June I, Weeks 45 + 46: Graduations and Celebrations

Writer's Note I: Thank you for waiting for this blog post! It's been a hectic readjustment to the US, but there are still new posts in the works. Thank you for your patience!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to another blog post (albeit incredibly, incredibly belated)! During the last month of my grant period, my schedule was packed with school celebrations, birthdays, travel, and graduations. As busy as it was, I had a great time with students, friends, and other Fulbrighters alike, and I miss it dearly.

On Monday, June 3rd, I went to school on one hour of sleep. I also encountered a pack of wild dogs and flooded Budai roads, but I managed to make it to school in one piece (somehow). Throughout the day, I taught my goodbye lesson to my ninth graders, which included one last vocab game, a Kahoot about me, and milk tea juiceboxes. I had fun teaching one last lesson, but saying goodbye felt a bit surreal. Given that I've spent so little time at Budai throughout the year, it feels like I'm leaving as soon as I'm getting to know everyone.

The next day, I went to Guogou for their annual school fair/elementary soccer tournament with my partner. We had tea with my school's principal, watched the pop dance club perform for the opening ceremony, and bought lunch from some food stands set up near the cafeteria. I think bringing my partner was a nice chance for my kids to practice English with someone besides me—they were definitely shy, but more than excited to use their English.

For the rest of the day, the two of us walked around the school and watched the visiting elementary schoolers' soccer matches. It was adorable to watch them play against each other, but my favorite part of the games were my ninth graders, who served as their referees (baseball caps, whistles, and all). My principal also gave us some bookmarks the students designed as well as a school newsletter, which was nice.

On Wednesday, I taught some goodbye lessons and oral exam review lessons to my eighth graders, then lesson planned. In the afternoon, I had my final pottery class with my ninth graders, sadly. I spent the class period glazing my myna bird statue and chatting with some of my students, who seemed excited but nervous to graduate.

As soon as pottery club was over, I headed to Tinco Café for a ringmaking workshop with some other county Fulbrighters. We got to choose the type of jewelry, the metal, and the design we wanted to make, then the shop owners helped us with our project. I think the cats also tried to help, but they were far less successful. In the end, I chose a sterling silver wire to make a hammered metal ring with a debossed crescent moon inside.

Ringmaking was fun! We got to practice using blowtorches, as well as twisting, sawing, and hammering metal. Most of us chose to make rings, but my roommate also made a dogtag, and another ETF made a gingko leaf necklace. We also got to enjoy some delicious drinks and taiyaki while the shop owners helped polish our jewelry.

For dinner, we headed to a nearby Korean barbecue restaurant to meet up with another county cohort member and a city ETA. There wasn't enough space for all of us to eat at the same table, but we still had a good dinner, and the pork belly and the banchan were delicious. Some of us also headed to the local shaved ice place for some tasty mango shaved ice to finish off the evening. All in all, it was a pretty good day trying something new and spending time with other Fulbrighters.

On Thursday, I taught more goodbye lessons at Guogou. In the morning, I taught both of my ninth grade classes for the last time. They loved the goodbye lesson, which included being able to sign their names in a notebook I gave them, and some of them even asked for individual or small group photos with me afterwards. The sweetest thing I received was a handwritten note from one of my ninth graders about how she enjoyed my class and will miss me.

For lunch, I went to the HSR station with my partner and had Sushi Express, then headed back to school for one more goodbye lesson. The seventh graders looked sad to see me go, but loved the games (and the chance to win a milk tea juicebox). Honestly, the goodbye lessons have made me realize how much I'll miss this year's kids, even if I did have a tough time acclimating to teaching middle school.

After school, I hung out with the other county Fulbrighters, then we had our last ballet class. It was strenuous on my legs, but I'm glad I've had the chance to do any ballet at all this year. It's also been nice to take the class with some other cohort members.

Friday was the first day of Dragonboat Festival vacation! I woke up early, caught the HSR to Taoyuan Airport, then flew to Shanghai to meet up with my partner. I'd never been to Shanghai before, but it was beautiful. We took the maglev train (which went up to 300 km/h, or 186.4 mi/hr) into the city, and we got to see the Oriental Pearl Tower up close.

