2013-10-17 Let's go to Europe!


It was a huge surprise to see our special European guest in our CI class tonight. It turned out to be professor, Tim, who came visit us this early year. It's always a joy to welcome our old friends.

I think a lot of you hadn't seen me for a long time since our class started. It was the seventh class of this semester, but it actually was  just my first class. I felt kind of embarrassed and sad that I'd missed so much about our class. However, just like what our teacher, Abbie, always encourages us that being late is better than never!

When I walked into the classroom even later than usual, I was welcomed by the warmth of the classmates, and deeply in my heart, I was totally touched and grateful for the generosity offered by everyone! It seemed that all of you were saying "Welcome home, Jonas." Thanks a million, my teacher, classmates, friends and family!

C.I. class 10/17: Europe‏


Hi everyone in C.I.!  
Thanks for a GREAT class last week!!  I loved it!  Your presentations and comments and participation made me so happy.  

Last class, Jerry gave us a more in depth presentation on the history of the trees that he and many others are trying to save.  Get in touch with Jerry if you'd like to help too!!  Jeff told us about the latest breaking IPCC climate report, which found that "human impact is unequivocal."  Jeff's presentation was perfectly timed, as we all then moved out to the islands that are most endangered by the rising sea levels caused by global warming.  The islanders of Kiribati, Nauru, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, and Palau all gave interesting presentations with cool details about their homes and creative suggestions for how to save their homes. 

Class review for C.I. class 9/26; looking forward to 10/3

Hi again everyone!  

Last class we started off the night with some tales from moon festival, and we learned a round from Australia, "Kookaburra."  We'll try singing it one more time next time!  

Lucas talked about surfing in Oceania, and surprised us all by teaching us all how to "surf without getting wet!!"  He showed us some beautiful wave-shaped rocks in Australia, and explained how they were formed.  But he suggests that we actually don't go "rock-surfing," as it might damage the rock!  

Marian told us an interesting dog-walking joke!  :D  And then shared her impressions of three islands in Oceania:  Hawaii, Guam, and New Zealand.  She told us about sunbathers, aboriginal architecture, and cave stalactites and stalagmites.  She also brought postcards and photos so that we too could see these islands!  

Class review: C.I. class 9/12


Hi everyone in C.I. class!  

Last class on 9/12 was amazing; I was very glad to hear everyone's voices.  

In the beginning of the class, we all had the chance to introduce ourselves to each other.  It was nice to learn more about each of you during our introductions. 
Jeff introduced us to an excellent poem, "The Raven," written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1845.  I was so pleased to hear that C.I.class has inspired Jeff to study such a cool poem, and I think he inspired all of us!  

Jeff kindly shared two links with me that I think you all will enjoy; in the first you can hear the poem "The Raven" read by Christopher Walken, and in the second you can see John Astin (dressed like Edgar Allan Poe!) reciting the poem.  Both are excellent performances, and even if you don't understand every word of the poem, you can get a taste for the exciting rhythm of the poem by listening to it. 

If you want to read along with the poem as it's being recited, go to the Poetry Foundation here:http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178713

C.I. class 9/26: Oceania (including Australia)

Hi C.I. classmates!  

I hope you've all had a lovely Moon Festival!
Thanks for a wonderful class last time!  Please see my other email for a class review!
This week on 9/26, we'll still be concentrating on Oceania (including Australia)!  

I hope for more exciting presentations from all of you!  I loved last week's presentations, and I was so happy to hear from all of you!  

As a class on 9/26, we'll discuss the plight of Oceania's "disappearing islands," and if anyone wants to tell us more about what you know about this situation, please feel free to share!    

See:
Endangered Islands

and/or:
Rising sea level puts island nations like Nauru at risk

More soon! 
Take care everyone, and try to stay dry!!

Sincerely, Abbie 

C.I. class 9/12: Australia and Oceania



Hi Everyone in C.I. class!

I was so happy to see everyone on our first class night last Thursday!  

Last Thursday we practiced "brainstorming," so you'll be able to think up lots of exciting directions and ideas for your presentations.  Starting from any broad theme, you can use brainstorming to find specific ideas for topics you might want to talk about.  

I enjoyed the small groups' introductions of 8 regions of the world: Australia & Oceania, Europe, Antarctica, South America, North America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.  :)  

This semester, we'll take a tour of the earth, concentrating on the various regions in turn.  

Greetings from Abbie!


Dear everyone who's ever been in C.I. class!  

