This week is going to bring in typhoon 'Charming'...that's his name, and it's actually a super typhoon. This is the third typhoon we have had in the season, and we are in an area that doesn't get hit as hard normally; however, it is only the first day, and already we have seen incredible winds that shake our building with gusts that were predicted at 155 mph. Our team from Nantou was visiting us this weekend, and we had heard that all the trains were cancelled...fortunately, we got them safely on their way back home in one of the last trains going out of our station. Their area is impacted much harder by the typhoons than we are, and the last one did a lot of damage...there were at least ten people who died, and around ten missing at the last report that we received...if you could pray for safety for all of the people here, many who are so unaware that they are held in God's hand, and cannot depend on him for their protection...
The second week of October will be busy for us as we Americans are 'in demand'. We will be travelling to the island Lei Cho for two days to teach in the schools there... the island is about a forty-five minute boat ride from our part of the island...we are all pretty excited about being able to travel out to other schools. We will be teaching in several schools while we are on the island, and then probably go and visit one of the English Villages that is in Taoyuan, in northern Taiwan. All of the students at Nan Jung will be taking mid-terms during that week, and we will miss being at our home school. There is no possible way that we can know every one of the two thousand students there, but every morning as we come into work, we are warmly greeted - often by name - by the kids... but there are only eight of us, so it's easier on them to remember our names...
Last night, we made dumplings with one of our neighbors in the complex here...her two children helped us wrap the pork and green onion mixture into the dough circles...they were actually very delicious...but the seaweed soup that went with them was a little bit less delicious...
This evening after coming back from the city, we went up to the roof on our apartment complex (which is only about eleven stories) and stood out at the top of the rain and wind... I think that this was the first time that it has been cold enough to wear a sweatshirt here...because of the typhoon, we get the day off tomorrow, and we are all like little kids - excited to have a whole day to go out and play in the rain.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A Day With the Kids
This Saturday we got the chance to play ultimate frisbee with some of our Junior High students...Lily and Frank go to the Nan Tung Junior High school where the EV is located, and Tony is Lily's older brother... we all walked down to the field and played an awesome game of ultimate. It was really neat to be able to spend time with them outside of the school, where they were just kids - not students, and we weren't English teachers, just...well, Americans...
At night we went to youth group in the local church we have been going to, and met up with 'Hungry', another student from Nan Tung. The church is small, so there were only about ten to twelve kids there. They were practicing to lead the singing for Sunday morning service. Even though we couldn't understand most of the Chinese songs, when they played "Amazing Grace", we could all sing with them, and the Chinese and English words blended together in praise to our God who is the same to all of us and hears our songs in every language.
At night we went to youth group in the local church we have been going to, and met up with 'Hungry', another student from Nan Tung. The church is small, so there were only about ten to twelve kids there. They were practicing to lead the singing for Sunday morning service. Even though we couldn't understand most of the Chinese songs, when they played "Amazing Grace", we could all sing with them, and the Chinese and English words blended together in praise to our God who is the same to all of us and hears our songs in every language.
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Great Deluge
Today was a very soggy day... on Friday, we pulled in all the fruit from our market classroom as the typhoon threatened to blow it off the balcony... that was a good idea, but we should have brought the whole classroom inside...this morning, our feet got a surprise as we stepped out into a good two inches of water... our trees had blown over, and all of the barkdust was floating around the open air classroom...as we surveyed the rest of the catastrophe, we discovered that our brand new clock for the market was no more, and our vegetable stand display sign teetered from one hook... it was quite a scene, but we had fun mopping all the water down the outside back stairs (and throwing buckets of it over the balcony into the rice fields), and putting our little classroom back in order...
The typhoon has been going on for several days now, and every day the wind will pick up and rain will start around dinner-time as the sky turns a dark purple-y colour...it usually storms through the night. God truly has blessed me with all this rain...we've gone out in it almost every evening... it makes everything feel so much like home in Oregon.
The typhoon has been going on for several days now, and every day the wind will pick up and rain will start around dinner-time as the sky turns a dark purple-y colour...it usually storms through the night. God truly has blessed me with all this rain...we've gone out in it almost every evening... it makes everything feel so much like home in Oregon.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
'Monday Morning'
The day was bright... the sky was clear... and we eight teachers were making our way across the dewy track field, with only the birds singing in our ears...at least, for the moment...
