Tomorrow is the first day of high school and Mandarin class at the university. I'll be going to the university first, we start at about 8am and get done at about 11am. Then off to regular high school. Because I miss all my morning classes I will only have 3 classes which are art, music, and math. I get out of school at 4pm.
Here's hoping all goes well
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
Orientation, ghosts, and school
Whoops, let me firstly apologize for the weird formatting of the last post, my iPad can be touchy. But I've been super busy here. Saturday was my orientation with all the other kids in my district. For the most part it was just a lot of sitting and listening, but it was nice to meet the exchange kids.
Sunday afternoon we went to my grandmas for lunch. But then after we drove into Taipei to drop off my brother before his music lesson, who with an hour to kill before picking him up my dad drove all around Taipei pointing things out. We drove through a highly coveted street to live on, stopped at a famous bakery, went past Taipei 101 and a lot of temples, and a small parade. After picking Timothy up we headed to Keelung. We first went to an old fort that was built as protection against pirates and then after we went into this cave temple. It was literally a temple in a cave with shrines, incense, offerings spread out on tables, statues carved out of the walls and old poems carved into the rock. We had to squeeze through this tiny passage, I'm certain my body was at a 90* angle, to get to one of the shrines.
Monday was my placement exam for the Mandarin lessons I take with the other exchange students, which was not exactly pleasant in itself but being late on top of it made things slightly more stressful. But I managed and I think I got placed in the second level class but come Monday we'll see. After the test Kiky and I made the trek to the immigration office via MRT to get my paperwork finished. Waiting took forever but we ran into another girl from my district and her host father and it was nice chatting with her.
Tuesday Kiky, my sister Justine and I went to Eslite which is one of the popular book store chains here. It was super nice and stocked a good selection of books in English, and I imagine a portion of my allowance will be spent there. But Kiky had a meeting to go to so she left us there and said we could take a bus home...well we tried to at least. We waited for like an hour for our bus which never came so we ended up walking to the MRT station and taking that to another bus stop and finally ending up at my dads office where we hung out until pretty late.
Wednesday is the day my dad takes the afternoon off from work so he can show me around. So at noon we left for my clubs rotary meeting. I don't understand what happens at the meetings but there seems to be a lot of joking and teasing amongst Rotarians so I feel at ease. For a brief moment I played Vanna White and helped demonstrate this weird cloth that our guest speaker was talking about, so I'm sure there's going to be some attractive photos from that. Later on in th evening, Kiky, Timothy, Kent and I went back to Kelung. This lunar month is the ghost month and the largest celebration for th ghost festival takes place in Keelung. We first went to a night market (my first!) and walked around trying all the different foods while Timothy looked longingly at the games set up, at one place you could win a miniature turtle. We also quickly ducked into a temple that ran adjacent to the market. Then it was finally time to head to the temple where the festivities take place. I went a night before the peak of the festival so there wasn't as much activity but it was still beautiful. The temple was all lit up and it's perched right on the hillside. We stayed late just wandering around, soaking it all in.
Thursday Kiky was determinded to get me a working cell phone so that if I ever get lost I can call her. I brought my cell phone that I used back in California, but I was just planning on reactivating it when I fly home, but Kiky thought if we got a new SIM card it could work over here. Well it didn't, after spending a long time in the cell phone store, we accepted defeat and went back to my dads office to see if he had an old phone. So I am now the owner of an ancient duct taped brick of a phone :)
Today I woke up annoying early so I could go by my school with Kiky. We drove over to the school so I could geet my schedule, meet my teachers, etc. we met with one of the teachers and got my schedule, my school has already factored in the fact that I'll be missing school twice a week all morning for Mandarin class at the university, which was good. My schedule was only for the first week but it includes art, math, English, Mandarin, chemistry, math, sport, and more. But th school said after the first week if I don't like a class I can drop it and switch it to something I like better. We will see how long chemistry and math stick around for. The other two exchange students who are going to my school were there too, a girl from France and a boy from Hungary I think it was. so I won't be all alone.
Tomorrow my family and I are going to a concert that my brothers music teacher is playing in so that will be something new for me. Monday I start Mandarin at the university and regular high school so I'll be even busier!
Abbie
Sunday afternoon we went to my grandmas for lunch. But then after we drove into Taipei to drop off my brother before his music lesson, who with an hour to kill before picking him up my dad drove all around Taipei pointing things out. We drove through a highly coveted street to live on, stopped at a famous bakery, went past Taipei 101 and a lot of temples, and a small parade. After picking Timothy up we headed to Keelung. We first went to an old fort that was built as protection against pirates and then after we went into this cave temple. It was literally a temple in a cave with shrines, incense, offerings spread out on tables, statues carved out of the walls and old poems carved into the rock. We had to squeeze through this tiny passage, I'm certain my body was at a 90* angle, to get to one of the shrines.
