Marilyn’s Time in Taiwan is almost over

Marilyn’s Time in Taiwan

 

Chosen – they picked me

The wait had seemed unending

And yet the year has passed so quickly 

Time has come to go back home

  

Opportunities to see, to do, to be 

In a place on the other side of the world

Leaving my friends and family behind

And in the process, gaining new friends

 

                       

 

Able to see incredible displays of a creative designer

Ocean splendor,

Waves pushed by an incredible force,

Beaches full of treasures 

    

Beauty in the wings

Of a seemingly unending variety of butterflies

Flowers in the wild that reminded me

Of special gifts at home – Easter Lilies, poinsettias

      

Students who told me they were learning English

Because they weren’t afraid to try any more

Students who had no desire to speak a different language

Sleeping through most of my classes

   

Chinese classes that were such a challenge

Wanting to quit at times when I felt so overwhelmed

Learning how my students may feel when I am speaking

Using words that make no sense at all to them 

我可以講漢語的一點

 

English class for adults wanting to improve their skills

Using the Bible for the textbook – reading, listening, speaking

Learning so much about life and about who God is

All the while becoming close like a family 

    

Father Beauregard, a 94-year-old Jesuit priest from Canada

Spent one year imprisoned on mainland China

Now busy ministering to the ‘old folks’ in the rest home

Getting around on his new scooter

 

Precious babies were gently held

Waiting for new parents to welcome them home

All the while I was learning many life lessons

From their sweet caretaker

    

A man who came almost every day to help the cafeteria crew

Unable to speak, able only to do menial tasks

Reminded me that life is precious in God’s eyes

No matter what we see on the exterior of the person

  

Coming to the end of any school year can be difficult

This one even more so

Students whose lives will continue without me now

Co-workers who will continue with their daily assignments

           

Did I make any difference?

Are the students better because I was here?

I only know that I am different

Taiwan has changed me 

 

             June 2008

             Marilyn Hodgin

             English teacher at Nanao Jr/Sr High School

             Yilan County, Taiwan