Preemptive apology for rambling on so long and the awkward fidgeting, but I'm sure I'll get better at this.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
First Vlog
Preemptive apology for rambling on so long and the awkward fidgeting, but I'm sure I'll get better at this.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Moon Festival and Tainan
The Saturday before the Moon Festival I embarked on a trip with my Rotary Club, my dad, and my brother to a Rotary Moon Festival Party. The party was out on a farm (now I know that sounds odd but the place was commercialzed and had a small cafe and they had areas set up for events/parties/etc.) The party was great! Before we went down to the barbeque area I was able to chat with my next host dad for a bit who seems awesome. He said his wife loves to cook and would be happy to teach me how to cook some Taiwanese/Chinese dishes so I'm looking forward to that come early January. We eventually walked down to where the real party was happening. There were many fire pits with benches around them for barbeque and a stage set up that was later host to karoke. Taiwanese babrbeque is slightly different than American barbecue. The menu that night included bamboo, cow tongue, red bean soup, and roasted squid among other delicacies. My Rotary Club somehow convinced me to go up on stage with them multiple times throughout the night to sing karoke with them, but all of the lyrics were in Chinese...so the only time I actually sang was when I recognized one or two words. Which I made sure to practically scream to try and convince everyone that I was in fact singing along.
Sunday was the actual Moon Festival. For most of the morning I didn't do too much as I was still in recovery from my late night party. In the afternoon though my mom, sister, and I took a walk around our neighborhood. My family just moved into this house a few months ago so things are new for them too. My neighborhood is kind of set up in "tiers". The first tier, where we live is made up of houses/villas, homes that are not apartments. The second tier is about 8 blocks away and is made up of apartments. I have no idea what lies beyond that because that's as far as we went. The neighborhood is really nice, our area is super quiet compared to all the bustling that is happening where the apartments are. But the downside is the apartment area gets a 7-11. After our walk we went over to my grandma's for dinner. My dad's side of the family was all there and we enjoyed a more tradional meal together.
Last Wednesday, as it was the first Wednesday of the month, I would have gone to my Rotary meeting during lunch. But instead it was a dinner meeting! We had some guest from Rotary International which called for a dinner meeting instead of a lunch meeting. Unfortunatley for me that meant more karoke, and this time by myself. But I am happily living in my world of self-delusion thinking that I killed it during a solo rendtion of Mama Mia. Karoke aside, it was a nice dinner.
Last weekend I went on a trip to the south of Taiwan with my Rotary Club and my family. We woke up what I would consider early beack at home in the US but 6:15 isn't bad at all here. We took a taxi to the MRT Station, where we took the MRT to the High Speed Rail Station, where we rode the train to Chiya, where we embarked on a bus to the sea. When we reached the ocean we then boarded a boat. We were heading out past a ton of oyster fields to an island that is only visible when the tide is low. It was about an hour ride out to said island. We landed and got to spend some time walking around the island. We then headed back to land. Upon returning from the dock we set out from, we headed over to the small fish market that was in fullswing. Sharks, octopi, crabs, shrimp, and fish larger than my head were all up for sale. We headed back on the bus to go hang out with a 1,200lb crocodile at a nearby zoo. I originally thought that the crocodile was a fake because it was so still, so I jumped a little when it snapped it's jaws shut. We then headed out to the beach to watch the sun set while wading in the waves. We spent the night in Tainan. The next moring we drove out to a park where we boarded a boat and took an ecological tour of the area, sadly I couldn't understand a thing. We also went to this absolutey stunning temple that may have been the largest place of worship I have ever seen. It was beautiful. My dad and I ducked into the temples devoted to the major gods and godesses and I was happy to learn more about religion in Taiwan. I also learned how to say "God bless you" and "Amen" in Chinese, so I'm set for more temple visits. We then returned to the park where we had the ecological tour and this time we boarded a different boat and went down a small river that had an overarching tunnel of mangrove trees above us. Once again I did not understand a thing, but just enjoyed the scenery. Next up was a tour of these old warehouse ruins that had been completely overtaken by an enormous banyan tree. This was the last stop on our trip and after we drove back to the train. All in all it was an amazing trip.