The two of us explored Yuyuan Old Street together, and the entire area was full of lovely traditional roofs, balconies, and archways—one building was even illuminated gold. We also visited the different shops and tried some stinky tofu and shengjianbao (生煎包), or small fried pork bao. The tofu was mid, but the shengjianbao were pretty good.

Later, we visited The Bund, which was stunning at night. To our left, the classical European buildings glowed a warm gold, but to our right, the modern skyscrapers glittered multicolor with different light shows and ads. Despite the crowds of tourists, I had fun wandering along the riverfront with my partner. We watched the skyscrapers change color and the different boats cruise by, plus we saw the Bund Historical Museum (and the Shanghai People's Heroes Monument).

The next morning, my partner and I started the day with a yummy hotel breakfast, then did more sightseeing. First, we went to Jing'an Temple, which is famous for its Buddha statues and historic copper bell. Once we passed the massive front gate, we entered a sprawling courtyard filled with tourists, worshippers, and a pagoda-esque bronze vessel that people were throwing coins into. After a couple of attempts, I managed to toss a coin into the vessel, which was surprising given my poor aim. Good for me, though! We also explored the different rooms, admired the Buddha statues and other religious artworks, and got Oreo ice cream, so it was a pretty good time.

Afterwards, we went to Yuyuan Garden. The garden was lovely, but I wouldn't necessarily describe it as tranquil; the grounds were so crowded that we could barely shuffle through it. I liked the different koi ponds and rock gardens at least, but I think my favorite part was seeing the white ducks with little tufts on their heads paddle by.

Once we'd had some Moutai ice cream (and taken a nap), the two of us had dinner at a famous crab restaurant called Xiesanbao (蟹叁寶). We had some of their crab meat over rice and crabmeat xiaolongbao, and they were incredibly rich, flavorful, and buttery. The crab rice reminded me a lot of the one we tried in Thailand, but less heavy.

After dinner, my partner and I headed to Nanjing Road. Apparently, the road is one of the busiest shopping streets in the world, which I found out firsthand as soon as we left the subway station. The roads were flooded with people as far as the eye could see, and there were marching soldiers blowing whistles and controlling traffic at every intersection. We visited a couple of stores, including the M&M store, but it was honestly pretty overwhelming.

I think Sunday was my favorite day of the trip. My partner and I decided to take a day trip to one of China's most beautiful water towns, Zhouzhuang (周庄), so we caught the HSR to Kunshan, then took a taxi to the town. Once we got there, it felt like we'd stepped into a classical painting; the entire village was crisscrossed with beautiful canals dappled by overhanging tree canopies, the streets were full of traditional architecture, and small boats glided beneath the bridges.

One of my favorite parts of the day was taking a private boat ride through the canals. It was wonderfully serene watching the sun glitter on the water and feeling the boat gently sway in the current. At one point, a man in the boat behind us began singing a Jiangsu-style folk song, which only added to the fairytale-like atmosphere.

My partner and I spent rest of the day exploring Zhouzhuang. We went to a teahouse on the water for Longjing tea (one of China's famous teas) and tea snacks, watched a boat decorated for Dragonboat Festival row past, and explored a local museum (oh my!). I especially liked watching sun set over the canals; I think it was the perfect way to end the trip.

On Monday, June 10th, I headed back to Taiwan. The flight and HSR back were pretty smooth, and I made it back to the apartment in time to cook dinner with my roommate. Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful day.

The next day was graduation at Budai! In the morning, some of my ninth graders came to my office and handed me gifts; one girl handed me a handsewn boba keychain, while another handed me a packet of gifts (including a pastel drawing of the Budai Bridge) and a watercolor card that said, "Thankful".

I also learned that Budai has a resident eagle (temporarily, we hope). Apparently, said eagle has attacked a couple of faculty members, so teachers have taken to wearing helmets or carrying umbrellas as they move between buildings... including myself. I managed to attend graduation practice without any major attacks, thankfully.

Despite the on-and-off rain, the weather for the official graduation ceremony was beautiful. The ninth graders entered the gym in their school uniforms for the last time, and after several graduation announcements and videos, they made speeches for their families, teachers, and classmates. They also brought all of the teachers up to the front of the gym and presented us with gift bags, which I didn't expect, but I think my favorite part of the grad ceremony was seeing how gleeful the kids were to receive graduation gifts of their own. I was surprised how much the kids' grad videos and graduation song moved me, and it was hard to think that this was the beginning of the end of being a teacher.

