C.I. class October 2015: further links from Yuhsi and Jerry‏

Dear Class!

Yuhsi and Jerry have both sent me great links to share with our class!

Yuhsi was inspired by our discussion of beauty a couple of weeks ago to tell us about a woman who recycles old dolls, taking off their makeup and giving them different outfits, and making them, in many people's opinions, much more beautiful!  Yuhsi shares that link with us, and you'll be happy if you watch this video!  The transformation is amazing!  
Tree Change Dolls

And last class Jerry introduced us to a "game" which helps people understand how tough it is to travel from Syria to Europe.  We tried as a class together, and we didn't make it.  I tried at home this morning, and I did make it to Europe, but only by abandoning my principles and doing something that I'm not very proud of.  :(  
If you'd like to try for yourself, here's the link from Jerry: 
Syrian Journey:  Choose your own escape route 

After your journey, you can read a lot of people's true escape stories at the end of the page.  I recommend the story of the "special shoes."  

After I tried the above journey, I felt pretty sad, and I also wondered why people pay so much money to those heartless and opportunistic smugglers for such short and dangerous journeys, when so much less money would be more than enough to buy a plane ticket all the way to Sweden or Germany or even Canada or the USA.  

If you're curious about this, check out some excellent answers here:
Why don't Mediterranean boat refugees take the plane?
or here:
Why Boat Refugees Don't Fly (Hans Rosling)

Enjoy the links, everyone, and many thanks to Jerry and Yuhsi for sharing with us!

Sincerely, Abbie

C.I. class 10/15/15: Stories

Dear C.I. class!

I have to say that all my research into the "Refugee and Migrant Crisis" in order to find material for our class for the last couple of weeks has left me sleepless.  I am not sleepless because of working, but rather I am sleepless because of sadness!  

Even though I had a great time last class, and I was really happy to see everyone and I really enjoyed your comments and observations and presentations, I also left last class feeling pretty hopeless.  

As to the refugee and migrant situation that we've been discussing, the prevailing attitude of our class seems to be "we don't know what to do," and "there is nothing that can be done."  This is how I feel too, and this is an honest reaction, and this is a reflection of the whole world's attitude:  most governments seem to be pretty freaked out as well.  Nobody really knows what to do, and nobody seems to have the power to "fix" the huge problems that are causing all these other terrible problems, let alone help all the people who need help right now.  

It might be time to move on to another theme in our class, but I don't want to leave this topic on such a hopeless and helpless note.  So this week, we will take one more look at refugees and migrants from a different perspective; from the perspective of two stories!  

One story comes from a reporter who is in Europe following the migrants right now, and one story comes from a woman whose own home country has been torn apart since the 1970s.     

The stories come to you in the form of one article and one video!  

The article is short, and we will read it together in class.  It is by a reporter who has been on the road covering the journeys of migrants in Europe.  In class on Thursday, we'll discuss the images and observations that he gathered in this article.  You may want to preview it!:

Politeness and eloquence on the road to Europe

The video is 17 minutes long and is a talk by a person who returned to her home country even though it was dangerous to do so and even though she was living a good and safe life with her family in the US.  Why did she want to go back?  And what did she do when she arrived at a refugee camp of 7.5 million of her own people?  Watch her talk to find out!  We'll also be discussing her stories in our class:    

Sakena Yacoobi:  How I stopped the Taliban from shutting down my school

You will probably want to check out the transcript of this talk!!  You can find it here!:

I think we'll have lots to talk about, and I can't wait to see you all on 10/15!  And please feel free to share your own presentations and your own stories then as well!  :)  Please drop me an email if you'd like to present on 10/15!

Sincerely, Abbie

C.I. class 10/8: Refugees and Migrants

Dear C.I. class, 

Thanks for a very interesting class last week!  

We discussed the question:  "How do you define yourself?"  
Some of the answers we came up with were that we define ourselves by our: dreams, experiences, skills, careers, relationships, achievements, failures, possessions, ideals, attitudes, personalities, nationalities...  (and more!!).  

