Adventures in South East Asia

A Beautiful Experience 
TEACHING ENGLISH IN TAIWAN

 In 1995, I flew to Hong Kong the night before my 50th birthday and landed the day after. In other words, I feel that I am still 49 and holding! 

Upon landing in HK, I took a ferry to Kowloon, had a four piece suit tailored for $100, took a train to Beijing where I stayed at the University since it was New Year’s break and students were gone, took a Chinese bus to the Great Wall of China, returned to Hong Kong’s Lantau Island where I slept on the beach in my sleeping bag, and received a Visa to teach in Taiwan.

My first attempt was to travel to Kaohsiung, where I attempted to teach preschoolers. This was a disaster, but I met wonderful people and stayed in the same youth hostel which my son had stayed the previous months when he taught the same class; he was a hit with his newly acquired guitar! We still stay in contact with one of the students; she’s a world traveler! 😀

I finally taught Communicative English in Taipei to adult employees for the Taiwan Sugar Company and UL Industry. In order to do this, I had to have a bachelor’s degree; I had actually just enrolled in the MTESL (Masters Degree in Teaching as a Second Language) at the University of Arizona in the Fall of 1994. When I entered the youth hostel in Taipei and started talking, one young man said, “I’m leaving and you’d be perfect to take my place.” I found my niche; teaching adults!😍

Four months later, I returned home to Casa Grande, Arizona!

TEACHING ENGLISH IN VIETNAM (SUMMER OF 1995)

In the Spring of 1995, the First Presbyterian Church of Casa Grande supported my fund raising project for the English Language Institute of China (ELIC) by having a rummage sale consisting of family heirlooms. I raised enough money to complete my registration. At the end of June, Dan drove me to California for training with the other instructors who would be heading to Asia. Seven of us were assigned to Hanoi, Vietnam. It was the first summer in which this program was accepted in the country. On July 4th, we landed in Hong Kong, changed planes, and flew on to Hanoi, where we would be teaching “teachers of English as a Second Language” through Communicative English. For two wonderful months, we met with our students, lived at the University, were allowed to explore Hanoi, and were even taken to HaLong Bay for a weekend of fun on the beach. Before we left Hanoi, the administration took us to a nice restaurant; there they told us that John McCaine’s plane land “right over there.” I miss my group of 20 students; I still have the hat with all of their names written in magic marker. Life is good! Life is filled with many adventures! Although we could not preach religion, we were to show Christianity by our actions. It was so easy to do; God blessed us with Jesus’ love in our hearts.