Return of the King (hoho, that's me)

So I'm currently at the Taoyuan airport. Taoyuan seriously sounds like..........WOW okay my whole life is a lie. I wanted to say Taoyuan sounds like "annoying" in Chinese, but I didn't know how to type it in Chinese characters so I Google translated it...and like I just found out that it's not "tao ren"...it's "nao ren." My life is a lie. How/好恼人. Hohoho, get my play on words/sounds/phonetics? How sounds like "好"...okay now that I explained it, it probably isn't funny at all. :( But I don't even know if that's grammatically correct because in Taiwan, they keep saying 很 instead of 好. Ja. I also learned that I don't know how to say "How much is it?" in Chinese. I keep saying (b/c I still do >_>) "Ji kuai qian?" when it's suppose to be "是多少/shi duo shou?" *Sadness* Anywhoooo, hopefully when I get back to "Beautiful country"/America, I will update a weeks worth of blogging because right now, I'm too lazy. I really hope that laziness doesn't fly back to America with me. Gosh, I'm just filled with wit today. Yeah, also, my last two posts of my Taiwan experience will be featuring my exploration of Taipei in the span of two days. It shall be titled: "How to get 胖胖 in 2 days Part 1 & 2." "胖胖" translates to...I'll use its euphemism, plump. Yep, "How to get plump in 2 days Part 1 & 2." I guarantee it works, or your money back. Life time warranty yo. Trust.

Okay, time to visit the squat before I board ze plane. Peace.

Er, the line is freaking long. I shall continue rambling. :D So I found this ridiculously entertaining as I was ordering my last meal in Taiwan at the airport.

Update

I am currently in Taoyuan County. This is our last city before we go back to Taipei. Unfortunately I have not been able update daily since most of the places we've stayed at don't provide internet. But hopefully, once I get back to Taipei, I will be able to catch up. Until then, here is a teaser!

Tour: Day 19: 1st Stop: Sun Moon Lake, Nantou

Will update.

Teaching: Day 18: Closure

Will update.

你好, 我是温玉馨

So today we (I speak for my entire teaching mates) "broke our students' hearts." <--I'm quoting the students, but they said it in Chinese.

We let the cat out of the bag and spoke to them in Chinese.

The students said that for the past two weeks we had lied to them and pretended we didn't know Chinese. I had to explain to them that we did it on purpose because we wanted to encourage them to communicate to us in English rather than take the easy way out with Chinese. I really hope they understood our intentions and that it was for their own good. A couple of them admitted that they would have spoken only in Chinese if they had known. So I'm really glad that after two weeks of painstakingly biting my tongue when I wanted to use Chinese really paid off. It was great seeing the disbelief written all over their faces. They had some idea that I was competent in Chinese but when I spoke today, yep totally blew their socks off. Kekeke. They couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that I, or anyone else, could be Chinese and American at the time. It didn't make sense that someone can have two heritages and speak more than one language naturally. It was interesting to see how different the world they grew up in is immersed in pop culture but at the same time entirely blindfolded. The students were really amazed that it's possible to learn so many different languages and that not everyone American is "white." I really hope that our conversation today really expanded their horizon and hopefully their view of life in the future.

A funny side note, they asked me if I understood when the students were swearing in Chinese and attempting to swear in English. I said yes, and they asked why I didn't reprimand them...I had two answers...but I could only tell them one. I told them, one because if I scolded them, it would be in English because I had to restrain from using Chinese and making it obvious that I understood because they would take advantage of that and only use their English. My second answer, I'm not sure if I'm completely right in my decision to do so, but I have a somewhat passive-aggressive disposition where if I see them misbehaving, I'm not going to do anything about it except be an on-looker. I feel that in life, especially in that stage, you can't always be having people telling what is right and what is wrong. You have to learn the hard way in order to truly learn. So I wanted them to figure it out themselves and have their own personal conviction of their behavior. Hopefully, I don't need to use any language to convey that.

