Taiwan
Taiwan Photo Set 44: Hualien Trip Day 3
Date: June 27-29, 2009
Location: Hualien, Taiwan
Who: Joyce & her family, Kate, me, and friends
Taiwan Photo Set 43: Hualien Trip Day 2
Date: June 27-29, 2009
Location: Hualien, Taiwan
Who: Joyce & her family, Kate, me, and friends
Taiwan Photo Set 42: Hualien Trip Day 1
Date: June 27-29, 2009
Location: Hualien, Taiwan
Who: Joyce & her family, Kate, me, and friends
Taiwan Photo Set 41: Farewell Hua Shan Elementary School
Date: June 12-18, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: My students & I
Taiwan Photo Set 40: Farewell Fulbright & Dr. Wu
Date: June 12-13, 2009
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Who: Fulbrighters, Foundation for Scholarly Exchange staff, honored guests
Taiwan Photo Set 39: Sleepless in Keelung
Date: June 6-7, 2009
Location: Keelung & Jiu Fen, Taiwan
Who: My host family, Chia-Ling, and I
Taiwan Photo Set 38: Talk with High School Students & My Early Birthday
Date: June 3, 2009 (talk with high schoolers) and June 4, 2009 (early birthday dinner)
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Host mom, most of the Fulbright ETAs, and I
Taiwan Photo Set 37: Dragon Boat Competition
Date: May 25-26, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: All 12 Fulbrighters + 18 Taiwanese to form a 30 member team
Taiwan Photo Set 36: The Kaohsiung Project
Date: May 23-24, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: All 12 Fulbrighters
Taiwan Photo Set 35: Hot Springs, White Water Rafting, & Green Island Trip to Eastern Taiwan!
Date: May 15-17, 2009
Location: Ruesue, Tai-dong, & Green Island
Who: 12 Kaohsiung Fulbright ETAs
Taiwan Photo Set 34: Spring Performance
Hua Shan Elementary School's Spring performance held outside of Xiao Gang Hospital. The community came to watch my school and other schools in the county perform a variety of dances, skits, songs, and...a Reader's Theater performance by my group of English students. My students were very nervous, but they did so well! You can see the video here.
Date: April 18, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Some select English students, Ashley, Yi-Ling, and I
Taiwan Photo Set 33: Let's Barbecue!
A day spent at Sugar Park in the Nanzih District. I went barbecuing with Joyce's family and friends. That day, I saw a special kind of barbecuing called Kong Tou Yeh (in Taiwanese). See Taiwan blog for more details.
Date: April 5, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Joyce's family, friends, and I
Taiwan Photo Set 32: Cherry Blossoms at Alishan
Visiting Alishan National Forest Recreation Area in central Taiwan to see the Cherry Blossoms (Japanese: Sakura). My host family took me and we spent one day hiking the trails and looking at the beautiful cherry blossoms. We also, of course, took lots of jumping pictures =D. Enjoy!
Date: March 23, 2009
Location: Alishan, Taiwan (central Taiwan)
Who: My host family & I
Taiwan Photo Set 31: NDYS- Natural Disaster Youth Summit 2009
My host mom's high school, Xiao Gang, participated in the "Natural Disaster Youth Summit (NDYS) 2009" Conference. This year's conference was hosted by Taiwan because it was the ten-year anniversary of a devastating earthquake that hit Taiwan in 1999. The Natural Disaster Youth Summit is a conference for high schoolers from all over the world to discuss how to prevent natural disasters.
Date: March 14-15, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Nantou, & Jiji, Taiwan
Who: My host family, Indonesian students, Turkish students, Japanese students, Xiao Gang High School students, and me
Taiwan Photo Set 30: Biking, biking, biking!
A day of biking with my host family. We rode from Love River to Dream Mall to Qijing Island and back to Love River. We spent a total of 2-3 hours biking. My host family just recently bought these cool collapsible bikes. When we were at Qijing Island, we ate squid on a stick =D.
