Super Awesome Halloween

Ok, so the pumpkins here are... smaller and more like squash. And there sure isn't any real trick-or-treating. But I did have a really excellent Halloween anyway, thanks to my fabulous boyfriend and my wonderful host family. I got two different sets of Halloween candies and so very much more.

The school trick-or-treating didn't go so well, considering the TONS of rain and tired kiddies, but I was in love with their costumes. In so many cases, their families had clearly made the costumes themselves, and the kids where honestly proud of their cape made of a garbage bag with sparkles glued onto it. If there were more kids in the US who would be pleased with a simple, creative, homemade costume, the world would be a better place.

One of my personal favorites is on the left, with the spiderman mask, a floral house dress, and an inflatable hammer. Yes. Halloween at its best.
Garbage bag guy, he's got "I want candy" written on his back. Very direct.

Ok, I know you still want my picture up:)

Weekly Mandarin: 13

13th Edition: Shuxie

So, I have really been learning more than one word per week. Especially now that I've got 4 hours of Mandarin per week in one-on-one and two-on-one classes.

And yesterday, I made a new milestone: I successfully produced some shuxie, or writing. Take a look:

This says "I am American" and "Is your family name Wei?" However, it probably looks to native Mandarin speakers like my 3rd graders' alphabet looks like to me.

Weekly Mandarin: 12

12th edition: Ke ai

My school has 1st through 6th graders, and I only teach the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th graders. This is a good thing, because honestly, I'd spend all my time with the 1st graders just wanting to pinch their cheeks. All I can think about during story time with the 1st graders is how darn cute, or "ke ai," they are.

Of course, the 2nd and 3rd graders are ke ai too... like the adorably round girl named "Apple" and the little guy who gives me his lunch snack everyday. But, I'll have to take a picture of Gladys, my co-teacher's 1st grade daughter, and you'll understand.

Fun in Taipei

We stumbled across the Taiwan Pride Parade while we were waiting for seats at the bagel cafe!

As we meandered, Meg and I found the Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. We took tourist photos...

...and were sure not to leave our turtles in the lake.

Museum of World Religions

The epic quest to visit museums in Taiwan continues...

This weekend, Meg and I paid a visit to the Museum of World Religions in Taipei. I'd heard that it was very new, very interactive, and that it would be great. It was very new, fairly interesting, and once again interpreted in both Chinese and English. The tours, however, were only in Chinese, so I wonder if they added more to the tour than what we weiguoren (foreigners) were able to absorb.

The aesthetic of the Museum was superb-- it really set a visitor up for reflection and a peaceful experience. The models of famous houses of worship were definitely the best, everything from Chartres to the Dome of the Rock and even a Frank Lloyd Wright meeting house.

And then there was the "step into the scene" Annunciation...

Weekly Mandarin: 11

11th edition: Qiuji

I had more than enough to say about the summer here, I'm sure it even bordered on whining. But then, this week, overnight, the weather changed drastically.

And it is now qiuji, or autumn! That's to say that instead of being really hot and humid, it's chilly and humid and doesn't stop raining. But this is just the predecessor to winter, when its cold, and humid, and doesn't stop raining. Needless to say, I expect I'll miss the summer a bit after a few months of this. At least there was sun.

The National Palace Museum

As part of a recent trip to Taipei, my colleagues and I visited the National Palace Museum, probably the best-known museum in Taiwan. Basically, all the good stuff from Mainland China was sent to Taiwan for protection, and when Taiwan became independent, they kept all the goodies, at the National Palace Museum.

The Museum was very impressive, and positively huge. The collections were entirely Asian, which was interesting for me, and the exhibits were mostly chronological, which didn't tap into the collection's potential in my opinion. However, I was thrilled to see that the wall text was bilingual, if not trilingual, Chinese, English and sometimes Japanese. It made me think for a moment about how cocky it is that the national museums in the US only use English. They are, after all, a huge tourist pilgrimage location.

The tour was tough-- millions of years in an hour, on a very crowded holiday. But overall, it was a typical museum tour. I think we made something like twenty stops, which made my head spin, and by the end I was one of the awful learners singing and dancing in the back of the tour group. (Ok, it the docent was explaining how scholars were judged partially by how good their inkwells were, and would attract followers by having good inkwells. That somehow needed to become "My inkwell brings all the boys to the yard..." with a dance.)

Extreme Cuteness Alphabet

G

H


I
J (which, of course, stands for "JENNY")

Storytime!

