Halloween Fun

Jean, Sun Rose, Me, and Angela

These past few days have been a lot of fun as we have celebrated Halloween. The holiday itself is not extensively celebrated in Taiwan, but the foreign teachers have gotten together to do various things.

On Saturday, we had a Halloween Party at our house. People wore costumes, and we ated food listened to music, and played a couple of games of "Mafia". I went as a vampire. I must say that it turned out pretty well. I would like to especially thank Pastor Mark for sending the toy teeth which were the inspiration for my costume.

On Monday we went to "The Golden Eagle" (which is the local Western-style restaurant/pub and is owned by a friend of us Concordia teachers. They had a special rum-apple cider, and a dart competetion. 3 of us won the competition, and container of beer. It was a really enjoyable evening.

Then today, I watched "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" with some of my Senior 2 students. It was great to watch, and my kids seemed to enjoy it. Snoopy is really popular around here, so it made for a good lunch today.

All in all the last days have been a lot of fun.

Ready, set, "Jeye-oh"!

Sam hands off to me in the 4X100 Meter Relay

These past two weekends the school has had a track meet. Last Friday was a preliminary competition for the students. This Friday and Saturday were the finals. The entire event was a lot of fun. I saw many of my students run, and I had a chance to run in a couple of events as well. (oh yeah, "Ja-eye-oh" a chinese equivalent to go. In a race you would yell "Mark Jio")

There were two events in which only teachers ran, and I ran in both of them. One was the 1500 meter run (which is just a little shorter than a mile), and also the 4X100 meter relay. The mile was a lot of fun, and I was the second teacher to finish.

In the 4X100, I ran with the English department. This event kicked off the finals competition on Friday morning. The atmosphere was electric, and it was so much fun. Sam, Mike, and Jackson (a Taiwanese English teacher) were also on the team. We won the event, and apparently I ran pretty fast. This is shocking because I do not find myself to be the fleetest of foot.

All of this took me back to my days of running track in high school. I really enjoyed the experience, and also it was a great opportunity to see my students outside of the classroom.

I also had a chance to learn just how out of shape I am. My muscles were aching, especially after I ran in the 4X100. I seriously thought I pulled muscles or snapped something. I guess my body does not work the same way as it did in high school.

And now for new pictures. I have some pictures from our vacation to Kaoshung, which we took with the church group. I also have several pictures from the track meet this past weekend.

October 22

Well what can I say,

I know it has been awhile since I have blogged, so I would like to begin with a disclaimer. I now realize that I will not have the time to blog as much as I thought I would when I first started this site. With that being the case, I will try to blog a couple of times each month, and this will probably coincide with times that I post pictures on my yahoo photo albums. Lately I have had some issues with the photo website and the pictures I had loaded were not able to be viewed. I hope to have time in the near future to sit down and remedy the situation. I would like encourage all of you to read the blogs of my friends here in Taiwan. They are posted as links on this website, and I know some of them are better about blogging than I am. Plus we all write about different things and this can give a better perspective of the total experience for those of you who are interested.

At school, these past two weeks have revolved around the students’ monthly tests. This last Monday and Tuesday the kids took their first set of monthly tests. They have these in October, November, and December. For two days each month, the students take tests in all of their classes. They have 4 extended periods each day, and school gets out an hour and a half earlier than normal. The atmosphere is similar to a finals week in college. Us teachers proctor the tests over those two days, and do not watch our own test. I watched chemistry, physics, and junior high English tests.

Before the tests, much time was spent to prepare students for their test in my class. After the tests, we have to check those tests. The obvious disadvantage to this system is that we have all of our test grading at the same time. So I had about 170 tests to check, from my Senior 1 and Senior 2 classes. They were not multiple choice tests, but rather creative written tests. So that is how I had been spending much of my time in the past week. Thank God that I am done checking the tests though.

Also in this post I would like to comment the importance of the test in Taiwanese society. I know in America there is debate about teaching to the test, and various concerns about No Child Left Behind and putting great emphasis on tests. Well, here in Taiwan teaching to the test is taken to a new level.

