After the music event in a little mountain town in southern Taiwan, we decided to journey on, packed up our tent and hitchhiked (yes, my first hitchhiking experiencing to Simon's surprise) into town and caught a bus, then a train to an island called Shao Liuchiu, which is a small, coral island about 9km (or 5.5 miles) around. We rented a motorscooter after some haggling and bargaining. (In addition to some prices being inflated for Chinese New Year, the fact that we are foreigners does not help in keeping prices down.)
The island is quaint, lush with green trees and bush, completely surrounded by coral cliffs and rocks and has more than 10 temples on it. The first night, we skipped pitching a tent and stayed at a small resort in a cozy wooden cabin. The resort looked out over the ocean and was peaceful and serene. The day we arrived, I also celebrated my 31st birthday. It was a quiet and relaxing birthday dinner with a filling hot pot meal, whisky and cokes and some good discussions about turning a year older and if it made me feel older and wiser. The jury is still out on the older and wiser decision...
The town is a fishing town and the local people look different than most Taiwanese people I've encountered in the larger cities like Taichung and Taipei. In the larger cities, it's a cultural fact that lighter skin is better. People spend much time, money and energy into keeping their skin pale with sun parasols, hats, gloves, cremes, etc. In Shao Liuchiu, the people are naturally brown from the sun and the shapes of their faces and eyes was unique and different. I really loved the genuine kindness that we experienced along the way. I often feel sorry for the people who speak to me in Chinese. As I butcher the beautiful language, I am often met with smiles, patience and somehow, a little understanding.
The next day we found an even cozier accomodation in a hotel near the harbor. The room was cheaper, had cable TV (which we don't have at home) and was so close to the ferry dock, that it would have been impossible for us to miss our boat home. (Well, I suppose some major natural catastrophe could have prevented us from getting home, but you get the point.) We spent the day driving around the island, which doesn't take long (at one point, we were looking at a map puzzled that there was part of the island we hadn't explored, but 5 min. later convinced that we had seen everything.), exploring temples, beaches and coral cliffs. As some of you know, I love to rock climb and haven't done much since coming to Taiwan, unfortunately, but Simon's all about getting off the beaten track and encouraging me to follow him, let my fears diminish and take my life into my own hands by following him to some sharp, rock cliff. All in all, we had a good time.
After a few days on the little island, it was time to go home, as we were dirty, smelly and broke. We climbed onto a boat at 10:30am and by 3pm, were home to Taichung. I forget how small Taiwan really is, as we traveled by boat, bus and train and a few hours later, home again home again. This weekend has been spent, taking a short hike to Dakeng, having hot pot with some good friends (yes, it's true, I'm addicted to hot pot and am already thinking about the appliances I need to buy in Seattle to keep up with my addiction for the food), cleaning up and preparing for the week.
May the year of the pig bless you with much joy, happiness, good fortune and fond memories.
23.2.07
10.2.07
Xin Nien Kuaile!
Happy Chinese New Year! It's been so looooong since I've updated my blog, where has time gone? I hope the New Year brings you much joy, happiness and good fortune!
Time has floated by very quickly for me and my days and many evenings are full of teaching English to kindergarten, and school-age children, as well as adults. People love to learn the English language in Taiwan and I really feel lucky to be able to find so much work, teaching others. Also, teaching English is a good lesson for me, too. Often in my adult classes, I will explain how some nouns can also be used as verbs, like "dance". Our language can be extremely confusing!
Along other language fronts, I just finished the last of my Chinese language lessons and have really enjoyed it. My chinese speaking and listening levels are still lower than most of the kindergarten kids that I teach, but I have loved being able to speak to people when I'm out and about on a daily basis at restaurants, banks, shops, etc. Plus, it's the most commonly spoken language in the world, so I hope it comes in handy somewhere else in life. :)
Also, while I haven't tried to learn the written language, I am fascinated by it's intricacies. The Chinese language is thousands of years old and the characters don't have any correlation to each other. Which means, the character for "drink" (he) and "cup" (bei) are completely different. So, when learning the written language, it's all about memorization. There are hundreds of characters to learn and I honestly think people who learn the Chinese written language have a different way of visualizing the language from us English-speaking folks. The minds of Chinese people organize and categorize languages much differently.
What else have I been up to in Taiwan? Let's see...
Girlfriend Party
Last month, I was invited to an all girl sleep over in Longtan, which is in the mountains. My friends have a spacious home and over 20 women were there. There were women from different countries, backgrounds, ethnicities and age-groups. We spent the night, drinking, eating, sharing, dancing and just being women together. I felt truly blessed to be a part of such an amazing event. In many ways, I wish I had come to Taiwan earlier so my friendships with some of these women were even stronger. It seems that whereever I go, in various parts of life, I am blessed with meeting strong, smart, talented, witty women. Life is rich!