So today was pretty much a free day. We watched Kung Fu Panda in the morning, I doubt they understood the plot...lol but I'm glad they laughed at all the silly parts. Kids really like it when things get hurt...lol.

I wonder if that was comfortable... 

Sadly they won't be at the closing ceremony tomorrow. :( 

Hehe, we have the same name, 馨!

Today was actually the first time I felt proud of my Chinese name. I never really thought much about it except that the last character was unreasonably difficult to write. "馨" which means fragrance. My dad always said that meant I smelled...but ANYWHO...when I told my students my Chinese name, they all complimented it and said it was such a beautiful name and now that I think about it, it does sound really beautiful and I'm thankful for the old geezer that gave it to me. :p I love you Dad, bahahha. Oh and thanks for my English name too because everyone spells it wrong! Jk.

For the last two periods we combined 7th, 8th, and 9th grade in the library to practice our song performances for tomorrow's opening ceremony.

The first song we will be singing is a traditional aboriginal song, 月光 (Moon Light):

This is such beautiful song. The people here all have out the world vocals...it's amazingly captivating. I have no idea what this song means, but I feel the sincerity in every word.

The second song we will be singing is "We are the World" by Michael Jackson...as you've probably witnessed from my Youtube uploads...these students absolutely love that song. Today's practice lacked a bit of the passion they usually exude...probably because they were all nervous and shocked by the fact we could speak Chinese...XD but I'm sure they'll muster the courage to sing their hearts out, let their souls be heard, and move to the rhythm...

The final song was Teresa Teng's famous 月亮代表我的心 (Moonlight Represents my Heart). Everyone was really into it so it totally made up for my amateur guitar accompaniment. I'm really grateful that this experience here in Taiwan has really brought music back in my life. I often feel that as I grow older, there will be less opportunities for me to create wonderful music with others like back in high school...even if it sounded bad it was still beautiful...it's just the people you're with that make everything sound like love...okay maybe I'm a little crazy, but it's truly how I feel. So having this opportunity to play the piano and guitar and have 50+ voices singing in unison really made me...happy. Also, seeing how music and dance is such a big part of their culture, and everyone freely expresses themselves in that fashion, I really want to treasure that feeling in my heart and bring it back home to share. No shame, honestly. People should live life not being ashamed but sing like they do in the shower...bring down all those walls, and really use our voices to praise something greater than ourselves.

And on the note of dancing, it's so awesome having June in our group because she's like a professor of K-Pop dancing hahaha. The kids really adore it...another way of communicating, besides language, don't you just love it?! I DO. And I'm glad I took waltzing with Aaron, it taught me some sense in propriety, lawlz, jk, but it's really fun being able to know basics and meeting other people, ie. Nancy, that know it too and more, and too keep building on what I've set as my foundation and learning new dances...like tango. Keke, I'm going to show Mama Wan when I get back.

Another funny moment, one of the 7th graders came up to me after the rehearsal and asked me if I had a boyfriend...this is seriously like the nth time I've been asked. -_-x I said no, and she said she would introduce me to a handsome man. I asked her, where does such one exist? She told me Taipei. Lol...yeah. Okay, silly children, enough nonsense. They're basically making reiterate to myself: "FOREVER ALONE"...just kidding. I have more confidence than that!

