Wedding, Art, Music

This weekend is very special to me. I went to a wedding reception. It's my first time attending a Taiwanese wedding. It's kinda similar to a normal Chinese wedding in Singapore and Indonesia, except the fact that they prepare the food outside the building. Ben told me that is is very normal here, except if the wedding reception is in a big hotel. It was a 12-course lunch, and it's really really very filling. They even prepared plastic packaging on the table for us to take-away as they know we won't be able to finish the food, hahahaha! :p I was there in the photo, somehow, when they were photographing the relatives of the bride. Hahaha, I think the couple will wonder who this girl is in the photo when it's printed out. Anw, I took a photo with the bride too :)

With Pretty Trista & Handsome Rex

with the bride :)

I also went to a lot of museums together with the P3 kids as part of their class trip organised by 林老师. Thanks laoshi for bringing me along :D He is a very dedicated and passionate teacher, who is willing to go the extra mile for the benefit of the kids. I myself learned a lot about Taiwan history (from the prison visit and the historical building visit) and ceramic pottery. It's also my first time taking the Alishan red train XD hehe, it's so unique because alishan traditional song was played in the atrain during the journey and that we get to wave to the people that we saw outside :p. Haha, I felt like a little kid XD Oh, it is also my first time to visit a prison. It was damn creepy when I looked at the whole row of dark and tiny cells that used to contain a toilet bowl + 7 people each.

In front of Alishan Train

林老师 teaching the kids along the journey

In front of the prison

Over the weekend I made a few new friends. One of them is a great couple: an artistic husband, Toph and a talented wife, Sunny. We chatted for very long during our visit to their home. I saw some of Toph's artwork, and it's really meaningful. I always wonder how an artist's mind work and different they look at things. I really respect this family because while they have the chance to stay overseas, they choose to come back to Taiwan, stay and take care of the grandmother (she is 94 years old and super healthy by the way). I also learned that Toph has made a big decision in his life by leaving his job of 18 years and pursue his hobby of painting instead. To me it really take much courage to do such things. From him, I learned that we can make our dreams come true if we have the courage to pursue them. :) Anw, we planned to meet up for a coffee when I'm back to Singapore since they will be going there for a few days.

with Sunny's family

On Sunday, I attended a very unique music concert specially for kids. You know how usually music concert works. You have to keep quiet, listen attentively to the music or simply falling asleep :p However, for this concert, they involved the kids (and parents), by singing or dancing together. You might think that this concert doesn't sound like a good music concert and all, but it's totally the opposite. It was amazing!! The music that they play were really good (one that I really like is Fur Elise). I especially love the piano part. The purpose of the concert is to show the kids that music and learning musical instruments is fun. And I strongly believe that they succeed in achieving it. There was one surprise in the middle of the concert. The pianist's grandfather (105 year old!) was in the concert hall and it's his birthday. They musicians played a happy birthday song for him while we sang. It was really touching that I teared.

And my third week is over. So fast.

A new family; A different experience; A new challenge

It has been a few days since I moved to a new home, with another awesome and unique family. :) They are a very motivated and positive family, whose father (Ben) loves music, mother (Luna) loves art and craft, and the kids (Trista and Rex) who loves candies & chocolates. Hahaha :p I'm told that I'll be attending a Taiwanese wedding, a concert, and a camp, while eating delicious home-cooked food. They are a really homey family. :)

Rex & Trista

Christmas is finally  here, and there are Santa Claus here and there to surprise the kids and to make their day, including the 聖誕鬼公公 who appeared mysteriously and giving out candies to the kids in school. Until now, his identity is still unknown. :p In the morning of Christmas Day, we have a Christmas activity in school prepared by Eric, 柄雄, and myself, while the school principal himself disguised himself as a Santa Claus. I'm glad that the kids had fun and felt really happy. :)

 聖誕鬼公公

Santa Claus at the Night Market

Kids playing games :)

Santa Claus giving out gifts (I got one too!)

Kids checking out their gifts as the champion team

The Reindeers :)

The kindergarten's kids join in the fun too

The gifts we prepared

Oh, and I made a candy house with the P2 on Christmas Day!!

My two cute teachers! :D

A really nice candy house made by this P1 boy! (much better than mine!)

