Taiwan from the boat on the way to Turtle Island.

Wednesday, all twelve of us (plus some staff members) went to Turtle Island. Described to me as being "incredible" and "something you shouldn't miss," one could say I was looking forward to it. So called Turtle Island for its shape from an aerial view (see the picture below), it has a volcanic terrain, lots of steep cliffs, and amazing views from the top.View from above. Not taken by me.

Approaching the island.



The hot spring in the ocean made that part of the water turn a lighter color. It also made for a distinctly sulfur smell.

Before we got to the island, we went looking for dolphins. After going for about 20 minutes with nothing, except impending sea-sickness for some, dolphins were spotted off the left side of the boat. It was insane. The boat guy said there were something like 200 dolphins swimming around us, jumping. It was something that my camera couldn't even capture. And maybe that's better- I got to really be in the moment.

We finally got to Turtle Island were told that it was 706 steps to the top. A lot, true, but not too bad, we thought. We received sticks to battle off any of the poisonous snakes we should come across and started up.

1,706 steps later, we reached the top.

Exhausted, but thrilled with the view, we had lunch at the top before heading back down.

Me, Jenny and Meg: happy and tired.

Views from the top. The pictures don't really do it justice.

So after an exciting Wednesday, it was back to school for a solid 6 periods of teaching on Thursday. The highlight of the day: jump roping with the first graders. I don't know what they were most surprised about: the fact that I COULD jump rope, or the fact that I WOULD with them.

Lucky, with said jump rope

One of the "teacherteacherteacherteacher...hi!" girls.

The cousin of a first grader. All the way from Japan- he was in school for a week and a half with us. I wasn't the only foreigner! He already spoke Japanese and Chinese and for this past week, he was also learning Taiwanese and English. Get 'em in while you're young, I suppose...

This weekend was the official Fulbright orientation in Taipei. It was a long long weekend filled with information, meeting new people, and late nights. Hearing what the junior and senior fellows were studying was interesting, and has made me start thinking about maybe getting my PhD some day. Not planning too much, or anything. Unfortunately, while there were plenty of photo opportunities this weekend, I left my camera in the hotel most of the time.

One thing that I would have been unable to capture on film was the earthquake we had in the wee hours on Friday morning. Apparently the epicenter was in Yilan, so I suppose it was lucky we were in Taipei all weekend (although, we returned to find nothing had changed in our apartment). Another cool thing: Jenny and I were on the train home from Taipei on Sunday and saw dolphins as we rode by the ocean. You know, just a normal day in Taiwan.

School today was good. I'm trying to balance teaching the first grader who can spell "insect" and the ones that refuse to repeat their names. Weekly English starts this week: I'll tape myself (and Anne, probably) teaching "useful" English phrases ("Where is the bathroom?" "Down the hall, on the right side." useful.) which the students will learn, then have to fill out a chart, proving that they've said these phrases to at least 6 people. I'm struggling with this sort of "crash course" English- just the basic stuff that the students need to communicate. So much of the teaching is just having the students repeat, with no indication that they actually understand what they're saying, let alone if they're actually saying it correctly (29 second graders all repeating "Let's play a game"- you're liable to miss something). It's hard on occasion trying to figure out what this method is accomplishing.

But then that first grader named Lucky looks so excited when you tell him his "Big Bs" are good that it totally makes up for the frustration.

View from my balcony at far too early in the morning.

Normally on Wednesdays we will have workshops at the Teacher's Center. However we were supposed to go to Turtle Island today, but the trip got canceled. So that meant a free day: both from school, and from the workshops. 5 of us went to Fo Guang University to sign up for classes. I signed up for 4 hours of Chinese class a week (in a 2 person class!) starting September 24. I only signed up for the Autumn semester, with the hopes that I'll like it and therefore register for the Spring semester as well.

While today wasn't very exciting, I think yesterday (Tuesday) clearly made up for it. Normally I only teach from 1:30-2:10 on Tuesdays, which means (technically) I don't have to come in to school until lunch. However, I was told the day before that first graders would be going to a temple in the morning, and I was invited. The school always takes the first graders to a nearby temple at the beginning of the year, since first grade is really the start of their educational career, and it is tradition to pray to the god of Education and Government.

The god of Education is in the center, the Earth god is on the left, and the god "who will bring you a boyfriend" is on the right. Guess which one I was instructed to pray to...

