The Joys of Teaching & Taiwan

I'm currently in the midst of my 5th week of teaching English here in southern Taiwan, and I'd say I'm in "the zone." I've always been comfortable in front of groups, but I think I'm developing a knack for managing the unexpected changes and curveballs that come with teaching 15 year olds. I've taught in 4 schools now (Hsing Hwa in Chiayi City, Fu Jen in Chiayi City, Li Ming in Tainan, and now Sheng Kung in Tainan), and have learned that not all Taiwanese high schools were created equal.

After our warm, friendly welcome to Taiwanese children back at Hsing Hwa HS, we plunged right into the deep end, with what would be our most challenging assignment of the summer. While the kids at Hsing Hwa essentially chose to attend our summer camp, the 15 and 16-year olds at Fu Jen (curiously pronounced Fu-Ren... don't ask, I don't know) were mandatory attendees. The difference was massive. In the friendliest and most diplomatic way possible, I'll say that most teachers and TA's agreed that I had the "most challenging" class of the week. As teachers we've learned that it's better to have students with zero English skills but great respect and work ethic than it is to have students with great English skills but no motivation. Fu Jen featured kids that were largely apathetic and that had English skills far inferior to my 13-year olds at Hsing Hwa. The first days were simply brutal. The kind where I had to physically, literally move children to get them to take part in activities. I taught a dance class several times where I attempted to get the 'too cool for school' boys to do the Electric Slide. Not a success.

Despite our struggles in the classroom, the nearly constant rain, and the fact that our dorm was slightly reminiscent of Alcatraz, we teachers and TAs managed to have fun by going out to awesome hotpot dinners, walking through downtown Chiayi's market street, and meeting up with some of our favorite students from Hsing Hwa (the ones who fed us dinner in the dormitory one night) for a Korean BBQ night. Spending time with those kids, 4 girls and 2 guys, was a reassuring experience and will surely be one of the enduring memories of my time in Taiwan. Bouncing between English and Chinese, we talked and laughed about everything from Taiwanese dating procedures to Vince's inane logic games. As our cabs pulled away and we waved goodbye to the teary-eyed students standing outside the restaurant, it was easy to look past the oddities and challenges of Fu Jen and remember exactly why we're doing what we are.

While Fu Jen will not be remembered as our favorite high school, there were certainly exceptions to the rule. We met some very special kids there, kids whose outpouring of thanks and hugs at the end of the week were hugely appreciated. We had a great closing ceremony where my ridiculous antics in a teachers-only skit on stage were greeted with near-celebrity treatment.

After a fun weekend hanging out in Tainan, we began another one-week assignment at Li Ming High School. Li Ming, barring a transformational and life-altering experience at one of our next two schools, will be my best memory of the summer. The school's summer camp was actually two, with one group of kids coming in the morning and another in the afternoon. The wonderful, inspiring young men and women I met were an absolute privilege to teach (at right is me, my beloved TA Ning, and the awesome kids in my afternoon class). For the first time, I had kids with the maturity and English skills to understand sarcasm, and express their emotions, and to show genuine interest in the people around them. From the first day, we teachers knew that Li Ming was in a league of its own. It was truly difficult on the last day to say goodbye to the kids that had made it such a meaningful week; I meant what I said when I told star students like Cindy, Daisy, Henry, James, and Jill that I wanted to keep in touch because I can't wait to see what they achieve in the coming years.

That weekend I traveled with a bunch of the girls to Taiwan's famous Sun Moon Lake, the country's largest body of water. It's tucked between a couple of mountains, with the lake surface something like 1000 meters above sea level. After a haphazard series of bus rides we arrived late on Saturday evening in driving rain. We visited the tourist help center in the small lakeside town, where they told us that all the hostels were booked. The only option was a "wooden house" near the lake, which could be rented for 900$NT (US$30). After one tourism center employee awkwardly asked us to feature in a promotional video (he then forgot), we agreed to take the house, just to make a decision. Seeing 6 girls and one guy heading to a lakeside house in the rain, the tourism agent seemed to get the wrong idea; "You guys can do WHATEVER you want," he said while looking us in the eye. "There's a Seven-11 nearby. You can buy beer." Oh.

After missing our stop on the lake-circling bus, we finally reached our house just after sunset. Operated by the neighboring Christian hostel, the house ended up being absolutely beautiful. Whereas I had been picturing a bug-infested cabin in the damp woods, we found a gorgeous, 3-bedroom house with a massive living room and awesome view of the mountains. We hung out in the house that night, having some drinks and playing card games. The next day we rose early to get breakfast and then take in the sights around the lake, which include mountain-top vistas of the water and surrounding landscapes, and precariously-placed temples that seem as if they're located in the sky. While most of the joys of Sun Moon Lake involve just taking in the scenery, it's definitely a worthwhile weekend trip.