It's been several weeks since my last blog post ... time is beginning to fly in the way it does when routines become better established ... I continue to love my time here in Taichung and am excited to share more here on this blog.

Last week at school we celebrated Halloween, which is something that many schools do here. At our weekly whole-school assembly, I talked a little bit about Halloween and then some of our Grade 3 and 4 students sang and danced to “A Witch on Halloween.”  One of my co-teachers and I had been teaching this song for the previous two weeks, and the students were so cute and funny about it. Afterwards we all took many pictures, some of which I have included here.

I have started hosting a “Tea Time” period one morning every week during the students’ 20-minute break. The students choose to come, so it is always a nice small group of students who want to be there. We have a little snack and I organize informal games and activities that help students practice speaking and writing in English. It has been a nice way to form personal relationships with students outside of class, and it is also great exposure for them to have a little bit more time during their day when they are challenged to speak English.

                                                        

(So sorry but for some reason I simply cannot make the text in this paragraph agree to be black......) Two weeks ago, there was a jazz festival in Taichung. Every night for about a week and a half, thousands of Taichung residents gathered outside on a big lawn in a park downtown to enjoy the jazz performances of musicians from all over the world. Many people spread out blankets and had picnic dinners. Among the musical highlights were a jazz a capella group from Hungary, a Taiwanese singer, and an Israeli jazz quartet. It was an unbelievable experience to be sitting outside under the stars with thousands of Taiwanese people there to appreciate music and companionship. I went with my friend Claire on the last night of the festival, and because it was so crowded we were sitting very close to everyone around us. There was a family right in front of us and their little girl, Connie, shyly let me know she wanted to talk to me in English.  Needless to say I was probably even more excited than Connie was, and over the course of the evening she and I exchanged names, hobbies, birthdays, Chinese/English vocabulary, and took many videos and pictures. 

                   

This past weekend my roomates and I finally made it to Gaomei Wetlands, which is a well-known spot here for catching beautiful sunsets. We had tried to go a few weeks ago, but we left too late and turned around after watching sunset from the road. The scooter drive was about an hour long, which was really fun (!) and a great way to see different parts of Taichung. Being at the wetlands at dusk was a beautiful way to end the weekend.