2017 in Review

HOLY MOLY ... that's about all I can say! I'm a tad behind on my little corner of the internet here, I guess you could say I've been staying busy.. But have no fear, even though I haven't been good about writing about my travels...I certainty have been traveling!

I figured January and all...what better way to get back to my little blog-o-sphere than to give you a quick year in review! If you've been reading with me for a while, this will probably look a little familiar... {{hey-o 2015 and 2016 years in review}} (you can click the lovely tan-ish colored words to take you to those previous blog posts if you happened to miss them!

Ok, the SUPER fast recap of 2017! I'm still living in Ashland. Finished teaching 2nd grade and am now back safe and sound in 1st grade at my same school. We had a family wedding in Mexico, spring break in Brazil, summer trip to Taiwan, back to school trip to Niagara & Toronto and still managed to get my little side business {{Nifty Thrifty by Tracy}} to various craft shows in the area! Hello busy year!

And without further ado...

Taiwan Summer Camp

I can’t lie, I wasn’t looking forward to summer camp. It’s written into our contracts that we have to provide our school with either a summer or winter camp and my school and I together decided a summer camp was best for everyone, but that didn’t mean I was looking forward to it! I had 8 days to relax before I left Taiwan after school was over and camp was taking 3 days of that…and I just wasn’t the happiest of campers. But, as time got closer I quickly began to realize that I had as much freedom over camp as I wanted and my directors only request was that we “have fun time”…fun? I can do that!

They were hoping to have 25-30 kids sign up for camp from 8am-12 for 3 days right after school was out. I’d be the main teacher but would also have a co-teacher each day along with Clement our English military guy to help out…easy peasy….until it wasn’t. They blamed it on the fact that my name was on the signup sheet and I was [I quote] “popular with the kids”, but the next thing I knew, we had 68 kids signed up and only a small classroom to hold us all in…oh buddy, things are going to get interesting!

After a little revamping my original camp curriculum we came up with a plan that would work with more than double the original amount of kids and still hopefully be a blast for the kiddos. Next began Clement and I's mad dash around Hsinchu to locate some of the odd ball materials I was hoping to find {{can anyone say piñata hunting in Asia?!}} I'm still not exactly sure how we did it, but we found everything we needed (or suitable substitutes lol), got all the kids situated in a single room, and had a blast doing it!

Here's a quick rundown of our week:

Monday - What do you look like?

On Monday we kicked camp off with learning how to describe a person, their figure, and hair types. The only obvious way to follow up this lesson was to play the largest version of Guess Who that I have ever witnessed! After a couple practice rounds against yours-truly I supplied small groups with mini, printed versions of the game and let them have at it. They had never seen the game before and had a blast! I was asked to play one movie during summer camp and it fit perfectly into Monday's schedule, so while the students were watching "How to Train Your Dragon" {hey might as well pick something I'll like as well!} I set up my popcorn maker for a little American style popcorn...holy moly, the kids went nuts CRAZY! They had never seen a popcorn maker before! They plowed through 2 pounds of kernels before the movie was half over and left not a single crumb behind! Needless to say...day one was a hit!

Tuesday - Kickball fun!

In Taiwan children LOVE to play baseball and badminton. During any given break throughout of the school day you can ALWAYS find children playing both games around the playground. Unlike many of the students in the US though, none of them knew how to play kickball! I thought summer camp would be the perfect time to introduce them as well as working in a little baseball vocabulary into the mix for them as well. We went over the rules and logistics of kickball {pretty quick and easy after playing baseball everyday!} and then practiced some terms and phrases that we could yell {{kindly!}} while playing. Then we let loose. 6 teams were created allowing us to have 3 games going at once [remember...68 kids!] so one game inside the air-conditioned-ish gym and the other 2 outside...it was a ripe 92 degrees and 80% humidity...needless to say we didn't last long before we moved inside too! We created a last minute tournament of sorts and allowed the teams to compete inside. The last 45 minutes of camp we offered a teacher vs. student game and the kids went wild (in Taiwan I rarely saw teachers or parents interacting with the kids at their level...as kids). We happened to have 6 adults handy and about 40 of the kids wanted to play...I'm still not sure how the team of 6 managed to win, but the kids had an absolute blast! Day 2 of camp...complete!

