Potlucks and Feasts

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. It’s literally a holiday based around food and family. With the pandemic and being miles away from home, Thanksgiving looks a lot different to me along with everyone back in the US. For me Thanksgiving has become somewhat of a Christmas in that I will celebrate it multiple times making the entire end of November Thanksgiving. To kick off the Thanksgiving celebrations, Fulbright hosted our Thanksgiving conference last week.

Our conference is a half a day dedicated to different lectures and discussions ranging from topics like white privilege in Taiwan to getting the most out of our resumes. I enjoyed the article and discussion on white privilege we had. We brought up facts of what makes an “authentic English teacher”, how different ethnicities and nationalities impact one's perception as a good teacher, and the overall positive gains from being white (and a white male in particular). I agreed with all the claims. As a white American I have been treated with the utmost kindest from my Taiwanese community. However, I recognize that other ETAs from different ethnicities don’t have such an easy path. For those who are Asian-American, the first hurdle is “proving” you’re American- something I never have to do. There is also an obvious preference for the northern accent both in terms of north american as a whole, but also northern US. We also discussed our responsibility as American English teachers to not only educate our communities on the topic of race and white privilege, but in fulfilling the job completely. Teaching older students this year I have found more ways to include and address the idea of race and difference in the classroom. I have taken to making sure all my pictures in my powerpoints include people from all walks of life as well as allowing the students to see themselves represented on the screen during class. The one change I have made this semester that has made the biggest difference is finding videos of English speakers from non-European or non-American countries. Countries like India and the Philippines have a large population that speak English. Not only does including speakers from these countries improve my students’ listening comprehension, but I have also surprised the students that people from these countries also speak fluent English. Sometimes just starting a conversation allows the students to think more critically on the stereotypes they apply.

The article we read by Pei-Chia Lan highlighted the idea that many people with Liberal Arts degrees come to forieng countries with no prior teaching experience to just travel without giving much thought to the repercussions of that position. I have to admit, part of why I came was to travel, but the main focus was to learn about another way of life and culture to better my own communication skills and others. Fulbright does help distance ourselves from other English teachers as we are provided countless teaching workshops so we enter the classroom with tools to effectively teach and not to rely solely on us being native speakers. Even still the idea that some English speakers come to be teachers in Taiwan while making no effort to get to know the community or get to know the language is infuriating. I take it as part of my mission to not only teach my language and culture, but to learn from my students. The Taiwanese culture and aboriginal culture here is so intricate and interesting to learn about that I want my students to be proud of their own heritage. After having this discussion at the Fulbright conference, I want to keep my role as an educator in mind to take more opportunities to break down the idea of white privilege and personally dedicate myself further to my language study. If I expect my students to learn my language, I need to continue to do the same.

The conference also gave me a chance to speak with Michael, a ETA from Hualien county, about the possibility of presenting a teacher workshop during our Midyear conference in January. Thankfully, he said yes!! We will be presenting on how to increase the applicability of textbook material to our students’ lives through projects. We will be giving a 45 minute lecture/discussion to the new ETAs when they arrive.

After all the business of the conference was over we all made our way to the Howard Plaza Hotel for the dinner. A huge feast waited for us along with a table with countless, unopened wine bottles. The Thanksgiving feast has some traditional pieces such as mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and the 2 bites of turkey each person is allocated. There are also some different dishes for variety such as friend noodles, barbeque chicken, and a beef stew of sorts. Before even beginning to eat my main course, I got a plate of desserts, remembering that last year the pumpkin pie ran out before everyone had got through the buffet. Weirdly, the small pumpkin pies this year were covered with a layer of what my table deemed orange gelatin which I then peeled off. Orange has no place in a pumpkin pie. Dinner was enjoyable. We sat listening to jazz versions of romantic movie songs (literally every song came from a soundtrack) and drinking wine.

L: Discovered there are some wines I actually like

R: The Taitung crew this semester (L to R) Augie, Peter, Ina, Kendra, Me, Amanda, and Corrina

Thanks to Dr. Nadeau, the Director of Fulbright Taiwan, a dance party and dance circle was created as the professionals in the room started to go home. I am not one to break out into dance so I was an enthusiastic supporter and videographer, making sure to document the director’s dance.

Once the party started to wind down I caught a taxi to head to Sean’s. I had hoped that I would get out a little earlier from the Fulbright dinner to make the very end of his birthday dinner with friends, but sadly I hadn’t found an appropriate time to do so that the director or coordinators wouldn’t question. Despite missing the birthday dinner, I was able to see all my friends the next day when I cohosted my first party!!

Setting the mood for the party

Hosting sounded like a fun job. Throw a Thanksgiving potluck for a few friends, it didn’t sound like much work- and work it was. Sean and I were cooking all day. I literally made three trips to the grocery store for different ingredients for our recipes or for Casey’s. Sean and I prepared a squash dish, stuffing (from a box -- Thanks Grandma!), veggie curry (as a vegan option) and a carrot cake. Our carrot cake was made using a recipe from Sean’s cousin’s great aunt. An older woman who sent Sean a recipe written out in old slanted cursive script. Surprisingly enough, the recipe called for not only carrots and walnuts, but for pineapple too to keep it moist!

