HTC Spring Retreat

Hey everyone!  A couple of weeks have passed since my last update, mainly because I had nothing to share.  Then, we had the HTC Foundation retreat here in Hualien. It seems a pattern has started, because whenever I attend a retreat I always seem to have something to say about it.

The HTC retreat is basically a get together of all the separate HTC locations at one specific place. This spring it happened to be at my home in Hualien.  Already, the retreat looked promising due to the fact I would not have to undergo the tedious task of packing.  So all together there were four other teams coming.  Each team had English teachers from America like me, so I got to see some people I met at the functions I previously attended.  However, I will not go into that, seeing how it probably would hold no interest to most people reading this.

Basically, at the retreat we discussed how to better carry out HTC Foundation's vision.  The one session that stuck out was on character strengths.  Since we teach character to the children every week, it is only right that we learn and discuss our character strengths as individuals and as a team. So, before the retreat, I had to take this online quiz.  On this quiz you answer questions and then it puts twenty-four character traits in the order that best suits you.  I honestly can say when I saw my results I was a little bit surprised.  My top six traits in this order are 1-Honesty, 2-Perseverance, 3-Bravery, 4-Humility, 5-Judgment, and 6-Fairness. Number four was definitely a shocker, I did not expect to see that anywhere near my top six.  I laughed a little to myself on having honesty as my strongest trait, because not all the time is saying what I am thinking a good idea!  Then oddly enough the character trait of Curiosity was number eighteen on my list.  I am sure there must have been a mistake there, because if you asked anyone I worked with at Northland, they would probably say I just about annoyed them to death with all the questions I would ask.  Other important traits, in my opinion, were near the bottom of my list, like Love and Gratitude.  Although, I was pretty happy with my top six, I was still a little disappointed.  However, the leaders of the HTC retreat brought up something that I believe is important for everyone to know. This list was designed with twenty-four character strengths, and each person has all of the same traits on their list, just in various orders.  What the list shows is all the positive traits we have; it encourages us to pay attention to the good traits we have instead of looking down on ourselves because of all the bad traits we have.  Another interesting perspective was just because some traits are in the middle or at the very bottom of my list, does not mean I do not possess those traits.  I still have those traits, it is just they are not my dominant character strengths.  However, I can look at the list and choose to build up my "weaker" character traits.  For example, creativity is last on my list, but that does not mean I have none, nor does it mean I cannot develop it.
It was also interesting to see the whole Hualien teams top characteristics combined together.  It was a look into how we function as a team.  As well as, being able to understand my other team members a little bit better.

Hualien team's top character traits chart, it's funny how we
have no hope, no leadership, and no self-regulation!  Only
teasing, we do, it just is not as noticeable

After the sessions, we all went out for dinner at a really fancy restaurant.  I had this huge half chicken-which I was not able to finish, but the other people at my table were more than happy to help me out!  On the plus side there was coffee, and I mean good coffee!  For those of you who know me and my coffee, this just about put a permanent smile on my face.  In about an hour, I had three cups of the regular Americano Coffee.  Then I decided to try the espresso, which tastes the best straight black.  After finishing it, I decided I still wanted more, but in order to save time, I let the machine fill the cup with the normal "half-way" amount, then I pushed the button again.  Lets just say, for an introvert, I was overly hyper and my brain was working faster than my mouth, which made for interesting conversation.
At the end of dinner, most all of us English teachers took a walk downtown.  We stopped at a so called "park," which looked more like small town square with playground structures.  I must say, this was the best way to finish off the evening.  Why!  Well, I got to learn a country square dance!  I never knew how much fun dancing could be, amongst other reasons it was mainly because I was never taught.

My table at the restaurant

Later, back at the campus, we talked and played a couple of games like Would You Rather and Truth or Dare.  Now, before anyone jumps to negative thoughts about Truth and Dare, this was game was very respectable.  We only asked appropriate questions like, "what is the best memory you have made in Taiwan."  And if any question or dare made anyone feel uncomfortable or embarrassed then that person did not have to answer the question or complete the dare.  Although, the dares were pretty fair as well.  For example, I was dared to do as many sit-ups as I could in thirty seconds.  However, since may of us just picked truth, I thought it turned out to be a good way to get to know each other a little better.

We also had some rounds of arm wrestling