We also discussed what it would be like to lose many of the things that "define" you: your job, family, home, country; and we started a heated discussion of the current "refugee and migrant crisis."  

We have a lot more to talk about on that subject!  And we'll be discussing it next week!  Please try to get some sense of the numbers of people involved; there seems to be a wide variation in the numbers of refugees and migrants reported to be in need of and seeking refuge outside of their home countries.  

For your reference, the population of the European Union is at 508 million, if you consider the EU to be 28 countries, including Croatia.  

And according to google, in 2013, the population of Europe the continent was 742.5 people.  The population of the US in 2014 was 318.9 million. And the population of Taiwan is 23.37 million.   

There is a flood of information right now on the internet about refugees and migrants.  It's hard to know where to start, and it's hard to choose just one article for our class.  

So I'm again going to give you some sources; please read what you can to form an opinion; ask your own questions and try to find some answers.  Come to class armed with some ideas, some facts, and some clear sources for your facts, and we'll have a good discussion and hopefully find some good answers to this terrible crisis. 

Here are four interesting links for you this week!:  

The first is an article which "debunks" a few myths including the myth that "the majority of people are economic migrants":
 5 Major Myths of Europe's Refugee and Migrant Crisis Debunked

Irin is a very good source for thought-provoking articles; feel free to choose an article that interests you, and share what you've learned with our class!:
Global Migrant and Refugee Crisis

On the above page, I checked out a short photo series: 
Humans of Syria 
and an article about the Train of Hope, a group of volunteers in Vienna:
The right way to reinvent the wheel?

Here is a surprising video interview with Noujain Mustaffa, a 16-year-old refugee from Syria, who uses a wheelchair and speaks excellent English (learned from watching a soap opera!).  
Disabled Syrian teenager's journey across borders

I also found this photo series from back in June, showing what people went through just to get out of Syria.
Syrians Crash Though a Fence Between War and Refuge

Please feel free to research this crisis in Chinese or in English, however you like, and come to class ready to discuss possible solutions.  

See you all on Thursday, 10/8!  Take care!!

Sincerely, Abbie

C.I. class 9/17/15: Beauty

Hello current returning, and past, C.I. students!

I am excited about the start of our new semester!  Last night was a lot of fun!

To those of you who are returning:  Welcome back!!  I was so glad to see all of you, and so happy to see you welcoming the new students and sharing your encouragement and words of wisdom!  

To those of you past students who can't return to C.I. class this semester:  We'll miss you a lot!  Please keep in touch with me!  I'd love to hear from you!  (Also, please let me know if you want me to keep you on the mailing list for class emails...  I will be making the new email list soon, and if you write me this week to say you'd like to keep getting C.I. class emails, I'll keep you on it!).  

Here's our first TED talk of the semester; it's on our new subject, "Beauty," and we'll be discussing this talk next week on 9/17!:

Cameron Russell:  Looks aren't everything.  Believe me, I'm a model.  

More soon!  

Sincerely, Abbie

PS  If you know any of the new students, please let them know that I'll be writing to them as well as soon as I get their email addresses!  :)  

07-09 POTLUCK PARTY 2015


Dear CI class, this is Jonas writing to all of our new and old friends in CI class. 

Our new semester has started already since last week and I'd like to welcome all of the new faces this semester! I'm sure you can find some veterans here and they are all excellent, enthusiastic learners. Jerry, our class leader, has always put tons of effort to help us gather together and deal with our class affairs. Sometimes he would bring some aromatic coffee to share with all of us. If you're lucky, don't forget to bring your own mug! You might also be able to see Barrett, Jeff, Julie and Hans in class. They are all friendly, curious and passionate classmates! Furthermore, we're so lucky to have Abbie as our teacher who has always devoted herself to leading and helping us in our English learning. From time to time, she would sing us a song with her beautiful voice! 





The last class of CI class each semester has turned out to be our very special tradition - POTLUCK. Bring your homemade food or anything delicious from any shops to share. Have you seen Hans' fishball soup or smelled Jerry's coffee? If you just join us this semester, please bring your favorite dish when the time comes!






