It's been a while now since I've donned the hat of 'tourist' in Taiwan. But, as it turns out, a weekend in Taipei with scheduled and guided activities does that to a person! All the tourist-ing has tired me out, so I'll keep this short (again--I'm noticing a pattern in my blogs from Taipei...), so I can sleep.
SO.
We began the day early--too early, given our 1:30am bedtime--and headed out to FSE. Once there, we were loaded into two buses (Jr. and Sr. Fellows in one; Kaohsiung and Yilan ETAs in the other--the segregation was just beginning), and headed off to the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines.
At the museum, I got up my courage and struck up a conversation with one of the senior fellows, Linda Alper, who is studying "Shakespeare as a Second Language" here, and who has been a leading actress at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival for years. (When I asked her what roles she has played, she said she'd done just about everything; if I'd been to a play at Ashland in the last 25 years, she said, I'd probably seen her; looking at her resume, she's been Olivia in Twelfth Night and Rosalind in As You Like It, amongst many other roles. She also attended Julliard.) In any case, I had a great time chatting with her and with her husband, who grew up in Eugene and who attended Marist, my alma mater, for a year back when it was still run by the brothers! Small world.
After a brief, untranslated and gratuitously 3D film, we got a guided tour of the museum, in our individuated groups--Jr & Sr. Fellows, Yilan ETAs, Kaohsiung ETAs. It was really interesting, though I wish we weren't forced into the groups where we already knew people well--all that time spent mixing at the reception and no chance to follow up!
After that came a delicious lunch at the Silk Palace by the National Palace Museum, served family style and with way too much food for anyone at our small table to finish.
By the time our guided tour rolled around, we were exhausted--and our well-intentioned guide gave us headphones to hear her with, which just meant our group of 12 (Kaohsiung ETAs again!) were left to wander within hearing range, and/or collapse on every bench and nearly fall asleep. A real shame, given the priceless treasures we were seeing.
After that, Karina, Rachel, Brittany and I checked into our hostel (FSE only paid for the first night at a hotel), and then Karina and I headed out for delicious burgers and pear iced tea at a restaurant across the street before meeting up with Tom and heading to Taipei 101, where we stayed for a couple of hours, chatting. It was fun.
And now we're back, and still drooping from exhaustion--so that's it for tonight. Maybe later I'll reopen this post and add pictures--plenty today, really. But for now, this tourist is going to go try to catch some sleep on a hard mat in a room full of strangers. But it's cheap! :)
Showing posts with label FSE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FSE. Show all posts
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Who's Who in Kaohsiung
On special request, and since I did absolutely nothing today other than sit around and watch TV (and Skype with Lindsey for an hour an a half, which was wonderful), here's a brief run-down of the people I mention in my blog.
The Roommates
I currently live with Brittany, Rachel, and Karina, all of whom are other ETAs here in Kaohsiung. We choose schools tomorrow, so living arrangements may change, but I hope not--I love living with these ladies.
The Other ETAs
The other Fulbright ETAs here in Kaohsiung are Analicia, Andrew, Emily, Esther, Lydia, Samia, Steven, and Tiffiany. All wonderful people to hang out with. Right now we all live in the same apartment complex, but as I noted above, that will change soon.
Fulbright people
Fonda is our go-to person for just about everything; I think her official title is ETA Project Coordinator in Kaohsiung. She is absolutely amazing, and her patience with us is immense--I can't imagine having to take care of a fresh batch of full-grown infants every year until they get on their feet, but that is, essentially, her job description. Fonda plans everything and tells us what we're doing; sets up all the official stuff for ARCs, bank accounts, scooter licenses, rent and utility payment etc; provides scooters for us to practice on; checks up on us at home (and takes us to the hospital if we need it); and serves a general liaison for anything and everything that could go wrong. She also takes pictures all the time, which is fantastic.
Alex is the ETA Project Chief Coordinator; he lives and works in Taipei at the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (aka Fulbright Taiwan), I believe, and comes down to visit us on special occasions. He's a great guy, really helpful and friendly, and widely-traveled, which makes for some really fun conversations.
Dr. Vocke is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) and he, like Alex, lives and works in Taipei and comes down to Kaohsiung when he's needed. Unlike Fonda and Alex, he's American, and he's been living in Taiwan for four or five years now. He's wonderful to talk to; he's part college professor (he used to be one; calls himself a recovering academic) and regulation stickler and part grandfatherly advice: the perfect combination.
Dr. Wu used to have Dr. Vocke's job; he's a Taiwanese Fulbrighter from a long time ago, and oversaw the Fulbright program in Taiwan for a very long time. He formerly studied and taught in the US, and he is willing to say whatever is on his mind. He's great.
Kaohsiung People in Education
Evelyn hangs out with us a lot; she's a total sweetheart and a friend of Fonda's, and she works at Sanmin as an English teacher . She's also a fantastic photographer and has a great smile. :)
Professor Spring teaches Education at National Kaohsiung Normal University; she is super athletic, independent, and fun to be around. She has been helping teach us the basics of teaching--she gave us a year-long course in theory in a single 3-hour session last week--and is helping set people up to play tennis and swim at NKNU. She's hilarious and free-spirited, and is one of the peoplehere in Kaohsiung who will help us with the teaching aspects.
