Back to School, Debate, and Basketball

I know it's been awhile since I blogged. Things have gotten quite busy, but I did want to give a littel bit of an update on how things are going.

I am not sure if I wrote about it, but this semester I have officially become a student again. I am taking online courses to work for my ELL endorsement to teach English Language Learners. I am learning quite a bit about teaching ELLs and being able to draw on experiences from the past few years. At the same time it has increased my workload, in addition to the Bible Studies and regular teaching. So, I can always use some prayers for a bit more strength, energy, and discernment in time management.

Other highlights from the month so far include the English Debate contest here at CMS. I was the chairperson for 1st and Championship Round. This contest is a wonderful opportunity for students to practice English, critical thinking, and learn to work as a team. It was entertaining to watch all of the debates. I might be having a more in depth post concerning debate at a later time.

I also have increased my basketball playing the last couple of weeks. For much of the time last semester I spent more time lifting weights and running, but honestly there is no subsitute for ballin'. I love getting out there playing defense, rebounding, and just competing. Furthermore I usually play with students, so it is a wonderful chance to build relationships.

I think one reason I had quit for awhile was that I had problems twisting and rolling ankles when I played. I think I got sick of being injured. As I go out to play more, I am extra careful to tie my shoes nice and tight. As the rainy season approaches, I am going to try to play as much as I can over the next couple of weeks.

Speaking of basketball, March Madness is fast approaching. As I like to say, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Well, that might be a small exageration, but I do really love it. Unfortunately my beloved Hawkeyes will not be making an appearance this year, but Drake will be representing the state. I plan on watching as many games as possible on my computer through CBS on Demand (a free way of watching all of the games that I recommend for anyone who loves college basketball, check it out on the Internet).

Well, I know this is kind of quick, and not very in depth, but I hope to post more some other time.

Peace!

Uncle Ho, Water Puppets, and Dog

I think this will be my last entry about my experiences in Vietnam. If you have any more questions or would like me to write more, please post a comment asking a question, or shoot me an email. I'd be happy to write more.

I wanted to enclose a picture of me and a bust of Ho Chi Minh. One thing that was definitely evident in Vietnam was the country's and people's respect for this man. I saw his picture or busts of him many places, especially at the college. The people of Vietnam affectionately refer to him as "Uncle Ho". As I understood it, he is viewed as the most important figure in creating the country, held in the same respects as most Americans would view George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.



This picture was taken in the main hall of the college where I helped with the English conference. You can see the bust of Uncle Ho and then in the back the red banner with the communist symbol (the hammer and sickle) and the star. There was another set up exactly like this in the college's main theater/performance stage. They had a talent show the night after the conference. It was in celebration of the upcoming Tet Festival, and many students sang songs and danced. They even had us Americans go up there and sing a couple of songs.

A lot of the music incorporated keyboards and synthesizers. Before the show started, I looked up at the stage at the red banner with the communist symbols, as I listened to the synethized music. I felt like I was in Rocky IV, hearing "Hearts on Fire" as they showed Ivan Drago training. It was really interesting.

I also wanted to share a little bit about a puppet show I went to. Vietnam is famous for it's water puppets, which originated in the country. The show involves puppets that rise above the water, but are connected to long poles that remain under water. These poles are controlled by puppeteers who are behind a backdrop. Meanwhile there is a band that is playing music and narrators tell a story. The whole thing was in Vietnamese, but was really enjoyable nonetheless. It was neat to watch how the puppets moved along the water and the different ways that they interacted with the water and the other characters.


Here's a scene from the water puppet show.


Finally, in Vietnam I had the chance to try some new food. That's right, for the first time I ate dog. I remember before coming to Taiwan, asking people if they would eat dog if given the chance. Well, I haven't ever seen it in Taiwan, but in Vietnam it is pretty common. Now, I wasn't looking to eat at a dog buffett or anything like that, but James did buy some for some of us to try.

To me it tasted a bit like sausage but it was pretty grissely (sp?...fatty). Part of that might have been how it was prepared. It was cut into small cubes, and I only wanted to eat one piece. It was mostly a mental thing, because if I didn't know it was dog, I might have eaten more. So it didn't taste bad, but it was more the fact that I was actually eating a dog.


Dog for carry-out



Here I am ready to eat a piece of dog.


Well I hope you have enjoyed Vietnam stories. I'll try to move the focus back to Taiwan now.

Health, Trash, and Propaganda

Hey everyone. First I want to share a joy with you all. I am finally feeling fully recovered. I had a pretty nasty bout with the flu or something like it for over a week. However this past week I felt fully recovered. Praise God! I was reflecting about how much I take my health for granted, and that it isn't until I am sick that I truly appreciate the health and abilities that God has given me. So I am really thankful for my health.