We start a new semester of C.I. class tomorrow, and I'm thinking of all of you: current C.I. students, recent C.I. students, and C.I. students who came to classes a long time ago!

I know that many of you will join us again this semester, and I know that some of you won't be able to make it to C.I. class this semester. 

If you're coming back to class tomorrow, 9/5, I can't wait to see you again!    

If you can't come return to our class this time around, please do send me a note and let me know what you're up to and how your summer was!  And please keep in touch!

No matter whether or not you're taking class this semester, I hope you can join us for a reunion hike this month; details coming soon!!  

Especially for those of you who were in C.I. class last semester:  Thanks for a great semester, and a lovely end-of-class potluck!!  Normally at the end of a semester, I send out a class survey, but last semester I left for Norway in a big flurry of activity, and never sent you the survey!  So sorry!!  I still really want to know everyone's thoughts about our class last semester!!  

So if you're returning to C.I. class this semester, I'll ask you to share your thoughts with me in class tomorrow night!  

And if you won't be able to take C.I. class this semester, please do write me with your thoughts and news!!    

Last semester ended earlier than usual when I took off for Norway in late June, so we've had a really long break!   

My trip to Norway was amazing, and even though the daytime summer temperatures sometimes only reached 8 or 10 degrees C, we all had fun in the 24 hour sun!  I hiked on mountains, boated over fjords, and swam in icy waters!  And I ate lots of delicious Norwegian brown cheese and many kinds of wild berries.  

Here are a few photos from Norway for you.  The first is of the delicious blueberries which were growing wild everywhere.  The second shows the mysterious Norwegian mountains and sea, as seen from a ship.  And the last is of the sun at midnight.  All of these photos were taken north of the arctic circle in Norway during July 2013.  North Norway is certainly a long way from Taiwan!  

Now I'm happy to be back enjoying the beauty of Yilan County, and happy to have the chance to see many of you soon!

Take care everyone, and please let me know how you are.  

Sincerely, Abbie 

Not good-bye. SEE YOU in September!


No matter how hard we try to slow down the time and squeeze every minute in our hands, we still have to accept the fact. It's the end of this semester of CI class. However, we're looking forward to seeing you again really soon after this long hot summer vacation.

It's become one of our traditions in CI class Yilan. Every time we look back, we would realize how far we've gone! As for me, I've been in this wonderful class for 3 years since 2010. Our first teacher, Mr. Logan, pioneered in creating this class and that was also when I met some of the old classmates such as Barrett, Jerry, Donald and Ammar. We all believe that forming a forum for those who are in Yilan and interested in learning English is the motivation that keeps us moving forward. Moreover, we've been so lucky to have Abbie as the leader of CI Class who teaches and guides us in the path of studying English. We've had 3 wonderful semesters and of course, we're looking forward to more coming ones!

During the potluck, as usual, we feasted on those delicious dishes brought by each of the classmates. Special thanks to Hans who has cooked fantastic fish-ball soup for 3 semesters already even if he's always extremely busy with his business. We really appreciate what you have done for me, Hans! We all LOVE your soup!

It's not time to say good-bye but for us to take a break. All of you matter to this class and without all of your participation, we wouldn't have come this far. As part of this class, I want to give big hugs to all of you and hope to see you all in September!

2013-06-14 Literature!


Tonight was our last second class in this semester and we were so lucky that Abbie brought one of her favorite children's books and read it to us. We were sitting on the chairs in a big circle as kids who were eager to know the new story and tonight, Abbie was the best librarian who volunteered to read it to all of us! It's an interesting book and I believe that our imagination creates lively pictures and the words guide us to the possible directions where the writers would like us to explore. It was fun to listen to a story like that!

Luckily, four of us prepared something to share with us. Julie was the first to share a story about Joseph who was his father's favorite son. She thoughtfully read the story to us and showed two videos about this story. One is an animation and the other one is performed in traditional Chinese drama way. That was quite interesting!

Marian then took out a reader that she's kept for a long time. It was "Pride and Prejudice." Her book not only is written in English but also provides the Chinese translation. It's one of Marian's favorite books! Then she showed a special Arches' ranger vest to us that she bought at the souvenir shop in Arches National Park when she visited there. It's the vest for junior rangers and the size doesn't really fit any adults. However, the vest carries lots of good memories of Marian's trip to the USA.

