Betel nuts are used as a cheap, legal amphetimine in many places in the world. It is widely available in Taiwan, with a twist!
30 years ago when I lived here, I do not remember any betel nuts being sold. I don't know whether it is because they weren't as popular as they are now, or because we lived in a city and they are most popular with long distance truck drivers. As I now live in the countryside and about 500 yards from the major north-south highway, there are LOTS of betel nut "establishments" around.
To describe: betel nuts are sold on the side of the road from a glassed in enclosure. They are lit on the outside with distinctive flashing or neon lights. The glass enclosure gives ample views of the comely young scantily clad woman inside. Adjoining the glass booth is a windowless enclosure, presumably with a bed inside. Hence, the full service vice stop. On the open highway, there is one of these booths about every 1/10th of a mile or closer.
Apparently they are also known as the place where you can drop your kids for an emergency hour or so of babysitting since many of the young lovelies also have children running around in these places. So they serve a real societal function.
One can never hide a stop for betel nuts from anyone since they turn your teeth a strong reddish brown, temporarily if occasionally used; permanently if frequent.
"Nice people" simply ignore them.
星期四, 11月 30, 2006
星期一, 11月 27, 2006
Shopping
Shopping is one of the most common activities for us here. Most of the teacher friends that I came with were not able to bring much with them, or didn't on purpose, knowing that they could shop here. Buying clothes is quite an experience.
Let's start with shoes. There are LOTS of shoe stores around. (Not in my little town of course, but everywhere else I go). Shoes come in two major price groups -- leather or not leather with a vast price gulf between them. To buy good leather shoes will still cost you north of $60 up to 3x that but if you will deal with cloth or vinyl, they can be had for as little as $5.
I wear a 7 1/2 in the States, sort of the average American size and they are medium width feet. Here, people tend to have shorter and wider feet (all those years in the rice paddies) but I rarely have trouble getting shoes. I wear size 39 and most shoes run up to 40. Friends that wore US size 9, though are really in trouble and spending LOTS of time and money buying shoes.
My trouble is finding shoes that aren't outrageous looking. Taiwanese women tend to really be "into" shoes and wear really outlandish ones and, at these prices, can indulge themselves. It is much harder to find a simple pair of brown flats that aren't so wide that I walk out of them. But it is fun looking.
Clothes are a different matter. If you can get past the sequins and the bad spelling of word decorations, then you must find something in a western size. This can be a bummer when you walk into a store and the sales girl says "We have nothing big enough for you in this store". This greeting, all too common, is also often not true. What it really means is "I am not comfortable with westerners and I would rather if you just went away". However, sometimes it is true, and one's ego must learn to deal with suddenly becoming XXL!
It's all part of the "Taiwan Experience" and must be treated as such.
Let's start with shoes. There are LOTS of shoe stores around. (Not in my little town of course, but everywhere else I go). Shoes come in two major price groups -- leather or not leather with a vast price gulf between them. To buy good leather shoes will still cost you north of $60 up to 3x that but if you will deal with cloth or vinyl, they can be had for as little as $5.
I wear a 7 1/2 in the States, sort of the average American size and they are medium width feet. Here, people tend to have shorter and wider feet (all those years in the rice paddies) but I rarely have trouble getting shoes. I wear size 39 and most shoes run up to 40. Friends that wore US size 9, though are really in trouble and spending LOTS of time and money buying shoes.
My trouble is finding shoes that aren't outrageous looking. Taiwanese women tend to really be "into" shoes and wear really outlandish ones and, at these prices, can indulge themselves. It is much harder to find a simple pair of brown flats that aren't so wide that I walk out of them. But it is fun looking.
Clothes are a different matter. If you can get past the sequins and the bad spelling of word decorations, then you must find something in a western size. This can be a bummer when you walk into a store and the sales girl says "We have nothing big enough for you in this store". This greeting, all too common, is also often not true. What it really means is "I am not comfortable with westerners and I would rather if you just went away". However, sometimes it is true, and one's ego must learn to deal with suddenly becoming XXL!
It's all part of the "Taiwan Experience" and must be treated as such.
星期四, 11月 23, 2006
Thanksgiving
Expats face approaching holidays with dread. As at home, it is always the holidays that bring all emotions to the surface and when one is far away, it is even more so. I have been fortunate, generally, to have wonderful holiday celebrations overseas, maybe just because people try harder.
