Halloween Extravaganza

The project began in July, and has been several months in the making.  Students have auditioned, scripts have been written, songs have been rehearsed, and dances have been choreographed, all to culminate this Friday with the Halloween Extravaganza.  The Halloween Extravaganza has been the 'pet project' of Homei Shane School, and was brainstormed with the intent of showing off the many talents of our students.  five of our group classes rehearsed English songs and choreographed dances to accompany them, including Under the Sea (performed by my CEI08 class), This is Halloween (performed by the CEI13 class), and three Halloween-themed children's songs that I helped write verses for called Have a Happy Halloween (performed to the tune of Clementine by the CEI01 class), The Halloween Song (performed to the tune of Frere Jacque by the CE02 class of Lukang) and Great Pumpkin is Coming to Town (performed to the tune of Santa Claus is Coming to Town by the CE03 class).  Each of the classes did a great job performing, and it is really weird for me to look back on the day I first introduced each of these songs, the day when I would have said "they are never going to learn this in time".  I'm so proud of my students.  We also hosted several competitions during the showcase: a spelling bee and a trivia game.  I would say that the spelling bee was the least successful part of the show.  We hosted two levels of spelling contestants, in the first level the students were given a spelling list that eventually proved to be too easy for them, and the contestants knew most of the words making it a time-consuming process to eliminate each contestant (and eventually we had to announce two winners at this level).  In the higher level spelling bee, I experienced the opposite problem.  While the first few rounds went alright, but I eventually eliminated all but one contestant in the same round making it a very short spelling bee.  The trivia was successful mainly due to how much the contestants studied.  With questions in genres like sports, history, geography, pop culture, and English, the students were able to answer every question I threw at them with barely any question-to-answer wait time.  Outside of these main group events, we also saw several instrumental acts (including a zither and a violin), a puppet show, two reader theater productions, and a song done by me and two of my private students.  Lastly, the largest number of participants came in the form of our student hosts. Each act was introduced with a dialogue between me and one of the students, and each of those dialogues was written as a collaboration between a teacher and that student so it reflected something about the host, like their sense of humor, or their interests.  I was most excited to see this aspect of the show turn out well, mainly because it showcased a more natural use of English for the parents than songs or trivia do.

The main flaw of the show was how long it ended up being, the predicted 1.5 hour show turned out to be 2.5 hours, and while I am usually to blame for issues of timing, I am certain it was not due to me this time.  My Chinese-speaking counter host was nice enough to provide commentary between each of the acts to allow the parents who don't speak English to hear about the act and performers.  The awkward turn around for me is that, while I was warned that if I spoke too much English it could potentially bore the parents or make them feel uncomfortable about not understanding me, but in turn I had to spend at least half of the show's time feeling uncomfortable and bored about the Chinese I wasn't understanding.  

Right now, I'm just so happy the show is over, and that to the best of my knowledge, it was a success.  It was nice to be able to use my old theater days in a completely new context, but it was a lot of under-appreciated and unpaid hours of work which I will be happier not being responsible for anymore.  And now, with only a few days left, it is time for the next project: pulling together a Halloween costume...

The winners of the singing competition: CEI13 with the song "This is Halloween".

One of our younger classes: CE04 singing a re-write of a Christmas song: "Great Pumpkin is Coming to Town".

My private students and I singing "Call Me Maybe".

Double 10th

Any short work week is a good work week, and by that logic, it follows that this was a good work week.  Why might that be? Every year, on October 10th, the Taiwanese celebrate the National Day of the Republic of China, more often referred to as "Double 10th Day" or simply "10-10".  Last year to celebrate 10-10, a group of friends and I took a scooter trip through the mountains of Taichung, and this year, while in a different county, a similar event occurred.  On an 'earthquake-themed' day, we went to Nantou county to explore some of the reminders of the 921 earthquake.  The 921 earthquake occurred in September of 1999, and, with a magnitude of 7.3 (on the Richter scale), it was the second most deadly earthquake in Taiwan's history.  The epicenter of the earthquake occurred along the Chenglongpu fault line and caused some sections of the fault to raise up to 7 meters which created new mountains and caused many landslides.  The origin of the earthquake is signposted, and if you go there you can see the jagged edges and of the affected fault line, as well as the remains of a house that (supposedly, though my source is the internet, so it might not be trustworthy) has (collapsed and) moved approximately 100 meters away from it's original location.

The epicenter of the 921 earthquake.

Slightly further down the mountain from this point is another house which was affected by the earthquake, only, unlike the previous image, this house, while now unlivable, is still in tact.  When the ground began to shake and break around, this well-built house moved with it and earned itself the title of the "slanted/sloped house".  Something very strange happened to this house after the earthquake, most likely due to its located near the epicenter of the earthquake, the brick walls became magnetized, which gives people a slightly disorienting and dizzy feeling when they step inside.  The magnetization of the house can be proven by pressing any 5NT or 10NT coin against the front wall of the house and watching them stick.

Nantou County's slanted house.