School here is designed to teach to “the Test”. In the final year of school, students take a big test that showcases their intelligence in all of the subjects. This test will determine their lives. Universities admit students based on their scores on this test. A good score on the test allows students to go to a good university, a poor showing means they cannot go to a school they would otherwise like to attend. The pressure for this test is immense. Beginning in Junior High School, the entire education system is designed to prepare students for this test. The goal of every class is to help students do better on this test, so they can go to a good school. So the entire goal of education here is to teach to the test.

During my first week here in Taiwan, I remember meeting a student who was entering his last year of high school. I asked him what he thought about it, and his reply was that it was too much pressure. He was nervous, and the test was months away.

There are so many more things that I could reflect on about education over here, and I can do this in another entry. For now, I should get going.

May God bless all of you, and I pray that you remember me and my students in your prayers. May God bless our efforts as we learn, and may God give us peace, strength, and faith.

Update

Hey everyone,

I know that I have not been the best about my blogging lately. I guess I have just been busy and it has not been the priority as of late. I did want to give an update on some new things that have been happening here.

I have just began going to a college group that is interested in learning more about English culture. This has been a good opportunity to build relationships, and meet some people my own age. I am very thankful for this opportunity.

Also, I am starting to take Chinese lessons. I will be having them twice a week, with 2 different teachers. I hope that this will greatly improve my speaking and comprehension skills for Mandarin.

I have posted some new pictures from the Moon Festival. I guess I should explain a little more about the circumstances of that event. A friend from church (Sun Rose) invited us out to her house to celebrate it. She is in some of the new pictures, as is her sister Angela. Ray, their brother, is also in some of these pictures, as well as Jean, another friend from church. Beyond them, everyone else is a member of the missionary team here in Taiwan. So I hope that gives some perspective on those pictures.

Forthcoming (I hope) will be pictures from my first haircut here in Taiwan, and also a trip we will be taking next weekend with some people from church.

What I would like to know is if there are any specific requests for pictures to be taken, or for topics to be blogged about. I can go take pictures or write about anything you would like, just post a comment or email me and I will do my best to get to it. My Grandma Wolfram is curious about the school store, so that is in the works, but please tell me some more ideas.

Ok that's all. Take care!

Return to Blogging

Hello everyone, I am back. First apologies to all who read my blog. Beyond the busy schedule, I have been not feeling well this past week. So I will try to catch everyone up on the past week or so. Also a second note, to prevent spam on my blog, in order to post you now need to write a "confirmation" word. You will need to do this anytime you want to comment, but spammers cannot send out mass emails on my blog this way.

Last weekend was a great experience. We on Saturday we celebrated Moon Festival at a friend's house. Her family had all of the foreign teachers at Concordia over for Moon Festival BBQ. Moon Festival is a celebration of harvest, the moon, and a time for family to get together. In addition to eating a ton of food, we also had sparklers.

On Sunday, we had missionary worship. All of the missionaries in Taiwan came down to Concordia for an afternoon service. Following the service we had a reception/potluck at our house. I made chili, but unfortunately it got burned. I was told that it had a "smokey" flavor. Between the steaks, chicken, other sides, and fellowship, it was a great time!

On Monday evening I started to feel a little under the weather. On Tuesday afternoon, it hit me like a sledgehammer, and I began to feel really bad. The past days I have been drinking plenty of orange juice, taking vitamins, and getting rest. Right now I have a lot more energy, and am well on the road to recovery. I was talking with a co-worker who reminded me of the differences in strains of viruses between the US and a foreign country. So I am definitely more vulnerable to illness, and also all of the missionaries throughout the world will be facing the same problems.

New pictures:
I have a lot of new pictures on my webpage(see side-bar). In the album titled "School Stuff", I have pictures of the high school, more outside my office, and pictures of my classroom and my Senior 1A class.

I also have a new album with pictures from Moon festival celebrations.

Finally there is a album from a family worship we had our house. This is really cool, as it includes pictures of many of my Taiwanese friends from church.

