8th Grade: Taiwan vs United States

    Three weeks ago I started attending the 8th grade at Dong Xing Junior High (東興國中). Even though I have already completed 8th grade in Maine, I am not going to 9th here because in 9th grade students spend most of their time studying for a big exam that determines what high schools they can attend. We decided that it would be better for me to be in 8th grade because my main focus is to study Chinese and the 8th grade do more learning and less studying for exams. 

    Immediately there are many differences I have noticed from 8th grade at Molly Ockett Middle School in Fryeburg and 8th grade here at Dong Xing.

1. The number of people in the 8th grade at Dong Xing is larger than all of the students at Molly Ockett Middle School (5th-8th grade). There are 22 classes and each class has 25-30 students.

2. School hours are drastically different. At Molly Ockett I was at school from 7:30-2:30 on a typical day. School here runs from 7:25-4:40 M-Th and 7:25-3:40 on Fridays. I am still getting used to this new schedule. I am usually exhausted when I get home.

3. Students at Dong Xing take 2-3 tests a day, one on the morning after cleaning (打掃 dá sǎo), and other tests during class. I take the english tests and sometimes math, but the other ones I have trouble reading the questions, so I usually try my best to answer 2 or 3 questions in the time that is given, using my dictionary to look up words. In Maine I took about 1 test a month per class at most.

4. I wear a school uniform at Dong Xing. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we wear our sports uniforms and Tuesday, Thursday we wear our formal uniform. At Molly Ockett there is a dress code but you may wear the clothes of your choice.

5. I take a larger variety of classes here. I have a scouts class where we learn how to tie different types of knots, a home-economics class, dance class (I like that one!), workshop, and computer programming along with all of the other more typical classes. I had math, science, english, health, PE, music and art at Molly Ockett.

6. We have two times a day at Dong Xing that we clean the classroom and bathrooms, when we get to school, and after lunch. There are janitors at Molly Ockett that do that kind of stuff.

7. Kids eat lunch in the cafeteria in Maine. Some students bring their own lunch and others get school lunch served to them on a tray. Everyone here brings their own dishes and utensils and eats the school lunch in our classroom. I go down to the second floor to get my vegetarian meal.

8. After lunch we have a 30 minute rest time where we lay our heads on our desks and nap. This is my favorite part of the day. In the US we went to recess after lunch, which I felt was unnecessary in 8th grade. Most students stood around waiting for it to be over.

9. Everyone is part of a club at Dong Xing. Clubs meet during period 7 and 8 on Wednesdays. I joined the ukulele club because I already can play a bit. At Molly Ockett clubs and extracurriculars are optional, but there is much more time to participate in them because school ends earlier.

10. Each class I had at Molly Ockett had a different group of students, and students moved from classroom to classroom each period. At Dong Xing almost all of my classes are in the same classroom and they are all with the same students. Teachers move from classroom to classroom.

School here has been challenging for me, but I appreciate that my classmates and teachers are very helpful and want support me in learning Chinese. I hope that by the end of the semester my Chinese will have improved enough to understand what the teachers are teaching in class.

~Soleil Huang-Dale

Who is my neighbor?

 Typhoon season hasn't come this year to Taiwan.  Like many climate changes worldwide, water seems a critical variation, maybe even more than temperature.  Taiwan is facing a major drought and beginning to take measures to limit irrigation and home use until rains return and refill the aquifers and rivers.  Luckily the country's electric power is not tied to water.  Energy sources are mostly wind, on the increase, and nuclear, aging and going offline.  

Taiwan feels like a modern well-developed country in most ways.  High rise apartments and high tech devices.  Traffic jams of BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus and Teslas waiting at well timed signals.  Convenience stores fully stocked with packaged food, ATMs, and photocopy machines. Coffee shops outnumbering tea rooms.

On the flip side, 20-30 year old scooters clog the spaces beside the luxury cars.  Parents ride their kids home in modestly protective Hello Kitty helmets. Sidewalks buckle and cement cracks with the pressures of nature - tree roots, heavy rains and earthquakes.  Rural towns are still populated with mom and pop shops serving homecooked meals.  Rough handed farmers with bamboo hats pick fruit, and the dust on the wind darkens the shiny white tile floor in our apartment.

It's not that these contrasts don't exist back home, it's just that living on the "modern" side of the equation on floor 5 of a building that houses half of my US hometown, heightens my awareness.  That's why, when I upgraded from a bicycle to a scooter last week I felt like I was "moving on up".  

I was happy to have found a reasonably priced electric scooter to use for the year.  Around town I still prefer to use my bike, but the scooter comes in handy for my ride to the country school where I teach two days a week.  Riding it home from the purchase point was exhilarating and as I pulled into the garage the battery indicator read 3/4 charge remaining.  That should last me a week, I thought.

