I work with 14 different classes, so this week's class periods were mainly used for introducing myself and having the students use English to ask me questions. I told the kids that I'm from America's east coast and live in a state very close to Washington D.C. I told them I recently graduated from college and had them guess my age (most guesses were around 25). I told them I have a younger brother who is very tall (I can gesture this easily and they think he's a giant) and plays soccer very well, and said that we have a cat who has blue eyes just like me (this gets them every time). I told them about Leo, and drew a picture so that they could associate the word hedgehog with the Chinese word. When the students got to ask me questions, I was very impressed with many of their English levels. They asked me things like what my life in America is like, how do I like Kaohsiung, what are my favorite foods here, and if I like Wen Fu (which is way too cute). It's especially cute when they ask me if I'm interested in things they like; one little boy asked me I liked hockey and archery. They were all very curious about American houses--they think we're all very rich since we live in houses with two floors--a step up from the high-rise apartments that cover the small island. Some of the questions are a bit more difficult to answer (like "Why do you have such a tall nose?"), but I am so impressed with their curiosity and willingness to take a risk asking a question when they know they may very well not say it one hundred percent correctly. I'm also very glad to see that the better students help translate for the other ones, repeating the question in Chinese, and having the student speak after me to say it in English. So far we've practiced some review sentences like "How old are you?" and "How tall are you?" with the 5th graders, and worked on shapes and introducing the Mid-Autumn Festival with the 6th graders. The next lesson for the 5th graders is called "Can You Swim," and includes other verbs, so I chose a verse from "Part of Your World" for a listening exercise. I sang the verse once and had the students listen carefully for as many words as they could. I repeated it once more and had them right what they heard on the blackboard. The third time I taught them line by line so that they could sing it too. After I sang they burst into applause and said I was a superstar. Even my co-teacher said she was surprised to hear how well I sing and said she loved my sweet-sounding voice (hear that, Aunt Jenny?). It's one of the first activities I've used on my own, so I was glad to see it go over well. It makes me a little less and nervous and more excited to plan other things for them.
Today in between classes I asked if I could play baseball with the boys. I pitched a few balls and then asked if I could try hitting. I ended up hitting a line drive on the first pitch, and got a "home run." They yelled and yelled for me to run, something I wasn't planning to do since the ground was still really muddy from the torrential rain yesterday and I was wearing wedge sandals and a skirt. I ran anyway, almost falling once, and sliding on one foot into home. They got me out but it was still pretty great. When I heard students calling my name, I looked up to find students on all sides of the courtyard leaning over the breezeways waving and watching me play. By the next class the word had spread that I can play baseball. It's a really popular sport in Taiwan, so I'm glad it's something I can share with them.
I've also started dancing after school with a group of about seven or eight 5th grade girls. They take dance lessons with a teacher, and meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the front hallway to practice. They're quite good little dancers, using a modern pop-style song and dance that they will perform in a few weeks for a competition. Every time they see me now they ask if I will join them after school. I have three of them in my classes, and it's sort of like being in on our own little secret. We have our own little smile for each other, and I find myself getting really excited when I see them in the hallways. It's super fun communicating with them--we need about all of them for me to say something to just one of them. There's one girl who acts as the overall interpreter, a few who argue about the meaning in Chinese, and a few who happen to know odd vocabulary words. The other day I showed them how to do a cartwheel, and since I can remember their routine, they seem to think I'm pretty cool. If they only knew...That's the great thing about kids--they think everything you do is amazing.
Sophia or Julianna usually wait until I'm done with dancing and then drive me to the bus station. Sophia has a spunky personality with a short hair cut and stylish clothes to match. Her skin is quite pale for a Taiwanese, and she works hard to keep it that way. Even on her way to the classroom she wears a visor that had a front mask comparable to that of a welding mask. The first time she drove me (Tuesday), I recognized that familiar smell of sunscreen as soon as I opened the car door. I saw that the front passenger window was covered was two sun protectors, but as we pulled out of the parking garage she put two more on her side and then pulled a strip of dark film over the windshield (this was all in addition to the visor/welding mask). I was very concerned about her vision, but she assured me she was a good driver. I made a quit exit from the car since there are traffic guards along the bus station who signal cars to move on when they make a stop at the station, no matter how brief. The second day (yesterday) I tried to be quick, but the guard immediately rushed to the car and began blowing his whistle. I was already halfway out, so I found it very amusing when he yelled "stop, stop!" It had been a long day and I was just seconds away from missing my bus that had already pulled up to the curb so I yelled "ok, ok!" and ran a few feet to hop onto the bus. I recognized the bus driver, a young guy whom I like very much mostly because the first day he saw me he said "Hello, how are you" in a perky, heavy accented voice. This time he gave me a sly smile, said "hello" in English again, and then asked (in Chinese), "Do you understand, Chinese?" I responded with, "Yes, I speak Chinese" and then added "they don't like me very much," pointing to the guards. He kept smiling his sly smile and I collapsed into a seat, thankful to be on my way home.
