About Me

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Yilan, Taiwan
I just returned back to the States after 11 years in Taiwan with my daughter. Taiwan is an excellent base for us explore Asia, while living in relative (gun free) safety, while benefiting from a cheap and efficient national health care system. The people are amazing too. I have Taiwanese friendships that are 20 years old and I'm always making new ones! My coworker here in CO is from Taiwan.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Next Semester: 3 Teaching Jobs in Yilan


1.Maple Leaf Education Center
Position Available:
Monday to Friday 8:30 - 12:00
20 classes per week (30 minutes each) with the same class
ARC, Health, Statutory Holidays
A Bachelor's Degree Required
Experience Teaching Young Children Essential
Start Mid July/August
Salary 30-33,000 per Month Depending upon Experience
Afternoon Hours may also be Available
Contact: r_l_chew@hotmail.com
(include Maple Leaf in the subject heading)

2.English Teaching Job at Hu Shan Elementary School. It is a government job.

Teaching Certificate Required
Salary (based on degree) 62,720 - 73,025 per month
Housing Stipend 5,000 - 10,000 per month (w/ spouse)
Sick or personal days up to 14 per year
One month bonus on completion of contract
Airfare stipend up to 80,000 (can include spouse)
Teach grades 1-6 (20 classes per week)
Help Coordinate English Events (up to 4 classes per week)
English Events may include English Club or Speech Contests
Help create an Bilingual Environment
Teachers will also be required to help with Website Management, Festival and Event Planning
Hu Shan is a small school with less than 100 students. It is located in Yuanshan, near the mountains but still close to Yilan City (10 minutes away)
The staff is very friendly and the students are all very eager. They have a new principal starting in September and he is very active and has a lot of great plans.
Please email r_l_chew@hotmail.com (include Hu Shan in the subject so he can spot it among all the spam)Thanks in advance.

2. Teaching Positions at Huey Deng High School, Yilan Taiwan (where I work)
About the School:
The vision of Huey Deng High School is to incorporate international educators to teach several content areas in English. Additionally, Huey Deng is increasing its ability to prepare its students to attend university in English-speaking countries abroad. This vision is based on facilitating teacher and student exchange opportunities between Taiwan and foreign countries.Huey Deng is located one hour from Taipei at the hillside of Yuanshan Township, next to Jiao-Xi River, surrounded by natural environment. The school enrolls approximately 2,400 students from grades 7 to 12. Up to 90% of the school’s students are accommodated at the school’s three residential dormitories, with the goal to cultivate the student’s independence and leadership abilities. As a boarding school, Huey Deng makes every effort to ensure campus safety and provide quality residential life on campus.
Huey Deng High School is seeking qualified candidates to fill teaching positions in English Writing, Reading Comprehension, Environmental Education/Biology and Math, beginning September 1, 2016


Job duties:
1) 20-25 in-class teaching hours per week (overtime pay after 20 hours); 
2) 15-20 office hours (lesson planning and student advising); 
3) administering tests, grading papers and participating in faculty meetings and school events.
Other responsibilities include working effectively with Taiwanese teachers, developing curriculum relevant to all grade levels. Working together, foreign and Taiwanese teachers will identify, adapt, and develop appropriate materials to support and assess student learning.
Grade level: 8-11
Class size: approximately 25 students / per class
Monthly salary: starting TWD $67,000-$ 72,000, commensurate with experience.

Benefits:
1) Reimbursed round-trip airfare, up to USD $1,500.
2) Sponsored Taiwan work visa.
3) Housing assistance. 
4) Teachers are required to enroll in the National Health Insurance Policy and the Labor Insurance Program, and are obligated to pay, in accordance with the laws, at his/her own expense, a portion of the insurance premium in the amount equal to 35% of the total premium charged to him/her under the National Health Insurance Policy.
5) Contract may be renewed contingent on successful teaching performance.
Qualifications:
1) Native English Speaking Teachers with a valid teaching (or substitute teaching) certificate in the subject area or related area. 
2) Native English Speaking Teachers with a valid APRC or JFRV
2) Prior teaching experience. Experience working with youth in other contexts will be considered.
3) Teaching experience with English Language Learners.
Application Procedure:
Send the following to the Center for International Studies at Huey Deng High School at cfis264@gmail.com:
1) a letter of interest describing your teaching philosophy, your vision and conception of being a teacher in a foreign context, and your abilities to be an effective teacher to those learning English; 
2) your current resume;
3) three references.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
(**Please note that only qualified candidates will be contacted)

Friday, May 20, 2016

All Hail The Chinese Speaking World's Most Powerful Woman


Today will be in the history books. I watched the first hour of  Tsai-Yingwen's inauguration with my 9th graders and caught her speech with my 8th graders. By all media accounts she has quite the monumental task at hand: keeping her constituents happy and not provoking Beijing. Unlike most other female leaders in Asia, she doesn't belong to some family dynasty. In fact the BBC said Taiwan is the best place to be a woman in politics, its so normalized now. As for Ma he released a comical, self-deprecating video, which won him a lot of praise, but was hardly original. He just copied Obama.

