“Germans know how to bake the cake”
After finishing
their midterm examination the students were all run down and Cathy and I
decided to do them a favour: For the following two weeks we designed a new
schedule for our last English classes involving German culture to Alian daily
life.
The plan: getting
to know the soccer game - obviously our national sport - and baking some cake
after my grandma’s well-known recipe.
During the first
classes I hand out some vocabulary and exercise sheets (“business before
pleasure”) and by that time everybody got the basic rules and phrases we formed
the teams and decided on the playing position.
On Tuesday we
had a speech competition in the morning and got a visit from the fire brigade
afterwards. We experienced an extreme situation in a room filled with smoke,
were allowed to try out the fire extinguisher and also to rappel from the fire
engine. – A really nice way to diversify the daily school life.
This week I
didn’t have any plans for Wednesday and because there are no English classes
that day Cathy asked me whether I would like to take a day off. – And so it
came that I got to know Taiwan’s south: “Kenting National Park”. I did some
hiking, visited the “Eluanbi lighthouse”, Kenting City and Taiwans most
Southern Point. Moreover I went to “Nanwan Beach”, which is said to be one of
the most beautiful beaches in that area and had a stunning view on… the nuclear
power plant number three.
Later, John told
me that the people enjoy going to Kenting for summer holiday because of the
warm weather and the mild water temperature. But guess where it all comes from
– the nuclear plant, of course. All liquids will go into the water.
On Thursday the
dentist came around to check our teeth and we went to our swimming class like
every week. Baking the cake was a great success and I had my struggles saving a
few pieces for my weightlifting team at Junior High…
We planned on
going to Kaohsiung for a meet up with a few English teachers and soldiers on
Saturday evening where I expanded my knowledge about young peoples’ life here
in Taiwan and their opportunities after school.
Sunday morning I
went to church again and joined the “Parent- Child Sport Day” at Alian
Elementary School afterwards. The church organised a flea market, we played
several games like Dudge Ball and
finished with a relay race. Afterwards I met Eva again and we went swimming in
the evening to support the cure of her broken knee.
Exhausted and a little bit
sad that next week will be my last one here in Alian I fell asleep.
