The World Just Keeps On Turning

Nǐ hǎo!

Well, I have collected a few fun stories to share since I last wrote, but for the most part life has been plugging along like normal out here on my little island. Any chill in the air that we may have experienced in January and February is gone and Taiwan is growing balmier each day. Temperature-wise it isn’t really hot, but the sunshine and humidity make it feel pretty warm. The forecast is showing showers all week, so I am looking forward to a little bit of cloudiness!

As many of you have seen in my Facebook pictures, we took the kindergartners on a field trip to a petting zoo this past week, which was way more fun than I anticipated! The previous field trip that we had taken consisted solely of taking pictures of the kids in front of various Chinese New Year decorations at the festival downtown, which was a little tedious, so I wasn’t very enthusiastic about the zoo field trip before going. Upon arriving, though, I realized that this one would be much more interactive. We got to pet alpacas and horses, feed giant turtles, and hold different types of reptiles and birds. My favorite was the python, which was very determined to reach the ground and escape while I was trying to hold it. I finally got it to cooperate long enough to steal a kiss! 

This week I also celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day with my 3rd graders by dying eggs green and having an egg drop competition, which was a lot of fun! Some of them got into the spirit of it with their creativity a little more than others, but at the end of the day they all got to drop stuff off of a balcony, so they were happy. The eggs must have been related to Humpty Dumpty, though, because not even all the king’s horses and all the king’s men would be able to put those eggs back together again.

 I’m sorry that this post is so short, but other than that everything has been moving on pretty much that same as it always does. My kindergartners are adorable and I want to adopt some of them and bring them home with me. My 3rd graders are lots of fun, depending on their mood. They went through a rebellious streak a couple of weeks ago, but that seems to have passed. We have been testing all of our students over these past few weeks, and my 3rd grade classes will have their turn this week, so fingers crossed! I’m a little nervous to see how some of them do, but it’s only midterm so there is still time left for improvement before the end of the semester. I can’t believe it is almost April!! In about a week I will officially be half-way through my time here. That’s a little bit sad but also a little bit exciting considering that by the time I am done it will be getting close to two years since I’ve been home for more than just a couple of weeks at a time.

Well, I hope that this blog post finds everyone happy and well. Until next time!

Jackie