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Chang, Carrie (張宜群)
My aid experience was fantastic. I went into this program not expecting much and I was pleasantly surprised by my adventure here. Training week was a struggle to get through and I doubted I would get close to my group since we were all so different. The next two weeks proved me wrong and my group and I are now the closest of friends. The teaching experience in itself was a surprise as well. I have never taught anyone older than six years old so going into a classroom of twenty 13-14 year olds was intimidating. The kids however, we're super sweet and accommodating to our rookie teaching ways. We all became super close with all the kids, with our teacher, with the teaching assistants, with all their friends and family, and with our military guy. Saying goodbye was probably the hardest thing I've had to do in a while. The tour week was exhausting but fun. When it was boring, we all suffered together that it became fun. This AID experience is something I will never forget
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Lowe, Tessa (樓宇珮)
These four weeks in AID were weeks that I did not expect. During the first week, I didn't think that I would make any friends. However, I made friends fast. My roommates were great people and they immediately welcomed me and made me feel comfortable; my table mates during eating time were lively and funny. I also went down to the lobby sometimes and made many more friends. The lectures were very boring, and I don't think that they helped me teach children. Some lectures that talked about what kind of games we could play with the children were helpful, however. I made so many friends training week and I felt happy that there were so many people that I knew.
During the two teaching weeks, my teaching mates and I were sent to Taitung to teach elementary school children at Hot Spring Elementary School. The kids were very friendly and wanted to get to know me, and that made me so appreciative of them. Sometimes my teaching partner and I clashed, since we both had different ways of teaching the students. But overall, the students and the staff were very welcoming of me. During the nights and the weekends, my teaching mates and I became closer and closer, and I felt as if I couldn't live without them. When tour week came, I was excited because I could get to know the other groups that were going to be on my bus. One of the groups was not friendly, however, and they made a ruckus when we were trying to have fun. The last few days were very tough, since people were beginning to leave early. I felt very upset when two of my teaching mates left early because I felt like I wouldn't ever see them again.
AID summer was an unforgettable experience. I am extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity.
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Cheng, Jasmine (鄭惠馨)
I wouldn't have imagined to participate in anything similar to this program. Learning how to teach and then actually diving into the process for two weeks seems all a dream now that I have begun school and doing my own things back in America. During those two weeks, my teaching team and students became the only people I was with and surprisingly, we were buddies in such a short time.
The entire month I'm pretty sure all of us lost hours of sleep everyday as we finished work and went to bed around 1 in the morning and crawled out of bed at 7:30 that same day to start the process all over again. Honestly, teaching is a lot more work than I imagined and by the end of the each day, everyone was exhausted as they worked on the schedule for the next day. But we looked forward to the next day, to see the smiling faces of our students and to see how much they have improved. I am thankful of how well-behaved and mature our students were because if they were any worse, it would make teaching a much more daunting task.
Everything, from teaching to the tour, that happened within the month I was AID was all a valuable experience that would be hard to forget. This isn't the first time I have left home for over a month and did something that changed my thinking but this time made me become more of an open person, someone that is more comfortable with working with strangers. In AID Summer, you are constantly around people and needing to interact with them in order to accomplish things. I'm glad that I was able to participate in AID and potentially have altered the lives of the students that my teaching group taught. It was a great experience and it's disappointing that it couldn't last forever but we all took something away from it that will stick with us forever.
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Cheng, Hannah (程絹娟)
I didn't know what to suspect when I began this journey. But what I learned, and what I experience was well worth the sleepless nights and mosquito bites. The kids we taught at Da Hu elementary learned all that we were prepared to teach them before hand, but they had forgotten all of their lessons. There was one kid who even shook when we first asked him his name in English. That was when we knew we were in trouble. Half the time they dragged the feet when we played games, the other times it was difficult to get them to understand. But in the end they were good kids. We even heard them bragging about our class to the other classes! My partner and I felt that at the end of the two weeks we were able to instil an better appreciation of English in the kids, and that was the best feeling after struggling the entire way.
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Liu, Kimberly (劉曉靜)
AID Summer was really valuable, I think, mostly for all the people I met. Whether it be the Taiwanese children who had faced such a different life from mine, or my peers from around the world who had all come together for this common cause, I learned a lot from the differences and similarities we all possessed. Something I found interesting was everyone's friendliness and eagerness to talk and share experiences. We all felt a sort of kinship and unity after teaching, one that the opening ceremony tried to create but didn't do so well at.
Even for the kids that we were teaching, I think the actual vocab and grammar and whatnot were not as important as the experiences we shared living somewhere other than Taiwan. They can learn English from their teachers and from other people, but it's a rare opportunity for them to meet people from such different cultures.
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Keh, Kathleen (郭怡幸)
AID Summer was a very memorable experience. The week of training was long but I feel like I learned a lot. The long hours working on lesson plans and the energy it took to stay in control of a classroom were challenging, but I feel proud of myself and proud of all the volunteers for putting their full effort into this program. I know that I have made an impact on these children and I feel as though this was definitely a memorable experience for them as well. I was happy that they were so interested in my life as a "foreigner." Without AID summer, I would not have travelled to Taiwan this summer so thank you for giving me this opportunity abroad. My experiences this summer have made me begin pursuing a Chinese minor as well as my Chemical Biology major.