Prayer requests:
Health for me and all of us missionaries.

Thanksgiving for all of the opportunities God has given us to spread the Gospel here in Taiwan.

Just a Lazy Work Day

Today has been really good. I have had a chance to take it easy and accomplish some things that needed to be done. This afternoon me, Anna H, and Molly began practicing and picking songs for Friday Night Bible Study. I love this part of the ministry. It all reminds me so much of playing at camp with the "Guys Not Named Steve" and also playing in Sergeant Bluff with Dayspring. Good times then and good times now as well. Also, the kids at Bible study love singing! It makes for a wonderful way to get them excited to learn about the Lord for the evening.

Other than practice, I have also had a chance to organize some things for teaching. I have used Excel to set up my gradebook for all 13 of my classes (thank you Molly!). Later I will finish checking the paragraphs my Senior 1 students wrote, and prepare my lessons for tomorrow and the rest of the week. I love being able to sit here and work at my own pace, while I listen to music. (Right now it is U2 for those of you who are curious)


A couple of things that need to be addressed before I finish my blog.

First, I will eat a giant helping of humble pie. I woke up this morning to check the score of the Iowa-Iowa State game, and was in shock. Much credit to Iowa State. I guess I am more surprised at the score than anything. The eternal optimist in me knows that the Hawks can still recover and have a really good season. They are going to need Drew Tate though.

Secondly, we went to a KTV (karoke) place to sing some songs. There were about 15 of us who went and it was an outstanding time. Karoke is done a little differently on this side of the world. You rent out a room and you sing songs with just the group of people that you come with. There is a big TV (which shows pictures in the background in addition to the words), and there are 4 or 5 mics that we passed around the room. For the most part, even those without a mic sang along to the music. The highlight of the night for me was singing Total Eclipse of the Heart (as sang by Nikki French). It was a blast! Zeke, I wish you could have been there to sing as well.


A picture inside the Karoke Room



Molly, Noel, Anna, and Anne Singing Karoke



Mark at his finest

Alright, I suppose it is time to get back to work.

Busy Week

Since the last time I blogged, I have been extremely busy. We all survived the typhoon, and there was not any major damage to campus, just some trees and wires that fell down. It did make for a fun first day of teacher meetings, as we helped pick up debris on campus. Also, there was a second typhoon on its way, but it ended up going North toward Japan.

Last Friday we started our Friday Night Bible Studies at Salvation Lutheran Church. This was a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with students and young adults. Some were Christian, and others were coming because they were interested. Either way, the Lord was there working, and we all had a good time in the process. I will give you a more detailed post on Friday night Bible Study after I have been there a couple of more times. It was most definitely the highlight of my week.

This Monday, I began to teach. I have about 200 students, in 13 different sections. Needless to say, going over the rules that many times can get a little redundant. It has been a true joy and blessing to meet my students, and now I look forward to beginning their instruction. I know there will be many joys and also many challenges this coming year.

To close, I want to leave you with a story that is the highlight of this week.

After class on Tuesday, I was approached by a student with some general English questions. He wondered if I would help him with various words and phrases. I said that I would be happy to, and that we could go back to the English office right after class (it was the period before the hour of lunch/break that the students have everyday).

When we got to the English office, he asked me a couple of questions about some sentences he had written. Judging by his questions I could tell he was very intelligent (one of his questions involved the difference between "colossal" and "gargantuan"). After answering some questions, he said that sometimes he would want to just practice talking.

He looked at me (I could tell he was thinking), and he asked me if I wanted to "Shoot Breeze".

I had a big smile on my face and told him that I would love to shoot the breeze with him. So he asked me why I came to Taiwan, and this was a great chance to witness. Next he asked me what I knew about Taiwan's history. I said not much, and he began to explain a little.

Before long, lunch was over and he had to go. But he was very excited at the opportunity of talking to me some more in the future.

So tomorrow, I am going to shoot the breeze with Rick during lunch. I look forward to building that relationship throughout the year.