Date: January 18, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: My host family & I
Taiwan Photo Set 29: Fulbright Mid-Year Conference in Kending
We spent three days in Kending, Taiwan for our Mid-Year Conference. I was kissed by a beluga (See blog =D). We went to the beach, hiked in Kending National Park, observed egrets, saw caves, ate amazing food, and stayed at the Cesar Hotel (same place I stayed at with my host family). Each grantee also gave a presentation on their work so far in Taiwan.
Date: January 14-17, 2009
Location: Kending, Taiwan
Who: All 50 Fulbrighters (some were absent because they already left Taiwan), Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (FSE) staff, Dr. Wu Jing-jyi
Taiwan Photo Set 28: My Students at Hua Shan =D
My cute students at Hua Shan Elementary School. These are pictures from class and from English Club at my school. Enjoy! I will periodically update this album, so check back often.
Date: September 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: My students, me, Chia-Ling, & Ashley
Taiwan Photo Set 27: Happy New Year 2009 in Taipei!
Happy New Year! I spent the new year in Taipei. I went with Kate, a fellow Fulbrighter, and a friend from college, Chao-Wei. This was a once in a lifetime experience. Standing outside Taipei 101, listening to the outdoor concert, and waiting for fireworks was a lot of fun, but very tiring. The experience is similar to anyone who has stood outside Times Square for New Year's Eve in New York City, which I did for about 10 minutes at 11pm and then decided to leave because it was too crowded. Taipei 101 was amazing! See the pictures for yourself. The fireworks only lasted for about 2-3 minutes, though.
Date: December 31-January 2, 2008/9
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Who: Me, Kate, Chao-Wei, Chao-Wei's friends
Taiwan Photo Set 26: Lang Lang's Piano Concert in Taipei
Lang Lang is the Chinese pianist who played at the Beijing Olympics 2008. This was the only concert he held in Taiwan and my host family got tickets to see him play. He was amazing--smiling and intimately moving with the music. He did two encores and I got his signature...twice! See blog =D. I also briefly walked with him and I snapped a picture of him, but it came out blurry! Argh. You'll see it in the album.
Date: December 26-27, 2008
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Who: Lang Lang, me, host family
Taiwan Photo Set 25: Christmas at Hua Shan
I celebrated Christmas many times this holiday season and with many different people. I had a Christmas party with fellow Taiwanese teachers, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and our Fulbright Kaohsiung English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) each. But, the one group I want to highlight the celebration of the winter season is the one with my students. I showed them a powerpoint explaining the winter festivities that take place in America and how many people celebrate the holiday season. There was also a Christmas performance at my school and the last performance was "The Shiela Band" singing "I am falling in love with you." Grade 6 Class 2, surprised me in front of the whole school with this performance!
Date: December 27, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Me, Hua Shan Elementary School, cute kids
Taiwan Photo Set 24: Ping Dong Trip
I went with my host family and Local English Teachers (LETs) to Ping Dong County. I've already been there, so I played host to some of the locations. It was a one day trip and we played with aboriginal swings, jumped on bridges (well, at least I did--you know how I like to jump on bridges =D), and made clay pottery. Thank you Kaohsiung Bureau of Education for organizing this trip.
Date: December 21, 2008
Location: Sandimen & Meinung (Ping Dong County), Taiwan
Who: All ETAs, All LETs, and host families
Taiwan Photo Set 23: Kending With My Host Family
The second trip to Kending was with my host family. We stayed at the Cesar Hotel/Resort, the nicest resort in Kending. We began our trip by biking to the most Southern point in Taiwan. We passed by Chuan Fan Shih Rock and the lighthouse tower in Oluanpi Park. We also went to the beach, swam in the swimming pool, went to the nightmarket, and saw a live concert in one day. The next day, we went hiking in Kending National Forest. There was a cave/gorge that we had to climb through (you'll see pictures in the album). We also visited the hotel Chateaux, which was used in the film Cape No. 7. On the way back to Kaohsiung, we stopped by Dapeng Sports Area. Very cool.
