The Chinese Program 5th Graders are in Taiwan for an 11-day cultural exchange trip. Students will take in the sights and sounds of the capital city of Taipei, live with Chinese host families, and attend GaoYuan Elementary School with their Chinese peers. In this blog, Chinese Program Teacher Cindy Chiang chronicles this exciting exchange opportunity.
After lunch, we went to Eslite bookstore. Everyone bought at least one book for his/her twenty minute reading assignment and some also bought souvenirs. Our next stop was Taipei’s landmark building, Taipei 101. Given the fact that we were jet lagged and exhausted, we just walked around the neighborhood and took a great picture outside. We then checked in at the hotel and asked all the students to rest for some time. Tonight's dinner was typical family style cuisine. Some of students even fell asleep during dinner!
Today's transportation, except from the airport to the hotel, was all by MRT (Taipei Rapid Transit). The students were so great at looking at directions and the MRT map, and we also walked quite a lot. It was a true local Taipei experience for them! Tomorrow is another exciting day full of activities.
Day 2: After a good night’s sleep on Saturday, everyone was recharged with a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and ready for the adventures of day two. We first went to I-Lan Cultural Center. On the way there, we learned about the tunnel from Taipei to I-Lan, I-Lan's agriculture, and Taiwan's geography from our tour guide. Fortunately, the traffic to I-Lan was surprising light and smooth, given the fact that this is a 4 day long weekend for the tomb sweeping festival.
After our lantern activity, which took us quite a long time, we headed to Shi Lin night market in Taipei for a street food style dinner. We had bubble pearl tea, stinky tofu, shaved ice, green onion pancakes, and, of course, watermelon juice–all Taiwanese style! Instead of the bus, we took MRT back to the hotel. The only difference was that each student bought his/her own ticket this time! On MRT, although we were tired, we still all had our sense of humor. It was a very long but very exciting day for all of us!
We started our day by visiting the Palace Museum. At the Palace Museum, the students had a scavenger hunt in which they had to look for four famous historical relics: the Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, the Meat-Shaped Stone, Mao-Kung Ting, and the painting titled Along the River During the Ching-Ming Festival. We had audio devices to help us understand the history and the origin of these relics.
When the students' personalized tours ended, we had a great discussion with each group. They were all very engaged in learning the history. Some students even visited the children's learning center where they played interactive games and watched the Taiwanese version of the Night at the Museum. Before we left for our next stop, due to a high demand, we checked in at the gift shop! Some students bought the movie they had watched, and others bought souvenirs of the four famous relics.
Sooner than expected, it was time for us to say goodbye to Taipei and head to Taoyuan! The traffic was, again, very light and smooth. The students had a nap on the bus. We soon arrived at GaoYuan Elementary School, where Principal Luo and Director Lu were waiting for us. On a campus tour, we learned that the school has a zoo, a big olive tree, and a huge sports field, and that the school just celebrated its 100th birthday. At 5 o'clock, we met the host families. As they introduced themselves, our students impressed their host families with their fluent Chinese.
Day 4: Today was the first day at school. We participated the school's morning assembly–a common ceremony in every school in Taiwan. Listening to GaoYuan students singing the national anthem while watching the flag go up, I was moved and honored that my students could experience a part of my elementary school life in Taiwan. Because GaoYuan just celebrated their 100th birthday, they had made their mascot costumes of bamboo. The highlight of the day was when our students were allowed to try on these costumes! It was a great ice breaker activity to start their first day at school!
The lesson was informative and demonstrative. The teacher showed us many videos that he recorded to teach the students what to expect when writing every stroke of each character. After a good amount of time prepping the students, we finally could work on our masterpiece. Our students all did a fantastic job! Surprisingly, some of them even did a better job than the Gaoyuan students! I used to write calligraphy when I was a kid. Seeing our students' concentrating on their work and engaging in the process, I was very motivated to try it on my own!
It was raining this morning. After some workers helped mop the wet ground and with some sun in the afternoon, we were lucky to still be able to do the running relay and tug of war game. It was so rewarding to see our students full of energy today, fully engaged in both events. Tomorrow is our last day at school.
We are preparing a talent show consisting of the two Taiwanese songs that our students have learned in class and the skits that they did at the holiday performance party. I am looking forward to this opportunity for our students to showcase their performing skills to Gaoyuan's teachers and students!
*In 2020, the International School of the Peninsula (ISTP) formally changed its name to Silicon Valley International School (INTL) to better reflect its bilingual programs, location, and international values.