Dong-Ao Elementary Sport's Day 東澳國小運動會

****The children here are full of love and energy****

Dong-Ao (東澳) is located on the Eastern coast of Taiwan, between Hualien (花蓮) and Yilan (宜蘭). It is a beautiful, rainy little bay, backed by mountains. The main industry is fishing, however surrounding areas host factories which extract White Stone for drywall and housing, and a grey stone for cement.

The town is small and composed mostly of aboriginal Atayal Taiwanese (1 of 12 groups). With a story not dissimilar to many aboriginal populations (Australia, the US), numbers are diminished and alcoholism is prevalent. Years before, this land all belonged to aboriginal peoples. After the Japanese Occupation (between 1895 and 1945) the land was given to the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang 國民黨), and the ruling governemnt party since has offered compensation packages involving satellite dishes (60 Channels) and monthly checks (enough for some beer and too many rounds of Mah Jhong, such that school fees are hard to come by).

However, there are more recent efforts to preserve the traditional elements of the culture (though heavily criticized as "exploitative and 'superficial'"), and many aborigines are taking personal steps to advance their voice in the community. In fact, the majority of Taiwanese have some degree of shared blood with aboriginal peoples.

The political and cultural image of the community aside, Dong-Ao is a beautiful town, with moss covered concrete, multi-colored tiles and flowerbeds, and ancient trees set between a backdrop of mountain and sea.

Spring is here and the school-year is nearing end.

It's time for annual aboriginal community Sport's Day Competitions!

Schools take (more than) a few class periods to rehearse and prepare for the weekend events, which take place on school grounds and draw most of the communities.

At Dong-Ao Elementary School (東澳國小) competitions range from silly relay races, 100m Dashes, and Archery Marksmanship while students also perform traditional aboriginal songs and dances.

Song and Dance are important parts of the aboriginal culture.

****The head of the curricular office at Dong-Ao leads students in a rhythmic and soulful tune****

The song tells the story of Atayal courtship and marriage.

****5th graders perform a courtship dance****
****This involves circling each other in time with the music****

****After a successful courtship, the couple are married. The boy does a protective dance while the girl mimics traditional female roles, such as weaving and preparing food****

****Races were the bulk of the competitions****
****Preschool Heat****

****Kindergarten Heat****

****1st Grade****


****4th Grade Girls Heat****

****4th Grade****
Smoking is still a prevalent habit here, even on school grounds and during a sporting event.

****A Healthy Onlooker****
****Gagging?****

***The whole community gets involved in the racing********Parents desperately try to convey the race concept to their toddlers****

****Some clearly would rather not participate****

****Grandpas get involved****
****As well as Grandmas****
****Future Participant On the Sideline****

****Able-bodied young men from the community chat and smoke on the sidelines after a race****
****Face of Determination****
****100m Dash Buddies****
****Full Support for all Members - Cheers on the sidelines and motivational words from the MC for this participant with a cane****
Archery is an important part of the culture, reflecting times not so long ago when targets weren't paper printouts.

****6th Grader Spears a Wild Boar****

****Some friendly competition amongst community members****

Competitions: English, Easy Go!

****Gong Jheng Elementary 2007 English Easy Go Reader's Theater Group****

Competitions are a major part of school life here. Students are frequently involved in oral speech competitions and presentations of various sorts, encouraged to memorize all their lines and work on presentation, include formal bows and welcoming gestures. Some few it as a chance to intensely learn about one aspect of a subject. For others, it's a personal drive to be number one. Where the drive comes from is debatable, as behind every good speech competitor is a doubly-so fervent set of parents.

I was a judge at a 6th grade public speech competition in my Elementary school the other day, and being a teacher at the same school I was able to see part of the process leading up to the final 3 minute talk. 2 months ago I was asked to write a series of short sample essays based on prompts, so that students could have a sort of rough rubric. I was set to present these to the competitors (2 students from every 6th grade class = 22) and spend part of the lunch break brainstorming additional topics.

Most of the students came armed with complete essays. Most were written by fluent older siblings or foreign cram school teachers. One was printed with a date whited-out up top and a blank for a name in the introductory sentence. I realized quickly that this competition had little to do with writing.

The essays they had were all very difficult, grammatically, and contained a lot of tough metaphorical language. The following weeks were spent memorizing their speeches, which they then tried to reproduce word for word, pause for pause, long vowel for long vowel on competition day.

Asked to speak to the students as a group after the competition, I took the time to tell them that they had excellent pronunciation, and demonstrated a clear ability to use the language from a technical standpoint. Their weakest point was presentation. This applied to to those who dressed up, broadcasted a booming voice, had timed and rhythmic hand motions to accompany words, and even whipped out props like the Elder Wand and Resurrection Stone from the latest Harry Potter. There was zero audience connection, despite all the time devoted to the presentation aspect. I told them that they should think about what they want to convey to their audience, and try to figure out how to win us to their side, make us their friends during their talk. I told them the most important thing is certainly not word for word repetition.

I also asked one of the other judges to translate for me. I'm positive the kids didn't catch the gist of everything I said. The judge consented to me, but conveniently left out the point about memorization and natural connection. My comprehension is lousy, but I can understand enough Chinese to tell whether the gist of a sentiment is passed on or not.

So, that's a bit about competition culture for an introduction. Two weeks ago, Yilan County hosted the Fall portion of their annual English, Easy Go! Competition(not sure about the punctuation on it; never really made sense to me). It is open to all schools in Yilan County (maybe about 35 participants?) and the Fall session includes a Reader's Theater competition and a Song and Dance Competition.

Gong Jheng Elementary had been practicing a Reader's Theater performance for a long time. Again, priorities seemed slightly askew from what I would consider important for Reader's Theater in English. I would have spent the time emphasizing each students individual English ability by offering more complex dialogue and a greater depth in characters (more emotion). Our school rented costumes. "Rabbit and Turtle New Running Race". It was pretty cute though, and the kids did a great job. 3rd place for this part. The school also took 1st in the song and dance competition with "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" (the competition was divided into large and small school heats - 1800 kids makes us a large one). Here are a couple of photos from the event.

****A Not-So-Excited Rabbit****

****Judging***
****Monkey and Turtle-Bride (Kevin was the Bride)****

****Monkey****


****Back on the Bus****