Last Wednesday was Double 10, Taiwan's birthday so I had the day off of school. Around 11AM my dad took my brother and I up into the surrounding moutains. We had a short walk up to a small lake and walked around there for a bit. Then we drove up to Wuzhishan, Five Finger Mountain, to look at the view. We rested at the house for a bit, ate lunch, then around 2pm we went to pick up my grandma and then we set off to the Yehliu Geopark. The park is right on the coast and features strangely rocks that have odd shapes due to the constant assault from the sea. We stayed there and wandered around, but a storm seemed to be approaching so we left after a bit.
On Saturday my parents had eight guests come over for dinner, so I spent the day at home as they prepped for the evening. I ducked downstairs a couple times for food but remained largely out of sight. Sunday, as it was my understanding, my brother, mom, sister, my sister's friend and I would go to the top of 101. But first my mom was dropping us off at Eslite, the huge bookstore chain in Taiwan, while she went with my brother to go get his hair cut. And as is usually the case, my understanding is a far deviation from what actually happens. We ended up spending four hours at the bookstore, which for me is some degree torturous when I could only read a small small fraction of the books. Then my mom showed up with my Aunt and we ended up eating in the food court at the bookstore. Then we went home. This is the second time I thought I'd be going up to that top floor, but for now it still remains inevitably out of reach. Until next time 101.
Today is currently Tuesday and today and yesterday my classmates have their midterms. Which of course we exchange students are incapable of doing. So Monday morning I had my Chinese class at university like always, then made it back to the school at one. The school had arranged a little trip in the afternoon for us exchange students. When I got to the school we (the two other excchange students and one of our teachers) set out to a hiking trail via bus. At the trail we met up with another teacher of ours and two students who graduated from the high school. Then we climbed. It wasn't that long of a distance but at times I swear the steps were more akin to a ladder. But we made it to the top eventually and took tons of pictures. The descent was somehow more vertical than the climb up. For me it became the anatomical version of the movie Speed, in which if I had stopped midway at all I probably would have fallen to my death due to the pace I was walking and the steepness of the trail. Thankfully that did not happen and I survived. We headed to Taipei 101 after the climb and enjoyed Starbucks and the accompanying gorgeous view that was the 35th floor. So much better than tests.
Today, once again due to midterms, we had another mini-trip. But we didn't have to meet our teacher until 8:30 at the MRT Station. I got to sleep in until 6:45, hold back the "oohs" and "ahhs" but for me it was glorious. So we met up at 8:30 and went to Taipei's City Hall, which in addition to playing host to various government offices, also has a Discovery Center. The Discovery Center was a small museum about Taipei, the history, the architecture, the people, you get the point. After a thorough look, we had an early lunch at a Korean place in the lower floor of a department store. I'm not 100% sure what my lunch was, but it was delicious. After lunch we quickly looked around the store, then headed back to school. Where I am now, sitting in the library while my poor classmates test some more. But at 2:30 we exchange students are supposed to head back to class because we have some sort of guest speaker? I'm not sure what the speaker will be speaking about so you'll have to wait for that riverting information, so until next time!
Abbie
Sunday was the actual Moon Festival. For most of the morning I didn't do too much as I was still in recovery from my late night party. In the afternoon though my mom, sister, and I took a walk around our neighborhood. My family just moved into this house a few months ago so things are new for them too. My neighborhood is kind of set up in "tiers". The first tier, where we live is made up of houses/villas, homes that are not apartments. The second tier is about 8 blocks away and is made up of apartments. I have no idea what lies beyond that because that's as far as we went. The neighborhood is really nice, our area is super quiet compared to all the bustling that is happening where the apartments are. But the downside is the apartment area gets a 7-11. After our walk we went over to my grandma's for dinner. My dad's side of the family was all there and we enjoyed a more tradional meal together.
