Little Guardian Angel (2)

My Freshman English students participated in the activity Little Guardian Angel this week. The two classes I'm teaching are very different in nature--my social science-majored students have been more interested in playing this game than my science-majored students.
Last Friday (Dec. 17) almost every student of my social science students prepared a treat. They put all there treats on the table and wait for me to "deliver" them. Amazed at the things they got, I took pictures of these treats. Then I delivered the treats like Santa Claus did. While students were waiting to come to the front to get their treats, I watched those happy young faces. Feeling touched, I was glad I thought of this activity for them to do. They all needed to learn how to show their concern about one person!
Though my science-majored students didn't seem to show the same enthusiasm for this activity, I could still see some changes in them. Though most of them are reserved and shy, some them showed some emotions on their faces when they received some treats.

An orange--the fruit in season

A note written by Wei-shan's Little Guradian Angel

Soy bean jello--the most popular snack for kids

Tunghai Milk produced by the univeristy

Now let me show you what treats Taiwanese college students got.

How are you?

Having blogged for more than a month, I find myself addicted to blogging. Though I have posted an article almost every day, I didn't tell my friends how to access to my blog except for two. I thought I would enjoy writing more than sharing my thoughts with others until I found out I had some readers from Russia. Although I know there's no country boundary in cyberspace, I was shocked when I knew I had some readers who live in Russia, a country which is so far-away that I don't think I'd have a chance to visit. However, blogging seems to be more significant because of all these readers from different countries, especially Russia.
Concerned about what has happened in the world, I have a habit of reading or listening to international news. Because of you, my dear Russian readers, I've paid more attention to the news in your home country. When I read about the protests against the results of the parliamentary elections held in Russia last week, I wondered if any of my Russian readers was one of those angry protesters. Oh, my friends, you're not alone. My spirit is with you! Freedom and human rights are never free. Let's fight for all these we should have but haven't had!

Royal Family of Dante at Tunghai

Dante on Tunghai Campus

The Privilege of Tunghaiers

It was 5:20 when I started walking this morning. In the dark, I was walking with my mini flashlight in hand. On my way back from the walk, I saw a small-sized dog walking with a leash on its neck. As soon as I saw it, I squatted down to welcome it. Somehow the dog sensed my friendliness because it was walking faster toward me. When it walked near enough for me to hold onto the least, I saw the dog was a "he". I started talking to him, but I noticed he was shivering. I guess he must have been skittish in nature, but my welcome gesture was too tempting for him to ignore. Then I looked at the collar to see if I could get any info about the dog. On the collar there was a phone number! Well, this dog must have "run away" many times that his owner decided to put a telephone number on the collar, hoping anyone who found him could contact them. I didn't have my cellphone with me. Actually, when I exercise, I don't bring it with me. The only two things I have are my key chain and a 50-dollar coin for the newspaper I'll buy when I finish my walk.
Since I couldn't contact the dog's owner, I decided to take him for a walk. Well, this little thing refused to go with me. After I tried a couple of times, I let him go. Maybe he just wanted to enjoy his morning walk like me. After the walk, he will go home. Nobody likes to be restricted to stay in one place only. I like to "run away home" from time to time. Fortunately, there's a cafe on Tunghai campus--Dante. I've spent so much time in this cozy cafe that I nickname myself "Queen of Dante", a retired professor from the Department of Architecture "King of Dante", a stuff member from the Library "Cappuccino Princess", and the son of my colleague "Prince of Dante". There're only four members in this Dante Royal Family. Hope someday somehow more people can join us!

Ni-Wa-Wa (A Mud Doll)

Panai's Ni-Wa-Wa (A Mud Doll)
Tracy Chapman's Fast Car
This afternoon I went to a lecture with my Freshman English students. The speech was given by a famous producer of aboriginal music--Zhang 43, a stage/pen name he gave himself. Why does he use a number as part of his name? It's because that was how old his mother was when he was born.
43 has invested a lot of energy and money in aboriginal music since 1997. A lot of talented aboriginal singers were recruited by him and had their own albums sung in their own tribal languages. A couple of singers even got the "best singer" awards at the Golden Bell Award ceremonies, an award which is equivalent of the Amy Award in the USA. 
I'm a music lover, and I enjoy pure voice & simple melody. In 2000, I bought a CD of songs sung by Panai, an aboriginal singer from Taitung (the east of Taiwan). Unlike most other singers, Panai has a deep voice. If you like Tracy Chapman's voice, then you'll like Panai's because their voices share a lot of similarities.

