little friends

"xiao pengyou" is mandarin for "child," but it translates literally as "little friend." this term of endearment can be almost as charming as the little friends themselves. and the little friends have been gushing charm lately.

last week, gaoshu elementary had its annual 4k fun run. grades 3-6 followed a beautiful course through the farmland that surrounds our school. the teachers shot a pistol, and the great mass of little friends took off at a full sprint. 2 minutes later, half of the runners were good and tuckered out. they stayed the course, though, and through an admirable combination of full sprinting & bedraggled limping, made it to the finish line. i was the only teacher/inspirational jogger on the course.












gaoshu's little league baseball team is officially #1 in pingtung county. along with today's special assembly featuring 2 members of kaohsiung county's La New Bears professional team, the team has enjoyed such accolades as having their picture in the paper AND appearing on a nationally televised game show.


it's the end of the first term here, and that means heaps of junk food, empty desks awaiting 2nd semester workbooks, and pixar short films during english time. pixar is currently on exhibit in kaohsiung, so it seemed appropriate to show the kids some of their short films. turns out these films are genius in more ways than i could ever have predicted: at least 8 of the 13 tell riveting stories without a single word of spoken language. i couldn't get over the kids' reactions, even after 10 repeat screenings. they laughed so hard that some (warren on the left) nearly gave themselves concussions. brian, one of my 5th graders (as seen on tv), dropped everything to re-enact one film-- "geri's game," where geri (geriatric?) plays the most beautiful and solitary game of chess. one difference is that brian played go, but he also won the game.

photos: sarah's class stretches; pink sweater runs past lettuce; banana boys; frankie must pose by taro; mvp on channel 26; gaoshu cheers; warren's pain; 5th graders chortle; brian's game