New Project：A Piece of World

Dear travelers and teachers around the world, This is Han from Taiwan. In 2014, I was doing my military service as a school security guard in rural Taiwan. Barely no tourist would ever visit that area, not even Taiwanese people… The students had little chance to meet the outside world, and many of them had no interests in learning English or other subjects.

「Why do I need this if I already know that I will become a farmer in the future?」

I wanted to let them meet more different people, people from other country, other culture, other life style.

So I started to invite travelers to visit our school while they were traveling around Taiwan. They were not here to teach, but to share their stories, introducing their countries, or simply have fun with the students.

Then I met more and more friends and teachers who were also interested in this kind of activity. We create a project called “Couchsurfers in Class”. We cooperate with more than 20 schools around Taiwan, inviting travelers to visit students if they ever pass by the schools. And it turned out to be very cool experiences for both the travelers and the students. The students got the chance to meet cool travelers and listen to their stories, while the travelers also got the chance to have a totally non-tourist experience.

In Two years, we have invited more than 100 travelers from all around the world to visit the schools in Taiwan.

Then I was wondering, would it be possible for me to visit the schools in other countries as well? So I decided to travel abroad again, I spent 9 months traveling in Europe, searching for contacts of the teachers in every country, and ask them if I could go and share with the students. I visited more than 10 schools during that trip, and had a really good time sharing with the students.

The funny thing is that, many teachers also told me that the students really enjoyed having foreign visitors in their schools. Through inviting traveler to visit the students, it can really inspire the students, and motivate them to communicate with other people, to break the stereotypes , and to imagine a different future.

That’s why I came up with the idea of “A Piece of World”

"A Piece of World" will be a platform which connects travelers with teachers all around the world. Teachers can sign up and add their schools on the world map. When the travelers are planning their trips, they can check the map and contact the teachers.

(Application form for teachers：https://goo.gl/forms/ZDlfZNLB4AolIzeb2)

We know that many of the travelers are more interested in living with the locals than visiting crowded tourist spots, they just don’t know how. We would like to invite you to join “ A piece of World” and visit local students while traveling. You can also join our facebook group for more information. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1598760043559462/)

You may not find the most spectacular attraction in our project, but you can see how the NORMAL people live their life and see the true part of each country that other tourists could hardly see.

I am sure this is gonna be a unique experience for many of you. After we went traveling, we have learned so many things that we could never know at school, something we deeply hope that we could have known it as young as possible. Please share it with the students.

Han Important：Travelers don’t have to pay anything, and won’t be paid either. We are neither a company nor a charity. Our project is built on mutual trust, and none of us gets any money from running the project. We want to treat you just like our friends. Many of the teachers would spend extra hours showing visitors around or inviting them for meals, but this is not their obligation, please don't take it for granted. __________________________________________ Some common Questions

For Travelers

1. How long does it take for visiting a school? In most of the cases, travelers spend 1 or 2 days visiting the school. Normally 1 to 3 classes per day. But it all depend on the travelers and the teachers. And don't forget, travelers can always say no, whenever you feel too tired or uncomfortable. 2. Do I have to prepare anything?

It will be great if you can use slideshow or photos when sharing with the students to give them a better image, but don't worry if you didn't prepare that. If you are attending a 50 minutes class, just prepare yourself to share for about 20 to 30 minutes. After that you can have more direct interaction with the students. You don't have to handle the whole class all by yourself, if you need any assistance, please always feel free to ask the teachers for help. 3. What should I share? Basically whatever you want. Just remember, you don't have to be a teacher. You can share some culture or history about your country, some stories or issues that you want to share. Normally, students want to know more about yourselves, like your travel, your life experience, and how do you think about their country. 4. Is accommodation and food included?

Generally the teachers will try their best to help, they might invite you to have lunch in the school or invite you for dinner after the school, they might even invite you to stay with them (or with the students). But it really depend on the teachers, please make sure you have fully discussion about this before going to the schools.

For Teachers

1. Do we have to pay?

No, we won't charge schools for participating our project. And please don't pay travelers to share with your students. We don't want to see people doing this for money. 2. What do we have to provide for the travelers

It would be great if you can help them with the followings. (Meal/Accommodation/Shuttle/Tour) There is no obligation about this. But we strongly recommend the teachers to help them with accommodation. You don't have to host them in your home if there is a problem for you. But you can ask the students in your class or even ask some couchsurfing host in the nearby area. 3. What shall we prepare before their visit Please ask the students in advance, if students show no interest, don't bring travelers to class! And it would always be great to invite students to search about the country of the travelers so they can have some basic information. And most importantly, make sure you have fully discussion with the travelers you want to invite (about their accommodation and shuttle). Having a face to face meeting in advance is even better.

4. What shall we do during the sharing

If students don't understand English too well, help with the translation. If travelers finish their sharing, encourage students to ask questions. Take some pictures for the traveler if they would like to. Please never let travelers being alone with your students. They are not here to be a teacher for you.