Coffee smells great and tastes even greater! Food looks tasty, doesn't it? We all look happy, don't we? What are you waiting for? Come join us in CI class. See you there then!

C.I. class 07/09/2015: Class POTLUCK

Dear C.I. class!

Our class outing on Sunday, 7/5, was great fun!  It was so nice and relaxing to hike in nature with everyone!  I enjoyed conversing with all of you, and meeting your family members and your dogs!  The trees and river and waterfall at JiuLiaoXi are so beautiful.  Yilan County has so many beautiful places!  Thanks so much to all who came!!  Thanks to Jerry for sharing the photos of our fun day! 

On 6/25, David in his presentation treated us to a celebration of Yilan County's culture.  David showed us various points of Yilan's culture including the thought process behind the County Government buildings, the maintenance of Yilan's rural character, community initiated projects, and the preservation of traditional arts including Taiwanese opera.  I was interested to learn that after the 921 earthquake, many came to Yilan to study Yilan's architecture experience in order gain inspiration for their own rebuilding efforts.  I have always felt lucky that I first came to Yilan County when I arrived in Taiwan, and I didn't know then just how special Yilan was!  David showed us the work that has gone on over the years to help develop, promote, and protect the qualities that make Yilan unique in Taiwan, and it's fascinating to know the story of our county's history and architecture and festivals.  Thanks David for your presentation!

And now... tonight, 7/9, is our last class of the semester!  As Jerry already wrote to everyone, we'll gather for our potluck tonight in our classroom and 6:30, and bring food and drink to share!  

Please also bring your own cups, bowls, plates, chopsticks, spoons, etc.!  So that we don't create lots of trash with paper and plastic disposable items!  

I can't wait to see you all tonight!  

Sincerely, Abbie

C.I. class 06/25/2015: PRESENTATIONS!!‏

Dear C.I. class!  

As I mentioned in the last email, we had two fascinating presentations last week!  

Tim's subject was Teenagers, and he began by eliciting the first words which popped into our heads when we think of "teenagers," and then he got us all to remember the times when we were teens and argued with our parents or teachers.  We gave Tim lots of positive words about teenagers!  But he said that he actually usually gets a lot of negative responses when he asks people to share their first thoughts of teenagers, because many people take it for granted that teens are full of rebellion and trouble.   Tim then told us about a 1928 study of Samoan culture by anthropologist Margaret Mead.  She discovered that Samoan youth transitioned from teens into adults gracefully, and she concluded that adolescent rebellion is not inherent, but depends on culture.  Tim then shared Jean Piaget's ideas of the four stages of human's cognitive development, and showed that teenagers are transitioning stages, from the concrete thinking of childhood to the abstract thinking of adulthood.  Tim said that teens need time to practice their new skills for their new stage, but that many times adults don't have the patience to let them practice.  So Tim asked, is it really teenager rebellion?  Or is it the fact that adults are not ready?  I liked how his talk made me think about teenagers and our society in a new way; I think that relationships between teens and adults have a good chance of improving as more and more people understand these ideas from the content of Tim's talk!  

Barrett's presentation was entitled "Shall We Share Imperfect Life with Others?"  Barrett told us about Madison Holleran (1994 - 2014), a girl who seemed to have it made in every way.  She was good at soccer and got a scholarship to a prestigious college, and she was beautiful and popular and skilled at both sports and studies.  Barrett told us that her mother saw all the fun photos of Madison at her college, and was pleased that Madison was really enjoying life in college.  But Madison said, "They're just pictures."  In reality, Madison was under a lot of pressure from trying to keep up her studies and her sports.  In the end, Madison committed suicide.  Nobody knew or guessed her pain, because the image that everyone saw was of a happy, popular, smart, skillful girl.  In telling us this story, Barrett brought up the point that we all always try to show our best sides, (think of facebook and other social media).  So, back to Barrett's original question...  do we dare to show others the less-than-perfect sides of our lives?  And are we ready to give support if someone else shows us that their life is less than perfect?!  Barrett's presentation reminded me to look beyond the surface images of my acquaintances, and to remember that everyone may be hiding secret pain.  His presentation also encouraged me to try to share my true self with those around me.  Even though my life is imperfect!!  :D  

Thank you so much to Tim and Barrett for your thought-provoking presentations!  

