Today was without a doubt the best day so far. How can I sum the day up in a couple of words? Rain, scaverger hunt, new foods, shopping, dance off, family time, and soup!
Ok so the day started off at Yung-Feng High school were we all met up to go to the Bali Township together. Bali is about an hour and a half away so there most definately was karaoke where we declared Ms. Sloan the queen of karaoke. Once we reached Bali we took a billion and one pictures and took a boat to go to Bali Fisherman's Wharf Touring. We were given about an hour to walk around, explore, take pictures, and try food. Once the hour came to an end we were all divided into two teams, Team One (aka. greatest team in the universe) and Team Two (aka. giver upers). We were given packets with a bunch of pictures and were told that we had four hours to find all of those places and take pictures of them. We also had to try a minimun of four new foods and shop. Team One consisted of the greatest people: Mimi (my Taiwanese sister), Demi (host), Matt (host), Jennie (a student from NHS), Kathleen (my adventure buddy), Dustin, Ethan, Page, and I. I adore these guys, we have become a crazy family! Anyways, we took off as soon as the bus stopped with full force but stopped about 5 minutes later to shop. Run, look, take pictures, eat, shop. That was the patterned we used during the four hours we were given. However there was one little source of nature that took the scavenger hunt to an EXTREME level... drum roll... RAIN! Originally, it was just drizzeling but then it started to pour. Two people *cough* Page and Kathleen *cough* forgot their umbrellas so we all decided to share. We quickly learned that there was no way to stay completely dry so we stopped caring and stuck to protecting out bags. Anyways, we had TWO more pictures left to win the scavenger hunt when we got a little phone call from Team Two saying that they wanted to stop the game due to the weather. NO WAY! We had worked so hard and had sacreficed so much to just stop two pictures short, so we told them to forget it! We took the last pictures and walked over to the bus station where we were suppose to meet. While we waited for Team Two we watched a group of break dancers dance in the middle of the station. A few minutes later Team Two showed up and after some minutes of loser calling we came up with the idea of having a dance off with the break dancers we had been watching. We asked Demi and Mimi to ask them if they wanted to lose in a dance off with a few American girls and they agreed to the battle! So Page, Kathleen, Dana, Amanda, Gena, Dustin (a last minute addition), and I formed a team and BATTLED!!! We started off with our Delegation dance, then Page and Gena did the jerk, and after them Kathleen and I showed off our mad skills. It was pretty obvious that we lost, but that doesn't really matter. I mean, WE HAD A DANCE OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUS STATION IN TAIWAN WITH ACTUAL BREAK DANCERS!!! That is something that I will never ever get to do ever again. People actually gathered, made a big circle, took pictures and videos, and cheered. When it was over Dustin said to me, "If a year ago someone told me that I would be in Taiwan having a dance off I would have said that were crazy". I couldn't agree more. This trip is for sure one of the greatest experiences I will ever have in my life.
Ok so all of that awesomeness Mimi and I went to her uncle's house where I met her uncle, aunt, cousins, and grandma. I tried even more stuff, all of which was extremely delicious because her aunt is an amazing cook. Anyways, they were all just hanging out, talking, joking around. It made me think of my family and my host family and how even though each family is from a completely different culture they are both somewhat alike. For dinner, we went out with Mimi's grandmother to this really cool restaurant. It was a buffet of meats, sea food, noodles, and vegetables. After you chose what you wanted you would put it all in a little pot and make a soup. It was SUPER COOL and delicious. Mimi's grandmother kept on giving me all of these things to try and would tell me what to put the food together and how to cook it. She was so sweet and funny and just caring.
