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SHIH, EVE (施智恩)
When I first heard about AID from a friend, I instantly knew it was an experience I was willing to go for. The first week of camp was definitely exhausting. It felt like school and the classes were super long. There was a lot of poster making and sitting through super long powerpoints. However, I became friends with many people from other groups, and everyone was happy to be around one another. Soon enough, being separated was a sad moment for many when everyone got split off to the school they were about to teach at.
I'm not going to lie, I was super nervous and low key terrified on my first day of teaching. I had no idea what to expect from these kids. The first day of teaching was a complete mess and the kids were so hard to handle. My students were full of energy and would be constantly talking nonstop or even yelling. After teaching from the first day I was overly exhausted. Naps soon became a daily routine after teaching, and I always took more than one nap per day. However when the first week passed by, everything began to slowly fall in place and I got the hang of teaching these students better and keeping them in check. I really began to notice the how hard these students actually worked and were willing to learn english. My teaching partner and I eventually bonded with our students and we all became like a big family. Seeing the smiles and hearing the laughs and the eagerness of these students gave me energy to teach them and they made me happy. Being super sleep deprived and even slowly losing my voice suddenly seemed worth it from teaching my beloved students.
Time flew by really quick, and eventually the 2 weeks of teaching came to an end. There were tears of sadness as well as happiness when the final day rolled along. Leaving my students suddenly seemed like the hardest thing to do. They became my second family. The school I also taught at which was ChiaYi Liu Jiao Primary School also felt like my second home. It was heartbreaking to suddenly leave it all behind, but it will forever be in my heart along with all the memories that has been created there. Teaching these students was probably the best part of the camp.
Soon, the last week of tour came a long. We visited many places with very little time to explore each area. It also felt slightly strange seeing so many people again since I only had four people in my teaching group. Shout out to B3-4! I love you guys.<3 Many groups were kind of segregated with one another throughout the tour but it was still a fun experience getting a taste of different places in taiwan.
This camp is definitely something I would want to do again. So many amazing as well as humorous memories were created and I made so many lifelong friends throughout the process. Teaching has also taught me so much. Teaching is not an easy task. I have a new respect to all my teachers out there. But despite all the challenges I had to face a long the way, I have to say, going to this camp is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. AID COUNT ON ME. B3-4 is the best! And S/O to ChiaYi Liu Jiao for being such an amazing school!
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Hsieh, Steven (謝秉諺)
The volunteer service was really amazing in that my perception of the service changed completely. The week was a little rough. The counselors were a little strict and some of the rules of the camp seemed quite arbitrary. Combined with the classes being a bit boring, at this point the camp seemed very controlled and generally difficult to deal with. However, around the time of the night market visit, the program was a lot more enjoyable and fun. Once I got to the actual teaching, the kids were amazing and the program really showed its true colors. The kids were very appreciative as well as the adults who completely supported us throughout the experience. Our guard was extremely cool too! While each school has different guidelines, I am sure that your experience will be good. For example, one night I was out catching geckos for fun (or to eat the bugs at night!) The guard was initially skeptical of what we were doing but later on even helped us catch a gecko. Yes, we did catch a gecko and released it in our room. Haven’t seen it since, and it probably ran out, but the experience was fun. Each day I learned something new and slowly I became accustomed to a new life style. Additionally, the food at the schools, as well as the weekend excursions were all carefully planned out by the teachers at the school. Each school had a different weekend excursion, but we were able to go to KTV, bowling, and even an amusement park. Meeting so many amazing, smart, and talented people has set new goals in my life. Seeing all these people being happy and laughing along, makes me want to become someone like them, and to become that better person, it appears that I have some work to do. Relaxing in the tour further stressed this belief. The tour was a time to see everyone for who they were after they could relax. Teaching was certainly stressful so having the time to take the tour was a good time to rewind. The tour in generally was good, but don’t think about it as the greatest part of the trip. The counselors during the tour are much kinder and relaxed than the same ones before the teaching. The places they take us are pretty cool too, and you can learn lots of culture. For example, the forest they took us to was almost surreal. Granted the temples were a little boring, there is lots of good food to eat. Slight warning, the food may seem kind of repetitious after a while. It is just the standard Chinese meal with rice and lots of variety of dishes. After seeing the talent show, it is obvious that the program harbors extremely talented people, which someday I wish to become. There are amazing dancers, singers, and actors, which all add to make this group atmosphere amazing. Without a doubt, the program is an eye-opening one, which pushes each and every person to become a better person.