I'm relatively certain it is school-related pressure associated with our upcoming showcase, but I have had a terrible bout of insomnia this week.  I have always been a 'night owl' so staying up late is something I am used to doing, but I don't appreciate the feeling of not being able to sleep when I want to, and unfortunately, I keep doing things that don't help the situation.  For example, last night I stayed out until 7:30am celebrating my friend's birthday in Taichung.  The thing to consider, when attending any nighttime event out of Changhua, is the fact that after midnight the trains won't run again until 6am, and a taxi home will cost between 400-600NT (from the main cities I find myself in at night).  So, there comes a time in every out-of-city festivity, where you weigh your options and decide whether you are going home early, taking a taxi in the middle of the night, or catching the first train in the morning.  This weekend, option number 3 was the victor.  And here I find myself again, well past the hour of midnight (though thankfully, I'm in my apartment tonight), and awake yet again.

Today's cultural thought is about public transportation.  As you may know, western people tend to speak in a louder voice than Asian people.  This is not an issue of respect, or attention-seeking behavior, or in any real way a reflection on either cultures, it is just statement.  As such, many foreigners living in Taiwan have found themselves in a situation of being told to 'quiet down' while on public transport (buses and trains primarily).  I could easily argue the legitimacy of both parties actions in these situations.  On one hand, I can understand being on a bus or train for an extended period of time, and just wanting to relax, but being unable to because of unfamiliar noises.  On the other hand, if we pay the same amount as anyone else to sit on a train, then we have as much of a right to talk as any other person on the train.  Obviously the solution is that foreigners need to watch their volume when in quieter environments, but the frustrating juxtaposition are the environments which should be silent but Taiwanese people choose to talk during them.  For example, I was doing a parent presentation last week with my beginner class.  It was the first time these parents observed their students in my classroom environment, and one of the dad's phones rang - and he answered it! Right there, in my classroom, while I am teaching, he began talking on his cell phone.  I can't say that his actions were right or wrong, he obviously felt it was an acceptable action, and equally, those of us who speak on the train, and those who complain about the speakers all feel their actions are acceptable as well.  As someone living abroad, however, if our actions aren't viewed as acceptable, it really is our job to change them.  After all, most of us are only guests here, and will move-on eventually.

Acclimating Further...

It occurs to me that you are probably as bored with hearing about my internet problems as I am with writing about my internet problems.  Therefore, I am excited to announce that my problems are resolved, I have returned to the world-wide-web, and I could not even begin to tell you how we went about solving the connectivity problems (let's just say I'm thankful for friendly, technologically-skilled, Chinese speakers).
I realize, as the weeks pass, that I find it increasingly more difficult to think of things that are worth writing about.  What once seemed unique and exciting has begun to lose a bit of its 'sparkle' for me.  I still love Taiwan, the problem is that it is just home to me now, and I would have struggled thinking of exciting events for every week of my Milwaukee life, or every week of my Apple Valley life, and so it appears Changhua is no different.  This city, this country, they are my life right now, and all of the elaborate temples, quirky locals, and even the language (however little of it I understand) are things I barely notice anymore.  It is a little bitter-sweet, being so acclimated to my life here.  It was fun thinking that everything was amazing and picture-worthy, and that thinking the experiences like being stared at by strangers (or watching them sneak pictures of you) were funny, but you can't live on the outside forever.  Before moving here, I had an in-depth conversation with someone, and their advise was to "truly live there".  It meant that I shouldn't try to survive off of a year-supply of things I brought from the US, or rely on care-packages from home, but I should embrace how Taiwanese people live.  I do live here, I shop in markets, I order in Chinese, I swerve around obstacles on my scooter, and all the other things this list implies.  I know there are still aspects that I have managed not to fully immerse myself in, namely the language (which, while I have taken lessons for months) but because of the large number of English-speakers in my daily life I have gotten by without dramatically increasing my fluency, but I still have hopes of improving that as well. What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that there is nothing new in my life right now.
But even when my life doesn't hold updates, it still usually encounters something that makes me cock my head and think 'huh?'.  This week, my thought was about how easy it would be (or is) for foreigners to get away with breaking the laws in Taiwan.  Most police officers know limited or no English, so when they are confronted with a situation where they need to interact with foreigners, they often choose to just ignore it.  Confused? I have a few examples.  The other day I was driving my scooter home from work, and the police had barricaded one of the intersections.  Right now the police are cracking down on drunk driving, so all scooters that arrived at the intersection had to pass a breathalyzer before moving on.  I waited in line on my scooter as each of the drivers ahead of me blew into the tube, and when I reached the front of the line they just waved me past.  Also this week, one of my friends was pulled over by an officer for running a red light.  She pulled her scooter over, the police officer approached her, and then she was free to go.  It would be impossible to expect every police officer to learn English, but the non-confrontational approach gives foreigners a lot more freedom than they deserve.
To complicate things for the Taiwanese law enforcement, government, and people in general, there is the realization that not all foreigners speak English to consider.  There are a large number of German engineers who live here, but the appearance of a white face automatically triggers an "English mode" in   the Taiwanese population (which is something that was drilled into them in their school and work days).  Luckily with the popularization of English around the world, most white foreigners living in Taiwan, regardless of their ethnicity, have at least some grasp of English.