For the rest of this blog I want to spend a bit more time explaining some things from Vietnam. I'll start with trash. I am curious to learn about different daily routines for the people living in the countries I visit. I know it's not necessarily the most exciting thing to write about, but I do find it interesting to learn about how people live in different parts of the world. So I am going to explain a little about the trash collection in Vietnam.

I guess in America, it doesn't seem like anything special. We put our trash in bags, roll-out the dumpster and man driving a big truck comes around and takes it far away from us. Well in Vietnam, it's not too different, except they just throw the trash on the curb. I saw it bagged, but also just lying spread out along the street. I was told people leave their trash on the streets at night and then someone comes around collects it early in the morning. Again this doesn't seem too fascinating. However it was just interesting walking around Hanoi seeing trash lying in the streets, and then being informed that this was the system put in place.



Trash collection in Vietnam

Of course both systems are a contrast to Taiwan. In Taiwan the big garbage truck comes around in the evening, playing a very loud, repetive tune. Upon hearing the sound, people run out of their homes and toss their bags into the truck as it slowly rolls by. It often reminds me of an ice cream truck for adults. The tune is very similar sounding to one that an ice cream truck might play, and wherever it is heard, people run to try and catch it.


Not the ice cream truck...it's the trash man!

Finally I did want to share a little bit more about proganda. I had written earlier about propaganda posters. Another common site in Hanoi was posters commemorating events in Vietnam's history. One of particular note was the poster celebrating the shooting down of American jets in the 1970's.


Remembering the jet that was shot down.

Several posters similar to this hung around a scenic lake in Hanoi. The area is kind of set up like a park where you can stroll and enjoy being by the lake. These and other posters hang up, remembering that jets had crashed into that very lake.

I don't want anyone to be confused about the treatment of Americans in Vietnam. I had no problems at all, and I felt safe and accepted by the people their. Many places took American currency, and the people were friendly to me. So it's nothing personal, but it is the government celebrating their past victories.

As I understood it, the war with America was just a small portion of many conflicts that Vietnam has had over its history. In fact, for some the war became a source of profit. Near my hotel there were a couple of stores that were propaganda stores. They sold old propaganda posters that were from the war. They had authentic prints, re-prints, and even t-shirts, mugs, and shot glasses. I bought a couple of smaller prints of posters from the war. One is a picture of an American plane shooting at a school child, and the Vietnamese message talks about the atraucities fo the American enemy. The second poster I bought was promoting the greatness of the communist party. I thought both were fascinating, and I hope someday to be able to use them in a history classroom of mine.

Finally, I also had the chance to visit the Hanoi Hilton, which is the POW prison that held American soldiers during the Vietnam war. Much of the museum is dedicated to the time when the French controlled the prison. At this time, they used it to keep Vietnamese prisoner. The prison showed models of how the prisoners would be chained up, starved, and it even had a guillotine that was used for executions. All of this was to show the horrible conditions for the Vietnamese when the French were in control.


Conditions during French control



Michael, beware of the guillotine!

Of course the other part of the museum showed highlights from when it was used in the Vietnam War. This was the POW prison where John McCain was held. They had an air force pilot's suit, that was supposedly his. They also had a couple of pictures of him, one of which spelled his name "Mc. John Cain". We got a kick out of that.


John McCain's Suit


In addition to McCain's stuff, the Vietnamese showed the luxurious life that American prisoners enjoyed during their stay. There were no pictures of starving soldiers, interrogations, or rough conditions. Instead, all of the men were healthy and smiling. They showed pictures of the soldiers playing basketball, worshipping at a church, even cooking a Christmas dinner. These were the only types of pictures they had to describe the prison when the Vietnamese controlled it.

I was about ready to go out and rob an old lady, so I could leave my hotel for the resort that is Vietnamese prison. :)

McWhat?

One main goal of my trip to Vietnam was to help lead a workshop for prospective English teachers at a local university about 3 hours north of Hanoi. James, my old roommate from my first 2 years in Taiwan, is currently serving at this university and helped set everything up to make the trip and the English workshop a reality.

My part of the workshop was to co-lead a session on teachers observing other teachers. As part of the workshop I designed an opening ice breaker activity that would get the group comfortable and segway into our discussion about observation. For the ice breaker, I showed a picture on a powerpoint, but only left it up for about 1 second. Obviously it was not enough time to see everything in the picture, so I would then tell the partipants to discuss with each other what they saw. After we shared ideas, I would show the same picture, this time for a couple of seconds. After that discusion I would put the picture up for good and we would look at what it really was.

For the ice breaker I chose 3 different pictures that we could talk about. One a picture of Ha Long Bay, which is a very scenic and famous place in Vietnam. It would be something the students would immediately relate to.




