绿光森林，和学校附近的风景。

In this post, we will look at some of the surrounding beautiful scenery around the school.

The next 2 photos clearly show the surrounding scenery around Hsiayun Elementary. The school is totally surrounded by forests and mountains, making it very peaceful and quiet. It is a totally different world from the chaos, noise and pollution of the city.

The 3 pictures below showcases 绿光森林，which is "Green Light Forest" in english. It is also the site of the filming of the taiwanese drawma , "Green Forest My Home". The site is located just an hours walk up the mountain behind Hsiayun Elementary school. The place is actually a mountainside that has pasture grass and beautiful flowers planted, together with European style houses and grazing sheep.

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The water from the stream nearby is so clean, you can drink it directly. There is no dirt or odour at all... It smells and tastes like bottled mineral water!

Look at the pristine beauty of the stream!!! There are also fish and prawns in the water.!

George and King from Primary 5, enthusiastically volunteered to be our tour guides for the trip to the nearby Stream.

A cucumber plant growing right outside our doorstep!!! You can simply pluck the fruit off the vine and eat it straight away!

It only takes a 5 minute walk from the school to bring you to this side trail, where the scenery is very beautiful. You can barely see any signs of man-made objects and buildings! There are also very few people walking around the place, making your hike very quiet and peaceful!

In the distance, you can see Lofu Bridge, one of the most famous landmarks of the area.

The signboard here shows the only eating place "Ya Wu Xiao Chi", which is within walking distance of the school.. Getting food and snacks is a problem here as there are only 2 provision shops nearby. There is not even a 7-11 convenience store.... I guess this is one of the bad points of staying in a place that is too peaceful and quiet!

One of the nearby waterfalls, 小乌来。

The exterior of the schools' walls are decorated with these beautiful bamboo slats.

Its Lesson Time!

In this post, we feature some photos that were taken during lesson time (both english and others). After almost a month here, I find that the students at Hsiayun Elementary are generally attentive and disciplined during lesson time. While their standard in Academic subjects might not be as high as the students in the city, I am postitive that their passion and enthusiasm will carry them far in the future. :)

This is the country presentation about Singapore, which we also made use of to teach English words to the kids. Here, 2 students from Primary 6 hold up the Flag as Teacher Henry explains.

Primary 5 kids listening attentively to the Singapore country presentation, which we named 认识新加坡。It was received positively by the kids from all levels.. :) They all loved the local snacks we brought over from Singapore, which we distributed at the end of each session.

安老师 leads the class in performing an English Play. Using such methods makes English lessons more interesting and fun for the kids. The teachers at Hsiayun Elementary always try to implement more games and activities into lesson time... (Which reminds me that my own primary school days in Singapore were much more exam focused and far more boring..)

Fly England, "飞跃英格蘭", is a textbook with English vocabulary words. There is also a computer programme which tests the students on their English word recognition abilities. Everyday, me and teacher Henry will go to a different class to teach them how to pronounce the English words.


Bella, the best student from the Primary 6 class when it comes to pronouncing English words.

Teacher Henry, carefully going through with a student on the correct way of reading English words from "Fly England".


It has been a long time since I last used this... Chalks and ChalkBoard, very "old school"............ The last time i used it in Singapore was in year 1998, when I was a primary 6 student!

The school office computer/printing resources room. While it might be small, it is fully equipped with colour printers, scanners, photocopiers, and high speed internet!


This is our workstation , when we choose to work inside our hostel... Here are our Laptops ,"笔电"brought all the way from Singapore. I cannot imagine life without them! They are absolutely essential. Such is our reliance on technology...

Every Tuesday morning will be the Teachers Meeting, where all the teachers and the principal gather in the office, and .... have breakfast at the same time! I was surprised to learn that the principal of Hsiayun Elementary is also the principal of YiSheng Elementary. She actually heads 2 schools, amazing!

Primary 4 to 6 English Classes are all taught by tthe awesome English Teacher,安老师. Here she uses a picture card game to teach the kids new english words. Since English is not a priority language in Taiwan and is very seldom spoken and encountered in daily life, the standard here is not that high. Thus, such English Games are essential to sustain their interest in English and make it look more fun!!!

小鄉長

Just last week, Hsia Yun held their annual election for the little mayor for the school. Students in the school were given rights to vote for a representative that will bridge the gap between the teachers and the students. The elected representative will have to voice out any concerns that the students might have and thus, it is important that the students make their own choice rather than allowing the teachers to select the representative.

Furthermore as young kids grow up, they will be required to make millions of decisions in their daily life. Some big decisions such as their lifelong partner and career, or even simple ones like what do I want to do this weekend. By having this election, it will also serves to remind them that the process of decision making is important and it does have its own consequences if it is not chosen carefully.
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讓我們看看這一屆小鄉長的候選人


5年級
黃怡珊 Diana
很有大姐姐的風範！


5年級
宗晨風 Dale
這一屆唯一的男競選者！


4年級
施渝晴 Lucy
年級最小的競選者！

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每一位競選者都勢均力敵，有一群支持他們的好朋友。能入圍已經證明他們在老師與學生的心目中已是各好榜樣，有資格代表學生們做他們的小鄉長。

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最後，以27票的宗晟風當上了小鄉長。恭喜恭喜！

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晟風，記得要做好自己的本分，繼續向老師反映同學們的心聲。

henry老師看好你！

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渝晴與怡珊，成敗與否，就當買一個經驗。你們都是好學生，將來必定有機會勝任其他責任。

不要灰心, 繼續加油!

Interesting Taiwan

Today's post will be very different. I will showcase some of the very unique and interesting things frequently encountered in Taiwan...



7-11 outlets are found almost everywhere in Taiwan.. Some as close as within 100M from each other.. And there are also convenience stores from other companies everywhere.. The convenience stores here are like mini supermarkets, with some even featuring ATM Machines.

There is always a huge variety of drinks available!!!



I love the take-away ready to eat meals... Very convenient and cheap too.

A very popular biscuit amongst the Taiwanese people..

This is what they call 铁蛋, which translates to "Iron Egg" in English.

In the centre of the picture is stinky tofu,臭豆腐. While the smell is quite strong, it actually tastes quite good! But not everyone likes it.......

Most of the drinks and snacks here are packaged in a very cute way.

Recycling is practised everywhere in Taiwan, this is quite surprising indeed!

Look at the different colours and designs of helmets. There are even pink helmets with "Hello Kitty" stickers!!! In Singapore, the motorcycle helmets are not as colourful and interesting...

One thing you will notice about Taiwan is the huge number of motorcycles and scooters on the roads... However, they also cause most of the noise pollution and traffic congestion..

A motorbike parking area, frequently seen in Taiwan. They have more bikes than cars here.

The keyboards here are different!! Look at the individual keys.. Designed to type both traditional chinese words and English words easily.. But it looks so complicated...

The handphone keypads are also different from ours in Singapore..

This is my favourite toy in Taiwan!!! A rechargeable electric fly swatter that electrocutes mosquitoes and flies that you hit. Very satisfying and fun to use.!

The 区间火车 (local regional trains) are slow and have very long waiting times... The distance between station stops are also very far apart.. Also, the train stations for these are very noisy! I dont like taking these trains...

But it is a different story for the Taipei Metro, 台北捷运. Fast and efficient, I like to ride in these trains. They feel alot like Singapore's MRT network. :)

Going somewhere? Learn traditional chinese as alot of the train stations have no proper maps and not everything is translated to English.. Also, dont forget to bring extra coins to pay for buses that do not accept the cash card for payment. Not every public bus is equipped to use the "Easy Card".