Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is New Year's eve. No, I'm not confused or in some sort of time warp. In all parts of the Chinese speaking world it's the start of Chinese New Year tonight. It's also known as the Lunar New Year for those cultures who celebrate it but don't want to be associated with China. The new year is based on the phases of the moon rather than the western Gregorian calendar. In Taiwan (and probably China, too), they have struck a balance between the two calendars and most people are able to use both in their daily lives, as far I as I can tell.

Each year has an animal associated with it. Tonight, we will be ushering in the year of the ox and bidding zaijian (good-bye) to the year of the rat. There are 12 animals that rotate through the years and there are certain meanings assigned to each animal. I was born in the year of the dragon. The dragon is considered to be on of the most auspicious and lucky of all the animals. That's why many Chinese speaking countries tend to see a dramatic rise in birth rates during dragon years. There is also a rotation of yin and yang as well as the four elements. Chinese astrology is fascinating and I'm only scratching the surface here if you want to know more check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astrology

There are so many traditions associated with Chinese New Year. I will do my best to share some with you as they were told to me by friends and students. The holiday is very much like Christmas in the West. It's a time for families to be together, eat and celebrate. Many of the foods they eat have a special significance. For example, the Chinese word for peace is similar to the word for apple so they eat apples for peace in the new year (according to my sixth grade class). Also according to my sixth graders, they eat fish because the word for fish is similar to the word for prosperity.

The tradition that you might already know of is the red envelope. This is like giving gifts on Christmas. Everyone gets red envelopes. They are filled with money and always an even amount at that. However, you never give an amount with a four in it. The word for four sounds very much like the word for death in Chinese. Basically, the number four in the east is like the number 13 in the west. The red envelopes themselves can be a work of art. Some are just plain red but others have elaborate decorations.

Another big new year's tradition is cleaning the house. They don't just clean because the family is coming over for dinner like we do in the States. It's all about sweeping out the bad from the last year to make room for the good. I like that thought. You're giving yourself a fresh start and not letting your past hold you back. They also make sure to hide the broom and dustpan on the first day of New Year's so the good luck isn't mistakenly swept away.

The Chinese New Year is not only one day. It's a holiday that lasts 15 days and ends with the Lantern Festival. I'll be sharing more about that with you when it happens. My school participates every year and the lanterns are amazing. There are traditions assigned to every day but they do vary by country. How they celebrate in Taiwan is not exactly how they celebrate in China. The traditions even vary within China depending on what part of the country you're in.

My description of the holiday is a very basic one. If you'd like to learn more, please check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

A Very Merry Kaohsiung Christmas!

Last year, I made the New Year's resolution to spend each Christmas in another country. I was thinking I would spend my first in Germany or England where so many American Christmas traditions originated. At the time, Taiwan was not exactly on my radar but here I am. I kept my resolution. Just in a very different way than I originally planned.

Most of the Taiwanese are not Christian. The official statistic I saw before I left was they're 85 per cent Buddhist. However, I've had plenty of native Taiwanese tell me it's more a combination of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism. That being said, Christmas is not an officially recognized holiday here. Yes, I had to work the WHOLE week. Don't bother e-mailing me to rub in your winter breaks. I'm already jealous.

Even though it's not an official holiday. The Taiwanese still recognize Christmas. They love everything Western here so of course they have Christmas. They just don't celebrate the religious aspect. It's secular and very commercial here.

All of the big department stores were loaded with Christmas decorations since late November. Just like in the States they were piping Christmas carols to every nook and cranny. Buxibans (cram schools that teach English after school) were decorated to the nines as well. Stationary stores were loaded with Christmas decorations, wrapping paper and cards to sell. They were are very sparkly which I've noticed is a recurrent theme in Taiwan. They love the bling.

One of my favorite decorations I saw on many buildings was what I like to call the "Cat Burglar Santa". In America, you'll see decorations with Santa and his reindeer on top of homes. I guess Santa doesn't need a sleigh in country with no snow. Instead, you'll see Santa scaling the walls of various homes and businesses. With the bag over his shoulder, he looks like he's up to no good. It's been a source of some great laughs for me. It is logical though. A sleigh won't work so well with no snow.




The department store in my neighborhood, Hanshins, had Christmas performances outside the store every night for more than a week leading up to Christmas. Sometimes the choirs sang the traditional carols in English and sometimes the carols were in Chinese. It was kind of strange to hear classically trained opera singers performing "O, Holy Night" in Chinese. I wanted to sing along but just couldn't.

Because, I was working all week, I didn't really celebrate. Christmas Eve was on a school night, folks and we had a lot of work to do this week preparing for our big Christmas show on Friday. I did me with other foreign English teachers for a Christmas dinner of pizza and many different desserts. We ate, talked and listened to Christmas songs. It was pretty low-key because it was once again a school night. I'd already slept through my alarm twice that week so I was going to be taking it easy and hitting the hay early.

Friday is English Day at Wu Fu so we decided to hold our Christmas show on that day. The English teachers wrote a version of the "12 Days of Christmas" using vocabulary that the students have learned so far this year. We also had groups of students who acted out each gift. The big finish was 12 crackers cracking where everyone in show had one of those little champagne bottles that you pull the string and you have a little explosion and streamers. The kids loved it.