Date: December14-15, 2008
Location: Kending, Taiwan
Who: Me, Tai-Shia, Chung-Shih, & Scarlet
Taiwan Photo Set 22.B: 6th Grade Field Trip to Danshui, Taipei, and Taoyuan
The last two days of my 3-day field trip. Warning, this album has over 200+ photos =D so be prepared to play the music over again. We went to Taipei Zoo and then Danshui, visiting the old street and Dr. Mackey's hospital (Please see blog for details). We rode a boat to a small island off of Taiwan and took lots of beautiful sunset pictures. On the last day, we went to Taohuan's LeoFoo Village Theme Park, the equivalent of Disneyland in Taiwan. It was amazing.
Date: December 10-13, 2009
Location: Danshui, Taipei, Taoyuan, & Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Me, Chia-Ling, 7 other teachers, 150 6th graders from Hua Shan Elementary School, and 5 tour guides
Taiwan Photo Set 22.A: 6th Grade Field Trip to TaiChung and Xin-Zhu
The beginning of the three-day trip around Taiwan. First stop: Going to Tai-Chung to ride bikes. Second stop: Riding amusement park rides at Xin-Zhu. Please see blog for details and a neat story that happened to me at Xin-zhu.
Date: December 10-13, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taichung, & Xin-Zhu, Taiwan
Who: Me, Chia-Ling, 7 other teachers, 150 6th graders from Hua Shan Elementary School, and 5 tour guides
Taiwan Photo Set 21: Kending with Joyce's Family
The first trip to Kending with Joyce from Ling Zhou Elementary School. We spent one day in Kending touring all the Cape No. 7 film spots in Hengchun and touring some scenic spots.
Date: December 7, 2008
Location: Kending, Taiwan
Who: Me, Kate, Joyce, Nicole, and Derek
Taiwan Photo Set 20: Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, Gobble!
Thanksgiving was spent at the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) Chief Bureau's house. It was a delicious meal filled with good company, good wine, and good music. Some individuals helped bake the cookies and apple pie for dessert. The Fulbrighters sat around in a circle and said thanks for many people.
Date: November 27, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Fulbright ETAs, our Local English Teachers (LETs), other foreigners from Kaohsiung
Taiwan Photo Set 19: Sandimen Village
Sandimen Village, an aboriginal town in Pingdong County (Southern Taiwan), is famous for its handicrafts. I made several necklaces there that were made famous by the movie, Cape No. 7 (See blog). We went to both the Dragonfly Beads Art Studio and the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Culture Park.
Date: November 23, 2008
Location: Sandimen, Taiwan
Who: Me, Joyce (co-worker from Ling Zhou Elementary School), Joyce's family, Kate, & Billy
Taiwan Photo Set 18: Hua Shan's 10-Year Anniversary Celebration
Hua Shan's 10-year anniversary was a huge celebration! Grade 2 performed a pom-pom dance; Grade 3 performed a hand-clapping dance; Grade 4 a fan dance, martial arts fight, and lion dance; Grade 5 "We will, we will rock you" dance, drum performance, and flag spectacle; Grade 1: Spongebob Square Pants "I love to take a bath" dance; and Grade 6: Body Combat dance. See blog for more details.
Date: November 8, 2008
Location: Hua Shan Elementary School, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Me, all of Hua Shan Elementary School, & Dr. Phil came along to the event
Taiwan Photo Set 17: Go! Go! Go! - Hua Shan's Relay Race Day!
Hua Shan Elementary School has a special relay race each year amongst its students. All the students in different classes compete within their grade (3rd grade, class 1 vs. 3rd grade, class 2, etc.). For the relay race, Hua Shan booked the junior high school track and field. Only third through 6th grade competed today. The first and second graders just watched. It was all very cute. See blog for more details.
