Lauren's Adventures in Taiwan

Another week has come and gone so quickly! I have a feeling that this will frequently be the case here. Since I am staying so busy, doing so much, and learning so many new things, time becomes unimportant to me! :) Here's what I've been up to in the past week -

Monday

I have 3 hours of Chinese class every Monday. Its a party and a half! :) My Chinese teacher is the best, and more of a friend than a teacher to me! I also had one hour of math class. My math teacher announced to the entire class that she was going to buy me pearl milk tea over lunch. I really didn't think she would, but she did. And she delivered it personally to me over lunch. It was delicious, but I also wish that I would've been able to share it with my 37 other classmates! During naptime, I officially started to help my peers (the 2nd year students) with their English. It was really fun - everyone is so excited to meet me and I'm equally excited to meet them. :) I was also in the China Times newspaper today - this newspaper is sold everywhere in Taiwan. I think it was a good article, but since it is in Chinese, I'm not really sure of what most of it says! 

Tuesday

A red-letter day, because I got my first real grade. We had to practice all these stitches for sewing class, and I got an A! Whoohoo! I really like the teacher from that class, too. I have no clue what she says sometimes, but she is hiliarious! The rest of my day was pretty typical...nothing overly exciting.

Wednesday

Today I recognized exactly how grateful I am for all of my classmates, homeroom and in all of my other classes. They are so friendly and warm...and they all want to "make friends" with me! :) They also have the COOLEST english names ever - penguin, apple, boa, donut, taco mama, and vanessa are some of the names that I particularly like!

All morning long, I made mooncakes in cooking class. The moon festival is Oct. 6th - which means no school! Mooncakes are delicious pastries with different kinds of fillings - ours was dough flavored with cooking rum. They are best when fresh out of the oven. And they can be in any shape - circular (like the moon!) is traditional, but some like heart shapes, stars, etc.

Today was also one of the school's biggest traditions. The 1st year students have a competition in which they sing patriotic/school songs and march in military(ish) formation. The class that I previously took music with won the event! It made me grateful that I dropped that class, because I may have made mistakes that could've cost them the championship title. After school, I took the bus home by myself. I stopped at Family Mart before returning home and I bought a few American-style foods - Cranberry Juice and M&Ms.

Thursday

I can't really remember much about Thursday besides the fact that I was exausted after my day at school. I think that I also watched "Princess Diaries 2" on TV before doing homework and going to bed.

Friday

Even though I really didn't have all that many classes, I had a wonderful day. I taught some of the interns what "TGIF" stands for. They do have TGI Friday's in Taichung, but no one knows what it stands for...so today was the perfect day for me to teach a little bit of slang! I had my first calligraphy class today. I LOVE calligraphy. There is so much skill and precision to this art...you must hold the brush vertically, never touch your arm to the paper (while keeping it parallel to the paper), sit up straight, and hold your breath (or breathe extremely softly so that you do not shake the brush!). It is so peaceful - our teacher told us that we cannot have angry thoughts and do calligraphy - we must be totally calm and happy. I really, really, really like it!

At dinner, some college-age chef asked me if I wanted to go see a movie sometime. This is what I mean, every day is such a HUGE new adventure and so much is unpredictable! This is definitely one of those scenarios! My host mom and I went to the bookstore after dinner and I stocked up on envelopes and stationary...I'm in the process of writing up to 45 letters to friends and family back home!

Saturday

I didn't get the opportunity to sleep in today, but I DID get to go to Inbound Orientation for the Rotary. The best part of the entire morning was meeting the other foreigners. It also looks like we have inbound activities once every month. There are 7 North Americans (6 from USA, 1 from Mexico), 6 South Americans (5 from Brazil, 1 from Ecuador), and 3 Europeans (France, Germany, Hungary). The 2 guys from France and Ecuador took several months of intensive mandarin class before coming to Taiwan they are pretty good at the spoken language! But everyone is so extremely nice - we don't know each other and we are already friends! I got to go out to lunch with a guy from America and his host family. It was really fun because while our host families were talking Chinese, we were catching up and talking about our experiences so far. OH - and for lunch, they served us whole fish...some kind of herring, I think. I avoided the head area (with all the organs!) but the locals devoured every last bit of it (minus the bones). Yum! :)