Barrett was the third to step on the stage and shared some collections of his books. He brought a medium-sized paper bag full of English books, novels and readers. He introduced each of his books and each of them contains some of Barrett's memories. He also told us why he chose Barrett as his English name. He also mentioned that he kind of struggled to understand some of his books but he pointed out that one of the tips of improving English is to think and write in English rather than in Chinese. He definitely has quite many books to read and no doubt, he has already finished most of them and his English is getting better and better!

I, Jonas, was the last to give the presentation. I used some quotes from the famous movies to remind myself that we all need to slow down and think what really matters in our lives! It is always a privilege to share something with the class and we are our own main characters in our own movies. We have the power to live our lives the way we want and create some unforgettable stories! Just like the quote from the book "The last lecture," We cannot change the card we are dealt, just how we play the hand." We're lucky and blessed to be in this great class. Thanks to those who help and join this big family and special thanks to our lovely teacher, Abbie, who has always been the most passionate to inspire us!

Last but not the least, Abbie led us to read two of her favorite poems. They are touching and it's true that words are so powerful that we get influenced and then take action to change ourselves.

There is no Frigate like a Book

BY EMILY DICKINSON
There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human Soul –

The Peace of Wild Things
BY WENDELL BERRY

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

2013-05-09 we THINK, therefore we ACT


It's getting warmer and warmer after every shower of rain. Summer's arrived! It also means that it's time for the beaches and water sports! On the other hand,  there are only

Tonight, we spent quite much time discussing the bright sides and dark sides of technology. Teacher Abbie divided us into groups of 3 or 4 people. It's been over 2 months since the semester begun and she knows us all better. She did a great job on mingling all the students into different groups. We all got the chance to get to know each other better.

After those passionate discussions, Abbie revealed the secret of the game she prepared for all of us tonight. Each team needed to choose one topic out of the ideas that they've come up with. Then we would form an acting crew to act the chosen topic out! To be honest, we all had the gene of acting and we surely had a great time acting and guessing! Each one worked on their own parts and learned to cooperate with their teammates. Abbie absolutely added lots of flavors to our class and helped us discover some hidden potential in ourselves. It was a great night, wasn't it?

2013-04-25 Technology!


Wow! I really have to apologize to our classmates who visit our blog frequently and care about what's new on here! I've been a bit lazy lately. Being a parent has let me confront more challenges than I thought but at the same time, it also provides me a chance to be immersed in joy, happiness and abundance.

It was exciting to see everyone again tonight and we welcomed 4 fantastic presentations from Julie, Lucas, Amar and Marian. Many thanks to them and we all got to learn more!

In the beginning of today's class, Abbie led us to read some poems about technology. All of them were special and the writers of those poems used different ways to describe how technology affects their lives and their perspectives on the things around them. We also got to read those beautiful poems together and dip deep into them to discover what those writers really wanted to say. Here's the link of those poems and if you are interested, go check it out. http://tweentribune.com/essaycontestwinners

Here's one of my favorite ones. I was thrilled by this poem and felt really blessed that I'm healthy in some way and get the chance to re-realize how important health is!

How does technology
make the world a better place?
Grade 9 First Place   Melodyy wrote: 
With waterfall tears, I've said my goodbyes
Awaiting my fate, in bedsheets I lie
Though hopeless it seems, I begin to dream
Of running through fields, dancing in streams
But before long, I'm taken away
Placed in a room, where I have to stay
There's blinding bright lights, machines everywhere
My heart starts pounding, and I become scared
My vision then blurs, my eyelids fall
I'm suddenly dreaming, escaping it all
Then I'm awoken, "Everything's okay"
"The tumor is gone," and I'm here to stay
I think of my life, possibilities too
Technology, I owe my life to you.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

After those thought-provoking poems, we jumped to our presentations. Julie gave us the first presentation. Before she started her topic, she shared some of the latest technology with us and I couldn't help thinking of what our world would be in the near future. Julie talked about a project called OLPC a.k.a One Laptop Per Child. It's a project supported by the Miami-based One Laptop Per Child Association(OLPCA) and the Cambridge-based OLPC Foundation. Its mission is to empower the world's poorest children through education. It provides each kid with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop. They hope that those children can become more connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future! Sometimes, it's hard for us who live in Taiwan to know that still many people in the world don't have the access to computers or cellphones, and if we want, we can also give our hands to the organization through donations. Thanks, Julie!

The second presentation was about one of the newest printing technology - 3D printers. Lucas showed us how this new type of printer works to produce a 3-dimensional solid object rather than some printed piece of paper. He also displayed some pictures of different types of 3D printers and those different materials used by them. Although the prices of 3D printers remain much higher than the normal ones, we can expect the coming future that more and more people would adopt this new technology to give their friends more surprises in their own technical ways. 




