How My Summer Went Up in Flames..

This incredibly fast summer was my first summer in years of no breaks or vacations, (minus that one typhoon day) no beaches or late nights in strange cities, no sleeping until noon, or happy hours on a Tuesday. Nope, this summer was all hard work, organization, cleaning, and starting fresh at my new location and new position at Shang -An Campus. 
I am still with Cornel, and after three years (WOWZA!!!) of teaching some unforgettable students, I was asked to step up into a more official leader role of the school. Along with Brittany (Indiana) and Michael (Canada) we make a strong team for both campuses of Cornel.

My First Office

Second floor of Shang-An; the ball pit on the right was being cleaned and restocked at the moment. 

The library at Shang - An, first floor.

I spent much of my first few days sifting through binders and flash drives to learn as much as I could about this position, and while I switched from a place I was very familiar with, I feel completely comfortable and welcomed into the Shang-An family. Our numbers of students are not as high as Nan Men Campus, (which added three new classes this year because of such high enrollment!!) but we've got great facilities including a ball pit, swimming pool, play/dance room, and an art room! Not to mention a group of wonderful, energetic Chinese Teachers working in every classroom.

Summer camp has come and gone. The students were combined into grades 1-3 and 4-6 with a new teacher, Teacher Kristin (Minnesota). They focused on the Olympics a lot during July, and a bit on fairy tales. They also had field trips every Friday. Most of the new teachers are at Nan Men Campus this year. However, we were lucky to get T. Kristin who is full of creative ideas and does really well with each group of students she works with. Click here for a link to her blog, she shares some great first impressions, insights, and comparisons. She will teach grade 3 and 5 starting in August. When T. Tyler (Missouri) and T. Josilin (Wisconsin) return they will teach grade 2 and 6 and 1 and 4. We have a strong elementary team this year. J 

At work in July I also got to sub in the Yoyoban (2-3 year old) classroom.
They are utterly adorable.

Mika, Marcus, Lucus, and Eliza 

I subbed for during Yves summer camp,
they were making their own beanstalks after
reading the story Jack and the Beanstalk.

Some of the newbies out for Courtney's Birthday (center- NewYork) at Millennium Hotel in downtown Taichung.
T. April (Ontario), T. Scott (Missouri), Jimmy (Texas), T. Kara (Ontario), T. Hannah (North Carolina).

The 2016-2017 Cornel Gang in full effect at our first KTV.

Where the monkey like to play.

I spent back to back weekends in Kaohsiung early in July. Ate at the delicious 303 Kitchen and Bar where they serve deep-dish pizza, speant time at Dream Mall window shopping, had an amazing night of Latin music and dance at an underground club with a great group of friends from Honduras. Many of the guys here from Honduras are in Taiwan on scholarship and living in the university dorms. In Kaohsiung these dorms happen to be sitting on the same well-known monkey mountain. On accident the windows were left opened during our night out, and when we returned there were at least four monkeys that had to be shooed out of the building, unsure of how long they were actually inside, they still had plenty enough time to throw their feces all over the place. Walls, couches, stairwells, and hallways. Yuck! I was in shock (and a bit frightened), but everyone else seemed to be used to this Jumangi life-like experience. 

Allen's Honduras Family

From the Brickyard FB page. 

Jeremy and his Mom after making a giraffe for
our last storytelling event. 

Also this summer I sold my scooter and bought a newer model since I will be driving much more every day, every week, every month. The days of spending $4 USD on gas every 3 weeks has been upped to $4 every week. Oh the misery. Brittany and I did our last and final storytelling event, too. All of the new teachers came to observe and see how a fun lesson can be taught to parents and kids who (most likely) are not taking English classes routinely. We put on three full days of workshops for local high school teachers that want to learn how to teach English through a variety of ways,  we registered for the overseas fair at UNI in the USA, and attended an inspiring speech at Taichung's Rotary Club with Principal Bih Hua's Dance Coach from Serbia (He is also a nuclear scientist!!).

Photos taken after Dr. Ivan Knezevic's speech, "A Scientist in Dancing Shoes," and after learning some great moves from the 23 time national champion / 7th in all-world competition! I really enjoyed his last momentum of his speech, "Uniqueness is Better than the Best!"

Check out Ivan giving us teachers lessons here! 

When World's Gym decided to build a new location across the street from me, it seemed to be a sign that I should finally put down the big bucks and sign up for a long-term membership. I did just that, and I am so happy I did. I have been going every day and bouncing back and forth from two different locations each week. I really enjoy the Zumba and Sh'Bam classes. There are half a dozen different types of yoga classes available, and when I really wanna sweat I go to the combat or Pilates class. 

T. Charlotte and myself at One Love
Cafe for some local band performances. 

I've enjoyed getting to know some of the new teachers, and my new close friend from Honduras, at local events held in the city, as well as getting competitive at Tiger Arcade. We said goodbye to Brock and Molly, celebrated a few birthdays, went cliff jumping into a waterfall in Taiping. (There is not much I could find on this well hidden waterfall, but some might call it Fairy Waterfall.), and every Sunday I've been going to an old well-designed and decorated theatre to see recent movies for 50NT.

The View
~~~~~~~
The Gang

Kara, Courtney, Hannah, April, and Lauren at the bottom. 

The girls and I on a photo opt stop on the way backinto the city. 

Allen & I trying to beat the heat poolside in Taipei. 

The last weekend in August I was invited to my former student Bella's Birthday Party! 
Bella came into my class as the youngest and "lowest" student, she was even meant to repeat Daban for a second year. That was the plan, until she tried out and tested #1 at another school in Taichung! I am so proud of Bella and I am proud of myself as her first teacher for any role I helped to play in her bright future! 

Top left: Getting tackled in hugs and piggy back rides by my sweet girls.
Bottom right: Awaiting Bella's Birthday wishes.   

 Their apartment was truly the nicest apartment I have even been in. It's hard to tell in these photos but we are 26 floors up and they have their own little backyard in the city. The kids had an incredible time with almost every water toy you could think of, slip-n-slide, water balloons, water sprays, ball pits, sprinklers, swim gel, everything. 

Looking forward to the regular program beginning and getting short (much needed) break in September to Singapore. Thanks for the support and please take my short poll at the top righthand side of the page! - xoxo K 

Me and King BOB at Mode Mall after
 the first Friday of Summer Camp!

Completed this in just a few hours on a Sunday afternoon!

If you are wondering where we were....

Baby on Board: Although people are much calmer here, we are still in a city of almost 3 million people! I can't imagine putting my baby/toddler on one of these with all the randomness that could happen at any moment. To each their own. 

Fields of flowers outside of the library near my apartment.