Pictures from Ha Long Bay when I went later that week.



Another (and the last picture for the ice breaker) was a man looking through a magnifying glass, as if intently studying something. This picture was used as a segway to our session, as we discussed what it is like to be overanylzed or how one feels if someone is watching their every move. One goal of the workshop was to make students understand that this was not the goal of teacher observations, rather they can help us grow as professionals.

Those were my last two pictures for the ice breaker, and everything went fine. My first picture, however did not have the result I intended.

I wanted to pick something that would be eye catching, and yet easy to recognize for people from any culture. So I decided that I should think of something I have found in common in all of the places I have traveled, and I settled on McDonald's. That's right I have seen those Golden Arches (under whose employment I slaved many hours of my life away, ha!) in many different countries, all with similar menus, but each restaurant with something distict or unique for that country or area. Regardless of where, you can always see Ronald McDonald and his bright outfit smiling for the customers.

All of this was true, until I went to Vietnam. You see, as I found out, there is no McDonald's in Vietnam. The government would not let the business set up shop in their country. So the picture I selected of Ronald and his friends was completely foreign to all of the students in my workshop. The photo featured Ronald, Grimace, the Hamburglar, and another McDonald's character. When I asked the students to describe what they saw I got responses like:

"4 people"
"A man with stripes"
"Bright colors"
"A clown"

But not a single person could identify the anyone from the McDonald's picture. A Malaysian teacher who helped in one of my workshops pointed out that, "We have a cultural misunderstanding here."

I could not have agreed more, and was completely surprised that none of the students had heard of McDonald's in Vietnam. It was the first country I have found that does not have a McDonald's.

I thought that was an interesting story from the trip.

Back from Vietnam

Well earlier this week I returned from my trip to Vietnam. I went with some of the other foreign teachers here at CMS. We helped out with an English Teaching Conference, and also had sometime to relax and go sight seeing. Over the next week or two, I would like to use my blog to reflect and share some aspects of my trip, mainly cultural things I noticed.


Vietnam's Flag

Honestly, throughout the time I was continually looking for signs that made it a socialist country. I was not sure what to look for, and I only have a foreigner/tourist perspective. A couple of things I did find.

First, we were asked to register every place that we stayed. Most of my time was spent in the capital, Hanoi. When we got to the hotel we had to give passport information for the government. Our workshop was actually in Phu Tao, which is about 3 hours from Hanoi. Our hotel in Phu Tao also required us to register ourselves, including passport information.

Another thing I noticed was propaganda poster in Hanoi. Here's an example of one. It is telling the city that 2 children is the perfect size for a family.


There were many other posters and signs up in the city. I need to get a couple of pictures from other teachers that went, and then I can post another picture or two.

Alright that's it for now. I'll save more for a later time.

End of the Semester and Winter School

Well, here I am sitting on the weekend after we just finished the semester. It went extremely quick, and as any teacher knows the last couple of weeks are much more intense as grades are being compiled. The next 2 weeks start something called Winter School.

Winter School is "non-mandatory/mandatory" school for students. This is kind of like open practices or summer gym sessions for basketball players in America. You don't have to attend, and the coach cannot make you...but everyone still does and knows that unless they have a great excuse they need to be there.

The same is true of this school time in Taiwan. The government does not allow schools to have mandatory school during these next 2 weeks, but nearly every Middle and High School has a Winter School time. On top of that all of the students still come to class, even though they are not required. Taiwan also has a summer school time that is similar to this, and here's how most schools approach the situation. Maybe they send a letter home that says something like this:



Dear Joe Tenth Grader,

We will be starting winter school for the next 2 weeks. As you know you do not have to come. During Winter School we will continue in the curriculum and our physics class will be analyzing Chapters 8-10 of the textbook. If you choose not to attend please catch up on your own so you can continue next semester.

Have a good break,

Jane Physics Teacher



Now...letters like this are probably not written and I threw in a little saracasm, but the general idea is the same. Classes continue as they normally would and if a student misses class they will have to make up all the work their classmates did. Parents also like to have their kids in school because they don't get a break from work, and would rather have their kids studying then home alone playing games.

So during Winter School I will have the same schedule as the first semester. Andrew and I are not too keen on the idea of winter school. We fully believe our students' lives already revolve around studying and could use a break, so we decided to show movies during this time. It will give them a chance to relax and also the movies are in English, so it is a chance to practice some listening. Plus it is no prep work or grading for me :) The exception to this is my Advanced English class, who will be working on a fun project invovling Shakespeare. I know...I know..the words "fun" and "Shakespeare" do not go together, but I think the students really will enjoy it. I can write about that at a different time.