The students gave a gift of a ship (with all of their names written on it), with the hopes that their education and learning will be smooth sailing and always moving forward. The kids all got lit incense (what? 6 year olds with fire?) and bowed 3 times- 3 symbolizes "many". The best part was I got to do it with them- in front of a few reporters and a tv camera. Who knows? I could end up on the news/in the newspaper!

After a presentation of the ship, the kids learned about all the vegetables that were in the room, given as gifts to the gods for various things (ex: wisdom). Apparently, a lot of people come to this temple right before they have big tests so that they can do well. Which totally fits in with the rest of the day....

Veggies galore!



Personally, I think they were more excited about the ice cream they got after.

Amusing Antedote 1:
At the end of the visit, all the students were given two little packages. They are typically rice dumplings wrapped in leaves, but in this case, there was only candy inside. These dumplings are supposed to bring good luck. Anne asked if I wanted one, and when I said "yes," she gave me the remaining three. One of my students (who speaks the best English- that's what you get when your dad is a big shot doctor here and can send you to cram school) turns to me and goes:
Boy: You're greedy!
Me: They're not all for me!
Boy: Who are they for then?
Me: They're for my friends!
Boy: Wait, how many friends do you have?

Smarty pants. He got two and he wasn't even going to share! Ah, what's "fair" in the mind of a 6-year-old.




After teaching my 1:30 class, I headed over to the DMV to take the dreaded scooter test. I actually began taking this test a week ago. Here's the deal. To drive a scooter you have to take a test. No biggie, right? The test is made up of two parts: a written part and a driving part. Sounds simple enough. Just to give you a taste, here is a sample of the written part:'


If a motorcyclist wants to show national pride, enhance social safety and family happiness, he/she must: (1) drive ethically and obey the laws (2) have great driving skills (3) stop smoking and drinking

Motorcycles running with extremely low or high speed, due to: (1) good stability (2) bad stability (3) doesn´t matter the driver must use good skills to adjust for a smooth driving

While some questions are fine, some don't even appear to be questions. We took it in English, which means you listen to the English on headphones, read along, and pick the right answer. You needed an 85 or higher to pass. Despite the voice in my headphones giving me the answers in the wrong order, and the buttons on my computer not really co-operating, I got a 92.5. Phew.

Then came the driving part. Laura (my former housemate) and I went out early to practice on the course. The course is insane. There is a straight shoot, about 50 meters, which you have to drive down in 7 seconds or more. Which means you have to have extremely good balance, because the lane you drive down is about a foot and a half wide. Hit the edge and this loud buzzer goes off to indicate you've messed up. If that wasn't enough, after the straight part, there's a course, complete with stop light, faux pedestrian crossing symbols and railroad crossing. Again, you have to stay within the lane, or the rest of the crowd watching (and believe me, they're all watching) will know that you can't drive due to the buzzer.

I was watching Laura practice, standing there with the rest of the group, when I hear a screech and look over to see that Laura has fallen off the scooter and was lying on the ground. Needless to say, after seeing that, and watching her head off to the hospital to have her bloody knees mended, I was somewhat shaken and decided I need some more practice (and time) before going back on the scooter.

1 week and several afternoons of practice later, I passed! In the rain, no less (they don't cancel driving tests for anything- not even typhoons)! Anne is taking me to buy my scooter (and helmet, no worries) next week, since we'll be in Taipei all this weekend for orientation. Finally! A method of transportation!

For your viewing pleasure: What I rode in Keelung, but what I will not be purchasing in Yilan:

Photos courtesy of Dale

Taking a break from the heat in Dante Coffee today with an entirely overpriced iced coffee, I read this in the Taipei Times and it made me miss my former home away from home:

New Zealand: Burglar Says Sorry With Gifts:
A burglar visited Graeme Glass' home twice in one day, first to steal some goods and later to return them-along with a heartfelt apology note. The thief strcuk while Glass was at work in Queenstown on Tuesday. The burglar smashed a window to gain entry and made off with a computer, a camera and Glass's wallet with an American Express card. The thief returned the goods later in the day, along with a new basketball and two pairs of gloves bought on the stolen credit card. Glass and his wife Shirley discovered the loot piled on their kitchen table with a neat, handwritten full-page note from the burglar saying he was sorry for "violating the safety and security of your home."

In other news, the Philadelphia Mutter museum also made headlines here!

