Taipei Get-Away: filling up my brain, belly and heart

Sometimes you visit a place and get exactly what you need at that moment in time.

In just four days, Taipei met my needs for academic discourse, nature, reconnection with special friends, whimsy, foodie lust, culture, local kindness and expat bonding. That was a lot to accomplish in such a short visit. I headed back to Delhi Tuesday feeling energized professionally and personally.

I was in Taipei (along with Marianna and Jeni, two other EAL teachers at our school) for a professional development workshop on WIDA tools. According to its website,

WIDA advances academic language development and academic achievement for linguistically diverse students through high quality standards, assessments, research, and professional development for educators.

Although WIDA primarily targets the 36 states in its U.S. consortium, this particular workshop was tailored for the 150+ schools in the WIDA International Schools Consortium. When I worked at Shanghai American School, we piloted WIDA’s international work, and I’ve been deepening my understanding ever since. The Taipei symposium’s organizers included Margo Gottlieb, WIDA Lead Developer and one of the founders; Jon Nordmeyer, a teacher at the International School of Bangkok who will join the WIDA staff next year to coordinate its international consortium (He was also my EAL supervisor in both Istanbul and Shanghai!); and Virginia Blais, an insightful and inquisitive EAL teacher at Taipei American School. They designed the workshop around conversations, which led to heaps of revelations and excited sharing of ideas with teachers from all over the world.

An exercise in using the WIDA rubric to score writing helped participants better understand the criteria and process. Loved it!

Professional development led me to Taipei, but the city definitely won me over.

While Delhi abounds with gardens, public parks, tree-lined avenues and even the wonderful Aravelli Biodiversity Park right around the corner from our house, the toxic air pollution and dust-coated leaves act as powerful incentives to stay inside during the winter months. My workshop took place at Taipei American School, just a 15-minute drive from Yangmingshan National Park. Lonely Planet echoes my thoughts:

How fortunate Taipei is to have this diverse park at its doorstep, complete with forested mountains, hot springs, rolling grass hills, and some handsome lodgings and restaurants. The park covers 114.55 sq km, with a top elevation of 1120m, and is easily accessible from the downtown area by frequent buses.

I didn’t have time to hike, but I did have time to enjoy one of the hot springs. (See my previous post: Soaking my cares away in Taipei.)

On our drive up to the hot springs, we stopped to take a photo, but my camera wouldn’t shoot. I took it to a camera shop near the hotel. The shopkeeper, who was about 4 feet tall and sweet as could be, told me she had operated that shop for 50 years. She had to order a part and repair my camera in just three days, which she did. I popped in Monday morning to check on the progress, and she froze, eyes wide open. She obviously panicked that she had confused my departure time. “I’m just touching base,” I said. “I don’t leave till tomorrow morning.” She grabbed my arm and squeaked, “Don’t scare me like that!” Sure enough, later that evening, my camera was fixed and cleaned – good as new. Her cheerful attitude and eagerness to help were typical of the people I encountered in Taipei.

Having spent four years in Shanghai, I enjoyed the familiar vibe in Taipei, but the easy-going pace was a far cry from mainland China. At the metro, I stared in awe at the people who (a) lined up to take the escalator and (b) scooted over the right so people could pass on the left. The crowd also lined up to get on the train, leaving room for others to disembark. Not the China I know!

Another highlight of our visit: Paul and Lisa, friends of friends and teachers at Taipei American School, took Marianna, Jeni and me to the Shilin Night Market. It was mind-bogglingly fabulous.

So many food options! I got a delicious bubble tea and some steamed pork buns. Yum!

Shrimp fishing. If you catch any, the booth workers will cook ’em up for you to eat on the spot.

The most special part of my weekend, however, was a mini-reunion with some of my favorite friends who worked with us at Shanghai American School (2005-2009). Kimbra and Elaine traveled from Shanghai; Kathy and Colleen traveled from Hong Kong; and Kristi and Julian live about 3 minutes from Taipei American School. (You may remember Col from her recent trip to India!) They came to town just to hang out, which was such a treat. I love how we reminisce about old times but also make new memories together.

Julian gave us a tour of the school.