Wednesday - Let's go to Mexico!

Holy moly was Wednesday a blast! I had been looking forward to this day and I am happy to say that fun was had by ALL! We started our day off by learning a little about the country of Mexico, where it was, what we eat, and what some places in the country might look like. The kids also tried their hand at counting to 5 and saying hi & bye in Spanish {they decided this was much more difficult than English!} Afterwards we learned a simple Mexican partner dance {I may have never laughed so hard as I did watching the kids trying this dance!} and then broke open the "Mexican food" [first I have to give my disclosure here...Mexican food doesn't exist in Taiwan...anywhere! I had my mom sending my hot sauce because I couldn't find ANYTHING! So, we went with the twisted Taiwanese forms of Mexican food!] First up the kids tried a popular Mexican candy called Pulparindo, some like it while others ran for the trash! Next up was cucumber pieces dipped in Tajin (a powdered lime & chili seasoning) and most of the kids came back for more! Lastly was our Dorito party {I warned you of a twisted form of Mexican food!} Clement had bought 12 bags of Doritos and the kids devoured them! We had mild and medium salsas along with Valentina sauce from Mexico. Though the kids were reluctant to try to spicy we began with a few brave ones and pretty soon they were all trying and mixing all the sauces...they were hooked!

To end our fun filled we headed to the gym armed with 2 piñatas, waayy too much candy, a baseball bat, and 68 over-the-top excited kids....it was piñata time! ;)

Last Week of School

I say it every year, but this year was especially terrible. I feel like it was just August and I was meeting my students for the first time, and here I am now planning last week of school activities for the little guys I have come to love so dear! Our school year here is a tad bit longer and the dates are a little skewed from the typical western school calendar, so our last day of school wasn’t until Thursday, June 30.

When I taught first grade back in Ohio I always tried to make the last day full of fun memories for the kids. I know many teachers like to multitask and put in a movie while they finish up end of the year work, or have the students help prepare the classroom for summer, but for me it’s a time to celebrate! We’ve all made it through another school year and we all need time to relax and have fun!

Enter Miss St. John’s “Minute-to-Win-it” games!

I have over the last couple of years compiled a group of fun minute-to-win-it games that require few supplies and are easy for the kids to understand, and I most certainly didn’t want to deprive my Taiwan students of the fun! If you have never heard of minute-to-win-it games before they are essentially small games that you try to complete in under 60 seconds. They are fast, fun, and easy, and always a hit with the kids!

This year, since we only have 40 minute periods, I narrowed our games down to 4 including eating a cookie placed on their forehead without using their hands, keeping 2 balloons afloat for 60 seconds, stacking 36 cups into a pyramid, and getting a tissue paper fish to cross a finish line by fanning it with a plastic folder. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I promise you…we all had fun! J

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Taiwan Janitors}

As briefly mentioned previous HERE most schools in Taiwan don't employ janitors or grounds workers for their schools. Yet, most of the schools here in Taiwan are always immaculate. How is that you ask? Simple, we don't let children ever enter the school grounds! OK, ok, just kidding! The kids clean the school, and I love LOVE it!!

Twice a day (once first thing at 7:30am and then again before last period at 2:50pm) students are given 20 minutes to clean their assigned area of the school. The classes are split into smaller groups and are given their assignments that last the remainder of the school year. They are monitored somewhat while they are cleaning, but they do all the cleaning themselves: dusting, moping, sweeping, emptying trash cans, raking, scrubbing the stairways...all of it!