Ni-Wa-Wa Ni-Wa-Wa, a  mud doll
She has a nose and eye brows, but she doesn't wink.
Ni-Wa-Wa Ni-Wa-Wa, a mud doll
She has a nose and eye brows, but she doesn't speak.
She is a fake doll, not a real one.
She has neither a dear father nor a loving mother.
Ni-Wa-Wa Ni-Wa-Wa, a mud doll
Let me be her father and her mother, so I can love her forever.

Native Taiwanese: 9 tribes in Taiwan

Money & Honey

If you don't have money, then you don't honey. The more money you have, the more honeys you will have. Honey, honey, honey! Money & Honey is the title of a pop song in the Philippines. Director Jasmine Lee borrowed the title for her documentary--a story about four Filipino women who worked as helpers in a nursing home in Taiwan. It took Jasmine 13 years to record the hardships and growth of these four Filipino women.
The Philippines used to be one of the richest countries in Asia in the 1960's. However, one tenth of their population is working in foreign countries, and  in Taiwan you can see these foreign labor workers everywhere. I'm a Christian, and as far as I know some churches even have English service to meet the needs of this population. Because of my dark skin, very often I am mistaken for one of them depending on who sees me. If an Indonesian sees me, she thinks I'm an Indonesian. If a Filipino sees me, I would be considered as one of them. How do I know? By the friendly smile on their faces when they see me. When I see them, I always smile at them. This is what I can do to make them feel "at home". But how can they feel at home in a place where their families are not around. I know I'll never feel at home in such a place!

Blowing in the Wind

During the mid-term oral exams, I asked students to suggest one thing that they wanted me to teach in class. Then about one third of them suggested I teach them some English songs in class. Therefore, I taught the first English song in today's class--Blowing in the Wind. Before teaching the song, I asked my students if they had known this 48-year-old song. Nobody had heard it before! Well, it's not surprising at all because some of students' parents are even younger than the song.
At first, I gave each student a worksheet--the lyrics with some blanks. Then I played three versions of the song respectively sung by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter Paul & Mary. While listening to the song, students needed to fill in each of the blanks with the word they hear. Before we worked on the lyrics, I asked students which version they liked most. To my surprise, most of them liked Peter Paul & Mary's Blowing in the Wind. I've always liked Joan Baez's version because there's more hope and power in her voice.
The next step is the most important part--explaining the lyrics. At first, I explained what rhetorical questions are and their purpose. After giving some examples, students had better idea about the rhetorical question. Then we tackled the 9 questions posed in the song one by one. When I taught "how many times can a man turn his head and pretend he doesn't see" and "how many years must one man have before he can hear people cry", I challenged my students by asking them when they last tried to help someone in need. Then I asked them to share their reflections or feelings in groups of four. Watching students' young faces while they were talking, I thanked God for this job--I can at least influence my students to be brave and helpful! 

It takes courage to take a stand, especially stand firm in front of a tank.

Trips to ETA

Every year in mid-November I will take a trip to Taipei for the 3-day International ETA conference. I've attended the conference for years. Some of my colleagues also attend this conference once a year, but all of them attend the conference as presenters, not listeners like me. As a "professional" conference goer for all these years, I've learned and changed a lot. In the first few years, I went to as many workshops and lectures as I could for three full days. Then I changed my strategy by attending the so-called featured speakers' talks. A couple of years later, I found out I was not interested in some worldwide famous scholars as much as others. Then I stopped going to theirs. Three or four years ago I had another change--I told myself I would ask the presenter a question either in public or in private to challenge myself. After I tried a couple of times, I realized I could learn more about presenters themselves. For example, I questioned the reliability of one method that the presenter used. I doubted the outcome of that research because I had used the same method in my classes and that the result was not as "beautiful" as what the presenter claimed. Her answer was not satisfactory, but her attitude was even worse. Actually, I think the more challenging part about giving a lecture is not lecture itself but the part of Q & A. For me, how presenters deal with all the different questions proposed by experts or novices and how they interact with them can reveal something hidden--their personalities, their attitudes, and their character. Of all these big wigs, Michael Hoey is the one I have admired most. I attended his workshops in 2009. He was in his late 60s, but he made you feel as if he were young and enthusiastic. This British scholar had the charisma that the others didn't have--passion for the language. While listening to his description of the trip he and his wife took to South America, I knew I would be one of his fans forever.
As for this year's "treasure hunt", I found another pearl for myself--Patricia Duff, professor of the University of British Columbia. I was lucky to have a short conversation with her while both of us were waiting for her workshop to begin. By talking to her, I realized we were the same type of teachers--serious, sincere, organized, and hardworking. Oh, boy! I think I'm addicted to attending the ETA Conference. I think I'll continue my pilgrimage until I'm too old to think clearly!