Today made me be so thankful for being given such an amazing opportunity. I have gotten to experience tons of new things, try lots of food, see so many new things, and just get to know amazing people. I can't wait to see what the next week had in store for me!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Finally, I Blogged :)
Well this is my first time to blog, and I have loads to say for the past three days. Once we got off of the airplane, we were warmheartedly greeted by some of the Taiwanese people who helped us take get loaded on the bus to go to our families' houses. I finally arrived at my host family's house at around 12:30 at night so needless to say, I was tired. The next day Eddy and I woke up at six and left to go to school at about 6:45. Ryan and I met at Eddy's school and then came the staring. We went into a couple of classes and I stopped the class's akward silence with a hearty NI HAO!!!!! An eruption of laughter follwed with a buzz of excitement that came when they realized that a meiguoren could speak Chinese. Ryan and I left our host brothers to go to a different high school where we were greeted by their band. It was very cool untill we had to perform our WONDERFUL dance for them. All through the day groups of Taiwanese kids would gawk at me (mostly girls, might I add lol) and I would then always give a big smile, wave, and say Ni Hao. It is very interesting to see that all of the students know a fairly good a mount of English as well as know how to speak Chinese. After school, I went to band practice (band just never goes away from me, even in a different country). I was so tired from taking pictures with every person in the building and from walking all day that by the end of the rehearsal, I nearly fell of the podium because I would doze off all of the time. Although rehearsal was good, I was very glad to go home and fall asleep. Eddy's mom is a very good cook by the way. I have eaten some seemingly strange foods, but actually are pretty good. Tonight I can truly say that I ate the ear of a pig and I also can say that I ate food that was looking back at me (the shrimp still had eyes). Yesterday my group and I went to Tiapei 101. It was gigantic. Looking out of the windows from close to the top of it you can hardly see the city because you are inside the clouds. Later that day we went to the Chinese National Museum where we saw some cool carvings made almost as old as my mother! To finish the day, we stopped at a memorial where a group of soldiers did a little demonstration. I went home with Ryan's family after that because Eddy had band practice. Allen is Ryan's host brother and let me tell you, he is nuts. His English is very good and he is very friendly and outspoken. We went with some of his friends to go bowling (that was a scary experience so I think I'll leave it to Ryan to go over the details). After bowling, we went to the night market where both Ryan and I tried new things. Squid balls are pretty good, but mine were loaded with mustard so I couldn't finish because of it. We then went home and I crashed again. Today we got up and went to the coast. It was raining as we drove up to the harbor, but we were still excited to ride on the boat. The boat took us to Tan Sui where I had some really good shrimp. We then split up into to two groups and went to all of the shops there. Chinese icecream is really good, especially when served by a sexy Turkish man (yes I know you wouldn't get it). The rain started pouring at this time so we went into a McDonald's if you can belive it. At the end of our trip we went back into the bus and went home. So far I have taken 105 pictures and I am pretty sure I have taken the least out of the entire group. So in conclusion, it really pays to know some Chinese and just be willing to make new friends and try new (and weird) things, especially food. I am really looking forward to this week and the different experiences it will bring.
Page: Never Ending Buffet
Today was packed with excitement! We took a boat from Bali Fisherman's warf to the old streets of Tamshui. We did a scavendger hunt...team A won of course! The game was quite trecherous due to the light sprinkling of rain then turning into a heavy down pour. We had to find a specific church and take a picture of it. It took us a while in the rain, in which Kathleen and myself were in without an umberella! Everyone was getting soaked and when we stepped our shoes would make sloshing sounds because they were filled with water. While there we tried every type of food there known to man. We has iron eggs, fried eel, fish crisps, shrimp rolls, fish balls, and A-gei...they wouldn't stop feeding us! We also stopped in some stores and bought some souvineers. I got a really pretty mobile that had a starfish on top with varios sea shells hanging from it. Plus, it was only like seven U.S. dollars! We ended up leaving a little early since the weather.
We went back to Demi's house after that and changed into some dry clothes before going to her grandparents for dinner. Demi had to teach us how to say grandma and grandpa before we got there so we would look good! They prepared a huge dinner that was delicious! We had saussage, noodles, beef, chicken, clams, soup with water chesnuts, greens, eggs and tofu, and rice.(YUMMY!) For desset we had tea along with pears and YELLOW watermelon! It tasted exactly the same! They were both so good! Before we left we got a picture with her grandpa but her grandma was shy! They were both so nice and welcoming to us in their home!
I can't wait till we get to go to the pre-school tomorrow and take tons of picture with little kids! And I hope we won't have another tsunami!