Kindergarten
In my kindergarten class, we continue to learn and grow. At my school each semester, we focus on different themes. The last theme was clothes and for our final project, my class made hand-sewn t-shirts with little details, such as buttons and necklaces. For weeks, our classroom looked like a little sweat shop with bits of fabric, beads, thread and buttons all over the place. The children's patience and perseverance was impressive. While most children couldn't thread their own needle, they waiting quietly while I did my best to help each of them. Jeffrey didn't bat an eyelash when he sewed his buttons through both sides of his t-shirt, three times. Wey Wey sat attentively, while I tried to sew her cute pink beaded necklace to the collar of her shirts, after failing twice. Joy didn't seem to mind that she sewed both of her sleeves together and needed to rework them. At the end of the project, we had a fashion show on the playground to show the school our hard work. Keep an eye out for Flower Class fashion designs coming to a store near you this fall.
Now, our theme is transportation and these last few weeks, we have been focusing on ground transportation. I drove my scooter into the school last week and gave the little ones rides on the back. I originally vowed never to allow a child onto my scooter in Taiwan, but made an acception as we were just driving around the playground on the rubber padded ground.
Simon was also a substitute teacher at my school, which was fun. The owner of my school doesn't believe that men can be kindergarten teachers because they lack the patience needed. So, it was refreshing for the children to be with him for a week and experience a different kind of fun. In one of his classes, the children figured out that if they all climbed onto him at once-that's one on each leg, two on the front and two on his back, they could take him down. Every time I looked into his classroom, there was at least on child climbing on him. Good times!
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday in Asia. I receive a week's vacation off from my school and many people travel to different parts of the world. Chinese New Year is also based on family time and many Taiwanese people I spoke with, stayed at home with their families. Some of the traditions for the holiday include: cleaning out your home (to get rid of the bad luck, to make room for good luck in the new year), cutting your hair and buying new clothes (which I happily complied with-you don't have to tell me twice to go to the hair salon and shop), hang red chinese decorations and couplets in your home and around your front door (to ward off the angry monster "nien", which by Chinese folklore is how much of the traditions began), give red envelopes to small children, light firecrackers, eat yummy food together and create strong memories together for the new year.
Simon and I are visiting our friend John and his family in Yunlin. They are such lovely people and are outstanding hosts. Their home has been cleaned top to bottom and they are so meticulous about the cleanliness, that when Simon stepped outside in his house slippers, John quickly took off the slippers and cleaned them, so he could wear them inside the house. Yesterday, I made a mistake of letting their cute dog, Mimi outside. I thought she needed to go outside as she was standing by the door looking longingly at me. As soon as I let her out, John called me "crazy" and asked me to bring her back in. She had a bath the day before and couldn't get dirty. Yes, I am crazy for letting a dog outside, just nuts.
We've been spending lots of time with John's family and his grandparents are adorable. Seeing his grandparents make me miss mine even more, when I didn't think it was possible. They are sweet, kind, their smiles light up the room and even though I can't really speak to them, as the grandfather's Chinese is spoken with a very heavy Taiwanese accent and he mostly speaks to Simon, they are still a delight to be with.
Yesterday, we went to Tainan which is the 4th largest city in Taiwan and the oldest city in the country. John's brother, Dylan was getting out of the army for the weekend. In Taiwan, every man must serve in the militairy, it's part of their law. Currently, most men don't serve for more than 2 years, but it's an interesting practice. If you don't serve, you'll need to leave the country every 4 months for a weekend, similar to what foreigners have to do for visa runs. Once men graduate from college, most enter into the army right away, so they can finish their duty and begin their careers and lives.
Also, because there are so many people traveling in Taiwan, during the new year holiday, it's against the law to drive on the highway with less than 3 people in your car. This rule helps minimize single-driver cars plugging up the highways. Smart idea, huh?
Tomorrow, we are headed to Fangliou and a music event in the mountains. We'll camp and enjoy live music from 24 different bands. More soon! XO!
Time has floated by very quickly for me and my days and many evenings are full of teaching English to kindergarten, and school-age children, as well as adults. People love to learn the English language in Taiwan and I really feel lucky to be able to find so much work, teaching others. Also, teaching English is a good lesson for me, too. Often in my adult classes, I will explain how some nouns can also be used as verbs, like "dance". Our language can be extremely confusing!
Along other language fronts, I just finished the last of my Chinese language lessons and have really enjoyed it. My chinese speaking and listening levels are still lower than most of the kindergarten kids that I teach, but I have loved being able to speak to people when I'm out and about on a daily basis at restaurants, banks, shops, etc. Plus, it's the most commonly spoken language in the world, so I hope it comes in handy somewhere else in life. :)
Also, while I haven't tried to learn the written language, I am fascinated by it's intricacies. The Chinese language is thousands of years old and the characters don't have any correlation to each other. Which means, the character for "drink" (he) and "cup" (bei) are completely different. So, when learning the written language, it's all about memorization. There are hundreds of characters to learn and I honestly think people who learn the Chinese written language have a different way of visualizing the language from us English-speaking folks. The minds of Chinese people organize and categorize languages much differently.