Last Wednesday, as it was the first Wednesday of the month, I would have gone to my Rotary meeting during lunch. But instead it was a dinner meeting! We had some guest from Rotary International which called for a dinner meeting instead of a lunch meeting. Unfortunatley for me that meant more karoke, and this time by myself. But I am happily living in my world of self-delusion thinking that I killed it during a solo rendtion of Mama Mia. Karoke aside, it was a nice dinner.
Last weekend I went on a trip to the south of Taiwan with my Rotary Club and my family. We woke up what I would consider early beack at home in the US but 6:15 isn't bad at all here. We took a taxi to the MRT Station, where we took the MRT to the High Speed Rail Station, where we rode the train to Chiya, where we embarked on a bus to the sea. When we reached the ocean we then boarded a boat. We were heading out past a ton of oyster fields to an island that is only visible when the tide is low. It was about an hour ride out to said island. We landed and got to spend some time walking around the island. We then headed back to land. Upon returning from the dock we set out from, we headed over to the small fish market that was in fullswing. Sharks, octopi, crabs, shrimp, and fish larger than my head were all up for sale. We headed back on the bus to go hang out with a 1,200lb crocodile at a nearby zoo. I originally thought that the crocodile was a fake because it was so still, so I jumped a little when it snapped it's jaws shut. We then headed out to the beach to watch the sun set while wading in the waves. We spent the night in Tainan. The next moring we drove out to a park where we boarded a boat and took an ecological tour of the area, sadly I couldn't understand a thing. We also went to this absolutey stunning temple that may have been the largest place of worship I have ever seen. It was beautiful. My dad and I ducked into the temples devoted to the major gods and godesses and I was happy to learn more about religion in Taiwan. I also learned how to say "God bless you" and "Amen" in Chinese, so I'm set for more temple visits. We then returned to the park where we had the ecological tour and this time we boarded a different boat and went down a small river that had an overarching tunnel of mangrove trees above us. Once again I did not understand a thing, but just enjoyed the scenery. Next up was a tour of these old warehouse ruins that had been completely overtaken by an enormous banyan tree. This was the last stop on our trip and after we drove back to the train. All in all it was an amazing trip.
Last Wednesday was Double 10, Taiwan's birthday so I had the day off of school. Around 11AM my dad took my brother and I up into the surrounding moutains. We had a short walk up to a small lake and walked around there for a bit. Then we drove up to Wuzhishan, Five Finger Mountain, to look at the view. We rested at the house for a bit, ate lunch, then around 2pm we went to pick up my grandma and then we set off to the Yehliu Geopark. The park is right on the coast and features strangely rocks that have odd shapes due to the constant assault from the sea. We stayed there and wandered around, but a storm seemed to be approaching so we left after a bit.
On Saturday my parents had eight guests come over for dinner, so I spent the day at home as they prepped for the evening. I ducked downstairs a couple times for food but remained largely out of sight. Sunday, as it was my understanding, my brother, mom, sister, my sister's friend and I would go to the top of 101. But first my mom was dropping us off at Eslite, the huge bookstore chain in Taiwan, while she went with my brother to go get his hair cut. And as is usually the case, my understanding is a far deviation from what actually happens. We ended up spending four hours at the bookstore, which for me is some degree torturous when I could only read a small small fraction of the books. Then my mom showed up with my Aunt and we ended up eating in the food court at the bookstore. Then we went home. This is the second time I thought I'd be going up to that top floor, but for now it still remains inevitably out of reach. Until next time 101.
Today is currently Tuesday and today and yesterday my classmates have their midterms. Which of course we exchange students are incapable of doing. So Monday morning I had my Chinese class at university like always, then made it back to the school at one. The school had arranged a little trip in the afternoon for us exchange students. When I got to the school we (the two other excchange students and one of our teachers) set out to a hiking trail via bus. At the trail we met up with another teacher of ours and two students who graduated from the high school. Then we climbed. It wasn't that long of a distance but at times I swear the steps were more akin to a ladder. But we made it to the top eventually and took tons of pictures. The descent was somehow more vertical than the climb up. For me it became the anatomical version of the movie Speed, in which if I had stopped midway at all I probably would have fallen to my death due to the pace I was walking and the steepness of the trail. Thankfully that did not happen and I survived. We headed to Taipei 101 after the climb and enjoyed Starbucks and the accompanying gorgeous view that was the 35th floor. So much better than tests.
