halloween in the grade 1a

victoria at dusk

after the craziness of the day is over, victoria academy can look beautiful and calm.

Hallomas

the chinese have an interesting way of celebrating western holidays.  they tend to celebrate it a little because its western and they want to be as western as possible.  they also can confuse them and parents have referred to it before as "hallomas."

A real first grade teacher

here it is.  here is my classroom with all the arts-fartsy crafts required when you teach the gremlins they call grade 1.

chinese fingers

anytime you pull out a camera your picture will have "chinese fingers".  that is what the foreigners call it though it may not be PC.  it can be a picture of a 1st grader, 8th grader, or staff.

my boys

i have many pictures of my first graders, but here is a picture of my older students.  

honorable judge carolyn

i don't know how i got into this but i ended up being called an honorable judge.  someone said "do you want to make some extra money?" and i raised my hand.  i was hired on to be the "native English speaker" judge for the melody national English speech contest.  i enjoyed the experience watching 7-10 year olds do their best to present the English language.

biking into the mountains

in just an hour i can bike up into the mountains, which is a whole different world.  the plants, animals, and people change as you gain elevation.  

meet the neighbors

how can we meet the neighbors?  stand outside and wait for the garbage truck.  the garbage truck comes everyday, except sunday, and you stand outside and throw your garbage in.  so, as you are waiting you can strike up conversation with your neighbors.  funny, eh?

play time and work time

first graders have plenty of energy and working never lasts very long.  their attention span for one activity is about 15 min, then we move to another activity, then we play.  their parents want them fluent in english, but we need to remember that they're just kids.

I'm legal now!

it took patience, time, and money, but i'm finally legal.  i now have all the documents necessary to teach in taiwan.  i have my ARC (alien residence card), my work permit, and even a bank account.  this is a stress reliever for me and for the school.

my students

here they are! super-crazy and wild but good.

biking to gukeng

i can bike off any direction and come across scenes that belong in national geographic.

politics

no matter what country you are in politics can be frustrating, annoying, and downright corrupt.  the senator for yunlin county was caught paying people to vote for him.  so, a whole new campaign has been taking place to vote in a new senator.  this means banners everywhere trucks with signs/speakers and parades.  im just glad its over so things can calm down. 

Yeh for sexy taiwanese cowboys!

in Kenting the beaches were beautiful and the nightlife was awesome.  the beaches were finally a chance to be submerged in water and not in sweat.  and, coming from oregon, swimming in the ocean was a whole new idea.  then in the late night, after a nap to regain my party energy, we walked the streets.  there was everything, even a sexy taiwanese cowboy selling leather belts.