Prayer requests:

That God would provide opportunities for me and all of the missionaries here to build strong relationships, and use these as a means to share the Gospel.

Pray that God would bless our Friday Night Bible Study time, and that the Holy Spirit would open the hearts and minds of the students who attend.

Pray for wisdom, energy, and guidance as we are now in the full swing of teaching.


New Pictures:

There are some typhoon pictures (courtesy of James).

Into The Storm

As I write, I am experiencing my first typhoon. A typhoon is the name for a hurricane sized storm that takes place in the Pacific Ocean. Yesterday saw a lot of rain and some powerful winds. Today there is even more rain, and the winds have continued. On campus, branches and wires are down on the ground everywhere. I was told that the worst is up North closer to Taipei, but it still is affecting us down in Chia-Yi. Today was to be the first day of school. We were to have meetings and an assembly where new teachers were going to be introduced to the students. The school closed however due to the typhoon. So this is a “snow-day” of sorts for me.


A picture from my front door of some of the fallen tree branches.

In spite of the weather, yesterday was very productive. I had meetings with Andrew and Mike and we planned our grading policy and first week of lessons. All three of us will be teaching the same classes. We each have 6 sections of senior 1 (sophomore) writing, 6 sections of senior 1 Bible class, and 6 sections of senior 2 (junior) writing. Doing the math shows that there are 18 sections of 20-30 students for each grade level. I will post another time on practical and logistical aspects of teaching at the school.

This Friday is our first Friday Night Bible Study. It is a time of song, games, and learning about the Bible for kids. On Friday I will be playing guitar and Molly will be playing piano to lead music time. Yesterday we selected the songs we will play and practiced them. I am very excited to get started with Friday Night Bible Study and will post in detail sometime in the next week.

Also, if you notice there is a new link on the webpage. On the right you should be able to find Mark’s Pictures. I have started an online photo album. You can click on the link at it will take you to a website that will store my pictures throughout the year. If I add pictures to it, I will write a note about it on this website.

Prayer requests: Safety for all people caught in natural disasters, especially New Orleans and Taiwan. Pray that this would be a chance to witness Christ’s love.

Pray that our Friday Night Bible Study will go well, and that the Holy Spirit will work to strength faith or bring faith to those that attend.


New Pictures: I have albums for Concordia Campus, my house, school stuff, general pictures from my first week in Taiwan, pictures from our group trip to Tainan, and pictures of a trip to Taichong. If you ever have questions about the pictures please post them in a comment section or send me an email. I would be more than happy to explain them further.



Interaction: I would like to know if you have heard about the Taiwan typhoon in your part of the world. I really have no idea how widespread the coverage is. Also anyone from the states I would be curious to hear the latest about what has happened with New Orleans.

On Housing...

The house I live in is really nice, and I do enjoy living here. It is called the Hansen Manor, named after the missionary family that had lived in it up until this spring. He is an Iowa native and ISU alum, so the house is staying in good hands.



I have my own room, and we have stove, TV, microwave, toaster oven (always reminds me of Tom), laundry, a full bathroom, and a half bathroom. It is in a wooded part of campus, and very close to the basketball courts. I am most happy about this. Playing basketball has been a great opportunity for me to meet students.

While my room is not huge, it has all that I need and more. I have a desk, dresser, air conditioner, clothes basket, Iowa Hawkeye football poster, and even my “Play Like a Champion Today” print-out to slap each day as a leave. I hope to add some more decorations to my walls, as they are still a little plain.

And now about the bed. It is a single bed, so nothing that I am not used to, however beds are a little different here. To put it frankly, it is hard as a rock. They are very common in this part of the world.



After waking up the first 3 or 4 days I was extremely sore, to the point that I really had no desire to lay in bed any longer. However, my back is now used to sleeping on this type of mattress, and I feel fine waking up in the morning. I was also informed that this is better for the back than the soft beds that are found in the States. So all is well now. And when I do eventually come home, I might just prefer the floor!

