Reading Taihe school's account of when we stayed the night there
The list of people I want to send postcards to doesn't get shorter. It's a list of old connections and new ones. But today I wrote one, to Taihe School, in a village up in the hills of central Taiwan where oolong tea grows, where the steep roads are in poor condition by the country's high standards, and where it is so hot and humid that I was close to tears by the time we reached Taihe School.
We'd stayed with the school back in April. I mentioned it in my April update. It was a deeply special experience because they took us into their little community wholeheartedly.
We met all the students (there are less than 10). We saw the classrooms (including a computer lab, tea ceremony salon, and a bouldering room, all of which rebuilt after the 2009 typhoon). We went to eat dinner at the teachers' shared house up the road (dinner cooked by the school director). We went to the house of two of the students' parents, which was also where the village residents have their mail boxes, and where some of the teachers were hanging out after dinner. We had our clothes not only washed but also mended, by the warm kindergarten teacher who laughed easily and whose pants I envied. The kids helped us push our bikes back up to the road, even heavier than normal because of all the vegetables Teacher Wong had given us, plus printed pictures and branded keychains the Director had printed to gift us. You can't make this up!
I told them I'd send them a postcard. A few months passed. I decided to try and open and close that loop today. The loop had a few different parts, because the school has a very active and earnest social media presence. It has a frequently updated website, its own school branding, a Facebook page, and a school director that is a skilled and dedicated photographer and storyteller. So all bound up with sending the postcard (besides figuring out the address) was to find the school on Facebook.
I scrolled down their page, seeing pictures of the students doing marine education and tea ceremonies. I found the post the director had written about us. It brought tears to my eyes. I don't even want to know what parts of the translation might be a bit quirky, because it's so perfect as it is. I've transcribed it into my digital journey and also wanted to share it here. Bicycle travel creates the conditions for experiences like this to sometimes happen. The kind that expands your perspectives about a place and its people. The kind that you hope you will remember for the rest of your life.
The biggest thank-you to the whole school: Director, students, teachers, parents, village community.
Here's the school's post:
Do you believe it?
Sometimes, #world, really walks into school by itself.
Just yesterday
Two travellers from Canada riding a bike,
From barrel head, across 25km,
Walking into our campus in the slightly hot afternoon sunshine.
No appointment, no schedule,
That's it, just met.
We invited them to sit down and have a cup of tea,
The kids also got up the courage and made a simple introduction to themselves.
And today we are together again.
A cup of tea, a conversation, a world.
People ask so many questions
About travel, about work, about life.
They laugh and say:
"Actually, we are always working." "The"
It's just that the place to work is not restricted for a long time
A computer is a tool;
One internet can connect the world.
One who works in the field of AI
One who works on animals,
They do professional work online,
I have also walked through different countries and lived different life looks.
Every corner of the world,
It could be their office.
Children found out for the first time
Turns out "work" doesn't have to be in the office;
It turns out "growing up" can have different choices.
Even better,
The kids started talking in English.
Not for the exam,
It's because "#reallywant to talk."
A little card, a little slow,
One word, try to say it.
At that moment,
Their eyes are bright.
such light,
More precious than any full score exam.
They also share stories from the journey
From the beginning of one person to the meeting of two,
Make the world bigger and warmer.
And the children, quietly changed.
They started listening attentively,
Trying to understand different languages, different cultures,
With the help of the teacher,
That's not English in the textbook,
It's "#livingworld".
This unarranged encounter,
But it became the deepest lesson.
Kids are starting to believe
The world is not just a map in a book.
Education
It doesn't necessarily just happen in the classroom.
Sometimes,
It will be in the afternoon,
With two bikes,
Quietly ride into your campus.