During the second week I will going to Vietnam on a mission trip. The school approved the trip and thus are excusing me from the second week of teaching. Andrew will be around to finish showing the movies and I will have a substitute for a couple of classes.

I'll write more about Vietnam in a future post.

Christmas Skits and Pictures

One more post. I would like to post a couple of Christmas pictures and also some links for those of you interested in seeing more. First the pictures come from one of the skits that I helped with this year. Every year the school asks the foreign teachers to perform a skit for the Christmas Worship. This year Emilie helped to create a skit based on High School Musical, a Disney Channel Movie that many students at CMS love! In the play I played the part of Ryan Evans, and was made my dancing debut. Believe me, my dancing wasn' pretty, but it was all in good fun. I think the kids loved the play and pray that they understood the message. So here are a couple of pictures from the performance.


This is Noel and I in the middle of our dance. She coreographed the dance based on what was actually done in the movie. It took me some practice to get it down, but in the end it was quite fun to perform.



This picture is of the entire cast for our play. All of us teach at Concordia Middle School. The cast is as follows: Emilie, Ray, Noel, Me, Molly, Kevin, Michelle, Andrew (left to right).


If you are interested in seeing more from Christmas, our coordinator here in Taiwan (Matt Wasmund) does a good job of taking pictures and posting them on the Internet. Check out his personal website at: http://picasaweb.google.com/mattwasmund

There are several albums for Christmas activities. Feel free to check them out and ask me any questions if you have them.

Enjoy, don't laugh too hard.

Christmas Caroling

I wanted to write a little bit more about our Christmas celebrations from this past year. One of my highlights is always Christmas caroling. This year I went twice, once for the Friday Night Bible Study Christmas Party (the Friday before Christmas) and the second was with the CMS students that live on campus (on Christmas Eve). I always love the chance to work up and down the streets with the students and fellow teachers singing favorite Christmas songs. I would like to quickly share a couple of quick stories from the two activities.

First, during the Friday Night Bible Study time, I was leading a group with an 8th grade student accompanying me. This was pretty exciting because this student has been helping with guitar off and on this semester and continues to improve at it. It is nice to see him taking ownership and interest in helping us lead songs at Friday Night Bible Study. As we were heading back to church, a lady rushed up to me and told me to stop at small shop. Upon arriving at the shop, I found that was a store that sold ghost money. Ghost money used in Taiwanese folk religion to offer a sacrifice to local gods, in hopes of ensuring better luck in the future. The lady brought out here baby and wanted to listen to us sing songs. Immediately I decided to sing Silent Night, which is the only song that we have a Chinese verse for. The lady and her child seemed to really enjoy the music, and I pray that it can be a witness to the love that God offers them in Christ Jesus.

The second caroling experience was with the students who live at school. On Christmas Eve we all met at 8:30pm and split into 3 groups. We then went to different streets near the school to go sing Christmas Carols. One highlight from this actually came the day prior to our caroling. I went to a local tea stand to buy a green tea (my usual) and the owner asked if we would be coming around the next day to sing Christmas songs. I was really touched that he remembered and was anticipating our arrival. I told him that we would, and he was excited. He knew that Christmas was approaching and that we would be out celebrating and singing. I praise God that things like Christmas caroling can make such a strong impact. It is just one simple way to share the love of God with others.

Christmas Trees

Well the Christmas celebrations have come and gone. The season is always filled with anticipation, build-up, and much joy. As I write this, I am currently on a four day break for New Year's. It is a much needed time of rest and relaxation, as I set to finish out the final three weeks of the semester. Over the next couple of blog entries I would like to reflect a little on the Christmas season and share a couple of experiences that stand out in my mind.

Each year the students of Concordia Middle School have a Christmas Song Competition and Christmas Tree Decorating Contest. For the tree decorating contest, each class is given a tree in the main courtyard of campus. They must decorate the tree to show a story from the Bible. The classes are given suggestions, but they can choose any story they would like.


The trees by the courtyard.

To decorate the trees the students must use recyclable products. Many students uses boxes, newspapers, and bottles to create elaborate decorations for the tree. In the 2 weeks prior to Christmas you can see homerooms filled with partially created decorations, and the students are allowed to use class time to create decorations. I allow each class to have one class period before Christmas that they can use to prepare for the activities.


Senior 2 (11th Grade) Class A: Moses and the Red Sea.



Senior 2 (11th Grade) Class F: Simon Peter, a fisher of men.



On Christmas Eve, the school holds the song competition in the morning and the afternoon. When they are not singing, students are outside decorating the trees. Then in the evening the kids are allowed to stay on campus until 8:30. They light the Christmas trees and can walk around and look at the other class' finished products.


Christmas Trees at night. Picture from my first year in Taiwan.