Date: November 7, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Me & all of Hua Shan Elementary School
Taiwan Photo Set 16: Wang Steak House, Visiting the Old British Consulate (Xiziwan Beach), & Korfball Semi-Final World Game in Taiwan
My friend Margaret B. came to visit me from Nanjing and she met my host family. We went to Wang Steak House and then to the Old British Consulate building in Xiziwan. This album also includes pictures from the World Games Semi-Final Korfball competition. I went with Hua Shan's teachers, administrators, and students. We were leading the cheers at the game. Pretty amazing!
Date: November 2 & 6, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Me, my host family, Margaret B, sports class, Hua Shan's teachers & administrators
Taiwan Photo Set 15: Boo! Happy Halloween!
Halloween activities at Hua Shan Elementary School. Ashley, Chia-Ling, and I had our students make their own face masks. Check out the photos from Halloween week.
Date: October 24-31, 2008
Location: Hua Shan Elementary School, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Grades 4-6, Ashley, Chia-Ling, and me
Taiwan Photo Set 14: Final Baseball Game of the Season
I went to the final baseball game of the season. The teams playing were Tainan's Lions and Taipei's Elephants Brother. The Lions and the Elephants Brother were fighting to play in the pseudo-World Series of Asia. The winning team would play in Japan. This is the second baseball game I've attended since coming to Taiwan. At this game, we got excellent seats, right behind the batter's cage. You'll like the pictures =D
Date: October 26, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Me, two other Fulbrighters, and co-workers from Hua Shan Elementary School
Taiwan Photo Set 13: National Athletic Event & Dancing at a Mexican Restaurant
This album features inflatable teletubbies, the mascots of the National Athletic Event and of the World Games, Kaohsiung Arena stadium, and a few of us dancing at a Mexican Restaurant after the event.
Date: October 25, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Most Fulbrighters and some Local English Teachers (LETs that we co-teach with)
Taiwan Photo Set 12: Going to HanShin Department Store, a Baseball Game, Kaohsiung Seaport, & Watching Airplanes Take-Off & Land
During this weekend, I went shopping at a huge department store, HanShin. The department store has pretty unique architecture as you'll see in the pictures. The next day, I went to a baseball game with a few ETAs. See blog for more details. The day after that, I went with my host family, Dani and Dan (two other English Teaching Assistants) to Kaohsiung Seaport and a very special place where you can watch the airplanes take-off and land.
Date: October 17-19, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Me, my host family, some of the ETAs (Dani, Dan, Kate, and Vicky)
Taiwan Photo Set 11: 10/10 Celebration in Taipei, National Palace Museum (again), and National Taiwan University Campus
On October 10 (10/10), Taiwan's National Holiday, all the Fulbrighters went to Taipei for a special reception. The Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited all of us to this special event. If you look at the photos, you'll see a special guest at the reception, President Ma Ying Jeoh! After the 10/10 celebration, a few of us visited the National Palace Museum and the campus of National Taiwan University. Check out the photos.
Date: October 10, 2008
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Who: All 12 Fulbrighters
Taiwan Photo Set 10: Mei-Nung
Here are a few pictures of a Hakka Village in Taiwan that I visited. It is famous for it's hand-painted umbrellas and hand-made pottery. Please see blog for more details.
Date: October 5, 2008
Location: Mei-Nung, Taiwan
Who: Me, Patty (a local English teacher), 2 Taiwanese friends, and 5 other Fulbrighters
*UPDATED* Taiwan Photo Set 9: Sports Class Fun!
Since the sports class at Hua Shan Elementary School will be having so many tournaments throughout the year, I think it's appropriate to devote an entire photo album to their endeavors. This album will be updated periodically, so please check back often.