My candy house :)

For teaching wise, I found a new challenge. I just realized there is a big ability gap in some of the classes. Some of the kids are quite good in their English, while some of them don't have a strong basic of abc. I have to think of a way to teach both group at the same time, while trying to bridge that gap. At the same time, I am giving out extra practices for those who wants to learn more. The kids here are really self-motivated and are willing to learn, which encourages me to also give my best to them while I'm still around.

I fell sick for the past few days. Thanks to all the really caring people around me, I recover really fast! Thanks to the school nurse, directors, teachers, and students, who asked me how I was everyday, giving me hot drinks and fruits, heating up my food so I don't eat cold food while I'm sick, giving me scarf to keep me warm, and giving me sweets so I can feel better (from all the sweet boys and girls)! And also to Luna especially, for taking care of me, preparing hot drinks and porridge for me, and giving me massages with that unique tool! Thank you everyone. :)

My beloved 蔡 Family in Taiwan!

Me & 蔡 family at National Museum of Taiwan History (國立臺灣歷史博物館)

Yesterday was my last day staying with my first host family, 蔡 family. I am really grateful to have them as my host. I want to use this opportunity to thank them, namely 蔡papa, 蔡mama (Petty), 蔡昀蓁 (Jennifer), and 蔡荞安 (Joanna). Thanks papa and mama for taking care of me like your own daughter, and for treating me like a friend. Thanks for bringing me around Tainan, sharing about every single thing, and always buying me nice food to eat. Your mission of making me chubbier is definitely a success, I have gained 2kg (at least!) so far. Hahaha :p To my lovely and truly independent sisters, Jennifer and Joanna, thank you for all the laughter, all the silly jokes, song and dance. I always laugh whenever you girls are around. You both are truly gems to your parents, a sunshine to the family. "Laughter is the best medicine", but remember not to keep laughing nonstop when you're eating, be a good girl. :) I love our movie, chit chat, dinner and play time together. (fyi, we always watch 海棉宝宝/Spongebob Squarepants during our dinner time :p). I've always wanted a younger sibling, and you girls are the best I can ask for. :D

[  昨天是我在蔡家庭住的最後一天，我很感謝他們身為我的主人。我想趁這機會感謝他們，謝謝蔡爸爸，蔡媽媽（Petty），蔡昀蓁（Jennifer），和蔡蕎安（Joanna）。感謝爸爸媽媽像對自己女兒的照顧我，並把我當成朋友。謝謝您們帶我繞台南，分享每件事物並經常買好料的給我吃。您讓我变成胖呼呼的任務絕對成功，至今我已經胖2公斤（至少！）。哈哈，我可愛與獨立的姐妹，Jennifer 和 Joanna，謝謝所有的歡樂，所有的愚蠢笑話，歌曲和舞蹈。當妳們在我身边，總是帶給我笑容與歡樂。妳們的確是父母的寶石，家庭的陽光。“笑是最好的藥”,但記得不要在吃的時候笑個不停,要成為乖女兒。我喜歡我們在一起的時間，看電影，聊天，吃飯和玩耍。(我們總是在晚餐時間看海棉寶寶）。我一直想擁有年輕的兄弟姐妹，妳們就是我想擁有的妹妹。 ]


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Our fun time together during my last weekend with them:

The three Js! ☺

My super sisters!

In the museum

With Joanna at a farm in Jiayi City

Llama (草泥马) ♥

Me feeding the hungry goat :p

Feeding the cow using a baby bottle

With Jennifer :)

Don't worry! I'll see you girls again soon, I'll confirm go back and find you girls again before I go back to Singapore :) I'll miss duo duo and pudding (the family's adorable dogs) too! :)

Cold Outside, Warm Inside

It is freezingly cold everyday, especially in the morning when I woke up. I always don't feel like getting out of hiding place, my blanket. But I also want to go to school to chit-chat with the kids and witness their cute behaviour. Hahaha :p I want to thank each and every person here, especially 主任(both male and female), 方老师 and my host family, for being very caring and taking care of me while I'm here. Thanks for the hot drinks and soup, warm clothes, thermos, and a lot of other things. It really warms my heart. 

Hot Red Tea + Milk

    

Hot Jelly-like drink

There is one story that made me laugh continuously: When I was eating lunch with the P5 students yesterday, the students reminded each other to leave some soup for me. One of the ingredient in the soup is 猪血 (cube-shaped pig blood) which is blackish/chocolate in colour. They like to eat it so much, but they still want to leave some for me. However, they don't know how to say it in English, so when they are in the midst of reminding each other, the conversation goes something like this (in Chinese of course):
"Remember to leave some of the 猪血 for Josephine ok, don't eat finish everything!"