After our little song we had students come up on stage for a "Ho, ho, ho" contest. We also had a Christmas costume contest. My favorite was the reindeer with sunglasses and wrapped in blankets. Some of the students got very creative with their costumes and all the foreign teachers appreciated the effort.

After the show, we walked around with Santa and Mrs. Claus (our city councilman and his wife) and handed out candy to all the good little girls and boys. It was nice to have our neighborhood politician there and he and his wife really enjoyed their roles. They did a fantastic job spreading the Christmas spirit.

Below you'll find some more pictures of the students at the Christmas show and some pictures of the actual show. I hope you enjoy them. Now, I'm looking forward to St. Patrick's Day.

Kaohsiung Harbor

Today, I received a little treat. The teachers and volunteers at Wu Fu got to go on a tour of Kaohsiung Harbor. This is one of those things that you say you want to do when you live someplace but never actually get around to doing. I was happy to spend my afternoon on a boat in the harbor. Even though I might say I'd do it on my own, I know that, in reality, I would probably never get around to it.

Kaoshiung is one of the busiest port cities in the world. The majority of those items you have around your home that say "Made In Taiwan" make their way through Kaohsiung Harbor. Today, I might have just seen the container with your new computer or your next pair of shoes. You can read all the details about the port in this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Kaohsiung

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day for a boat ride in the harbor. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and only a light breeze. The late afternoon sun shone brightly overhead. At first, I wasn't sure I'd find such an industrial tour interesting. In fact, I didn't understand a word of the actual tour because it was all in Chinese (hopefully, that'll change with a few more Chinese classes). I enjoyed the company of my colleagues and the scenery instead.

I remembered to bring my camera along and I hope you enjoy the pictures I took. This tour provided some of the best views of Kaohsiung 85 that I've seen since moving here. Kaohsiung 85 is the tallest building in the city and overlooks the harbor. It's certainly the most distinctive feature of the Kaohsiung skyline. I bet you can't guess how many floors it has?

We finished our tour around 3:30 and some of us stayed at Fisherman's Wharf to talk and enjoy the view. The wharf is just a string of trendy restaurants, bars and coffee shops. It's an amazing place to see the sunset over Cijin Island across the harbor. I got to watch the light of the sun make the water glisten as it slowly disappeared in the sky and thought about who I would like to share this view with.

Fortunately, I got pictures of that sight so I'll be sharing remotely with all of you in the blogosphere.

Visitors and Taiwanese Opera

Wufu gets a lot of visitors from all over the world. In the last couple of months, we've had principals visit from Canada, the Philippines and Japan. We also had a group of foreign exchange students visit from Finland (they're attending a local high school) and a Turkish television station was here filming.

Wufu always rolls out the red carpet for these groups. Our students are very active in a number of activities and they are put in classes based on that. We have students that perform Taiwanese Opera and Taiwanese plays. These students are in a performing arts group. The students who are gifted athletically are in a class together. We have on of the top Diabolo teams in the country (that's version of Chinese yo-yo). The students who are in band have their own class. We also have a very competitive table tennis team.

Whenever there are visitors at our school, the get to see the skills of many of these students. I love watching them perform because these are my students as well. I'm always extremely proud of them whenever I see them on stage. They work very hard every day to cultivate their talents.



I have included some pictures below. I will continue to add more as I can get them. Many times I'm teaching a class when they perform so I can't record the performance. If the last few months are any indication, I'm sure we'll have more visitors and thus, I'll have more opportunities to show you my students' various talents.

Taiwanese Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is an exclusively American holiday. That doesn't mean there was lack of opportunity to celebrate here in Kaohsiung (what I so affectionately call K-town). I still had to work but I got my dinner on later that evening.

The day was actually fairly interesting. The government selected me to judge at an English competition. I know I've mentioned the English Fever in Taiwan in earlier posts. These competitions are one of it's manifestations. There are a number of categories. In storytelling, students memorize and tell a story, in English, to a group of judges. There is also the recitation category where students practice three English readings. They are assigned the reading they will do for the judges right before they get on stage (this isn't memorized). The final competition (and the one I was fortunate enough to judge) was the singing competition. Student groups prepare a song in English with choreography, props and costumes. I had a lot of fun and my fellow judges were great. In fact one of the judges lives right down the street from me. Jade is a professor of American Literature and we might meet for coffee sometime.

When I got home that evening, I met my friends Lauren, Martin and Alice for Thanksgiving dinner. Lauren and Martin are from Indiana and Martin had family in Columbus (it's kind of nice having someone who knows what I'm talking about when I mention the Bogey Inn). Alice is Taiwanese and this was her first time celebrating American Thanksgiving. We had a great time sharing our traditions with her and with each other. The food was great and Xiao Hu got her first of many bites of leftover Thanksgiving Turkey. It was great enjoying my Thanksgiving in Taiwan at a Mexican restaurant. Like C. J. said, at least it was a North American restaurant...close enough.

I've included some pictures from the day below.