Friends Half a World Away!

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Friends Half a World Away!
An ISTE SIGTel Online Learning Award winner -
2004
How the project began
http//www.globalclassroom.org/2004/taiwan/index.h
tml
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The first steps contact
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Is it fun to live in Taiwan?
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!
hot springs, cold springs and mud springs!
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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
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What do you do during the Chinese New Year?
Mrs. Andrews students at Delmar
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Do you get red pockets? Everybody get red
pockets during the CNY. This year, Emily and
Vivian got NT7400 each, they were very lucky.
Fanny got NT3400, James got around NT7000. Lisa
and David dont remember the amount. Jenny
arrived late, so she didnt 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 its spotless for
the whole New Year.
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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
fathers side), then, on the second day, we went
to our moms 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!
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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 dont. Do you play
majong? David, James and Howard played majong
this year. Fanny didnnt play but her dad did.
Its 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.
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Thanksgiving
we don't have Thanksgiving and I don't really
understand the kind of holiday you're
celebrating. Jenny
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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
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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 who and where to turn
to) Ana
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Can you see stars?
A friend of mine wrote to me from Cebu, The
Philippines, saying that he happened to look up
into the sky from the deck of a steamboat and was
amazed to 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
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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 of its own). Thousands of Taiwanese are
flocking into the country from all parts of world
to cast their votes (It's not allowed to
vote overseas). My father is coming back from
Brasil with a charter flight full of friends
supporting democracy 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) to commemorate an important date in the
past when political oppression led to the
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
you pictures afterwards.
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Sandstorm
We 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/20040216/2
0040216s3.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/
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Transportation
Connor Do you have cars, buses, trains, or do
you ride bikes?
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
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Gong Shi, Gong Shi!
Listen to our sweet voice athttp//vipweb.url.co
m.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 mouth chien mien di yi jui hua -
the first word (spoken) when they meet
somebody chio shi gong shi gong shi- is
"congratulations, congratulations (happy new
year!)"   Gong Shi, Gong Shi!   Friends from
Taiwan
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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
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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  
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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