Ammar then introduced this interesting topic about smart phones. Nowadays, a large number of people in Taiwan use smart phones to communicate with friends, visit the social network websites, read novels, play games, take pictures, and etc... According to his own experience of using different types of smart phones, he recommended us those smart phones with the Android operation system. It's easy to learn and use and it offers tons of free applications for us to choose from. He shared a useful program "The Voice Search of the Google Dictionary" provided by Google. You can just say the word to the receiver of your cell phone and the program will identify the word then translate it into the language you want. Moreover, Barrett even gave it a try to see how it worked, and it did WORK well to translate "I Love You" into "Wall Eye Knee" in Chinese pronunciation! 



The last but not the least, Marian brought us back into a different area of technology. She introduced the food revolution and inventions in our human history. 

There are two important technologies invented to improve the safety of food. One is Pasteurization in 1860 and the other is Refrigeration in 1877. Both of the technologies help us to be able to have clean and healthy food and also to prevent some diseases in some certain degree . Have you ever wondered our lives without those two epochal technologies? Or have you ever thought of our lives when we still had to use ice and closets to store our food? Then, Marian shared more information about the convenience created by those food inventions. Eggcartons, metal cans, can openers, knives, bread slicers, microwaves, chopsticks, mixers, blenders, tea bags, corks plastic wraps and etc... Almost all of these things are frequently used in our daily lives and we can see them everywhere. But what if we didn't have them in our lives? What would our lives be? Technology. It's a friend of ours that helps us save our time, energy and strength. However, it's also a friend that gradually takes something, some feeling and some skill out of us. Maybe it's our worst best friend, eh? 


2013-03-21 No news is GOOD news!


Tonight, we talked about some fun news and some serious topics as well.

Lucas shared his presentation about the future of the smart phones and tablet computers. He provided us some clear pictures of the new coming types of models of cell phones and computers. One of his favorites is the one with a transparent touch screen! He told us it would be interesting to manage all of the functions and modify the pictures or videos on it!

Then, Barrett stepped on the stage to share something really technical and offered us a powerpoint file with lots of useful information about the alternative recourse - Shale oil. He reminded us of last week's topic we talked about - Are there any alternative powers which can replace nuclear power? He did a profound research on the shale oil and gave us some positive thoughts about the declining resources we rely on nowadays. According to Barrett's report, the costs of the shale oil are lower than any other type of energy we produce now. He also mentioned that the technology of the extraction of shale gas/oil was created by George P. Mitchell, who is an American businessman from Texas.

Barrett also predicted some upcoming trends of the global economy. By the time of 2020, the US oil production will exceed Saudi Arabia. In 2035, the US will become o oil importer and the manufacturing industry will return to the US. The greenback will be strong again and the price of gold and oil will be steady and lower.

Jerry brought up a very interesting piece of news right after the break. He said the news is more or less related to everyone. In Taiwan on March 19, Women's group urged the government to abolish an article in the Criminal Code that punishes adultery because it is unfavorable to women and unhelpful in repairing marriages. The DPP legislator Yu-Mei-Nu said that according to statistics, 50 percent of women who sue their husbands for adultery will eventually drop charges, but only 23 percent of men will drop charges against their wives, resulting in a higher conviction rate among women. Jerry told us the law should be amended to provide more protection for women and hopefully it can bring more justice and equality.

Everything changes day by day and everyone get influenced by the things happening around them. We have the right and power to make the world different once we believe that we can! Every class, we learn from each other and we'll always keep this way.

Before we said good-bye tonight, our teacher, Abbie helped us brainstorm some ideas about the content of good news and bad news. Here are the ideas we shared:

What types of news we consider "Good News":
sympathy, uplifting, inspiring, compassionate, affectionate,charity, positive

What types of news we consider "Bad News":
discrimination, too personal, invasion of privacy, disasters, tragedy, cruelty, murder, violence, war, politics, suicide, negative

Moreover, the ways reporters report the news affect our feelings to define it's good news or bad news.

When the news is about justice, something justifiable, objective, responsible, logical, rational or true, we would think of the news "Good news."

However, when we see some news with the words of biased, subjective, sensational, based on rumors, repetitive, too private, threats, and prejudiced, then we would consider it "Bad news."