Some areas the children are assigned to include:

Their own classroom
Other classrooms in the school
Public bathrooms
Teacher bathrooms
School offices
Playground
Hallways
Side yards
School entrance 

Sadly in the US I feel as though many parents would complain and accuse the school of "corporal punishment" or make other extreme accusations towards the school. Here though it is looked at as part of their education. Children not only learn the "how's" of cleaning, but they also learn to have respect for their school environment and how to help out around their home. Children here know that if they make a mess of their school it will be them that has to clean it up later, thus helping to keep our campus beautiful. 

It was surely a strange sight at first, but I have come to love this idea as the year has progressed and appreciate the values that are being instilled in these young children!

Welcome to FuLong Elementary School

Check out this quick video tour of one of the two schools that I am currently teaching at here in Taiwan. FuLong Elementary School is the smaller of the 2 schools I teach at with a current total of 43 students grades 1st - 6th. The school is situated in the countryside about a 10 minute scooter drive away from my apartment. Enjoy, and let me know what you think of the school!

My Mommy's in Taiwan!

So if you don't follow me on any other forms of social media {Shameless shout out! You can check out my Instagram and Facebook here!} and you didn't know my mom made it...well...my mom made it! It might have taken 9 months, lots of convincing, and promises of limited scooter rides, no nasty food, and monkey sightings; but, she's here!

She left Ohio Thursday morning bright and stinkin' early and landed in Taipei Friday evening a little after 6pm Taiwan time (I'll do the math for you...24 hours of flying and 36 hours lost with time change included!) on Friday, April 29. We grabbed some quick food in the airport and headed back for my home in Hsinchu to prepare for sports day Saturday morning. (Funny thing about schools here in Taiwan...they don't mind making you work an occasional Saturday, but you're always compensated for the day...so we got Monday off instead...whatever makes you happy!)

Sports day on Saturday included many waves from the students for my mom and many MANY stares from parents at the 2 lone white people that some didn't even know existed in the town {I'd blow their minds if I told them there was a white guy teaching at the Junior High as well! haha} Guys, I promise I'm not exaggerating this stuff! I had a mother of a first grader follow me around for a good 45 minutes taking numerous pictures of me and telling me over and over again in Chinese how beautiful I was and that she loved my nose...I've said it before...but I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried! After sports day (early release at 1...heck yes!) we headed home, quickly packed our bags, and hopped on the Train for Taipei {mom avoided a scooter ride here and I allowed her to breathe more easily on the local bus!}

We arrived to Taipei a little after 4pm, checked into our hotel, and Tour Guide Tracy got right to work on the extensive list I had been given to accomplish in Taipei {I'll brag for a second and say we covered everything on the list my mom gave me and then some...and we both lived to tell about it!}

First Stop...Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 

{previous visits HERE & HERE}...with sightings of 101!

Next up...Longshan Temple

{previous visits HERE & HERE}...a must see temple in Taipei!

And finish the night off with...Shillin Night Market

{previous visits HERE, HERE, HERE, & HERE}...clearly I have a problem with night markets!

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Sunday brought along a whole new set of adventures and exhaustion (I can't lie though I love traveling so, it can be quite tiring at times as well!) We slept in a little bit to help cope with our long day the day before {and possibly a previous 24 hour flight around the world!} and then headed out for our day's first adventure...and one that my mom was madly in love with!

First stop of the day...Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 

{previous visits HERE}...mom was quite smitten with the architecture of the buildings in this area AND that she got her first ever jumping picture in front of the Memorial Hall {it's truly the little things in life!}

After we were starving and caved for a late super late lunch, Hello...Din Tai Fung!

{previous visits HERE & HERE}...I can't lie, I think this restaurant is wonderfully delicious and I will miss it something fierce when I finally leave my island home. Needless to say...mom was also a fan, it's hard not to be!

We finished lunch and headed to...Ximen District...to walk off our food babies & see what we could find!

{previous visit HERE}...I can't say this is a must see in Taipei, but if you are in the area for several days and are wanting to see a different vibe of the city, this up & coming district is the place to be and a great way to spend an afternoon or evening, or in our case, a little of both as the nightlife here proved to be unique in its own right as well!

Last up for the night...Taipei 101 sighting at night!

