Category Archive

The season here has certainly been different that in America. The sounds and sights are definitely different. Here in NanAo High School, this is the time for basketball playoffs with teams from each grade level. So, many of the sounds have been coming from the gym – cheers, whistles, buzzers going off.

  Our principal ready to start         Boys’ team ready to play

I have also been hearing some students sing some Christmas carols and some songs in English they are learning for the year-end celebration here at school.As always, I hear the sounds of the trash truck as it makes its rounds to the accompaniment of Fur Elise. If you want your garbage picked up, you have to hand it to the person walking behind the truck, so the music is to notify you of their arrival.

As far as Christmas decoration, a few stores have some lights. Our school has some lights put up for Christmas. There are decorated trees in many places around the school campus.  Some of the decorations they leave up all year long. Many of the churches around have a few lights up.  I do miss the lights and decorations that we have in the States. I enjoy so much just looking at all the lights in the stores and the malls and in the different neighborhoods. I have downloaded some pictures of lights from the Fayetteville square, and pictures from previous Christmases at my house. That has helped a little bit.

  My door – I do have snow!      Our tree, right next to tropical plants          Church in Wutai         Christmas colors in NanAo

The curriculum for one of the grades has a unit on the different holidays here in Taiwan and in America. We started out the month with vocabulary pertaining to the different special days in both countries, which included names of the months and ordinal numbers. It seems as though several of the dialogues in the lessons in each grade for this month are more usable to the students, so it has been more profitable to them, resulting in better participation. One of the English teachers used Charlotte’s Web to go along with the unit of study. Because there are not farms in Taiwan like we have in America, the vocabulary from a farm setting provided many opportunities to introduce new concepts and have some fun with some animal idioms.

  Students reading – can you read what is on the board?

One afternoon this month, the entire student body went out into the villages and did some community service – with rakes, brooms, dust pans, and tongs.  What fun that was – even though it was very hot!  Here are some pictures of some of the clean-up crews.  Before, during, and after.

   

  

       

     

The language barrier has continued to be a challenge.  I would like to be able to just sit down with some of the students and have a talk with them – to hold them to a higher standard than they are holding for themselves. For others, I would like to encourage them to keep trying because anything worth having is worth working for. Many of them have so much potential that they are not using. However, when I think of students back in the States with whom I could speak the same language, many times being able to talk with them was not effective. Because I don’t know these students’ backgrounds, their abilities in the classroom, and even what they are saying some times, I have come to realize that at times that has been an asset. I don’t know what they can do or can’t do, so I just expect them to try right along with everyone else.

Less than a week until Christmas.  I have been using a Christmas unit provided for us when we were in Sansia to use for the different holidays throughout the year.  There are vocabulary cards with pictures on one side and the word in English on the other.  The unit talks about the first Christmas when Baby Jesus was born, as well as Santa and his helpers.  Because my students enjoy music so much, I also taught them the choruses of Jingle Bells, Go Tell It On the Mountain, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  All of those songs provided opportunities for more vocabulary, too.  For extra practice, I copied pictures of the vocabulary words, and created a word search with more words pertaining to Christmas.  If the students got all the words, they got a sticker with English words on it.  I must say, stickers just might be worth their weight in gold!!  (Have you taught that idiom yet?)

 This will be my first Christmas away from my family.  My youngest daughter said she hoped I would be with people who treated me like family.  The people here in NanAo have accepted me with open arms and hearts.  They are making me feel so very welcome here.  I have had gifts from my coworkers, cards from my students, and even words of encouragement on this Christmas season.  A sweet message from my student Chinese ‘teacher’ said she would ‘accompany’ me so I wouldn’t feel lonely. 

My student Chinese ‘teacher’

 With as many students as we have, I somehow came down with a very sore throat.  My co-worker, Felice, took me to the clinic today right after rest time (we had to sit quietly because the doctor was still resting).  The young doctor checked me, and wrote up some prescriptions for me – my throat was infected.  As we sat there, the two workers and the doctor turned to look at me.  Felice had told them my age, and they couldn’t believe it.  They thought I was their age!  I have no idea what their age was, but it was definitely younger than mine!  Sure did my heart good!!  My visit was soon over, we were leaving with my prescription – all the medicine I needed to take in individual dosage packets to be administered per the instructions. 

I will be going to Taipei this weekend to celebrate Christmas with the foreign teachers who were all in Sansia in September.  Hopefully I will be able to include some pictures in my next post.  On Christmas day, I will be teaching classes as usual, then going out for dinner in LuoDong with my English Bible study group.  They really do treat me like family!

 So, Merry Christmas to all of you!  Enjoy your holiday.  Do something for someone without letting them know it was you.  Be sure to tell someone you love them – especially someone you haven’t told for a long time.  They would be happy to hear that – it might just be the best gift they get. 

When I was teaching kindergarten at Immanuel Christian Academy, a poem I taught my students was “What Can I Give Him?”  It goes like this

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.

If I were a wise man, I would do my part.   