What was impressive about the ceremony wasn't what the new president was wearing (despite what Taiwanese news may say), but that the ceremony was bilingual. It felt more global. There was a whopping amount of repetition on how Taiwan values its democracy. My students were impressed by the air-force command's blue and red streams of smoke flying over the crowd, cameras were attached to the fighter jets. The ceremony was inclusive of aboriginals throughout the entire production. At one point they all sang a song,"Ilha Formosa" that was banned in 1979 during the White Terror years and some of the older generation in the crowd were crying, waving green flags, presumably victims or having family victims that disappeared or died during that dark time of martial law and suppression.

I was curious why was the person with the wild afro on stage holding the, "GET OUT" sign. Get out who? Ma? My extreme sports friend Erin explained, "I know the woman with the crazy Afro. Her name is Banai. She'said a singer/ activist who works on stopping nuclear waste from being dumped/stored at Lanyu, the traditional homeland of Tao Moot tribe. She's holding the "get out" towel for that cause. The guy beside her is a HaKa singer song writer called 林生祥. He sings in HaKa dialogue and promotes the love of land in his songs." 

My 9th graders

 Although I couldn't really understand her speech,  the English translation was made available immediately afterwards (My boss wasn't too impressed with the quality of the translation). I am impressed with her footnote on transforming the education system but I was hoping she would of gone further in her social safety nets section beyond just pensions. She brought up the recent slaying of young children but didn't say anything about the decapitated victim's mother's grievances of the gov't helping working parents. Overall, her speech was painstakingly comprehensive in its overview of what kind of policies she hopes to implement. I can;t help but feel hopeful for Taiwan.



The elephant in the room is China. What will they do now?  Beijing had already begun  their backlash even before she officially assumed office: they warned her to steer clear of peaceful independence (or else), less mainland tourists has already put a dent in the local market (some say), the whole Kenya drama where Taiwanese citizens were extradited to China, stealing diplomatic relations with Gambia, and increased coastal invasion simulations opposite Taiwan (read Tensions in the Taiwan Strait). Another risk is the same young voters who voted her in could also as easily vote her out (read Taiwan's Kids Are Not Alright).  What Beijing can't seem to understand is that Taiwan is a democracy and Ing-wen is a servant of the people. Just juxtapose the young, "Yellow" idealists, bent on change and national sovereignty with shady characters like the "White Wolf" who is pro-China, and already criticism from feminists that her cabinet is too male (I agree). She has quite the juggling act.Ultimately, everyone in Taiwan is crossing their fingers she can perform some kind of miracle with the market and stimulating growth.

As for the US, American "neutrality" is about preventing unification (Chinese superpower a done deal) and war (regional instability and US troops for sure). Sooner rather than later America will have to chose which side they are on. I have been all for normalizing Taiwanese sovereignty since my first stint here in 2001. Surprisingly, many of my Taiwanese friends- who voted for Tsai Yingwen feel less hopeful than myself. They are pretty grounded with their expectations. They believe she wont make Taiwan the worse for her leadership, and that's about it. I certainly hope she exceeds their expectation. Their apprehensions are partially based on the global community's lack of formal recognition.


Thursday, May 19, 2016

Ballet Homecomings and Second Chances


Tainan 2012 at my daughter's first and only recital
A breakthrough, answered prayer hit me this evening. After my ballet class (I recently started again after 25 years) Z says to me she really wants to take ballet!

 I forced her for a few years during preschool and kindy (Read Biker Ballerina) I started when I was 3 and it was the best thing my parents ever did for me. Of course I wanted her to feel that magic. 

Her paternal grandmother danced with the most  prestigious Academy in Paris. It's in her blood. Even on a physiological level, she's built for it more so than I am with her long legs, creating these long lines. (At puberty I stopped growing tall at 14 and just grew wider). 

 This  studio around the corner from my home requires the girls to take 2 hour classes twice a week. And its not cheap. It will make a serious dent in monthly finances. She already takes flute 2x a week  (her choice).