{previous visits HERE, HERE, & HERE}

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Monday was our last official day to gallivant through Taipei, remember thanks to sports day...no school Monday! And we started off with a bang and ended again way late; tired, but with full bellies and happy smiles!

First up, breakfast...Traditional Taiwanese Cold Peanut Noodles!

These can be bought just about anywhere, but I have been introduced to a popular street-side shop and knew she would love it!

Afterwards, the Taipei must see...Taipei 101!

{previous visits HERE, HERE, & HERE}...You just CAN'T go to Taipei and NOT go into Taipei 101! The building is beautiful, the dampener inside is legendary, the elevator is one of the fastest in the world, and the views are incredible! We spent a good 2 hours checking out the inside of the tower and lucked out when the outside observatory was open for visitors as well! Afterwards we took our grumbly tummies down to the first floor food court and found some delicious noodles for lunch!

There was ONE more item on her to do list...National Palace Museum!

{previous visit HERE}...This museum is incredibly beautiful both inside and out! It is interesting enough the largest (or one of the largest depending on your sources!) collections of ancient imperial Chinese artworks & artifacts in the world and constantly rotating its collections for an ever changing museum display. Needless to say we spent several hours exploring the museum ending with their borrowed exhibit from the Vatican.

The end of the museum sadly also signaled the end of our long weekend in Taipei as we headed back to Hsinchu to prepare for school the following day.

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Cram Schools}

Cram schools, also known in Chinese as Buxibans [pronounced Bu-she-ban] are EVERYWHERE in Taiwan (and from what I head in China as well). Likewise, they apparently spread throughout much of Asia but go by different names within each country.

Regardless of where they are or what you call them though, their purpose remains the same...they are school after school.

In the United States is is typical for students, if both their parents are working 1st shift, to attend sports, day care centers, babysitters, or other after school care providers until one or both of their parents are available to pick them up for the evening. Traditionally though, even families who utilize these services, have their children home between 4 and 6pm so they are able to enjoy a family meal together, work on homework, and spend the evening with their children.

In Taiwan though, when that final bell rings for children to be dismissed from school, we have quite a different site than the typical yellow school bus or mom's carpool lane that we might be used to seeing in many American schools. At 3:50 when children are dismissed from the public schools, many of the children are picked up by a teacher from their buxiban and the groups of children are led to one of the dozens of buxibans that are scattered around each town here in Taiwan to begin their second round of school for the day.

Buxibans often are based around teaching math, Chinese, or English, but especially in larger cities, a parent can find a buxiban specializing in nearly any subject under the sun. Though younger children may only stay at a buxiban until 5 or 6 in the evening {for a total of 10.5 hours of schooling a day} many high pressure parents of high schoolers have their students enrolled in 1, 2, or 3 different buxibans until 10 or 11 o'clock at night! {That's up to 16 hours of schooling a day...everyday!}...and we wonder why many of the students in Asian countries are so more advanced than many of our students!

As the students age, their time spent in the buxiban also tends to increase. In families where it is expected that the children will go to great university and become doctors and engineers, the students may also attend buxibans or other remedial classes on Saturdays and Sundays to ensure that they are focusing all of their time and energy on becoming the absolute best student they can be...and then some!

Near me two of the larger schools, having multiple branches each, are American Eagle Institute and Giraffe English School, but there are countless smaller "ma & pa" cram schools as well. This notion of a school after school is still something I try to wrap my head around here in Taiwan, but good or bad, it's here to stay in Taiwan!

Taiwan Children's Day

Kids in Taiwan, the lucky little boogers here get a whole day devoted to them, and boy do the schools go all out for them!

April 4 in Taiwan is the national holiday of Children's Day. Kids here are extra lucky that it coincides with tomb sweeping in which they receive 2 days off school, thus giving the kids a 4 day weekend "for children's day".

