A Taiwanese High School Student @ Alexandria

Cultural exchange was one of main emphases of the trip, especially on the cultural da. For the cultural day, we prepared songs and skits to perform for them. The Moding students, likewise, prepared many forms of entertainment for us. Practiced only for an hour, we performed different songs and skits in front of 400 people! We sang “This Little Light of Mine,” “This Land,” “My Favorite Things” (which I sang solo); and performed “Three Little Pigs” and “Goldilocks and Three Bears.” To be honest, we did pretty well, considering how much time we prepared! J I can tell the Moding students really enjoyed it! The Moding students, in return, performed skits stressing important issues (like HIV/AIDS and circumcision), and sang many cultural songs from their tribe (Teso). Although I did not understand many parts of their skits, I could feel their enthusiasm and dedication. They also embrace their heritage and bloodline, as seen in the singing and dancing of theirs.

During the second week, we visited Kakamer School, where there was a division for students with special needs. I looked at all the students with special needs and how they have to struggle in the environment to study. It’s impressive! I hope the school keeps the division going so more students with special needs can study there and the students can be divided up according to their disabilities. There, we also met a very talented girl named Abigail who led the performances of a poem and a song. The teachers of EHS were impressed and, if possible, want to take her back to US for education. Soon after that, we also gifted Kakamer School with different toys and supplies. They were so happy to see all the new gifts. I was glad that we had the chance and ability to do this.

Moding High School is the partner school of EHS in Kenya. Expecting shyness and non-advanced technology/academics, I was totally shocked when I first arrived at their school. As we arrived and introduced ourselves, we’re paired with one or two students each. My guides were John and Emmanuel. They were both in Form I (freshmen). They took me around the campus for a tour and also met other students in the school. The students were so enthusiastic and happy to see us in their school. Many of them came rushing to me, trying to say “habari”, “how are you”… I also sat down to have a chat with the students, and they would ask all kinds of questions, trying to learn more about the foreign culture. We also had the opportunity to visit their classes. I was shocked and impressed by their academic knowledge and how much work they had.

Later in the first week, we even had the chance to stay overnight at a Moding student’s house, where I learned more about their lives. We walked with our hosts to where their lived. Each of us had very different experiences. I, for example, stayed in a mud-brick hut for the evening and had dinner there. My host, his brother, and I talked about education and differences between Kenya and America. We had a really fun time. Like most of the huts around Moding, their hut did not have electricity. After sun sets, they have to burn kerosene lamps to provide light. The kerosene lamps were not very good for one’s body and were not very bright. That makes me realizes how lucky we are to have electricity all year long. And can you believe that they have to study for 13 subjects every year? Imagine that! The following morning was even more surprising; they brought me a hen as a gift! I guess what Zach told us was true. In Kenya, having visitors in their house was considered a blessing. Simply being in the house is a blessing to them.

P.S. A really interesting thing is that they had chickens running around their campus and cows and lambs on the fields!

Kenya. Before this trip, this country sounded so unfamiliar to me. Locating to the west of the Horn of Africa, it borders Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. After 30+ hours of travel, I arrived in Nairobi then travelled to Amagoro the following morning, along with my friends from school. 

Simply riding on the van to the Mission House -where we stayed for most of the trip- was interesting. The world of rural Kenya slowly unraveled to us. We saw all different kinds of shops, people riding bikes on the side of the roads, kids yelling as we walked by… This all became more obvious as we played with local children in front of the Mission House. Some were shy and some were not, but most of them can’t speak much English. We took out our Swahili guide book and learned to say “Habari? (How are you?)”, “Jina (name)”, “picha (photo)”… Though we tried very hard, a lot of the children were still a bit afraid of us foreigners, or “m’uzungu” as I learned later on. And that’s when we discovered the magic wand: camera. I thought, why not bring out my camera and take some pictures with the children? I snapped some photos and they were fascinated! They looked surprising by how that little silver box and record pictures on the screen, pictures of themselves! I felt happy by just looking at their naïve and cute smiles on their faces. I knew immediately that this trip was going to blow my mind.

The cold winter season always make people want to sleep a few more minutes in bed and stay in the warm blanket for the whole day. However, no matter cold and snow, wind and rain; it doesn’t keep the athletes from competing in this busy athletic season. Last year (which was only 2011, not 2010…he he), the track team competed in an “Early Bird Track Meet.”

(By the way, this is DEFINITELY not my drawing. I’m not that creative and artistic. :P)

We competed in different events and won many of them.  

Besides the early bird track meet, the second track meet was held on Friday, called the “Maroon and Black Relay.” In this meet, all of the running events are relays or hurdles of different distance. All of the contestants worked really hard and tried their best to win.

Here are some awesome photos from the last two meets.

Any of you heard of "Iron Chef?" Well, if you've never heard of it, that's fine, because I didn't know about it either. So from what I've heard, basically, it's a cooking competition, with a limited amount of time and ingredients to use. On Friday, EHS held the "Battle of the Chefs," which was the high school version of "Iron Chef." As the tables were set up and the contenders were ready, the competition began.

In order to finish the competition and get evaluated by the judges, the contenders, in groups of 4, have to prepare an appetizer, a main dish, and a dessert. More importantly, they must all include the secret ingredient, blueberries.

As the teams cracked open their heads and thought about it, creative and interesting ideas came up. This time, the choices for the protein in the main dish were chicken, beef (steak), salmon, and shrimp. As for vegetables, fruits and seasoning, there are lots of choices. Bottles and bottles of different seasonings were displayed on a table behind the chefs, so were the fruits and vegetables.

The competitors did everything they could to make the best food on the world.

Unfortunately, the 1-hour time limit went by quickly. As the cooking ended, the real and intense competition started. It’s time for the judge the food!

Blueberry Boston Cream Pie~ Yum!

First break of the year, Thanksgiving. As a 9th grader, I decided to go back home to Taiwan for the break. After 16 hours of flight, I finally arrived home to the wonderful city of Taipei. As few days passed by, it was clear that the break was coming to an end. It came to me that my dad’s birthday is in a few days, which is most definitely after the break. So, celebrating it earlier seems to be the only and best solution. And to celebrate, I mean to make a cake and have a little party in our house. What cake? A blueberry Boston cream pie.

It’s not a hard cake to make, but the flavor came out great. With some blueberries in the cream, the cream was blended in a light sourness and odor of the blueberries. The cake itself was already pretty awesome, but the blueberry in the cream gave it a bonus.

This is the ingredients for a basic Boston cream pie. (I added the blueberries in later because I thought of the idea while I was making the cake)

One important thing in the process of making the cake is that you whip the egg white until it gets to “wet peak.”