 But I'm not worried, my Dad was the best example of Providence and juggling bills in action.  With 5 kids, 1 whom is disabled and constantly under the knife; somehow my Dad paid for 13 years of dance classes (ballet, tap and jazz) 4 nights a week. I was a better tap dancer than ballerina but I could still do endless pirouettes and I loved to jump. What joy!

My first tap recital

When I turned 16 my folks said I had to choose between a car (and thus a part time job) or dancing. Obviously I chose the car (and worked at Subway). Its a decision my mother now regrets (they never asked my brother to give up basketball). So at this age I was pretty much was smoking weed and partying with my friends. Looking back I was probably filling the massive void of not dancing with ganja and hiking. I made "growing up" synonymous with quitting ballet, and I didn't exactly "grow up" particularly trouble free . I wasn't going to be professional after all.

Ever since, ballet was like this sensitive, painful area I ignored for years. I dreamed about it all the time, dreamed about pointe shoes. Of course I never quite dancing entirely, When I was 18  I started to take Nigerian dance with this little old man from Nigeria (who happened to be my father's coworker) and this amazing drum circle, as well as Flamenco and Mexican folk.  When I moved to Tainan my gyms had some amazing teachers for Latin and Striptease (there's nothing worse than a terrible yoga or dance teacher). But they moved on and I never did.

I pretty much gave up hope that my daughter would want to take classes again. I cant say I inspired her in anyway either. But last night an older jiejie (sister) was practicing in the lobby where Z does her homework, and she got bit by the bug. Its never too late. There's some University students in my class that are complete beginners and they keep coming back for the same reasons I do.

Tutu time, 5th grade

The teacher speaks in Mandarin with occasional English, but it isn't necessary, all the ballet terminology (in French) is the same. Dance teachers are all the same, they demonstrate visually and we visualize what our bodies must do until muscle memory takes over. 

As for me, I still remember all the steps, but the little muscles that TRX or yoga can't get to are having to work after many years of neglect and I'm dripping in sweat, sore the next day. If only it was twice or three times a week, and some tap classes, my body would change dramatically. That alright, my spirit is being fed. Now that I'm dancing again, I am connecting with the most jubilant part of my childhood. For that 90 minutes I'm in this intimate sanctuary, like people must feel at church. I can't believe it took me so long to restore what was once so meaningful.

Closing, "Yee-haw" to our country inspired tap dance

Now that my daughter is impassioned to start (which is nothing short of divine intervention, a miracle) she will try her first class Monday night. I just hope she gives it a chance. I am going to stand back and not live vicariously through her. I am already back in ballet slippers myself, I got my own thing going on.  I just hope after Z playing her recorder for 4 years and graduating to the flute she has the maturity to realize anything worth doing well, takes intention, time and loyalty.

Friday, May 6, 2016

Music Teacher Changed Her Tune

Since meeting with the principal, Z's music teacher, homeroom teacher and English teacher (translator), I have to exhale a massive sigh of relief that all is well. Progress and resolution happened. It required tears and not anger. My daughter has had 2 music classes since and music teacher has been cordial, talking to her with a "normal" tone, so I am grateful she did have the EQ capacity to reflect and change. Thats more than most adults can do, or her previous homeroom teacher at Kai Shuan Elementary. It just renewed my gratefulness at this school in the mountains.

My coworker advised me, "have no expectations" which was sound wisdom. During the meeting itself, Music teacher was full of excuses, how her comments were directed at another (imaginary) kid and not Z, it was more of saving face for her and thats ok. Whatever, everyone in the room knew, she knew we knew. I didn't get an apology, and actually that's ok too. 

The important point was that a kid who LOVES music and music class now hates it and is scared; so from a teaching standpoint she blundered somewhere along the way --she was willing to accept that she failed in this regard.

 I got emotional at the end, at least my eyes filled with tears and was handed tissue. My coworkers and I joked that I had to muster up the Emmy winning performance of a single mom in a foreign country and win over her sympathy. I told them my acting skills are non existent, but in the end, end of the week fatigue, frustration, hormones helped. I sincerely cried, and didn't have to pretend anything at all. Finally getting my period had some benefits.

 Z is super sensitive to rejection anyway, given her history (her father AWOL as a newborn +and living in alone with just me) she really needs to be loved. You can't argue with a mothers tears. I told her I believe she could redeem the situation and Z can love (her) music class again. The principal was amazing. My translator could relate to my situation because they lived in Brazil for many years and her son also had similar issues and had to move back to Taiwan (to be nearer family.) No balls were necessarily busted, but I feel like it was a productive meeting.

Maybe I changed my tune a little too, winning the war and not the battle, burning no bridges, all by showing my vulnerability.