My brother, the maid, and I

       So bright and early I woke up at 3:00 AM to catch my 6:00 flight out of Sacramento to LAX. The two hours of sleep I got made for a groggy scramble around the house to finish loading up. I arrived at the airport but had to embark on a long trek to find the right terminal. Finally upon arriving in line to get my miraculously underweight bags checked in, it hit me that I would be in a different country for the year. My family stayed in line with me as long as they could and we said our goodbyes. I headed through, while they stayed and watched me go.
       While going through security, I met a couple whose daughter was doing mission work in Taiwan, and they had nothing but praise for the country. I was also relieved to be flying with two other exchange students who were also going to Taiwan. The three flights were uneventful, but small mishaps did happen (our luggage was routed only to Seoul, and we weren't issued our boarding pass for a long time). Thankfully we were able to resolve everything, and I managed to sleep quite well on the plane.
       After finally landing in Taiwan and making it through immigration, a sea of host families stood waiting for us. Everyone was holding up posters to welcome us, so I was able to find my family right away. My father, Kent, and my sister Florence were there waiting for me, along with my mother, Kiky, and my brother Timothy. We loaded everything up and began the drive home. My entire family speaks some degree of English, so that made things easier for me. Before we went home we stopped by my father's dental office, which is also right by my grandmothers house. My dad got out of the car and said he would meet us back at the house. The rest of us got home safely and unloaded my stuff. My dad was home almost immediately after us and he had bought me a cash card, which I can use at 7-11, the bus, trains, and subway. After discussing some of the house rules I took a shower and slept.
       The next morning I was home alone, save for our maid. Kent was at work and Kiky took the others to their music lessons. I thought Kiky said that maid spoke English...she didn't. But somehow with my limited mandarin I was able to get food! I waited for my family to get back because at noon
we had a rotary meeting to get to. They got back and we drove into Taipei. My rotary club was so welcoming and kind, I'm so happy that their my sponsors. After the meeting we went to pick up timothy and then we were going to an amusement park, "like Disneyland" my dad said.
       The drive there took a while, but it was worth it. It was like a zoo, water park, and theme parked rolled into one. We went and first looked at all the animals, and I found it amusing that there were sheep and horses featured along with the lions and tigers. After that my sisters, brother and I went on some of the rides. While Timothy and I waited to go on a water ride my mom came back with some food, which included roasted squid which was delicious. So far my time here, can be summed up as I follow my sisters around eating whatever's handed to me, not understanding much. Timothy and I went on the water ride, it was already dark at this point so I hoped we wouldn't get too wet...this was not the case. Not only did we get soaked, it started raining mid-ride so we got the added effect of that. But somehow after we were done we managed to dry off pretty quickly. After that it was time to go home. I fell asleep on the car ride back, tired from jet lag and constant confusion. But we stopped for dinner on the way back. I give my family credit for not laughing at me more than they did, sleepy Americans with subpar chopstick skills have a high entertainment value.
       Yesterday was Chinese Valentine's Day, and the start of two typhoons that are supposed to hit Taiwan. I got up when my brother came into my room, which is actually his room, I crashed there for a few nights and just moved into my room today. But I headed down to breakfast with him. And I was with my brother and the maid, who speak no English. But once again out of the handful of food related words I know, mian bao (bread) was something I could ask for. Later on I went to Costco with Florence and my mom. The Costco here was two stories,with a special escalator ramp to take carts upstairs, and exceedingly crowded. Before Costco we actually met up with my aunt and her baby so we did our shopping together. We dropped off my aunt after, and we went it my grandma's for a traditional dinner, which ended up being a sticky rice with chicken, sweet melon, yam leaves, and soup. My grandma runs a Chinese medicine store thats been in their family for 100 years and I got to try what I think was something to aid digestion? Don't worry there have been no negative side effects.
       Then this morning once again it was just me, my brother, and the maid. And once again breakfast was a word I knew in Mandarin, ham bao or hamburger. It was two rice patties with some beef in the middle. And after I moved all my stuff into my real room, and finally unpacked. Then at noon we were going out to lunch, originally I thought my mom said a Vienna restaurant and I had no idea what that would entail, but it was actually a Vietnamese restaurant. There were many people at lunch to welcome me, and say goodbye to Florence who leaves for Seattle this Sunday. And there was so much food. Soup, bread, shrimp, fish, vegetables, hot pot, and more! I came home stuffed, but the party also followed us back home where we ate even more, cake and seasonal fruit. I believe it was my mothers friends who all came over, and their kids as well.  Us kids hung out upstairs and played cards, well I didnt,