As we opened the door to the EV (English Village), we were greeted by our very own alarm system...you could almost feel the entire rest of the Nan Jung school vibrating as the bells rang out over the neighborhood... "The foreigners are here!" Junes commented as we trooped into the office where the police scanner report for the alarm was going off... we derived much humour out the fact that, as if we didn't attract enough attention on our own just by being Americans, it was being broadcasted (accidentally) to the school that we had arrived for the morning.
Our meeting yesterday with the Taiwanese English teachers went well...our prayers were answered as we were able to just sit back and talk over some of the concerns they had about the EV, and everyone's anticipations for this coming year. This past week has brought to my mind Ephesians 2:19 "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;" - this verse only makes a stronger hope in me to be able to settle in with the teachers here, and not be just a 'foreigner', but truly a 'fellow' teacher, and also a witness 'of the household of God'.
As we opened the door to the EV (English Village), we were greeted by our very own alarm system...you could almost feel the entire rest of the Nan Jung school vibrating as the bells rang out over the neighborhood... "The foreigners are here!" Junes commented as we trooped into the office where the police scanner report for the alarm was going off... we derived much humour out the fact that, as if we didn't attract enough attention on our own just by being Americans, it was being broadcasted (accidentally) to the school that we had arrived for the morning.
Our meeting yesterday with the Taiwanese English teachers went well...our prayers were answered as we were able to just sit back and talk over some of the concerns they had about the EV, and everyone's anticipations for this coming year. This past week has brought to my mind Ephesians 2:19 "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;" - this verse only makes a stronger hope in me to be able to settle in with the teachers here, and not be just a 'foreigner', but truly a 'fellow' teacher, and also a witness 'of the household of God'.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Team Ping Tung
Last weekend my teammates and I headed for the city...we hopped on the train for a scenic trip to our very own Ping Tung. 'Carrefoure' is the superstore where you can find just about everything (including special imported microwave popcorn). We bought our shelving there and spent the day lazily shopping around... carrying the shelves back (via train) proved to be quite an adventure...but we were up for it. We each hefted up a shelf and made our way on board. The other passengers derived much amusement from our situation and we were fortunate enough to meet several taxi drivers who -being sympathetic to our cause - took on the five of us and our rather expansive cargo. This weekend our destination was Kaohsiung...home of the second largest mall in Asia. The 'Dream Mall' is topped off with an amusement park (complete with a ferris wheel) on the roof. We shopped around for much needed cell phones, and ate comfortingly American food at T.G.I. Friday's. Our weekend ended nicely with a much appreciated downpour on our walk back to the bus station.
Our first official teaching date has been postphoned until the 22nd, but we have already had several test classes in the new English Village, and will be hosting classes of school principals in the third week of September. Tuesday afternoon will be a luncheon for the teachers that we will be working with this year in the Village. We will have the chance to introduce the new school, and how we will be utilizing the the simulated classrooms. Our hope is to complement the English teacher's regular classes with the kids, and work together with them towards our common goal of helping these kids learn English. Our team came together in prayer for this goal, and we are all excited to see how the Lord will provide opportunities to serve with the other teachers.
Our first official teaching date has been postphoned until the 22nd, but we have already had several test classes in the new English Village, and will be hosting classes of school principals in the third week of September. Tuesday afternoon will be a luncheon for the teachers that we will be working with this year in the Village. We will have the chance to introduce the new school, and how we will be utilizing the the simulated classrooms. Our hope is to complement the English teacher's regular classes with the kids, and work together with them towards our common goal of helping these kids learn English. Our team came together in prayer for this goal, and we are all excited to see how the Lord will provide opportunities to serve with the other teachers.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The Gecko In the Cupboard
The second night after we got to our apartments, we discovered that we were not the only ones staying there. In the cubby above our stove, two little geckos had already taken up residence. Calabash and Felipe felt quite comfortable roaming around the place, and we didn't really care what they did - as long as they weren't too loud. However, the next morning, Calabash had been bold enough to explore our girls' bathroom. We drew the line at that, and indignantly ousted the little creature down from the ceiling. Refraining from tossing him over the balcony (we live on the fourth floor) we calmly (and humanely) had him relocated to 'outside'. Felipe has yet to aggravate us in such a fashion, so (since we can't find him) we decided to let him stay - for now...
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Home at Last
Seven moves after landing at the airport in Taipei ...I have finally arrived in Ping Tung - my home for the next year. Our apartment is so charming! God surely blessed us with the place that we have. We had so much fun moving everything in and rearranging furniture, and shopping for supplies. Vanessa - who oversees our schedule - had arranged for us to have pizza our apartment that night with several others that we will be working with throughout the year. That was definitely a positive for our first night, and a very agreeable welcome.