Monday was my placement exam for the Mandarin lessons I take with the other exchange students, which was not exactly pleasant in itself but being late on top of it made things slightly more stressful. But I managed and I think I got placed in the second level class but come Monday we'll see. After the test Kiky and I made the trek to the immigration office via MRT to get my paperwork finished. Waiting took forever but we ran into another girl from my district and her host father and it was nice chatting with her.
Tuesday Kiky, my sister Justine and I went to Eslite which is one of the popular book store chains here. It was super nice and stocked a good selection of books in English, and I imagine a portion of my allowance will be spent there. But Kiky had a meeting to go to so she left us there and said we could take a bus home...well we tried to at least. We waited for like an hour for our bus which never came so we ended up walking to the MRT station and taking that to another bus stop and finally ending up at my dads office where we hung out until pretty late.
Wednesday is the day my dad takes the afternoon off from work so he can show me around. So at noon we left for my clubs rotary meeting. I don't understand what happens at the meetings but there seems to be a lot of joking and teasing amongst Rotarians so I feel at ease. For a brief moment I played Vanna White and helped demonstrate this weird cloth that our guest speaker was talking about, so I'm sure there's going to be some attractive photos from that. Later on in th evening, Kiky, Timothy, Kent and I went back to Kelung. This lunar month is the ghost month and the largest celebration for th ghost festival takes place in Keelung. We first went to a night market (my first!) and walked around trying all the different foods while Timothy looked longingly at the games set up, at one place you could win a miniature turtle. We also quickly ducked into a temple that ran adjacent to the market. Then it was finally time to head to the temple where the festivities take place. I went a night before the peak of the festival so there wasn't as much activity but it was still beautiful. The temple was all lit up and it's perched right on the hillside. We stayed late just wandering around, soaking it all in.
Thursday Kiky was determinded to get me a working cell phone so that if I ever get lost I can call her. I brought my cell phone that I used back in California, but I was just planning on reactivating it when I fly home, but Kiky thought if we got a new SIM card it could work over here. Well it didn't, after spending a long time in the cell phone store, we accepted defeat and went back to my dads office to see if he had an old phone. So I am now the owner of an ancient duct taped brick of a phone :)
Today I woke up annoying early so I could go by my school with Kiky. We drove over to the school so I could geet my schedule, meet my teachers, etc. we met with one of the teachers and got my schedule, my school has already factored in the fact that I'll be missing school twice a week all morning for Mandarin class at the university, which was good. My schedule was only for the first week but it includes art, math, English, Mandarin, chemistry, math, sport, and more. But th school said after the first week if I don't like a class I can drop it and switch it to something I like better. We will see how long chemistry and math stick around for. The other two exchange students who are going to my school were there too, a girl from France and a boy from Hungary I think it was. so I won't be all alone.
Tomorrow my family and I are going to a concert that my brothers music teacher is playing in so that will be something new for me. Monday I start Mandarin at the university and regular high school so I'll be even busier!
Abbie
Friday, August 24, 2012
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,
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,
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Guarantee Forms and Summer Vacation
About a month ago I received an email that my guarantee forms were in the mail and would soon be in my hands. (For those unfamiliar with the Rotary exchange process, the guarantee forms include information such as where I'll be living and where I'll be attending school.) About three weeks ago I finally received said forms. Kind of. On May 24th, I graduated high school and shortly after the ceremony I was heading over the all night grad party. I realized that I hadn't checked the mail that day so I called my dad asking if the forms came and he said yes. I demanded to know what the forms said, but it was difficult not having them in front of me. Most of the party would have been agonizing had I not been teetering on the edge of sanity due to sleep deprivation. But I made it through and upon returning home at 5:00am I finally got a hold of those forms.
I learned that I'll be living in New Taipei City in the Xizhi District and that I'm hosted by Rotary District 3480. My proposed departure date is August 17th. New Taipei City surrounds Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The district that I live in borders Taipei, which is great considering that I'll be attending school in Taipei at the Taipei Municipal Nangang High School. The blue area in the picture below is where I'll be living, the gray area is New Taipei City, and the white island amidst the gray is Taipei.
A few days after getting my guarantee form, I got an email from my host sister Florence who is 16. I learned that while she is going to be in Seattle all year, I'll have another host sister Justine (14) and a host brother Timothy (7) to keep me company. Also with the arrival of my guarantee forms was my visa application. The majority of the paperwork for the visa was easy and I've already sent it in, but the medical tests are the biggest pain and I still need to get those taken care of and turned in.