I hope you all in C.I. class feel free to share your true selves!  I love our class because everyone is supportive and encouraging of each other.  

And... I hope that everyone who wants to share a presentation will do so soon!! 

We have three more classes!!  

Our last class is traditionally a potluck (when we share a meal together)!  And our classmates have been talking about taking an outing for the second-to-last class (a hike?!  karaoke?!  other ideas?!)  :D  So... 

This week is the best chance to share this semester's final presentations with us!  And it might even be your last chance this semester!!   So I hope as many of you who still would like to present will seize the opportunity and share with us!  

As always, we welcome your presentations from less than a minute in length up to 12 minutes in length!  

Please send me an email by Thursday at noon if you'd like to present this week on 6/25!!  

See you then for more great presentations, and for a continuing discussion of work!  

Sincerely, Abbie

C.I. class 06/25/2015: FOUR day work week?‏

Dear C.I. class,

Thanks for a wonderful class last week!  

Last week we read the beginning of the article 
"Even a jealous mountain goddess couldn't stop her"
and next time we'll just discuss it!  

Last week we were treated to two very interesting presentations from Tim and Barrett!  Details about their talks are coming in my next email!!

Next class on 6/25 we'll finish discussing the ideas raised in the above article about Reiko Abe, the engineer from Japan. 

And then we'll discuss how much we work, compared with other nations, and whether or not working longer hours truly means more productivity!    

I read in the paper that early last month in Taipei, workers from many different professions (from nurses to police officers to migrant workers to teachers) gathered to protest the excessive hours that they're forced to work:   
(source:  "Workers' rights march draws thousands"

And Taiwan, at 2124 hours per year, has the third highest legal working hours per year in the world, according to another newspaper article.  
(source: "Labor regulations mended to cap 40-hr work week"

I'm curious about what you all think of the situation of workers' rights in Taiwan, and what you think of the idea of a four-day work week!  The below article, which I sent out yesterday, is a good place to start exploring this concept:  
 
The four-day work week

I can't wait to hear your opinions about the ideas in the above article!  

Sincerely, Abbie

P.S.  Here are links to a couple more articles, for those of you are curious and who have time and would like to do a little further research on the topic of work week lengths; for those of you who don't have extra time, don't worry; the above article is enough!! 

The 4-day work week article above mentions the Netherlands; and an interesting and brief overview of their work week can be found here:  

The 4-day work week article above also links to an interesting opinion piece which highlights the benefits of a four-day work week:
Why four-day workweeks are best

C.I. class 06/18/2015: Jealous Mountain Goddess and Work‏

Dear C.I. class,

Last week we finished reading our "Creativity Powers Science" article, and had a good discussion of that topic.  

Then we brainstormed some questions and problems, and I really liked the wide array of topics that we covered, from fun to serious!  We even brainstormed for solutions, and discussed everything from creating new cooling materials for summer clothing, to deciding whether to change jobs.  

We also discussed how to travel the world even if one has little money, and Tim suggests this website, which he says he used twice during his travels: 
Help Exchange

Next time I will send out a few more links to other volunteer and other travel resource sites that I've gathered over time...  there are many!  But I think it's really great to have the above one that's been personally recommended by one of our classmates!  :)   

I hope that you've been encouraged to ask questions and think about your own problems in new ways...  maybe we can all come up with some creative solutions this week!  

This week on Thursday, 6/18, we will go over the newspaper article that I sent out last week, 

"Even a jealous mountain goddess couldn't stop her"

And we'll talk about the work-related ideas and topics that are brought up in this article!  