"Did she know what 猪血 is??"

"Never mind lah, just tell her it's CHOCOLATE."

Hahahaha, omg, I laughed nonstop as I totally understand what they're saying and I know what that 猪血 is. LOL.

I also saw something interesting in school yesterday. There is a van that sells lots of types of drinks every Thursday in school. The school I'm teaching in don't have a canteen (as they have an awesome cook that take care of their lunch everyday). I just anyhow pick the drink and when I asked the students what that was, they told me it's called 多多. Well, that doesn't really help me understand what drink it is, but I just bought it anyway, hahaha. It tasted like yakult, at a much cheaper price and bigger bottle. XD

A friendly uncle selling drinks (hot and cold) in his van

Today we made 汤圆 (glutinous rice flour) in school, together as a class. The kids get to make their own Tang Yuan, and they made a lot of weird-shaped Tang Yuan, such as: pizza, puff, cube, french fries, and other unknown shapes. I made a few myself. I made one pinkish-white star-shaped Tang Yuan. :p Hahahaha :p

Uniquely shaped Tang Yuan by the 6th graders (and myself)

Pot full of Yummy Tang Yuan

Hakka style Tang Yuan (by P1 teacher)

Extremely excited 5th graders waiting for their teacher to finish cooking

I saw Christmas light decoration in school today, it's very nice. It should be even nicer at night, but I can't stay back in school for too long as I need to cycle back home myself and it's not good to go back too late when the sky is dark). It's all done by 柄雄 and Eric. They are doing their army service in the school. They both take care of the school and kids very well. They are like their big bro! Hahaha :p Thanks to both of them for always helping me (in calming the kids down and in our Christmas activity project) and being a dedicated photographer. :D

Christmas light decoration (the sky is too bright!)

Flowers in school 

My bike ^^

I feel so loved here ^^

It is extremely cold these few days. It keeps raining and the wind is very strong. I cycle to and back from school everyday. However these few days, it's so hard to cycle it feels like my bike always going sideways as the wind is too strong, lol. Anyway, yesterday I couldn't go back on my own as it was raining so heavily. Luckily my host mom, Petty, is very nice and fetch me from school.

I am getting more familiar with the kids and people here. I feel so loved! The teachers would brought me food or drinks at random timing, be it to warm me down in this cold weather (thanks 方老师 for the hot drink), or just to introduce me to Taiwan food aka. making me chubbier (thanks Molly and 主任). Haha :p. When the kids saw me, some of the them would just come over and hug me. <3 They would ask me if I've eaten, if I am going to their class etc. :) Below is what the 3rd graders drew in front of their classroom to welcome me <3 <3. Lovely kids ^^

3rd grade's masterpiece

This morning, I joined their flag raising for the first time. After flag raising, there's a short drama play by the 3rd graders, they are so cute, XD They did this kind of drama play every week and the teachers are very supportive and encouraging. I think this kind of activities are the main reason why these kids are very open, outgoing, and outspoken. Afterwards, they did exercise and running around the track together, including the principal and teachers! :D

Drama Play by 3rd graders

These few days, I've been preparing materials that will make my English class more interesting. For the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade, their lesson will be about Christmas, so they will learn a lot of new words related to Christmas. :) There's also a video and class activity. I hope it is not too difficult for them. As for the 3rd grade, it's mostly on daily conversation question and answer. For the 1st and 2nd grade, we learn abc and words related to the alphabets and the most fun part is singing together! XD

Today is Molly's last day in school. The P6 students are not willing to let her go, hahaha :p Me too actually, if I have the power to do so. She is a really nice colleague and teacher. The students respect and adore her at the same time. :) They love her! :). I want to be a teacher like her, Thanks a lot for your accompany, for bringing me all the nice food, for helping me with a lot of things. We will miss you Molly!! Let's keep in contact :)

Molly and me :)

Molly's little brothers and sisters in BeiShi

A great teacher!

One Week Just Fly Past

This week I'm attached to the 6th graders. I learned a little bit about their background. There are only 5 students. They are really talented kids: some are very good at drawing, some are really good at making art and craft, playing drums, and many more!! They are really sweet and polite, even though they are quite shy at first. I love this class a lot :).