Yep. So that's basically my rambling of the day. I'm going to add one more thing though (it will be quite lengthy...) I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my earlier posts, but the media is going to be present tomorrow, as well as the governor and such and two of us teachers are expected to present a speech in Chinese. No one really wanted to but Alice and I ended up being stuck with that. Honestly, if I were more proficient in my Chinese, I would be totally gung-ho about it and want to give a speech and thank everyone that gave me this chance to do what I've been wanting to do for years...and to share how this experience has impacted me...but after writing my speech in English and attempting to translate it in Chinese...I knew my efforts would be futile. This really frustrated me...because I felt like a lot of things are lost in translation, plus when I spoke, I would probably pronounce everything in a choppy manner since I would be reading ping yin and the diction would be entirely out of my league. We considered having an on-spot translation, however it was not preferred so I'm actually not going to give a speech tomorrow. But what frustrated me even more was that through this entire process I learned that things aren't as simple as they may seem. There's such a cultural dissonance. The purpose of having students come teach English to these disadvantaged students is to give them opportunities to see a bigger world, to experience a different way of learning, to think outside the box essentially. But the system is still in its strict, structured form that won't be flexible unlike their proposed purpose of bring us here in the first place. Basically, for the speeches, if none of us were able to speak Chinese, they would expect us to simply memorize lines written for us and regurgitate it rather than write it from our hearts and say it in English and have a translator. Things dictated over something heart felt and real. I had a really hard time swallowing that but I need to respect their decisions and also I need to be reminded that I should not automatically think my way is always the best way because I have to remember that I've been cultivated to think in a certain manner as well. It's a process, and hopefully it's a progress.

Because I'll never be giving that speech, I don't want to delete it or just have it collecting dust on my desktop...so I'm just going to post it here...and maybe one day the students or the people that gave me this wonderful opportunity will stumble upon it and hopefully grasp my sincerity in its entirety.

"Teaching English abroad has been one of my life goals since high school…and to be where I am right now embodies the phrase: “living the dream.”  First off, I would like to thank everyone, list important people (government, MOE, AID), teachers, staff at school, and most importantly the students at Sanmin Middle School that made it possible for me to have this wonderful opportunity to come to this Formosa Island. And thank you for giving me this unforgettable experience of what it means to stay young at heart and to continue fostering a love and passion for learning. My purpose in coming here was to teach students English in an exciting and engaging manner that will encourage them to want to learn English for self-betterment, not just to pass an exam. I also wanted them to look beyond the well that the frog lived in and introduce them to a world that is filled with endless opportunities as long as they believe, work hard, and strive for the betterment of the world and most importantly, themselves. I did not know what to expect at the end of this journey, but after these two weeks, the students have proved to me all those things that I hoped for and more. They reminded me that verbal language is not the only way of communicating but that music and dance transcends all language barriers. The students taught me, that home is also a world of wonderful surprises right in my own backyard. Home is where my heart is…and Taiwan has truly touched my heart."

Uhm, it is still in its state of rough draftiness, but I'm sure you'll get the gist. The corniness is a product of my genetic corniness....get it? King Corn reference... environmentalists should get it. ._." WELL, if you haven't watched that movie, WATCH IT NAO. Uhm, and the in cast it did not make sense, the frog in the well is a reference to a Chinese proverb (I had hoped it would translate well in Chinese):

"About this proverb...A frog in a well does not know the great sea. — One of the meanings of this proverb could be… People are satisfied to judge things by their own narrow experience, never knowing of the wide world outside."

Uhm, and the topic of home is that I want to remind them that even though the world out their is big, don't forget that home is most important and to not get caught up in the rush of secularism...but too much abstract thinking probably...oh HumCore what have you done to me?

Lastly, I wanted to be clever and include the Taiwan tourism logo "Taiwan, touch your heart" that is plastered at every possible tourist site, but apparently locals don't really see or notice that for it to make sense. Sigh, epic fail.

Okay this was quite a long post, if you made it to the end, and didn't just scroll down here, I'll let you try my green tea jam for toast that I'll be receiving tomorrow. ^^ It's heavenly.

Oh and to lighten up the mood a bit (sorry about my rant >_>)...here's a video of my students' "surprise" for me and Ashley today...it's be raunchy...so don't say I didn't warn you. And for the record, I only taught English in Taiwan...NOTHING ELSE.

