開學篇 (第一篇: 課外活動篇) Back to School, Part One, Extracurricular Activities

I can't believe the summer is almost over. It's time to think about the kids going back to school. Back-to-School means that my life will be "back to normal" and becomes more structured, dictated by my kids' after-school schedules. Now that the kids are older, they have a clear sense of what they like and what they don't like, so they choose the after-school activities that they want to participate in. My 10 year-old daughter will continue with her dance classes and Girl Scout. She had bridged over to be a Girl Scout Cadette in June. My 8 year-old son will do AYSO soccer (www.ayso.org) this fall and Little League Baseball in the spring. He will also do Cub Scouting. He will be a Bear Cub Scout this year. With both kids in Scouting, we will be selling lots of Boy Scout popcorn and Girl Scout cookies this upcoming school year.

I am making both kids do violin. I let them choose between piano or violin and they both chose violin. I think they chose violin because they perceived that playing violin is EASIER than playing piano. Neither of my kids have inherited the musical discipline (or talent) from their father, so they will never achieve the kind of success that many Asian kids have exhibited in music performance. But I want my kids to be exposed to playing music, reading music, and learning about music theory. Mostly, I want them to appreciate music and musical performance. When they go to a concert, whether pop or classic, they will realize how hard those musicians have to work to get to where they are today. Unfortunately for me, getting them to practice violin is like pulling teeth, so they'll likely end their violin career the day I don't feel like nagging them about practicing their violins.

時間也過得真快,八月中,快開學了。 開學後,我的生活也就能變得比較規律,可是會更忙碌。 我覺得除了要開車載小孩上下課之外,還要載小孩參加不同的課外活動行程。 當然還得弄便當及督導小孩的功課。 其實也沒什麼,有就學年齡小孩的父母都能瞭解我們現階段在做的事,也很清楚現階段該做些什麼事。

我十歲的女兒將要繼續她的舞蹈課程以及女童子軍(www.girlscouts.org) 的活動。 我八歲的兒子會以秋季足球(www.ayso.org)及春季少少棒(www.littleleague.org) 為主,外加男童子軍(www.scouting.org)。

為了能讓我的小孩文武雙全(可能嗎?!?!),我強迫他們一定要學一樣樂器。 他倆都選擇小提琴。 我想他們大概是認為學小提琴比學鋼琴簡單。 其實要好好學任何樂器都很難。 除了要有興趣之外,還要有恆心、毅力、及耐心。 我的小孩是比不上在美國的許多亞裔青年,各各都能夠拉或彈一手好琴。 除非我逼他們練琴,他們是不會自動自發的去練琴的。 想當年我媽也逼我練琴,逼到最後母女的感情也搞壞了,琴也越練越糟。 我覺得那時是我的心態問題,也正是青少年反抗期, 只要是我媽說的話我都會討厭。 最後我媽發現她真的是在浪費錢才在我十一年級的時候終止我的學琴生涯。 現在回想起來當然是我不對,可是我的那一段學琴經驗真的是一趟不愉快的人生旅程。 三十年後的今天,人生的輪迴,我又要來逼我的小孩學琴,感覺好像不太對。 也因為我的過去,讓我對我的小孩學琴這件事想了好久。

我的老公很會拉小提琴。 從小沒人逼他學琴。 後來是因為我公婆無法開車載他去學琴而沒能繼續學琴。 跟我差好大喔! 他的想法是要讓小孩有學琴的經驗,讓他們對音樂有基本的瞭解。 因為練過琴才能體會音樂人的才華及辛苦。 學琴的出發點有了, 下一個步驟就是要如何激發(motivate)小孩的練琴意願,少讓我用“逼”的方式強迫他們練琴。 基本上沒什麼好方法,就是我得花時間陪小孩子拉琴。 不是練琴,而是陪小孩子一起拉琴。 想當年自己練琴的辛苦,原來就是用要來培育下一代!

