Changes Galore

Due to popular demand, here is the update on where I will be living and teaching for the rest of the year. After an intense two hours of "speed-dating" with the LETs on Monday, we found out our teaching assignment Tuesday morning. I will be teaching for most of the year at Jhong Sing Elementary School with Anne (grades 1-2), Roxan (grades 4-5) and another part-time teacher (grades 3 and 6). This is actually the same school that Ariel taught at when she was an ETA, and it was one of my top choices. Anne and I get along really well, and the other teachers at the school seem friendly as well. I already have my own desk, lunchbox and textbooks! The school is pretty small, with one or two classes per grade, and has its own English Village classroom (a make-believe restaurant and airplane). Pictures to come.

Another exciting development: I now have a common heavy scooter license! First we had to pass a written test to be able to ride a 50cc, and then a driving test for 100 or 125cc. Surprisingly it only took me one try to get my first motor vehicle license ever! Anne took me to look at scooters yesterday, and we picked out a 125cc that rides really smoothly. Since I am still living in Yilan and Jhong Sing is in Wujie on the border of Luodong, I will have to scooter to work every day starting next week. The commute is worth it, though, because I am living in an apartment with my friend Evie! We have more common spaces than my last apartment, and we just finished making a housewarming dinner together. There is still a lot of cleaning and rearranging to do, but I think it will feel homey soon.

Brittany, Faith and I with our respective LETs Crystal, Grace and Anne

Picking Up the Pace

Anita sent us this article today, and I think it gives the reader a good idea of how trash collection and recycling work in Yilan as well. This area in particular is very environmentally conscious and several of the schools we visited were proud of their eco-friendly campuses. More real blogging later - we will find out our school assignment and permanent housing situation tomorrow (!)

Mmmbop!

This week we visited the Nanao and Penglai aboriginal elementary schools located deep in the mountains. Only one ETA from our group will teach there, dividing her/his time between the two schools and living in the teachers' dormitory. Most of the kids belong to the Atayal, the main tribe in this region, but may speak more Mandarin or Taiwanese than Atayal although they can understand it. So both Atayal and English are taught in the schools and share a place in multilingual signs. Coincidentally some of the Nanao students performed at the Yilan International Rain Festival yesterday, so a bunch of us went to the Wulaokeng scenic area near Suao to check it out. The performance consisted of traditional Atayal dances, including a dance about the role of women and another telling the story of a mischievous little boy who stole the witch doctor's magic bag. Nanao also has a western-style orchestra, and they played an arrangement of that famous folk song that goes, 阿里山的姑娘，美如水呀，阿里山的少年，壯如山... The kids were great and looked like they were having fun. On the way back we met some of the dancers and their friends, including the girl on the left here, and they were not shy at all about asking us questions in English (where are you from? what is your name?). The next performance was quite different - a collection of American 'cirque-du-soleil expats' entertained us with handstands, juggling and gymnastic feats of strength, all narrated in heavily accented (but understandable) Mandarin. Both Julia (an ETA) and Brian (the teacher at another aboriginal school) were selected for audience participation and had to lay down on the stage while one of the performers walked on them upside down with his shoes on fire. It turns out the troupe members live quite near us in Yilan, so we may be seeing more of them. Aside from the performances we also frolicked in the stream running through the park, and had our feet tickled by flesh-eating fish. All in all a successful outing.

We've been here over two weeks now, and I'm only just now realizing that I will in fact be living here for a year. I am really grateful for the opportunity to come back to this island. I am also thankful that my parents encouraged me to keep up my Chinese all these years, as it is proving invaluable to be able to communicate with native speakers. Everything is so much easier here than in Bamako or Budapest. Not only can I help fellow ETAs order food or buy bus tickets, but I can sing karaoke (badly) with some of the local English teachers! I think it will also be helpful for developing deeper, lasting relationships with local people. So 謝謝，爸媽!

Back To The Old House

Our days have been filled with lessons on how to live and get around in Yilan, including scooter practice in the afternoons. On Wednesday we visited one junior high and two elementary schools. The last elementary school was right next to the Wai-ao beach, about 30 min. by train from Yilan, and their IT resources were amazing. Their students are using Linux, Moodle, smart boards, and more! We spent a refreshing afternoon on the black sand beach, right across from Turtle Island, and even helped some locals pull in a huge fishing net!

This weekend Julia, Evie, Faith and I took the Kamalan bus to Taipei, which was super comfortable and convenient. We watched kids roller-blading in Da-an park, took the MRT to Ximen for some 麻醬麵, and walked to the Longshan Temple (龍山寺). The temple is over 200 years old and the bodhisattva Guanyin is a central figure. There were many people praying and making offerings for Ghost Month.

Later I met Auntie Chen and her nephew in Nangang, where I lived 12 years ago. We went out to dinner with my former art teacher and her husband. I could barely recognize the surroundings, but we did walk past our old apartment and the park across the street. On our morning walk today we visited the old rice paddy which has now been turned into research plots for the Academica Sinica and a native plant garden next to the new genetics building.

We also met up with Huang Ying, my best friend from fourth grade at Hu-shi elementary. It was really nice to see and catch up with everyone after so many years. Here is Ying-ying with Yi lao-shi:

認識宜蘭！

We arrived in Yilan last Saturday, after a beautiful bus ride from Taipei through the 雪山 mountains -- they just recently finished the tunnels so now the commute takes one hour rather than three. For the month of August, us ETAs were divided into two groups, one living in Yilan and the other in Luodong. Once we receive our school assignments we may move to whichever city is more convenient. For now I am living in an apartment in Yilan with two other girls. This is the view from our balcony, looking out towards the mountains:

On Sunday we set out on a self-guided walking tour of Yilan, led by our fearless leader and navigational expert Jill. We stumbled upon a cluster of hundred-year-old houses, one of which has been remodeled into a traditional music museum. We also went back there later in the afternoon for a demonstration of the 揚琴 :

 

Adam tried his hand at it:

Other highlights of the day included the Yilan distillery and anka museum, as well as a roadside temple (pictured below).