She invited me to her graduation. Although the ceremony took place at 9 a.m., I agreed to come and cheer her on. You see, I usually don't function too well in morning but I knew it would mean a lot to Anne if I showed up. I managed to drag myself out of bed and make it to the MRT station at the time we agreed upon. The plan was to meet Amy, another former student of mine, and we would head over to the big show together. As I have come to learn over my many years, women and schedules just don't jive. Amy was, shall we say, VERY LATE!...lol She climbed out of the bus about 40 minutes late with a cute smile on her face and seemingly endless apologies. I gritted my teeth and we set off.
The following are some of the photos from the school. After leaving the ceremony I walked around the campus and took some pics.
The auditorium was big and dark. Not a great atmosphere for shooting photos from a distance.
It was really difficult to get a tight shot of the action on the stage. My camera just ain't that powerful.
We were sitting miles away from the stage. A typical Taiwanese graduating class, thousands of students. I was happy to attend the ceremony even though I couldn't understand anything because it was entirely in Chinese. You can see that the balcony is virtually empty. This is because it was early on a Friday morning. How can they expect parents to come and enjoy this great moment on a work day?...very odd.
Amy and Anne with a friend in the standard pose mode.
Anne is a super kid. She is really excited about going to college. She is currently learning Japanese because the college program she is in requires it...yikes!
On the playground. Gym class in Taiwan must be awkward because Taiwanese people are certainly the most athletically challenged group on Earth!
Warming up for a performance. I would've snapped a few more but the teacher leading this group gave me a dirty look, so I moved on.
Wandering around and gazing in to the classrooms.
A little closer look at a class in session.
And really close. The teacher in action. About 40 kids in this class. This was a June morning, already getting hot at about 10:00 and no air conditioning. I can't imagine what it's like to sit in a crowded classroom throughout a good bit of the summer with nothing more than a breeze to circulate the air.
