Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Calligraphy Class: Recently I went to calligraphy class with our Grade 3 students! It was a wonderful experience to sit at a small desk amid the students, and to have them guide me through each stroke. They LOVED having the chance to teach Teacher Sara :) The teacher, JiYen, is one of my favorite people at Chong Qing. She has been not only an interesting person who shares many of the same values, but also a great friend who is passionate about sharing culture and discussing new ideas. It was great to be a part of her class and see how she interacts with the students. It was a double period, so the students worked on their calligraphy for an hour and 20 minutes. After her introduction, which took about 20 minutes, we all got brushes and ink and set to work. The class was very free-form after that; JiYen sat at the front and students came up to her for help, and we all chatted, painted, and drank tea :)











Cultural lesson: Now that finals are underway and winter break begins next week, the semester is winding down. In our English classes throughout all grades, we have an extra class period after students finish their exams and before we end school next week. This means one very exciting thing: we have time for a random cultural lesson, completely unrelated to anything in our curriculum! I recently came across a wonderful video that shows snapshots of students and teachers in classrooms across the world, and I have been very excited to use this in the classroom these final two weeks of the semester. I have created a geography/culture lesson in which I show students this video, teach them where the 7 continents are and how to say their names in English, show them pictures of classrooms in Africa (Namibia) and Europe (the Czech Republic) where I have previously taught, and discuss the differences they see in thevarious classrooms portrayed in those pictures and the video. Please take 3 minutes to watch this awesome video!

End-of-Semester presentations: Since the semester here ends at the end of January, last week we had the last of our bi-weekly Fulbright ETA workshops. All 10 of us paired with at least one of our LETs (Local English Teachers, i.e. our co-teachers) to give a 5-minute presentation. We showed pictures and described the English programming we have organized at our schools this past semester, which include activities such as storytelling, pen pal programs and other international activities, holiday lessons, whole-school presentations, and extracurricular activities. It was wonderful to hear in detail what the other 9 Taichung ETAs have been doing! I enjoyed presenting about all the things I have been able to do because of how open-minded and supportive the administration is at Chong Qing. I am also lucky because the LET that came with me, Patty, is a great partner and she was fun to present with. Her English is excellent and she is comfortable speaking in English with foreigners (something not all that common here). Patty and I have a great relationship, both professionally and personally, and I love working with her at school.  During this presentation we bounced off of each other, building on what the other had said and telling relevant anecdotes that came to mind in the moment right then and there. I am happy that our presentation went so smoothly and that it came from both me and Patty, and not just from me.





Rain in Taiwan: Last week it rained quite a bit, and as I was parking at school one morning I took the picture below of the rows of scooters and raincoats. Everyone here is SO CUTE. Yes it is very functional (and necessary!) to wear a raincoat while driving a scooter in the rain ... but it still strikes me as endearing the way everyone wears brightly colored raincoats and wears their hoods tucked under their helmets.... So this is what a parking lot looks like on a rainy day in Taiwan :)



New Year's and Sun Moon Lake: New Year's is a big event here, much like at home; everyone wishes each other happy New Year and people travel to different cities for the holiday. Driving home on New Year's there was so much traffic, and later there were fireworks all night long. Then over the long weekend I went to Sun Moon Lake, a GORGEOUS spot about an hour and a half east of Taichung. It was wonderful to be surrounded by nature and so nice to get out and hike! Here are some pictures of sunrise, a bamboo garden, and the beautiful view of the clouds across the lake.