Today, once again due to midterms, we had another mini-trip. But we didn't have to meet our teacher until 8:30 at the MRT Station. I got to sleep in until 6:45, hold back the "oohs" and "ahhs" but for me it was glorious. So we met up at 8:30 and went to Taipei's City Hall, which in addition to playing host to various government offices, also has a Discovery Center. The Discovery Center was a small museum about Taipei, the history, the architecture, the people, you get the point. After a thorough look, we had an early lunch at a Korean place in the lower floor of a department store. I'm not 100% sure what my lunch was, but it was delicious. After lunch we quickly looked around the store, then headed back to school. Where I am now, sitting in the library while my poor classmates test some more. But at 2:30 we exchange students are supposed to head back to class because we have some sort of guest speaker? I'm not sure what the speaker will be speaking about so you'll have to wait for that riverting information, so until next time!
Abbie
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Rahoe Night Market
I know I say this every time I post, but I'm still so. busy. But I don't mind in the least. Last Tuesday my classmates took me out to Rahoe Night Market after school. Unbeknownst to me, the slacker American who gets out of school at 4 everyday, my classmates have class until 5 most days. So I awkwardly waited in class and tried not to draw any attention to myself. After their class was finished, we hung out at school for a while and waited for it to get cooler before venturing out. We all survived the us trip and made it there in one piece.
The best thing about the night market is the cheap and awesome food.
Red Bean Filled Cake
The best thing about the night market is the cheap and awesome food.
Red Bean Filled Cake
Fish and Egg Dish
Indian Milk Tea
Some sort of cake
Spicy Beef Kabob
Watermelon Juice
Oyster Omelette
Stinky Tofu
Annnd the closest translation I could get to what this dessert was is "pudding"
Friday at school we celebrated three of my classmates birthdays and suprised them with tiramisu at lunch. Then on Saturday Rotex held a "tea party" for us inbounds. But there was not that much tea involved. We got split up into groups and competed against each other in a series of games that involved our knowledge of Chinese. For example, we were given the name of certain objects in Chinese and the first team to grab all the correct items got a point. Unfortunatley there were reprecussions for the losing team, the winners were given pens and got to draw on the losing team. Thankfully my team won a majority of our games. After the Rotex event I quickly ducked into one of the bookstore chains here that sells English books, somehow I was able to refrain from buying any books. But I did end up purchasing some envelopes and this weekend if I have time I'll attempt mailing off some letters.
I spent Sunday in Taipei with my brother and parents. We went to the Sun Yet-Sen Memorial Hall and arrived just in time to see the changing of the guards. We also hung out around Taipei 101 because there are a lot of street performers there that are interesting to watch. That night we had dinner with my dad's side of the family as an early celebration for my dad's and aunt's birthday. We had barbecue, which is becoming a rapid favorite of mine here. Seafood is great for two reasons here 1) it's really fresh and tastes amazing and 2) you definitively know what you're eating. When it comes to the other meat, you have no idea. And that's how I tried cow tongue for the first time Sunday night.
This Sunday is the Moon Festival here! Saturday, my dad, brother, and I are going down to (I think) Tainan for a Moon Festival party with Rotary. Also my school is having an English singing competition in which the entire class has to participate in. Today my class is voting on which songs we'll sing. I've been asked to help act as a pronounciation teacher when we start practicing, so I'll be even busier. But busy is good!
My Chinese is coming along I think. Everyone usually talks to me in English which makes it super easy for me to slip into speaking English instead of Chinese, but from now on I'm trying to forego the English. So here's to me accidentally butchering the Chinese Language!