Both my schools had fun activities planned for the kids, and lucky me was able to participate in all of them! Fu Long (my smaller school) celebrated early and took the kids the Hsinchu Little Ding Dong Scince Park for the day. This large park is divided up into area devoted to different fields of Science allowing the kids to learn while exploring and playing their way through the park. Their favorite part of the park (naturally on a beautiful 75 degree day lol) was the indoor "ski resort" aka-a hill covered with artificial snow for sledding. But, when you've never been sledding before, anything works! The kids had a stinkin blast and I can't lie, I had fun myself hopping on sleds with a couple kids as well!

Friday my school schedules were flip flopped around a bit and I was able to spend the day celebrating with my students in Hsinfong. The day started with a school wide assembly followed by an hour long magic show for all the kids. The reminder of the morning was spent rotating groups of kids through the gym which had been transformed into our very own Taiwanese carnival!! Before the big day the kids had opportunities to win tickets that they were then able to cash in at carnival to play games, get snacks, or win small prizes; they had a blast! The afternoon was spent relaxing in their classrooms and watching movies...not too shabby for a Friday before a 4 day weekend if I do say so myself!

 Pictures starting top left & working left to right: giggling at the magician, enjoying their snacks, chocolate covered marshmallows & sweet green bean soup, air gun target practice, popcorn for the win, chocolate covered marshmallows, making pins to wear, CO2 pop, air cannons, punch box fun, selecting their prize, & girlies enjoying their day! 

{Below - Teachers scored big during Children's Day as well! Holy Food!}

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {western holidays}

Western holidays {or even just non-Taiwanese holidays!} such as Christmas and New Year are funny things here in Taiwan.

Outwardly they celebrate these holidays. There are Christmas trees, people dressing like Santa Clauses, Christmas carols in the stores, and fireworks shot off on the 31st of December. But, past the commercial aspect of these holidays, there is nothing.

I actually had a co-worker tell me that other than  "happy happy time" they had no idea why we celebrate Christmas {this co-worker had Christmas themed lessons in their classroom!}

Likewise, when midnight hit on New Year's Eve, people sat there with their phones filming the fireworks without a single hug given, kiss received, or Happy New Year shouted...it was silent...they don't celebrate it.

I don't understand why there is such a commercialist view on these holidays that they don't celebrate, but it certainly sparks many questions as they continue to pass by, stumping me more and more with each passing holiday.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, my students at Hsinfong Elementary School at their first annual Christmas carol competition!  {I may be biased, but I think they did great fantastic!}

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Class Schedules}

Class Schedules

 Class schedules here are a funky thing that I haven’t quite figured out! One thing that I am for certain though, is that even though the students in many ways are leaps and bounds ahead of their American counterparts, they are much less strict with the child’s school day schedule and *gasp* let the kids, BE KIDS!

START: 7:45am

CLASS: 7 - 40 minute periods a day

BREAKS: 10 minutes between each class {with 1 break being 20 minutes!}

LUNCH: 1 hour & 20 minutes {serving, eating, cleaning from lunch/nap time/recess}

SPECIALS: music, art, English, gym, computer, 1 local language {Taiwanese or Hakanese}

TUESDAYS: there are no ‘formal’ classes Tuesday afternoon for any grade, but field trips, speakers, & special events happen during this time

END: 3:45 pm {grades 3-6} & 1:10 pm {grades 1-2}

**Cleaning – the kids are assigned sections of the school to clean daily once in the morning before school starts, and again between 6^th & 7^th periods before they go home for the day

**Rest time – All the students K-6 {and many of the teachers as well!} have an afternoon rest time after they finish lunch (and people ask if I want to go back and teach in America! Haha)

I love, Love, LOVE that the kids are allowed to be kids here! They know and respect the fact that kids need to move, play, and giggle with their friends in order to be productive little learners, while cleaning the school teaches them about responsibility and to have respect for their school, their belongings and the general world around them.

Kudos to you Taiwan!

Chinese Classes!

"It's not difficult!"

...or at least that's what my professor likes to tell us...always followed by a hearty "jia you" {or you can do it, in Chinese} ...I'm pretty sure she realizes that learning this is near impossible!