In the afternoon, I went with a Rotarian to the Windsor Hotel - definitely one of the best hotels in all of Taiwan. He has 2 daughters, and I met the elder one (she is 20). We spent all afternoon at the hotel's 5 star fitness club. It was absolutely wonderful! We did this hip-hop dance class, ran on the treadmills (only 3 miles for me!), swam in the pools, and relaxed in the saunas. There are 2 swimming pools. One is indoors with lap lanes only. Swimming here means actually swimming laps - no lounging around! There was a pool that had warmer water and was perched on the edge of the 8th floor...which had a view overlooking all of Taichung city. It was sooooo beautiful! The saunas were equally fun. The first one (a dry sauna) was 80 degrees C (which is about 175 degrees F). It actually didn't feel that hot...it was so relaxing with the cedar scent and peaceful music. The steam sauna was much harder to breathe in and around 50 degrees C (115 degrees F or so). But I didn't like the steam sauna...for several reasons which I won't share now! E-mail me if you want to know more details! I also avoided the jacuzzis for the same reasons! After we finished the exercising and pampering combo, we went to a restaurant in the same hotel. It was soooooooo delicious. They also had a live band from the Phillipines that sang watered down Rock and Roll. I had a Norweigan salmon filet...for about $800NTD. We also had the salad/sushi buffet and dessert buffet. They had my all-time favorite mozarella and tomato salad as well as cheeses straight from europe! But the desserts were by far the best, they had haagen dazs (which elsewhere, is super duper expensive!)!!!!!!!!!

Sunday

It was hard for me to believe that today is already Sunday...at that at the time of writing this, it is already Sunday night! I went to a traditional Taiwanese wedding ceremony with my Chinese teacher and her boyfriend today. It was so interesting and super different from the Western style weddings. For one thing, no one wears white! White is for funerals only! There is no priest and only the Christians have weddings in churches. We went to a 5 story building that has 6 rooms on each floor just for wedding and engagement parties. Traditionally, the groom pays for the engagement party and the bride for the wedding party. When the bride arrived, they exchanged rings. She was wearing a peach colored dress...kinda like one we would wear for prom, actually! Here, they wear their wedding rings on their middle fingers. The rings are always gold and many married people will (unnaturally) bend their fingers (a permament thing!) to show their loyalty...they can't take the ring off! The mothers of the bride and groom place gold jewelry on each person...it is a symbol of their wealth and ability to "afford" being a couple. The bride then pours tea for the groom and the families of both parties. It is a symbol of her gratitude and respect. Everyone drinks the tea and they place red envelopes on the saucer or in the cup. The red envelopes have lots of money in them! But always even numbers...because you can have "couples" with even numbers. I.E. - $10,000 NT dollars has 5 couples...they don't want an odd number because then there is money leftover. After all of this, we sat at our tables and talked. It is custom to arrive late to weddings. So by the time everyone arrived, we started lunch at 12:30. It ended at 3pm. 12 courses of food, many toasts (with fruit juice for me!), and several interruptions to honor the bride and groom. At one point in the wedding, the lights are dimmed and staff walk down the aisle with candles - they are supposed to be "angels." The bride and groom walk down the lit path, and kiss (its actually more of a peck!) at the end. It was so interesting to see, but I am soooooooo full of food!!!!!!!

After the wedding, my teacher and her boyfriend (as well as one of his coworkers) went to Dajia where we visited Matsu's temple. Matsu is a Joss...a god, basically. It was packed with sooooo many people that were praying to the gods, giving paper money/food/flowers/etc., and checking their luck. I learned about it in school and it was so neat to see it in person and understand everything. For instance, there are 2 lions at the entrance that keep out bad spirits.  You NEVER walk through the main entrance, because that is where the gods enter. When they pray to different gods, they personalize everything - they bring the items for the gods to enjoy and they clearly state their wishes and desires (as well as telling the gods who they are and where they live!). They bow 3 times while holding joss sticks (which look like incense sticks) and leave the sticks in a joss stick burner (basically a giant ashtray) for Joss. All of the gods are people - for instance, Matsu was a female figure who led an extremely good life. So, when she died, she became a god. There were so many people, so I stuck to just taking pictures. I'll post them later! My teacher also gave me a talisman for good luck. In the center of it, there are ashes from the joss sticks that were burnt. Definitely a cool way to remember Dajia temple.

After the temple, we bought some of Dajia's famous cookies, had some bubble tea, and proceeded to drive back to Taichung. I also had the opportunity to talk a little bit more with the coworker that came along. He speaks English because he has been to Malaysia several times...he was in shock to find out that I understand so much spoken Chinese...he asked my teacher about me, but I was able to answer the questions on my own! He was equally shocked to find out that we can drive cars in America at the age of 16!