So I have about two months left at home before I leave and I'm trying to make the most of the time I have left here. I'm attempting to cram in as much time with friends, family,and american tv that I can. I have my last outbound orientation this weekend which should be fun and I'm happy to see the other outbounds again. Last week I went to the east coast with my dad and we visited New York City, Philadelphia, and D.C. and managed to pack a lot of sightseeing in two days. My cousins are coming into town soon for a few weeks then I think I might be heading over to visit them, which will eat up 3 weeks of the remaining 8 weeks I have left.
It's only just hitting me now that I'll be living in a foreign country for the year, and I probably should be more worried about that but I'm more excited than anxious at this point.
That's about it for now
-Abbie
I learned that I'll be living in New Taipei City in the Xizhi District and that I'm hosted by Rotary District 3480. My proposed departure date is August 17th. New Taipei City surrounds Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The district that I live in borders Taipei, which is great considering that I'll be attending school in Taipei at the Taipei Municipal Nangang High School. The blue area in the picture below is where I'll be living, the gray area is New Taipei City, and the white island amidst the gray is Taipei.
A few days after getting my guarantee form, I got an email from my host sister Florence who is 16. I learned that while she is going to be in Seattle all year, I'll have another host sister Justine (14) and a host brother Timothy (7) to keep me company. Also with the arrival of my guarantee forms was my visa application. The majority of the paperwork for the visa was easy and I've already sent it in, but the medical tests are the biggest pain and I still need to get those taken care of and turned in.
So I have about two months left at home before I leave and I'm trying to make the most of the time I have left here. I'm attempting to cram in as much time with friends, family,
It's only just hitting me now that I'll be living in a foreign country for the year, and I probably should be more worried about that but I'm more excited than anxious at this point.
That's about it for now
-Abbie
Monday, March 5, 2012
Youtube and Orientation
So I can already foresee myself wanting/needing to upload videos so I've created a youtube channel to help further document everything.
So watch and creep on me here
Oh I also have my first outbound orientation on the 24th and 25th, and I honestly think that it won't come soon enough. Hopefully I'll learn what district I'm in but we'll see.
I'll keep updating
-Abbie
So watch and creep on me here
Oh I also have my first outbound orientation on the 24th and 25th, and I honestly think that it won't come soon enough. Hopefully I'll learn what district I'm in but we'll see.
I'll keep updating
-Abbie
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Not Much of an Update
Well there hasn't been any new updates directly concerning Taiwan so for the most part I've just been attempting to be patient for more news. As difficult as that is.
Whilst attempting to patiently wait, I've been connecting with more of the outbounds and working on my Chinese. I've been taking classes twice a week after school with a small group of other students from my high school. I've also been put in contact with a personal Mandarin tutor from Taiwan who I hope will be able to teach me more. It seems that since I've learned of my placement I've been meeting people who are from or frequent Taiwan often, so far I've been put into contact with 4 people with Taiwan connections. It's also been great getting to know the other outbounds and finding out that they are just as excited as I am. On Facebook I'm part of 3 or so groups dealing with Rotary Exchange. I have an upcoming orientation for my district's outbounds in March and it will be nice to meet people face to face.
But for now it's primarily just waiting and constantly refreshing my email.
-Abbie
Whilst attempting to patiently wait, I've been connecting with more of the outbounds and working on my Chinese. I've been taking classes twice a week after school with a small group of other students from my high school. I've also been put in contact with a personal Mandarin tutor from Taiwan who I hope will be able to teach me more. It seems that since I've learned of my placement I've been meeting people who are from or frequent Taiwan often, so far I've been put into contact with 4 people with Taiwan connections. It's also been great getting to know the other outbounds and finding out that they are just as excited as I am. On Facebook I'm part of 3 or so groups dealing with Rotary Exchange. I have an upcoming orientation for my district's outbounds in March and it will be nice to meet people face to face.
But for now it's primarily just waiting and constantly refreshing my email.
-Abbie
Friday, November 25, 2011
Taiwan
你好
So it's official. I'll be going to Taiwan next year! I have no idea where I'll be placed so basically anywhere on the island is a possibility.
Here's a map of the districts
My departure date is going to be sometime between August 19-24. There's an orientation on August 25th that all the students are supposed to attend.
I'm so excited to be going to Taiwan and to learn Mandarin!!!!
-Abbie
So it's official. I'll be going to Taiwan next year! I have no idea where I'll be placed so basically anywhere on the island is a possibility.
Here's a map of the districts
My departure date is going to be sometime between August 19-24. There's an orientation on August 25th that all the students are supposed to attend.
I'm so excited to be going to Taiwan and to learn Mandarin!!!!
-Abbie
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