My Fulbright Year in Taiwan

Evan is in a special music class at school. Every student plays an instrument. In addition to private lessons at school, they also have special music classes in addition to the regular academic courses. On Friday afternoon this week, the class had a recital. Everyone in the class performed on their instrument.

Evan was chosen to be one of two MCs for the first half of the recital. Before each performance, he had to introduce the student, the piece that the student would perform, and say a little about the piece. All in Chinese.

The teacher wrote out what he was supposed to say, and Stacy helped him prepare. He was super nervous (wouldn’t you be?), but he did great, of course.

There was a great variety of performances. Several students performed piano and violin. One student performed a piece on timpani, one on xylophone. A few kids played Chinese classical instruments. My favorites were the suona 嗩吶, which Evan characterizes as an “assault oboe,” and the pipa 琵琶, which is played like an upright mandolin.

Evan played a piece on piano during the second half, and performed flawlessly.

Watch a video of the performance:

We are so very proud of Evan. He’s fitting in amazingly well. All of his classmates like him, and he’s learning a lot.

Ian has decided to change high schools. His current high school  doesn’t have the music or athletics that he likes, and the academic parts are beyond his language level. Evan discovered that the high school in the neighboring town of Lodong 羅東 has a music class, which is run like the class that Evan is in. There are a lot of music classes, and the class size is small, too (less than 20 students).

Changing schools is a big deal. Just getting into high school usually requires taking an entrance exam, and the music class requires extra qualifications as well.  For most people, it would be impossible to transfer into the class in the middle of the school year. That’s where being a Fulbright scholar has its perks. The Fulbright foundation pulled some strings and got us in the door.

When we visited the high school, the principal brought in the music teachers, the English teachers, the counsellor, and a few others to talk with us. The principal is a very energetic, enthusiastic guy. Ian sat in on classes for a week, and decided that Lodong is a better fit for him. So, starting next semester, he will officially enroll in the school.

Evan continues to do very well at FuXing Middle School. His math teacher reports that Evan is all caught up, and doesn’t need any extra tutoring in order to follow the pace of the class (the math was hard enough, plus the language barrier was an additional hurdle for him). I can’t honestly say that he’s enjoying school, but he is being a super good sport about everything. He still hates the school lunch. Luckily, there’s a little convenience store in the school. Every day Evan buys a steamed bun 包子 for a snack. We know how bad lunch on any given day was by asking how many buns he had to buy. A one-bun day is average, but if it’s a three-bun day, look out! 🙂

We only have one more week of school until winter vacation. The last day of the semester is Saturday the 23rd (final exams), but I have to go to a mid-year conference out of town, and I want to bring the whole family, so we will start our vacation a little early. The kids’ last day of school will be Tuesday the 19th. The second semester starts on February 22, which is a grand total of 31 days off. The winter break covers Chinese New Year as well as a semester break, which is why it’s so long. The kids are looking forward to some downtime. My parents will come for a visit, and we will do a little traveling around the island.

Evan’s class has a Christmas party this week. Evan made a Powerpoint file explaining how Christmas is celebrated in his family, and Stacy coordinated the food for the party. Everyone had fun. It almost makes up for the fact that we have to go to school and work on Christmas day. Hah. Who am I kidding? Nothing could possibly make up for that fact. Going to work on Christmas is going to SUCK!

It isn’t a Chinese party without Karaoke (unfortunately).

Evan’s homeroom teacher is an accomplished violinist.