A lovely boy - a drawing artist (ps. that's a pomelo skin on his head lol)

Last week was my first week of teaching. I teach P1-P6 students, mainly English and culture sharing. They are a lively bunch of students. Most of them are very curious and like to ask questions, which is very good! That is what I called learning! It is quite different from the students in my home countries. They will usually keep quiet when there is any question asked. All of my first lesson with all the classes is an introductory class, which I asked them to introduce themselves in English holding their own drawing. They did very well at it! I hope they remember certain new English words that I taught, which is mostly related to what they have drawn.

My own introduction

For culture sharing, I choose to introduce Indonesia in the details instead of Singapore because I think Indonesia have a much longer history and deep-rooted culture compare to Singapore. Also, I am more familiar with Indonesian culture since I was born and lived there for 15 years. Geographical location, flag, food, and other interesting facts about Indonesia are what I shared with the people here. The students here are very smart I must say. :) I really love to teach them. However, when the P1 and P2 combined together in a class, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, hahaha. Luckily, the kind Eric was there to help me along to calm these little kids down by giving out chocolate and sweets :p 

My culture sharing materials

Last Saturday, I went to Hai Dian Guo Xiao with the Bei Shi's students, parents and teachers as our students were invited to perform Tai Gu for their 20th anniversary. It was WOWWWW-ing! a really awesome performance! Somemore, when I asked them if they are nervous before their performance, all of them said "No". Such brave and talented souls :) I also saw the art exhibition of Hai Dian Guo Xiao, the students are very very creative, their art pieces are sooooo nice and detailed (I can't even do those things!). I wish to share and implement this kind of learning that encourage creativity in my home countries.

Bei Shi students performing Tai Gu in another elementary school

Group Photo at Hai Dian Guo Xiao

I went to AliShan with Joanna, Jennifer and their father this weekend. It was a wonderful trip. The weather is very cold there! We enjoy the scenery by walking around and I tried wasabi sausage during the walk >.< I cringed my nose everytime I took a bit. Well, at least I tried something different, :p.

Alishan Trip :)

Just like that, first week have passed by. Time flies.

Bei Shi, A Great School!

My days here are really awesome!! Thanks to a lot of people here who have made me feel so welcomed. Firstly, to my host family who have made me feel like I'm at home, bringing me around to eat nice food and for treating me like their own family. Secondly is to the school's staffs and teachers, especially 主任 and 校长 and Molly (6th grade teacher), for introducing me more about Taiwan, about Bei Shi, and the culture here. Also, thanks to all the lovely kids here, they are just soooooo sweet and cute, saying hi to me whenever they saw me, giving me handmade welcome notes/cards and certain things that I believe are really precious to them. Oh, and I keep hearing my name wherever I walked! Hahaha :p

A welcome note given by a P2 student

A lovely handmade card and a note from the 6th graders (really talented bunch of kids)

One thing I like about Bei Shi is that the school system is really different from Singapore and Indonesia. They have a short lesson time (40 mins each), a break (at least 10 mins) in between each lesson (which I think is very important!), and cute bell/song to indicate certain activities. They even have nap time! So basically they have to take a nap together in the classroom. XD I am really amazed when I saw the kids cleaning up the school (the garden/field, the classroom, the toilet) every single day, which in my opinion, is a good training and practice to make them a more responsible and independent person. During meal times, the kids have to take the pots of food from the kitchen to the classroom, and use their own bowls and cutleries to get the food for themselves. Afterwards? They clean up after themselves, oh my goodness, I never see such a practice in my home countries. The children here are very considerate and share their food with others too, lovely little kids :) Another activity they do together that surprised me: they brush teeth together after meals! A good hygienic practice since young. :)

The recycling practice in Bei Shi (and maybe Taiwan in general) is really really good! They have five different bins in each and every classroom, mainly for: refuse paper material, pet bottle, cans, plastics, and other wastes. The people here are actually really following the recycling practice, including the students. Their discipline is really good!

Recycling Bins in the classrom

I didn't teach anything for the first 2 days as I'm still adapting myself and preparing my teaching materials. In between the preparation, I learn Chinese during my own free time. I have my own notebook to write what new Chinese words I learned everyday!! XD Molly really helped me a lot, really feel so grateful with her around. :) I read the newspaper for children too hahaha :p Well, my main purpose is to help the children with English here. Beside that, I'm partly here because I want to improve my Chinese, so I have to make use of my time here well. :) I am determined to do my best here!

I'm a good student too you know :p

Joanna and Pudding :)

My lovely sisters in Taiwan :)