CPS in Taiwan

On Saturday before last, I was invited to spend the day with Brandon, his Dad and an associate. The plan, I thought, was to visit their home. I certainly was surprised when the Professor shared that we, instead, were headed for Tainan to visit the old Fort Zeelandia, which was built by the Dutch during their 300 years occupation of Taiwan before Koxinga drove the Dutch out after 1662. During the Japanese occupation, it was rebuilt and named Anping Old Fort. Today, the root of an old banyan tree on the wall of the outer fort’s brick remains a witness to the fort’s long history.

We were able to climb to the top of an observation tower to gain a perspective as to what could be seen from the old fort. Tainan’s location on the Strait of Taiwan proved to be an invaluable port those many years ago. Thus the long history of struggle to control Taiwan by the Dutch, Chinese and Japan.

A Day At Siang-He Elementary School

The day begins at 7:30 when the gates open for the students. They arrive on foot, by car, scooter and bikes. All enter with big smiles to friends, classmates and teachers. On Tuesday mornings, the students assemble on the front lawn by class, pledge, salute and sing their anthem. Some announcements are made and recognitions made. On this particular day, a second grader is recognized and awarded a gift for his entry in an art competition. As you can see, he is quite pleased.

Physical fitness plays a very important role in Taiwanese education and twice a week, students and their teachers begin their day with group physical activities. As you can see, the exercises very according to the teacher and their respective class. Some spend time stretching, jogging, running, and even working on their ping-pong skills. This, too, is considered a form of exercise.

The students have eight forty minute classes each day with 10 minutes between classes to enjoy playful fun. This ranges from free play to a quick game of basketball or badminton.

After five morning classes, it’s time for lunch and the older fifth graders serve the younger students within their respective classrooms. Each student brings their own bowl, cup, spoon and chopsticks…nope, no forks or knives.
After eating, each student rinses their bowls and utensils and puts them back into their lunchbags to be taken home. Brushing teeth is the final routine before a few minutes to socialize, then it’s 30 minutes of quiet, rest time. Music is played throughout the campus and everyone takes a quiet rest until afternoon classes commence.

Depending upon the grade level, afternoon classes may be Taiwanese, Chinese, English, math, science, art, music, PE, and more. Some of the students stay until 4:50 p.m. to take additional classes in orchestra, violin, karate, tai ji, Chinese character painting, or even rollerblading.

One of the fourth graders has taken me under his wing to help me with learning Chinese. Most mornings, he meets me and quizzes me on the words he’s given to me so far. At this point, his English is proving to be far better than my Chinese but I definitely intend to do better!

Due to the typhoon of last weekend, plans to visit and tour Zaoshiung were postponed until this weekend. Two other ‘foreign’ teachers representing Michigan and Indiana met me for a belated birthday celebration of one and a weekend to visit outside of our respective teaching areas of Pingtung, Cingnian and Chiayi in south central Taiwan. By the time I met them at 11:00 a.m. in McDonalds at the Kaoshiung train station, I had traveled by bus, High Speed Train, and the TRA (Taiwan Railway).
Weekend in Zaoshiung with Friends

Once we finished a late breakfast, we were off to check into the Toong Mao Hotel in the center of the city. After checking in, we caught a taxi to the Kaoshiung Municipal Museum of History. It is the first history museum planned and established by a local government in Taiwan. It opened in 1998 and symbolizes Kaoshiung City’s effort to advance toward an ocean city in the 21st century. The museum is the site of the Takao Municipal Office during Japanese occupation. It is the home of many Japanese artifacts representing military, police, Takao being renamed Kaoshiung. One preserved room was the office of the former Japanese mayors of Takao. Visitors were permitted to sit at the Mayor’s desk, sign ‘official papers’ using the official stamp and conduct brief unofficial business of the moment.

After leaving the Museum, we next ventured to the Cijin Ferry to take us to the small island of Cijin. There we visited street markets, vendors, saw cycle rickshaws, extremely fresh seafood, walked through Cihoushan
Star Tunnel, and watched an attempted water/air rescue by the Taiwanese Coast Guard at the Strait of Taiwan. The sand on the beach was a very fine grain and gray in color. The waves were quite high which could account for the rescue scenario. We never learned more of the emergency. As we watched the sun begin to set, we knew it was time to depart by ferry, once again.

Our evening came to an end after eating dinner at the Dream Mall and seeing a Chinese movie with English subtitles. We promised to do this again but at yet another location on the island of Taiwan.

WOW, what a ‘ride’ today has been! It’s Saturday, October 6th, and weather forecasters had been predicting a typhoon to hit Taiwan in a big way this weekend. In the United States, they were calling it a ’super-typhoon!’ Well, were they ever accurate. Several other ‘foreign’ teachers and I were going to meet this weekend in Kaoshiung to celebrate a birthday but Mother Nature had different plans. I’ve lived in Chicago and know about stiff winds but after deciding to venture out anyway, a cellphone call turned me back as I waited for a bus to take me to Chiayi High Speed Railroad Station. Trees were on the ground south of me in Pingting and Kaoshiung so I shouldn’t try to make the trip from Puzih City. By the time I reached my apartment, I was thoroughly soaked and not too unhappy about having to postpone our venture.

The winds have howled all day and have been measured at about 70-80 mph in my area. Northern Taiwan wind’s are being clocked at about 100+ mph. Not many people have ventured out today as few cars and scooters are on the road. On the local news, they showed many scooters and riders blown over. Now, I can say that in the month that I’ve been living in Taiwan, I’ve experienced both an earthquake, although centered in Japan, as well as a typhoon. What an adventure I’m having but rest assured, I’m not regreting a moment of it!

As an aside, instead of ’snow days’ here, schools will close for typhoons!