我的漢人老師11/ My Han Teacher 11

Teacher, Swayai Dahan

After the last exam, the winter break comes. No more school, but some of us still go to school every day just to be with the teacher. Be with her when she is correcting our exam papers, when she needs little helps or someone to chat with. We even follow her home. Not really a home, but a room that she rents from a retired teacher, Mr. Chang. He is old and grumpy and very mean to us. He complains that we are too noisy.  But we are naughty enough to irritate him; every time we arrive at the house, we cry out loud, "Good-bye teacher, see you tomorrow," and run away quickly before he comes out to catch us.

We ask our teacher for her telephone number. 
"Do you know how to make long distance calls?" she asks. Of course we do, because most of our parents work in other towns and cities. We've already learned how to call them. The teacher reads her telephone number to us, and we write it down and carefully put it in safe places. She says whenever we feel like talking to her, we can always call.

Our teacher doesn't tell us the exact day of her leaving. We ask her, but she just wouldn't tell. "I don't like people to see me off, " she says, "I don't like that. It's awkward. You feel like crying, but you have to hold it back. Very embarrassing. "

That day, Kuang and Mei see a taxi parking in front of the teacher's place. And, they see our teacher drag her luggage out of the house. The driver is helping upload the luggage. Mr. Chang and his wife are holding the teacher's hands.

"Please, please don't go!" Kuang runs to her. He cries out, giving his last try to keep her.
"Don't, Kuang. I'm leaving now," the teacher rubs his hair the last time.

She gets into the car. Mei is quietly standing aside, holding a bag of corns. Her big eyes follow the teacher until she waves good-bye from the window. She bursts out a big cry, "Don't go!"

But the car goes anyway, moving farther and farther, then disappears at the turn of the road along the foothill.

We call her quite often, for a period of time, and always do it secretly, because the growups say we are wasting our money calling a teacher who is not coming back. But, when we ask her when she is coming back. She always says, "Soon, very soon. You study hard and wait for me to come back."  We believe her.

We wait and wait until we are too busy growing up. Missing her has slipped into the bottom of our memories. But at certain time, it pops up again like the plum blossoms that bloom in January ever year. We miss her, when the time our feet slip into the long waiting shoes when the first cold front hits the village. We miss her, when we make our own popcorn with lots of sugar in it. We miss her, when it's our turn to do the cheerleading dance on the sport day.

Sometimes we wonder maybe she has gone to America to study. Maybe she has seen a lot of differences. Ｍaybe she still remembers her words, just maybe.

We'd like to tell her we have grown up, but the little waterfall has dried out, for the one who loves her has never come back. We want to tell her that the mountains in Hwalian haven't changed much, our village looks pretty much the same, and our hope for her to come back is still there. We hope one day we can lie down again under the plum trees, tracing our memories back to the old days in the sweet smell of blossoms.

Teacher, Swayai Dahan, good-bye.

老師 再見 Swayai Dahan

考完最後一次月考後，雖然就放寒假了，不用去上學，但是每天還是有人到學校找老師，陪老師改考卷，幫一些小忙，陪老師聊天，還跟著老師回家，也不算是老師的家，因為她只是跟退休的張爺爺分租了一個房間。我們都不敢進去張爺爺的家，因為他很兇，會嫌我們很吵。我們只能在門口大聲說：「老師明天見。」然後很快的跑走。

很多人跟老師要電話，老師問：「你們知道要怎麼打電話嗎？」我們然知道，因為爸爸媽媽在外面工作，我們早就知道怎麼打電話給他們。老師把電話號碼念給我們，大家小心翼翼的把電話寫下來，收好。老師還說，只要想找老師講話的時候就可以打。。

老師沒有告訴我們哪一天要離開，我們問她，她都不肯說，「我不要離開那天一大堆人送

，我不喜歡那樣，讓人想哭又不好意思哭的場面。」 老師這樣告訴我們。

那天，光正和純妹看到一部計程車停在老師家門口，又看到老師把行李推出來，司機幫忙把行李放上車。張爺爺和張奶奶握著老師的手。

「求求你，老師你不要走！」光正趕緊跑向老師，他大喊著，還是不放棄，想要留住老師。

「光正，不要這樣，老師馬上就要走了。“」老師摸摸他的頭說。

老師坐進計程車，純妹抱著她裝滿玉米的布袋，甚麼話也沒有說，大大的眼睛盯著老師看，老師從車窗裡向我們揮揮手，車子開動了，純妹這時才放聲大喊：「不要走！」

但是車子還是開走了，越走越遠，然後消失在遠處的山腳下。

之後，我們常常偷偷打電話給老師，每次都問她什麼時候會回來，每次她都說「快了快了，你們要加油，好好讀書，等我回去。」等著等著，漸漸的，成長的忙碌，讓我們對老師的思念，慢慢沈澱在記憶的深處，但是一如那每年都會悄然綻放的李花，那看似靜止的回憶，好像固定在某些時候，又會一下子悄悄的浮現；像是那雙自由了整個夏天的腳，在冬天穿上鞋子的時候；當我們自己可以爆玉米花加一堆糖的時候，還有輪到我們跳啦啦隊舞的時候。

