選手注意！ 預備！ 殺！

About a year ago, while reading previous ETA blogs, I learned that we could join the Fuoguang University dragon boat team. This had been a dream of mine ever since doing a photo essay on dragon boating in high school, so I eagerly looked forward to May... and was not disappointed. Three days a week for three weeks we woke up at the crack of dawn to be at the Yilan river by 6am. Since most of us had no experience, our patient coach started with the basic techniques of rowing, gradually moving up to starting and ending sequences and games like this one, where half the boat rows against the other half to see who's stronger/ more in sync. As we developed arm muscle, we also discovered the true necessity of unity and team spirit. Aided by our coach's constant chant of 跟好！跟好！and the fantastic drumming of my erhu teacher (ex-drummer for the army's national championship team back in the day), we learned to row in unison and feel the rhythm. It's the best feeling ever when everyone's staying together and the boat really cuts through the water.

The races were on May 27 and 28. Earlier Mary and I had gone to the meeting to draw our place in the bracket, and our first race was against Yilan University's chemical engineering students. Perhaps unexpectedly, we defeated them in both shallow and deep lanes. Beth was an excellent grabber.

Next we raced against a team of doctors, but couldn't keep up with their lightning speed:

The second day was much like the first. Our first opponents were once more from Yilan University, and we emerged victorious. Our second (and last) race was against Yilan City government workers, a bunch of betel-nut-chewing men whom we were ecstatic to beat in the deep lane:

(photo/video credit: Bonny Chan, Beth McMahon, Peggy)

In pictures

One of my favorite ways to waste time on the interweb is the BBC's Day in pictures. We have less than two months left in Taiwan, and it's going to be a whirlwind with little time to blog. So, I've decided to compile my own album of daily (or almost daily) pictures that reflect everyday life here, with brief commentary. Check it out!

Happy Earth Day!

This was a fun-filled, busy week with lots of special classes and activities. In particular, we taught Earth Day lessons with 4th and 6th grade. In 6th grade we started with a mind map, brainstorming what we can do for the Earth, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many ideas they came up with and could express in English. Then we listened to "3 Rs" by Jack Johnson and tried to fill in some of the lyrics. I think it's a really great song because not only does it teach reduce, reuse, recycle, but it also has a lot of repetition and incorporates multiplication!

4B had class on April 22, so I thought it would be fun to supplement their textbook's unit on Earth Day ("We can turn off the lights. We can plant trees. ...") by actually planting a tree. The school gardener kindly let us use a spot behind their classroom, and I brought a fig tree (the most easily transportable by scooter). It was drizzling a little bit and the kids had fun digging in the mud. Recently I also planted a small vegetable garden (eggplants, tomatoes, Thai basil) with Russ and the neighborhood children by our apartments. The kids were so into it that we had to do rock paper scissors to see who got to plant what. The work went quickly with so many hands, and it was so encouraging to see that these kids had had intimate experiences with plants before, because their parents grow vegetables and flowers -- every little bit of land is used here and there are so many roadside gardens. Hopefully they will keep this mentality with them for a long long time.

Here's the evidence...

... that we scootered through Taroko Gorge! Last weekend comprised a scooter adventure. First, we visited Nanao, where Julia kindly lent us her scooter so we wandered around town, chilling on the beach and the wharf. Nanao is such a small town that in one day I already recognized people we encountered earlier. (Not that this isn't a common phenomenon anyways -- thanks to English village and teaching at a couple different schools, I seem to recognize kids everywhere we go...) After a peaceful stay we took the train south to Hualien, where we rented a scooter and headed to Taroko National Park. Driving was intense but it was nice to have the flexibility to stop wherever and explore. The worst part was sharing the narrow winding road - sometimes with only one lane - with massive tour buses full of sightseers. The best part was the view... well worth each and every bus. This should give you an idea:

Once we got to Tiansiang, we hiked up to the Huoran Pavilion amid the sound of thousands upon thousands of caterpillars munching on leaves. These azaleas were a welcome sight at the top, as were the views of the valley below. The next morning we hiked the Lyushuei-Heliou trail, spotting a gigantic fuzzy caterpillar and a yellow striped reptile, as well as several brightly colored dragonflies, butterflies and other insects. Lastly, we made it through the Tunnel of Nine Turns trail, marveling at the marble gorge and the geologic forces that formed it, before impending rain pushed us to drive back to Hualien. That was a scooter adventure in and of itself. (Photo credit: Russ Thompson)

It's peanut butter jelly time!

Today was my last day at my co-school, Li Xing (力行) Elementary. At the morning assembly, the principal presented me a certificate of thanks, and Grace told each class to come up with something to say to me. There was an abundance of thank yous and goodbyes. Afterwards I did a victory lap around the track with class 6A, with handshakes and hugs all around.

For our last classes of the month, I taught the 1st and 2nd graders the peanut butter song from Outdoor School (peanut, peanut butter and jelly!) and they absolutely ate it up. Literally, too -- we made PB&J sandwiches at the end. Yummy!

Class 1A says, "I love you!"

Chance encounters

Yesterday Ying came to visit, and in showing her around Yilan I realized again how small it is - we walked around most of it in an afternoon, while also taking Todao the puppy for a romp by the river. I was also reminded that one of the best things about living here is the opportunity for random encounters. In the short walk from the train station to our apartments we passed people dancing (mostly hip-hop) in the park and a huge line in front of a temple - apparently waiting to record prayers on the tape-players that everyone had brought with them. We've stumbled upon Buddhist cooking classes and puppeteers practicing their maneuvers inside gigantic general costumes. What makes these encounters special is that we are frequently invited to participate. The other day on my way home, I saw the gardener carrying a flat of seedlings and asked if I could help him plant. He readily agreed, and we proceeded to put dozens of chrysanthemums in the patch of ground behind our apartments. It turns out that anyone living here can plant there, so I can start a vegetable garden soon! More snippets of the past few months...

As a sidenote, this is what I'll be doing next year. At the end of February I visited the program to interview, and had a really good time. On my last day we went canoeing on Lake Washington (here you can see some of my house-and-boat-mates, I was paddling in the front of the first boat). It was beautiful; can't wait to go back! 

(photo credit: Shivani Patel)

Say "greeeeen!"

This is what happens when you try to get first-graders to pose for a picture. I saw green pipe-cleaners at the stationery store and couldn't resist. So we made shamrocks, and thought about what we would wish for if we caught a leprechaun... answers included lots of toys, 100% on all exams, and for grandparents to come back. Happy St. Patrick's Day from Class 1A!