"But don't take my word for it..."

You remember that from "Reading Rainbow?" When Lavar Burton would have the kids tell you bout the books they read? Well, I've talked a lot about all the great aspects of Taiwanese life. Undoubtedly, though, my students are one of the best things about my life here. Last week, I gave a few of my more advanced students 2-minutes to respond to a series of prompts. here is a sample of what they came up with. I hope their awesomeness shines thru in their writings. But don't take my word for it...

"Teacher Brett is the best because..."

Because he is very handsome and kind. All students close with him. He always tolerates our bad manners. All of we are very like him.
Students Sara,Joyce,Gary

Teacher Brett is the best because he is pay attention to teach English He learn Chinese try his best So we are feel touch and warm
We are Lisa and Janet


“I want to go to America because…”

Because America is very beautiful and American are very friendly America food is yummy.
吳文琁

I want to go to America because… Because Most of the actresses and actors are beautiful and handsome. The culture in America is different from the culture in Taiwan. The sceneries in there is beautiful.
Students Sara,Joyce,Gary

Because America is so Beautiful and there people so open America has handsome boy and beautiful girl I want get marry with American-/-Ha Ha Ha
We are Lisa and Janet

“Taiwan is the best place in the world because…”

Taiwan has good moutian good river. The people are nice in Taiwan Taiwan has dumplings Many snacks are very delicious.
we are Emily &Gina.


Taiwan person are very friendly There food yummy And has beautiful nature
Leo

Because …Taiwanese is very nice and honest Taiwan food is very special
羅雅芳

Because Taiwanese is friendly. All of the Taiwanese have enthusiasm.
Students Sara,Joyce,Gary

“My favorite class in school is…”

Chinese Because… Chinese teacher is good and the class is so fun. She always uses her magic to conquer our heart. Let’s pay attention in her class.
Students Sara,Joyce,Gary

English Because Brett and 宇婷 are Nice and Great teacher Teacher Brett pay attention to learn Chinese though he live Taiwan only one year Teacher 宇婷 teach is so good
We are Lisa and Janet

Social studies Because teacher is good and fun. The picture is fun in book.
We are Emily & Gina.

And here are some pictures of my students from a recent English competition. I helped coach the seventh-grade.

Israel pictures

courtesy of the graceful, the elegant Nora

me gettin pulled by a speedboat on this raft thing. It actually goes pretty fast and its really hard to hold on- i got flipped a couple times. Caryn drove, and she was actually tryin to throw me on purpose. Also, this is when we went thru Jordanian, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, and Israeli waters all at once

who know who it is

sittin on the dock a' the bay

new family! always an amazing and wonderful thing. The Dad is American-born, the Mom Israeli. You may recognize the girl from the flowershop commercial...

Me and Nora happy.

Me and Momz

Nora and Dad

That's Kosher for Passover gnocci, I kid you not

Dad, kids in Jerusalem

In Eilat they had an "ice bar," where the cups, bar, seats, everything is made out of ice. Touristy, but u gotta do it. And no, you can't order anything "on the rocks"

"I'm on a boat!"

Israel and back again

"Hi haters, I'm back off hiatus"

Technically, I've been in 6 different countries since my last post. I'll start with Israel, where I had Passover w/the fam. It was amazing. Seeing my sisters and parents in Israel after 8 months apart was special: getting back into the family dynamic while walking thru Jerusalem, exploring the Negev desert, and hittin up the beach in Eilat. Being in Israel during Passover was particularly de-lovely, not least because the Kosher for Passover food in Israel is WHERE ITS AT. For those of u who don't know, eating during Passover is typically a grind-it-out affair, but in Israel it was straight up gourmet. They have it down to a science, right up to this fake "bread" kinda thing (you're not supposed to eat bread during Passover) that is delicious no matter how much it might feel like cheating.

Fam and I went on a boat ride that passed through the territorial waters of Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. And me and my sister Caryn went on this giant-slingshot thing that was pretty cool. And last but not least, we met our family in Israel for the first time. They are really awesome. The grandfather was the subject of a documentary, about his work getting Jewish refugees into Palestine after WWII. The grandmother has written a book about experiences during the Holocaust. There are two girls my age who are super cool, one who works for the Israeli government and one who is an actress (she is even in a commercial in Israel! you can see it here*).

I don't wanna run long, but I also had a one-night stopover in Korea where I saw my friend Dae, who is also teaching English. We had a great time, and Seoul is a really interesting city. Everybodys got their futuristic cellphones and they dress real put-together; I don't think there is a pair of sweatpants in that whole city.
Anyway, now I'm back in Taiwan, where I'm gettin back in the swing and doin my thing. Israel pics to follow.

*It's the first of the two videos. For those whose Hebrew is a little rusty, the commericial goes like this: the ppl in the opening scene say "what's up?" or "what's the situation?" and then there are various shots of people saying "it's aight," "it's gonna be ok" and then my cousin is the girl in the flowershop and she says, "right now, it's a little hard, but in the end...it will be ok." I think it's for a bank or something.

To be continued...

Hear ye, hear ye,

Tomorrow, I am going to Israel. I will spend the festival of Passover with my esteemed family. As such, "Taiemeitaiwan" will be on hiatus. If the winds of change deem it so, I shall return to the island of Formosa on April, 18. It is at that appointed time that the aforementioned blog shall resume, perforce.

This day, the sixth of April, in the year two-thousand-ought-nine,
The most high,
Brett

assorted pictures, ya heard?

leftover photos from Ya Ming Shan, me and Cliff at my host dad's (James) aboriginal dance competition, and pics from dinner at a Tibetan restaurant. It was the first time any of us had ever eaten Tibetan food. FYI, it was delicious. And James' team won first place in the comp! Represent! Yilan city, stand up!

From Right to Left: Tibetan guy whose restaurant it was, Me, Cliff, Gladys, her bf, Tibetan girl who worked there, James (my host Dad), Indian guy who worked there.

Talking with the folks.

mmmm. BTW, taking pictures with your food is very Taiwanese. I'm assimilating.

Teaching MLK in Taiwan

There are some things you just gotta do. So even though MLK day was in January, I had this moment last week where i just felt I would be remiss if I didn't teach my Taiwanese students about the American civil rights movement. I'm here as a sort of ambassador, right? And I think it's an important part of American history to know.

So this week we had a whole lesson on Dr. King. My students had never heard of him. So I explained how it used to be in the American South. "If I want to go to the movies with you, or eat dinner with you, or ride the bus with you, we can't sit together," I explained. We showed them pics of segregated bathrooms and waiting rooms. My co-teacher even asked my students whether they thought they were "white" or "colored." "We're yellow!" they said.

"But Teacher Brett, you are Jewish. Are you white or colored?" one student asked me. "Well people used to think we were colored, but today we are white," was my answer.

We played clips of Dr. King speeches, including "I May Not Get There With You," given hours before his assassination, where he uses the imagery of Moses seeing the promised land but knowing he won't make it there.

It's a fitting image, as next week I'm going to Israel for Passover with my family. While I'm gone they gonna show a movie: "Remember the Titans."

The students really seemed to get it. They were shocked when I told them how Dr. King's house was bombed, set on fire, shot at. They asked about the success of the Montgomery bus boycott. And just to put it in context, I told em what Jay-Z said: "Rosa Parks sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so that we can fly."