What else have I been up to in Taiwan? Let's see...
Girlfriend Party
Last month, I was invited to an all girl sleep over in Longtan, which is in the mountains. My friends have a spacious home and over 20 women were there. There were women from different countries, backgrounds, ethnicities and age-groups. We spent the night, drinking, eating, sharing, dancing and just being women together. I felt truly blessed to be a part of such an amazing event. In many ways, I wish I had come to Taiwan earlier so my friendships with some of these women were even stronger. It seems that whereever I go, in various parts of life, I am blessed with meeting strong, smart, talented, witty women. Life is rich!
Kindergarten
In my kindergarten class, we continue to learn and grow. At my school each semester, we focus on different themes. The last theme was clothes and for our final project, my class made hand-sewn t-shirts with little details, such as buttons and necklaces. For weeks, our classroom looked like a little sweat shop with bits of fabric, beads, thread and buttons all over the place. The children's patience and perseverance was impressive. While most children couldn't thread their own needle, they waiting quietly while I did my best to help each of them. Jeffrey didn't bat an eyelash when he sewed his buttons through both sides of his t-shirt, three times. Wey Wey sat attentively, while I tried to sew her cute pink beaded necklace to the collar of her shirts, after failing twice. Joy didn't seem to mind that she sewed both of her sleeves together and needed to rework them. At the end of the project, we had a fashion show on the playground to show the school our hard work. Keep an eye out for Flower Class fashion designs coming to a store near you this fall.
Now, our theme is transportation and these last few weeks, we have been focusing on ground transportation. I drove my scooter into the school last week and gave the little ones rides on the back. I originally vowed never to allow a child onto my scooter in Taiwan, but made an acception as we were just driving around the playground on the rubber padded ground.
Simon was also a substitute teacher at my school, which was fun. The owner of my school doesn't believe that men can be kindergarten teachers because they lack the patience needed. So, it was refreshing for the children to be with him for a week and experience a different kind of fun. In one of his classes, the children figured out that if they all climbed onto him at once-that's one on each leg, two on the front and two on his back, they could take him down. Every time I looked into his classroom, there was at least on child climbing on him. Good times!
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday in Asia. I receive a week's vacation off from my school and many people travel to different parts of the world. Chinese New Year is also based on family time and many Taiwanese people I spoke with, stayed at home with their families. Some of the traditions for the holiday include: cleaning out your home (to get rid of the bad luck, to make room for good luck in the new year), cutting your hair and buying new clothes (which I happily complied with-you don't have to tell me twice to go to the hair salon and shop), hang red chinese decorations and couplets in your home and around your front door (to ward off the angry monster "nien", which by Chinese folklore is how much of the traditions began), give red envelopes to small children, light firecrackers, eat yummy food together and create strong memories together for the new year.
Simon and I are visiting our friend John and his family in Yunlin. They are such lovely people and are outstanding hosts. Their home has been cleaned top to bottom and they are so meticulous about the cleanliness, that when Simon stepped outside in his house slippers, John quickly took off the slippers and cleaned them, so he could wear them inside the house. Yesterday, I made a mistake of letting their cute dog, Mimi outside. I thought she needed to go outside as she was standing by the door looking longingly at me. As soon as I let her out, John called me "crazy" and asked me to bring her back in. She had a bath the day before and couldn't get dirty. Yes, I am crazy for letting a dog outside, just nuts.
We've been spending lots of time with John's family and his grandparents are adorable. Seeing his grandparents make me miss mine even more, when I didn't think it was possible. They are sweet, kind, their smiles light up the room and even though I can't really speak to them, as the grandfather's Chinese is spoken with a very heavy Taiwanese accent and he mostly speaks to Simon, they are still a delight to be with.
Yesterday, we went to Tainan which is the 4th largest city in Taiwan and the oldest city in the country. John's brother, Dylan was getting out of the army for the weekend. In Taiwan, every man must serve in the militairy, it's part of their law. Currently, most men don't serve for more than 2 years, but it's an interesting practice. If you don't serve, you'll need to leave the country every 4 months for a weekend, similar to what foreigners have to do for visa runs. Once men graduate from college, most enter into the army right away, so they can finish their duty and begin their careers and lives.
Also, because there are so many people traveling in Taiwan, during the new year holiday, it's against the law to drive on the highway with less than 3 people in your car. This rule helps minimize single-driver cars plugging up the highways. Smart idea, huh?
Tomorrow, we are headed to Fangliou and a music event in the mountains. We'll camp and enjoy live music from 24 different bands. More soon! XO!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)