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Lin, Thaddeus (林宇轅)
Where to start? I'll start my reflection at the beginning. If someone asked me once my opinion of this AID 2013 summer trip beforehand, and once afterward, my responses would be totally different. A week before the trip I was not exactly looking forward to going. I thought the trip sounded arduous and unnecessary. Going to Taiwan for a month with only mediocre Chinese speaking skills and scarce reading ability? A week of training? Two weeks of teaching in a rural area? It just didn't sound like my cup of tea - incidentally, tea was not one of my favorite things at the moment either. However, my opinion on both of these things changed drastically by the time the second day rolled around. All of a sudden I was meeting new people, more than I had in the past year. I made a decision that I would earnestly do my best during this trip, and do my best to try new things and have new experiences. With every new person I met during training week, my decision was strengthened that much more. When training week was over, I had met too many people to count, as well as making a few friends here and there. At the time, I had no idea what to expect from the teaching weeks.
With the teaching weeks came long nights spent reviewing and making changes to teaching plans, but also chances to talk with group members and bond as a teaching team. Having been my first experience teaching for more than a few days, the teaching weeks opened my eyes to the kind of organization and planning that is necessary to occupy a full day of teaching. Not only that, but I also learned that teaching is also a group effort. Everyone's input had to be carefully considered so that we could make our teaching worthwhile for everyone. Within two weeks of teaching everyone became great friends, not to mention our friendships with our students. To be able to impart the gift of language to children in a fun and exciting way has to be one of the best, most rewarding endeavors in which I have ever taken part. Every day was a chance not only to teach, but to learn more about the children we were teaching. It is certainly an experience I will never forget.
The tour week was just loads of fun. A full week of touring Taiwan is something I had never done before. I had never seen most of the destinations, like Kenting or Maobitou, whose natural beauty caught me by surprise, since I'm so used to seeing the urban sprawl of Taipei. Not only did I get to see more of Taiwan than I ever had, but I also had more opportunities to make even more friends. My tour bus was full of great people that were all different, and yet we were sharing the same experiences. Needless to say, I came away with some friendships that I know will be long-lasting.
All in all, when everything is said and done, I'm thrilled to have been a part of the AID Summer 2013 trip. It's hard to believe that it's over, but I tried so many new things, learned so many new things, and made so many new friends that I can't help but look back fondly on the time I spent in Taiwan this summer. Without a shadow of a doubt AID has been one of the best summer experiences I've ever had, and I would be lucky to return to Taiwan to do something even remotely as enriching as AID Summer 2013. So I'd just like to say thanks for a great, unforgettable summer, AID. I will forever remember this summer as one of the best ever.
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Yang, Shannon (楊琴妮)
This past month I have really loves doing this aid summe program. Training week may have been a little boring but I learned a lot about teaching kids and loving to learn. I also really loved my counseler! He was always very helpful and really cared about our well being. Also the teacher was amazing and she helped open our eyes to teaching kids by giving us helpful tips and guiding is along the way. During the actual teaching week it was tough to adjust to the kids personality as well as the Taiwan lifestyle . However after getting to know the kids and their quirks it was really fun helping them learn English and playing games and having fun activities prepared. The kids always had so much energy and life! They always wanted to play games, but there were time where they were uncooperative. That was easily dealt with since we could always talk to them about their thoughts and incorporate their ideas into our teaching style. We always had different topics and activities to do during the school days witht the help of planning and guidance from our teacher. I love taidong elementary school! Also the final tour week was interesting although a little boring I still had fun at Taipei 101 and dream mall! The counselers always try their best to accommodate us and I really appreciate them!
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Tseng, Irene (曾亞琳)
Aid summer was will remain an undoubtedly treasured experience. From it, I gained long lasting friendships and newfound love for Taiwan. Aidsummer has helped me realize that Taiwan has its beauties that I never got to see or enjoy. This program also helped me realize that dealing with kids is not as easy as I thought it would be. I'm really glad I participated in the program because it was a summer that left such a great impact on my life.
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Huang, Emily (黃立惟)
My experience working with AID Summer broadened my perspective about the world and expanded my knowledge about Taiwan. My first and second graders enriched my life with their innocence and eagerness to learn. I worked my best to inspire them by teaching them about my life and as I slowly earned their trust, they brought me into their lives. Some of the students astonished me with their aspirations to save the world. Leo dreamed of fighting global warming because "the sun is too hot" while Jacky wanted to stop forests from being cut down because he loves monkeys. Meeting these passionate children has made me an overall happier person looking forward to more experiences and involvement with my Taiwanese heritage.
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Cheng, Claudia (鄭皓)
Being a mentor and role model for a group of children when I'm still barely on the cusp of adulthood myself was a daunting task. And it was the exact task that I was faced with this past summer. Nothing had warned me of how the program would turn out to be so much more that I had expected… more difficult, more tiring — and infinitely more rewarding.