After finishing up at work around noon today and having lunch at the school, I came home for a short nap before meeting my host family. I packed the jams I bought in the U.S., each made with a local specialty fruit, and headed for the bus stop for the second time today. The first bus to come was the 72, a line I don't usually take but one I know goes to the train station. From the train station I would be able to walk to San Min, a local school where we would have a catered dinner with our host families. As we drove down the main stretch of road, we pulled up next to some sort of street parade. A few groups of men carried long bamboo poles on their shoulders, the poles supporting pagoda temple-like statues. Other men wore large majestic costumes, balancing on either stilts or perhaps the shoulders of other men as they swayed down the street. Groups of young men played classical Chinese instruments, pausing to take a deep drag from their cigarettes or to light a new one. Bubble tea cups were wedged between instruments and statues carried in carts. One man took a call on his cell phone as he participated. The wind started to pick up and the sky began turning darker; a strong typhoon is on its way to Taiwan. When we began crossing the bridge that takes me to Wen Fu, I realized that the 72 was not going to make a stop at the train station and quickly got off to catch a taxi to the school. Although the cool breeze felt amazing, I had to carefully maneuver my skirt, and the darkening sky was looking more and more threatening. I found a nice driver who was fun to chat with and got me to San Min 130NT later (the exact same price it would have taken to take a taxi from my apartment to the school--I hope this doesn't become a trend...).
When I got to San Min I learned that my host family has two daughters, one 10 and the other 12. I had already heard that they are a very nice well-educated family, and I became even more excited to meet them. Although we knew which family we had been matched with, they did not, and we had to keep it a surprise until after dinner. I was so happy when I saw a little family of three walk in wearing matching purple shirts. I tried to discreetly make my way over to them and sit by them at dinner, but I think I must have had a twinkle in my eye, because after spending a few minutes with them the my dad looked at me and said, "I think maybe you are with us." I was pleasantly surprised to find out how well both of the girls speak English, a result of a year or so living in London. They understand American humor very well and are not as shy as many of the young girls who I have met so far. When it came time for me to give clues about my family, and my dad realized that I am, indeed, his third daughter for this year, he yelled out the "we are family!" line very enthusiastically and gave me a hug as some of the local school staff and Bureau of Education members chanted "hug, hug, hug, hug!" It was awkward in the really fun way that many things in Chinese culture are, and we exchanged the gifts that we brought for one another. My family got me a really nice English-Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary from a very large and famous bookstore near their home. My mom had Moon Festival activities tonight and was unable to come, but I had the chance to learn plenty about William (my dad). He graduated from Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung, one of Taiwan's most well-known universities. He is the director of some educational business programs and is based in Shanghai for work. Every Saturday for the next three months he will be taking classes at Kaohsiung Normal University just down the street from my apartment to be certified to teach Chinese to non-native speakers. Many of his classmates from Sun Yat-sen University are also very successful, so he has amazing connections (I really hit the jackpot here). I also learned that my family has two cars, one of which is very large and will be great for trips to places all around the island that may not be so easy to get otherwise. We are already talking about a trip to Kending, a beautiful coastal location in the southern tip of Taiwan.
After the dinner reception was over, William offered to drive all of my roommates and I home since the weather has already started to get a little unpredictable. The seven of us piled into his Mercedes, which was actually very spacious, with 10-year old Keyi sitting on Shana's lap, and 12-year old Ruyi on my lap. We listened to ICRT, an international channel that broadcasts a wide variety of English songs and seems to have really cool tidbits of language information in between. The song "Way Back into Love" from the American movie Music & Lyrics came on, and Shana and I sang along with Keyi and Ruyi who knew all the words. I think at one point, everyone, including my dad, was sort of humming and mumbling some words. It was really great to share such an excitement for the song (which I have not heard on U.S. radio), and I can't wait to hang out with them. My roommates love the girls and want to have them over for a movie and snack night. I could tell from chatting about Ruyi's bond with her host family in London that this is really important to them, and it was really touching to hear my dad say that from now on I will be another daughter. Keyi told me that if I could stay a little longer in July, I can be here for her birthday too (Ruyi's birthday is in January).
I'm now at home preparing for a lazy weekend all snuggled up in the apartment since a typhoon is due to hit Taiwan over the next few days. It's coming at a very inopportune time with the Mid-Autumn Festival falling on Sunday. The typhoon is likely to delay transportation, and the festival is a time when people return home to be with their families, celebrating the full moon by barbecuing beef and eating moon cakes (a round cake commonly filled with sweet red bean paste or egg yolk). It looks like I'll miss out on going home with my friend Su, a native of Kaohsiung, but she's assured me there's plenty of other holidays to celebrate together. If I do get stuck inside, I suppose it wouldn't be so bad eating grilled cheese and watching movies...
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