This year, while a group of the Americans were planning a dinner over the weekend, my fellow teachers who share office space with me decided that I should not be alone on Thursday night and arranged to take me out to dinner. Wasn't that sweet!
Ten of us went out to a Japanese barbeque restaurant. This involves sitting at low tables that have "hibatchi" type grills on them. Then begins a procession of food to cook on the grills. I have not eaten so much meat since I got here altogether. Plates and plates of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fish, shrimp, and vegetables are delivered raw and everyone cooks and EATS. Not exactly turkey and stuffing but the gorged feeling was the same, also the good feeling of being with people that you care about.
Then to top off the evening, the waiter appears with a big box that I, as guest of honor, am supposed to reach into and pick one of the colored balls. I got light blue which meant I won two round/trip airplane tickets to Bangkok! My co-workers went wild but, ever so skeptical moi, decided to withhold wild enthusiasm. A good thing since my roommate read the fine print that said the user of the tickets must be a Taiwan citizen, travelling on a Taiwan passport. We called about it today but the rule is made by China Airlines and is very strict. The group is now trying to decide the best course of disposal. I was just going to put all of their names in a hat and draw again but they think I can sell them. Even at 1/2 price it would make a good deal for both sides so they are planning an ad. I am just the bemused bystander!
All in all a very nice Thanksgiving. I hope yours was the same.
This year, while a group of the Americans were planning a dinner over the weekend, my fellow teachers who share office space with me decided that I should not be alone on Thursday night and arranged to take me out to dinner. Wasn't that sweet!
Ten of us went out to a Japanese barbeque restaurant. This involves sitting at low tables that have "hibatchi" type grills on them. Then begins a procession of food to cook on the grills. I have not eaten so much meat since I got here altogether. Plates and plates of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fish, shrimp, and vegetables are delivered raw and everyone cooks and EATS. Not exactly turkey and stuffing but the gorged feeling was the same, also the good feeling of being with people that you care about.
Then to top off the evening, the waiter appears with a big box that I, as guest of honor, am supposed to reach into and pick one of the colored balls. I got light blue which meant I won two round/trip airplane tickets to Bangkok! My co-workers went wild but, ever so skeptical moi, decided to withhold wild enthusiasm. A good thing since my roommate read the fine print that said the user of the tickets must be a Taiwan citizen, travelling on a Taiwan passport. We called about it today but the rule is made by China Airlines and is very strict. The group is now trying to decide the best course of disposal. I was just going to put all of their names in a hat and draw again but they think I can sell them. Even at 1/2 price it would make a good deal for both sides so they are planning an ad. I am just the bemused bystander!
All in all a very nice Thanksgiving. I hope yours was the same.
星期二, 11月 21, 2006
Annoyances
I was awoken this morning by thunder and lightening at 4:30 AM followed by a torrential downpour. Lucky for me, this is the first morning rain we have had since, remember, I am a bike commuter. I have a long yellow plastic raincoat with a hood and I rolled up my pant legs and wore plastic flip flops but was still pretty miserable when I got to work. This has put me in a mood to talk about the annoyances of living in Taiwan.
Let me start by saying that I basically really like it here, love the people I work with and most of the students. I have made some great American friends through this program that I hope I never lose track of. But there are things...
1) Obliviousness. I've decided this is the best way to characterize this very common trait among Taiwanese. This is what allows a woman with two half-grown children to ride up an escalator and stop dead at the top. It allows people to stop their cars right in the middle of the road (only one lane in each direction) while they run in and buy breakfast from a street vendor. This forces all of the traffic behind them over into the oncoming traffic. It allows intelligent, educated teachers to work in a school where the world's largest backhoe is ripping down sections of the school and not even wonder why or what will be done with the space. It allows the same teachers to look out the window at all of the students being summoned to a special "assembly" out on the field in the middle of the day and not even be curious why. Now, I recognize that I have always been a curious person (some might say nosy) but this drives me crazy!
2) Doors that talk. Fortunately I do not have to work in a store that has automatic doors. It is common for shops (both large and small) to have doors that open as you get close to them. Some have been set so that they don't open until practically your nose is on the glass, but the real rub is when the doors say "Welcome" and when you leave, they say "Have a good day!". I would lose my mind if I worked there.
3) The lack of "Yield" signs. This is something one becomes particularly aware of on a bicycle. Most roads in Taiwan have a dedicated lane on either side of the street for motorcycles and bikes. At an intersection, the merging lane has the right of way to turn and ride through this lane at speed. Quite a thrill for your average bike rider!
