Sunday, November 20, 2016

Autumn in Asia

A Trip to Tainan!The first weekend in September, Brittany and I took a trip down to Tainan. We took a bus the night before so we would have the full day to catch everything.

Off to a great start!
As we arrived at the bus station in Tainan, we were greeted by two friendly Taiwanese who offered to drive us to our Hostel, Darwin's Hostel. 

         Hostel Life           It's always so nice to get out and go to a new place, even in Taiwan. Friendly people and the excitement of travel surrounds nearly all hostels. There is always a lounge room where travelers can gather, plan out their days, watch movies, play music, relax and unwind. Usually decorated with some neat artwork,too!  

Early in the morning we found our way to an aboriginal park located near the area we would spend the rest of the day.

We ate breakfast in the historical streets of An Ping, also known as Yanping Old Street. Tainan is the OLDEST city in Taiwan and was the first original capital. Therefore there is much to see, do, and learn in this historical city.

An Original Map of Formosa (Taiwan)
Just outside of the well-known Tree House of Anping is quick museum of the timeline of the history of Taiwan. The first explorers, expeditions, signed treaties, occupations, and establishments. Below you can see in 1858 was the first treay signed with the United States, UK, and France to open the ports. 
 
    
If I was a writer with a feathered ink pen....
  
Anping Tree House is one of the main attractions of the Old Colonial Quarter of Tainan. 
The History: Anping was one of many treaty ports opened in 1867 to foreign trade during the Second Opium War. A prosperous warehouse until Taiwan became a Japanese colony. After the Japanese was forced to leave Taiwan in 1945, the warehouse was no longer used and taken over by the banyan trees that still remain today. Local people thought the warehouse to be haunted. It was opened to the public in 2004 after structural reinforcements. 
The Banyan Tree (also the national tree of India) is characterized by its "tangle of branches, roots and trunks. The tree is deeply rooted, which may spread across several acres. It is huge in size, thereby giving protection from hot sun."

 ChiMei Museum's founder, Mr. Wen-Long Shi, was inspired by his childhood trips to museums to build a museum for everyone to enjoy. Relocated in 2014 to Tainan and reopened in 2015, the museum is for people of all ages to "have easy access to Western culture without having to travel abroad. It has a large collection of Western art, musical instruments, natural history, and weaponry."
We love Tainan! 
No pictures are allowed to be taken inside, but you can see with its grand entrance of sculptures that there is plenty of beauty to behold at this museum. 
Sculpture of the Goddess Aphrodite.
You can search more sculptures, paintings, fossils, decorative arts,  etc. Here
Ready to dance the night away at Brickyard in Kaohsiung for their Noche Latina.
Kara, Charlotte, Me, Lauren, Hannah, Courtney, Scott, Josilin, Brittany, and Tyler.

Before a night of dancing we dove into the amazing deep dish pizza at The 303. My third trip to this delightful pizza spot and each time I bring more people along, and no one ever seems to leave unsatisfied. I was also making a return stay to Backpackers Inn located just down the block from where we would be dancing. Another perk, no taxi needed. 


Goodbye Sara! The admin team of 2016-17 at a farewell lunch for the multi-talented T. Sara. We will miss her and her great abilities with the students.
Back Row: T. Fion, T. Jenny, T. Brittany, T. Sabrina, and T. Michael
Front Row: T. Cherry, Principal Bih Hua, T. Sara, T. Roxy, and myself!

Double September Birthdays!
@ Millennium Bar celebrating Lauren and Josilin.

Meet the cast and crew of Cornel 2016.
One of the biggest delights of the season was getting to meet Gina's baby girl. Just over one month here in this photo, no English name yet, she was a curious bundle of cuteness.
Typhoon Megi hits the island hard on September 27th  and 28th bringing with it feet of rain and high winds of over 100 mph. Many lost power and the whole island was covered in debris and damage. This photo here is our school tree laying across the playground. Luckily we were out of school at the time and no windows were broken. Thanks to our hard-wroking CTs who came in on the Typhoon day to cut up and clean up the mess it left. 
One of the best times of the year: Jazz Festival 2016!
April, Hannah, Brittany, Allen, Michael, Charvala, Tyler, Kristin, and I at the park.
Enjoying the music, cusine, and drinks.
Queen Elsa has been popular for the ENTIRE duration of my time in Taiwan. 
Happy Birthday, Jerry! 
Daban Wave's class celebrating Jerry's birthday with toys for everyone,
the famous layed fruit cake, crowns, and birthday tunes.
T. Jacob and the Bananas class at their first field trip to IKEA! 
Flashback to 1991, exactly 25 years ago this Christmas.       -->
I posting this here, because this past October not only did I miss my younger sister's 26th birthday, I also missed my first- and-forever friend, my cousin Ashley's wedding day. She is just two months older than me, and like many cousins has been there when I've cried, laughed, been heart broken, been crazy, jealous, sad, happy, pretty, everything. She's always been there for me no matter the time or the distance. I wish her a long, happy, healthy life with her little family. Love you so much Ash! XOXO

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving (Second Monday in October)
Spent the day riding the city's Ubikes around to different places in Taichung, until finally meeting the teachers at IKEA for a buffet style Thanksgiving dinner. April and Kara are two of our Canadian teachers this year. 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
The Waves class on their first field trip to the Flower Market.
They had a mini scavenger hunt, looking for things such as blue flowers,
a plant with pine needles, and they picked out their own seeds.
Advice from a cactus: Get plenty of sunshine,
Accentuate your strong points,
Be patient through the dry spells,
Conserve your resources,
Don't desert your friends,
Stay Sharp
Deciding how excited we are about sunflowers. 
Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds.
You can grow flowers, or you can grow weeds.
 