We came back to Taichung, went to a bookstore, and now I'm here at home! My homework is all done, and I plan on heading off to bed soon! I hope that everyone had a good weekend - feel free to shoot me an e-mail and let me know what you've been up to! :)

--Lauren

Greetings everyone!

On FRIDAY, as you may recall, I had a TV interview thingy to perform for. It really was a performance, too. Nothing was natural...our actions and our lines were rehearsed before the tape started to roll. I had to make a fruit tea (delicious!) and then walk to a table, pour some for my classmates, ask if it tasted good, and propose a toast. Good thing the only part that actually appeared on TV was the part where I was pouring the tea into a glass! The TV crew also wanted the 3 Americans to practice the military skills that we have been learning at school. Actually, we haven't been learning ANY. So, we had to march in formation for a good 10 minutes because one of us (not me!!!) couldn't get the steps and arms right. It was insanely funny. Yet, we were actually supposed to be super serious. The TV reporter also interviewed us (with only a couple of generic questions). It was just so different from any TV broadcast I have ever seen in the US that I can't really explain it - I'll bring back the tape, though, and you can watch it for yourself!

Since my parents were still in Taipei when I finished school on Friday, I went out to dinner with my Rotary counselor and his wife and daughter. His daughter is taking the Taiwan equivalent of the BAR exam (for law) in just a few weeks. Here, though, it is much harder - out of the many, many people that take it each time it is offered, only 400 or 500 actually pass the test! We ended up eating at Joy's Cafe - they had pizza!! It was really good pizza. For those of you that live in my hometown, it resembles Old Chicago. And for everyone else, its kinda like the thin crust pizza at CPK!

A few other notes about my friday - I am now officially enrolled in Chinese Calligraphy. I am so excited to learn how to write "pretty" Chinese characters. I'm even more excited to learn the art behind it - the posture, the way you hold the brush and dip it in the ink, etc. The teacher tried to scare us out of it by saying that he'd give us homework, but I honestly would LOVE having the homework! I also joined the accessory making club. Maybe not my first choice (because I wanted to do community service but 0 people were signed up for it!) but I still think it'll be a lot of fun!

 SATURDAY was just as relaxing as fun. I woke up at 9am! My host father and I went to this charity event that my host rotary club was participating in. They were selling donated items to shoppers and giving the money they raised to the "Memory Walk" organization...I don't really know what it is besides that it is some sort of medical organization. But it was CHAOS. There were so many people bargaining for items. Once I convinced them to let me try, I ended up selling a few items...its tough work when I can't communicate super effectively with the customers.

In the afternoon, I headed out with my host mom to the Taichung RR Station (note - it is a different building than the new High Speed Rail (HSR) station). There, I met some of my friends. But when I stepped out of the car, I couldn't really find them. I started to look around, but these taxi cab drivers swarmed around me and made gestures for me to take a cab. It was crazy...I had to push some of them away from me all the while saying "no. no. no. thank you, but no." in chinese. I finally found my classmates and we took the bus 40 minutes to Fong Jia...one of Taichung's best night markets. Being a Saturday night, it was insanely packed with people. I do not know how to describe it effectively, just know that there were many many many many many many many people there. I bought dinner (some Taiwanese soup thing and bubble tea), 1 shirt (its red...only $4US), and 2 CDs (total at about $22ishUS) of local bands that are super good and super popular. Even though there were so many people, I'm even more convinced that the people here are so extremely nice. When I would go to buy things (my dinner and other purchases) the cashier attendants would try to tell me the amount in English and say thanks! :) I got back home around 10:30, finished my Chinese homework, and went to bed!

 Today, SUNDAY, was so much fun! I guess my entire experience thus far has been so much fun. But today especially. Why? Well, because I got to see my American friends from Principia College! They are near Kaoshiung with the World Cup Solar Car Rally...today they were doing the circuit race. Tomorrow (Monday), they start the road rally that goes as far south as Kenting and as far north as Tainan). OH - and today, on my way to the race, I crossed the tropic of cancer (I think that's the one!)...pretty darn sweet!

