Weekends in Kinmen

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The Countries Represented at the International Day Event

I love slow weekend mornings. No alarms buzzing me to wake up. The cool breeze of the A/C nudging me to stay in bed. Ordering breakfast from foodpanda and watching a show on Netflix.

Sometimes, our cohort participates in events on weekends to increase exposure to and practice of English with young students. A few weekends ago on Easter Sunday, we participated in Kinmen's International Education Day event, the Kinmen Globetrotters: Dream Big, Explore the World. 

My Booth for France

The Kinmen cohort and some foreign teachers represented countries from around the world. Our booths could be related to food culture, a cultural experience, language and expressions, sports and challenges, or a traditional game. 

I represented France,  法國! At my booth, I set it up like a café. Students would learn a few French words like bonjour, merci, au revoir, une croissant, un café. I put the Mandarin, English, and French words on the flashcards for students of various levels to engage with the activity. It was fun seeing parents get involved and interested in learning the French words, too! After the students said the vocabulary words, they each got one snack: a palmier, mille feuille, or a mini chocobeau. They received a stamp from the country to fill their stamp card for the event's activities. The stamp for France was the Arc de Triomphe!

Teaching French Greetings

There were other activities going on such as music and dance performances by junior high students and local community members. It was a great turnout to the event as well! I saw a few of my students from both 2nd and 6th grades. 

I kept trying to grab a snack, but my booth had attracted visitors! I did get a Taiwanese sausage, and we were provided lunch-- an omelet that was so warm and delicious. After the event, I received another Taiwanese sausage. For context, I had stood in line to get a sausage but had to leave the line to work at my booth. One of my coordinators stood in line to get one for me. I guess the guy working at the tent thought I didn't get the food, so he brought me another one. I was surprised, but I appreciated it because I was pretty hungry that day. I saved the snack for later because we had to end the event and clean up. We took pictures with the big signs of each country represented and received congratulations for our hard work and effort. 

The Beatitudes on a Takeout Bag

Trap Park

After the event ended, a couple of my friends and I went to eat lunch and chat. There had been a bit of things to catch up on in our little lives in Kinmen as the past couple weeks up until that point were quite adventure-filled. Later, we went to a trap park in Jinhu Township. I didn't know what a trap park was, but it was quite a beautiful view. I could see people taking in the ocean breeze and waves or grabbing their buckets in search of oysters. It's oyster season in Kinmen, and there was an oyster festival. I missed it, but I tried an oyster omelet for the first time! Quite an interesting texture, but it had good flavor! 

We had gotten drinks at a milk tea shop. I got a passion fruit and guava smoothie. The shop had cute characters on their cups. I had hoped for the character dressed in pink. Telling my friends which character I wanted, hoping that somehow I'd get that cup. My friends both received the same yellow cup, so I thought I might get a yellow cup, too. But I got the pink character, Pochacco! Found out he is a dog, not a rabbit, but the cup was so cute! I ended up putting it in my scrapbook because I got the cup I wanted.

Baby Sis Went to Prom

My sister went to prom! I'm so proud of my sister. Watching her grow into a beautiful, caring, and funny individual has been a sweet moment. We've gotten so close over the years that we say we are besties more than we are sisters. Being the long-distance sister is a tough journey of missing important moments like this, but Tiff will always share the details of her life with me. She looked absolutely stunning! I still can't believe she's a high school senior. She'll be going to college soon and really getting into her baby adult years soon. My little sib is growing up on me. In my head, she's still 14 with the humor of a 12-year-old boy. 

You know, living on a collection of islands has been quite a
lovely experience as someone who loves beaches. Have I taking up as many opportunities to go to a beach as I could? No, but I had been taking trips to the beach more recently. For instance, last weekend, I went to Chenggong Beach in Jinhu. Chenggong Beach is one of the smaller beaches and not as popular as Houhu Beach, but honestly just as beautiful. There's a curvy road that leads to Chenggong Beach, but I found this temple to sit down for a moment. I was in the area for a nail appointment, getting ready for another trip to Taiwan. I had about thirty minutes to spare, so I did a little bit of sightseeing at this beach that I've visited a couple times before.

The temple had this set of stairs that looked like they led straight to the ground. I liked the elephants that decorated the temple gates. I didn't want to intrude on anyone's practice as a car was parked in front of the temple. I went down the stairs and saw there was a nook close to the shoreline. I walked down the steep stairs, saw trees decorated with flowers, and some people who had a similar idea. I sat down on a bench in the nook area that overlooked the beach. The sun was shining brightly, a fisherman fished while the waves grew in strength. Although it was thirty minutes, it was enough time to take in sunlight, the view, and have a moment to decompress. The grant period is ending. Although I have ideas of what I want to do after the grant, things are not yet set in stone. My plan for next year is like writing in the sand and the waves erasing my writing. I, also, don't have a plan surprisingly. I have goals though and a mindset to prune the growth I've experienced in Kinmen. I've done a lot of things here, and I'm proud of myself. 

A Nook Near Chenggong Beach

An Abandoned Building in Chenggong

Taking in the Kinmen landscape before I leave~

See you next time,

Brittany ♡