4) Being over mothered. I know I should not complain about this because it is really just because they care but I have managed to live 45 years without a mother and now find I have at least 10. Most of them telling me what I can't do. "You can't go there, it's too far", 'You can't eat that it will make you cough", "You can't ride your bike there, it is too dangerous". They all think I am absolutely a wild woman for taking bike jaunts (one for 27 miles each way to visit a friend in a not-too-distant city). Once I did that, they kind of backed off on the bike stuff. Then I walked to the nearest town -- 2 hours -- caused quite a furor, but they seem to have backed off a little on what I can or cannot do. Now unfortunately, they think all Americans must be crazy.
There is a flip side to all of this, of course. In those bad traffic situations, no one honks or swears (or shoots!) and it has also been a while siince so many people cared about everything I do. I just have to get used to the obliviousness...
Let me start by saying that I basically really like it here, love the people I work with and most of the students. I have made some great American friends through this program that I hope I never lose track of. But there are things...
1) Obliviousness. I've decided this is the best way to characterize this very common trait among Taiwanese. This is what allows a woman with two half-grown children to ride up an escalator and stop dead at the top. It allows people to stop their cars right in the middle of the road (only one lane in each direction) while they run in and buy breakfast from a street vendor. This forces all of the traffic behind them over into the oncoming traffic. It allows intelligent, educated teachers to work in a school where the world's largest backhoe is ripping down sections of the school and not even wonder why or what will be done with the space. It allows the same teachers to look out the window at all of the students being summoned to a special "assembly" out on the field in the middle of the day and not even be curious why. Now, I recognize that I have always been a curious person (some might say nosy) but this drives me crazy!
2) Doors that talk. Fortunately I do not have to work in a store that has automatic doors. It is common for shops (both large and small) to have doors that open as you get close to them. Some have been set so that they don't open until practically your nose is on the glass, but the real rub is when the doors say "Welcome" and when you leave, they say "Have a good day!". I would lose my mind if I worked there.
3) The lack of "Yield" signs. This is something one becomes particularly aware of on a bicycle. Most roads in Taiwan have a dedicated lane on either side of the street for motorcycles and bikes. At an intersection, the merging lane has the right of way to turn and ride through this lane at speed. Quite a thrill for your average bike rider!
4) Being over mothered. I know I should not complain about this because it is really just because they care but I have managed to live 45 years without a mother and now find I have at least 10. Most of them telling me what I can't do. "You can't go there, it's too far", 'You can't eat that it will make you cough", "You can't ride your bike there, it is too dangerous". They all think I am absolutely a wild woman for taking bike jaunts (one for 27 miles each way to visit a friend in a not-too-distant city). Once I did that, they kind of backed off on the bike stuff. Then I walked to the nearest town -- 2 hours -- caused quite a furor, but they seem to have backed off a little on what I can or cannot do. Now unfortunately, they think all Americans must be crazy.
There is a flip side to all of this, of course. In those bad traffic situations, no one honks or swears (or shoots!) and it has also been a while siince so many people cared about everything I do. I just have to get used to the obliviousness...
星期一, 11月 20, 2006
A Trip to the Doctor
As I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, I take regular medication and have for years. These are hardly esoteric problems so I knew I could get medication here but also knew it would take me a while to figure it out so I came with a 90-day supply.
The issue got all caught up in my problems getting registered at the beginning since you can't get health insurance until you get the Alien Registration Card, etc. With all of that finally taken care of, I went to the nearest hospital (next town, 45 minutes by bike) to get refills. It's quite organized if a bit impersonal. You take a number, get called, get assigned a number for the doctor and wait. The doc was a nice young woman who spoke very good English. I asked for refills of everything and had brought along the bottles. She had an online "formulary" so that when they didn't have the exact brand, they did have something similar. No problem. That is until we came to the Lipitor.
Any of you that take a "statin" know that they like you to have a blood test at least twice a year to see how your liver is handling the drug. My doctor in Virginia was religious about this and, lo and behold, I found his alter ego in Taiwan. No refill without a blood test and this blood test is after a 12 hour fast. I have to come back another day. I went the morning of the Sports Day since I didn't have a morning class and the test went fine, although realize that I rode 45 minutes in each direction with no coffee -- quite a feat for me!