Anyways, so the race today was held at Pingtung Airport. Pingtung Airport is actually a good 20km from Kaoshiung. And it really isn't a domestic airport. Its actually more of a military-airport-in-disguise. :) They only have 1 domestic flight per day. At 12 noon today, a military plane was schedule to land. I was in the pit with the Prin team (because I got a temporary badge!). But everyone else had to clear the runway tarmac...they were closed out for a good 10 minutes while the plane landed and taxied and emptied its passengers out. It didn't turn out to be a military plane (or at least from the outside...it was TransAsia Airways) but it was FULL of military people. See what I mean...they've got a good system going here! Its actually quite a good idea if you ask me...but it was the craziest thing that I have seen this week! :)

Back to the race itself. When I hear "solar car" the first word that comes to my mind isn't exactly "exciting." But, after today, it will be "intensely exciting!!!!!!" Because solar car racing (at least on a 5km circuit) is extremely thrilling. Prin ended up 4th in the first heat and 6th or 7th (I left a little early!) in the second heat. They did have some small mechanical problems, but nothing that wasn't fixed quickly. One of the competitors (from Kaoshiung University) actually flipped their solar car over twice but still managed to be working. Another competitor, from Iran, had something bad happen to their motor. Then spent the entire morning trying to fix it and they were finally able to entire the competition in the early afternoon...it was quite a big success! Especially when they nearly flipped their solar car over (as well!) but they were able to rescue it. Solar car racing is quite amazing! :)

 I think that should do it for now! I'll put some pictures of my adventure with my classmates and the solar car up soon. I have to go and review some more Chinese grammar before going to bed in a couple hours! Have a good Sunday and a great week ahead!

Lauren

I am so sorry! It has been too long (almost a week!) since I have updated everyone. Here’s what’s been shakin’ in my part of the world.

My classes have been going so well. Everyday has been one huge adventure after another. I am really enjoying every single person that I have met. A professional photographer came and took pictures of the 3 Americans…posters with our names and mini-bios are hanging near the entrance of school. Now EVERYONE knows for certain who the Americans are. I feel bad, though, because I don’t know every student at Taichung Jia Shang’s name. That is another one of my goals for the end of the year. Get to know every one of the 500 or so daytime students. J

I’ve been getting a lot of PR at school. I recently had an interview with the Chinese teacher for the school paper. Tomorrow, the TV channel (for the city of Taichung) is coming to interview the 3 Americans. I’m really looking forward to that…I’m going to be on TV in a city of 1,000,000 people! Its kinda crazy because I don’t know what they will ask me…but generically speaking, about my new life in Taiwan. And I will be able to answer “I love it here!” to every single question they ask!

Here are some current events in Taiwan as well. The protesting is still going on in Taipei. The permit for the people to have the sit-in ends on Friday. After that, they will move locations OR continuing sitting and risk getting arrested. The pro-president party wants to have a rally on the site where the protesters are currently seated. The protesters are also planning a huge strike for Double 10 Day (the independence/constitution day here in Taiwan…October 10^th). Taiwan was also declined from being placed on the agenda at the next UN General Assembly meeting. I think that China spoke up and pointed out the rules – that Taiwan is not an “independently governed nation” so they are, therefore, not allowed the spot on the agenda for the meeting. This is the 14^th time that Taiwan has been denied entrance to the UN General Assembly meeting because of China. In return, Taiwanese government officials rejected visa applications of several Chinese government officials that were going to come to Taipei for a meeting. They will now meet on one of Taiwan’s allies…a small island nearby in the Pacific.

On Wednesday, we had an earthquake drill at school. It was intensely awesome…I’ve never done anything like it. I always thought that you got UNDER your desks in the case of an earthquake. But, we crouched by our desks and held our empty book bags over our heads. Then, after another signal, we ran in an orderly fashion (it really was orderly!) to the sports courts. We had to sit on the extremely hot courts…everyone was amazed that I came up with the idea of sitting on my book bag so I wouldn’t fry my butt off! Many girls applied sunscreen and opened their umbrellas…we were in the 30C weather and sunshine for close to 45 minutes talking about earthquakes.

After the earthquake drill, I had to attend my own welcoming party. It was so much fun. I really think it was like Christmas. There were newspaper reporters there (one for the Taipei Times that we appeared in today!) as well as radio broadcasters. The principal and dean welcomed us. Girls from our grade sang 2 songs to us. There were also girls that welcomed us in the languages of Taiwan – Mandarin Chinese, Hakka, Aboriginal tongue, and English. The principal gave us 3 symbolic gifts – a stunning set of tea cups, a bookmark, and a Chinese knot. The knot part is the hardest to explain…but it is absolutely beautiful! The knot and the bookmark are also engraved with the school’s name as well as phrases reminding us to be hard working, loyal, etc.

