6 hours in Amsterdam

February 14th 5:30 AM CET

Land at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol after a 71/2 hour flight from Nairobi. I had a little less than seven hours before my next flight so I decided to head into Amsterdam. After exchanging money at a restaurant, I hopped on the train into central Amsterdam.

6:30 AM

Arrive in central Amsterdam. It felt very different walking through the streets of Europe after spending six months in Eastern Africa. Being the middle of February, it was a bit chilly, cloudy, and even a little depressing compared to the bright equatorial sun.

“My Mother”

“ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙ ㄇㄚ ㄇㄚ˙” means “My Mother” or “My Mama”

Mother’s Day Part 2

Some shots of our kindergardeners preparing flower bouquets for their mothers. Note the intense focus on their faces as they work on their masterpieces.

Picture Day

Language

Not many people in Taiwan speak English. At least, not as many as I expected. I knew that Mandarin Chinese would be the dominant language, but in the back of mind assumed I would always be able to rely on English to communicate. That’s definitely not the case, at least not in Fonglin Township. Most people speak in Mandarin, Hoklo, or Hakka. Mandarin is the national language of Taiwan, and most commonly used. English is a mandatory subject starting in Elementary School, but from what I’ve seen, most people stick to Mandarin.

I can’t imagine trying to fit into life in Fonglin without a rudimentary knowledge of Mandarin. Fortunately, I had a decent grasp of Mandarin before I came to Taiwan. And my Mandarin has gotten much better since. Living in Fonglin has really been a total language immersion experience. I’ve yet to meet any fluent English speakers in Fonglin Township, and most people who can speak English have a very patchy knowledge of the language. This was not a bad thing for me. Being forced to listen to and speak in Mandarin 24/7 has done wonders for my Mandarin.

For a while, it bugged me that I hadn’t run into any fluent English speakers in Fonglin. I was comparing things to Kenya, where I could wander around a small village way in the interior of the Rift Valley, and most people would be eager to greet and talk to me in English.

Bad comparison to make. It’s difficult to find certain figures, but here are estimates of the total number of Swahili, Mandarin, and English speakers.

Swahili: up to 100 million speakers 1
Mandarin: up to 1.1 billion speakers 2
English: up to 1.5 billion speakers 3

Over-simplified explanation: Mandarin is a much more useful language than Swahili. So Kenyans learn English in addition to Swahili. Many native Mandarin speakers also learn English, but perhaps it’s not as important for them, as Mandarin is already such a widely-spoken language.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Some things are the same wherever you go. Just like in America, kids in Taiwan will work hard at constructing a nice card to present to their moms on Mother’s Day.

I have more pictures of our kindergardeners making floral arrangements for Mother’s Day, but you’ll have to wait until I buy a new SD Card Reader to see those.

First Look at Taiwan

Here’re some pictures of Taiwan. Hope you enjoy!

The first couple are from around Fonglin township. The golden gate in the second picture is the entrance to a mountain about ten kilometers from Fonglin. Nice scenery for a bike ride.