What a great night! Many thanks to our teacher, Abbie, who is always hardworking and devoting, and to those classmates who spoke out to share their thoughts and feelings. Our CI class wouldn't be so fun without your participation. Thanks again and wish you all a great weekend, and see you all really soon at the same time at the same place!


In the News on 3/14


This week on 3/14, our topic is "In the News," and we'll be talking about events that have been in the news recently.  

When I was in university, I had a professor who always clipped interesting articles out of newspapers.  His whole office was full of the files which were stuffed with years' and years' worth of his newspaper clippings.  Now that I'm a teacher, I find myself clipping out interesting newspaper articles for my students too!  Though with the internet, I can find them all online, I somehow still enjoy keeping the paper copies, and I still keep adding to my file of newspaper clippings!  

For the next few days, please pay attention to the news, either the English-language or the Chinese-language news, either from an actual newspaper, or from the t.v., radio, or internet, and choose an article or news item that you personally think is interesting.  Then in class this Thursday, 3/14, please share that news item or article with us.

Just tell us (briefly if you want, or in great detail if you want!) what the article's about, and what you think about the information in the article!   

This evening, I checked out CNN's website, http://edition.cnn.com/, and I found this article interesting: 

"Two enemies discover a 'higher call' in battle," by John Blake, CNN

and I also watched this short video:  

"Japan's unusual energy solution" 

I often buy Taiwan's English language newspaper, the Taipei Times, a source for English-language news about Taiwan, as well as international news.  Their home page is at:  http://www.taipeitimes.com/  

Today's Taipei Times includes this headline:  

"Protesters use exercise to make nuclear point," by Lee I-chia

I hope that each of you will be able to find some news that interests you this week.  

Class on 3/14 should be fun for all, and we'll have lots to discuss as we discuss the news!  

Please don't forget, our class time has been changed: the new C.I. class time is Thursdays from 7pm to 9:30pm!  

See you all at 7:00 on 3/14!  

Welcome to the Spring 2013 Semester!

Welcome to those of you who are new students, and welcome back to those of you who are returning students!  It was great to see all of you last Thursday!  

Last week on 3/7, after my introductions we played "Two Truths and a Lie."  In this game, we each had to tell two truths and one lie about ourselves, and the others had to guess which was the lie.  But we were all "honest liars," and told only the truth when revealing our lies!!  We learned some unbelievable truths about each other last time!  

We also brainstormed a list of different types of presentations, including drama, powerpoint, reading an article, giving a prepared speech using key words as memory aids, "off the cuff" (impromtu), drawing on the blackboard, singing a song, telling a story, showing photos, bringing in objects and/or other visual aids, and many more ideas.  I was impressed with all the great ideas that everyone came up with!  

I hope you'll all feel free to get creative with your presentations this semester, and I hope that our brainstorm got you all inspired to give whatever type of presentation that you feel comfortable giving this Thursday and in the future. 

As I said in class, we welcome any type of presentation, and from any length starting from half a minute, to twelve minutes long!  The more people who share ideas in class, the more fun we'll have, so I welcome you all to share something in class on Thursday!  


2013-01-03 The end of 2012 semester and POTLUCK

Wow! I just can't believe that it was already the last day of this semester. My gosh! Still trying to figure out how fast the time flies.

We were so happy to have so many participants and one special guest from Slovenia whose name is Ziga. He's much taller than most of us and he's in a very great shape. He told me that he's been working out since young and he got inspired from a very famous Japanese manga "Fist of the North Star." That was really interesting! We were honored to have him with us especially in the last class of this semester. He also joined the first game "Don't say no" with us and he won the first tile! He got the most cards! Then Abbie led us to sing several classic songs and Ziga performed a famous Slovenian song for us. The melody was catchy and it sounded beautiful although it was indeed a sad song. Thanks to Ziga!







After the first game, we continued to play the second game. Abbie brought lots of PROPS and divided us into 5 groups. Each group got 2 props and we decided to set a play with one or more specific topics. The other groups got to guess what topic was after seeing each group's play. It was so much fun and I could see those big smiles on everyone's face! We surely had a fantastic time!

It's always sad to say good-bye but we all know that one day we'll get together again! Wle aren't just a class but a family that loves sharing, helping and learning! See you all this March! :D

Jerry, Eason, Julia, Tina, Jeff, Humor, Karla, Neinko, Barrett, Ming, Jonas, Donald, Hogan, Abbie, Ching, Lucas, Liam, May, Hans, Wealth, Jack, Justin