I checked the weather the night before my first ride to make sure I would be riding in the rain.  Only a slight chance of rain looked safe enough.  In spite of  drought conditions this year, the wind continues to be strong in Hsinchu, the crackling sound of browning dry bamboo stands, namesake of this county, seemed to be a agonizing cry for water.  My colleagues at school cautioned me that the wind could also be a factor slowing my ride or worse, a side gust could blow me off the road.  I made plans to leave early so I could slow down and be more careful on my first trip out.

This is a familiar route for me because I taught at the same school 7 years ago and I used to ride a scooter to  Zhaomen Jr. High regularly.  I felt confident as I set off in the morning leaving the tension of city traffic to enjoy an open air country ride.  I headed up the hill and out of town.  I also noticed that the hill caused my new cycle to pull a little harder as other noisy scooters whizzed by me.  Over the hill and out of the city the scooter picked up steam, but not quite as much as expected.  Steadily and silently it revved down.  

The battery indicator now down to half, I began to worry, would I make it.  I looked at the hill ahead I still had a climb, perhaps 7-8 km, through the bustling market town, up into the hillside persimmon orchards and across the ripening rice fields to school.  I was losing power, but I still had extra time.  As I reached town, the ride slowed to a walking pace.  I hopped off and pushed the bike into the narrow street where traffic was tight, but slower, and I began to look for a place to charge.  I also hoped to see a familiar face who could take me the rest of the way.

As I reached the far end of town, I still hadn't find a place to stop or hailed a ride so I pushed on.  Up the hill past the vocational high school, past an open market (not yet open), then waving fields of grain and it seemed like there wouldn't be any more places to stop. I checked my watch and realized that the SIM card in my cell phone had also recently ended a 1 month contract.  I couldn't even call ahead to let the school know I'd be late. A man on a scooter in front of me wore a security vest so I waved and asked, "Do you know where I can charge my scooter?  I'm out of power."  He looked across the street and hollered to a vendor just ending the breakfast rush.  He waved us over.

I crossed the road not stopping to pick up the travel mug I dropped on the yellow line in my rush.  The man in his security vest was right behind me.  He handed me the mug as I explained to the shop keeper that I was a teacher at the school just up the road.  He welcomed me in and ran to get an extension cord to charge my scooter.  I offered him money but he refused.  A customer and her son stopped in and they discussed how we might reach my school by phone.  Time was running short.  "Do you have a phone number for your colleagues?"  Uh, no. I only text them on a messenger app and my phone has no wifi here.  As they puzzled the problem further I decided to hoof it on down the road and waved thanks and goodbye.

It was a beautiful morning and the breeze was not too strong.  I crossed a bridge over a river that was very low and ran past a convenience store at a crossroads traffic light.  I turned the corner toward school and wondered how late I might be.  I had about 10 minutes left to run 2 km. Maybe I could make it.  Or maybe, Taiwanese country drivers would know the hitchhiking signal.  I looked back for traffic and stuck out my thumb.  The second car by was a natural gas delivery truck.  He pulled over, rolled down his window and asked if I needed help, then invited me in.  I gave him directions to my destination and he graciously drove me right to the school gate.  I walked in sweating and nervous.  The teaching affairs office erupted in cheers!  You're here!  You have class in 5 minutes.  I'd made it, on neighbor power.  It was going to be a good day after all.

Why did you want to be a teacher?

 Despite my years of teaching, the first days of school always give me butterflies.  It's a mix of excitement and anxiety about meeting new people and communicating effectively, about sharing my love of learning and making the rules of the classroom clear.  It's the first impression of what I hope will go right and how we can correct what might go awry.  

My 3 rules of the classroom are not too complicated - Speak English, Work together and Ask questions.  These encapsulate how I hope we will grow and learn from each other.  

Park space in the center of the school

The world at a glance (Canada is peeling away?)

Library study time during exams

Using English to guess the animal

What are students in Maine doing while we are in school?

This year, more than ever students have asked me "Why did you want to be a teacher?" "Why did you choose our school?" and my responses range, but I've settled on this... 

I love to learn, I love to watch others learn, I love to grow together.

Quarantime and space - Two weeks and 5 floors up

 As we near the end of our fortnight in our new apartment, I thought I'd share a few of the places we've visited and activities that have kept us busy while we (not so) patiently wait to reacquaint ourselves with the outside world in and around Zhubei City.

1. Study the shadows on the wall as you navigate the stairway from bed to breakfast.

After breakfast review your Chinese characters at the dining room table.

Watch the laundry, cook a meal, wash the dishes.

As you return clean clothes to their homes, spend time exploring the walk-in closet.

Gaze out the laundry / office window at the world outside.

Practice a little music and try not to annoy the neighbors.

Needs a little work there Greg.