Josephine Borich the Celebrity and Other Ridiculous Things

It's crazy. Everyone at school knows who I am (well, it's not like I stand out or anything) and wants to talk to me. I almost never stop talking to students, and I NEVER stop smiling. When I teach, I also get really excited and end-up hopping all over the place, especially when we're doing activities. After class, a student came up to me to show me her pencil bag which was covered with anime characters. She said I was just like a cartoon!

When I walk into a classroom, all the students get excited and say "ahhhhhhhh" (think of the sound you make when you finally understand your calculus homework). They all come swarming around me to ask a bunch of questions. Never fail, I get asked the same four questions in every class: What is your email address? What is your cellphone number? How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend? Another girl even asked me if I preferred American boys or Taiwanese boys. How did I answer? That was easy. BOTH. They also seem very surprised that I'm 21; I'm really not that much older than some of the high schoolers.

Luckily I don't have a cellphone, but now half the students in the school probably have my email address. The Chinese teachers also tell the students that they should email me to practice their English. You can imagine how many more emails I have to answer each day, and there has been a steady rise in my facebook friend requests.

So as mentioned, I teach students in 7th, 10th, and 11th grade. The 7th graders are so cute. They are short and have round child-like faces. They are easily excited and are not afraid in making English mistakes. There is this one boy, Elvis, that is especially adorable. He is really intelligent and always manages to mention Elvis every time he makes up sentences. He and his friends also come up to my office to talk and invite me to eat lunch with them.

I eat with different classes everyday at lunch. Everyone says that school lunch stinks. I still think it's ok, but I've only eaten it 5 days in a row instead of everyday for 5 years. However, school lunch in Taiwan is very different than in America. First of all, it's free. Second, it's Chinese lunch food. I do agree with the students, food has a way of mutating itself for the worse whenever it's made at a school cafeteria. I bring my own steel lunch container called a 便当盒, biandang he. The food for the entire class is brought into the classroom; the students then line up and serve themselves. After eating lunch, the students then take a 30 minute nap. Crazy huh? Knowing me though, I'd probably scrambling to finish my afternoon homework if I had nap time in high school. However, all of the older students don't get home until 6pm or 9pm. No wonder they need a nap! I would need some strong ibuprofen if I had to be at school 14 hours a day.

The high schoolers are a lot harder to work with. They are still polite but aren't very willing to participate because they are afraid of making English mistakes. I have to think of really clever ways to get them talking, but I like the challenge. So far, I've find that relating with them works really well. They all get really excited to hear that my mom is from Taiwan, and they are stunned when they find out I can speak Chinese. It's works to my advantage: when I tell them my Chinese isn't perfect, they are more willing to speak English. They also like the activities I plan for the class. In other classes, some of the teachers just drone on forever and ever (in Chinese even though they are teaching English!). I try not to be like that. I also gained a lot of respect from the boys because I can flip/twirl my pen. The boys love flipping their pens in class, and I can relate. Finally, I feel like all those years as a debater have done me some good!

But yes, I feel really welcomed at the school. Almost spoiled because students would never treat me like this in America. I'm not used to all the attention, but I smile and encourage them because I want to be their friend. The other day during passing period, three girls in 11th grade asked to take a picture with me. Before I knew it, a line had formed. I ended up taking individual pictures with about 75 students. The pattern: greet the student, pose, smile, snap. Greet the next student, pose, smile, snap etc. It took extra long because some of the girls would take forever fixing their hair. Even the boys wanted to have their own pictures. At first they just watched (all of them are really shy), but then they joined the procession. Sometimes I feel like I am in a zoo, but in a good way. I'm just not used to being on the other side of the bars.

About the boys, they are a little tricky to deal with but still very respectful. They don't quite understand teacher/student roles. For example as a class breaker, I asked the students what places I should visit in Taiwan. Several of the boys answered, "我的家" which means "my house." At that point they didn't know I could speak Chinese, but they were pretty embarrassed when they found out! I also have been asked out on five dates by my students! Incredibly embarrassing. Luckily, they haven't asked me to my face. They usually employ an intermediary to help (think of dating in middle school); the mediators are usually other students and teachers. Startlingly, the teachers don't think that there's anything wrong with it. They think it's cute. They also think that 3 to 5 years isn't so much of an age gap. Let me tell you: IT IS! Anneke and I just laugh about it. It's good that I have someone who understands how I feel!

On another note, Chinese students have the strangest names! They name themselves after things that they like. Because Taiwan is a nation obsessed with good food (a common greeting is "吃了吗?" which means "have you eaten yet?"), students name themselves their favorite things to eat. I almost fainted when I met a boy named Hamburger. I immediately said that I would think of a better name for him, but he didn't want me too! He said he liked his name the way it was! Other food names include: egg, lemon, seafood, cocoa, cherry, chicken, apple. Weird names not related to food are: ghost, robot, ship, and sponge (because she likes Spongebob). I am not joking! These are real names and I actually use them!!

In another class, I also have the purse girls. These four girls sit by each other and their nicknames are Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Bavari, and Coach. I had to restrain myself from laughing.