When I opened the gift bag from the students later, I found a balloon flower, a box of pastries, a bunch of small handwritten cards from one class of ninth graders, and a big card with a handdrawn map of Taiwan and its outlying islands from the other. It was touching to read all the notes they left for me, and even more touching when some of them showed up to my office to say goodbye. Some asked me to sign their uniforms, others asked me to sign their yearbooks, and some asked me to sign both. Honestly, leaving school afterwards was harder than I thought it'd be.

Wednesday was Guogou's graduation ceremony! In the morning, I received a surprisingly idiomatic thank you card from my 901 class, then went to watch the school talent show. The showcase was pretty good; it featured two dance team performances and some KTV from teachers and students alike. My favorite performance was the one done by five teachers in goofy shirts and sunglasses, which eventually included the principal and several administrators (to the great joy of both myself and most of the students).

After a delicious buffet lunch, the students had their official graduation. Sadly, the afternoon was subject to intermittent but heavy rain, but the ceremony was still lovely. It opened with speeches from the principal and several other administrators, followed by the presentation of different awards and scholarships, then student-made graduation vids. One of my favorite moments was when the graduates stood up and passed a microphone around to give their final graduation wishes to their friends, families, and classmates.

While we were singing the graduation song, I was overcome by how close-knit the school community felt, and I realized how much I was going to miss everything: my kids waving to me on their way to lunch, lesson planning with my co-teachers, doing pottery with my ninth graders, teaching my kids new words like, "vibe" and "cringy". As tough of a year as it'd been, I admittedly teared up at the end of the song.

After the ceremony ended, the ninth graders raced around the school asking different teachers to sign their class shirts and yearbooks. I can't remember how many I signed, but it was nice to talk to them one last time.

Leaving school was bittersweet. As I drove home, I could see Alishan in the distance framed by a rainbow, which felt like a sign that all things have a silver lining. I hung out with my roommate after school, then went into the city for a joint birthday celebration. We started with a tasty sushi dinner, followed by an evening of birthday celebrations.

The four of us with summer birthdays created a Kahoot! with different facts about ourselves, and the rest of the cohort had to guess whose fact was whose. Example facts include that one of us picked radishes with our students on Taiwanese news, one of us ate a button as a toddler (but managed to pass it without any serious harm), and one of us was waved to by Barack Obama. Thankfully, I wasn't the one who ate a button, but I did live in an apartment with a gas leak for several months, so maybe the button would've been less dangerous.

After the Kahoot!, we sang happy birthday and had a delicious ice cream cake. The cake was delicious, and I especially liked the differently-flavored characters piled on top. We also had a super belated PowerPoint presentation from one cohort member which turned out to be "Real Housewives"-themed.

On Thursday, I spent the morning doing chores and the afternoon teaching. I taught a review class for my seventh graders, which went pretty well. As usual, they were weirdly excited to play rock-paper-scissors as a tiebreaker, but at least they look forward to class. I did rollerblading with my LET the next period, and I received a copy of the school's yearbook. It was cute! I especially liked the different photos of student activities and events from throughout the year.

For dinner, I went to a restaurant with delicious fried tofu with some other county Fulbrighters, then we had our second-to-last dance class. This class was contemporary instead of ballet, which I was excited to try since I've never learned contemporary before. I tried to do most of the class, but my legs were too injured to do a lot of it, so I just sat the rest of it out.

Friday was a brief teaching day. I taught the other seventh grade review class, then spent the rest of the morning at the doctor's office for my knees. The doctor said I have a tendon injury and that I should wear knee braces on both knees, but he said it wasn't that serious (fortunately).

After lunch, my roommate and I headed to Kaohsiung for one final party weekend in Taiwan. When the two of us arrived, we had crepes together at Sensei 先生, which is a cute dessert shop I went to with my partner last year. Mango's back in season, so there were tons of delicious mango-flavored drinks and desserts. We wandered the city, dropped our bags off at a friend's place, then went to the Kaohsiung Public Library. The library was beautiful, especially the rooftop; it had a garden with different benches, paths, plants, and a lovely view of the harbor.