Safe Arrival

Hey everybody! Just wanted to update from Taiawan. Me and the rest of the group made it over safely. Thank you all for your prayers as we traveled. The last couple of days have been spent recovering from jet lag, and getting famaliar with the surroudings. The first two nights I woke up in the middle of the night, and then for good at 6 am, because my body told me I should not be sleeping. Today however, I slept until my alarm went off at 8 am. I was never so happy to hear my alarm. It meant I slept through the entire night, and am getting more adjusted to the time change.

We took a bike tour of the city today. On the tour we saw an enormous Taoist temple. The temple was ornate, and interesting to view. At the same time it reminded me of all the work that needs to be done to further the Kingdom in Taiwan. I look forward to seeing how God will work throughout the coming year.



On a practical note, right now my computer access is not as good as I envisioned it to be. This will change in the coming weeks, but my apologies if my blogsite and communication is a little lacking in the mean time.

Prayer requests for the coming days.

Pray that God would prepare hearts and minds of people I will be witnessing to in the coming weeks and months.

Pray that the me and the other eight new missionaries would get over our jet lag and become accustomed to our new home.

It Starts...

Well here I sit, the evening before I leave. Today was a really good day. Trinity Lutheran in Des Moines had a commissioning service for me this morning. It went really well, and was emotional. My dad commissioned me, and the vicars and leaders of the congregation laid their hands on me. I went back to my seat to give my crying mother a hug as we sang the closing hymn “Go My Children, With My Blessing.” My older sister was there, and my grandparents were there as well. Words really can’t describe how wonderful it is to have such amazing support from family and friends, both in church this morning and throughout the country.

I am a bundle of emotions right now. Excited, nervous, sad, and happy. I just finished playing cards with my parents, sister and grandparents. My team cleaned up in both Pinochole and Hand and Foot, so I guess I am going out on top, ha! The laughter and joy as we played cards one last time before I leave was truly a blessing.

Next time I write will be from Taiwan. I do not know what the future will bring, but I do trust the Lord will be guiding me. I can feel the Lord as He has shaped my ways to get me to this point. So much of my life I wondered and worried about what I was going to do with my life and career…always questioning what I was doing. But as I sit here pondering the future and remembering the past, I can feel God calling me to this mission.

I ask you all to pray for the safety of me, my fellow missionaries to Taiwan, and all other missionaries embarking tomorrow and this week. Pray also that we could adjust to the cultures we will soon be immersed in, and pray for our friends and families that we leave behind. For all of you departing soon, you have my prayers.

Now I would like to leave you with the following words. They are from a song on a CD that was sent to me for encouragement during my final days of preparation (again, thank you Anna). It really became a theme song for me in the past week, and I want to share it with all of you.

A Servant’s Prayer

Christ before me to guide me on the way,
Christ beside me so I am not alone,
Christ within me to give me words to say,
Christ behind me to bring the harvest home.

May each word from my lips be a song of good news.
Every touch of my hand be a gift of grace.
Every beat of my heart be a prayer to you.
And the sum of my days be a life of praise.

The Road to Taiwan

I like driving. I might not be the best at it, or the most focused, but I do enjoy it. I like long trips. When these trips are by myself, I love to listen to the latest CD I bought and the ones I have not listened to in a long time. Driving on the Interstate I can sing with the music, or spend time in reflection. I did both today.

My return this weekend was from the Twin Cities to say good-bye to my family and a friend that lives up there. While it was a 24-hour trip, I had a relaxing and enjoyable experience while I was up there. In the space between eating, laughing, playing games, and saying good-bye, I was driving.

I did spend some of this time singing the lyrics to some of my favorites songs (your eardrums can be thankful you were not in the car with me, ha!), and I did stop to eat at a Green Mill that was in Albert Lee, MN (some of you can appreciate that from our orientation in June), but I also spent a good deal of time in thought.

I realized that this is it…I am truly on the road to Taiwan. I understand that God probably had me heading down this path long ago, but right now I see it in a very practical sense. I have been with some of my friends and family for the last time before I leave. I realize that I really should be home more so I can start to pack (5 years of college did teach me a little procrastination, ha!). The realization that it’s time for the rubber to hit the road brought a lot of questioning in my mind.