來美國玩一定要保險 The Importance of Travel/Medical Insurance

July is typically the month when many of our Taiwanese friends and families come to the United States for their summer vacation. Inevitably, they will drop by Los Angeles and visit us. I am sure most of us who live in the United States have similar experience when it comes to visitors from Taiwan.

I learned something important this year. Two unfortunate events happened to my family and another friend's family within a day of each other. On July 5 (a long weekend Monday), I found out that the friend's father-in-law passed away from a heart attack while visiting a city about an hour away from home. Her father-in-law came to the U. S. often, so they were on one of their family outings. I didn't ask her what happened afterward, but it's safe to say that many things financial and emotional would need to be addressed after the passing of her father-in-law.

On July 6, a family friend visiting us had a stroke. He survived, but he was burdened with an astronomical medical bill. The ambulance trip between his son's house and the hospital (a total distance of 3 miles) cost more than US$1,600. The first day of emergency and ICU care cost more than US$65,000. Any doctor who visited the patient while he stayed at the U. S. hospital would be charged the doctor's regular hourly rate (at least US$350 per hour). Without medical insurance, the medical bill will continue to increase until this patient is stable enough to be air-lifted back to Taiwan for further medical treatment. This Taiwanese friend did buy travel insurance before he left for Taiwan, but most are accidental coverage for death and dismemberment, and not for catastrophic nor emergency illnesses. He had a NT$50,000 coverage for catastrophic illness. That's not nearly enough to even cover 1 day's worth of doctor's fees.

So a word of advice. If you or your family wants to travel to the United States from Taiwan, please make sure that enough medical insurance is purchased to cover serious illness such as heart attack and stroke for your friend or family. I would recommend travel insurance that include medical care for serious illnesses for people 50 and over. The medical coverage should be around US$300,000 or more. The medical insurance should also include the expenses of air-lifting the patient back to Taiwan for further care.

暑假是台灣親朋好友來美國旅遊的季節。今年也不例外。 可是今年七月卻讓我體會到旅遊醫療保險(重大疾病)的重要。 好朋友的公公來美國住不到幾天就因心臟病發作而過世。 我是沒有問好朋友如何辦妥她公公的後事,可是如果她公公有在臺灣買好旅遊保險,那肯定保險公司將會協助我朋友處理一些相關事物。

在我朋友公公出事的第二天,我的一位親戚也在來美的三天後中風。 因為沒有醫療保險, 第一天的住院費用就高達六萬美金!!! 就連救護車的帳單也要美金一千六(醫院和他兒子家的距離只有三英哩)。 所以奉勸大家--如果你將有親朋好友到美國來探親或觀光,一定要叮嚀親朋好友(尤其是年紀較大的人)來美國之前在臺灣買好至少有三十萬美金的重大疾病旅遊醫療保險。 這旅遊醫療保險最好是也有包括把病人從美國運輸回台灣的費用。 當初林志玲在中國受傷時也是用專機運輸回台灣的,她或她的經紀公司肯定有買這一方面的保險。

快要開學了! The summer is almost over!

My children's school will begin the 2009-2010 school year exactly a week from today, on September 1. This is the first time in our school's history to have the first-day of school before the Labor Day weekend. Typically, schools begin the day after the Labor Day long weekend, on a Tuesday. So many of our neighboring school districts are still following this traditional and will begin school on September 10. My kids are mourning the end of their summer. I am worried about their morning regiment once the school begins. How am I going to get them to wake up at 7:30 AM again when they have been sleeping until 10 AM, and sometimes even until 11 AM?!

To get them into the swing of things, I took my kids to the library after lunch today. They have been reading over the summer, but nothing really challenging. My 9 year-old daughter have enjoyed the Beacon Street Girls series by Annie Bryant (http://www.beaconstreetgirls.com/) and the Camp Confidential series by Melissa J. Morgan. She has read all of the Beacon Street Girls books, except the two latest books (Sweet Thirteen and Ready! Set! Hawaii!). As for Camp Confidential, she also has read all of the Camp Confidential books that have been published so far. Two more Camp Confidential books are scheduled to be published in the next 7 months--Extra Credit (September 3, 2009) and Politically Incorrect (March 4, 2010). My daughter is waiting anxiously for our library to purchase these books.

