Friends Half a World Away!An ISTE SIGTel Online Learning Award winner - 2004

How the project began…

http://www.globalclassroom.org/2004/taiwan/index.html

“We believe this project will motivate students to know more about American people and culture, giving authenticity to their language experience. It'll be so interesting and exciting as students not only  learn new things from other kids of their age, but also show them about Taiwan.”

~Ana and Christine

The first steps… contact

Designing the Project

Christine and I have been thinking on the project and it seems to be better if we make it a group work; so your kids can brainstorm questions or facts they would like to know about China and Taiwan and we'll discuss them with our kids to give you a reply.

Where We Live

Last Thursday we found Maryland on an Atlas for children: like Taiwan, it's near the sea. Taiwan is in the Pacific Ocean, near Japan and China. It's small compared to...your country or many other countries in the world. We live in a town called Dayuan, which is in Taoyuan county. As Taiwan is so small, we don't have states, we have cities and counties: so Dayuan is within Taoyuan county. Can you find us on a map? You many need a magnifying glass to spot it!

Hi, I'm Apple! I'm 9 years old. I'm studying English because I want to go to Harvard one day.

We Live Near Oceans

We like your pictures very much. Today we colored Maryland and Taiwan on the map and wrote down the names of the two main oceans: Atlantic and Pacific ocean.

Rudy, who found you first on the map, said that he was searching quickly for "M" for Maryland right after Christine wrote it on the whiteboard. He spotted it very quickly! Maybe he doesn't know his talent, but we think he can read really fast.

Ana: YES! It's FUN! what makes Taiwan a fun place to live? (to her students…)

Rudy: (very loud voice) you can go hiking in the mountains. Ah! And you can enjoy hotsprings!

Is it fun to live in Taiwan?

hot springs, cold springs and mud springs!

Sars

“...we are on the threshold of winter, so everybody in the country is on the alert for another possible attack of Sars. Schools are taking children's temperatures before they step into the building.” ~Ana

What do you do during the Chinese New Year?

Mrs. Andrews’ students at Delmar

Do you get red pockets?~ Everybody get red pockets during the CNY. This year, Emily and Vivian got NT$7400 each, they were very lucky. Fanny got NT$3400, James got around NT$7000. Lisa and David don’t remember the amount. Jenny arrived late, so she didn’t get to answer the question. Some of us were allowed to keep the money with us but others’ red pockets were taken by parents to give to other kids.

Do you wear new clothes?~Yes! Everybody wears new clothes and shoes. We look good in our brand-new outfits!

Do you clean your house?Yes! We cleaned our home thoroughly so it’s spotless for the whole New Year.

Do you have dinner with your family?~Yes! The New Year means family gathering. On the CNY eve, most of us had dinner at our grandparents’ (from father’s side), then, on the second day, we went to our mom’s parents’ place for a visit. Hope this is not too confusing for you.

Do you get presents?~ Only a few of us get presents for CNY. Most of us have red pockets which allow us to buy what we like.

Do you dance?~No. But we either watch or set off the fireworks!

Do you visit friends?~Allen, Alice, Wendy, Howard, Apple and Emily usually go to visit their parents’ friends during the CNY holidays, but the rest of us don’t.

Do you play majong?~David, James and Howard played majong this year. Fanny didnn’t play but her dad did. It’s common for friends to gather together and play majong overnight.

Do you set off firecrackers?Most of the boys set off firecrackers (Apple is the only girl who is brave enough to do it) while girls chose to watch them doing it.

Thanksgiving

“…we don't have Thanksgiving and I don't really understand the kind of holiday you're celebrating. “

~Jenny

An Audience and a Purpose

“My students are taking the exchange much more seriously now because they realize that whatever they do, somebody out there called Patty has a magic touch to transform every little bit of their work into a fantastic page on the Internet. I really wish I have one whole hour to work exclusively on this project with my students! There are many things to learn and expand from this exchange!”