I think this is the most beautiful time of the year. I treasure the chance to walk around and look at the trees when they are lit up. The school leaves the trees up for a couple of days and each night lights them for people to enjoy.

This year on Christmas Day I went out and enjoyed a quiet evening, walking around and looking at the tress. I love the look of the lights glowing in the dark. I love seeing the different recreations of famous Bible Studies. I love seeing all of the hard work that my students put into making their trees.

I took time to stop at each tree created by my students and former students. I carefully looked at in and thought of the kids in those classes. I took a little time to pray for the kids in the classes. It was a quite, peaceful, heartwarming way to spend part of my Christmas Day.

Christmas Decorations

A couple of weeks ago, Kevin, Michelle, Michael, and I took a Saturday evening to decorate the Hanson Manor. Christmas decorations are a little hard to come by here in Taiwan, but we did our best to make the house look festive. We hung lights on the inside and outside of the house, and put up two small Christmas trees. I would like to post a couple of pictures, showing the two Christmas trees and some of the decorations. Enjoy!



The view leading into the kitchen.


One Christmas Tree


Our Second Christma Tree

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

That's right boy and girls we are getting close to the big day. The celebration of the birth of the Savior, who has changed our lives, and given us life, hope, peace, and joy. I would like to use this entry to reflect a little as I prepare for Christmas.

Christmas is such a wonderful time. I remember my first year here in Taiwan. I was not sure if I should stay for a second year. I was still debating if God was calling me to serve overseas in a ESL setting, or to return to the States to teach, allowing me to interact with students in my native language and to be closer to family and friends. I remember fearing being away on the holidays would be difficult and possibly push me back home.

The first year Christmas proved to be the opposite. It was a time where I was sure that this is where God wanted me. All of the Bible Studies, skits, Christmas caroling and other activities really encouraged me. Christmas was busy, but exciting. It was full of joy, but not secular or focused on getting and receiving gifts. The focus was the joy that Jesus brings us, and sharing that with others.

Last year provided the same environment, and now I am in the midst of preparation for this Christmas. One thing that fills December is skit practice. Each year the school asks the 8 American teachers at the high school to perform a skit for the entire school (over 2000 students). We take time to meet, plan, and then usually have 3 or 4 practices to polish things. This year our skit for school is based on the cheesy Disney movie "High School Musical". The kids out here love the film and we have adapted songs and the message to point to Jesus and following him.

The second skit I will be in this year will be for our Friday Night Bible Study and Salvation Lutheran Church. All 13 Americans will be involved in this skit and it is based on the parable of the tenants. The master is gone and sends servants to check up on the vineyard. The tenants beat up the servants, and then the master finally sends his son...who the tenants kill. Of course we tie this in to Christmas and how we remember Jesus coming as a baby, who ultimately came to take our punishment for sin. We had our first practice for this skit tonight and will have 2 more before we perform it.

Other highlights of the Christmas season include Christmas caroling and Christmas parites. I will have the opportunity to go Christmas caroling 2 times this year. Once on Friday December 21st, in the city, and the second on December 24th here near the school.

There are several other Christmas parties or activities that I will have as well, including get togethers with friends, and leading the Sunday School students in Christmas songs.

This coming Saturday will be the annual Christmas potluck. Many teachers and friends from school will get together to eat and watch a Christmas movie. I will be making my famous chili, known out here as "Smoked Chili", but that's a story for another entry.

Ahhhhh Christmas...the intensity...the joy...the fun...God is with us.

The Worst Nightmare...

That's right everyone, this week I experienced everyone's worst nightmare...going to the dentist. Let me preface this by saying it has been a long time since I have been to the dentist, and this trip came after much discussion, anticipation, and dread. This entry is a novel...so brace yourselves and enjoy the ride.

To begin, the last time I had been to the dentist was when I got my wisdom teeth pulled...I am not exactly sure when that was. It was either my sophomore or junior year of college. Which would have been 4 or 5 years ago. I was out like a light the whole time, so I don't know if he actually cleaned my teeth or just pulled my wisdom teeth. Prior to that experience it would have probably been the summer before when I had last been to the dentist for a cleaning and examination. So it had to have been at least 5 years since I had been to the dentist.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this is not good for my oral hygene. However, since moving to Taiwan I had been in a little bit of a dilema. Upon my arrival to Taiwan in 2005, I was not worrying about making an appointment to get my teeth checked. Rather, I was more worried about survival in this new environment. Towards the end of my first year however, I began to realize that I probably should head to the dentist at some point. I heard horror stories of other missionaries returning from Taiwan with 3 and 4 cavities in their mouths (much of this can be due to the high consumption of green tea, which usually is sold with a lot of sugar in it).

