The back story: Working at four schools gives me a lot of face time with a lot of people. And every school has its own flavour (one is focused on aboriginal Taiwanese culture, where I learn a lot of mythology and cultural practices of the pre-Chinese Taiwanese; another is all about sports, where I get to dig into the athletic world of Taiwan; another is all about health and trying to discourage betel nut chewing and smoking, where I get to meet the forefront of the Taiwanese version of 'healthy schools'; and the final is...well...it is just a school that plugs through each day).All grant me a different taste of Taiwan, a different perspective and are all growing experiences to say the least. But, the one that has the least as a school ("plug through each day") actually offers us the most. You see, employed there is a mastermind of Taiwan ecology. I mentioned in an earlier post that teaching there is akin to an ecology lesson each day. He tells me stories, explains plants, has an astounding butterfly conservatory on the school grounds, knows everything ("Teacher Wu.....I saw a bunch of red bulbs in the rice on the way to work today...what is it" BAM! A whole ecology lesson follows...what they are (snail eggs) and their place in the grand spectrum of Taiwan, nature and, yes, the rice (that they feed on to the chagrin of the farmers). Anywho, the point is that he is a wonderful man and a wonderful source of informaiton, and I try my best to fit a little lesson into each day. The hardest part to swallow - he asks me often "is Taiwan really beautiful...I have never left, I dont know. I have nothing to compare it to". He doesnt even realize, despite my assertions that the east coast of Taiwan is one of the prettiest, most diverse and profound places if you dig into the forests and ravines. He lives in the lap of biological luxury, tutors me on it, and has no idea. But he knows he loves it. And above all he loves to share it with me. And share it he does.
Working at his school has been aTaiwanese biology course, and, of course, there are the perks: earlier he gave us a butterfly chrysalis to baby sit until it sprang forth a fluttering butterfly, he gave me leaves to add to coffee (wild cinnamon!) from the grounds of the school and, just the other week, he gave us this to babysit:
This critter (Phyllium weswoodi or Phyllium ...?) is our little guest for a while. I think it is perhaps called the 'ghost insect' for the way that it wobbles when it walks around (a perfectly evolved mimic for a waving leaf on a real tree). The thing is, it only eats the leaves of the guava tree - and there are no guava farms nearby, nor are there any wild guava tress popping their heads around our house. The only source is at that one school - one lone tree sitting out front of my office door. So, each time I go there I pluck a weeks ration for this little critter (Herby) and stick it in some water and give it a nice big snack. The timing works out quite nicely as by the time the new rations arrive, the old ones are starting to dry up and die. Herby is super excited for the fresh feed!
And here are two pictures of the Flame Tree - so nammed because the flowers on the crown of the tree resemble, from a distance, a fire. It is actually quite a beautiful sight. The main road by our house is lines with these trees, and biking down a row of bright red topped trees with the big black seed pod and the juicy green leaves bordering you is quite nice. Quite nice indeed!