-Hubert Voice-
When I say AID
You say Count on Me!
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Mar, Elizabeth (馬恩信)
With each tour destination being checked off, realization began to set in; I was officially leaving Jhongyun Junior High School and my A2 Ohana. Two weeks prior, Sam, my teaching partner and I anxiously talked about our class while rearranging desks We wondered about the personality dynamics, the levels of our kids English and moreover how we were even to venture teaching English in the first place.
However, I was reassured during our opening ceremony performance when one of the girls flashed me a “thumbs up.” From that moment on I knew I had a special group of kids. Teaching then became a mutual partnership; a partnership that sought to help them understand English in their own context. There were many memories made in my two weeks in Jhongyun, but one of my absolute favorites was made during our Western Breakfast day. The morning of, Sam and I, rushed to assemble a starched made batch of pancakes with our Taiwanese equivalent ingredients. As the kids filled the kitchen, we demonstrated how to make a pancake; one-by-one they lined up and my excitement came when one of our shyer boys repeatedly came to make them and helped us in preparing a new batch. It’s difficult to sum up my time in Jhongyun but I feel that it was made up of moments like these, moments where my kids stepped out of their comfort zone to engage with us, the English language and the culture. Needless to say, I greatly miss my A2 Ohana class. I wish I had more time to teach them and spend time together.
A huge amount of gratitude is due to our Coach Nelson Chen and his family, who made our time in Jhongyun one of pure fondest. Lastly, a big thanks to my C3-5 girls for being the best team out there to work with!
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Wey, Christine (魏嘉樂)
AID summer 2015 has been one of the most interesting experiences of my life. By interesting, I mean different. Throughout my life, I've been to tons of summer camps and extracurricular activity classes, all organized differently in style and strictness. Perhaps the most surprising aspects of my first week of training at Chientan Youth Activity Center were the rules. The demerit system was honestly quite shocking for us, as having a constant fear of deduction of points was not characteristic of the American style of "group management." Being subjected to this form of group management was eye-opening and a common topic that all of us yellow-shirts always talked about. As much as we all loved our greenies, adapting to the tons of trivial rules forced us to step out of our comfort zone and watch our actions and behavior more.
The first week of training at Chientan seem to drag on for too long as many of us did not know each other very well, but gradually we bonded over the novel sprinkles on our pork, and the chef's extremely fervent love of taro. Elevator rides were also a cause of our interesting and crammed trips up and down from
our rooms to the dining room.
After a week where our only source of entertainment came from the little convenience store and we learned a billion tips on the do's and don'ts of teaching, we finally departed for our schools.
The bus ride to our schools was oddly fun and sad. It was a great experience bonding with other team members who will soon be going to different schools to teach, but as each group left, the anticipation and loss added up to a strange sensation. However, no matter the weird mix of emotions we experienced, we were quickly inundated with the generosity and warm-hearted greetings of the principal, staff, and neighbors of the school.
The first days were stressful as our expectations for the kids' level of English were too high. As a result, we had to make many changes rapidly to our teaching style and plan, while updating all of this progress on the aid summer website. It was also during this time when we had to try to get the kids to warm up to us and each other more, rather than being stiff and uncomfortable. As the days progressed, the kids grew more attached to us and us to them. We had inside jokes, interlevel interactions, games, and shared unique memories everyday together. When it was finally time to leave the school, however, no one could fully drop it all. With a crowd of kids hugging us and asking for autographs, I could not help but wonder what sort of difference I made on the children's lives. All I could do was to hope that our English teaching that we tried to incorporate with many activities on american culture and our personal relationships with the kids were at least an imprint in their childhood memories after they mature into active members of the world.
After the 2 weeks, we had the wonderful opportunity to wrap up the program by traveling and experiencing the Formosan island. Reunited with our former bus buddies while meeting new ones, we solidified our friendship with our team through another experience while developing new ones. Bonding over the mutual "stickiness" we had (and I mean it both figuratively and literally), it felt too short and fleeting. It will be sad to see everyone go, but all in all, this program has metamorphosed me into a revitalized human being, one who understands the
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Chiang, Tiffany (蔣德怡)
The past three weeks has been one of the most incredible days of my life. My team has become like family to me and this entire AID program would most definitely not have been the same without them. At the beginning of training week, I was overwhelmed by the list of things we could do and couldn’t do, but some of the “小綠綠”s made our days more bearable because an unorganized group of more than 400 foreigners would be complete chaos. By the end of the first week, my team and I were excited because we were finally about to head down south to Kaohsiung. When we arrived at Jhongyun Junior High School, our supervisor was extremely welcoming and made us all feel like part of his family. His family was constantly there, helping us every moment of every day. Whenever we needed something, they would just show up within seconds. Their hospitality and kindness pushed me to work even harder for my students.