I did not have any experience teaching before this program, and it was definitely an eye opening month. It was inspiring and humbling to see children in a rural area of Taiwan working to the best of their ability and thriving in their environment. Witnessing the constant growth of my students during the span of two filled me with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Learning each child's unique personality and seeing their bright smiles in class made every exhausting day of planning and teaching worth it. Ultimately, in a strange reversal of situations, my students became my teachers. They taught me to be positive, to be the best that I can be, and to persevere no matter the situation.
The friends I was able to make during AID are people that I will never be able to forget. The children that I taught changed my worldview. I would not trade this experience for anything.
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Tung, Lauren (童尚玲)
The AID Summer Program is one of those memories that will be ingrained in my brain for the rest of my life. When I first entered the Chientan Youth Activity Center, I was nervous. I was not sure if the people are friendly and welcome. But after a month of training and teaching students, I realize that the people are easy to get along with and the students I taught are eager to learn English. The whole experience paid off as I made more friends that I can count with students, volunteers, and the counselors. This program has taught me life long lessons of creating strong relationships and interacting with little kids. I have no regrets applying for this program since every minute is worth experiencing.
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Cantu, Roselyn (葉怡文)
Nothing could compare to the experiences that I've shared with AID Summers over the last month in Taiwan. From training week to teaching to the tour, there were friendships made, shared memories, and laughter to tears. Becoming a part of this program was definitely the right decision for me to make.
During training week, we were united to be a part of this giant family, from as far as Canada to the UK. We learned various teaching tips and gained resources to become better prepared, with the sticky ball as the best classroom tool. Amidst the busy schedule, there was still time to mingle with other teaching groups and gain insight to their ideas.
Then, teaching at 馬光國小 opened my eyes to the outside world, where I could connect with the students that have stretched my abilities -and voice- to levels unrealized. All the work that we had put through up to training week would be applied to the next 2 weeks, and I can still recall the eager and anxious faces of everyone in my teaching group when we first laid our eyes on our school. The first day of teaching was a daunting, tiresome day, as we managed to keep the class engaged and understand the breakdown of the class -who where the quiet, restless, and rowdy. In the beginning, each period seemed to drag on, but after becoming more familiar with the teaching routine, the days flashed by and soon we were winding down to the closing ceremony. From weather to food, each day had a theme that we incorporated to the games and activities. For the second week my teaching partner, Eric, and I had to become more strict because the students became very rowdy, so I was surprised to find our desktops overflowing with goodbye gifts one the last day.
Even though the 2 weeks of teaching sadly reached an end, tour week brought up our spirits as we laughed, danced, cheered, sang together. There were the awkward moments, fits of laughter, and tears brushed away on the very last day -all with the incredible people that I'm so thankful to have met. I enjoyed visiting the major landmarks of Taiwan, especially seeing those that I missed when I traveled with my relatives before. I also got to be closer with my amazing counselors, Alice, PeiQi, Jocelyn, and Anderson, and even the bus driver, Vivian. They all tried their best to make the long bus rides fun with the Secret Santa gift exchange and questions for everyone. But, I think what made Bus 4 come together the most was the preparation for the talent show performance. At first, most people clung to their teaching groups, but by being obligated to work together, we were breaking down the walls and becoming closer friends. I am proud to have had my group be selected out of all bus groups to perform our talent show performance in the final closing ceremony -and it wouldn't have been possible without the teamwork and cooperation of everyone to participate. In the end, no matter where we are, we will always be Bus 4ever!
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Tsai, Emily (蔡惟如)
As I applied for AID Summer, I wasn't sure if I wanted to get into the program. After I got in, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. It was only after reading some of the post-reflections of previous participants that I finally told my parents to book me a flight.
Was it worth it? Heck yes.
Even though training week consisted of long, monotonous days of lectures, a lot of the information was incredibly useful later on in the program. Lessons and activities went by a lot quicker in reality than when they were planned out in my head, so having teaching ideas to draw from was massively helpful. Moreover, sitting through those lessons with my teaching group helped us start to bond with one another.
Although I had looked forward to the teaching weeks the most, that didn't stop me from being overly nervous about our first day the entire weekend before that awaited Monday. It was even more awkward to stand in front of students that morning and go from being the student for the past eighteen years of my life to the teacher. At nights, I would stay up, worried about my teaching plans for the next day. In the mornings, I would ferociously hope that the day would go by without any terrible hitches. But, seeing the energy of the kids as my teaching partner and I introduced a game, feeding off of the students’ curiosity of their American teachers, noticing all the little differences between the Taiwanese students and American ones--it was a fulfilling experience that I will never forget. My students were the kind of kids that would poke fun at me for saying things like “ai-ya,” but they were also the kind of students who stayed after school for three hours just to talk to their teachers and the kind of friends that woke up early in the morning just to send us off on our last day. Plus, roughing it up with giant spiders, flying cockroaches, typhoon-flooding rooms, and underground water in a wifi-less living space forced my teaching group to become really close. After sharing such a small living space with eight other people, going back home and not having to rotate showers or getting to talk about random topics or even just watching movies on the bed feels weird. And I already miss it.