Had to wait a week for the results then back to the doc but now it was an issue. The clinic hours are 9-12 and 1-4. I am in school at those times. They do have Saturday hours also but I have been going away every weekend, usually leaving on Friday. So I put in for an hour's sick leave from 3-4 figuring I could ride my bike fast enough to get in before 4.
I did but then had to wait ages to see the doctor since the world seemed to be applying for new jobs necessitating having a chest x-ray. Those people don't need numbers apparently and can just stroll in ahead of you and stay one minute and leave but there were about 30 of them. Turned out it didn't matter, I saw the doctor at 4:20 no problem and (shades of the US) my cholesterol level was so low that my insurance company wouldn't allow him to prescribe for me! I have to finish up what I have, wait 3 months to see how it is then maybe they can prescribe if it goes up a lot! Actually, that sounds great to me, I wanted to see what would happen if I took a rest from it for a while.
He gave a month's supply fo the Hbp drugs and refill prescriptions for two additional months. All of this, including doc and blood test cost me about $9.00! Not bad. The only hard part is the getting there during the time frames, especially when the weather isn't conducive to a 45 minute bike ride!
The issue got all caught up in my problems getting registered at the beginning since you can't get health insurance until you get the Alien Registration Card, etc. With all of that finally taken care of, I went to the nearest hospital (next town, 45 minutes by bike) to get refills. It's quite organized if a bit impersonal. You take a number, get called, get assigned a number for the doctor and wait. The doc was a nice young woman who spoke very good English. I asked for refills of everything and had brought along the bottles. She had an online "formulary" so that when they didn't have the exact brand, they did have something similar. No problem. That is until we came to the Lipitor.
Any of you that take a "statin" know that they like you to have a blood test at least twice a year to see how your liver is handling the drug. My doctor in Virginia was religious about this and, lo and behold, I found his alter ego in Taiwan. No refill without a blood test and this blood test is after a 12 hour fast. I have to come back another day. I went the morning of the Sports Day since I didn't have a morning class and the test went fine, although realize that I rode 45 minutes in each direction with no coffee -- quite a feat for me!
Had to wait a week for the results then back to the doc but now it was an issue. The clinic hours are 9-12 and 1-4. I am in school at those times. They do have Saturday hours also but I have been going away every weekend, usually leaving on Friday. So I put in for an hour's sick leave from 3-4 figuring I could ride my bike fast enough to get in before 4.
I did but then had to wait ages to see the doctor since the world seemed to be applying for new jobs necessitating having a chest x-ray. Those people don't need numbers apparently and can just stroll in ahead of you and stay one minute and leave but there were about 30 of them. Turned out it didn't matter, I saw the doctor at 4:20 no problem and (shades of the US) my cholesterol level was so low that my insurance company wouldn't allow him to prescribe for me! I have to finish up what I have, wait 3 months to see how it is then maybe they can prescribe if it goes up a lot! Actually, that sounds great to me, I wanted to see what would happen if I took a rest from it for a while.
He gave a month's supply fo the Hbp drugs and refill prescriptions for two additional months. All of this, including doc and blood test cost me about $9.00! Not bad. The only hard part is the getting there during the time frames, especially when the weather isn't conducive to a 45 minute bike ride!
Reawakening
I know it has been ages since my last post. That is because my blogsite went entirely Chinese! My last posting, entered in English was thoughtfully translated for me! Lucky for me, I have a son with more technical ability than his mother. At least, currently, I am back to English entry screens.
The problem is, I am so far behind on things I want to talk about...Maybe consecutive will be the best approach.
Three weekends ago, I went to Kaoshung. My roommate is from there and goes home about every other weekend. There appears to be a romantic interest there that encourages her devotion to her home. Anyway, her mother wanted to meet me and I was game, especially since we could get a ride from her sister who lives nearby.
Trust Sophie to have arranged a whole itinerary. We were dropped off at the famous Lotus Lake, in the northern part of the city. This is really more of a pond and is artificial, having been dug by hand in the 1950s. Around the lake there are an assortment of pretty temples, pagodas and parks and since it is very close to the thriving, modern downtown area it is neat to see the juxtaposition up close. After visiting a few of these, her boyfriend came and picked us up in his car and we drove to the beach -- Kaoshung is Taiwan's major port so obviously is located on the Taiwan Straits. Just north of the harbor is a lovely beach/park area which generates all the power it needs with windmills. Apparently this big open area is pretty much always windy and that day was having a kite festival which was fun to watch. There is a seashell museum, an attractive beach once you get used to the black sand (Taiwan IS volcanic, don't forget).
