A Visit to My 5th Grade Teacher
Mrs. Chang was an awesome teacher. She made a great impact in my life. I was really glad that my primary school friend, Wu Liyun made the connection for us to go for a visit. Mrs. Chang is 83 this year and not in very good health. But she’s still sharp as a tack. She told me her phone number and taught me how to remember it. She said it was a mnemonic technique of remembering things, in this case, where the first 3 digits of her phone number repeat themselves. That was so cool. I remember teaching "palindromic numbers, words, places..." to my students at Farragut Intermediate School. I guess she was teaching the teacher (me), who was teaching teachers in the last part of my career.
Mrs. Chang even remembers my parents. She was very strict as a teacher, and I remember my father didn't appreciate her scolding me and protested a few times to her about her teaching style. She was actually the teacher who helped me to grow up. I don't quite remember schooling before 5th grade. She enlightened me and opened up a world of learning to me at that age. One instance was: I had terrible handwriting. She was frustrated with me and asked me to go sit next to Wu Liyun who became my best friend. Liyun had beautiful penmanship because her father was a calligrapher. Mrs. Chang said to me: watch Liyun and follow her writing. Within months, I had beautiful penmanship. In fact, I beat Liyun in the school-wide calligraphy contest. What a teacher!
At one time, I was nominated to represent our class to compete in an Academic Olympic. I remember the principal announced the results on the school intercom, and I placed 2nd in the contest and was elated. The whole class of 50+ students clapped for me. But, not Mrs. Chang. She had a horrible look on her face. She picked up a bamboo stick and headed for me. I was bewildered. She never whipped me before, but I got the feeling she was going to. Yes, she came to me and started whipping me with the bamboo stick. Everyone was dumbfounded. I was sobbing, and she went back to her desk. She said to the class: we could have placed first, but because of a careless mistake, we placed 2nd. Actually, she always had high expectations of us. She saw the potential in us, and working hard was the key to success for her students. That was what was so special about her. The discipline part was just the custom of the era. She was only doing what she was taught. We hold no malice toward her and love her for her dedication and love for us. I know it was her training in the 5th grade that cemented my drive to pursuit excellence in education, even if I had to wait until the time was right after our children were old enough. I was 42 years old when I went for my Masters' degree (our youngest was in the 1st grade), and my Ph.D. was started when all the kids have served their missions and almost all done with college. Thanks to a supporting husband who helped me through all those years.
Out of that experience in the 5th grade came some tender moments. I had never received any spankings in my life up until that time. That experience was more than I could bear. I told Mrs. Chang I needed to go home for lunch that day. I walked home with welts on my arms and legs. I burst into crying when I saw Mom. She hugged me and told me that the teacher had high expectations of me. She put some icepacks on me to help me feel better. And then, she told me it was a special day because it was solar elipse that day and I was home for a treat. I remember she took out a pot, filled it with water and told me to look into the water. The rest is history as I was able to find the information on google. The date was June 30, 1954. Here is the picture I saw on that day.
I made Mrs. Chang a collage with our family pictures, my 5th grade, college, Masters’ degree and Ph.D. pictures all onto one sheet. She thought that was clever. I was inspired the night before to do it and took me a while to find the pictures from my collections.
Lost and Found: Thanks to the good people of Taiwan
6/25/13
I got up early to go for my walk. This was the last week of school, so I saw children skipping, smiling and enjoying walking to school. It was a beautiful sight!
Walking to Shen Lin Park is always fun. It's only a few blocks away. I took a small backpack with me to hold my belongings, including my keys, ipod, water, etc. Thing went well until I got back to the apartment building. I couldn't get in because my keys were gone. As I examined the fishnet side-pocket, I noticed a hole...my heart sank. I bounced the keys right off the pocket.
The sun was up, and it was getting pretty hot. I retraced my steps...all the way back to the park. I asked several groups of maintenance people, but no one saw any set of keys. I kept praying as I looked...After walking around the park a couple of times, I started going across to where I turned to come home. A parking meter-lady on a scooter was there giving out parking fee tickets. I asked her, and she told me to be careful with my keys. She didn't know where people would turn in keys if they found them. I crossed the street, but on the corner of my eye, I saw a lady waiting for the light, on a bicycle staring at me. I walked back and started to talk to her. She said: did you lose your keys? I found them. You walked so fast and I have been riding around the park to find you. My heart pounded so hard. Did she hear my plea to Heavenly Father? She said that she left them by the stone bench where I was turning left. I asked if she would go with me to get them. She said she had no time and had to go. She already waited for me to come back for a long time. So I thanked her and she went on her way.