Jhong-sing Elementary School

Today was the first day of school! Harmony picked me up outside and drove me the 20 minutes to school (and conveniently told me she lives right behind my apartment building, wouldn't mind driving me if it was raining in the morning, and actually wouldn't mind driving me all year). When we arrived, Anne was already in the meeting room where the first graders and their parents were gathering. After an awkward assembly, which I couldn't understand at all since the Principal spoke only in Chinese (Anne did poke me when I was supposed to stand up for everyone to clap for me), we headed down to the first grade classroom. The plan was for me to stick with Anne today.

Most of the students had English names already, due to their parents or to cram school (extra school to help with their English) but there were a few I was allowed to name. I do believe I named one Ben, one Nicholas, one Patrick and one Emily. There also was a Leo, an Amanda and a Vincent. Not too bad.

Amusing Antidote 1:
While going around attempting to figure out these TINY first graders' names (which was hard, since some of them didn't understand what I was asking and the rest were just plain shy), I came across one girl who would actually talk to me. When asked what her name was, she said "Lupy." Lupy? Yes, Lupy. I went along with it and wrote L-U-P-Y on her name tag. After she left, Anne asked me if her name was actually Lupy, and I said I just thought maybe her parents liked that name. Anne said something along the lines of "Are you sure it wasn't Luby?" I said it was possible. "Luby? Like the red stone." The girl's name was definitely Ruby, which makes far more sense, but due to my inability to understand anything that isn't COMPLETELY clear English, I totally missed it. This poor girl is going to come into school tomorrow and be confused as to why her name looks different. Although, this is assuming she's recognized it at all...

Stone picture walk-way.

Waterfall and green area in the middle of the school.

The school itself is really beautiful. It's very well kept and the buildings are pretty new. The vibe is really great, all the teachers seem very friendly and you can definitely tell they like working there. The day was super long (8-4), and after the 1st graders left at 10, I basically just watched CNN and labeled books. Tomorrow I'll sit in on 4 English classes with a substitute in the 5th and 6th grade. My schedule is as follows:

Monday:
9:35-10:15: 1st grade
10:30-11:10: 1st grade
11:20-12:00: 2nd grade

Tuesday:
1:30-2:10: 6th grade

Wednesday:
No teaching (we work all day at the Teacher's Center)

Thursday:
9:35-10:15: 1st grade
10:30-11:10: 1st grade
11:20-12:00: 2nd grade
1:30-2:10: 5th grade
2:20-3:00: 5th grade
3:15-3:55: 6th grade

Friday:
8:50-9:30: 5th grade
9:35-10:15: 5th grade
10:30-11:10: 6th grade
11:20-12:00: 6th grade

Thursday is definitely my hardest day. But we found out tonight that we only have to be in school for when we actually teach (unless we're doing lesson planning with our teachers), so that will make Tuesdays nice (when I actually have a way to get myself to school).

My totally pimped out English classroom. DVD player, TV, projector, stereo, toaster oven - what classroom is complete without a toaster oven?

Amusing Antidote 2:

At one point, this music comes over the loudspeaker. I hear this screaming and running and look out the window to see all these boys running towards the basketball court with buckets and brooms. Turns out the Principal found out someone from the government was coming to inspect the school and he wanted it to be clean. However, having the students clean is not abnormal. Everyone morning from 7:50-8:00 they are expected to clean, then various times throughout the day the music comes on to signify cleaning time, and then again at the end of the day from 3-3:15. It's a little bizarre to see 3rd graders mopping and sweeping, but it does cut down on school costs, since they don't really have any janitors, just some guy who "fixes the desks."

Cleaning time!

And now, some more visualization! My co-teacher, Anne!

What an incredible incredible past 9 days. Just a warning: this is going to be a lengthy post. I apologize for the lack of update. First of all, thank you so much to all of you who wished me a happy birthday. It was a great day, even if it was a little strange being so far away from home. I certainly celebrated in style, and everyone was so amazing when it came to planning! On the actual day, my house mates surprised me with presents and flowers. The party was followed by a trip to the hospital for our health checks which are required for our scooter license (more about the scootering in a later post, I promise. This one is going to be long as it is). The check consisted of taking our height and weight, making sure we weren't colorblind/blind in general, and testing our hearing. Easiest health check ever. We were a little surprised that's all there was to it.

That's all there was?

After the hospital, it was back to the Center for some more training, but the afternoon was spent visiting two other schools, going swimming in a cold spring, and visiting the Traditional Arts Center. There was a dinner planned with all the Local English Teachers and with Dr. Wu, the guy who basically makes this all happen. Dinners with Dr. Wu are always extensive (think multiple, multiple courses) and amazing. This was no exception. THEN... Kelly (a staff member who takes care of us like no other) brought out a cake and other ETAs carried out flowers and presents (flowers from the family- Thanks again, guys!) and gifts from various LETs. It was a fabulous day.