During the two weeks of teaching, I enjoyed every minute of it, from incorporating an actual helicopter into that day’s lesson to introducing them to some English songs. Every morning, when my teaching partner and I walked into the classroom, all the students would rush to their seats to say “Good morning, Teacher Tiffany and Teacher Michelle”, and at the end of the day, they would all say, “Thank you, Teacher Tiffany and Teacher Michelle”. Their enthusiasm and constant smiles throughout all six periods were what kept me going. By the last day, all those moments became memories as we shed tears when saying goodbye. Even though it was hard to part ways, I know that we have made a difference in their lives.
The primary reason I attended this program was because I wanted to teach. I was hoping to be placed at an elementary school because that’s where I was planning on teaching after graduation. Fortunately, I was assigned to teach these junior high school students. Not only was I able to learn a ton of Chinese vocabulary words while teaching, I also felt like I had a special relationship with each and every one of them. I know that these friendships are ones that will last, and because of these kids, I have developed a new passion for teaching English. The one thing I was most amazed about was how hard my students studied and how diligent they were in learning English. Overall, it was an irreplaceable experience and I am grateful for the opportunity that was given to me.
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Ni, Christopher (倪嘉宏)
AID Summer 2015 has been one of the most invaluable and unique experiences of my life. To be honest, I was filled with doubts and trepidation in the weeks leading up to the program. How am I going to teach English to elementary school kids who only speak Chinese (and Taiwanese?) How am I going to live with strangers for a month? How am I going to adapt to the rural and unfamiliar conditions? These worries flew threw my mind, even as I was saying my final farewells to my family on that first day in Chientan.
In all honesty, that first week of training at Chientan was nothing extraordinarily exciting. In fact, I had trouble staying awake at times during those training sessions. The working sessions at night, however, were a whole different story. Our group laughed together and struggled together, planned together and worked together. We bonded over cheesy jokes and snide comments, all while we were "working." After a week, it was finally time for each group to depart to their separate schools.
Teaching English to those students was an experience I will never forget and has changed me in so many ways. Realizing that the kids would not just obediently listen to our (admittedly boring) lectures caused us to have to think of new, more active activities on the spot. New challenges sprouted up each day: The sweltering heat, the kids' inherent shyness and refusal to participate, the challenge of teaching for 6 hours without adequate sleep, the conflicts that seemed to constantly sprout up - all required a degree of flexibility and responsibility that I had never known before. I learned to love these kids, despite only spending a short two weeks with them, and I'd like to believe that they loved me back. Saying goodbye and realizing that I would most likely never see these kids and teachers again was one of the hardest things I've ever done.
Looking back now, I have grown more as a person than I had realized. My eyes were opened to the living situation of many in rural areas, allowing me to appreciate my own life and their hard work more. I became more responsible, flexible, and independent, spending a month away from my family and overcoming challenges by myself (albeit with assistance from my group.) I learned the amount of work that goes into teaching, despite only spending a few days in their shoes. More importantly, I received memories and experiences that I will cherish forever, stories that I can always recount. Close friendships were built with many people, and I will never forget this experience.
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Wang, Valerie (王舒斐)
I came to Taiwan without a clear idea of what to expect from this program, but I had a strong feeling that this experience would leave a lasting impression. I also came with a lot of anxiety about how I would manage. Like a lot of other volunteers here, I hadn’t taught kids before and had no idea what it would be like, but unlike a lot of Taiwanese-American kids I had met, I hadn’t been to Taiwan much (only one long trip before) and I worried that I might find myself in difficult situations. Finally (and probably the most troubling concern), I had very limited Mandarin speaking ability. My speaking ability was so underdeveloped that it had been the cause of a lot of emotional stress growing up, and once I found out that I was accepted into this program, even my initial excitement was shot through by a tinge of fear. However, since I understood how stressful speaking a foreign language can be, I loved the idea of helping kids learn to speak English with confidence, so I ignored the fear and vowed to do my best.