I went to the place where she told me, but couldn't find any keys. Again, a quick prayer was said. Then, there she was again, the lady on her bike. She said: I was afraid you wouldn't find them so I came back. The keys were within a few feet from where I was looking, but were hidden in the grass. I would never have found them if she didn't come back.
It was a complicated set of keys to get into the apartment and a near-field RF fob to the elevator...and my USB drive with tons of information in it. How grateful I am to find the keys with the special help. Thanks to the good hearted people of Taiwan.
It has been quite an experience learning about the medical care in Taiwan. According to wiki, the system goes like this:I got up early to go for my walk. This was the last week of school, so I saw children skipping, smiling and enjoying walking to school. It was a beautiful sight!
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| ShenLin Park |
The sun was up, and it was getting pretty hot. I retraced my steps...all the way back to the park. I asked several groups of maintenance people, but no one saw any set of keys. I kept praying as I looked...After walking around the park a couple of times, I started going across to where I turned to come home. A parking meter-lady on a scooter was there giving out parking fee tickets. I asked her, and she told me to be careful with my keys. She didn't know where people would turn in keys if they found them. I crossed the street, but on the corner of my eye, I saw a lady waiting for the light, on a bicycle staring at me. I walked back and started to talk to her. She said: did you lose your keys? I found them. You walked so fast and I have been riding around the park to find you. My heart pounded so hard. Did she hear my plea to Heavenly Father? She said that she left them by the stone bench where I was turning left. I asked if she would go with me to get them. She said she had no time and had to go. She already waited for me to come back for a long time. So I thanked her and she went on her way.
I went to the place where she told me, but couldn't find any keys. Again, a quick prayer was said. Then, there she was again, the lady on her bike. She said: I was afraid you wouldn't find them so I came back. The keys were within a few feet from where I was looking, but were hidden in the grass. I would never have found them if she didn't come back.
It was a complicated set of keys to get into the apartment and a near-field RF fob to the elevator...and my USB drive with tons of information in it. How grateful I am to find the keys with the special help. Thanks to the good hearted people of Taiwan.
Medical Care in Taiwan
Taiwan started its health reform in the 1980s after experiencing two decades of economic growth. In 1995, Taiwan formed the National Health Insurance (NHI) model. NHI "is modeled after Medicare [in the USA]. And there are so many similarities – other than that the Taiwan program covers all of the population, whereas Medicare covers only the elderly. It seems the way to go to have social insurance. NHI delivers universal coverage offered by a government-run insurer. The working population pays premiums split with their employers, others pay a flat rate with government help, and the poor or veterans are fully subsidized. Taiwan’s citizens no longer have to worry about going bankruptcy due to medical bills.
Under this model, citizens have free range to choose hospitals and physicians without using a gatekeeper and do not have to worry about waiting lists. NHI offers a comprehensive benefit package that covers preventive medical services, prescription drugs, dental services, Chinese medicine, home nurse visits and many more. Working people do not have to worry about losing their jobs or changing jobs because they will not lose their insurance. Since NHI, the previously uninsured have increased their usage of medical services. Most preventive services are free such as annual checkups and maternal and child care. Regular office visits have co-payments as low as US $5 per visit. Co-payments are fixed and unvaried by the person’s income.
The above is true but the system is going bankrupt.
Three years ago, Elwin underwent triple bypass heart surgery. It was a tremendous experience as we were getting ready to go on a mission to Hong Kong for the Church. During his physical, the doctor found Elwin with plugged artilleries. The team of heart surgeons in St. George, Dr. Woodberry and Dr. Millar, did the open heart. It was successful. We went on our way to Hong Kong, but Elwin continued to have problems with his heart in Hong Kong. We blamed it on the hilly landscape, the MTR train stations, and the buses going up and down all the time, causing Elwin to have dizzy spells and passing out a few times at the train stations. So, a cardiologist, who mostly cared for westerners, put a stent in Elwin's heart. Within a month, his dizzy spells returned. We tried to contact our cardiologist in St. George during this time of uncertainty, but never got any feedback.
Coming to Taiwan was a test of faith. None of the cardiologists recommended any solutions before we came. Elwin's heart condition didn't improve. We knew the Lord would take care of us in Taiwan. So we came! The hot and humid climate made Elwin more sensitive. In fact, he started to have problems every time we walked out of the apartment. He would get dizzy and passed out once when we were moving to our present apartment.
