"Kinmen island? Where is that?"
"Well, according to Google, … it's a Taiwanese island…right off the coast of mainland China?"
This conversation occurred seven months ago when I shared with my parents the news of my Fulbright placement. None of us had heard of Kinmen before this news. To me, this made my imminent adventure all the more alluring. My parents took a less adventurous approach to the news, feeling a little nervous about their daughter traveling so far away to a place they could not even locate on a map. Their Google searches of the island did not reveal much. We uncovered Kinmen's proud military history and scenic beaches. However, everything else about life on the island was a mystery.
In the beginning of December, my parents saw firsthand just how little they had to worry about. On December 9th, they traded one island for another: cold and snowy New York City, for a warmer and brighter Kinmen. They spent ten days exploring the island that they did not know existed a mere seven months earlier.
Two aspects of Kinmen struck my parents the most. First were the people. Not knowing a word of Chinese, my parents worried about getting by on the island. However, they immediately noticed what I also learned when I arrived in August: people here are very patient and eager to help. One day, my parents accidentally left some of my teaching materials in a local restaurant. They returned the next day to look for them, but could not communicate what they needed in Chinese. The owners of the restaurant took several minutes out of their busy day to indulge my parents in an elaborate round of charades, until they excitedly located the books. Similarly, the owner of the Bed and Breakfast where my parents stayed spent the weeks leading up to their arrival studying English. In Kinmen, people make time for you.
Second, my parents were impressed by the importance of education on the island. I brought my parents to the two schools where I have taught. The students and teachers warmly welcomed them at both. One of my fifth grade students ran up to my mother, wrapped her arms around her and exclaimed, "Teacher Mom, I love you!" Students not only kindly embrace new people, but they also embrace their schools as well. According to my father, students appeared "responsive and serious about learning, while at the same time enjoying themselves." My mother cannot stop raving about how adorable and well behaved the students are.
My parents were so impressed with students' attitudes towards school and learning that they plan to take some of their observations back to America. My father is currently in the process of opening a charter school in New York City and wants to implement some of the characteristics of Kinmen's schools, such as a longer school day. Most importantly, he hopes that he can create a school culture that fosters the same kind of dedication and hard work from students and teachers that he saw on Kinmen.
Once an unknown location to my parents, Kinmen has become a welcoming island with a model education culture. I hope they have learned a lot from their trip; it certainly has taught me about what you can find when you explore what you did not know existed.