Our month-long Yilan orientation started on Monday at the local teachers' center. Over the course of the week, we were walked through the important details of living in Taiwan, which include taking care of household trash and recycling (more complicated than it sounds, lots of sorting involved) and what to do if we are involved in a scooter accident (take pictures, call Kelly). We also practiced scootering on Kelly and Principal Wellington's 125cc scooters in preparation for our licensing tests at the end of the month.
On Wednesday, we toured our first round of elementary schools in the Yilan area. At the end of next week, after two more full days of campus tours, we'll have to submit our final choices for our year-long placement. Despite being in the same general area, the schools were all very different. One school, located in the northern part of the county, was a charter school that emphasized independent student learning based, from what I understood, on the multiple intelligences theory of differentiated instruction focusing on the individual needs and learning styles of each student. It was very interesting and inspiring, to say the least.
On Friday, Fulbright took us to the Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival at a local water park. I had a ton of fun despite being terrified by the so-called family water attractions. The first attraction my three friends and I decided to check out was the water maze, which looked like a big black inflatable bubble from the outside. Once you walked inside, you were ushered onto a pretty much pitch-black walkway and blasted from all angles with surprisingly powerful jets of water. As far as I could tell, the goal was to make it out alive. It was the most disorienting thing I've ever experienced. There was also a giant water bed covered by more big spraying jets of water and the goal was to not get squished by people falling over on top of you. The way you "play" the water bed game is that, once you fall, you try and drag people down by grabbing at their ankles. Also terrifying, yet incredibly fun.
The other Yilan Fulbrighters and I are getting along swimmingly. For being such an incredibly driven group of individuals, everyone is wonderfully easy-going and friendly. We bonded pretty quickly over the shared experience of being the only foreigners in Yilan. Last night, a few friends and I bussed into Taipei to check out the nightlife, which was INCREDIBLE. Tonight, us Yilaners are all taking the train down to Luodong to eat Sunday family dinner at one of the Luodong apartments and then going as a group to the Monkey Festival and awesome night market. Luodong night market has the best tofu pudding!
Mango Ice. Definitely the best dessert I've ever had ever. Ever.
Chillin' on the roof of the Luodong apartments. Tallest building in the city!
My team won the Luodong night market scavenger hunt. Our prize? Snacks!
One of the schools we toured was literally ON the beach.
Hey.. how was the monkey festival?
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