Today (Thursday) went by soooo quickly. I had 2 hours of study time in the morning because my Chinese teacher had a workshop…I replied to some e-mails and worked on my Chinese skills. In crafts class, we made pictures of nature with oil pastels…but they were more abstract, modern looking pictures. I really like how mine turned out. It is of a beautiful mountain peak and the beautiful yellowy light and wispy clouds that hover over the peak. The dean has given me the option to drop that class and take a self-taught movie appreciation course instead. I’m still thinking about that one!

In the afternoon, I had music class and Chinese. In Chinese, my teacher taught me the words to a children’s song. Its about an ugly little duck. It actually is really helpful because I’m learning meaning and pronunciation while singing a catchy tune! J I also got one of her coworkers to agree to start teaching me Chinese calligraphy – he gave me a sample of his own writing…it is AMAZING. I’m really looking forward to this…hopefully I will start learning calligraphy tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Friday! YAY! And then the weekend! It looks like my family is going to take my sister to Taipei tomorrow and I will stay at school for the TV interview. Saturday, my only plans are to go shopping with some classmates at the night market. J And Sunday I’m going to go down to Kaoshiung with my family to see the Prin solar car – and friends from the USA!

Nothing much else to report here…I think that pretty much sums everything up. I love getting everyone’s e-mails and comments. So THANKS! J Have a nice weekend!

Warmly,

Lauren

It’s almost the weekend! I can’t wait. I have no clue what we’re doing (as usual!) but I’m sure that something super fun is in store. Here’s what I’ve been up to this week (or at least Tuesday through Thursday!)

Tuesday

Definitely one of my longest and busiest days yet. I started out with my Early Childhood Education class. In this class, we are creating an interactive corner where elementary school children can go and play with toys in a hands-on environment while learning something…ours focuses on colors. It was really fun to paint and cut and paste things. My classmates were amazed that I could paint so quickly. I didn’t think it was that quick, but apparently it was super fast! After 2 hours of that, and lots of paint all over my hands (but NONE on my uniform!) I had 2 hours of cosmetology class. Definitely a little too much for me. We talked about skin – skin problems, the layers of skin (I don’t even know them in English! I had no clue what was happening!), and how to take care of our skin. I’m going to transfer out of this class I think…later on they will apply makeup and paint nails. But the teacher doesn’t think that anyone under 25 should wear makeup anyways. There’s one boy in this class…the teacher asked him a lot of questions about why he was there. Kind of an awkward moment, but she was obviously very curious to know why there was a boy in a beauty class. In the afternoon, I had 3 hours of sewing. We learned how to use the iron and practiced 2 types of stitches by hand. I already know how to iron, but the stitches we learned were both new to me…it was fun! We will soon be making A-line skirts! Yay! Despite the rain (some of it was acid rain), I still had P.E. afterwards. We spent an hour stretching and doing crunches. Talk about fun. It was a party. My classmates were also amazed that I could touch my toes. My legs are longer than theirs AND I’m taller…and “magically” I could still do it! Its probably the ice skating.

After school, I had a rotary meeting to go to. I had some bubble tea in the car on the way to the Landis (a high-class hotel where the meetings are held). The food was good, especially the cheesecake. My introduction in Chinese went smoothly and I got my allowance from the rotary in return! Even if I would’ve done badly, they would’ve given it to me, but I like to think of the allowance as a perk for working my butt off in Chinese class. I ADORE Chinese class – it is by far my favorite class.

Wednesday

Compared to other days, today was much more low key and easy going. I had 4 hours of cooking in the morning with a brand new teacher. He is a professional chef and he was mean. But he could also be nice and funny, too. It was a class with the first year special ed students, so we focused on learning how to use everything in the kitchen as well as how to measure wet and dry goods. Then, we wrote down a recipe (during the 4^th hour!) of fruit milk pudding. I have no clue what fruit milk pudding is, because there is no fruit or milk in the recipe! We’re making that next week, though, and I’m looking forward to it. We have to wear hats when we cook…they look like ones from Steak ‘N Shake. And with our uniforms, I definitely feel navy-worthy! Also – the teacher in this class combines Taiwanese and Chinese when he is talking. Its cool, yes, but when it comes to understanding him, I think that I know what he is saying and then he says something in Taiwanese and I get lost immediately. Fortunately, I know 3 phrases in Taiwanese – grandma, grandpa, and “I don’t understand!” J