After hearing this, and reflecting on my personal absence from the dentist office, I decided I should start to think about getting my teeth checked. Here was my dilema. I inquired some of the other missionaries about the dentist in Taiwan, and did not get an overwhelming vote of confidence. In fact some that I asked had instead gone to the dentist in the U.S. when home for summer break. So I thought about this, but then realized that I do not have dental insurance. And if there is one thing that is definitely true it is that health and dental care in America is outrageous without insurance. Some missionaries have spent well over $100 to get a check-up while home in the States. I soon realized that I did not have that kind of money, and decided that I would not worry about it that summer and would instead try to get an appointment while in Taiwan. Even if it is not as good as America, a check-up can still tell me if I have cavities and some cleaning is better than no cleaning.

Well my second year came and went and I never seemed to make time to go to the dentist. At this point it became a little psychological, as I really did not have a desire to hear how dirty my teeth were, or how many cavities I had. I did however decide that if I was not going to the dentist I should start to take better care of my teeth. I began flossing somewhat regularily and started using Listerine in addition to brushing. I also started buying green tea with half sugar instead of full sugar. When my parents came to visit in January, the dentist saga was brought up at some point, and when my mom realized how long it had been since I had gone, she too started actively encouraging me to go get a check-up and cleaning.

Like I said the second year came and went, and I was not about to spend an arm and a leg for dental care in America. However this past summer, the topic did come up again and I was strongly encouraged to see a dentist in Taiwan.

As I returned for this my third year, I was determined that I would see the dentist at some point this year. Fearing that if I did not do it sooner, it might not happen, I resolved that it would get done before the middle of October. Well that date came and went, but soon realized I needed to act fast. So after some rescheduling of appointments, I finally got in this past Monday.

Now about dental care in Taiwan. For one, it is cheaper because Taiwan has national health care. Thus everything is cheaper here. In terms of how each office operates I do not know how they work as a whole, but can share my specific experience. The dentist I went to is the father a worker at CELA (the English cram school that some missionaries work at here in Min Hsiung). His office is open in the evenings from 7:30-9:30. I found this strange. My appointment was for 7:30 and I went about 15 minutes before, as I thought this was proper protical for a dentist appointment. When I got there all of the lights were off and no one was in the building. So I drove around for about 15 minutes then came back.

By the time I got back, a little girl had already come and he began to examine her. This is pretty typically of health care in Taiwan, as it is more like waiting at the driver's liscense than making an appointment. I have been to the doctor before and you literally get a number and take a seat.

Well after waitng for another 10 minutes in nervous anticipation, trying not to think of all of the cavities he would find, I finally was escorted to the dreaded chair. When I sat down I found the dentist to be quite pleasant and he spoke English well. He had studied in Canada for a little bit and has a daughter that lives in Alabama.

He examined my teeth right away and then turned me over to his assistant. She did not speak any English, but before he left he informed me that they would clean some stains (no doubt originating from my large consumption of tea), give a general cleaning and give me some flouride.

As his assistant worked in my mouth, it was not terribly uncomfortable. She did do a little bit of scraping, which is never pleasant, but overall I held up pretty well. One big difference from my experience in America was with the light. In the States, my dentist's have always moved the light out of my eyes, but it still shined on my general face. At my appointment on Monday, the light was move out of the way for a little bit, but then a towel was wrapped around my face. It covered my eyes and only my mouth would have been visible from the towel.

After the cleaning she gave me the flouride. It was pink jelly substance that she applied using a wire with a swabb-like device on it. She put it around my mouth and told me she'd be back in one minute. After a minute she returned and gave me paper cup with water, for me to rinse with.

She had done this previously after the cleaning and then told me to swish it in my mouth and spit it out. She said all of this in Chinese and I did not fully understand what she meant, but after some gesturing and clarification I eventually figured out what I was to do with the water and where I was to put the excess.

After rinsing my mouth, she removed the towels and cleaned up the area a little bit. Then she looked at me with a huge smile on her face and told me something, which I did not understand. I asked her to repeat it a couple of times, but I still did not know the meaning. Eventually she told me that "my teeth were good" and that they "had no holes". Starting to understand, I asked a couple of clarifitory questions. I asked if my teeth were "not good" then would I have to come back and have more work. At this point I made the drilling sound. She nodded her head energetically and we both realized we understood each other. She was telling me I had no cavities. YEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!

After five years, my teeth were ok. I went to the counter to pay my bill. It ended up costig $100 NT, which in the United States is $3.20. I knew it would be cheap, but this was even better than I thought. After I came home, I thought I might have to go back in the spring for another check. In the meantime I will continue to brush, floss, and rinse.