我們常想，也許老師真的去美國讀書了，也許她已經看到了很多的不一樣，也許她還記得說過的話，只是也許。

我們很想要告訴老師，我們已經長大了，但是小瀑布的水已經乾涸了，因為愛她的人一直沒有回來。

花蓮的山沒有變，西林村也沒什麼變，我們希望老師再回來的心情，也不會變。老師，希望李花盛開的時候，能和你再一次躺在樹下，循著李花的香味，重拾過去的記憶！

老師，Swayai Dahan。

My Han Teacher 10 /我的漢人老師 10

Will She Remember?

Today a surprise and sad news hits us. Teacher Chen tells us that tomorrow is our teacher's birthday (surprise!), and our teacher is going to transfer back to Taichung next semester (surprised & sad!). Grandmom was right, it IS harder to keep a teacher here than to catch a boar. And our teacher is like a wild boar when she laughs, and she told us she missed her home in Taichung. Nobody can stop a boar from dashing back home, not even 10 hunters.

We decide to give our teacher a surprise on her birthday. A surprise so big that she will remember it forever.

On her birthday, we all come back after school with gifts in our hands. We know our teacher always stays after school until late afternoon.
We gather at the front gate first, then Ah-Dai goes to check whether our teacher is in the classroom. He sneaks close to the back door then peeks in. Then he gives us a big wave, signaling us to come. Yes, the teacher is inside. We quietly walked past the principal's office, the first graders' classroom, then Mei signals us to stop. She gives us another signal like a choir conductor and we begin to sing, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Slowly we walk toward the classroom. The teacher pops her head out of the room when hearing us. Slowly we get inside of the classroom. The teacher is smiling; she walks toward us, and we see tears sparkling in her eyes. One by one, she rubs our hairs. We surround her in a small circle. 

"How did you know?" She asks.
" Teacher Chen told us."

Then we give our gifts to the teacher. A soda, a small bunch of wild flowers, a pocket of sweet, two ears of corns, and some cards drawn by ourselves. The best thing is a set of wild boar teeth. Dan brought it. We all have wild boar teeth at home, but nobody has ever thought of giving it as a gift to the teacher. We thought the long fangs would terrify our teacher like the mice event. But Dan remembers what we told the teacher about hunting wild boars. He asked his dad to give one to our teacher.

Our teacher has never seen real wild boar teeth. She carefully receives the teeth with both hands. It looks like she is going to bow to it.

"Wow, this is too precious!" the teacher cries. "this should belong to a museum. Are you sure it is for me?"
Dan nods his head, "My father said you are serious about our learning, like a real hunter. but you can't go hunting,...and with the teeth, people would know you are good like a hunter."
"Then, we are the teacher's preys?" Mei teases.
“Yep, the teacher sets up a lot of traps to keep us in school, like a hunter. " Kuang says. 

The teacher says she is really touched. She also says when she gets home she'll put the teeth up high for everybody to see. Dan looks so happy, his big eyes turn into two curved lines.

The teacher takes out all her snacks to treat us. Things that we don't usually eat, like watermelon seeds, soft candies. Just when we are having good time eating and chatting, Teacher Chen pops in again.
"Don't forget tonight's farewell party. The principle has already reserved a table at Ah-Mei's wild game restaurant." Then she notices the birthday cards on the table, " A birthday party, too, tonight." she says. 

We don't know what farewell party is. The teacher says it means to treat your friends some good food to say good-bye. We feel sad after hearing that. Everybody sighs. The candy and soda suddenly lose the taste. After next week, it will be the winter break. And, our teacher will be gone.

"Don't go, Teacher," Mei says. She looks like she is going to cry. The teacher's eyes get red again, she said, "I'd like to stay here, too. But I miss my home, and I have things to do...I will come back."
"You can marry Kuang's cousin and stay here, " Dan says. We all think it's a great idea.
"But I don't want to marry now," the teacher says, "I will come back."

We don't know what else to say. There are still so many snacks on the table, but we don't have any appetite anymore. How come I feel like we are having a farewell party, too?