And one final thanks, because none of this would be possible without Him, but glory to be to God in the highest. In one of my earlier posts, I wrote that this wasn't a church mission trip, but that I wanted to come with the same purpose to serve...it's difficult not coming with a declared, "I'm doing this as missions" but I'm sure declaring it has it's own difficulties as well...but I hope that even though I wasn't able to directly expose the students by word of mouth to the gospel, God still had His ways of going about that. What really encouraged me throughout my time here was that a lot of the students donned on shirts that were probably given as gifts from missionaries that explicitly said "I LOVE JESUS"/"JESUS LOVES ME," etc. I know He's working in their hearts here, and hopefully because God placed me here to teach them English will open up their goals in life and to pursue higher education and really give them more opportunities to hear the gospel.

Central Tour Schedule

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Mosquito bite counter: 11 :(

Teaching: Day 17: Sugar we're going downn

Can't believe we posted this almost 2 weeks ago...time flies!

Wow, so today's the final day of "teaching" since tomorrow's basically going to be a free day where we'll blow the socks off our students by speaking their native language, Chinese...even though a lot of them already suspected me of being capable of speaking since I let it slip a couple times. :x IT'S HARD TO HOLD BACK WHEN YOU'RE IN AN ASIAN COUNTRY...>_> And then the day after is the post-test and closing ceremony...so yeah basically today's our last day...even though it has been a hectic ride that burns me out by the end of the day, I'm going to miss it.

Today was the BIG day where the reporter that's going to feature us on international television came...I felt like it was NOT that much of a biggie...like a 3 minute clip or something but once we started teaching, it was like ALL OR NOTHING...just in case my assumptions are wrong, it could very possibly be a big deal if people back home see it. So after planning and preparing until 2 AM last night, the finalized topic was sports. We did our usual routine of stretching exercises in the morning. I'm so glad we've been doing it on a regular basis because now the students treat it as a norm and even begin and lead it themselves. I'm so proud of them...they can all count up to at least 20 (that's sounds funky) since they count while stretching. It was quite uncanny how they were so obedient today...Elle probably scared them with the whole "international" news feature...bahahha. I'd be scared too. It was a little difficult at first feeling natural and teaching the students like we usually do, but after awhile, I came to the conclusion that so what if I make a fool of myself on camera...my purpose is still the same and I just want to teach the students and be taught by them. Everything went so smoothly with them learning sport vocabulary and associating image with word. Bingo was really fun as well even though it was confusing at first.

And truly, silence is golden. We finished the last period before our field trip with a word search. I love giving out word searches...the students are so wonderfully quiet as they diligently work on their assignment. :) Peace...tranquility...with my classical music playing in the background.  I'm always playing my classical music in the background hoping it'll work like Mozart babies. Kekeke.

So finally the awaited field trip to the Hualien Sugar Factory arrived. The reporter was coming along too and so it was a pretty big deal for Elle. Before we boarded the school bus, we had to do this chant...I honestly have no idea what they were shouting in Chinese...but I all I knew was that I had to say "GO GO GO YEAH!" and *jump. Lol, it was quite corny but enjoyable nonetheless. NO SHAME.

When we got to our destination, we had to do this other chant...which completely lost me as well...but luckily there was English at the end "OH YEAH!" so I didn't have to stand there like an idiot smiling at the camera. ^^"

The scavenger hunt I created came out a lot better than I expected...the students were really into it and into getting stamps for each station we prepared. They really used all the English they've been practicing the last two weeks so they could flaunt it to the camera. I was like a proud Mama. They were also really comfortable with me and Ashley now as they talked to freely in English and a bit of Chinese...it's so funny because the group of girls dragged me over to one of the tables in the ice cream parlor area and whispered between giggles "We [are] looking for 帅哥, 帅哥!"...which translates to "HOT GUY, HOT GUY." Sigh, I see so much of my younger days in them...lawlz or perhaps present days. And then they would drag me into the market to stalk him...oh my lord...it was ridiculous, but I loved every moment of it. And when they all finally got a good look of him, they changed their minds...haha why does that always happen?