Professor Lee also teaches Education at National Kaohsiung Normal University; she sometimes goes by "Triple L" because her full name is Lee-Lin Lee (I think? Or maybe Lin-Lee Lee?), and she is really sweet, helpful, and fun. She has been helping us with more classroom-oriented practices, and is great at being hands-on herself. She is our other resource for the teaching aspect of our grant.
Dr. Tsai is the Director General of Kaohsiung Education Bureau, the highest education authority in Kaohsiung. We have had the honor of meeting him twice so far.
Joanne, CJ, and Allen all work at Sanmin, and we have gotten to hang out with them a lot over the past few weeks. Joanne and Allen have gone on several of our outings with us (I rode in Joanne's car to dinner the other night, and she was great to talk to; she told us a lot about Ghost Month in Taiwan), and we get to see them every day in their office, which is right outside our conference room. CJ is the military presence at Sanmin; he speaks good English, has a great smile, and is a lot of fun to hang out with. He also lent us his scooter for the first day of scooter practice, which was great.
I'll add to this list as I think of more people; right now, it's late and I have to be up early tomorrow.
The Roommates
I currently live with Brittany, Rachel, and Karina, all of whom are other ETAs here in Kaohsiung. We choose schools tomorrow, so living arrangements may change, but I hope not--I love living with these ladies.
The Other ETAs
The other Fulbright ETAs here in Kaohsiung are Analicia, Andrew, Emily, Esther, Lydia, Samia, Steven, and Tiffiany. All wonderful people to hang out with. Right now we all live in the same apartment complex, but as I noted above, that will change soon.
Fulbright people
Fonda is our go-to person for just about everything; I think her official title is ETA Project Coordinator in Kaohsiung. She is absolutely amazing, and her patience with us is immense--I can't imagine having to take care of a fresh batch of full-grown infants every year until they get on their feet, but that is, essentially, her job description. Fonda plans everything and tells us what we're doing; sets up all the official stuff for ARCs, bank accounts, scooter licenses, rent and utility payment etc; provides scooters for us to practice on; checks up on us at home (and takes us to the hospital if we need it); and serves a general liaison for anything and everything that could go wrong. She also takes pictures all the time, which is fantastic.
Alex is the ETA Project Chief Coordinator; he lives and works in Taipei at the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (aka Fulbright Taiwan), I believe, and comes down to visit us on special occasions. He's a great guy, really helpful and friendly, and widely-traveled, which makes for some really fun conversations.
Dr. Vocke is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) and he, like Alex, lives and works in Taipei and comes down to Kaohsiung when he's needed. Unlike Fonda and Alex, he's American, and he's been living in Taiwan for four or five years now. He's wonderful to talk to; he's part college professor (he used to be one; calls himself a recovering academic) and regulation stickler and part grandfatherly advice: the perfect combination.
Dr. Wu used to have Dr. Vocke's job; he's a Taiwanese Fulbrighter from a long time ago, and oversaw the Fulbright program in Taiwan for a very long time. He formerly studied and taught in the US, and he is willing to say whatever is on his mind. He's great.
Kaohsiung People in Education
Evelyn hangs out with us a lot; she's a total sweetheart and a friend of Fonda's, and she works at Sanmin as an English teacher . She's also a fantastic photographer and has a great smile. :)
Professor Spring teaches Education at National Kaohsiung Normal University; she is super athletic, independent, and fun to be around. She has been helping teach us the basics of teaching--she gave us a year-long course in theory in a single 3-hour session last week--and is helping set people up to play tennis and swim at NKNU. She's hilarious and free-spirited, and is one of the peoplehere in Kaohsiung who will help us with the teaching aspects.
Professor Lee also teaches Education at National Kaohsiung Normal University; she sometimes goes by "Triple L" because her full name is Lee-Lin Lee (I think? Or maybe Lin-Lee Lee?), and she is really sweet, helpful, and fun. She has been helping us with more classroom-oriented practices, and is great at being hands-on herself. She is our other resource for the teaching aspect of our grant.
Dr. Tsai is the Director General of Kaohsiung Education Bureau, the highest education authority in Kaohsiung. We have had the honor of meeting him twice so far.
Joanne, CJ, and Allen all work at Sanmin, and we have gotten to hang out with them a lot over the past few weeks. Joanne and Allen have gone on several of our outings with us (I rode in Joanne's car to dinner the other night, and she was great to talk to; she told us a lot about Ghost Month in Taiwan), and we get to see them every day in their office, which is right outside our conference room. CJ is the military presence at Sanmin; he speaks good English, has a great smile, and is a lot of fun to hang out with. He also lent us his scooter for the first day of scooter practice, which was great.
I'll add to this list as I think of more people; right now, it's late and I have to be up early tomorrow.
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