Week one of the program passed slowly, but once I got to our school and started teaching, it was like a dream. The kids were lively, earnest, and so fun to teach! The two weeks flew by faster than I would have liked, and I often felt guilty because even when we weren’t teaching, everyone at the school treated us extremely well, taking us out to dinner every day and out to play on the weekends, and always checking in to see if we needed anything. They were unbelievably accommodating, but none of that was necessary because the experience itself was more than enough of a reason for me to be happy there.
Memories of teaching at the school were some of the best, most stressful, and happiest times I’ve ever spent. And the goodbyes on the last day were some of the saddest moments of my life. By the time we left Chiayi, it felt like my group had become a family, and that we were leaving our home behind.
My initial feeling that AID would leave a lasting impression wasn’t wrong. The time here has helped me find what I didn’t even know I was looking for; ways to connect to my heritage, come out of my shell, and help others by relating my personal experience. Unforgettable seems too bland of a word to describe what these past few weeks have been.
With all sincerity,
Thank you to AID for everything!
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Lee, Wan-Hsuan Michelle (李婉煊)
When I was applying for this program, I was not sure that I would be accepted into this program or not. English is my second language, and I know AID is looking for native English speakers. However, I am glad that I gave it a try, and got the admission. I am assigned to Bi-tan elementary school and gain a lot of experience in teaching English. Besides teaching English, I also learned how to work with young children and solve problems during class. I am also thankful for our school principle and teachers’ help in teaching. Through this experience, I was able to develop better leadership, communicating, and organization skills. And I also realized the importance of teamwork. I am really glad to have a chance to join AID program. I enjoy for the most part, however, there are many things that can be improved on. I feel that this program should tell us more about the skill level and ages of the children we are going to teach, since it is really hard to work on our teaching plan without any information about our students. I understand that it is necessary that we edit our teaching plan daily, but it is very time consuming when we realized that our teaching materials are too had and we have to re-write our whole teaching plan. Also, during the tour, it would be better if we could have fewer attraction sites in one day so we would have more time at one attraction site. Still, I really appreciate everyone who contributed to AID program this year. I learned a lot for all of you and I definitely had a great time. Thank you!
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Liu , Emily (柳宜欣)
This was a really unique experience since I have never had the chance to live without my family for a month. Being able to have this kind of opportunity has been truly eye-opening for me. Not only did I learn how to teach young children English, I also learnt how to interact with my peers more. Through this experience, I was able to develop better leadership, communicating, and organization skills, etc. Although there were many positives about this program, there are many things that can be improved on. For example, the program should have been more informative about the skill level and ages of the children we were teaching. The children I taught were assigned to level 3 out of four levels, but they did not know the most important phonics. Although I understand the importance of counselors and the necessity of safety precautions, most AID volunteers are in their late teens and can take care of themselves. The curfew should not have been so strict in the first week. Instead of receiving demerits, AID volunteers should be motivated by adding points. I think this kind of friendly competition would work better than subtracting points. During the tour, there should be fewer attraction sites to visit each day and allow us to have more time at one attraction site. Overall, this program was generally well-planned and organized. I would definitely spread the word and tell my friends to do it next year.
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Huang, Emily (黃筱甄)
I thought the 2 weeks at Bi-Tan (碧潭國小) was amazing. I miss the kids so much, my class was super fun to teach, even if they were a little too naughty sometimes (太皮了). A lot of students from my class and other classes added us teachers on Facebook, they also message us almost everyday, asking us where we are during the tour, and how we are. They are so cute and so funny, I really connected with them. All the time I stayed up to do the lesson plan for the next day was worth it. The principal, 主任, and other teachers and staff were all so nice, they took time on their weekends to take us out, and bought us drinks, listened to all our demands, and even took the sick to the hospital in the middle of the night. We also became really good friends with the college student photographer, her name's Jasmine, and she was our coach from Chien-Tan's (blue shirt) daughter. She was around our age, and was super easy to talk to. She seemed genuinely nice and mature. We also became pretty good friends with her brother Zach. Our 替代役 was a little scary, but he was still very nice! I really hope to stay connected to everyone, because this program was amazing! I learned a lot of things I didn't get to try as a kid, including Hakka food and some of their culture, and aboriginal cultures, music, dances and stories I never knew of, I also made so many new friends, and I even became friends with some of the greenies! This trip rekindled my Taiwanese blood, and I hope in the future I might be able to rejoin again.
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