Drinks at the newest and coolest bar in Taichung, Kudos w. Tyler, Josilin, & Michael.
This is my last time wearing glasses out as I'll be getting Lasik on December 2, 2016!! Yay!
Started the Halloween festivities at Courtney's apartment with the majority of the Cornel Crew. PPAP, skeleton twins, bubble tea & Starbucks, Netflix & Chill, as well as Pocahontas and colors of the wind. 
<-- first="" nbsp="" ob="" place="" ppap--="" winner=""> 
Really love going out with Becca & Jay!
Always a great conversation, some of my
favorites to dance with, & just so easy to love! 
The Waves and I after making some Pumpkin puppets!
Shang-An really knows how to decorate!
Wow, just WOW! These ladies went above and beyond with the theme of superheros and villains this year!  
I promise, it's not the Pikachu costume
that makes this one so stinking cute. 
BANANAS! 
< - Daban boys looking fierce!
The never ending Princess ELSA. Most popular costume the past three years!
Poison Ivy (T. Josilin), Robin (T. Tyler), Harley Quinn (T. Charvala),
and T. Jill with the Grade 1 and 2 classes! 
Had to be my favorite costume! 
WINNERS!
Batman, Robin, Poison Ivy, Capt' American, Dino, & Batgirl
This is a  third of the Bananas Class on a field trip to the Pet Shop. Here they are in front of some kittens. The shop had quite a variety of animals,. A couple birds, guinea pigs, turtles, hundreds of fish, and even a few piglets. 
2016 Cornel Spelling Bee! The Magic of Spelling!
Here are the first, second, and third place winners from Daban to grade 6!

 
 
It was a wonderful event held at the Nan Men campus, which meant that I would see nearly all of my students from last year. ( And if you remember I had the best class in the world last year! ) The photo on the left I am with Christy, Cindy, Bella, and Annie (Annie won 2nd place for Daban!) On the right I am with Jo and Anne. Anne was in my grade 3 class two years ago, Jo was in my Daban last year. Anne won third place in grade 5! 
T. Kyle and the Daban Wave class at the Earthquake Museum!
This museum shows some of the remaining damage from the famously known '921.'
A 7.3 - 7.7 M earthquake that hit central Taiwan in 1999.
This site was a former junior high school. Above is the track and field arena after the earthquake. You could see inside broken classrooms and bathrooms as well. 
We had over 200 guests this year at our Thanksgiving dinner!
Our school is really growing and so full of love. The food was delicious. A mix of Western and Eastern cuisine and two turkeys imported from America! 
Principal Bih Hua gave grace in Mandarin and I gave grace in English.
This was my first time giving grace before so many people.
It was a very special moment.  
Great group of humans! :-) 


I have been the Head Teacher/ Foreign Director over at Shang-An Campus since this past July. I've also been doing a couple remedials to help some of the lower leveled students, reading with kindergartners one on one and after school on Fridays, and on the 30th of November I will start teaching the yoyoban class of 3 year olds. I gave them the name "Koalas" at the beginning of the year and never knew they'd end up being my own.  Along with those duties (which are not a part of my job description), weekly I am observing teachers, communicating between Chinese and Foreign Staff, checking reports, attending meetings, organizing events, and just trying to keep an eye on it all. Each month we take a field trip for both Daban and Jungban, and in September we had our official "open house" which we call "Meet and Greet." October we held Halloween parties over three days, and November was the Spelling Bee Contest and Thanksgiving dinner. Our 'kindy numbers' (students) have continued to soar which is great news for us this year and next! Teachers began taking vacations so subbing is well underway and although some days have there annoyances, I really do enjoy the job. I know for certain I can and will help our school continue to succeed, I know that the parents are unbelievably supportive, the students are so full of love and personality, they really make it all worth while. I know that being happy here is all about your mind set and how you choose to approach each day. Also I have to mention that working closely with the Chinese staff is such an unexpected blessing. There have been a few bumps along the way, some of which are still up ahead. However, as they say, life's a journey, not a destination, and man am I thrilled on this ride.    - Thanks for reading. - K 

T. Josilin and T. Anita with the Koalas (Yoyoban).
This is now my class! Lucas, Sopha, Eliza, Mika , Raptor, Ophe, Valor,
Marcus, Hannah, Yong Si, Evan. Not in Photo: (Layla, William, Richard, Bruce)
T. Daniel & the Care Bears! Wei Wei, Anna, Jaylee, Sisi, Phoebe, Grace,
Matt, Abby, Kelly, Grace, Mimi. Not in photo: Natalie, Natalie L, Nicole, Nina, Kate, Kaylee 
T. Josilin and T. Jill with grade 1: Maggie Justin Howard
T. Marcie and T. Kristin with Grade 5