Let me just say that I had not been back in Taiwan for years and I grew up in community that did not consist of many Asians; needless to say, I was quite disconnected from my native land and my roots. The entire trip, but tour week especially, made me feel proud to be Taiwanese again. Night markets, delicious and cheap food, beautiful landscapes--the only thing that I didn't absolutely love about Taiwan was the humidity and the mosquitoes, and even then, I learned to deal with them. Long bus rides and moving from hostel to hostel each night was made ten times better by the friends I made and our constant snacking and conversations. Moreover, even the counselors became our friends; at the end of the program, everyone was a sobbing hot mess over having to leave one another.
I'm home now and it feels weird to sleep alone in my room. For a while, I didn't feel like socializing with my friends from home because I missed my AID friends. The experiences you share with your fellow AID-ers is something so unique and life-changing. I look at videos and pictures from the teaching weeks, and just from AID Summer in general, and my heart aches. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this program; if you haven't already gone yet, I hope you can, too.
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Chiao, Karen (喬皓筠)
This is a summer never to forget. An amazing month spent with awesome people in the wonderful Taiwan.
Going in, I didn’t expect much. It’s a camp, and I’m going to teach some kids a foreign language. I was wrong though. Nothing was as clean cut and as simple as that. There were three hundred forty nine other people like me, from overseas, and fifty counselors in pink. There were also my teaching group, my students, and the staff members at Yude Elementary school. These were the people I woke up with, ate with, learned with, worked with, played with, sang with, ran with, dealt with, laughed with, cried with, and shared with.
Week one at Chientan was training, but it more than that. Classes were packed with useful tips and information. The atmosphere generated by the speakers and the counselors was always fun and comfortable. Two days felt like a week already, but I didn’t want it to end. New friends could be made every day while you got to know others better, including the counselors!
Weeks two and three was not just teaching a class of third to fifth graders English. You became their teacher, their big brother or big sister. Ice-breaking activities were necessary for us, because for them, there were strangers talking at them in different language. It was a challenge in itself to have to students work with us and learn from us. The teaching plan constructed specifically for class 3-D was not perfect. What would they want to learn? How much time would we devote for learning and playing? What activities would suit them best, especially for this rambunctious bunch? Our teacher, Chu, gave us helpful advice when we asked for it and when we didn’t. The rest of the staff was friendly and supportive, occasionally treating us in the afternoon to mango ice, milk tea boba, golden watermelon, or milk pineapple. Every afternoon was spent prepping for the next day’s lesson, and continued late into the evenings. It’s not all work though; there’s time to enjoy as well. Living with the rest of my teaching group and two of our teacher assistants, we learned plenty about each other, about activities, interests, and eating habits: one who loves sweets, one unable to eat rice, two flexitarians, and a very healthy boy. Each day passed, and we fell into the groove of things. When the last day of teaching came, no one wanted to leave; everyone wanted to stay and teach their children.
Week four was tour week, but it wasn’t just driving around and looking at foreign places and objects. There were new friends to get to know and new counselors as well. The cute and funny Rita would play games and entertain us on during the long bus rides. The loveable Lynn would introduce our next destination, and the cool Diego would give us a good background of the soon approaching site. The crazy energetic Lingling would pump up everyone’s spirit anywhere and everywhere. “BUS AAA!!!” and pose. We had hands on activities and physical activities as well, from making your own useful fan to the few hours hike up a mountain. The free time to roam and explore at various locations gave each person their own unique and exciting moments to enjoy and share.
Everything exceeded expectations. Definitely exceeded extremely. There’s always more to something than you know. More people out there, more culture to be exposed to, more places to see, and more to know about myself. I made plenty of new friends. I learned so many helpful tips. I gained ideas and inspiration from other groups. I enjoyed every meal with my meal mates. I constructed an entire lesson plan. I familiarized myself with my elementary school. I fell in love with my students. I dealt with all the problems they placed in front of me. I survived my first typhoon. I adventured with the central tour group. I poured my heart out at closing ceremony. I experienced one month in Taiwan.
I experienced AID Summer 2013.
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Chen, Brandon (陳昱齊)
For me, AID Summer was an experience in which I was both a teacher and student. Like many others, I had never taught a class before, and no amount of training would have prepared me for my first day in front of my class. However, with each day, I learned how to better teach my students and gained greater appreciation for every teacher from my past that had guided me to where I am today. Furthermore, my kids, coming from an entirely different background, lived in a smaller world, and during the same time I tried to expand their horizons and tell them about the world at large, I grew in my appreciation for my fortune in life, the numerous opportunities with which I have been presented.
It was also my first time living with 5 others of my age - a taste of the college dorm life soon to come. Spending almost a full month with these fellow teachers, each remarkable in his or her own way, I learned to much about myself, and was able to open up to those who were, by then, close friends. By the end of AID Summer, after training, teaching, and touring Taiwan, we were bound in our mutual knowledge that the experience we shared was unique.
When I think back to AID Summer, I remember not so much the hard work of teaching, but rather the students that were, for a little while, mine. I remember the smiles and laughter that came out of joyful camaraderie with my fellow teachers, my friends. It was a certainly an unforgettable experience.
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Chi, Ning (紀寜)
Coming straight from the airport, I arrived at the Jian-tan Youth Center. It was midnight and I had no idea what to expect for the next day. That night, the counselors announced that morning call would be at 6:00am and that was enough for the whole group to groan and complain. We all got sorted to our rooms around 1:00 am and knew our roommates would not be happy with us barging in so late. After waking up two roommates, I got ready for bed, not knowing what to expect the next morning.
