Saturday was quite the day. Last week we had our first Fulbright workshops since orientation. We have these typically only on every other Wednesday. However, this past week we had a workshop on phonics Wednesday, then a workshop on culture, Friday. We were informed that based on our apartments we would be giving presentations about Taiwanese culture. Originally we thought we were giving the presentation to each other, our fellow ETAs. Boy were we wrong. We actually were giving our presentations to members of the Taitung government, a representative of the school system in the county, and the Executive Director and other representatives of Fulbright. When we made our presentation it was pretty late at night so we were all very sarcastic. We made a page dedicated just to pictures we took of the two corgis our landlord has, a page title “Guanshan really changes you” which had pictures of us attempting to eat flowers and Shea wearing a Pomelo (a fruit) as a hat, and a page titled “Visitor #1” pointing out the fact that only one other ETA had made the trip to visit us since we moved. We had enough time to change somethings, but others were still in the presentation we gave.
It was hard spinning the presentation that was completed sarcastically in a formal and business-like manner. We skipped the slides that were a little interesting, the Guanshan really changes you slide. We only mentioned that we have already begun to notice us appreciating different things than when we lived in the city. We mentioned how we were able to get into nature easier and how we had less options. I was lucky. I was only presenting the portion on food speaking about how teachers, friends, and random towns people gave us fruits. I also told a story about my first time going out without my friend who speaks Chinese very well and how I was able to hold a conversation with a man and his family over dinner. Despite sarcasm, the presentation went really well and since then we have already had 3 more visitors come to Guanshan.
Having a workshop on Friday afternoon and another event on Saturday afternoon in the city most of the Guanshan ETAs chose to stay in the apartments in the city for the night. I was planning on staying on the city until I was invited by my teachers to attend a singing practice on Saturday morning. I jumped at the opportunity to get more involved. I literally have almost joined the teacher’s Costco run order (they all order in bulk together so that its cheaper and the Costco is a county away which is far in the Taiwanese perspective) even though I didn’t need anything. I just wanted to be included. As a result of my choice to stay in the city I think I might’ve been the only one to go back to Guanshan that night.
I had a very productive morning on Saturday. I got up at 6:30am, went for a morning run, and still had time to shower and get breakfast before going to the singing practice. I showed up with my camera not really knowing what to expect. I ended up walking into the meeting room and being surprised with the students wearing aboriginal outfits. I hadn’t been aware that KanDing, like DianGuang, was an aboriginal school. The outfits were so pretty and detailed. I stayed for their two hour long practice taking pictures and video. I wish my Chinese was better, it would’ve been the best opportunity to build a stronger relationship with my students because most are in the singing group. Although I was limited in my speaking with my students my presence seemed to mean a lot they went nuts when I showed up. My favorite is whenever I have my camera now they all strike a pose. I have a whole school of little models at this point.
Despite not being able to interact with the students as much as I wanted at practice I was able to talk with the music teacher. I introduced myself first as the new English teacher, 讓我自我介紹一下KanDing 國小的英文老師。The music teacher just responded with “I know.” I really should’ve known just by looking at me that she knew I must be the teacher. Nevertheless, I was able to have a conversation in Chinese, which is a small accomplishment for me still. I learned that she is actually related to my Chinese tutor. Guanshan is a really small world.
At the end of singing practice I was invited to go to their performance that they happened to have afterwards, which explains the aboriginal clothing for practice. I was a little apprehensive to accept the offer because I had that Fulbright event later in Taitung city, about an hour away. However, the kids seemed so excited and I was being included so I couldn’t say no. This turned out to be the best decision. The students were performing for a much larger group than their parents, it seemed to be the whole community in this banquet hall like restaurant. I believe those who attended reserved their seats and paid an entry fee. I explained to the people manning the door that I was a new English teacher at Kan Ding and wanted to see my students sing. Even though I didn’t have a ticket or a reserved seat having only just heard about the event, they offered to move people around for me to get a seat. I kindly declined opting instead to stand on the side not wanting to make a big deal and knowing I would have to leave soon. I still do not fully understand who was in attendance because of my limited Chinese, but I did see most of my school’s teachers with their families in the crowd. They even had vendors of aboriginal crafts. I felt somewhat pressured to buy one of the bracelets not because they were being pushy, but more to show that I accepted their culture and wanted to take part in it.
Despite staying longer than I had planned at the event, leaving with just enough time to make it to the Fulbright event in the city with no time to spare, I am so happy I went. Their smiles when they noticed I came to the performance put me in a good mood the rest of the day. My students performed so well! I believe they deserved a standing ovation. I saw a different side of my students that I don’t see in English class.
I raced to the city on my scooter, only getting lost maybe 3 times because I would take a wrong turn, but arriving on time. We were assigned a host family, a family in the city that is supposed to take us around and share their culture with us. My family seems sweet. They have two kids: a girl named Crystal and a little boy I have yet to meet. I am not sure how much time I will actually be spending with them seeing as they live an hour from my house. I guess time will tell if I have the chance to build a relationship with them or not. I do have to say that although the mom’s English isn’t the strong, she is seems very excited for Sunny, Kevin, and I to take part in their family activities. Sunny and Kevin are fellow ETAs also assigned to the same family. After getting our assignments we competed alongside some eldering Taiwanese people on teams to collect the most amount of trash on the beach. This exercise tis the epitome of Taiwanese culture: they are very green and conscious of their impact on nature, and they turned it into another competition with prizes. All in all, we cleaned up 388.5 kg of trash in only an hour which is pretty good. With each weekend and event I am feeling more comfortable and confident in my role and time here.