(I'm going to try to be realistic, so I won't send any new material out to you this week, because I want to make sure we have enough time to discuss this article and its related issues this week!)...  :D  

We already have one presentation coming this Thursday, and I think you all will be really interested in the topic!  And more presentations are welcome, so please contact me by Thursday at noon if you'd like to present on 6/18!!  :)  

Dragon Boat Festival is coming!  And summer and the end of this semester's C.I. class are coming too...  We will celebrate together before we take our summer break!  This week we will also discuss our class potluck, and the possibility for another class outing!  

I can't wait to see you all again on Thursday!

Sincerely, Abbie

C.I. class 06/11/2015: WORK

Dear C.I. class,

I hope you're enjoying your weekend!  

Our next topic is "Work," and here's an article about a Japanese civil engineer who has worked on projects in both Norway and Taiwan, and is now working in India.

"Even a jealous mountain goddess couldn't stop her"

In class on 6/11 we'll talk about that article, and about the issues it brings up.

We'll also talk about the short clip I sent you a few days ago, 

Questions Are the New Answers, with Warren Berger

And we'll finish off last week's article, 
and wrap up our discussion on creativity and science.  

On 6/11 we'll also brainstorm together for both problems and solutions, which can apply to any aspect of our lives, including work...

Watch for another email coming your way soon!

And be sure to contact me before noon on 6/11 if you'd like to present this week!  Presentations on any topic, and any length from 
short (under a minute!) to long (up to twelve minutes!), are welcome!  We all have a lot to learn from each other!  

See you all on Thursday, 6/11!  

Sincerely, Abbie

C.I. class 06/04/2015: notes from 5/28 and creativity powers science

Hi again C.I. class! 

As promised, here are the notes on last time's class!  As I said, we had four great presentations!  

(And if you read on below, you'll understand why I sent out the extra links earlier this evening.)  

Lydia's presentation was about Nelson Mandela.  She gave us a short overview of Mandela's life, including his imprisonment,his time as South Africa's first post-apartheid president, and his Nobel Peace Prize.  She told us about "Mandela: the Long Walk to Freedom," a 2013 movie starring Idris Elba, which portrays Mandela's 27 years in jail, and she shared this powerful quote:  "It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."  Lydia then introduced a second movie about Mandela, the 2009 "Invictus," starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, which tells the story of how Mandela united South Africa through sport during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.  Here is the poem that the movie is named after; it is a poem that gave hope to Mandela during his time in prison.  
"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley

Read more »

C.I. class 06/04/2015: Creativity Powers Science

Dear Class,

Happy June!  The weather is heating up!  I hope you are all staying cool!  

This week (tomorrow!) we will go over the article I sent out last week:

Since we didn't have time to discuss it last week, I decided not to give you anything new to read this week!   Tomorrow we can read and talk about this interesting article!  

Last week, we started class with a creative exercise and I was impressed at how the participants jumped right into it.  You are natural actors!  And each performance was original and creative!

We also had FOUR presentations last week!  Thank you so much to Lydia, Jacky, David, and Julia!!  

I will share the notes on their presentations when I come home from my class this evening; I'm almost finished writing them but not quite; in the meanwhile please let me share a couple of other links with you!!:

a poem (I'm sharing it because of Lydia's presentation last week!): 
"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley

a youtube clip (I'm sharing this one because of Joanne's comments last week!):  
Questions Are the New Answers, with Warren Berger

a second youtube clip (this one comes to us from Julia's presentation last week!):
The Ron Clark Academy:  Kids who enjoy going to school  

Look for another email from me in a few hours!  For now, enjoy the links!!  

Sincerely, Abbie

C.I. class 05/28/2015: Creativity

Dear C.I. Class,

Thanks for a really fun and full class last week!  I was so happy to see everybody there, and even happier because we had many exciting and interesting discussions, and I got to hear what so many of you think!  

We started off the class with a discussion of "What good have I done today?", and we next wrapped up our reading of last week's creativity article.  Through discussing this article, we confirmed that many of us do our most creative thinking when our bodies are engaged in mindless tasks so that our minds are free to roam...
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