Besides my classroom teaching (17 periods per week, plus prep) I'm also reading stories to 2 or 3 classes per week. This can be a challenge with language learners-- since my sixth graders have the English of a native second grader, but think that they're too old for picture books. I would love to know some very short, simple language stories that aren't really picture books per say, so I welcome your suggestions. Right now, I think I've found an option with a book of minimally illustrated Aesop's fables. With the older kids, they already know the story so it's really a language exercise for them. So far so good.

I'm a narcissist. We did a book about a teacher for Teacher's Day.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar with fifth grade kids

A silhouette game after a Dr. Seuss book on shapes
(with Gladys, the adorable and brilliant daughter of my co-teacher, Hopkins)

Super Typhoon Krosa

I guess the international news circuit was slow and decided to mention our super typhoon this weekend. Never fear, I haven't been washed into the Pacific Ocean. In fact, I didn't even lose power or internet. I just sat around watching Grey's Anatomy episodes and eating:)

My host mom was worried for my well-being, so she insisted on coming by on Friday night with a care package of food for me: 3 kinds of fresh bread, butter, soup mix, coke, sprite, and potato chips. I am definitely well-loved.

Don't tell Kelly (the Taiwanese Fulbright staff person assigned to keeping us safe), but we did go out before the typhoon got bad, because Kate and I realized we had an emergency situation: We didn't have enough bananas to last the typhoon! It's all about risk-management.

Weekly Mandarin: 10

10th Edition: Ting Bu Dong

This could just be my most useful phrase yet, and I think it's both expressive in its accents and a little philosophical.

"Ting bu dong" is a phrase I have heard... probably about 100 times so far in my teaching career. It translates to "I hear, but I don't understand." It is not only helpful to know when my students are groaning this at me, but also when the lady at the fruit stand thinks "well, she looks Chinese, she must speak Chinese."

Teaching and Learning Tidbit

So far, I haven't made any kids cry in class yet. One of my kids did start putting a plastic bag over his head today in class, but I don't think it was a comment on my teaching.

I did, however, make myself cry in Chinese class today. (To clarify: I was crying while I was a student in a Chinese class at the University. To anyone who knows the phonetic alphabet, I was absolutely failing at distinguishing the zi, tzi, si. And my teacher wouldn't let me sit down and give up despite my protests of "but, I'm really stressed out.") I have so much more empathy for these kids now that I'm in their shoes (as a language-learner myself).

Kids are great but...

My friend Kate told me about an admissions question to her education grad program that posed that question.

After only a month of teaching in a classroom, and reflecting on my other teaching experiences, I would fill it in with the following options:
... they can be real jerks! Like the kid at the Constitution Center who kindly informed me that I was breaking out, kids can be quite insulting. Sometimes they don't realize they're saying things that are unkind, but several of the angels I've taught know perfectly well where the line is and how far past it they are. I'm glad I don't speak Mandarin, so so it's easier to let it roll right off.
... they're really stinky sometimes. At least I know I'm not the only person on this island who sweats constantly.
... sometimes, enough is enough. We had classes on Saturday, specifically, we did a my most demanding class schedule on Saturday. And then we did it again on Monday. I can say without a doubt that I'd sincerely prefer the company of my boyfriend, my family, my boyfriend's family, my friends, or my own peace of mind.

Weekly Mandarin: 9

9th edition: Jiaotache

This Weekly Mandarin is late because I had to make sure the drama actually had a happy ending before I could tell the happy ending online.

Jiaotache is the word for bicycle. And here is the recent history of me and my jiaotache:

• First, I didn't have a bike, so I bought one.
  
• Then I couldn't ride it, so I learned (courtesy of Michelle and my friendly neighbors at the time).
  
• Then I left my bike parked at the train station near my old apartment, as I couldn't understand how the train company wanted me to package my bike for shipping and couldn't just take the darn thing on the train with me. So last weekend, I sucked it up, woke up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, and biked the thing 6 miles to my new apartment. It was a pretty uneventful ride, except for that I finished thinking I was superwoman.
  
• In any case, so I decided this weekend I would take my bike for a ride to get used to it again. After getting rained out at one point in the morning, I went back in the afternoon, figuring I could bike to my errands. And I put the key in the lock... and the key ripped off the handle, with part of the key still stuck in the lock.
  
• So, finally, today, I mentioned it to my co-teacher, who had one of the other teachers come to my apartment to unstick the key.
• ... And finally, I have my jiaotache back to usable. And I still prefer my scooter.