In the meantime, we started seeing some eastern medicine doctors. They had the opinion that if your circulation system is going well, all should be well. Elwin's heart didn't improve much. We were going to wait for the Taiwan Health Card to come through (about 6-7 months), but we decided that we should go see a specialist sooner than later.
My cousin recommended a heart specialist at the Gaoxiong University Hospital. It is a humongous building and things run pretty well. You can register online and check your doctor's queue to see if your number is close before you go. Dr. Lai is a US educated cardiologist and speaks English. By the time they did the echo cardiogram they had identified what was bothering Elwin all these years.
The physician who administered the echocardiogram asked Elwin about various symptoms as she read the computer screen. She explained to us what was causing Elwin to have dizziness and fainting spells. He has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. She explained all the options to treat such heart problems. It was so amazing that she took time to explain all these things to us. She said she would send the report to the cardiologist and we could discuss the situation in more details. All this time, the nurse had already made all the necessary appointments for us.
The cardiologist, Dr. Lai, told us that Elwin's heart is actually quite healthy. The only problem is the valve carrying the blood from left to right ventricle doesn't close and open well. The thickening of the septum separating the right and left ventricles interferes with the valve opening and closing makes it difficult for the blood to pass through. The doctor is confident that it can be treated with medication. Elwin will be on this medication for a few months to see how it does. There are more aggressive treatments, but for now, he is fine. He doesn't need to do any strenuous exercises, or housework :-). He doesn't need to go on the treadmill with taskmaster trying to whip him into shape. He should take it easy, take naps whenever he's tired. Now, that's life. We still walk to bus stations, walk to the market and all those strenuous things. We hope he is on the mend. He's looking pretty good.
Coming to Taiwan was a test of faith. None of the cardiologists recommended any solutions before we came. Elwin's heart condition didn't improve. We knew the Lord would take care of us in Taiwan. So we came! The hot and humid climate made Elwin more sensitive. In fact, he started to have problems every time we walked out of the apartment. He would get dizzy and passed out once when we were moving to our present apartment.
In the meantime, we started seeing some eastern medicine doctors. They had the opinion that if your circulation system is going well, all should be well. Elwin's heart didn't improve much. We were going to wait for the Taiwan Health Card to come through (about 6-7 months), but we decided that we should go see a specialist sooner than later.
My cousin recommended a heart specialist at the Gaoxiong University Hospital. It is a humongous building and things run pretty well. You can register online and check your doctor's queue to see if your number is close before you go. Dr. Lai is a US educated cardiologist and speaks English. By the time they did the echo cardiogram they had identified what was bothering Elwin all these years.
The physician who administered the echocardiogram asked Elwin about various symptoms as she read the computer screen. She explained to us what was causing Elwin to have dizziness and fainting spells. He has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. She explained all the options to treat such heart problems. It was so amazing that she took time to explain all these things to us. She said she would send the report to the cardiologist and we could discuss the situation in more details. All this time, the nurse had already made all the necessary appointments for us.
The cardiologist, Dr. Lai, told us that Elwin's heart is actually quite healthy. The only problem is the valve carrying the blood from left to right ventricle doesn't close and open well. The thickening of the septum separating the right and left ventricles interferes with the valve opening and closing makes it difficult for the blood to pass through. The doctor is confident that it can be treated with medication. Elwin will be on this medication for a few months to see how it does. There are more aggressive treatments, but for now, he is fine. He doesn't need to do any strenuous exercises, or housework :-). He doesn't need to go on the treadmill with taskmaster trying to whip him into shape. He should take it easy, take naps whenever he's tired. Now, that's life. We still walk to bus stations, walk to the market and all those strenuous things. We hope he is on the mend. He's looking pretty good.
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| A volunteer at the Gaoxiong Hospital entertaining in the waiting room |
Shirley had a physical and paid only NT$100 (US$3.50) for the EKG because it wasn't covered by the insurance. That was a wow moment for us. When Elwin had to go to the Emergency one early morning, we didn't have the coverage yet, so we paid for the expenses out of pocket. The cost with EKG, blood work, medication, emergency doctor, nurse, etc. was a whopping US$175. The quality, as we mentioned before, was excellent. No wonder many Taiwanese are coming home after retirement in the US.
Teaching "Family History" at Long Hua Elementary School
We were invited to help a 3rd grade class...we'll wait until next time before this gets too long.
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