In the afternoon, we were supposed to have club time. I think I will be joining the community service club next week. But the Dean didn’t want the Americans to start a club just yet. So, I sat in my homeroom for 3 hours with my classmates – talking and planning my monthly report as well as what I will say to my class about ice skating and other American topics. We found a snail and played with it as well…we put it on the chalkboard and placed bets on if the snail would reach the X that someone had marked on the board. It was fun. You don’t always need the language to communicate – you can have fun, laugh lots, and smile even more and anyone will understand it. Because it is Wednesday, school ended at 4 pm (thankfully!). I returned home, went computer shopping for my sister, and had dinner. Dinner was an oyster omelet thing…with some yummy sauce on top. I liked it lots!

Thursday

Another busy day. And lately, I haven’t been sleeping during nap time. Whether it’s the uncomfortable wooden desk or the fact that I’m not tired right after I eat…its just not working for me. Tomorrow, I have the option of going to the library or helping others with English during naptime. Today was also a very important day…the International Airport in Taipei was renamed from “Chiang Kai-Shek Internationa Airport” to “Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.”

Back on track…in the morning I had 2 hours of Chinese. It was as productive and fun as ever. After that, I had 2 hours of arts and crafts class- we made cards and bookmarks with pressed flowers. We applied the flowers with glue and a chopstick…no easy-dispense tops like in the US! J After lunch, I had a 2 hour meeting with the dean and the other Americans. We rearranged our schedules. I dropped a few classes (that were easy) and exchanged them for ones at the next level up. I also added a Math class (yay!!!!!) and dropped 2 P.E. classes…now I only have 2 instead of 4. About the math class, I really do like math and I wanted something that was semi-normal where I would be with a new group of people. They won’t make me do the problems or take any tests, they said all that I have to do is listen to the teacher and practice my Chinese…but I think I may try some of the problems since it looks like it is an Algebra 2/Trig class. It’ll be good review.

Today, we also took pictures for our own welcome party. The Dean brought in a professional photographer and he arranged the 3 Americans on a patch of soggy grass (even the grass is different here! Its much softer and greener!) in front of a rock that has the school name engraved in it. We had to pose in these really random ways…resting our heads on each others shoulders and hands, too. It was really awkward, but we were laughing for most of it, so at least our smiles were genuine! :D

For the rest of the afternoon, I had a class meeting (where everyone just talked about odds and ends that relate to their homeroom) and P.E. We played table tennis in P.E. As some of you may know, (that’s you, Liz!) I’m not exactly an Olympic table tennis player. I thought that all of my classmates were going to be amazing at it and put me to shame. Some of them were really good, but most of them were like me - needing practice! And, I’m getting better. Now I know a few tips from the pros…table tennis is a fun sport.

After school, I came home and my host mom took my sister to the doctor. Because my father was still at work, I had dinner on my own. It was fantastic to be more independent. I left our apartment complex, walked down 4 or 5 blocks to a place called JoJo Coffee (I think it’s on the web…www.jojocoffee.com). I made hash marks in the menu where I hoped it said something like “chicken and noodles” and “tea.” I ended up getting something that looks exactly like spaghetti, but it is a sweeter sauce with veggies. The drink was strawberry cream tea, I think. Or that’s what it tasted like. Afterwards, I made a quick stop into Family Mart and loaded up on some essentials - M&Ms, Snickers, and Oreos. The M&Ms and Snickers look (and taste) exactly the same...they were only 10 US cents each! The oreos were 50 cents...and I haven't eaten them yet. But I'm sure they're the same. I just finished my homework (Chinese), replied to some e-mails, and now I’m heading to bed shortly.

Best wishes! I’ll update everyone over the weekend. This time, I hope to add pictures as well.

Lauren

PS – All you Rotarians out there…you can expect a rather lengthy monthly report from me shortly! J

Da jia hau! (That’s roughly speaking, Hello Everyone!)