Then we went to a neat night market which had a temple having some sort of celebration -- very showy -- then had a fish snack, rode a ferry across the harbor. It's very busy, I counted 18 big ships lined up on Saturday afternooon waiting for entry to an unloading dock.
Then back into the city where we had dinner in a nice restaurant, then home to Sophie's house. I met her family who are very nice and quite charming once they got over the "Omigod, there is a foreignor in my house", mode. Her Dad is a carpenter and they live up over his shop. Her brother works with him. Mom is a very nice lady and we had fun one-upping each other with pictures of our grandchildren.
Sunday we went to Costco -- yes Costco. It was just like my favorite one in Alexandria except for the clothes. Similar to their American cousin, they had millions of pairs of jeans but none over size 8! I was able to buy a bunch of American foodstuffs, especially soup and spaghetti sauce and Peppridge Farm cookies. I also bought more comfortable pillows -- these people sleep on stones and I had had a stiff neck since I got here. It was really nice to be able to buy some stuff that I could have gotten closer to home, but have major difficulty transporting on a bicycle.
After Costco, we took a walk along the Love River which runs through the city and eventually widens into the port. Apparently it used to be really odorous but major civic effort has cleaned it up and now they are developing a lovely "Riverwalk" type area. It's not finished but is already very nice. Then we had a great lunch ar Sophie's and then home early to beat the traffic, which truly is horrendous.
All in all a really nice weekend but there is so much to see there that I am sure I will be going back again. It's probably the most cosmopolitan of the places I've been because of the influence of the port. There are many foreign businesses there -- from many countries -- and great restaurants. There is even Smokey Joe's Ribs!
The problem is, I am so far behind on things I want to talk about...Maybe consecutive will be the best approach.
Three weekends ago, I went to Kaoshung. My roommate is from there and goes home about every other weekend. There appears to be a romantic interest there that encourages her devotion to her home. Anyway, her mother wanted to meet me and I was game, especially since we could get a ride from her sister who lives nearby.
Trust Sophie to have arranged a whole itinerary. We were dropped off at the famous Lotus Lake, in the northern part of the city. This is really more of a pond and is artificial, having been dug by hand in the 1950s. Around the lake there are an assortment of pretty temples, pagodas and parks and since it is very close to the thriving, modern downtown area it is neat to see the juxtaposition up close. After visiting a few of these, her boyfriend came and picked us up in his car and we drove to the beach -- Kaoshung is Taiwan's major port so obviously is located on the Taiwan Straits. Just north of the harbor is a lovely beach/park area which generates all the power it needs with windmills. Apparently this big open area is pretty much always windy and that day was having a kite festival which was fun to watch. There is a seashell museum, an attractive beach once you get used to the black sand (Taiwan IS volcanic, don't forget).
Then we went to a neat night market which had a temple having some sort of celebration -- very showy -- then had a fish snack, rode a ferry across the harbor. It's very busy, I counted 18 big ships lined up on Saturday afternooon waiting for entry to an unloading dock.
Then back into the city where we had dinner in a nice restaurant, then home to Sophie's house. I met her family who are very nice and quite charming once they got over the "Omigod, there is a foreignor in my house", mode. Her Dad is a carpenter and they live up over his shop. Her brother works with him. Mom is a very nice lady and we had fun one-upping each other with pictures of our grandchildren.
Sunday we went to Costco -- yes Costco. It was just like my favorite one in Alexandria except for the clothes. Similar to their American cousin, they had millions of pairs of jeans but none over size 8! I was able to buy a bunch of American foodstuffs, especially soup and spaghetti sauce and Peppridge Farm cookies. I also bought more comfortable pillows -- these people sleep on stones and I had had a stiff neck since I got here. It was really nice to be able to buy some stuff that I could have gotten closer to home, but have major difficulty transporting on a bicycle.
After Costco, we took a walk along the Love River which runs through the city and eventually widens into the port. Apparently it used to be really odorous but major civic effort has cleaned it up and now they are developing a lovely "Riverwalk" type area. It's not finished but is already very nice. Then we had a great lunch ar Sophie's and then home early to beat the traffic, which truly is horrendous.
All in all a really nice weekend but there is so much to see there that I am sure I will be going back again. It's probably the most cosmopolitan of the places I've been because of the influence of the port. There are many foreign businesses there -- from many countries -- and great restaurants. There is even Smokey Joe's Ribs!