Will our teacher come back? Will she remember what she said today? We don't know, but we want to believe her. It's like knowing the sun go down to the other side of the mountains, but believe that it will rise again from this side of the mountains tomorrow morning.

她會記得嗎？

今天聽到了一個讓人又吃驚又難過的消息。陳老師告訴我們明天是老師的生日 （吃驚），還告訴我們老師就要調回台中了（吃驚又難過）。 奶奶說的沒錯，要留住老師比抓山豬還難，何況我們的老師一直都很像一隻會暴衝的山豬，而且她又告訴我們她很想家，一隻很想衝回家的山豬，十個獵人也抓不住吧！    

我們決定給老師一個生日驚喜，讓她回家之後，永遠都會記得我們。

老師生日的那天，我們決定下午放學回家，拿了禮物後再回到學校給老師驚喜。我們知道老師都待在學校傍晚才回家。

我們先在校門口集合，然後讓阿岱先去看看老師有沒有在教室。阿岱偷偷的躲在教室後門牆邊，往裡面瞄了一下，然後跟我們揮揮手，要我們過去。沒錯，老師就在教室裡面。大家躡手躡腳的走過校長室，走過一年級的教室，快到我們教室門口的時候，美娟給我們一個停下來的手勢，然後再給我們一個開始的手勢，大家一起唱 「祝你生日快樂歌，祝你生日快樂...」我們邊走邊唱，老師聽到歌聲探出頭來看，我們慢慢走進教室，老師臉上滿滿的笑容，我們的歌聲沒有停，老師起身離開辦公桌，眼睛裡有亮亮的淚水，她慢慢走向我們，摸摸每個人的頭，尤其是男生，一個個的頭髮都被老師弄亂了，終於，唱完最後一句“祝你生日快樂“時，大家一起把老師團團圍住。

「你們怎麼知道？」 老師問。

「陳老師告訴我們的啊！」美娟說。

然後大家就把帶來的禮物給老師，有一瓶汽水，ㄧ束小野花，一口袋的糖果，一些自己畫的卡片，兩根玉米，最厲害的是進貴帶來的一整副山豬牙，雖然我們家裡都有山豬牙，但是沒有人想到要把它當禮物送給老師，因為想說老師會害怕那兩大排牙齒，和那兩根銳利的大尖牙，就像上次被田鼠嚇到一樣。但是進貴記得我們上次跟老師說怎麼捉山豬的事，就跟爸爸要了山豬牙送老師。

老師從沒有看過真的山豬牙，她小心翼翼的從進貴手上接過山豬牙，好像要敬禮的樣子，

「哇！」她說，「這個太珍貴了，好像是擺在博物館的東西，真的是要給我的嗎？」

進貴用力的點點頭，「爸爸說老師很認真，像獵人一樣，雖然不能去打獵，但是這山豬牙讓大家知道老師就像獵人一樣。“」 

「那我們就是老師的獵物囉？」美娟開玩笑說。

「對啊，老師設好多陷井，讓我們留在學校，就像獵人一樣，我們都被老師緊緊的抓住了。」光正說。

老師說她好感動，她還說回家以後要把山豬牙擺在大家都看得到的地方。進貴高興的笑著，他的大眼睛變成彎彎的兩條線。

然後老師把她所有的零食都找出來請我們吃，像瓜子、軟糖這種我們很少吃的東西。大家吃的開心的時候，隔壁的陳老師又來了，她說，「不要忘了今晚的聚餐喔，校長已經在阿美山產店訂了一桌，給你餞行，」她注意到桌上的卡片，又補了一句說，「也給你慶生。」

我們都不知道餞行是甚麼，老師說就是說請朋友吃飯說再見的意思。大家一聽，都嘆了一口氣，糖果汽水都變得不好吃了。下星期過完就是寒假了，老師就要回去了。

「老師，不要走，」 純妹說。看起來像要哭出來一樣。

老師眼眶又紅了，只說：「老師也很想獃在這裡，但是，我也很想家，還有一些想做的事。老師會再回來的。」

「你就嫁給光正的表哥好了，就可以留下來了。」進貴說。大家都覺得有道理。
「老師現在還不想結婚啊。」老師說，「老師會再回來的。」

大家都不知道要說什麼了，桌上還有不少零食，不過大家都不想再吃了，怎麼覺得我們也在幫老師餞行一樣？

老師真的會再回來嗎？她會記得今天說過的話嗎？我們不知道，但是我們相信她，就像我們知道太陽從山的另一邊落下，但是相信明天它還會從山的這ㄧ邊升起一樣。

我的漢人老師 9 /My Han Teacher 9

Plum Blossoms

January, our village is decorated with beautiful plum blossoms. From the distance, our teacher sees the blossoms spreading across the hills. She is excited like the first graders who have their very first field trip.

