This week, members of the Taipei City Department of Education came to our school to celebrate the opening of a new SMART (Science, Mathematics, Arts, Research and Technology) classroom. During the presentation, students I worked with shared their experience of participating in their school's first mock Model United Nations (MUN) conference. It was an honor to meet government members and share the students' experience with an activity I grew up learning. For many students, it was their first time learning about MUN and public speaking in English! Are any of you interested in MUN?
Chinese cultures worldwide have a fascinating history of using fortune-telling and spiritual practices to understand and shape the world. Taiwan is no different, with fortune-telling commonly found at night markets or temples. Some friends and I thought it would be fun to learn our fortunes for the new year! There are many ways to get your fortune told, and we chose to pick a random stick out of a box with a number on it. The number corresponded to a paper with your fortune, often written poetically, for you to interpret. From what I gathered from Google Translate, it looks like I'm doing well, I think...
In my school's courtyard, there are many basketball hoops. Students here love playing basketball during their breaks. I thought I could show off some cool tricks because I'm from the U.S., but I was quickly humbled. Now, basketball has become a fun bonding activity between me and my students, although they are much better than me!
