The Best Part of Taiwan

I’ve been meaning to take some pictures of my kids and I finally got a chance.

These are Kindy kids. I’m subbing a class for a friend.

The kid on the right is named  “Computer”.   Seriously.  I can’t make this stuff up.

This is a Treehouse kid. Treehouse is the program for graduates of Kindy. Gina is so adorable and an amazing artist.

This is my class and my favorite one at that. These are Kid’s Club kids and they are learning about animals right now. I have them once a week and this is my whole class! Only four cute little students. They are Minnie, Max, Melody, and Andy.

I hope you’re as happy as I am to see these kids. They are truly little joys and make all the effort worth it. Even though I’m only subbing some of these classes, they make a huge impact on my experience in Taiwan.

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Some things I’ve noticed:

• People in Taiwan seem to be obsessed with age.  There is a man named Mr. Lin who hangs out outside our apartment building. He brings us green tea and tries to communicate with us.  Granted, his English skills are lacking but he frequently points at me and holds up 2 fingers and then 4 fingers.  This means that I’m 24.  And then he points back to himself with 5 fingers and 0 fingers.   Mr. Lin is 50 and this is very important.  I will never forget it.
• “Buh-bye” is frequently used to say “Goodbye” in Taiwan.   It seems to be almost a universal way of saying goodbye.  Or maybe it’s just easier than always saying “Zaijian!”
• “OK” is also universal. It is thought to be the most widely recognized word in the world. Which is strange when you think about the origins of OK.

Things are getting better and I’m starting to get out of the mode of constantly comparing things here to back home.  I had been used to frequently saying to myself “Well, this isn’t how we do it in America”.  Slowly, I’m getting out of that mindset and adjusting to living in Taiwan.  While it’s a very differently culture in many ways, it is also very similar to home.  While certain concepts of law, logic, and relationships may vary or appear to be different; humans are basically the same creatures with the same wants and needs.  It’s amazing the perspective that is gained by living in another country and I wouldn’t want to lose this experience for the world.

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