I'm not sure exactly what state of mind I was in, or better question yet, where my mind was at all! when I decided to enroll in the local National Chiao Tung University for Chinese classes, but that's where I find myself every Monday night. 

When I walked across the stages with my Master diploma this past May I was happy with my accomplishments, but swore off any more schooling for several years {or possibly ever!}...granted I had said the same thing when I finished my undergrad only 3 years before...But, here I am, less than 4 months later...working on Chinese homework. 

If I didn't want to make matters even worse...I had the choice between two different classes being offered: Conversational Chinese  (speaking & listening) or Introductory Chinese (speaking, listening, reading && writing), and what do you think my smart self chose....yeah, let's just saying reading & writing Chinese is just as difficult as one would image {times 50!}.

Introductory Chinese here I come!

I'm about half way through my course right now, and although my grades may not be the best evidence, I am actually learning some of this stuff! It only took my professor, 2 work books, a handwriting book, 2 separate apps, && a deck of flash cards to learn how to count to 10 {remember, it's not difficult! lol} But no, on a serious note, I'm loving this!

I mean, I wrote this...and I can actually read it too! 

Though the class  is tough and there's days I feel like its all gibberish {oh wait!} I am learning some...slowly but surely! I get a secret thrill each time my professor writes something on the board and I know what the sentence says, or I can read a character or 2 on a street sign, or I finished a page of homework ALL in Chinese, or I can read my train schedule without waiting for the English menu to pop up...I'm telling you, it's coming, s-l-o-w-l-y but surely! 

Sideshow!

So area schools that do not have foreign English teachers can sign up to bring their students to my classroom for a morning where we read books & learn songs in English as a field trip. Today I had my first class like this and as I walk in I hear 40 students saying “wow”, “so pretty!”, & “she really is American!”…yes folks…step right up to the Miss St. John carnival sideshow!

Today's Lunch...You'll never guess!

Imagine my surprise when I walk into  the cafeteria today to see that we are having..

wait 

for 

it...

.

..

...

....

Chicken nuggets!!!!

After tons of rice/noodle/green veggie/unknown meat meals I would have never have thought in a  million years that they would serve chicken nuggets!

But you've got to throw a little curve ball in there right?!?!   

Chicken nuggets are of course eaten with chopsticks!

First Week of School...DONE!!

But  really, it was an exciting, nerve-racking, and much anticipated week that ended up much better than I could have ever expected!  My schedule is a little crazy and will most likely take some getting used to, but this first week is always the hardest! I am working at 2 different elementary schools about 5 miles apart (and currently relying on school personal to drive me to the farther school 5 miles away!)

I did it! I survived my first week of school! And there were no tears, not even from the students! Haha

I work at Hsin Fong Elementary School Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and over the course of the semester will have worked with each of the 600 children at least once. I see each of the 5 fifth and sixth grade classes once a week and have between 28 and 33 students in each class! Monday's and Tuesday's I rotate groups of 1st & 2nd graders and groups of 3rd & 4th graders to have what they call a "sing and dance class" which essentially means {please plan 40 minutes of English activities for our students, but we have  no idea what we actually want you to teach, but promise to love whatever you come up with}. Also on Tuesday's I will work in the English Situational classroom at my school where other schools in the area can sign up to  have their children come see me and have this "sing and dance class" with me....yes, basically I'm a school  attraction! ;-)

On Wednesdays and Fridays I catch a ride to Fu Long Elementary school where there are only about 45 students grades 1-6. *it's my baby school!* the classes have only between 3 and 11 students in them which although difficult to play some games with so few students, it also allows me to work much more closely with each of the children. I will see the 3-6 graders twice a week including individual class lessons for each of these grades, as well as English Story time for each of the grades 1 - 6.

The local English teachers that I am working with have been nothing but amazing and they have showered me with candies, local foods, teas, and local food suggestions. The children are beyond adorable and I cannot walk more than a couple yards without seeing huge smiles and hearing "hello Teacher Tracy! Hello!"...needless to say, I think the year here is going to be amazing!