Abbie
Sunday, September 16, 2012
So I'm still super busy here! It was the first week where I attended all of the classes that have been finalized in my schedule. I have a two hour swimming block on Tuesday where Oceanee and I have the whole pool to ourselves. But guess who didn't have goggles and a towel. But I do now so I won't have to repeat the long process of drip drying. On Thursday I have additional Chinese class at my high school with the other exchange students. Then we get to do calligraphy. For me though the first hour of calligraphy, I'm pretty sure I caused my blood pressure to skyrocket. We only got a quick demonstration of the character we were supposed to paint and for whatever manic reason I was super nervous about messing up. So it took me twice as long to finish as the others, but in the second hour I was able to paint stress free. I also have a computer class now, but it's not with 205. (ok so quick primer on taiwanese school: you stay in the same class all day with the same kids. The teachers are the ones that change classes, students are the ones who stay). So it felt odd not being with my classmates, but they are the actual best. During break time some of them came into the class to make sure the other kids were being nice to me and to check if I could understand what was happening in class. I seriously lucked out in getting placed with class 205!! On that note some of them invited me to go to a night market with them on Tuesday!
While I'm excited to go with them, I'm positive they'll be making try some of the odder delicacies here in Taiwan because they already do that in class. It seems to me that peoples favorite game here is to play "feed the foreigner". Everyday during lunch someone gives me something new to try, which ranges from dumplings, candy, and tofu. But the other day someone was eating a school lunch and I was asked if I wanted to try. So I did. And it turns out I had a bite of pigs blood mixed with rice. Might as well call me Khaleesi after that...
On Friday, during the second to last period of class we had a class meeting to decide on our class t-shirt. I had no idea what was happening other than I occasionally raised my hand to vote on a color choice. After that we (meaning the whole high school) went into the gym for the performances. I'm still unclear on the details, but each class has a best student. The best student and a handful of his/her classmates put on some kind of a performance for the school whether it was singing, dancing, or a skit of some sort. I was comfortably sitting down watching, when one of my classmates ran over and said "come with me", so I did so with confusion. She led me over to where my classmates who would be in the performance were sitting..."Abbie, can you say something up on stage?" They are all so nice so I couldn't say no. They told me what to say and when, I don't think five words in Chinese have ever been so daunting to me before. But I think it went well! Which made up for earlier I'm the week.
Wednesday I along with the other inbounds had to introduce myself to the entire school. We were told it had to be at least one minute, and I'm not sure I could do that in English let alone Chinese. But I wrote out a little speech and recited it v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. When actually talking on stage I definitely mispronounced something, there was a lot of laughter suddenly, but afterwards people said I did a good job so all was well.
Yesterday I had my first culture class with the other inbounds in my district. We actually didn't do much though, there were opening remarks, and a presentation about our class next month in which we will bike. (I'm sure I'm totally wrong about this but I dont know how much the Taiwanese bike because there were so many rules and tips for biking). We then were divided into groups and had to pick a group leader and assistant group leader. Then we had to vote for an overall cultural class leader. After that we just ate and loitered around before we could leave.
After class my mom along with my aunt, baby cousin, and brother, picked me up to take me to dinner and Taipei 101. We ate at an American restaraunt, and I must say while I love the food here, I was thrilled to order some tacos. After dinner we alked over to 101 and went into the base of the building. The first few floors are like a department store, with a lot of high end retailers housed there. So we wanderered around the stores for a while, but sadly I didn't actually get to go in the upper levels of 101. It was raining and cloudy and my family said it would be better to go at a different time so I could have a better view. I'll be back there soon enough I'm sure.
