May Montage

As usual, I haven't updated as frequently as I would like. I've really been enjoying day to day life in Taiwan; being a teacher, learning Chinese, and making friends. Since I know where I'm going during the next several years, it is unbelievably enjoyable to rest a moment in that certainty. Luckily, I have been taking more photos than usual and am making this update a montage from recent events. I'd love your comments or emails.

Last month, I went with my 12 year old student, Janet, and her family to visit Dong Shi. This is an outdoor recreational area near Taichung where we played on obstacle courses, saw massive amounts of fireflies, and ate seafood...the Taiwanese favorite. Her little brother, Lucas, is the cutest little boy I've ever seen! He loves to call his sister a "bad egg" and me a "dinosaur egg."

Carol and I have been continuing our elderly center class, but we have a new group of students this month. Pictured above is our former group of students who treated us to a delicious Japanese lunch to celebrate completing the course. They really want us to teach them again when we come back to Taiwan in September.

A few of my students from my teacher's class at Fushan took me to Tainan two weeks ago. I asked them each to present in English on a city in Taiwan, so we decided to visit the closest city together. This photo is at one of the oldest Confucian temples in Taiwan.

For some reason, there was a squirrel feeding area at the temple. Of course, I tried it.

It is incredibly hot in Kaohsiung now.  A popular, cool dessert is "shaved ice" with different kinds of sweet beans and potatoes. I love it. Here Janet and I are eating some together before I took her shopping in Xin Jue Jiang. This is one of the most popular teen markets in the city and it was her first time to go without her parents. A big deal!

This is one of my classes who is currently doing a pen pal exchange with some American students in Atlanta. My Economics professor at Agnes Scott, Professor Cunningham, set me up with her daughter's 5th grade teacher and we've been sharing videos, photos and letters online throughout the semester. You can check out some of my students' video letters here

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I've also spent some time with my host family. This weekend I went to lunch with my host sister, next to me in the glasses, her best friend, Amy, and Amy's little brother and sister. Hard to believe I'll be home seeing my American family and friends in just one month!

That's Hakka

A couple of weekends ago, Fulbright took all of the ETAs and our host families to Ping Tung County, just outside of Kaohsiung. There we visited a "cultural park" dedicated to the fourteen aboriginal tribes of Taiwan. We saw dance performances that told about the customs and histories of these tribes and saw an informational video about their locations and population sizes. The aboriginal peoples are of Austronesian descent and appearance. One of the most well known tribes are the Hakkas who speak...Hakka. We were introduced to this group early on because the announcements in public arenas like the metro are made in Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka and English.
We also had the opportunity to try on some of the traditional costumes, including fake tattoos. My host dad insisted that we all put them on our faces and take a group photo!

My host family was by far the funniest and most interesting part of the trip. Especially my hilarious father! He is very committed to finding me a Taiwanese boyfriend. Throughout our day in Ping Tung, he pointed out potential guys. During the biggest dance performance, several of the dancers came into the audience to shake hands and welcome us. Every guy that came by and shook my hand was greeted by my father shouting, "You like her?! You like her?!" I am really grateful that I was paired with a family who has a great sense of humor like me.

In other unrelated, but highly anticipated news, I recently made some major decisions about the next steps in my life. I will be attending the University of Michigan Law School. After receiving so much great advice and support from my family and friends, I ultimately made the decision based on the strength of Michigan's programs. Their Chinese Legal Studies center, expert faculty in the areas of Chinese law, international financial transactions, and women's rights, and their reputation for producing phenomenal lawyers are the perfect fit for me.

However, I will not be going to Michigan this fall. I am staying in Taiwan to study Chinese! There is no better way for me to reach my goal of fluency than to pursue Chinese at a university in Kaohsiung and deepen my friendships with people here in Taiwan. But I will be home for the summer before I head back to Taiwan. So, you can look forward to another stretch of "Keeping Up With Kelley."