Saturday I woke up late…I think that getting up at 5:45 on school mornings made me more eager to sleep in later when the weekend came around. I woke up at 9:50, but everyone in my house was still asleep. Crazy, I know! J

The morning went by quickly…I did some of my own things (su doku and such) while everyone else was waking up and preparing for the day ahead. We had lunch at home and then my mom and dad left for the office. They work the 1^st Saturday of each month in addition to the normal work days. After lunch, I went with my host siblings to the bus stop. They were going to show me how to take the bus to school in the case that my mom is unable to take me to school. It was really cheap to get to school (just below $1US), but it also took an additional 15 minutes to get there. When we got off the bus, it was pouring. And only my host bro was smart enough to have brought an umbrella in preparation for the tyhpoon’s rain. Tina stayed behind in a shelter while my brother showed me which direction to walk to get to school. With 1 umbrella for the 2 of us, we were soaked by the time we returned to my host sister. We took the bus from my school to a different part of town where Jack got his hair cut. It ended up being over an hour long wait (he had an appointment, too!) because they are super busy on the weekend. It gave me and Tina some time to dry off as well as buy some snack foods from the 7-11 down the street. I tried seaweed flavored potato chips for the first time. Quite surprisingly, they are really good. I also bought oreos and snickers…a rare appearance in the homes of the Taiwanese!

After my bro got his hair cut, we returned home for a bit before going out to dinner. We met my Rotary counselor as well as another Rotary family at an old Shanghai style restaurant. We had our own private dining room that is similar to what the British would’ve eaten in when they had their colonies in this part of the world. The food was very good…nothing super unusual this time around! I played Jack in another game of Chinese chess when we got home (and lost, but not so badly!) and called it a night.

Sunday morning I woke up and did my Chinese homework. To my great surprise, Jack and Tina were up as well. They were both busy packing. But it was good, because we got to listen to music while they worked! I really like a local (local being China and Taiwan) band called F.I.R. Jack spent his time packing for college – he is moving into the dorm today! And Tina was packing for the next few days in Taipei…she will be in the city to buy the things that she needs for her college dorm room. We took off for Taipei around 2pm. Its about a 2 hour drive. Pretty soon, though, the high speed railway will open and then you can get to downtown Taipei in 45 minutes from Taichung. Definitely a nice deal! When we got to Taipei, I noticed how the amount of mopeds, pedestrians, and cars increased abruptly. Its probably like going from a city the size of St. Louis to New York City! J CRAZY! Taipei is definitely a high-paced city…but I loved all the activity that was going on. There was so much to see and do!

We helped move Jack’s stuff into his dorm room…unlike the dorm rooms that I stayed in at Prin, everything is built UP. Your bed is a wooden loft (you provide any padding if you want it!) built over your desk and wardrobe. And they squeezed 4 people into 1 room. When we finished unloading Jack’s stuff, it was pouring rain. We drove by Taipei 101 (that would be the tallest building in the world!!) and into the parking garage. We were going to actually go into the building, but the store that my mom wanted to go into may have been closed…so we left…and are saving Taipei 101 (as well as the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial) for our next visit to the city. Both of these top attractions are gorgeous – I can’t wait to set foot in them and take pictures!

We picked up a guest and the 5 of us went to the train station in Taipei. Beneath the train station, there is a never-ending hallway filled with shops and stalls. Above the mall, is the actual train station. I saw foreigners here. It was quite exciting…except for the fact that a few of them looked like they were using drugs. Anyways, my mom bought a ton of necklaces and beads.

Then we all went to dinner, said our goodbyes, and then I left with just my 2 host parents to return to Taichung. Sad, but true. I am now sibling-less. I’m looking forward to Tina’s return in a few days. J We got home around 11pm…just in time to go to bed and wake up for school in the morning!

Today, Monday, was a super fun day at school. We had flag raising (because it was Monday!) but the sun and heat was just a little too much for me. It’s all good…there’s always Wednesday!

I started out my classes with Chinese snack-making. It is a first-year class and some of the students are special ed, so I am moving to a third-year class (because otherwise I will spend 4 weeks learning how to measure things and boil water). We left for the counseling office…a really nifty place where you can just hang out or watch movies and drink tea. We spent some time there and in the library and then I had 2 hours of Chinese class. Yay – Chinese is my favorite class!

Then it was lunch and naptime…also a good thing! I woke up refreshed and ready for the afternoon ahead of me.

In the afternoon, I spent 2 hours in a computer class. We learned about a software similar to Paint Shop Pro and how to work with it…really fun! After that, I had sewing class…we talked about how to design clothes for different body shapes. It turns out that the first thing that we are making is an A-line skirt!  It should be fun!

I went out to dinner with my host mom and dad, did my Chinese homework, and now I’m ready to call it a night! I think I’ll try and design a few skirts, first though!

Happy Labor Day to everyone still at home! Enjoy your day off! J

Lauren

Greetings to all!