    "I don't know you have Mei-hwa (Asian plums)  here. Beautiful blossoms!"

    "Teacher, they are not Mei-hwa, they are plum blossoms. They look similar, but they      grow different fruits."Dai says.

    "Really?" the teacher says, "I've never seen plum blossoms. They look like a swarm        of butterflies in the hills, soooo beautiful!"

    "I think they're more like popcorns!" Dan says. We all laugh. We know how much he      likes food.

  “You want to see the blossoms?" Dai asks the teacher, "we have some plum trees          beside the house. You can come and take a look ."

The teacher's eyes glisten when she hears this, and says, "that'll be wonderful. I'd love to see."

Dai takes our teacher to his house on Saturday.  After stepping out of the side door, the view of the blossoms stands right in front of us. The teacher's mouth drops and her eyes wide open. She looks exactly like us when we first saw the popcorns. She buries her nose inside the flowers, inhales the fragrance with her eyes close like the grownups saying prayers in our church. Then she takes a closer look at the flowers and even counts the petals like we count our fingers in the math class. 

We are surprised when the teacher takes out a camera and starts taking pictures. Cameras are cool and we are all curious because not many of us have seen or even hold a real camera before. The teacher lets us play with the camera for a while and let us take pictures of her. She takes a lot of pictures of the blossoms. Not long, Dai and his sister begin to model for her pictures.

After picture taking, the teacher looks around and looks down. "Look, it's our school!" she points to the direction where the school is, then takes more pictures. 

     "You can see the whole school here!"she cries out, " you can even see the whole             village. " 

Her eyes first fix on the school, then slowly move along the only road of the village to the end of the village, where the mountains stand. It's like she's taking pictures with her eyes, slowly, fame by fame, and storing all the images in her head. 

Then to our surprise, she lies down on the ground, just like that, not caring too much about the mess and dirt. Her eyes squinch when looking up to the sky.  Dai and his sister also lie down beside her. Under the butterfly-like flowers, they chat and laugh. I think if there was a camera from the sky to shoot them, it would have been a great picture. 

Dai asks whether the teacher would like to climb a little higher. She agrees. So Dai takes the teacher, following his father's hunting trail and climbing up. Dai throws some sweet to the mountains when walking up.
     "Why are you doing that?" asks the teacher.
     "My father says we have to respect the mountain God. We have to say hello and let       them know we are coming. We give them some candies, and they'll protect us."
     "Really? but I didn't bring any candy with me, would that be ok?"
     "That's ok, they know we are together. They always know."

Along the way, Dai shows our teachers which plants are editable, which ones are poisonous. 

     "Never touch that one. They bite and your hands will get swollen." He points to the ones with thorns on the leaves, like cats' tongues. 

     "Really?" the teacher shakes her head. 

     "My father told me, once he tricked a Han man. He told him to use the leaves like           toilet papers to wipe his ass. And..." he chuckles, "the plants stung him and he             jumped up and down like a monkey and his ass swelled like this big." He spreads    his hands wide open. 

     "Well, that's not nice for your teacher to do that," the teacher frowns.

     "That was a bad Han."

Suddenly, he sees something in the tree. With  a swish, he flings himself up to the tree trunk and climbs up fast like little Tarzan.  The teacher quickly takes out her camera again and shoots Dai's climbing stunt. 

     "What are you looking for?"

     "A bird nest, but no eggs inside." Then, with another swish, he climbs down the tree like a squirrel.

    "Amazing! you are so fast like an acrobat." The teacher pats him on his head and he turns red, not used to compliments, I guess.

    "This is too beautiful!" the teacher looks around the mountains and the village one last time as we head back. "I think I'll come back to live here for a long time."

We are happy to hear that. Our teacher is getting more and more like us. She learns fast and she likes to be friend with our land. She thinks our waterfall is beautiful, our village is beautiful, our trees are beautiful. Doesn't she know that this place, right here, is the true "beautiful country" with all the differences that she likes? She doesn't have to go to that popcorn and cheerleading America to find that.  