To be honest, training week was torturous for me. I am not one for fully scheduled days with no freedom or time outside. I felt somewhat trapped and was worried about the rest of my program. However, after meeting my teacher (or "coach"), I felt slightly more at home. Additionally, being stuck with a group of strangers made me feel slightly awkward as well, as I am generally a more introverted individual. But somehow, we slowly started talking around the meal table and started getting to know each other.
After training week, my group became closer with the activities we were forced to do together. Getting to the school, I didn't know what to expect either. Being describe as rural and desolate, with only one 7-11, I was a little worried. However, getting to the school, we were welcomed by a group of teachers, administrators, and the school dog!
I was incredibly lucky with the class that I got with my teaching partner. By week two, my teaching partner and I had already gotten close and could only get closer. Our class was rowdy, but more in a playful and curious way, rather than mischievous. They were as curious about our American-ness as we were about the Taiwanese culture. While teaching them English during class time, they often taught us Chinese during breaks and lunch. Our kids often played with us after school too, hoping to spend more time with us. After two weeks, it was hard leaving them. The day we were leaving, they came to school at 7 am to say goodbye to us, hugging us and telling us that we cannot ever forget them!
Leaving the school was difficult, knowing the chance of seeing these kids again was unlikely. They taught us so much in exchange for what we (hopefully) taught them. The experience of it all was something that cannot be replicated. I'll miss my kids lots and all the people I've met in the program.
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Tsai, Annie (蔡硯如)
The summer I spent in Taiwan with AID was probably the best summer of my life. I not only got to do things I've never done before, I also grew as a person and learned more about the world as a whole.
When I was picked up in the Taipei airport (I forget the name), I was still kind of unsure about my decision to attend. I didn't know if it would be a waste of a summer or the best summer ever like so many previous AID volunteers had claimed. Everyone was pretty friendly though so I soon felt at home. We got to Chientan and, let me just say upfront, training week is nothing to be excited about. Still, the first week there wasn't bad and, although a lot of the things they taught us turned out to be inapplicable when we started actually teaching, I still learned a lot from the other volunteers around me.
The village that my school was in was beautiful. We spent the first weekend getting to know the area and getting to know each other even better. Then the first day of teaching arrived and it was nothing like I expected it to be. My kids were actually not nearly as rowdy as I thought they would be from all the stories I heard at Chientan (but apparently, ours was an exception) and they knew way more English than they told us they would. In fact, any teaching plans we had made beforehand were completely thrown out the window by the first night. So every night, we would start from scratch again, staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning making sure we had something productive to do every hour of the school day. But all that work paid off in the end.
When we first started teaching, my teaching partner and I tried to use English, but clearly our students weren't going to let us get away with that so we had to start using Mandarin to explain activities. Also, I found that I couldn't become close with my students if there was a language barrier, and I realized that being on friendly terms with my students was important if I ever wanted them to do anything I asked so I gave up on the all-English policy.
Anyway, after the first failure of a day (one student even said she was bored to death because she already knew everything we were teaching), we were pretty discouraged. But we went back to our dorms and re-did our teaching plan for the next day so when morning rolled around, we had something fresh to teach. Each day was better than the last. By the end of the two weeks, our kids had went from being "bored to death" to raving about our lessons. Every teacher has his or her success story, and that was ours.
When we left our two military guys/photographers/teacher assistants, our other teacher assistants, and the coordinator and her son, we were in tears. I have literally never grown so close to a group of people so fast. But tour week could not wait for us, so we had to part ways. The first couple of days of tour week my thoughts were still stuck back at our school in Pingtung. But pretty soon, I was having fun again and making new memories and reliving old ones with my group mates. The goodbye ceremony at the end of tour week was just as sad as the bus ride leaving our school. The four weeks with AID flew by and, if I could, I would do it all over again.
This whole experience has really taught me a lot (like how to keep my money separated at all times or how to build a heat tolerance) and allowed me to forge new friendships and meet people from every corner of the world. For someone who comes from a smaller, lesser known city, this experience has showed me just how big and how incredible the world really is.
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Liu, Tzu-Ning (劉子寧)
This summer has been the most memorable and life-changing. Even though the first week at Chientan was long, sitting through all of the lectures and waiting for lunch or dinner time, I never thought I would meet so many people from California, all over the U.S., and all over the world. Before the program, my teaching group were six strangers who knew nothing of each other. As we spend more and more time with each other, we come to the wonderful county of Changhua where spend two wonderful weeks in the little township of Pitou. There in our school, Dahu Elementary School, we met our wonderful mentors and caretakers, Kevin, Tony, and Fran. I taught the youngest class, Class 1A. My students were the most well-behaved, frolicking in their innocence and attempting to absorb the amount of English my partner and I were stuffing into their tiny heads. Though they may not have learned as much English as we have hoped in those two weeks, I certainly have learned a lot from the students, the adults, and my surroundings. As our two weeks in Changhua came to a close, I exited the school with lots of international bonds and a new family with my teaching group. During the closing ceremony, my students came running to me and attacking us with massive hugs. It was both heartwarming and loving. I miss teaching, my students, and the school officials still to today. We left Changhua and traversed to our next stop, a week of traveling from the southern tip of Taiwan to the northern tip with the best friends I have made. We went to lots of night markets, drank a lot of boba, learned a lot about Taiwanese history, and immersed ourselves into the Taiwanese culture.