Yet what can I give Him?  Give my heart.  - Christina Rosetti

We give because Jesus gave first – He gave us His life, became one of us, because He loves us.  Amazing!   We also give like the wise men who gave precious gifts.   I hope one of your gifts this year this Christmas is to give Him your heart.

Merry Christmas from an Yingwen Laoshi in Taiwan!

My goodness, it is amazing how time has gone flown since I have been in Taiwan.  And, this month, we have had some pretty strong winds around here, too.  Do you think that had anything to do with how fast the time has been going? 

 I had sent out a quick typhoon report the week after the big one hit.  If you didn’t get my update, let me know and I will send it to you.  Here are some pictures I took during the actual typhoon.  I couldn’t venture very far from my windows or front door!

          

I am also including some of the photos that I took the day after the typhoon.  Lots of trees broken, debris covering the beaches, high water levels, and some very big waves.  The sand is black, which made the water gray.  For rock hunters, the week after a typhoon is the best time to find beautiful rocks on the beaches.

                       

Just over the top of the sand dunes were some fish farms.  It was interesting to see the stillness of some of the water there, when just over the crest of the dunes were some incredibly huge waves.  One of the fish farmers knew my co-workers, and offered to share some of his shrimp with us for supper.  The freshest shrimp I had ever eaten! 

                     

It was such an incredible experience going through a typhoon.  Because the electricity was off, and I had no candles, I went to bed earlier than I normally would.  Who would have thought that I could sleep through a typhoon?  

The next week in school was the mid-term test for the junior and senior high students.  In the middle of one of the tests, we had an earthquake.  Some of the local residents assured me that typhoons and earthquakes are frequent, and there was no need to worry!!   

I have been here in the school now for almost two months.  The students are getting more used to this foreign teacher.  Some of them are really trying to expand their English.  Others don’t see a reason to learn it.  We have an English club once or twice a month with about a dozen students.  The language acquisition level ranges from Basic Beginner to High Intermediate.  Our focus has been on useful conversations.  The first couple of times we did restaurant vocabulary – with menus from Grandma Marilyn’s Kitchen, and a script to provide practice with the words.  The next activity was for them to order on their own, using the words they had learned.  We played some games with night market foods, and Bingo with restaurant words and phrases.  Even big kids still like stickers – the rewards for having a Bingo! 

The classes that I have with the regular English teachers are still in the process of change.  We are working together to see what the most effective use of my time will be.  One of the focuses is for me to do the pronunciation and the listening activities from the student books.  That provides a chance for the students to hear a native speaker and adjust to my pronunciation.  The teachers are all so quick to explain to the students when they have the glazed look on their faces!  I enjoy working with these teachers here in NanAo. 

I am still taking Chinese classes, too.  My students are helping me to learn some of the basic communication skills at school as well.  Every time I say a new word (especially on my own) they cheer for me!  Maybe I should do that for them!!  I have been using my time on the train to practice my Chinese lessons.   Every Tuesday morning, the students have a morning assembly.  Here are a couple pictures of the student body here, and the principle speaking to them. 

  

One of the things I have had to adjust to is the diet of the Taiwan people.  I must say, I have eaten things here I never thought I would put in my mouth – but if they can eat them, I can, too.  On a Friday night, my co-workers were welcoming some of us new teachers this year.  We went to a very nice restaurant at a port city north of here, Suao.  The waitress brought out appetizers, and placed them on the turn table.  Then, entre by entre, she brought out new things – shrimp, lobster on a tray (still moving), raw fish, flying fish eggs (the eggs weren’t flying), sesame seed balls with sweet bean filling, boiled peanuts, rice, crab soup, squid (I couldn’t eat that when I saw all the black juice still inside it), shrimp dumplings, seafood soup, crab served in a spicy sauce, then a tray of dragon fruit, guava, and grapes.  Sadly, I forgot my camera!  I was amazed at what all I ate – much of it for the first time!     

In NW Arkansas last weekend, there were many extra people enjoying the craft fairs.  Here in NanAo, we had a celebration of some of the native aboriginal people here.  There was a wedding performed with four couples, along with all the customs and traditions.  There were also some local students performing traditional, as well as some new dances.  I sat next to a little family in the bleachers of the high school.  As we began to talk, she mentioned that she had majored in Spanish, so we were speaking Spanish together, too.  How interesting it is when I meet new people.   She and her family live in the mountains and have invited me to come to their house – made out of bamboo.  I hope I get to do that.

                     

 This weekend I spent in LuoDong at an orphanage called The Home of God’s Love.  They have ages from babies all the way up to high school age children.  I held lots of babies – one was brand new!  If you would like to see more about what they do there, visit their web site – http://www.thehomeofgodslove.org.  After the babies were fed in the afternoon today, Bev and I had a chance for a walk around a little lake close to their house – beautiful walking path and nice setting. 

     

It is so hard to believe that two months are almost up already.  One thing that I have realized is that I need to make each day count – I won’t have a second chance to redo a day.   I hope you are making your days count, too.  I hope to hear from  you!

 Marilyn