On Monday we went down and waited for our ride to the school...six of us had never been there, and as we pulled into the driveway...an appreciative sigh went through everyone in the car... the school was beautiful, and all the kids were outside playing on the campus lawns. I came here not having any idea what to expect, not even sure what I was supposed to expect as a teacher...and I was put in the most acedemically accomplished junior high school in southern Taiwan. We walked into the English Village section of the school, and the sim
ulated airport was the first thing we saw - they actually have part of a real airplane!!...down the hallway is the simulated fashion store, where the kids can try on the clothes they want to 'buy', a bank with an actual ATM machine...and the simulated Mr. Brown Coffee shop...which is like the Taiwanese v
ersion of Starbucks (even though they do have Starbuck here, only not so many). Outside on the balcony we have a market classroom set up with produce carts... come this Monday, that village will be filled with 120 kids...our first official class for the year (with fifty more little people than we had originally planned for) Our team really is up for the challenge...and I cannot wait to get into teaching...by the end of this year there will have been almost 10,000 kids through those classrooms...the schools here all take turns to make trips to this English Village... and our goal here is to get the children excited about learning English, and to help our fellow Taiwanese English teachers.
Yesterday and today was a chance to really get familiar with the school, and work on some lesson planning...also, this afternoon, our school's principal - who is a Christian - invited us to a Taiwanese wedding...two of the teachers who had met at the Junior High were having their first marriage ceremonies...and it was an incredible honour for us to be invited. It was really neat for me, because so many people who have been over here for much longer, have never been to a traditional wedding here. There was more seafood served than I had ever thought possible to see in one meal - it was pretty amazing. However, there was no pig intestine, which I was fortunate enough to have the experience of trying last week...I must confess though, that at the time, I had no idea what I was eating.
There has been so much going on for the past week and so many different issues that we have come across...yesterday, I was reading 1 Peter 1:7 "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" ... no matter what tests might come, or how 'bumpy' the road may get... God tells us that His trying of our faith is more precious to him than anything else in the world...and that when He has finished his work in us, our faith will ultimately glorify Him and bring Him honour - that will be an answer to prayer.
On Monday we went down and waited for our ride to the school...six of us had never been there, and as we pulled into the driveway...an appreciative sigh went through everyone in the car... the school was beautiful, and all the kids were outside playing on the campus lawns. I came here not having any idea what to expect, not even sure what I was supposed to expect as a teacher...and I was put in the most acedemically accomplished junior high school in southern Taiwan. We walked into the English Village section of the school, and the sim
ulated airport was the first thing we saw - they actually have part of a real airplane!!...down the hallway is the simulated fashion store, where the kids can try on the clothes they want to 'buy', a bank with an actual ATM machine...and the simulated Mr. Brown Coffee shop...which is like the Taiwanese v
ersion of Starbucks (even though they do have Starbuck here, only not so many). Outside on the balcony we have a market classroom set up with produce carts... come this Monday, that village will be filled with 120 kids...our first official class for the year (with fifty more little people than we had originally planned for) Our team really is up for the challenge...and I cannot wait to get into teaching...by the end of this year there will have been almost 10,000 kids through those classrooms...the schools here all take turns to make trips to this English Village... and our goal here is to get the children excited about learning English, and to help our fellow Taiwanese English teachers.
Yesterday and today was a chance to really get familiar with the school, and work on some lesson planning...also, this afternoon, our school's principal - who is a Christian - invited us to a Taiwanese wedding...two of the teachers who had met at the Junior High were having their first marriage ceremonies...and it was an incredible honour for us to be invited. It was really neat for me, because so many people who have been over here for much longer, have never been to a traditional wedding here. There was more seafood served than I had ever thought possible to see in one meal - it was pretty amazing. However, there was no pig intestine, which I was fortunate enough to have the experience of trying last week...I must confess though, that at the time, I had no idea what I was eating.
There has been so much going on for the past week and so many different issues that we have come across...yesterday, I was reading 1 Peter 1:7 "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" ... no matter what tests might come, or how 'bumpy' the road may get... God tells us that His trying of our faith is more precious to him than anything else in the world...and that when He has finished his work in us, our faith will ultimately glorify Him and bring Him honour - that will be an answer to prayer.
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