Edit: I was originally writing this post Sunday afternoon, it is now Tuesday morning. Sunday I spent most of the day studying for Chinese class. After studying I decided to update and make a post. But while writing this, my dad came in and said we were going to the most famous mountain in the Xizhi District. My mom, dad, brother and I drove there. We were treated to a fantastic view of the entire city. There was a temple near the observation area which I was able to duck into for a short amount of time. And there was a pig. In California I live in an area that contais a lot of farmland so I've seen/interacted with farm animals more than once back home. I don't think my family in Taiwan has ever seen a pig in real life due to how excited they were upon seeing the pig, especially because it was a counting pig. Someone would say a number and the pig would turn on, then turn off a faucet the correct amount of times (but it only could do so correctly once). Everyone was still impressed though.
After that experience, we were driving around trying to figure out a place to eat. While driving past a night market my dad was talking about Taiwanese food, and about the pigs blood with rice. He was saying how foreigners never want to try it, so I said that I wanted to, thinking the chance to do so would be in the near future. Nope. My mom, brother and I hopped out the the car right then and there to go buy some. And the verdict is: pretty good. The pork and rice are tasteless, just very chewy which isn't a texture I love. But its covered in a spicy sauce and rolled in peanuts so it tastes like chewy spicy peanut butter. We ended up eating at one of the stalls in the night market.
Later today after school my classmates are taking me to the night market that's close to my school. I'm sure I'll have some stories from that to talk about later.
While I'm excited to go with them, I'm positive they'll be making try some of the odder delicacies here in Taiwan because they already do that in class. It seems to me that peoples favorite game here is to play "feed the foreigner". Everyday during lunch someone gives me something new to try, which ranges from dumplings, candy, and tofu. But the other day someone was eating a school lunch and I was asked if I wanted to try. So I did. And it turns out I had a bite of pigs blood mixed with rice. Might as well call me Khaleesi after that...
On Friday, during the second to last period of class we had a class meeting to decide on our class t-shirt. I had no idea what was happening other than I occasionally raised my hand to vote on a color choice. After that we (meaning the whole high school) went into the gym for the performances. I'm still unclear on the details, but each class has a best student. The best student and a handful of his/her classmates put on some kind of a performance for the school whether it was singing, dancing, or a skit of some sort. I was comfortably sitting down watching, when one of my classmates ran over and said "come with me", so I did so with confusion. She led me over to where my classmates who would be in the performance were sitting..."Abbie, can you say something up on stage?" They are all so nice so I couldn't say no. They told me what to say and when, I don't think five words in Chinese have ever been so daunting to me before. But I think it went well! Which made up for earlier I'm the week.
Wednesday I along with the other inbounds had to introduce myself to the entire school. We were told it had to be at least one minute, and I'm not sure I could do that in English let alone Chinese. But I wrote out a little speech and recited it v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. When actually talking on stage I definitely mispronounced something, there was a lot of laughter suddenly, but afterwards people said I did a good job so all was well.
Yesterday I had my first culture class with the other inbounds in my district. We actually didn't do much though, there were opening remarks, and a presentation about our class next month in which we will bike. (I'm sure I'm totally wrong about this but I dont know how much the Taiwanese bike because there were so many rules and tips for biking). We then were divided into groups and had to pick a group leader and assistant group leader. Then we had to vote for an overall cultural class leader. After that we just ate and loitered around before we could leave.
After class my mom along with my aunt, baby cousin, and brother, picked me up to take me to dinner and Taipei 101. We ate at an American restaraunt, and I must say while I love the food here, I was thrilled to order some tacos. After dinner we alked over to 101 and went into the base of the building. The first few floors are like a department store, with a lot of high end retailers housed there. So we wanderered around the stores for a while, but sadly I didn't actually get to go in the upper levels of 101. It was raining and cloudy and my family said it would be better to go at a different time so I could have a better view. I'll be back there soon enough I'm sure.
Edit: I was originally writing this post Sunday afternoon, it is now Tuesday morning. Sunday I spent most of the day studying for Chinese class. After studying I decided to update and make a post. But while writing this, my dad came in and said we were going to the most famous mountain in the Xizhi District. My mom, dad, brother and I drove there. We were treated to a fantastic view of the entire city. There was a temple near the observation area which I was able to duck into for a short amount of time. And there was a pig. In California I live in an area that contais a lot of farmland so I've seen/interacted with farm animals more than once back home. I don't think my family in Taiwan has ever seen a pig in real life due to how excited they were upon seeing the pig, especially because it was a counting pig. Someone would say a number and the pig would turn on, then turn off a faucet the correct amount of times (but it only could do so correctly once). Everyone was still impressed though.