~Ana

Apple

“Apple bought a card and wrote something sweet on it (I dunno who she consulted to translate her words to English but, as you can see, when a child is interested, one doesn't have to push them to learn. They know whoand where to turn to)”

Ana

Can you see stars…?A friend of mine wrote to me from Cebu, The Philippines, saying that hehappened to look up into the sky from the deck of a steamboat and was amazedto see a web of twinkling stars that reminded him of his home in Santa Cruz(LA). Can you see stars easily from home? I haven't seen them for...who knows how long! ~Ana

“About the stars...yes, we can't see the stars because of air pollution; to see the twinkling sky one needs to go up the mountains. The higher, the better. Last year when I was working in Taipei, the capital city, days were humid and grey with frequent acid drizzles that people had to open their umbrellas even if the raindrops could hardly be felt. This year in this small town, Dayuan, I can enjoy ocean blue sunny days while riding my bike :-)” ~Ana

Presidential Election

The presidential election is drawing nearer (March 22), with pro-Union party(Taiwan as part of China) and pro-Independence party (Taiwan as a country ofits own). Thousands of Taiwanese are flocking into the country from all partsof world to cast their votes (It's not allowed to vote overseas). My fatheris coming back from Brasil with a charter flight full of friends supportingdemocracy and independence. My friends' parents from Toronto and Washington are doing likewise.

On Sat 2/28 there will be an event called "Holding hands across Taiwan" organized by the Green party (pro-Independence party) tocommemorate an important date in the past when political oppression led tothe massacre of people who craved for an honest and dignified government.I'm going to hold hands with Bunny and Scott in Taipei and will send youpictures afterwards.

SandstormWe are having a "sandstorm" from China so now the sky looks pale and gray. Between the air pollution and the sandstorm, many children and adults suffer respiratory problems and the number of people with asthma is rising year after year. ~Ana

Dear friends!

Last time I told Mrs. Weeg that we were having a light sandstorm from some desert in China. Well, luckily, we only suffered the first day, when we saw that cars are all covered with a light layer of  sand and dust. The whole dusty mass were blew away to who- knows- where after a sudden change in the air pressure. Nature is just amazing!

~Ana

From: http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/20040216/20040216s3.html

“Statistics collected by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on Sunday morning showed up to three times the normal volume of particles in the air in Tamsui, on Yangmingshan and in Bali, all in northern Taiwan.

http://www.skydust.org/

Transportation

~Yes, we have everything here. Long-distance buses (like Greyhound) in Taiwan have very large, individual seats that look like a gigantic sofa. We call that "presidential seats". Some more sophisticated buses have in front of each seat a mini screen where you can either watch films or play Gameboy. Mrs. Andrews or Weeg can also enjoy massage on those sofas.

~Ana, Alice, Apple, Allen, Wendy and Howard

Connor: Do you have cars, buses, trains, or do you ride bikes?

Gong Shi, Gong Shi!Listen to our sweet voice at:http://vipweb.url.com.tw/scottcc/HappyNewYearSong-a.wmv

The lyrics go like this:  mei tiao da gie shao shiang - In every street and alley,mei ke ren de jue li - from everybody's mouthchien mien di yi jui hua - the first word (spoken) when they meet somebodychio shi gong shi gong shi- is "congratulations, congratulations (happy new year!)" Gong Shi, Gong Shi! Friends from Taiwan

Stores in Taiwan?

Danielle wishes to know if

there are a lot of stores in Taiwan.

“Yes! We have a lot of stores everywhere, so many that my friend from America was amazed and took a lot of pictures. Most houses in Taiwan are built with a shop on their first floor, just in case somebody wants to rent it. If not, they use it as a living room. The concept is strange to most western people, as most of your homes look "home-like" but our homes may appear to be  store-lke...(maybe I can send you a picture so you understand it better). In Dayuan we can see a lot of breakfast stores selling traditional breakfast (soymilk, rice milk, fried sticks and so on) and western breakfast (hamburgers, sandwiches, milk tea, etc). There are also a lot of fried chicken shops and other eateries as well as drink stands selling all kinds of teas and juice.” ~Ana

http://users2.ev1.net/~turton/housing.html

We have no king…

Taylor, we have no king in our country. Like in USA, we have a president, Mr. Chen, who is struggling for an independent Taiwan (Taiwan is not an independent country...ask Sandra for more information). Although we have or own flag, our own passport, our own president and our own Constitution, we are not recognized by the international community as an independent country. Sad, isn't it? I wish one day we can become owner of the land we cherish. ~Ana 

Our Families

As our project ended in June the students wrote about their families and drew pictures to send to each other. This drawing was made by Erin in Taiwan.

http://www.globalclassroom.org/2004/taiwan/andrews/drawings.html