One of the benefits of being a Fulbrighter is our close relations with AIT (American Institute in Taiwan). Since Fulbright is sponsored through the State Department, they make efforts to take care of us and to invite us to important functions. We first met the AIT people at the opening Fulbright conference in Taipei back in September. Since then, we have had multiple occasions to meet and talk with the Kaohsiung branch people -- at baseball games, lectures, luncheons, the America Center (Zhongshan University), the America Corner (located at a library in town which hosts story-telling and games for children who lost their parents in the typhoon) etc etc. These events are always fairly fun, as they usually involve excellent free food and the opportunity to meet fascinating people from all around Taiwan.
ETAs with Maestro Curry: (L to R) Kristin, me, Kelley, Carol and KevinLast Sunday, AIT/Kaohsiung sponsored an orchestra concert put on by the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra held across the street from us at the Cultural Center. 
The concert was titled an "Evening of American Music," and was structured around the guest conductor William Henry Curry. One the Friday before, AIT hosted a press conference for Curry and invited all of us ETAs to attend. Beyond sitting through several rather lengthy opening remarks all made in Chinese, witnessing a blur of photographic activity and treating ourselves to some 
excellent Western food, we had the opportunity of talking personally with Maestro Curry. He is the resident conductor of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, and has an impressive resume including having conducted over forty orchestras across the US and internationally and having won a Grammy for his work. 
I think it is rare to find a man as passionate and in love with his work as Curry obviously is. He talked to us ETAs for a long time about his love for teaching, his love for music and his love for humanity. After spending our days teaching small children how to say "hello" and "how are you," his academic language and thought-provoking philosophies 
were beautiful to listen to. It is moments like this which remind me how much I miss Wake and all of my professors and classmates there (one of the other ETAs remarked the other day, how it is odd that we should have accepted a Fulbright for a year, and thus witnessed a decrease in our IQ - sad but probably true...). At any rate, Maestro Curry duly impressed all of us and filled us with excitement for his concert on Sunday.
The concert was titled an "Evening of American Music," and was structured around the guest conductor William Henry Curry. One the Friday before, AIT hosted a press conference for Curry and invited all of us ETAs to attend. Beyond sitting through several rather lengthy opening remarks all made in Chinese, witnessing a blur of photographic activity and treating ourselves to some 
excellent Western food, we had the opportunity of talking personally with Maestro Curry. He is the resident conductor of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, and has an impressive resume including having conducted over forty orchestras across the US and internationally and having won a Grammy for his work. 
I think it is rare to find a man as passionate and in love with his work as Curry obviously is. He talked to us ETAs for a long time about his love for teaching, his love for music and his love for humanity. After spending our days teaching small children how to say "hello" and "how are you," his academic language and thought-provoking philosophies 
were beautiful to listen to. It is moments like this which remind me how much I miss Wake and all of my professors and classmates there (one of the other ETAs remarked the other day, how it is odd that we should have accepted a Fulbright for a year, and thus witnessed a decrease in our IQ - sad but probably true...). At any rate, Maestro Curry duly impressed all of us and filled us with excitement for his concert on Sunday.AIT encouraged us to invite our co-teachers and provided us all with concert tickets. Neither of my co-teachers were able to come (they are both currently enrolled in masters program and in various stages of stressing out over their theses), so I invited my host sister Sunnie instead. Charles, Kristin and I took our guests out for Thai food beforehand and then on to the concert (Kaitlyn was MIA for the weekend as her parents were visiting).
Charles, Kristin and I with three co-teachers (Charles and Kristin), two interns (Kristin), two gym friends (Charles) and host-family (me).
Me and SunnieThe concert was quite beautiful. Again, I often forget how privileged I was at Wake where we constantly had renowned musicians, famous guest lecturers and gifted student performers 
hosted at Scales or Wait Chapel. The Kaohsiung Orchestra performed a span of American music: S. L. Rosenbaus's Oklahoma!, Gershwin's Summertime, John Williams's Star Trek through the Years, Theme from ET and Raiders March, Dvorak's New World Symphony and William H. Curry's Eulogy for a Dream. 
The last piece, composed by Curry, was laced with excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches, memorializing the struggle of African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement and inspiring all of humanity to greatness. Bill Thissen, the ICRT radio news anchor, read the passages accompanying the music (we also had the chance to speak with him at the press conference, and were regaled with his stories of watching Taiwan transform from a state of martial law into a democracy).
hosted at Scales or Wait Chapel. The Kaohsiung Orchestra performed a span of American music: S. L. Rosenbaus's Oklahoma!, Gershwin's Summertime, John Williams's Star Trek through the Years, Theme from ET and Raiders March, Dvorak's New World Symphony and William H. Curry's Eulogy for a Dream. 
The last piece, composed by Curry, was laced with excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches, memorializing the struggle of African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement and inspiring all of humanity to greatness. Bill Thissen, the ICRT radio news anchor, read the passages accompanying the music (we also had the chance to speak with him at the press conference, and were regaled with his stories of watching Taiwan transform from a state of martial law into a democracy).
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