山上李花開

一月，白色的李花點綴了我們的村子，遠遠的看到山坡上的李花開了，老師像一年級的小朋友第一次遠足一樣興奮，她說：「我都不知道你們這邊有種梅花，開了一大片好漂亮喔！」

阿岱告訴老師：「老師，那不是梅花，是李子的花，他們長得很像，可是長出來的水果不一樣ㄋㄟˋ。」

「真的喔？我從來沒有見過李花開，好像一大羣白色的蝴蝶停在那裡，真是漂亮。」老師還是很興奮。

「老師，我們現在覺得李花比較像爆米花！」進貴說，大家一聽都笑起來了，我們知道他愛吃。

阿岱說：「老師，我家旁邊就是一大片李子樹，我帶你去看花。」

老師一聽，眼睛都亮起來了，：「太好了！」

星期六，阿岱帶老師到那他家去，老師一出阿岱家的側門就看到一大片李花，臉上的表情就跟我們第一次看到爆米花一樣，眼睛都睜的大大的，嘴巴也張的大大的！她把鼻子湊近花裡，閉著眼睛深深地聞著花香，好像大人在教會禱告一樣。又仔細的看著一朵花，還數著花瓣，就像我們在數學課數手指頭一樣。當她拿出照相機來拍照時，我們都很好奇，因為大家很少看過相機，更少人摸過相機。老師讓我們拿相機拍照，她自己也拍了好多李花的照片，阿岱和妹妹也當起了模特兒。

拍完照，老師隨性的就坐在李子樹下面，往山下看。「我看到我們的學校了！」老師手指著學校的方向，又拍了幾張照片，「整個學校都可以拍的到呢！ 這裡真好，整個村都看得到。」 然後老師的眼睛就好像照相機一樣，從學校沿著村子的路一直往上看，好像把整個村子都照進她的腦海裡，然後，沒想到，老師就在樹下躺下來，一點也不在意髒髒的地。瞇著眼睛看著李花。 阿岱和他的妹妹看到老師躺下來，他們也躺在老師旁邊，三個人就這樣在佈滿李花的天空下談天。我想如果有相機從天空往下照他們，一定是最棒的照片。

阿岱問老師要不要再往上爬，到高一點的地方，老師說好，阿岱就帶著老師，循著爸爸打獵的山徑往上走，走著走著，阿岱還會從口袋掏出糖果往山上丟。

「你為甚麼要這樣丟糖果？」老師問。

「我爸爸說要尊敬山神，要先跟他們打招呼，說我們來了，請他們吃糖果，他們就會保護我們。」

「是喔！可是我沒有帶糖果，可以嗎？」

「沒關係，我們是一起的，山神知道的。」 

沿路上，阿岱告訴老師，甚麼植物可以吃，甚麼植物有毒不可以碰。
「不可以摸那個，要不然會被咬到，手會腫起來。」 他指著一種葉子上面有刺的植物。「有一次，我爸爸騙一個漢人說可以用那個擦屁股，」 他邊說邊笑，「那個漢人被咬到，跳來跳去像猴子一樣，屁股腫得這麼大，」他把兩手張開。
「你爸爸這樣做不好吧。」老師皺著眉頭說。
「是那個漢人不好。」

突然，阿岱好像看到一棵樹上有什麼東西，他像小泰山一樣，咻一聲，跳上樹，一下子就爬到樹上去，老師覺得太神奇了，趕快拿起相機拍阿岱在樹上的樣子。
「你在找什麼？」

「鳥窩，但是裏面沒有蛋！」 阿岱說，然後又咻一聲爬下來。

「阿岱，你很厲害喲！剛剛好像特技表演。“」老師拍拍阿岱的頭，他不好意思，臉紅了。

「這裡實在太美了！」下山的時候老師這麼說，「我想我以後應該會回來長住。」

我們聽了很開心，老師越來越像我們山上的孩子，她學的很快，可以和我們的土地做朋友了，而且還覺得我們的瀑布美，村子美，李子樹很美，難道她不知道我們這裡才是真正的 「美」國 ，還有很多她喜歡的「不一樣」？她其實可以不要去那個爆米花和啦啦隊的美國了。

我的漢人老師8 / My Han Teacher 8

 Knbiyax 

The sport day is coming. It's a huge event because it's not only a sport competition for kids; it's a competition for the whole village. Almost all the parents, young people, old people will come, even if they have to skip their work for that day. Why? for sure we are very physical, like most Han people think we are. We love racing, three-legged racing, tug-a-war, and all the fun games, and we sure love to compete, but the true reason is that we all want to get some prizes. Useful prizes, not those bulky shining trophies, which are only a few and not really useful anyway. We like practical prizes like cooking oil, soaps, towels, soy sauce, laundry powder, dish washing detergent...etc,.  Imagine, a day off for all the fun and free grocery, what more could you want?

But our teacher is not excited at all. She is given a task to direct a dance performance as the opening show of the event. The teacher said she could only do some cheerleading dance, so the principle just lets her do whatever she can with the fifth and sixth graders. 

