By Rosie Lu
I’m not here to convince you to spend your summer volunteering abroad in another one of those LinkedIn buzzword-coded “life-changing programs that fostered personal growth and broadened horizons.”
Okay, maybe I will end up convincing you, but only by accident. My main purpose is to share the greatest source of my happiness and fulfillment from this summer, brought to us by Connexpedition. The highlight of the program is the two-week service trip in Taiwan, where members teach English and American culture to underprivileged communities in New Taipei City.
The first five months of nearly bi-monthly trainings were as foreboding and content-filled as one would expect for training to become a teacher. But this was also where I got to meet my super awesome team and choose our shirt color—I still credit the neon pink for our team spirit in Taiwan! We pulled up with Wingstop, Popeyes, and various chips and drinks during a training for a potluck.
Once all members had found their ways to Taiwan, we resided at a local college, National Taiwan Normal University, for some team bonding experiences and lesson prep. A group of Taiwanese college students took us to a night market, where we were pleasantly greeted by violent downpours of rain and mouthwatering street food.
After a few nights at the NTNU dorms, each team departed for their schools—my eyecatching pink-clad team headed to Ganyuan Junior High School. First impressions (technically second, since I’m a returning member): beautiful campus, super friendly staff, not much to do in the area besides visit OK Mart, the local convenience store.
And boy oh boy, did we take advantage of that tiny OK Mart. A few of us got up half an hour earlier than our 7:00am wakeup bell for our daily dose of retail therapy. For me, a convenience store run usually looked like a 茶葉蛋 (tea egg), a mini carton of 黑豆漿 (black soybean milk), and a specific brand of Greek yogurt we were all obsessed with.
My teaching partners and I staked our claim on a third floor classroom, closest to the sun beating down on us from the sky… because the sky’s the limit when it comes to learning! A normal schedule looked like:
- Breakfast at 8 a.m.
- Students arrive at 8:30 a.m, though class begins at 9
- Three classes 9-12 p.m.
- Lunch break (BENTO!) 12-1 p.m.
- Three more classes, school day ends 1-4 p.m.
- Team debrief/lesson prep 4-5 p.m.
- Dinner/team outing/free time 5-9 p.m.
Aside from coaching our students on standard English skills, we also incorporated cultural enrichment into our lessons. My favorite moments were when we took our chances with dry ice, pretended to pee in a cup (for a class on water-absorbing polymers), and created our own uniquely ultra-scary haunted house for a mock Halloween. When the class energy died down a little, we engaged in chaotic icebreakers—musical chairs to Bieber hits while simultaneously belting out the lyrics, very forgiving Hangman, and learning the camp dance (featuring “Zoo” by Shakira). If the gym was free to use, we taught American PE games, which the kids enjoyed immensely—street hockey, kickball, and capture the flag among many others.
With all that physical activity, of course we ate well. The school provided us with delicious bentos from different restaurants every day—a box typically containing a protein, three types of veggies or side dishes, and a braised egg, all over a base of rice. My favorite was a yuzu chicken version with glass noodles, scrambled eggs, and cabbage.
In our limited free time, we took to the streets… or the seas? After spending so long with nothing but the crickets around us at Ganyuan, we ventured out on Friday nights into the closest human civilization—Shulin District, for the local mall’s food court and retail therapy offerings. But on weekends, oh boy.
Our first adventure was in Tamsui, an egregiously sweltering-hot coastal area near Taipei. With us were the blues from another team, and we embarked on chaotic four-seater bike rides—my group zooming at uncontrollable speeds, with me on the wheel. Then we strolled through Tamsui Old Street sweating buckets, trying to find a public restroom. Mission failed… but we acquired yummy fried calamari and thirst-quenching watermelon juice instead.
The highlight of our weekend activities was a two-hour speedrun of Ximending, a bustling metropolitan shopping street with trendy fashion stores and buzzworthy eats. Among the hordes of happy shoppers, we definitely stood out—our pink shirts and reactions to a rare public trash can may have attracted a few strange looks. We hit up 2nd Street for well-organized yet affordable vintage shopping, then we squeezed in a Pop-Mart Run for the blind box fanatics, admired some oddly shaped chocolates (if you know you know), ending our time-crunched spree with a big bowl of wonton soup per person.
Our experience with taxis was… not too great, to say the least, contrary to my previous impressions from vacation in Taipei. As yammering blabbering English speakers, we were clearly NOT locals, and the drivers took advantage of our American custom of tipping. Paying extra for good service is definitely not the norm in Taiwan, but my unaware friend riding shotgun was tricked into dropping a whopping 300 NTD (or $10 USD), nearly doubling our total taxi fare. But we say all’s well that ends well, because we got home safely instead of being taken to a scary dark alleyway. It could have ended so much worse—another group was followed by their taxi driver into our school, until our team leader went after him with a giant broom and a pair of bathroom slippers.
Now, all that fun aside, we were asked to participate in an online conference this year with our students to showcase the fruits of the summer camp. My students won second place in their division! In past years, the kids presented their English speeches on various attractions in New Taipei City in person, but a big scary typhoon bared its fangs and we were all locked inside for that day. My team stocked up on instant noodles, Greek yogurt, tea eggs, various caffeinated drinks, and cilantro Doritos to sustain us through the storm.
Guess what? The typhoon never came, which meant that the program had been terminated for no reason. But even though this year’s Connexpedition was two days shorter, I feel as if I’ve made a lifetime’s worth of memories.
There was the frustration and anxiety when things didn’t work out, or when we had to teach an especially difficult lesson, or when our kids were being too rambunctious… But ultimately, as we karaoke-ed to “Beauty and a Beat” in the last class, all I remembered was how proud I was to see my own efforts and joy reaching my students every day, and those rare but exceptionally gratifying moments where I could connect with them through some randomly niche cultural reference (67?).
And then there’s my team. I already wrote a few-thousand-word letter to them on the Connexpedition blog, but being able to share everything—our weekend expeditions, movie nights in the dorm, midnight conversations—made me realize how fun it can be to be so busy and how easy and valuable it is to connect so deeply with someone in such a short amount of time.
A final word to all of the amazing teachers on this planet: I never truly realized how tiring and emotionally draining your jobs are until now. You are all amazing for sharing your energy and enthusiasm with us every day and somehow making us enjoy these supposedly boring subjects. Thank you for each day at school!