This month with AID was beyond what I expected to be. I have developed a new insight to living, and I really do want to pursue traveling to foreign countries and helping others. I came to Taiwan as an American to pass on my knowledge and experiences, but this trip taught me even more than I taught them. Thank you AID for giving me this opportunity that thousands of students in the world applied for. It has been amazing, and I loved every second of this trip. Thank you!
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Liu, Andrea (劉安愉)
I had a great time in Taiwan. AID was fairly efficient in providing lodging, dining and transportation. The tour, I think, would have been better if the buses didn't all congregate and we were able to travel in smaller groups, as opposed to just the two "North" and "South" tours.
The best part about this program though were the people I met. Anybody can travel to Taiwan and get a teaching job, but only through AID do you meet other really awesome and cool people. After coming home, I still hang out with my roommates, but I lucked out because we all actually live pretty close to each other in America.
It was incredibly rewarding to teach the children and I feel like I learned a lot about Taiwan on this trip.
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Zhang, Matthew (張昊生)
After a restless 14 hour flight and a one hour wait in customs, I was weary. I rounded the corner with my luggage in tow and entered the arrivals hall, scanning the wall of signs and faces. And then, with a bright magenta shirt and an equally bright smile, a girl called out to me. “Hi! Are you in AID?” she asked. Her cheerful greeting was quite a stirring welcome. She was just one of the countless people I encountered on my first trip to Taiwan that made AID Summer such an exceptional experience for me.
The teachers who worked closely with me as I developed my lesson plans at Chientan and as I taught at Dacun Elementary. The counselors who not only assisted me from the very beginning but also became my close friends in the weeks that followed. The host family who took me in as their own and provided me with a new place to call “home”. The eighteen TAs at Dacun who prepared materials during class and became my good buddies when the last bell rang. The seven teaching partners who were always by my side, ready to lend a hand or just have a good time. And of course, the students who worked as hard as they played, always smiling, eager to learn more. These are the people who defined my experience in Taiwan this summer.
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Chao, Eric (趙庭安)
The first introductions in our room at Chientan were halting and awkward. 20 minutes later Kevin and I were already sharing clothes (he forgot long pants, so I lent him my jeans). 60 minutes later and we were already cracking jokes at the counselors onstage during the icebreaking activities. We met our teacher, and were surprised to find a young and energetic woman, who in another life might have been our older sister or cousin. In the following few days I got to know my group members better, and made some good friends among my tablemates at meals, all while preparing to go teach.
Teaching at Ma Guang Elementary School in Tuku, Yunlin was perhaps one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life. Despite the hardships of bugs, the heat, challenges posed by the students, and rock-hard wooden beds that kept us awake and threatened the integrity of our spines each night, I grew accustomed to the situation and even began to enjoy it. Despite the amount of work that we did each day and night after school, we still found time to enjoy ourselves, going to night markets, playing some badminton, or just hanging out and talking. Despite the fact that our students had a wide range of English proficiency that forced us to utilize Mandarin more than we had anticipated, we managed to convey our intentions to the children (my Chinese improved substantially, enough to hold conversations with my relatives). Despite, or perhaps in spite, of the troubles and headaches that our students gave us for my teaching partner and myself, the highlights of our days were having fun with our students, watching them learn and enjoy themselves, and watching a group of girls draw us in an idealized perspective (somehow I ended up with K-Pop hair). At Chientan, we had thought that we knew each other pretty well, but working together, virtually isolated in a small community brought us closer together than I ever thought would happen.
If teaching was fulfilling, then tour was filled with fun. We were on the Southern tour, where we were pleasantly surprised to find that our counselor from training week at Chientan, Alice, was on our bus. Although we came from different regions and I didn't anyone from the other groups from our bus(BUS 4EVER), we gradually bonded over our group performances and by being on the same bus for 4-5 hours each day. For a week we traveled up Taiwan towards Taipei, having a great time and seeing many amazing sights. The last few days we spent in Taipei were extremely bittersweet, as we knew we would have to say goodbye soon. Even though the program is over, I've still kept in contact with both my group and other friends I made during AID. It's been a wonderful and eye opening experience, and I'm glad that I had the chance to participate in such a life changing month.
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Lin, Joyce (林潔心)
AID Mu Dan School Reflection
Being at Mu Dan Middle School in Ping Dong has been a life changing experience. My two weeks here have been fun, exciting, and challenging all at the same time.
The reason why I decided to apply for the Taiwan AID program was because I am an aspiring elementary school teacher. I knew that AID would be a really great opportunity to get some experience with teaching English. I love kids and I love Taiwan so AID was extremely appealing to me. But when I found out I was going to be working with middle schoolers, I became a bit worried because I’ve never worked with middle schoolers before. Also, I remember my own middle school years and the fact that the kids either really loved or really hated their teachers. I did not know what to expect and how my experience in Taiwan would turn out.
