Ground Breaking for a New High School

So far, one of the biggest differences I've noticed between China and Taiwan is that as a non-Asian, I'm not that special in Taiwan.  In past experience in China many foreigners like me (pale, fuzzy face, tall and plump, with a toothy smile) would attract a lot of attention, pointing, whispers and in some cases trepidation.  Also a pale face makes for good publicity when promoting one's business or political achievements.  

Today, I was reminded of my unique appearance, at the ground-breaking of a new high school on the campus of LiouJia Jr. High, where I teach.  The county magistrate, along with nearly 40 other local school principals and other government officials, visited our campus for the ceremonial shovel show.  I was invited by the music teacher to accompany the 7th grade choir on my mandolin.  I enjoyed making music with them very much and then sat down to watch the rest of the show.

7th graders' choir with music teacher in the white coat.

8th graders' Taiko drum team.  New blue and black outfits look sharp!

Taekwondo team gets ready to knock wood (and bust it) for good luck!

Next up was what I like to call the Speech Relay in which all willing and able-bodied officials are invited (expected) to speak to the captive audience, starting from the top.  Our principal then introduced Hsinchu County Magistrate, who took the podium.  After praise for the donors and the leaders who envisioned this new facility he searched the crowd and then asked where 戴格瑞先生 (Mr. Dai) was.  That's me, I guess, so I raised my hand and he waved me up to join him.  I'm not sure who prompted this, but he thanked me for coming, teaching and telling the world about his beautiful county in Taiwan.  I humbly accepted his appreciation and then sat down again.  The speech relay continued for a while and then out came the helmets and gloves.

My gloves and magic helmet!  (voice over by Elmer Fudd)

The shovels for groundbreaking apparently doubles as a charm
for boy children according to my colleague.  I declined.

With food laid out to appease the gods for blessings on the new facilities, students, teachers and all, shovels dug into a giant grey sand ingot and the ceremony was officially over.

Lots of men in hardhats and then Vita (grade 8) was invited to dig it.

Food in exchange for blessings and fortune bestowed upon the school.

A model of the new HS is the tall red building in back.
The current buildings are in grey.

One speech - three languages: Mandarin, Kejia and English.  Very well done!

At last the ceremony nearing its conclusion a woman approached me to ask if I'd be willing to talk to a microphone and news camera about my feeling and experience in Taiwan.  She said, "The country magistrate really likes you."  I noticed, I said.  He would like to talk to you after the ceremony.  I obliged, but felt as if I had little to add to the topic at hand.  Suddenly he was at my side, the cameras and microphones a bit too close for comfort and I was bumbling something about how glad I was to teach in Hsinchu.  They said, "speak in English," so I added that I was very proud of what my students did today and how hard they are working to improve their language skills.

The camera turned off and the reporters said thanks.  I was free to be a normal guy again.  The rest of the day my colleagues giggled when they saw me and I heard them say many times, "The magistrate really likes you."   I smiled and thought, it was a good day, but sometimes I prefer to be ordinary.

Post-It Love

Recently my English classes have been looking at a topic that almost everyone can relate to, especially as spring gets underway.  Word has it spring is ignoring the eastern 1/2 of the US this year, but in Taiwan, the rain is falling and the warm wind is back.  So let's talk about LOVE!

Valentine's Day, is not something that many 8th graders are quite ready to celebrate, but their certainly looking at one another and dreaming.  So I asked them to write a short love story script for my extra-curricular class on video storytelling.  We started with the story from a short film called Post-It Love.  It has no speaking but quietly and humorously tells the story of two shy people falling in love at their office.  We had a brief discussion about how to show love in various cultures and how the characters in the film overcame their inhibitions.  Then the first assignment came.

Create a picture of love using colored post-it tabs (short strips) on a wall of our classroom like the characters in the film.  After some groans, they began to work and created pictures of simplicity and beauty.

I'm already enjoying the memories of this special group of kids.