We don't know what cheerleading dance is. The teacher says, "it's a group of dancers, mostly girls, who dance to cheer up the athletes. "

"To cheer up the athletes? Then, we are all cheerleaders!" Kuang says.

"Yes, all of us! " Kai continues, "my baki (grandfather) and payi (grandmother), too. We all say Knbiyax Knbiyax (literally means pump up the gas), very very loud, to cheer them up. "
"Yes, and our dogs, too. They bark and howl with us."

The teacher just smiles. She has no idea how serious our cheerleaders can be. 

"Right, " Dan says, "but we don't dance the cheerleader dance."

"No, you don't, because the dance is from America. Very popular now. In some cities, they even have cheerleading dance competition!"

"From America?" A-Dai's eyes get bigger, "so you've been there?" We are all curious.

"No, never been there," the teacher says.

"Then how do you know the dance?" Kuang asks.

"Well, I joined a cheerleading club in college."

"A club? what's that?" Kuang asks again. 

The teacher sighs, looks impatient. She says she doesn't have time to explain that, and she has so many things to prepare for the dance. The first thing is to make pompoms.
"What is that? pompoms?" Kuang just couldn't stop his questions.
"Pompoms are furry balls for cheerleaders to dance with. You'll see when I make them."

She gets two rolls of plastic strings and starts cutting them into sections and bundles the sections into a big bunch like a mop. 

We crouch around her and watch her making the balls. 

"America sounds great," Mei says, "all the good things we know are from America."

"Right, " Kai says, "last time, you also said popcorns are from America."

"Yes, yes, " Dan says, "they have Disney Land, My aunt said she wanted to go."

"Why is it called America?" Dan asks, " because it is beautiful? Mei-Guou (the Mandarin translation of America), beautiful country?"

The teacher laughs,  "America is a big country, " she says, "it must have some beautiful places. Mei-Guou is translated from English, America, sounds like Mei in Mandarin , and Guou means country. got it?"

We don't really get it, but the way the teacher says the word "America"  does sound very Mei-Guou. 

"You can speak English? Cool!" everybody is surprised. 

"Yes, but only a little. I hope someday I can go there to study."

"Really?" we are even more curious.

"America IS a good country, even the teacher wants to go there, " A-Dai says.

"But why do you want to study? You are a teacher already," Juang asks. That's a good question. We all want to know.

The teacher now starts to tear the the mop-ike strings one by one and not long it starts to look like a hairy ball. She doesn't answer our question.

"Why? teacher?" Juang asks again.

"I want to study English and then go see the world, " she says.

" See the world?" Why?" asked Juang.

"To see different places, different people, different food, different houses, different languages..." Before she finishes her words, Dan cuts in and says, "I know, I know, you like differences."

"That's right!" the teacher continues, "it wouldn't be fun if everybody looks the same and every place looks the same, isn't it?" 

We sort of understand it. We are different from our teacher. She thinks we are amazing, we think she is strange, but that's fun.

Teacher Chen from the next class pops in to check on our teacher. She sees the pompoms and says, "well, well, you are teaching them cheerleading dance?"

"Yes, I'm making pompoms now to show them how to do it."

"But they always do their own tribal dance. They are good at it."

"Really? but I don't know how to dance the tribal dance," our teacher says,
"You don't even have to teach them, " Teacher Chen says, "they can practice by themselves.""
"But I think maybe they like to learn something different..."

"Right, something different," we echo, "our teacher likes differences"

"Well, it may be nice to have some changes, " Teacher Chen says, "but, I still feel like kids here should do their own dance. But, it's just my own opinion. You just do whatever you have planed. Good luck. " Then, she walks away.

Our teacher looks a little confused, but she quickly put on a big smile, "Maybe they'll like the new dance. Why not? just give it a try."

For the following week, the girls from the fifth and sixth grades have to stay after school to practice cheerleading dance. We stay too, because we all want to see what the dance looks like. 

The teacher teaches them one move after another, and shows them how to move the pompoms. They also have to move in different positions to form different lines...We try to imitate what they do, but it's too complicated for us. Not long, we just enjoy ourselves, jumping up and down, and making funny movements like monkeys. 

The big sisters are genius! not long, they can dance like they have learned the dance forever. The teacher is amazed, too, "I always heard that aboriginal kids are very good at dancing. Now, I really see it with my own eyes." The sisters are happy of course to hear that. 