After we ate our fill of ice cream, we frolicked around the other food stands and FINALLY I FULFILLED ONE of my Taiwan goals...CLAW GAMES!!! AND I GOT IT ON THE FIRST TRY...BAHAHAHHA. Thanks Ashley for your lucky NT$10 coin. ^^

"This Obama!" - Ken 

Tying their "English name was here!" cards...I think some of them added the leaf decorations. 

Ice cream parlor area. 

My awesome possum group. 

My loot. 

Ashley's dream was fulfilled today as well. 

甜不辣 which literally translates to "sweet but not spicy" 

I was also interviewed about my experience here...and I seriously couldn't do it in Chinese...it's so nerve-racking! And to imagine that I have to give a speech in Chinese on Friday in front of the governor...oh boy. So I gave my interview in English...but when you're on the spot, it's difficult to impromptu in my native language...sigh...I hope they don't air that. But after the moment's past, I suddenly realize what I really want to say. -_-x "Life's hard." - John Baek

Pooped. 

My students in a nutshell. 

The bus ride back was the usual loud ruckus in the back with the students belting out the latest pop song with Jack's stereo blasting. One of the students, Lia, is really in to the whole K-pop scene and honestly, if you ask me for one thing I've learned throughout this experience (thanks Doyle for asking me to reflect on that)...it would definitely be that having a background knowledge in K-pop is very, very, very, beneficial and definitely to my advantage when getting to know the students. They're all very outgoing when it comes to dancing and singing...and it was such a joy and honor to be witness to their natural God-given talents. Although, much of it is abused with "sexy" dancing...they really know how to transcend language barriers with their music and dance. Anyways, back to Lia, she was telling me about SHINee and she's getting really excited because she knows that I adore Jonghyun like her...(but not to her degree...don't tell her that! :p) and she was telling me how "他很帅, 他很帅 (He's so good-looking)" when he sings high notes and the veins in his neck appear...like she got so flustered when she told me. I wished I recorded it...but that seriously made my day.

Oh Jack...what to do with you. 

A fox in a... 

hole! :)

And some singing to end the day:

Another, must buy item. Taiwan Sweet Potato. A bit sweet, so with a cup of green tea, I will be one happy camper. 

Dinner, with more veggies. Yay, I love veggies.

Teaching: Day 16: Boyfriend?

Youtube video of the day...since I did not record videos of my silly students today:

I'm pretty sure my students know this song too and can do the dance as well...>_> I swear I did not teach them any of this...I only teach ENGRISH. :) So the reason I ambiguously titled this post "Boyfriend?" is because these kids can't get over the fact that girls can have friends that are boys but aren't more than "just friends." Every time we Skype with my friends that happen to be of the male species...I get bombarded with "Teacher, your boyfriend, your boyfriend?" And these so called "friends" sabotage me and tell my students "yes." -_-x AHEM ANDREW, KEVIN, AND LAKSH. And yes, Eddie, if we did webcam, I know you would too.

Breakfast: Green tea jam toasted sandwich...so good... 

My students in a nut shell...jk. Ahaha, they're silly. 

Being a teacher has its perks. The sponge cakes are from a 9th grader's birthday...and we don't even teach 9th grade. :3 

Elle was quite anxious about the 8th grade field trip tomorrow so she had me and Ashley visit the Hualien Sugar Factory today after school to prepare for tomorrow. Luckily I remembered Oak Avenue's trip to Knott's (I'm pretty sure it was middle school ._.) and how we had to do a scavenger hunt in Ghost Town before we could go on our own in the park. So we put together a scavenger/passport-like hunt for the field trip. I really hope it works out because apparently the media will be following us, and it'll be internationally aired, and the principal will be there. But most importantly, I hope the students really enjoy themselves and are able to show off the fruits of their hard work.

Why does candy land (sugar factory) look so daunting? 