Date: October 3, 2008 - June 30, 2009
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Me, Dan, other teachers, & the Sports Class
Taiwan Photo Set 8: Visiting Confucius Temple (Kong Miao) in Tainan
The week before Confucius Teacher's Day, I went to the Confucius Temple in Tainan with my host family. This temple was actually the first school in Taiwan. We took a tour of the school and temple (together, they make up Confucius Temple) and the tour guide told us all about the significance of the architecture.
Date: September 20, 2008
Location: Tainan, Taiwan
Who: Me and my host family
Taiwan Photo Set 7: Mid-Autumn Moon Festival & Meeting My Host Family (We are family!)
The week of Mid-Autumn Moon Festival was very busy and fun (See blog). I met my host family and they took me hiking up Pineapple Mountain near Chengqing Hu (Crystal Clear Lake). We ate lots and lots of food.
Date: September 12-14, 2008
Location: East of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Who: Me, my host family, two ETAs (English Teaching Assistants, also my roomates)
Taiwan Photo Set 6: Visiting Taipei for a Fulbright Conference
All the Fulbrighters went to Taipei for an orientation conference. I was able to see Chang Kai Shek Memorial, the National Palace Museum, and Taipei 101. I also ate at Din Tai Fung and the Skyline restaurant (in the building that used to be the tallest building in Taiwan until Taipei 101).
Date: September 4-7, 2008
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Who: All 12 Fulbrighters
Taiwan Photo Set 5: Hiking up "A Saint's Mountain" (Guan Yin Shan) & Going to Crystal Clear Lake (Chengqing Hu)
A local English teacher took a fellow Fulbrighter and me to "A Saint's Mountain" & Crystal Clear Lake. It was very beautiful and we got a full day workout.
Date: August 31, 2008
Location: North (Guan Yin Shan) & East (Chengqing Hu) of Kaohsiung Cultural Center
Who: One fellow Fulbrighter, a local English teacher, and me
Taiwan Photo Set 4: Love River (Aihe) Trip
We did an afternoon trip to visit the Lover River in Kaohsiung. We took a "love boat" tour on the river and I got a glass angel handmade for me as a gift by one of the street vendors. What a surprise! There was also a fireworks display on the river in celebration of ghost month. See blog for more information.
Date: August 16, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: All 12 of us Kaohsiung Fulbrighters
Taiwan Photo Set 3: Taiwan Central Park Metro, English Village, Xiziwan Beach, & Karaoke
This album is a mix of things we did the first week we arrived. We experimented with the metro system and went to the Taiwan Central Park Metro. We also went to the "English Village," a place where 5th grade students practice English. Afterwards, we headed to Xiziwan beach. The beach was very windy, but it was still very fun.
Date: August 4 - 8, 2008
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Who: Fulbrighters, members of the Taiwan Bureau of Education
Taiwan Photo Set 2: Qijin Island Visit
On Day 3 after arrival, Fulbright took us to Qijin Island where we tasted yummy seafood (Please see "Taiwan Photo Set: Food"). Qijin is the little island to the West of Kaohsiung.
Date: August 3, 2008
Location: Qijin Island, Taiwan
Who: Fulbrighters & local Taiwanese
Taiwan Photo Set 1: Arrival in Taiwan & Settling in!
My arrival in Taiwan where I met our Fulbright Program coordinators and other fellow English Teaching Assistants (ETAs). These pictures show my stay in the hotel the first night, going to the Film Archive Center, meeting the other Fulbrighters, and then our enormous shopping excursion at Carrefour and IKEA to get NT$15,000 worth of household necessities (i.e. furniture, bed spreads, dehumidifers, water boilers, etc.) Read more about this on my Blog.
Date: July 31-August 2, 2008 (Yes, this was only about three days)
Location: Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Who: Me, Other Fulbrighters, Fulbright Program Coordinators
Taiwan Photo Set: *FOOD*
Pictures of different dishes I've tasted throughout my journey in Taiwan. This album is updated frequently so please check back.
Date: July 31, 2008 - July 1, 2009
Location: All over Taiwan
Who: Me & lots of seafood