On the sport day, the cheerleaders all wear super mini skirts, made of paper! The skirts are so stiff that we can see their shorts underneath. We giggle, but they give us scary stares to shut us up. They all have pompoms in their hands. Yellow and blue, bright and shining. So bright that even our green mountains look gray. Everybody just looks at them and forgot to applaud. Most baki and payi look confused when watching the dance. I think this kind of cheerleading is too different from ours. But, we like the music and we do remember to clap after they finish the dance. 

Well, it's nice to see a different dance this year, but the cheerleading of our kind is about to shock the teacher. When we are racing around the tracks, our parents and grandparents surround the tracks and cry out to cheer for us; their faces turn purple and their veins in their necks bulge like small lizards. When we play tug-of-war, our grandmothers stand close, hollering and shrieking with their hands high in the air. And  when it's the old people's turn to race, although they can't really run fast, and some of them even fall down after a few steps, their family and their dogs run along with them and cheer them with the loudest Knbiyax Knbiyax . 

After the games, the winners have their family surrounded them, singing and dancing. The losers also have their family surrounded them, hugging and patting their shoulders. 

Our cheerleaders need no music, no training, no rehearsals, no props. All we need is Knbiyax  louder than the thunder, and our cheerful spirit brighter than the pompoms.
And that is another huge difference once again amazes our teacher. 

While we are singing and carrying all the free grocery home, our teacher is still standing at the tracks, shaking her head, waving her hands to us, with a big simile ever.   

Knbiyax 加油

運動會快到了，這可是一件大事,因為這不只是我們小朋友的運動比賽，而是整個村子的比賽.幾乎所有的爸爸媽媽,爺爺奶奶,小朋友都會來參加。就算他們那天不能去工作，他們也會來。為什麼呢?也許就像漢人說的我們非常好動, 當然我們很喜歡賽跑、兩人三腳、拔河等等有趣的遊戲, 而且我們也很喜歡競賽,但是真正的原因是我們都想得到獎品。而且是很實用的獎品,不是那些閃亮亮又笨重的獎杯。獎杯只有一兩個,而且也沒什麼用,我們比較喜歡有用的獎品，像是沙拉油、肥皂、醬油、毛巾、洗衣粉、洗碗精之類的，你想想看嘛 ,可以整天不用上課，有好玩的遊戲，還有免費的獎品，還有什麼比這個更好的事呢？

但是我們的老師可不興奮，因為校長要老師負責教大姊姊們大會舞，老師說她只會啦啦隊舞，校長說就教她會的東西就好。我們都不知道啦啦隊舞是甚麼，老師說啦啦隊舞就是一群人，通常是女生，在旁邊跳舞幫運動員加油的人。
光正說：「加油？那我們大家都是啦啦隊啊！」
俊凱接著說：「全部的人都是啊，我的baki (爺爺) payi (奶奶)也是，而且大家都會喊Knbiyax Knbiyax（加油）！喊得佷大聲哦。」
「對呀, 連我們的狗都是，他們也跟著我們又吼又叫的加油喔。 」

老師聽了只是輕輕的笑一笑, 她根本不知道我們的啦啦隊是非常非常認真的。
 進貴也接著說：「對啊，但是他們都不會跳老師說的啦啦隊舞。」

「他們當然不會跳，」老師笑笑說：「這舞是從美國傳過來的，現在佷流行喔，有些地方還有啦啦隊舞比賽呢！」

「那老師你去過美國嗎？」 阿岱好奇的問。大家一聽也佷好奇。

「沒有啊。」

「那你怎麼會跳？」光正問。

「之前學校舞蹈社老師教的。」

「什麼是舞蹈社？」 光正又問。老師看起來不耐煩了，她說下次再告訴我們。她要準備做啦啦隊舞用的彩球。
「彩球? 那是什麼?」光正的問題永遠問不完.
「那只是兩顆毛毛球，啦啦隊員拿著跳舞用的。等我做好你就知道了。」
她拿了兩綑紅色塑膠繩，開始把繩子剪成一段一段的。然後把它們綁成一束像一把拖把一樣。大家都好奇的圍在她旁邊。

「美國好像很棒的樣子喔，」 美娟說，“好像從美國來的東西都很棒！」

「對啊，上次的爆米花老師也說是從美國傳來的。」俊凱說。

「對啊對啊，還有什麼迪士尼遊樂園，我姑姑說她想去。」

進貴說：「美國是不是就是美麗的國家？」

老師笑了笑，這次沒有暴衝， 「美國是個很大的國家，」老師說，「一定有些地方佷美麗，但是不是因為這樣我們才叫她美國，是因為她的英文名字 Ameirca 聽起來像“美“ 所以叫美國。」 老師還把America 念的好大聲，真的有點像“美國“耶。