But, after coming here and meeting the 7th graders, I was reassured that my two weeks in Mu Dan would be very enjoyable. I liked my students right away. I knew they would be the most rowdy but most excited crowd, compared to the 8th and 9th graders. They never got tired or bored. The first day here was awesome being able to talk to some of the kids individually. I learned that some of the kids are far away from their parents, so coming here might have been tough for them the first couple of days. But the other students, teachers, and staff are all very caring so I can see that the kids now feel at home here.
Teaching the 7th graders was a very enjoyable, but sometimes challenging experience. Many of the students vary widely in their English skills, so that was one of the obstacles for my teaching partner and me to overcome. We did not exactly know how to cater to everyone so that the lower level kids would not suffer, and that the higher level kids would not be bored. Throughout the week we noted what activities and games worked and what did not. Thus, we were able to adjust our entire original lesson plans to better fit the needs of all of the kids. With this, the lesson plans and teaching improved day by day. Also, I learned how to gain authority and respect from the kids without being too nice or too harsh. I learned how to comfort kids who felt discouraged and talk kids out of misbehaving or becoming bored. I learned how to get the smarter students and the kids who love attention, more involved. Sometimes my teaching partner and I would be tired at the end of the day, because the kids are very rowdy and excited. In class, they like to get out of their seats after each activity so we often had to call them back to their seats and wait a few minutes for them to calm down. However, these challenges were minimal so I consider myself extremely lucky to have had such a fun group of kids.
I had a lot of fun playing games, singing songs, dancing, joking, reciting words, and doing activities with the kids. This group of kids is one of the funniest, most lovable, and most fun group I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with. I cannot even begin to describe how I feel about all of the students. I love all of them and wish I could be with them longer. Every day I spent with them made me love them more and more.
On another note, I am very grateful for the staff here at Mu Dan for welcoming us and making us feel at home. All of the teachers were extremely friendly and even took us out to have fun. I want to thank them for feeding us and taking us around, and I want to thank Principle Wang for letting us stay at his house and organizing this program.
Mu Dan has become home to me these past two weeks and I am sad that we are leaving. I hope all the best for everyone at Mu Dan and that the kids will have motivation to continue learning English. I hope that we have made a lasting impression here, as everyone at Mu Dan has made a lasting impression on me that I will carry for the rest of my life. Maybe one day, I will come back here to visit or maybe even to teach. I am no longer sure whether I will stick to teaching elementary school or will I maybe switch to middle school.
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Lin, Eric (林家安)
This summer, I underwent a life changing experience. I joined AID at the recommendation of friends and family. Overall, it was a thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable experience. I massed together with seven other wonderful and amazing individuals, and over the course of a month, they became my second family. We traveled to Sandi and the 2 weeks that we spent there were some of the best i have ever experienced. The people were great and friendly and we made more friends than we could count. On the last day, facebooks were exchanged and tears were shed. I miss the people there like crazy and I wouldn't trade my time with them for anything in the world. The last week, we went on a tour and I sat on Bus D. Bus D was one of the best buses and was filled with 36 other unique and great individuals. I made more friends than I could count. Overall, the month I spent while participating AID was one of the best that I have ever experienced and it will be an experience that I will never forget.
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Chen, Jenny (陳钧宜)
This was an amazing experience! In the beginning it seemed a bit too structured (though I understand that was necessary due to the overwhelming amount of volunteers involved in the program) and we didn't really have time to get to know our group members. However once we got to the schools and started teaching we really had time to bond within the group. Especially during the weekends when we got to go out (and with our teaching partners all week as well as after classes during planning time). It was awesome getting to know the teachers at our school and learning about their daily lives and talking to them about everything in America as well. I ended up becoming really close with a few of my group members and I know it was all due to AID. Getting to know the children, my fellow teachers, and the people that took care of us was truly wonderful. During tour week we got to know even more people, though at first it was a bit difficult to branch out from our school group. I liked that we got to visit many places, but some of the places would have been a lot more enjoyable if we had more time and weren't so rushed (or herded around like cattle). In the end it was obvious how much the program meant to me (and everyone else) by the amount of tears shed at the thought of leaving. Even now, I'm sad that I won't be able to wake up every morning and see my friends and hang out with them in this wonderful country, but I definitely have no regrets in attending this program!
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Chen, Esther (陳品維)
I really enjoyed the program this past summer. It enlightened me on many aspects of Taiwanese culture that I would have never been exposed to had I not joined this program. It also opened my eyes to the many technical aspects of teaching. It made me realize how difficult teaching young children can really be. Prior to attending this program, I had never given so much thought as to how to get children really interested and to actively participate in class, or how to assess their learning in a "fun" way, rather than simply administering tests and quizzes every so often. I also enjoyed this program because it showed me how different the school life in Taiwan is than that in America. In Taiwan, I believe the students are much more respectful of their students and willing to behave in a classroom environment. This contrasts with many students in America, who feel less "restrained" to misbehave and speak out inappropriately in class. All in all, I am extremely glad that I participated in the AID Summer program this summer. It was a wonderful overall experience and allowed me to meet many other volunteers across America and students thousands of miles away in Taiwan.