The party was great fun! Casey, Sam, and Jason (what Sean and I deem our Taipei crew- our close group of friends) brought pumpkin pie, beef stew, homemade cinnamon rolls, and brussel sprouts. The other dishes that the guests brought were roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, mexican hot pot, cookies, chips and salsa, cakes, egg tarts, different fruits, and a myriad of drink options. I knew roughly a third of the guests invited so it was fun to mingle with new people and catch up with old friends. Sean and I spent a lot of time juggling washing dishes throughout the night to keep up with the limited number of plates and utensils for the group. Our carrot cake got so many compliments from different people. I think that was the first time I helped make something and it turned out alright and people liked it!

Hotpot is a meal based on cooking various meats and vegetables in a boiling broth. Eddie, the man who brought the Mexican hotpot, had one side Mexican and one site of the pot regular. The Mexican hot pot was very spicy and used tequila to give it its taste. It was surprisingly good, but did make a mess.

When the party came to an end we packed up all the food and filled the dishwasher as much as we could. The last group of guests were kind enough to help us consolidate the mess to the kitchen before leaving. By 11:00ish the party was done and I was exhausted. I didn’t realize how much as a host you need to direct a party and include everyone in conversation. I’m used to just sticking with my friends at parties for the most part, but here I made an effort to have a meaningful conversation with everyone - minus one person who kindof gave me the creeps. The best part of hosting that I learned is that you get all the leftovers! Sunday morning instead of ordering or making any breakfast, I had a bowl of curry with squash on the side and followed it with a piece of pumpkin pie. Not a bad good of leftovers for a thanksgiving potluck the week before the actual holiday.

Seeing as I was originally in Taipei because of a Fulbright conference, Fulbright pays and books me a plane ticket for the trip. Taking a plane makes the usual 4.5 hour train ride, only an hour flight. So I got to actually spend all the Sunday doing stuff instead of leaving midway through to return home. I was able to assist Sean and his roommate with the dishes and Sean and I made a trip to look at an apartment he was considering moving to. We took advantage of the different location to walk through the park nearby and even look at the jade street stands too. Overall, the weekend was a blast.

I needed this weekend after last week. Because I was missing Friday class and two days were test days, my schedule kept getting changed. Different teachers were telling me different changes. In the end the confusion led me to be told I didn’t have a morning English class and to sleep in, while the homeroom teachers still thought I was teaching morning Study Hall to the 9th graders. I showed up in time for regular classes which was 20 minutes late for that Study Hall. Thankfully, the teacher who told me it was cancelled told them he had been confused and that he had told me the wrong thing. I felt so guilty that I missed it even though it wasn’t really possible for me to know. Fast forward to Thursday when I was told I would have none of my classes because it was a test day. I repeatedly checked, not wanting what happened on Tuesday to happen again. Despite constantly checking, the director came in when the bell rang at 10 o’clock to tell me she was so sorry, but Susan and Joyce (yes I went to two different people connected with this class) had both been wrong. I still had my Adult English class with the Taiwanese grandmothers. Not only that I still had it, but they were already at school and ready in the classroom. Talk about no time to prepare anything. Thankfully I have gotten better at teaching on my feet that class went by pretty well. The grandmothers even treated me by bringing pastries known as Beef tongue cakes to share. I did a second glance when they showed me the translation and asked to clarify if I just ate a beef tongue. I hadn’t. The cake gets its name from the shape being similar to that of a tongue. It was tasty and sweet. I brought the extras to lunch with the other teachers to share too.

From the schedule confusion leading up to the Fulbright conference, I really needed a break to relax and get my mind off of teaching. I did so, but I also made a point to plan extra lessons just in case I need a fall back if that ever happens again.

Here’s some pictures of other events and activities I have done since the last post

Reader's Theater:

I have been working with a group of 7th graders in Reader’s Theater. It is a competition across the island in which each school has to have one entry.The students read a story, using their voices to act it out. The competition not only focuses on pronunciation, but on the inflection of their voice while talking. I did my part which was to create a script. I based the story off of Jumanji, the original movie version with Robin Williams. I worked with the students twice a day for almost a month. The took away 3rd prize which isn’t bad, but I wish they placed higher.

Taitung Triathlon:

Three of my friends competed in the Taitung triathlon which finishes right in the middle of the city at the Art Village. I made sure to bring my camera to capture the event. I missed the beginning, but the ending is the most exciting anyways. My friends John and Peter even finished in the top five of their age group!

Taitung Slow Food Festival:

The Taitung Slow Food festival happens every couple of months. The festival has everything from aboriginal dishes to fresh strawberry and mulberry ice cream. All the people who come need to bring their own dishes and utensils. If you forget, they will lend you some that you then have to clean and return to the stand. - Very sustainable

Adult English Class:

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but one of my special education classes has been changed into an Adult English Class (or as the director calls it - Grandma English). Around 7 grandmothers from the Chulu surrounding area comes to school for what becomes an hour of English class. These women have never taken English before so we have started from zero. So far they have learned and practiced introducing themselves and being able to respond to How are you in multiple ways depending on their mood. I even began teaching them the first verse to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star so that they can accompany the 7th graders in singing it as well. In our most recent class, per their request, I gave them all English names. Say hello to Linda, Donna, Maria, Mary, Edith, Lisa, and Rose - my newest students.