After that experience, we were driving around trying to figure out a place to eat. While driving past a night market my dad was talking about Taiwanese food, and about the pigs blood with rice. He was saying how foreigners never want to try it, so I said that I wanted to, thinking the chance to do so would be in the near future. Nope. My mom, brother and I hopped out the the car right then and there to go buy some. And the verdict is: pretty good. The pork and rice are tasteless, just very chewy which isn't a texture I love. But its covered in a spicy sauce and rolled in peanuts so it tastes like chewy spicy peanut butter. We ended up eating at one of the stalls in the night market.
Later today after school my classmates are taking me to the night market that's close to my school. I'm sure I'll have some stories from that to talk about later.
-Abbie
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Bubble Tea
The first day of my English class my teacher came over and said that my classmates wanted to talk to me but were too shy... I found that hard to believe. One of my classmates figured out we live in the same neighborhood and therefore take the same bus home. So she invited me to go get bubble tea after school with her friends.
Then on Saturday I met up with a large group of my classmates in Ximen to eat some food and see a movie. So I'm still finding to difficult that my classmates are shy.
In addition to hanging out with my classmates, I went to another Rotary meeting. Got my school schedule solidified, I opted out of Chemistry, Chinese, and Geography and now I have some free periods in the library, more art classes, and a two hour block of swimming. I also joined the dance club at my school. Here are my qualifications for joining the club.
1. I have seen the cinematic masterpiece Dirty Dancing dozens of times
2. Many years ago I took Irish step dance lessons
I'll be fine right? The real reason that I joined was because I only knew of like 3 other clubs which I had no qualifications for and my fellow exchange student from France was joining.
Last night my family and I went out to dinner at a hot pot restaurant that is owned by one of the Rotarians in my club. Quick explanation of hot pot: a constantly boiling container with either a soup stock or water (I'm not sure exactly) is placed in the middle of ones table, there are a variety of uncooked foods placed at the table as well and you choose what you want to eat and put in the pit to get cooked, like finely sliced beef, shrimp, mushrooms, dumplings, etc. So after hot pot we drove to Danshui, a part of New Taipei City famous for its lit up suspension bridge. We walked across the swaying bridge, it makes you feel like you're out at sea so when getting off the bridge I was less steady than before and my gait resembled that of a drunken sailor. We walked around the river had some ice cream and just enjoyed the view. I hope to go back there again, there's this coffee shop that's located right on the cliffside next to the river. And I'll be sure to bring my camera then.
Abbie
In addition to hanging out with my classmates, I went to another Rotary meeting. Got my school schedule solidified, I opted out of Chemistry, Chinese, and Geography and now I have some free periods in the library, more art classes, and a two hour block of swimming. I also joined the dance club at my school. Here are my qualifications for joining the club.
1. I have seen the cinematic masterpiece Dirty Dancing dozens of times
2. Many years ago I took Irish step dance lessons
I'll be fine right? The real reason that I joined was because I only knew of like 3 other clubs which I had no qualifications for and my fellow exchange student from France was joining.
Last night my family and I went out to dinner at a hot pot restaurant that is owned by one of the Rotarians in my club. Quick explanation of hot pot: a constantly boiling container with either a soup stock or water (I'm not sure exactly) is placed in the middle of ones table, there are a variety of uncooked foods placed at the table as well and you choose what you want to eat and put in the pit to get cooked, like finely sliced beef, shrimp, mushrooms, dumplings, etc. So after hot pot we drove to Danshui, a part of New Taipei City famous for its lit up suspension bridge. We walked across the swaying bridge, it makes you feel like you're out at sea so when getting off the bridge I was less steady than before and my gait resembled that of a drunken sailor. We walked around the river had some ice cream and just enjoyed the view. I hope to go back there again, there's this coffee shop that's located right on the cliffside next to the river. And I'll be sure to bring my camera then.
