To see such enthusiastic and passionate students engaging in discussions on how to live in harmony with nature was really refreshing.

Feel free to look at more pictures from the conference here.

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."