Friday, June 17, 2009
Today we visited our last Hsinchu high school, a depressing day. No offense to any other school, but Kuang-Fu literally blew us away. From beginning to end it was interesting and exciting, not a single dull moment! The day began with a smidgen of confusion. I arrived with my host mother and Megan to the school to be greeted by the security guard with skepticism as students watched on in awe. We were then led to a small room next to the entrance to sort things out. After about 10 minutes of sitting and listening to the Chinese banter, two students arrived to lead us to the library where we would wait for the rest of the delegation.
Once everyone arrived, we joined our teachers along with school administrators in a small conference room for tea (which I still haven’t grown accustomed to) and gift exchange. We gave him our customary AVID bag and they out-did us, as usual. They gave us these beautiful apples which glow bright green in the dark, they were amazing. Following the conference, we went into the hall to watch a step team perform and ask us to join. We each did a goofy American giggle before pushing someone else one. Robert blew me away with his moves; they were amazing.
Finally, the dancing was finished, so we headed to the culinary area to bake pizzas. This school fascinated us with not only its pure size, but the diversity of its classes as well. While waiting for them to finish preparing the dough, we walked around the building and guess what we found, a massage therapist class. Here, students learn to master the art of massaging in preparation to get their masseuse license. After walking in, we decided to be their test dummies to prepare for next week’s exam; best decision of the trip. After my facial message I tried to sit up, but fell back down to the table; it was glorious, I was relaxed from that point on.
The dough was finally ready, so we mosied back up to the kitchen to begin cooking. We flattened the dough, spread the sauce, added the toppings, and covered it in cheese all by ourselves, although I did need some help from one of the students in flattening the dough into a semicircular shape. Once cooking was complete, eating began. Next door they had set up what seemed to be a five star restaurant, just for us. Students who were training to get their bartending license served us; they knew their stuff. We had mango juice to drink, it was utterly delicious, best drink I’ve had this trip. We started with a potato salad/tomato concoction that the chef made for us, and then followed with a one-of-a-kind clam chowder; I was almost stuffed before we even got to the pizza! Our main course was our pizza with watermelon for dessert, yes, they eat fruits here as desserts because of their natural sugars. I feel like I should’ve paid a fortune for that meal!
Our afternoon activities included balloon animals and beading. I began with balloon animals where I made a goofy looking Snoopy Dog and a super sweet (pun) lollypop. In beading I made a four-leaf clover key chain thing-a-ma-jig, it’s pretty cool, too. We had extra time, so we decided to head down to the Kuang-Fu singing performances. We walked into the gym in the middle of one of the songs; as soon as we opened the doors, all heads were turned and, as usual, there was a distinct high-pitched scream coming from all of the girls in unison. AS we sat down, no one watched the poor two girls singing, they all looked at ua and giggled. At the end of the show, the boy who won sang a beautiful Whitney Houston style song for us, prompting us to dance for them once again. After we got off stage, the teachers had to drag us away from screaming girls begging for pictures (See: ‘N SYNC Reference Yesterday). To end our school day, we got to ride tiny motorcycles around the parking lot that students had made. They were made during an auto repair class where students learn to get their mechanics license; they were highly entertaining.
Tonight we had our depressing send off dinner. It began with two songs preformed with the use of traditional Chinese instruments; a goofy sounding horn and a guitar-like string. We then went to the front, one by one, and talked about how much we loved Taiwan and how much fun we had had during out stay. During our final performance as a delegation in Taiwan, Mayor Lin (the famous Mayor of Hsinchu) showed up. We each had a short conversation with him, shook hands, received his business card, and took a picture; it was very professional. After, I went to the front to receive a gift from him to the entire delegation, a pennant with coin and stamps; it was pretty cool! We ended the night taking pictures with everyone; it eerily felt similar to the last night of camp, where no one truly wanted to leave.
Our last true delegation day in Taiwan was one to remember, one of the ages.
Song Description: “Turn Back the Clock” – Johnny Hates Jazz
No comments:
Post a Comment