Bits and Pieces and My Favourite: Darth Vader Impressions

These past two weeks have probably been some of the busiest since I've been here.  On Thursday of last week one of our friends took us into Kaohsiung to watch the dragon boat races... all sorts of little shops and stands were set up for the four day festival (we got Thursday and Friday off, but had to work the Saturday of the next week.  It rained during the races while we stood on the side of the river cheering for the different boats.  Usually there is a special rider at the front of the boat who grabs a flag at the end marker and our friend told us that there have been races where the rider fell off the boat.  We told him that if there was an American dragon boat festival...the boat rider's job would probably be to wrestle for the flag - he thought it was pretty funny when me and Sarah demonstrated what a boat race would look like American style.

I'm looking outside my window now at the freshly planted rice fields.  At the beginning of the year we were told that they harvest the rice twice a year - at the end of each school semester.  The first time they cut it was at Christmas - we saw it as a sign of hope - accomplishment (not seriously, but it is rather dramatic to think about :) the second time they cut it was recently in the last two weeks, signalling the beginning of summer and the almost-end of our time here. 

Today our friend took us to a river camp up in the mountains... the water was so clear and we climbed all over the rocks... the view of the mountain peaks was delightful.  But apparently in Taiwan the swimming holes also serve a dual purpose as bathing waters.  One person was even shampooing his hair!!  Fortunately for us, he was considerate enough to lather up downstream. 

We American teachers have also been recently aquainted with a new treat - white chocolate covered purple potato crisps.  They're a sweet crunchy potato roll dipped in the chocolate...it's so yummy!!

All the prayers I had about this new school program have been answered, and in some of mine and Phoebe's conversations, I've been able to share about the reason I'm over here (which was God's work) and a little bit about my faith (which is the reason I'm still here).  I praise the Lord for every opportunity He's given me here to tell others about Him.  Please pray that the one's I've talked to -even briefly- will have a curiosity to learn more about the God I serve.  

Today Phoebe had me doing role-play with the students for our English dialogue... she told me to think up some funny voices to use for variety.  A lion, a witch, and a wardrobe of voices later, we were on the final run-through and it was my turn to choose a voice.  I got my mouth really close to the microphone, and breathed hoarsely, wheezing out the words in my most deepest possible voice...then sucking in air and finishing the sentences.  Darth Vader isn't quite as well known over here, but I still got a standing ovation from the kids, and Phoebe laughed so hard she made me sit down during coffee break so she could get a video of me talking like that.  

Last week I got to my school a little bit early, and instead of going to my classroom, I decided to do some exploring...I found my co-teacher, Phoebe, with a classroom full of 1st and 2nd graders and none of them much taller than my knee.  She was teaching them the motions to the song, "Farmer in the Dell"... I helped her with that and then she sat me down to read the story to them... 10 minutes and about a billion 'Hi ho the derry-O's later, we all said goodbye.  This morning when I walked past their classroom at lunchtime, I saw all their eyes widen in surprise -they never know what day I'm coming- and they shouted out "Hello, teacher Hannah!".  They're cute enough to make me never want to leave.