星期日, 11月 12, 2006
星期二, 11月 07, 2006
Sports Day II
I shouldn't have posted yesterday's report so early -- it got more interesting after that. The kids moved into their class-based relay races, which, it turns out is the big draw -- to see which class is fastest. There are 8 girls and 8 boys on each team so it takes a while and the lead changes with each runner. Pretty fun.
Then the teachers have a relay race! No, I didn't run -- not after I saw the average age of the runners. I saw no reason to set myself up for hilarity. That came later when I was selected to give out the prizes in one of the events. I had no idea what I was supposed to do so I kept thinking I was done and turning to leave but it seems there is a whole ritual they have to go through with bowing and saluting so I had to keep getting dragged back which everyone found very amusing.
The prizes for the winners of each event were hand towels (!?!) and a nice certificate. The kids thought the towels were as funny as I did but during the awards treated this all very solemnly.
The prize for the teachers came later -- the mayor (yes, he was there) invited us all out for dinner at a really nice restaurant. Sure beat the towels!
Then the teachers have a relay race! No, I didn't run -- not after I saw the average age of the runners. I saw no reason to set myself up for hilarity. That came later when I was selected to give out the prizes in one of the events. I had no idea what I was supposed to do so I kept thinking I was done and turning to leave but it seems there is a whole ritual they have to go through with bowing and saluting so I had to keep getting dragged back which everyone found very amusing.
The prizes for the winners of each event were hand towels (!?!) and a nice certificate. The kids thought the towels were as funny as I did but during the awards treated this all very solemnly.
The prize for the teachers came later -- the mayor (yes, he was there) invited us all out for dinner at a really nice restaurant. Sure beat the towels!
星期一, 11月 06, 2006
Sports Day
Today is Tuesday, November 7 -- Election Day back home, here it is Sports Day. It's kind of fun though mostly interesting to see how much time and effort is invested into what are basically intramurals.
For a day and a half, many of the students from our school, plus teams from the 5 elementary schools in town run races and do high and long jumping. The kids, of course, get very excited about this. The teachers just view it as an interruption or a day and a half without regular classes. For the previous week there were also MANY hours dedicated to practicing the "opening ceremonies". I have to laugh, they march in to the sound of the band playing "Anchors Aweigh", a very popular march for students here. No one that I asked knew that it was an American song, not to mention a Navy one.
The whole deal is quite showy -- every class has a flag, the school and national flags are everywhere. Some local vendor contributed matching shirts and hats for the teachers to wear, local dignitaries came -- really a hoot. All to watch a group of 7th graders run the 100 meters!
As in any group of young people there are some who are obviously more athletic than their peers. These, supposedly have been previously selected to be in the "sports classes" and woe be it unto them if they don't do well in these events. They do, of course, several clearly have talent (not to be confused with brains). A ugly little trace of racism creeps out now and again, though, which I have never heard before -- "well, of course she is 1/2 aborigine, that's why she can run so fast".
My role in this is nonexistent. I am just roaming around. Some of the teachers are judges and timekeepers but, as usual, I am deemed to be not interested/able/willing to do any of these things. I wish they would ask me what I thought!
For a day and a half, many of the students from our school, plus teams from the 5 elementary schools in town run races and do high and long jumping. The kids, of course, get very excited about this. The teachers just view it as an interruption or a day and a half without regular classes. For the previous week there were also MANY hours dedicated to practicing the "opening ceremonies". I have to laugh, they march in to the sound of the band playing "Anchors Aweigh", a very popular march for students here. No one that I asked knew that it was an American song, not to mention a Navy one.
The whole deal is quite showy -- every class has a flag, the school and national flags are everywhere. Some local vendor contributed matching shirts and hats for the teachers to wear, local dignitaries came -- really a hoot. All to watch a group of 7th graders run the 100 meters!
As in any group of young people there are some who are obviously more athletic than their peers. These, supposedly have been previously selected to be in the "sports classes" and woe be it unto them if they don't do well in these events. They do, of course, several clearly have talent (not to be confused with brains). A ugly little trace of racism creeps out now and again, though, which I have never heard before -- "well, of course she is 1/2 aborigine, that's why she can run so fast".
My role in this is nonexistent. I am just roaming around. Some of the teachers are judges and timekeepers but, as usual, I am deemed to be not interested/able/willing to do any of these things. I wish they would ask me what I thought!
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