Cold Spell

Just a quick update on the weather. Many times people ask me if it gets cold in Taiwan. I always reply that cold is relative to a location, these last couple of days have provided a perfect example.

The temperatures the last 3 days have been in the upper 60's with lows in the upper 50's. Now some of you sitting in Iowa or Minnesota might not think this seems very cold. However, here in Taiwan we do not have heated buildings. You can buy a little space heater for your room, but the house is never fully warm when you enter it. So it is more of perpetual state of coolness, and yes, you can add more layers, however once become cold it is hard to ever fully warm up.

Transportation can add to this, as I usually ride a bike or scooter to get from place to place. I recently have been reflecting that I prefer to ride a bike in the cooler weather. First, a scooter can get quite cold when the temperature is lower and the wind is rushing against you. Second, on a bike my body is working, and this keeps my lower body much warmer than on a scooter. So while you are outside longer on a bike, you stay overall warmer. Plus when I arrive at my destiniation there is no heat to warm me up. Thus I have decided for the time being I prefer to ride my bike.

One more thought on the weather. The other thing that made the last days worse was the rain. I have found there is nothing worse than a cold rain. I think we will get some warmer weather in the coming days, but before long it will stay cooler for the winter season.

Colder weather is not all bad though. This morning I woke up and Kevin had made some hot green tea. So I enjoyed a couple mugs of that before heading into the office. I must say I have grown to enjoy tea a lot more since coming to Taiwan, and cooler weather makes the hot stuff even better.

Ok, enough talk about the weather.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! This past week I had a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving a couple of times. In addition to a phone conversation with my parents, I had many different activities here in Taiwan to remember how God has crowned the year with abundance.

On Saturday evening we had a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Matt and Dee Dee, hosted the dinner, and over 85 people attended. I enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, bread, and peacan pie. It was a wonderful time to give thanks for the many blessings (especially food and friends) that God has given me.

Thanksgiving was also celebrated in my 10th grade (Senior 1) classes this week. In all 6 classes we did an activity to help the students remember things they are thankful for. First each student wrote down five things they were thankful for, and then they had to go around the room and ask all of their classmates to share one thing each person was thankful for. After getting an answer from each classmate, the students then had to ask 5 people to explain why he or she was thankful for the thing they shared.

To end the activity each student wrote 4-5 sentences explaining why he or she was thankful for one of the items on his or her list. The students really enjoyed the activity because they could walk around and interact with their classmates. I thought it was great because the students could reflect on the many blessings they have in life, and they could also practice speaking in English.


Finally Friday Night was a time to watch a little football, as some of the other missionaries and me all sat down to watch an online archived showing of the Packers-Lions Thanksgiving day game. All in all it was marvelous week of remember all that God has provided.

Now to get ready for the intensity that is preparation for Christmas...

Bike Trip

I just returned today from a bike trip to another city. Earlier this semester, I had gone on a trip with 3 friends to TaiChong, a city 80 km north of Min Hsiung. This weekend 7 of us traveled down to Tainan, which is a city 70 km to the south. We set off Saturday at 11:15 and finally arrived at our hotel at 6:00 pm. We had several water breaks along the way, and got lost in Tainan for about 2 hours, but God kept us safe and we eventually reached our destination.

After bathing and changing (because I was REALLY gross), we all went to eat at a wonderful German restaurant in Tainan. I enjoyed some cheddar stuffed German sausages, with deliciously fresh bread. Then in the evening we just crashed and went to bed by 10:00. After a day of biking, it is amazing how well one sleeps at night.

This morning we went to a Lutheran church, that I had been to before as part of traveling song and skit group. After church we set out to bike back to Min Hsiung. In the course of biking, we eventually split into 2 groups. I was traveling with Matthew and Michelle. About 30 minutes into the way home Matt's leg was bothering him, so we decided it would be best to take the train the rest of the way.

The three of us went to the nearest train station, only to find out that that train station would not let us take bikes on the train. A nice man who spoke English well helped us to ask if there was anything we could do. The person at the ticket counter informed us that the Tainan train station would allow us to bring bikes and store them on the train. So we rode back to Tainan, and caught a train to Chia Yi. We then had the 3o minute ride from the train station to Concordia, and our trip as complete.

In total riding time was close to 7 hours. We rode over 120 kilometers, averaged 17.3 kilometers per hour of riding, and burned almost 1600 calories from biking. What a great chance to get away and put in some heavy excerising.

Pictures from Halloween

Kevin as a hippie



Michael as Dumbledore



Me as Severus Snape



Going Trick or Treating

October Recap

Already November…wow!! Well October came and went, at it was filled with a lot of wonderful activities. During the month, I took a bike trip to another city, participated in the school’s track and field day, and hosted a Halloween party.