Unfortunately, schools don't usually assign these books as reading material. Beacon Street Girls and Camp Confidential are fine for summer readings, but as my daughter is heading into grade 5, these books are not difficult enough to be on the grade 5 reading list. And hence a trip to the library was necessary today. I want her to pick out some books that are more appropriate for her grade level. I steered her towards the Newbery Award winning books (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal), but she wasn't going for them. Instead, she borrowed some Nancy Drew Mysteries. Those are books that she thought I would approve, but realistically, I still think she should go beyond these books as well. At this point, I am not going to push her too much. As long as she gets into the habit of reading, I am happy.

Going back to our library visit. I actually saw 4 families from my children's school at the library today. During the school year, once in a while, I would see only a family that I know every time we visit the library. So it was rare to see so many parents from our school at the library in one visit. I got to chat with them about their summer break and how everyone was doing. I guess all the parents are trying to get their kids back into the swing of things before the school starts next week.

時間過得好快喔! 再七天就要開學了。 兩個小孩已經開始感覺到開學後的壓力了。今天帶他們去圖書館借書。 我希望女兒能借一些有點深度的書, 符合五年級的小朋友該讀的書。 在美國, 沒有教育局指定的閱讀課本。 都是老師採用現有的兒童讀物來教學。 小孩子上了五年級之後, 老師就會陸陸續續的介紹西洋英文文學名著給小朋友做為上英文課的題材。 所以只要看得懂, 小朋友自己就可以到圖書館借一些西洋文學名著來看。 當然這種事, 我的女兒不可能會自願去做的。 從五月中, 加州政府的基測 (STAR test) 結束之後, 老師就不再積極的教學生新的課程。 小朋友就自由的等著暑假的到來。 就在那時候, 我幫女兒在圖書館找到二套系列的書-- Beacon Street Girls (Beacon 街的女孩), 作者是 Annie Bryant (http://www.beaconstreetgirls.com/) 以及 Camp Confidential (露營密事) 作者是 Melissa J. Morgan。 這二套系列的書籍非常適合閱讀能力較強的小三女生, 或者是給小學高年級的女生做為輕鬆簡單, 閒暇時可閱讀的書籍。 不愛看書的女兒就靠著這二套書過了一個愉快的暑假。

終於回家了! Finally home!

I have been inactive on this blog lately. I apologize. I have been away. I was in Vancouver for 3 weeks visiting my sister's family. I am in the process of uploading photos and updating this blog with all the fun stuff my family had done in the past 3 weeks. So be patient with me. My daughter took this photo of Mount St. Helen when we flew over it this afternoon.

終於到家了! 今天下午從溫哥華飛回洛杉磯。 我們在溫哥華待了二十一天! 女兒和兒子依依不捨的在溫哥華國際機場跟他們的兩位小表妹說再見! 想起來會有點心酸, 不過我覺得小朋友從小要學習怎麼說 goodbye, 因為世界上沒有不散的宴席。 一路小孩子都有點落寞,可是當機長提醒大家往窗戶外面看時,小孩子才暫時忘記離別的難過。他們在窗外看到華盛頓州的火山 Mount St. Helen。 女兒想到照相,隨手拿起我的相機,拍下這張照片。 到達洛杉磯之後,發現機場的車子好多喔! 下次絕對不要訂晚上七、八點到達的飛機班次! 還好有手機,行李拿到之後才通知老公開車過來接我們。他通常都會把車停在機場外圍的街道旁等我的電話。 不過我那有十年車齡的老車,在三個星期沒開之後沒電了。 老公只好開他的小跑車來機場接我們。我和小孩的二大件行李差一點載不回家,因為後車箱太小! 最後只好把比較小的那一只大皮箱放在前座,我和小孩坐後座。 這樣也拖了十多分鐘才離開機場。 才下飛機,狀況還真不少!