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Chiu, Le Wen (邱樂文)
To start off, AID was truly the best month of my life. In the beginning I was unsure of what to expect, but after the first day, I found out everyone was basically the same way and we were all going through this together. The first week to be honest was quite boring, but sitting through lectures and working with my assigned group mates was actually very helpful for the upcoming two weeks of teaching. It didn't hit me until after I got to my school that I was actually going to be responsible for a whole class for 10 days. Luckily, we had arrived early enough to have the weekend to prepare. The school administration welcomed us with open arms and were very excited to have us there. They were kind, gracious, and incredibly willing to help us with anything we needed.
The first day of teaching was really nerve-wracking because my partner and I hadn't prepared enough material to last us the whole day, but we improvised with icebreaker games and everything was fine. The kids were a little shy at first but there were always a couple students who would participate. Over the next 2 weeks, the class actually became a family. Eating lunch with the students, watching over them during nap time, and talking with them during breaks really allowed us to become closer and regard each other as friends. Not to mention, this forced the kids to speak and be more comfortable in conversing in English. The last day of school was bittersweet. I felt really proud to see my students on stage performing after working so hard for about a week preparing our show for the closing ceremony. The dean of the school later sent us a full CD of our time at the school, so I will most certainly never forget our experiences together.
After the daily teacher meeting afterschool, the rest of the day was basically free time. Normally the group would do laundry, hang out in the auditorium room, or use our laptops for a bit before starting on the next day's lesson plan. The school was big and there was lots to explore, so walking around became a regular occurrence too. A cook would come to the school at around 6 pm every evening to provide us with dinner and it was always very delicious. At night, the group would work with their respective teaching partners and spend the late hours of the day either collaborating or making teaching tools for the next day.
During these 2 weeks of teaching, my teaching group became really close as well. We lived at the school and rarely ever left it. Working until late exposed us to what each other's habits were and created countless memories that still bring a smile to my face. It is almost inevitable to become so close when we spent practically 24/7 with each other. Everybody was so kind and eager to help out; sometimes our mentor teacher would come by and have a quick late night snack with us. By the end of the 2 weeks, I never wanted to leave. I never thought I would become so attached to these people or the school, and it surprised me how much I actually was. Saying goodbye for the final time was sad and difficult, but we still keep in touch on Facebook.
Overall, I am so glad that I got the opportunity to participate in this program. It truly opened my eyes and changed me as a person. Before, I was quite reserved and shy, but meeting and getting to know so many new people has allowed me to open up and be more outgoing. Thank you AID Summer 2013, it has been the time of my life!
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Guo, Dustin (郭心盛)
When I first applied, I remember reading about how selective the program was. This wasn't just a regular volunteer camp but rather one that focused on getting the most qualified people to come and teach. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the people I ended up meeting were nothing short of amazing.
My group had students from both high school and college, the U.S. and Canada. Each of us had different backgrounds, and as such, we also had differing views on what teaching was. Although most of us had relatives in Taiwan, we had never really learned what it was like to live in rural Taiwan for a couple weeks. The experience is probably kind of cliche by now, but it is still true: boy leaves sheltered U.S. life, boy sees slightly disadvantaged world, boy can't use toilet paper and flush it down the toilet, boy realizes that there is more to life than just the small trivialities of his seemingly important day to day life.
The kids, especially, taught me a lot. I had to learn how to teach from the very students I was teaching. Each night, my group mates and I had to sit down and rewrite the teaching plan - we were always learning new and better ways to keep our kids occupied. It took us a couple of days to realize that there was no way we could possibly teach to them all of the vocabulary we had thought of. Two weeks just was not enough.
It was, however, enough to inspire the children to seek out English for themselves. The result was what seemed to me to be a cultural exchange of sorts. We actively taught them about the English world - of customs in the U.K., U.S., and Canada, different foods (Taiwan had a lack of Taco Bells), and just how normal day-to-day life went for us. The children loved to hear about American or Canadian life. They wanted to hear from us - not YouTube or a textbook - what it is like to be a teenager in America or Canada.
Not only was AID Summer a fantastic experience in teaching children - it was also an adventure. As a first-time visitor to Taiwan, I had the pleasure to visit the night market and experience day-to-day Taiwanese life. We ate what they ate, we did what they did, and we lived where they would have lived.
AID Summer was more than just a number of hours to put on a college app for volunteering. It was an adventure in every aspect. Each day was enjoyable. Meeting new people during the training week, living on-campus for two weeks and talking with the locals (we made friends with the kids from a nearby mushroom factory), and then going out to travel from the Southernmost tip of Taiwan to the Northernmost proved to be more than anything I could have expected.
I came out with a new effectiveness in dealing with bugs. I came out with new friends that I, on occasion, still speak to; friends with which I made a promise to see again. I came out with a rejuvenated love for adventure.
AID Summer was an escape from life back home in Arizona, and it reminded me just how big the world is. My problems from back home didn't matter anymore, and life changed to be what was at that moment the present. It reminded me not to sweat the small stuff. Sometimes we get sucked into the trivialities of life and forget just to live.
AID Summer was living.
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