Space was completing his final summer classes with a number of students. As a test of their conversational abilities he thought it would be interesting to bring me in for a 20 minute question and answer session.
This particular class was all girls; their ages were a mystery. As I’ve mentioned, assessing the age of Taiwanese females between 16 and 35 is next to impossible. Space’s wife Iris is 34 but I wouldn’t question it if someone told me that she was 18.
In any case, I sat down with them and they were instructed to each ask me at least one question. They wasted no time. “What’s the craziest thing you and Ryan have done together?” Space’s mouth dropped; he had a reputation to protect in his new homeland. In order to preserve his image as a respectable teacher I kindly skipped over the Edwards Hall “regifting” incident and instead focused on the crazy conversations we've had and our thirst for adventure.
Adventure...it seems like a foreign concept to most of the young people here. Space explains it like this: from a young age children are engrained with the idea that school is the only thing that matters. They study like crazy and experience very high levels of stress in order to meet these expectations. The vast majority of their youth is spent in this fashion: school and studying. Watching a phys-ed class can be hilarious and depressing all at once because the children that have little agility or co-ordination lack those skills because they haven’t gone outside and played much.
Experiencing life is something that happens when a young adult gets to college, but by that time it mostly too late. I describe it as being “socially crippled” and Space thinks this is a perfect description.
It didn't take long for me to see the bigger picture playing out in Space's classroom. In addition to being a teacher of the English language, Space is doing far more. He’s encouraging adventure and exploration and helping his students understand that life offers a lot more than what’s in front of you. All you have to do is go looking for it and above all, say “yes”.
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