Around 10:30pm, we headed to Brickyard with our friends. The club was full of other foreigners, but our group still had a pretty good time. It was nice to hang out with friends new and old, including some other Chiayi cohort members and one of my roommate's old cohort members from last year, and I liked dancing with everyone in spite of the double knee braces. I still miss clubbing with last year's cohort, but at least I had one last night out in Kaohsiung with some of this year's cohort.

Next morning, I woke up at noon. Although I'd slept around six or seven hours, I felt pretty terrible until I went for lunch with some other cohort members. We had some pretty good danbing, including some with basil and marshmallow.

Afterwards, I headed to Gushan District to explore the area with my roommate. It was far less walkable than I'd hoped, but the views of the coast were beautiful. We saw some of Monkey Mountain's famous monkeys: Formosan rock macaques. I'd seen some before, but never that closely. Thankfully, we made it to the town without incident—the only thing I could think about while they were next to us was that scene from Nope.

We wandered the different alleyways in the town and ended up at Chaishan Fishing Pier, which gave us a beautiful view of the beach and the sunset. Unfortunately for my knees, it also meant a beautiful, scenic hike up at least a million stairs. And mosquito bites. Hooray for exploring.

The two of us had dinner at a local café and chatted with the owner, then headed to a friend's birthday party. We tried to catch an Uber back to the ferry port, but it took far longer to find one than we expected. Fortunately, we made the ferry crossing and reached Cijin Sunset Bar... long after the sun had set. The party was still going, fortunately, and we spent a couple of hours hanging out with some other Fulbrighters. It was fun seeing some of the Changhua ETAs and ETFs again!

Back at our friend's apartment, one of the other Fulbrighters made mango sago since their roommate had wisdom tooth surgery that morning. I tried a bowl of it and it was delicious: very sweet and fresh. The five of us also played card games, chatted, and hung out for a couple more hours. Even if I didn't sleep much this weekend, I liked hanging out with people. It felt like a good final hurrah before the end of the grant period.

On Sunday, I went to the Foguangshan Monastery for the first time with my roommate. After lunch, we started in the older part of the complex, which was full of beautiful art. Although we couldn't take photos in the main shrine, I remember that the hall was massive, with three seated gold Buddha statues occupying most of the central wall. I think the part that was astounded me were the other walls, which were covered in hundreds, possibly even thousands of tiny glowing Buddha statues.

In the newer complex, we walked through the Great Path to Buddhahood, which was flanked by eight pagodas, and the Buddha Memorial Museum. The museum housed tons of different artifacts and art as well as several elaborate shrines, including the Gold Buddha Shrine and the Jade Buddha Shrine. One had a large golden Buddha statue while the other had a white jade statue, and the latter even contained a reliquary holding one of the Buddha's teeth.

After we finished exploring the museum, we caught a taxi back into the city for the best hotpot in Kaohsiung: Xiangmaxiangla Hotpot (饗麻饗辣精品火鍋). We hung out with two former Kinmen ETAs and another old Kinmen friend while we ate dinner, and it was nice to see them again. One of our friends even mentioned applying for a new job with Fulbright. Our group also went to see some Kaohsiung ETF friends, but we lost track of time and ended up catching the last train back to Chiayi at 10:55pm. Oh well.

Even as everything was drawing closer and closer to the inevitable end of Taiwan, I had fun in June. It felt like the culmination of almost a year in Chiayi: graduations, trips, birthday parties, reunions, and group dinners. It was exciting to see this year's ninth graders head into senior high, but it was also scary to think about heading back to the states so soon.

Now that I'm back in the US, I feel like I've traveled through a weird time skip (much like last year). As Fulbright grant periods switch over, "this year" and "last year" are separated by a mere month, and it feels strange to categorize things like my cohort and my schools as belonging to "last year". It also feels strange looking back at these first two weeks of June and knowing how close it was to the end of my time in Chiayi. I still miss living with my roommate, riding a scooter, and just exploring Taiwan. And maybe I'll always miss it.

Until next time, everyone!

Writer's Note II: This blog post was originally written on Monday, August 19th, 2024.