Sorry blogspot...I've moved on. Probably should have posted this a while ago.
http://mvfisher.tumblr.com/
Monday, March 25, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Belated Holiday Wishes
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
Here are some of my students' letters to Santa:
Here are some of my students' letters to Santa:
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Le premier verre est aussi amer que la vie
Every week, I give a 5 - 10 minute presentation to my co-workers at Guting Elementary School. In the beginning, I assumed that it would be best to make presentations about the United States. I talked about the places I knew well: New Orleans and Illinois, as well as cultural practices like Halloween. However, I noticed that my co-workers were never incredibly interested (most faculty members use morning meeting to finish grading before classes start) and one of my co-teachers commented that they had already been exposed to most of what I talked about by previous Fulbrighters.
So much for originality. I decided to do a presentation on France. I talked about Lyon, about the roses in my grandmother's garden, and about food. I brought some crepes to share with them, which worked miracles in getting their attention.
In continuing with this trend, I put together a presentation on Niger today. As I was flipping through information on the internet to confirm the things I'd picked up on from my mom and our trip to Niger in 2006, I found a saying that I remember hearing from our Tuareg guide when we were drinking tea and eating grapefruits in the desert:
Each glass refers to the change in taste of the tea over the course of drinking three cups. At first, it struck me as a little strange to be an American talking about Niger to a bunch of Taiwanese. However, these places and people are not as disconnected as they first seem. After a little more research, I realized the tea used by the Tuareg is gunpowder tea - also known as zhu cha (珠茶)! It's mainly grown in Zhejiang Province but there is also a variant grown in Taiwan. Goes to show there are connections everywhere.
So much for originality. I decided to do a presentation on France. I talked about Lyon, about the roses in my grandmother's garden, and about food. I brought some crepes to share with them, which worked miracles in getting their attention.
In continuing with this trend, I put together a presentation on Niger today. As I was flipping through information on the internet to confirm the things I'd picked up on from my mom and our trip to Niger in 2006, I found a saying that I remember hearing from our Tuareg guide when we were drinking tea and eating grapefruits in the desert:
Le premier verre est aussi amer que la vie,
le deuxième est aussi fort que l'amour,
le troisième est aussi doux que la mort.
le deuxième est aussi fort que l'amour,
le troisième est aussi doux que la mort.
(The first glass is as bitter as life,
the second glass is as strong as love,
the third glass is as gentle as death).
the second glass is as strong as love,
the third glass is as gentle as death).
Each glass refers to the change in taste of the tea over the course of drinking three cups. At first, it struck me as a little strange to be an American talking about Niger to a bunch of Taiwanese. However, these places and people are not as disconnected as they first seem. After a little more research, I realized the tea used by the Tuareg is gunpowder tea - also known as zhu cha (珠茶)! It's mainly grown in Zhejiang Province but there is also a variant grown in Taiwan. Goes to show there are connections everywhere.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
What I've Been Up To...
...during my extended absence this November:
listening to music at a concert on the beach with my host family,
attending a wedding during which the bride changed clothes three times,
eating a dangerously excessive amount of Thanksgiving food,
stalking Andy Lau at the Golden Horse Award Ceremony red carpet event,
and teaching these crazy kids.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Laowai Links
Thursday link roll is kind of boring....so Laowai links. If you look further down, you'll see it isn't exactly original but oh well.
My personal favorite isn't here (mǎmǎhūhū, 马马虎虎, meaning "so-so") but there are some of the funnest Chinese words to say in this post on Laowai Chinese, my new favorite site.
Funny: What Your State is Good At, And What It's Lame At
Interesting: Women as Academic Authors - I didn't expect the percentage of female academic authors to be so low even with the 1991 - 2010 period but it's also interesting to see what parts of each discipline, particularly anthropology, that women tend to publish more in - dance ethnology? That might be one of the few subfields that I never really read much about in college.
Good to know: Baking Supplies Store Locations so that I can make this. Or this. Also useful to anyone out there wondering where to find baking tins in Yilan because Carrefour DOES NOT have anything useful, except for tin foil (which apparently damages toaster ovens) or little, crappy throw away pans and tins.
Bwhaahahaha, fulbright funds are responsible for this: Laowai Gangnam Style
My personal favorite isn't here (mǎmǎhūhū, 马马虎虎, meaning "so-so") but there are some of the funnest Chinese words to say in this post on Laowai Chinese, my new favorite site.
Funny: What Your State is Good At, And What It's Lame At
Interesting: Women as Academic Authors - I didn't expect the percentage of female academic authors to be so low even with the 1991 - 2010 period but it's also interesting to see what parts of each discipline, particularly anthropology, that women tend to publish more in - dance ethnology? That might be one of the few subfields that I never really read much about in college.
Good to know: Baking Supplies Store Locations so that I can make this. Or this. Also useful to anyone out there wondering where to find baking tins in Yilan because Carrefour DOES NOT have anything useful, except for tin foil (which apparently damages toaster ovens) or little, crappy throw away pans and tins.
Bwhaahahaha, fulbright funds are responsible for this: Laowai Gangnam Style
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