Ashley's really depressed that she can't find her sweet potatoes. 

But all is well b/c we found papaya and taro ice cream. 

Dinner: Pumpkin fried rice and bamboo shoot soup. 

An unexpected, but very welcomed visitor...Why does it look like I'm choking it? ._.

The grandma that cooks our dinners made us rice wine sticky buns for her grand-daughter's birthday...I really love the hospitality here.

---Reflection---

Today as I was compiling vocabulary for the topic of emotion...for some reason, all the words that came up in my head first were negative emotions...and when I tried to think of positive ones...it was so hard that I had to Google "positive emotions." I guess this shows that I don't exactly have the most positive outlook on life, even though I might seem that way on the outside, this little incident reveals what truly is in my heart. So a lot needed meditation on that because that's where all the change happens, from the inside out. I need to stop worrying about superficial outward appearance but rather inward.

Teaching: Day 15: Doctor's Note

Due to my sustained injuries from the Saturday bike ride, I had to take a trip to the government hospital. Velinda really wanted to come but couldn't so I had to document my experience for her. Haha, it wasn't as fantastical as one would image in a drama.

I found this quite amusing though...rating their services...it looks so...fun. 

Waiting area...watching monkeys on Animal Planet. 

The wait was quite long...perhaps 30 minutes? The doctor went through the diagnosis pretty quickly...he made some spelling errors that I corrected. Lawlz. Good thing I took anatomy. Anywhooo, yeah I just got some ointment stuff and medical advice...hopefully I won't scar because then my future modeling career will be over before it starts...noesss, jk.

Snack store w/ the director and Elle after the hospital.

Japanese jelly...first made during the Japanese were colonizing Taiwan. 

Honey flavored...that we shall enjoy tomorrow morning with our unsweetened green tea.

Yay, the director's treat!

芋头 (taro) milk tea ^^

糯米飯 ^^ So yummy!

Yummy dindin. Fish, sweet & sour pork chops, bitter melon soon, and 空心菜!

Guava and powder sweetener.

Loading up on the junk food.

So I went out for a walk at night and it's like a rain forest out there! You can hear the frogs and buzzing insects in perfect harmony with the melody of the grasshoppers and chorus of the birds' chirps. Raindrops as the background percussion completed the wonderful chorale. Lovely.

Omg today I realized that 蓮藕 is lotus roots. :o 

Day 14: Draco likes bowling

包子w/ 綠茶

Casino + bowling + karaoke + billards + fun fun fun fun, lookin' foward to the weekend. :)

It's all empty because we went right when they opened at 10 AM.

Okay, now before you continue with the rest of my post, please watch this Youtube video.

I had to wear 4 1/2...>_> my original shoes look more like bowling shoes.

Like a boss.

My best score.

餃子& 鍋貼

So hungry, couldn't take the pictures in time.

Waited too long...they even had Korean flavored with kimchi.

And of course, a trip to 7-Eleven to sneak in food to the movies.

Taiwanese movie concession stand.

哈利波特 (Hā lì bō tè) So sad we didn't get cool 3-D Harry Potter glasses. :(

Sailor Moon is my homie.

First time trying cold 豆花 (douhua) w/ boba and softened peanuts.

Yes! I approve.

Visiting the optometrist.

Ashley (blue), Jaimie (grey), June (hazel). 8)

Surprise trip from the driver.

Up the 8149723427th mountain we go!

Resort at the top.

Rapture...:o

Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Rain on me...

Water park!

Scary...

Corn and beef soup.

Bento.

Louis! I tried 臭豆腐 (stinky tofu) and 排骨飯 (pork chop rice). 

Yellow watermelon!

Wearing our contacts!

Hazel becomes purple.

Blue becomes blue.

Took me 7984714 hours to put on...so different from hard contacts and plungers don't work  so it took me another 798 4714 hours to take off.

Grey turns to blue on the camera.