The end of the year is coming soon! In many western countries, people celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1st. But before New Year’s, there are other big holidays to enjoy. Thanksgiving is a holiday in the United States. It is on the last Thursday in November. On this day, people spend time with family and friends. They eat a big meal, called a feast, with foods like turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie. People also take time to say what they are thankful for. 

Another holiday is Christmas, on December 25th. Many people decorate their homes with lights and trees, exchange gifts, and spend time with loved ones. I also celebrate Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday that lasts from December 26th to January 1st. 

Kwanzaa honors African culture and traditions. It has seven special ideas, like unity, faith, and creativity. Each day, families light a candle and talk about these ideas. People may also share stories, play music, and enjoy a feast together. Kwanzaa is about family, community, and hope for the future. Do you celebrate any special holidays at the end of the year?

Today, I want to tell you about my daily routine! Every morning, I wake up around 6 a.m. It takes me about 40 minutes to get ready. I brush my teeth, wash my face, and get dressed. I try to leave my apartment by 6:40. Then, I ride my scooter to Teacher Chunmao’s house. It takes me about 5 minutes. On the way, I see grandmas and grandpas exercising in the park. I also see people selling fresh fruits and vegetables on the street. I leave my scooter at Teacher Chunmao’s house. He drives us both to school. On the way, we get stuck in school traffic. Students ride bikes or scooters with their parents to school. Some students come in a car! At school, I teach three classes every day. When I go back home, I do laundry or go to the gym. After that, I eat dinner and get ready for bed. I go to sleep early—sometimes at 9:30 or 10 p.m.Thank you for listening! I’ll share more next week!

I have been teaching at Sijhou Junior High school for almost two months now. I have the pleasure of teaching all of the students at Sijhou. For 7th grade, I teach two classes of listening comprehension with Teacher Jenny, and a scouting class with Teacher Annie. In the US, we don’t have a scouting class, so I had to learn about this kind of class. For 8th grade, I teach the computer information class with Teacher Yang. When I was in junior high school, we had a computer class but it focused on teaching us how to type. Even now, I can type pretty fast! For the 9th grade classes, I teach music with Teacher Chunmao. In this class, I introduce students to music from all over the world. So far, I have introduced them to reggae, rock and my favorite artist, Stevie Wonder. I also showed them a song my younger brother made for mothers’ day! Although I have only been teaching at Sijhou for a little over a month, I have really enjoyed my time. Thanks for listening, and I’ll share more next week!

My first month in Taiwan was very fun. While I prepared to teach, I also got to explore Changhua. For example, my friends and I went to Baguashan to see the big buddha statue. We also visited the Taiwanese cultural center on the same mountain. We learned how to say different fruits and animals in Taiwanese, and even learned about Taiwanese puppet theater! I really liked the puppets, I thought they were cute and colorful. My friends and I also got to participate in a race in Tianzhong. The race was on a soybean field and we had to run, jump and crawl to finish the race. The race was really hard, but we won first place! The prize for winning was a case of soy milk. During my first month in Changhua, I got to see a lot of interesting things. I haven’t gone to Old Street in Lukang yet. Maybe I’ll go there next! Thank you for listening, I’ll share more next week. 

Hello, my name is Bobbie Alicea. I am the new ETA at Sijhou Junior High School. ETA is short for English teaching assistant. I come from a city called Philadelphia in the United States. Philadelphia is close to New York City. This is my first time in Taiwan. Taiwanese people are very kind, but the weather is too hot! While in Taiwan, I want to visit places like Yilan, Kaoshiung and Lanyu. I also want to learn how to speak Taiwanese. In America, only a few people know about Taiwan, even though bubble tea is popular there. I think Americans would enjoy the Taiwanese night markets because there are a lot of tasty foods there. Another thing that surprised me about Taiwan are the scooters. There are so many! In America, we rarely use scooters but I think they are convenient in Taiwan. Thank you for listening, I’ll share more next week!