Will I be able to pack everything and see all of my friends before NEXT MONDAY? Can I really adjust to such a different culture? Will I be able to survive my first year in a high school classroom, especially outside of the subject area I had training in? Am I spiritual, physically, mentally, and emotionally ready for this journey? As I drove down I-35, the answer was no! But I have week to fix the practical sides of this, and have a lot of trust that my boss, the Lord Jesus, will help with the rest. He will carry me not only as I prepare, but also throughout the coming year.

Lord, be with me as I prepare to serve you overseas. In Jesus name, Amen!

Prayer requests:
-For strength, confidence, and God’s comfort for me and other missionaries as we prepare to leave. Also comfort for the friends and family we leave behind.

-That, if it is God’s will, Kevin Foley would be able to leave for Taiwan with us on August 15th.

Interaction:
What is a trip you have taken that you really enjoyed and why?

Welcome!

Greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ. While I have posted a couple of times before, this is post will start my regular upkeep of this website. So welcome to “Live Like A Champion Today!” I will use this website as a means of conveying information about my mission work in Taiwan and my experiences throughout this next year. It will be a supplement to my newsletters and emails. Think of this as an online journal of my experiences, which will showcase my thoughts and feelings as I live and work in another country.

This journal will focus on the spiritual, physical, emotional, and practical aspects of my journey. Above all, my hope and prayer is that this will be an INTERACTIVE website. I would like to use this as a means to communicate and grow in relationships with people who stop at this site. Please feel free to comment or ask questions at anytime. I will either answer questions within the comments section of each post, or I will answer them in the next journal entry. In order to post, you do need to register at the site. Just pick a screen name and password, and enter this when you post. There is no cost to do this, and if you have any questions about it please email me at mark.wolfram@lcms.org.

So here are my thoughts for today:

Camp was an awesome experience as usual. The thing I love most about camp is that it is an escape from the rest of the world. Being up there for one week, I never left the grounds. The most important things were the kids in my cabin and the other kids at camp. We had fun together playing games, sports, crafts, and learning about God’s love and his mission for us. The theme this year was Spy Cubs, and we were all secret agents working for the Cheif. This year was especially joyous as I got to share with my campers about my upcoming mission to Taiwan.

I returned home to Des Moines yesterday, and was exhausted. Today I met with Rev. Stephen Oliver, who is serving at China Lutheran Seminary at Hsinchu, Taiwan. I had a chance to hear him preach and then enjoyed lunch with him. It was a blessing to meet him and hear about his ministry. Through all of these experiences this past week, God stirred up excitement in me. The departure seems really close and I eagerly await the chance to go over to Taiwan and witness Christ’s love.

Prayer requests for the coming days:

Thanksgiving that God has provided friends and family to fund and pray for me throughout this coming year.

Interaction:

Describe something that you are thankful for today.

Leaving for camp!

I have to post once more before I take off. I am on my way to camp for a week of camp counseling. After listening to Anne's blog, I look forward to similar stories of screaming kids. Oh well, I love it up there! Okoboji is such a fun time in the summer. Sorry this is going to be short, but my mother is in my ear about the fact that we have to leave ASAP! I do love her, but right now I think her urgency is comical. I'll be back in one week, and will have this thing going on a regular basis. Possibly I can get some pictures on the site as well. Alright, I need to go. Take it easy.

Really up and running

Alright, I think I have figured some of this stuff out now. So while I had the site up before, now I want to actually use it. Thoughts from today:

I went and visited the elementary kids I used to work with in Nevada, Iowa. It was truly a blessing to see them, and was reminded of why I love working with children and being a teacher. It sure beats the monotony of McDonald's. I have only one week of that left, and then will be taking a week to camp counsel at Camp Okoboji. I am so excited about going back to camp this summer.

That's all for now. Take it easy!

Up and Running

Wow, I actually got this set up. I am just writing this post to see if it will actually work. Nothing flashy, but I have to go to work soon anyhow.