Monday, June 14, 2009
The day began well…I had a small breakfast of milk and bread while relaxing and watching the Yankee game with my host father. As usual, I was up far earlier than was necessary, but this gave me plenty of time to talk to friends back home and update my blogs. While I ate, my host mother went to St. Peter’s to pick up Meagan, who would ride with us to the school of the day.
The school was beautiful! It was perched on top of a very tall hill overlooking all of Hsinchu, what a sight! We were met at the gate by Jesse and Vicky (two of the hosts) along with a group of their friends; all of which were thrilled upon our arrival. They led us to their classroom to join their English class. We sat in the front of the classroom and introduced ourselves. After the introductions we were split up into groups with the students so they could practice English. We would ask them questions and they would ask us some, things like “What is your favorite sport” and “What do you want to be when you grow up” were very commonplace. Right before we presented to the class, we surprised Mrs. Clark with a Chinglish “Happy Birthday” singing by both the American and Taiwanese students, she didn’t see it coming. As always, by the end of the class we had an entire crowd watching through the windows at all of the presentations. Next, came and English class downstairs, this was a special class. We played an icebreaker game and bingo to work on the students English. One of my favorite things about these classes is that the kids pick their own names. I met student with unforgettable names like Jumbo, Mr. Magic, Kiwi, and Jedidiah, and also a basketball tandem; one names Michael, and the other Jordan. The students were really nice and easy to talk to; they shared food, fun, and magic tricks with us.
After this class period, we were led to the school kitchen to learn how to make dumplings. They may seem fairly basic, but it’s a façade, they’re tough to get right! We spent about an hour and a half making food for not only us to eat, but the staff, too. After the beautiful lunch, my day began to turn. We had been asked earlier to play basketball with some of the students (as always), and we graciously accepted their offer. We met them on the blacktop where we set up a game of 5-5 full court basketball. Malcolm, Wil, Turbo, another student, and I were on a team against Michael, Jordan, Mr. Magic, and two others. I began the game wearing my TomsÓ, but they were not very functional to play in, so my infinite wisdom and me took them off. At the beginning of the game, right as the crowd began to settle in, I drained a beautiful 3-pointer to the sound of thousands of kids cheering, that was an epic moment in my trip so far. I continued playing about 10 minutes barefoot until my feet began to really start hurting. I went to the sideline to find someone to sub in for me, but no one wanted to, instead, one student ran up to me, took off his shoes and handed them to me saying “ You can do it!” how could I say no? I put the shoes on and played for another 10 minutes, but my feet truly began to hurt. I finally got Robert to come in and play for me so I could go sit. I sat a while and talked to some students, after a few minutes, I walked to the other side to get a picture with my new friend, the kid who gave me his shoes; he made my day! As we were walking back to get our stuff, my feet pain became overwhelming. Our handler from the city counsel decided I should go to the nurse instead of with the delegation; I complied. After seeing me wincing with every step, some students ran to help me. One kid offered to give me a piggyback ride all they way to the nurse, I was even happier than when the kid gave me his shoes! What topped it off was his joy once his job was complete; it gave me a new emotional high and a sense of superstardom. The nurse patched me up as we discovered almost a dozen new blisters on the bottom of both feet from that short game of ball; it was bad.
After my pleasant visit with that nice old lady, I joined my fellow Americans in the conference room to do some crafts. We mad bead mice and balloon animals for hours before noticing how much time had passed. Then a famous artist came to cut the outline of our heads; it’s tough to explain, but really cool.
Once we finally got out of school my host mother, Malcolm, John, and I went to a market to get some things; it was a mix between Wal-Mart and Costco, but pretty cool. Our host families generously bought us chicken nuggets (Malcolm’s obsession) and three HUGE bags of the wonderfully delicious Hi-Chew. We met up with the rest of my host family and John’s family to go to a seafood place for dinner. I ate spicy fried chicken, normal fried chicken, stinky tofu, normal tofu, and all other sorts of things; I’ll be full for days to come!
Well my feet are beginning to hurt again, so I’m going to lay down, hope they feel better tomorrow!
Song Description: “Superstar” – Lupe Fiasco
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