My first 2 days of school have been very successful, productive, and (most importantly!) enjoyable. Here’s what I’ve been doing!

On my first day of school (August 31^st), my mom took me and dropped me off. I was super nervous…it was hard to get out of the car because my legs were wobbly! At the start of school, we all went to the opening assembly. It was kind of like a commencement ceremony at any other school. But it was really long – we heard several administrators talk as well as teachers and the military people (yes, there are military people!) that walk around our school. The 3 Americans (including myself!) were all introduced by the Principal. Everyone cheered louder for us than they did for their own teachers and vice-principal. It was fun even though I had no clue what was going on. But I did understand that we sang 2 songs – the national anthem and the school song. After the national anthem, we bowed to a portrait of Sun Yat-Sen 3 times.

 For the rest of the day (and the 2^nd day too!) everyone wanted to meet me, talk to me, wave to me, get a smile from me, take a picture of me, or even just see me. I honestly felt like a celebrity or an animal on parade. The classes that I had on my first day are as follows…they may change. But I hope not too much! After the assembly, I went to an arts and crafts class first. Unlike all of my other classes, this one is with the special ed students…they were so loving and warm to me (and the other 2 Americans) that I really enjoyed being there and making a felt animal with them. I didn’t really appreciate when one of the other Americans started being sarcastic about the level of difficulty of the class. I had 2 periods of Chinese – I started to learn the alphabet (me pe be fe…etc. sorry I can’t explain it better!). For lunch, I went to the convenience store…for those Prinos out there, its like the bookstore. I bought dumplings and tea! After a quick lunch, everyone takes a nap. Everyone is out like a light in 5 minutes or less…because the school day is really long (it goes until 5pm!!). Definitely a well-deserved break, but it took me 15 minutes (of the 30 total) to fall asleep! In the afternoon I had a class meeting where we elected class leaders. Teachers come to our classroom and the class leaders keep order in between and make sure everyone is lined up, etc.

Today (my 2^nd day of school) went smoothly as well. I got to school at 7:15am. Before school starts, each member of each class does a chore to help tidy up. There are no janitors…just students that clean! I had to wipe off 2 table tops and organize a desk drawer. I finished very quickly, nonetheless. When I went to help a classmate wipe off the chalk tray, I was gently reprimanded by the class leader. We’re not supposed to be nice and help other people…our job is our job only and no one else’s. Interesting concept…I always thought that more hands make less work. I guess, though, when in Rome…do as the Romans!

We started the morning with a flag ceremony – it will be like this every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We proceeded as a class to the sports courts (outside!) and we lined up (similar to how the military lines up). One of the military leaders kept calling us to be “at ease” or “at attention.” Definitely not something I would have expected at a home economics and commercial high school…but this is the manner in which they honor their flag and anthem (and it has been this way since kindergarten!). We stood at attention while the anthem was being played (and sung). Then, they played another song and the flag was raised while we saluted it.

The rest of my day was classes – Choir, Art (like Integrated Art at Prin, but definitely much easier…even though it is in Chinese!), Chinese (3 periods worth!), piano class, and P.E. Chinese and piano class are my favorite subjects so far! I’m trying hard to learn lots of Chinese. It seems as though my classmates don’t expect me to try and fit in and unless I catch them by surprise and fit in then I will still be treated like an alien. In Chinese class today, we focused really hard on tones. In Mandarin, there are 5 tones – I learned the hard way that the number ten (shi with the 2^nd tone) does NOT mean the same thing when pronounced with the 3^rd tone. Its not exactly a clean English word, either.

After school, I came home with mama, changed clothes, and left for dinner. We went out with our cousin Victor and his parents to a new Japanese restaurant. It was right next to an Indian restaurant…my family couldn’t believe me when I said that I liked Indian food.

We stopped at a Walgreens/Walmart type store after dinner to grab a few supplies…we went to the makeup counter and these women attacked me (well, it wasn’t that bad, but I was scared!) with makeup stuff. It was fun. And I’ll wash it off before I go to bed here shortly!

I have no clue about my plans for the weekend. Tomorrow I will definitely be sleeping in. I think that my host sister is going to show me how to take the bus to and from school. And then after that, who knows! Sunday afternoon, I’m going to go to Taipei with my host family. My bro is moving into his college dorm. I’m going to miss him lots!

I’ll put pictures of our dinner tonight as well as from school up over the weekend (I hope!).

Regards,

Lauren