Posing with people dressed up as characters from a Asian drama/puppet show.

Since we didn't really get to celebrate just on our own, on Friday, the rest of the ETAs surprised me by taking me to a vegetarian restaurant (they said we were going to McDonalds... I was none the wiser), and then throwing an AWESOME dance party. What a way to celebrate 22.

Taipei 101. Really tall.

On Saturday (after not much sleep Friday night) we headed into Taipei. The plan was to go to this tap festival performance that night then head to Keelung to see this big parade for Ghost Month. The tap was amazing- I have never seen anyone move that fast. Finding a German bar in the basement of a department store afterwards was pretty wild too...

German Taiwanese Bar-maid?

Security fence in Taipei- yes, that's broken glass on the top of the wall.

Sunday we headed to the parade, and met up with the other 3 Fulbrighters who had forgone the tap for hiking. To get from the train station to where the actual parade was, Anita (another staff member) had some of her friends take us there ON MOTORCYCLES. No lie. We visited a temple all decorated for the occasion (again, see below). Since we had to be at training bright and early Monday morning, many of us decided to skip the actual parade and take an earlier train home.

Monday was the judgment day. After 3 weeks of getting to know the LETs, we had one more chance to basically sell ourselves (give a 5 minute power point presentation on why we we would be good to work with), they "sold" their schools, and we did a "speed dating" session- basically we talked to each teacher for 5 minutes, asked them questions, and let them ask us questions. After, we had 20 minutes to list our top 6 LETs, why we would work well with them, and why we would be good at their school. The LETs did the same for the ETAs. The whole process was very intense and stressful, but I realized that these teachers had been getting to know me for the past 3 weeks- they probably had a pretty good idea about me.

Tuesday morning we arrived to sealed envelopes with our placements. I was put at Jhong-Sing Elementary school, with LETs Anne and Roxanna. I'm so so so excited. It's a small school, but still in the city, a staff of about 25, two classes (except for 2nd grade) per grade, about 15-20 students per class. I went and visited on Tuesday and fell in love with it. The classroom is incredible and the school is beautiful. The only issue was that I had to move from Luodong to Yilan, which I did today (still in the process of unpacking...), but if that's the worst that can happen, it's not bad at all.

Anyway, the first day of school is tomorrow and I'm getting picked up at 7:30 since I don't have a scooter (I swear, more on that later!), so I should attempt to get sleep so I can go back to being "Teacher Katie" again!
*

REAL LIVE KIDS!
After spending more time on a lesson plan than I EVER would under normal circumstances, the day finally came. Today we worked with a one-day summer camp. These kids had won an English speech contest last year, and their prize? A day with REAL LIVE ETAs! Since we were going to a crab museum (what?) in the afternoon, the main focus of the morning was on sea creatures. I was working with 5 other ETAs on the 3rd/4th grade group.

The students were great. Only 10 kids showed up, but since these were all kids who had one an academic contest, they were also the ones who were the "best" at English and who actually wanted to be in a school setting. The kids far surpassed our expectations for how much English they knew. That became apparent when, during brainstorming about sea animals, someone said plankton. Nevertheless, we tried to make things as fun as possible, and I think they actually enjoyed it.

Phyllis. Our example for our "create your own sea animal" lesson.

They're so good and quiet.

Back to being Teacher Kate

After lunch we went to a crab museum. Many of the kids said they had been there before - clearly a popular destination for school trips. I was re-assigned to two of the older students (going into 6th grade), and spent most of the time attempting to talk to them, while at the same time making sure they stayed with the group. I did, however, learn that crabs can grow up to 4 meters. The level of English varied dramatically among the kids. Some students were EXTREMELY talkative and very confident in their ability, and others were basically silent all day. I was told that just because they won the speech contest, that didn't mean that their English was all that great. They had to memorize a 2-3 minute speech, but so much emphasis is placed on memorization here, that it is extremely easy to just memorize without having any idea of what you're saying. One even admitted that his father wrote the speech for him. While my first taste of teaching English was not necessarily indicative of what I will be facing, I think, overall, it went pretty well. It was certainly nice to be in the classroom again. And learning about crabs wasn't too bad, either.

Shrimp: Up close and personal.


Scary crabs.

Me with my charges, Nicole and Vivian.

The best part of the museum? Playing on the playground, clearly.

Literally rocking out.