Abbie
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
School so far
(alternatively titled: Abbie vs. Public Transportation and hint I win)
So after waking up far earlier than I would have back home, Kiky drove me to the university. I had to go and find out what my class assignment was and it turns out that I was all the way across campus. Walking with purpose I made it to class. There are about 13 of us total in my class. My teacher seemed very kind and helpful. We spent the three hours going over pronunciation of Chinese phonetics, which sounds awful but it wasn't too bad with the inclusion of what turned into a violent death match of the three boys against the ten girls in a game where we had to match sounds to letters.
After class Kiky picked me up again and we drove to my school. I have to go and sign in at the library each day for reasons that are still unclear to me. My arrival on campus was well timed with the beginning of lunch. I entered just as they were all struggling to escape. My mom and one of the school workers talked to some of the girls in rapid Mandarin and suddenly I my own personal helper in the class. Then the adults were gone and I was surrounded. People started asking me questions and I did my best to answer. I was even able to ask a few (read: one) question(s) in Mandarin. And I'm apologizing right now to my wonderful classmates because I'm horrible with names so most will be identified incorrectly. But I ate while answering and then people started stacking their chairs on their desks. The semi-circle around me excused themselves, they had to help clean the classroom. I watched, trying to imagine if one could get a bunch of Americans to clean their class so efficiently. After cleaning we have a "dim the lights and nap or at least do something quietly" period for about 20 minutes. I went over my Mandarin stuff while the vast majority of my class enjoyed their cat nap. And did I mention this is all without a teacher in the room directing any of this? After nap time we had art class which we actually switch classrooms for. I have no idea what was happening in the class because 1. Mandarin and 2. The girls who have taken pity on me and let me follow them around kept talking and asking me questions. But I did eventually get a breakdown in English on what we were supposed to be doing. Next was music. Having never played an instrument I'd be anxious in a normal music class, let alone this one. But it was fine, we listened to a song, people sang along, and then we watched Pocahontas and went over Colors of the Wind. So all in all ok. Last was math, which I was able to pick out some information from my previous math classes, but I still dont know what's happening.
After school I was supposed to take the MRT, then a bus home...AND I DID. The MRT never posed a problem, it's the bus. So while I may get lost in parking lots at home, I can navigate around a city. And then I had to do it all again today.
Today was my first full day, meaning 7:30 to 4:10. Which by Taiwanese standards is a late start. First class was Chinese so I just sat there. Next was math where I could sort of follow along. Then a two hour block of chemistry, where the teacher acknowledged me. (it's not that I'm sure the other teachers didn't notice the foreigner who was not in uniform, they just didn't say anything about it). But I was told I could read a book or work on some other stuff. So I did. And I'm sure all were staring at me in jealousy as I was told multiple times by multiple people that chemistry was extremely boring. Then lunch finally! I went down to get food with some girls, and let me just say that getting the food at my high school may have been the inspiration for The Hunger Games. There's this small booth shoved in way back and what I'm sure most have been millions of teenagers jostling their way up to the counter. Two girls volunteered as sacrificial lambs to go into the chaos and bring us back food. I am happy to report that they made it out alive and returned baring great gifts of tea, dumplings, and chicken.
Lunch came to an end and we kicked off what I'm told was health class. But I'm not entirely sure if that's the actual class because the teacher had written Freud up on the board...But anyways English was after in a two hour block. My English teacher is great, very nice and seems like she wants to involve me in class. She made the students prepare some questions for me in English and ask me and I answered in English, but one time when I threw in a Mandarin word I got applauded by the class. Hard work does indeed pay off :)
School again for the rest of the week, but this Saturday I've been invited to hang out with some of the aforementioned girls in my class.
Abbie
Sunday, September 2, 2012
School Tomorrow!
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
Here's hoping all goes well
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