Professional and Personal Growth: Semester 1

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Reflections at the Mid-Year Conference

The Kinmen cohort members and coordinators

The Foundation for Scholarly Exchange's English Language Teaching Forum and Mid-Year Conference was one filled with reflections and discussions on our time as foreign teachers. It was the middle of January, and the first semester came to a close. In correspondence to the themes of reflection and future planning, I thought about my first two months in Kinmen. I was a stranger. Eventually, the "Wow, I'm actually here!" began to fade, and I really started to feel like a strange person on the island. I didn't have friends, the stares kept catching me off-guard, and I struggled with co-teaching and co-planning. By October, I realized that I needed my community back home. We had video and voice calls. I shared aspects of my day-to-day life with family and friends. I felt more connected from those small things. Later, one of my cohort members and I became closer friends, and she introduced me to some community members and a church community! I even got out of my comfort zone with my little lunch and dinner series with coworkers. It wasn't until December when I started to see that I had grown from being an afraid foreigner to an adapted foreigner. 

Arrival in Taiwan

In our end-of-the-semester workshop, two Fulbright advisors led us in an introspective activity about our past, present, and future selves. We chose one object to represent each version of ourselves-- who we were at the beginning of the grant, who we are now, and who we want to be towards the end of the grant. My three objects were the screaming chicken toy, a camera, and a blanket. We shared our objects and reasonings with the members of our group.

I chose the screaming chicken toy to represent who I was at the start of the grant. My first two months in Kinmen were hectic. I was vulnerable to any kind of comment or gesture. Someone could look at me, and I'd flinch. I hated standing in front of my classes. I was shaky and agitated by everything because it was a system overload. Too much, too soon, too fast. When you step on or squeeze the chicken toy, it makes a noise. That was me.

Me in Japan

The camera represented my present self. Eventually, I had adjusted to different aspects of living on the island-- still on edge but adjusted. My host family had took me on a hiking trip, where we saw this hidden beach that was truly beautiful and happened to be in the same township I live in! I had been taking pictures of almost every place I've been, each food or snack I've tried, and using that to live in the present moment. When I needed something to comfort me, I would take a photo of something I found interesting. I was waiting for the bus to come and saw this bush that had a few flowers sprinkled in it. I saw a bee on one of the flowers and a blue butterfly flying around the bush. Took a picture because I wanted to remember the moment. The bus didn't come, but one of my coworkers recognized me and offered me a ride. This story is an example of my day-to-day life in Kinmen-- sometimes I take pictures of ordinary things and might experience a hiccup but something or someone comes along and makes my day better.

The last object I chose was a blanket. Choosing between the blanket and the star was tough, I like stars. I like shining like a star. I like being stellar at what I do. The blanket correlated more with my goals for the rest of the grant period because I want to feel and be comfortable in Kinmen, in the classroom, and in the teachers' office. Being a scared chicken in nearly every aspect of my life last semester was no fun, so I am going forward with the hopes of being comfortable as a teacher, a foreigner, and as a human being. Many things-- big and small-- have transpired since arriving in September, of which I am grateful. From those things, I am a little more experienced, a little more aware, and a little more excited for the next semester!

From a scared chicken to a cozy blanket, the spring semester will see a girl who has adapted to living in an environment that embraced her even though she was cautious of her appearance and mannerisms. She wasn't scared to travel the 8,000 miles, but she was scared about what impressions she gave once she was there.

"...a little more experienced, a little more aware, and a little more excited..."

Community and Character

So far, I have made a couple friends with local community members. I made acquaintances with some workers at restaurants I frequent. One friend went to Japan and brought back a gift! It was really sweet that she thought about me during her trip. I told almost everyone in my cohort about it because I was so appreciative of the gesture. 

One of the really cool things about living in Kinmen is the reciprocity of kindness. The community is quite giving. When I landed back in Kinmen, I visited the older lady who sells xiaolongbao at her shop. Her face lit up when she saw me! She saw I had two bottles of cranberry juice in my hand and offered a bag to make carrying the items easier. I go to her shop fairly often because you know the food is good if people are willing to wait for longer than 20 minutes for it. I get to see the whole process of making xiaolongbao. 

My friend who brought me a gift from Japan had been on leave the week I got back to Kinmen. I brought her a gift from the US. I went back to the shop another day because I wanted to get the chicken wings-- I was craving wings-- but they were sold out. Although they didn't have the wings, she gave me this snack that looks like a chicken nugget but has a cream corn filling. It was deliciously unexpected!

This place I order food from on Foodpanda sells Korean food. One order, I only ordered French fries. When I order just fries, I usually get just fries; but this time, they gave me two tteokbokki (fried rice cakes). I thought to myself that was sweet of them, thinking it was random. The next time I order from the restaurant, I order a meal, usually the meal comes with two to three little rice cakes. I got five of them. I don't know who prepared my meals those two times, but whoever they were, thank you for your kindness. Another interaction was with a stationery store owner who was super kind to me when I first arrived in Kinmen. I only knew how to say thank you in Mandarin at the time, and she was surprised I said it after only answering with head nods and shakes the whole conversation. This time, I came to the store to buy a new lunchbox and pens. She told me to wait on her, which is a phrase I had learned from one of my students last semester. After I got my supplies, one of my co-teachers entered the store, and we greeted each other. The store owner gave me a pack of crackers. 

And the kindness continues! My friend who works at this sit-down restaurant that's usually pretty empty was working today, so I got to talk to her about what we did for the Lunar New Year. She went back to Taiwan to be with family. We shared our little adventures as I ordered my food. After she brought out my food, she gave me a piece of chocolate cake. The meal and the dessert were so delicious! 

When school started again, some of my second graders ran to me in the hallways and hugged me. Those were the sweetest interactions, and I missed them so much too. Some of my second graders know I had a stash of snacks in my office, so they'll come to the office all shy acting and giggling like I didn't know they were there for the snacks. They say thank you and then run away. I hadn't got back to playing with them yet because I've been working on lesson plans and another project. 

Also, I've been upgraded from Brittany 老師 (teacher) to Brittany 姊姊 (sister) for some of my second graders. I'm honored! One of my sixth graders even asked if I can sign his yearbook at his graduation.

"One of the really cool things about living in Kinmen is the reciprocity of kindness."

Postcard from Izzy!

I think this is a testament to being kind. Be kind and kindness finds you. 

I can't forget about my friends back home. They've been great companions while we're no longer within 15-30 minutes away from each other. I get postcards, text messages, and voice messages about their lives or pieces of encouragement. It was great to see family and friends when I went back to Mississippi. I missed them so much and being home was so much more comforting than I expected.

It felt awkward coming back to Kinmen, but I came back with a new motivation for the spring semester. I even came back to pleasant surprises and acts of kindness.

To more adventures and character development~

Brittany