「老師好厲害喔，會講英文呢！」 大家有點驚訝。

「老師將來想去美國讀書，」老師說。

「真的喔！？」 大家更驚訝。

「美國果然很好，連老師都想去！」 阿岱說。

「可是你已經是老師了，為甚麼還要讀書？」美娟問。好問題，我們也想知道。

老師忙著把那束像拖把一樣的繩子一條條用手撕開，變成像頭髮一樣細，老師沒有回答我們的問題。

「老師，為甚麼阿？」  美娟再問一次。

「因為要把英文學好，因為想去看看世界。」 老師說，，，

「為什麼要去看世界?」 美娟問。

「因為世界有不一樣的人， 不一樣的房子，不一樣的景色 ，不一樣的食物 ，不一樣的語言...」老師還沒講完， 進貴就插嘴說: 「原來老師喜歡不一樣!」

「對阿! 如果大家都長得一樣，每個地方都一樣，就不有趣了， 不是嗎?」 老師說。

我們覺得很有道理， 我們就和老師不一樣，老師覺得我們厲害， 我們覺得老師奇怪 ，這樣就很有趣。

這時候隔壁班的陳老師來找我們老師， 她一看到老師的手上的塑膠線球，就說: 「哎呀! 妳要教他們跳啦啦隊舞啊?」

「對阿，先做兩個彩球，再教他們自己做」老師說。

「可是之前運動會都是叫他們跳山地舞的 ，他們自己就會跳， 而且跳得很好， 根本不用花時間練。」

「真的喔? 可是我不會跳阿! 而且想教他們一點不一樣的東西，」老師說。

「對 ，不一樣，"」我們跟著附和 ，「老師喜歡不一樣!」

「也是啦! 有點改變也不錯啦，不過山上的孩子好像還是應該跳他們自己的山地舞吧，」陳老師說，「但是，這只是我個人的想法，你還是照你自己的意思做吧。加油啊。」說完，就走開了。

老師看起來有一些猶豫，但是馬上就笑笑說：「也許他們也想跳一些不一樣的舞，就試試看吧。」

接下來的一個禮拜，大姊姊們放學後都留下來練習啦啦隊舞，我們也不想回家，因為要看看老師說的啦啦隊舞到底是什麼。老師拿著彩球，教大姊姊不同的動作，還要排不同的隊形。 我們在旁邊也跟著跳，但是後來動作都記不住了，就胡亂跳一通，像猴子一樣跳上跳下，自得其樂。不過大姊姊們真天才，一下子就學會了。老師這次又很吃驚的說: "「山上的孩子會跳舞還真不是虛傳。」 大姊姊們聽了當然也很高興。

運動會那天，大姊姊們每個人都穿著短短的裙子，那是老師教她們用紙做出來的， 裙子硬硬的不會動， 還可以看到下面的運動褲。我們在旁邊偷笑，不過大姊姊惡狠狠的瞪著我們，我們就馬上安靜了。他們手上黃色和藍色的彩球顏色真鮮豔，讓我們綠綠的山看起來都變成灰色了。大家都看得目瞪口呆，反而忘記要幫他們拍拍手了。 有的baki (爺爺) payi (奶奶)還皺著眉頭 ，不太懂的樣子， 不過音樂很好聽，舞蹈結束後，大家才記得拍拍手給他們鼓勵鼓勵。

今年能看到美國的啦啦隊舞，真是覺得很有趣 。但是我敢說老師一定被我們真正的啦啦隊嚇到了。因為賽跑時，我們的baki在旁邊放聲大喊，喊得臉都變成紫色的，脖子冒出粗粗的筋，像小蜥蜴一樣，payi們也高聲歡呼，高舉雙手加油。拔河的時候，兩隊的啦啦隊更是在旁邊嘶聲力竭的喊著 嘿殺！嘿殺。 baki 和 payi 們就算跑不快也要參加賽跑，還不少人跑沒多久就跌倒的，但是全家大小和家裡的狗都在跑道外圍跟著跑，Knbiyax Knbiyax喊不停。 勝利的時候老的小的抱在一起在場邊唱歌跳舞，失敗的時候低頭互相擁抱，彼此拍拍肩膀。

這樣的運動會，這樣的啦啦隊不需要事先排練，不用配樂，不用道具，有的只有比打雷還大聲的Knbiyax，還有比彩球更讓人振奮的精神。而這就是另一個讓我們老師嘖嘖稱奇的不一樣。

當我們唱著歌，帶著實用的獎品回家的時候，我們的老師還站在操場上，搖著頭，對我們揮著手，臉上掛著一個好大的微笑。