The bike trip was on a school vacation day. Me, Kevin, Michelle, and Michael took a bike trip to Tai Johng, which is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from our school. It ended up being quite a journey. We set out at 8 am, and ended up at our destination, a Chilli’s restaurant, at about 2:30. We stopped several times along the way to rest and re-hydrate, but we also got lost a couple of times and had a exhausting journey through the hills. In the end we were beat, and decided to take the train back instead of attempting to bike back.

Every year, the school hosts a track field day. During this day students compete as classes in various individual and relay races, and also events like the high jump, tire roll, and three legged race. It is always great to be able to see my students outside of the classroom and especially when I have the chance to cheer them as they compete.

During field day, the teacher’s also have the chance to compete. This year I ran in the 4X100 meter relay, representing the English office. I also ran in the 1500 meter race, tire roll, and the large group teacher’s relay. My team got 3rd in the 4X100, 3rd in the tire race, and I got second in the 1500. My favorite races were the tire roll and the large group teacher relay. For the large group relay, we had 30 teachers, and each one ran 100 meters. We competed against some of the Junior 2 (8th grade) classes, and ended up winning the race. It was really enjoyable to be able to be on the large group team and cheer on many of my fellow co-workers.

Finally, the end of October brought Halloween and the Hanson Manor Halloween Party. Kevin, Michael, and I all live in the Hanson Manor and we hosted an evening of events for Halloween. We had two parties for the night. The first one was a kids party, which lasted from 6:30-8:30 pm. We invited families from school and church, and had activities such as “pin the nose on the Jack-O-Lantern”, decorating Halloween cookies, and went trick-or-treating. I think the kids enjoyed trick-or-treating the most, as they went to the houses of teachers who live at school, and filled up their bags with candy. To end the evening we watched “The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”, which is a classic show for Halloween.

Check out the following link to pictures from the children’s party:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mattwasmund/HansonHalloween

Beginning at 9:00 we hosted a party for adults. We invited friends from school, church, and Friday Night Bible Study. There were a ton of snacks and drinks, and most people wore costumes. We gave away 2 prizes for best costumes, one to an American and one to a Taiwanese. After a summer of Harry Potter reading, I decided to dress as a character from the book: the highly controversial Severus Snape. All in all it was a great night of fun.

Junior 1 Chapel

Just wanted to share a quick highlight from the day. 2 or 3 times a semester the foreign teachers are asked to assist with a chapel service either for the Junior 1 (7th grade) students, or Junior 2-Senior 3 (8-12th grade) students. Well today was our first chapel service for the year. We lead it for the 7th graders, all of whom are required to attend. When the foreign teachers lead chapel we typically perform a skit or two, sing 7 or 8 songs, pray and read a couple of Bible passages.

Normally 7th grade chapels, are a little more difficult because their English is not quite as good, and many are there even though they may not want to be. I usually enjoy the Senior High Chapel more. Today however, the kids were absolutely wonderful. Our first song was "This is the Day" and we sing it in 2 groups, and when your group sings you are supposed to stand. Normally the kids fumble through the song and kind of stand when they are supposed to. Today, I could hear the kids singing loudly and they were full of energy. It seemed to spread through all of the other songs and skits as well. I thought Junior 1 Chapel was great today! Praise God for the chance to share the message of Christ with these students, and their willingness to be engaged in the chapel service.

Small Group

As stated in an earlier entry, I have started a small group with some of my students from last year. We get together once a week to discuss a novel we have been reading outside of class. As many as 15 have shown up, and this last week I still had 9, with a handful who came to apologize that they would be unable to make, but assured me they would still come in the future.

We have been reading Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, outside of small group. Each day when we get together we discuss what happened in the previous week's reading and do some sort of activity. 2 weeks ago they wrote a little about what would be the perfect age at which one could live forever. We then shared these ideas, with answers ranging from 5 years old to 35 years old, but most were smack in the middle of 20's (I said 24, so I guess I have passed my prime, ha!).

This week we acted out vocabulary words. I gave the students 10 vocab words for the novel. They worked in pairs and had to find a way to act out the word for the rest of the class. The class then had to guess what their vocab word was. Our words included elated, melancholy, searing, perilous, gallows, oppressive, and others. The kids loved it, and were laughing and having a good time as they watched each other.

I have really loved this group, and know that God is blessing it and the relationships that are being built with the students. I am so thankful to be able to spend time with some of these kids again this year.

New Link

I just wanted to let you all know about an exciting new link that has been added to my blog. Under links you will see one titled "Friday Night Bible Study". This will take you to the brand new Friday Night Bible Study Blog. This will be updated weekly (unlike my blog, ha!) and provide pictures and information about Friday Night Bible Study here in Chia Yi, Taiwan. Feel free to check it out.