Top 3 of 2021

 Top 3 of 2021 - because Top 10 lists are too mainstream... actually because it will take too long to document them all

3. AIT passport run (January 14th) - Instead of taking a day off to celebrate the wife's birthday, we had to drive down to Kaohsiung to renew my daughter's passport so she doesn't get deported. Moral of the story - always check and set alarms to passport expiry dates. Highlight of the trip - delicious turkey rice at Chia Yi on the way back.  

2. Taichung MRT (April 5th) - Word in town was that the MRT was going to run when we arrive in 2015 but with delays, 2 new mayors, new stations and new routes, a major testing failure... we finally got to ride it in 2021! The line loops 1/2 way around the city from the Northeast to the Southwest where the HSR station is. The train line complete the entire loop for the city and we did exactly that. Riding from a nearby station in the Northeast to the last stop in the Southwest then hopping on the regular train, stopping at Taichung Main train station for some overpriced ice cream and then completing the loop back to where we started. 



1. Teaching Taiwan Unit in World History class (March) + Visit to National Museum of Taiwan History (April 7th)

Probably one of favorite units to teach this year. A new add-on to our curriculum since our students live in Taiwan, it only make sense to teach about Taiwan too. In a short 3-week unit, we trace the origin of Taiwan aboriginals, surveyed Taiwan colonial history - Dutch, Spanish, Ming & Qing Dynasty, Japanese, KMT. Finally we spent the last week discussing the Taiwan Question. 

Meanwhile the visit to the National Museum of Taiwan History in Tainan was probably our family's favorite museum visit this year. A super well done, well-kept/maintained museum that have a comprehensive collection of Taiwan history. It was fun and interactive that kept the kids entertained throughout our 4.5 hours inside (yup, our family are museum nerds). 

Other noteworthy highlights that would've made the list if it is longer (in no particular other)
  • diagnosed with diabetes 
  • trip to Yilan (October)
  • Thanksgiving in Taipei
  • Lonny (sister-in-law) visiting us 
  • Post-Christmas trip to Taipei - Zoo, New Taipei City Christmas Lights, CKS Memorial 
  • TIF moving to new location @ SYME
  • not getting a highway speeding ticket (2 years in a row! Thank you COVID and thank you no kenting)
Goals for 2022
  • procrastinate less on grading
  • exercise more 
  • leave the main island of Taiwan at least once this year 
  • finish reading the bible cover to cover at least once this year
  • blog more?
  • go back to school???



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

So Asher went "viral"...

Image
 Woke up Saturday with the boys bringing their lego creations to the living room to create their typical weekend havoc. One of the Asher's new creations caught my eye. It was a tank (specifically a T-34), he was inspired by this WW2 book that he checked out from the library.  I was amazed by his ingenuity and his ability to different lego building techniques that he learned from other Lego sets to construct this. I picked it up and took a video of it.   I mean I was really impressed and wanted to share it with the world like a proud dad. So in addition to the typical ig story post, I posted it to the /r Lego subreddit. Low and behold, it blew up. It went "viral". Maybe not your typical viral, but probably in my normal-ish non-viral world viral. In less than 24 hours, it received more than 140k views, 3.9k upvotes, 100+ comments. I was overwhelmed by the positivity that his build has received and was pondering if I should share it with my boy.   I did, he let out the most
Read more

Living as an exile

Image
Today is Singapore's birthday. It is only after leaving Singapore that I've learn how over the top and unique Singapore is when it comes to National Day, that she has a new birthday song every single year. Growing up, one of my dreams was to be part of the National Day Parade and wave the Singapore flag with pride. That to me was a normal behavior that one should have towards his country... until I left.  While Americans also have a ginormous pride in their country - all the red white and blue stuff that fill all the aisles at Target after the graduation season is over and all the fireworks booths that dots the city throughout June. However, it is a day more for Americans to fire up their backyard grill than to really celebrate the country's birth.  Then I moved to Taiwan, where I've learned that Taiwanese are proud of Taiwan for their ability (freedom) to mock and criticize the government. My incessant pride for Singapore is met with ??? (pikachu face) from my Taiwanes
Read more

Yet another anti-climatic ending to the school year

Image
Another year,  yet another anti-climatic ending to the school year. With COVID hitting Taiwan for reals this time, we went online for the last 3 weeks of school which is similar to last year (when we went online for the last 2 weeks of school).  Here's a last day of work outdoor morning devo pic and an extremely rare group photo of our HS staff  Some highlights for the fam this school year... Janelle Our oldest is done with elementary school!!! 🤯  she picked up the oboe this year and enjoys it very much she is also in the elementary choir and holds the stage very well just like her mom she reads at an electric pace, finishing books that will take me days to finish in a few hours Asher as for our 2nd child who is special and challenging in his own unique way... he made it through 2nd grade with little drama (compare to 1st and K) this year.  he continue to excel with his artistic talent, and Bip has become a permanent featured character in his art world he continues to struggle wit
Read more