We went back to Demi's house after that and changed into some dry clothes before going to her grandparents for dinner. Demi had to teach us how to say grandma and grandpa before we got there so we would look good! They prepared a huge dinner that was delicious! We had saussage, noodles, beef, chicken, clams, soup with water chesnuts, greens, eggs and tofu, and rice.(YUMMY!) For desset we had tea along with pears and YELLOW watermelon! It tasted exactly the same! They were both so good! Before we left we got a picture with her grandpa but her grandma was shy! They were both so nice and welcoming to us in their home!
I can't wait till we get to go to the pre-school tomorrow and take tons of picture with little kids! And I hope we won't have another tsunami!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Gena: Day Three, June 12th
Twas a veryy long day today, but lots of fun of course. I've already gotten emails from one of the students in a class that I visited! So I woke up a little before 6am and quickly took a shower, I think I am using too much hot water. Then, by 8am, we were at Yung-Feng High School ready to take our bus up to Taipei. First, we went to the Palace Museum. It is soo big and has a lot of cool artifacts from China's past. It was very interesting and learned a lot of things I never knew before from our very kind tour guide who's name I unfortunately never caught. After being there for three hours, we ate lunch at a restaurant with traditional Taiwanese food. We tasted a little bit of everything that our teacher from Yung-Feng, Olivia, ordered us. Next, we went to Taipei 101! It was prettyyy cool! The first five floors is a very high class mall. It was hugeee!! Not only is Taipei 101 the second talest building in the world, it has the fastest elevator in the world! When you were going up you could feel your ears pop and when you were going down you feel your stomach drop. Oh, at Taipei 101 I met the girl I hosted in Dallas last fall, Connie! It was soo good to see here, but I forgot her gift for her because I did not know I was going to see her. It made the day super good because I got the chance to see her again.
Because it was too rainy, we had to give up the zoo. No pandas for us. So, instead we went to the Memory Gardens for Chinag Kai Shek. The gardens where beautiful and the actual memorial was hugeee. Inside was a very big statue of Mr Chiang, and it looked earily similar to the Lincoln Memorial. We also got the change to watch the changing of the gaurds. It looked very cool and they did some cool things with their guns.
We got back to Yung-Feng High School around 5 or 5:30 in the afternoon and our hosts took us home. Unfortunatley, Rose couldn't come with us because she had a class to go to. We went to the mall to eat and look around. When we walked into the restuarant, a Japanese one, everyone was staring at me. One little boy was hitting his dad to get his attention and pointing vigrously at me. It was quite funny. Also, when I was eating, I looked over and there was this guy, probably in his mid 20's, just staring at me, dead on. It was kind of scary and very intimidating. It gave me the chills! After we finished eating we walked and looked around this big store, which my Mom told me was like their version of Wal-Mart. It was interesting and they had cool escelators that didn't have any steps so your shopping cart could go on them. My host family bought me some Chinese music that they said is very popular and well known.
On the ride back home I fell into some major sleep, it was kind of emberassing. But sleeping never felt so good once I got in bed! Hopefully tomorrow my jet lag will be a bit better!
Because it was too rainy, we had to give up the zoo. No pandas for us. So, instead we went to the Memory Gardens for Chinag Kai Shek. The gardens where beautiful and the actual memorial was hugeee. Inside was a very big statue of Mr Chiang, and it looked earily similar to the Lincoln Memorial. We also got the change to watch the changing of the gaurds. It looked very cool and they did some cool things with their guns.
We got back to Yung-Feng High School around 5 or 5:30 in the afternoon and our hosts took us home. Unfortunatley, Rose couldn't come with us because she had a class to go to. We went to the mall to eat and look around. When we walked into the restuarant, a Japanese one, everyone was staring at me. One little boy was hitting his dad to get his attention and pointing vigrously at me. It was quite funny. Also, when I was eating, I looked over and there was this guy, probably in his mid 20's, just staring at me, dead on. It was kind of scary and very intimidating. It gave me the chills! After we finished eating we walked and looked around this big store, which my Mom told me was like their version of Wal-Mart. It was interesting and they had cool escelators that didn't have any steps so your shopping cart could go on them. My host family bought me some Chinese music that they said is very popular and well known.
On the ride back home I fell into some major sleep, it was kind of emberassing. But sleeping never felt so good once I got in bed! Hopefully tomorrow my jet lag will be a bit better!
Dana: Kareoke, Make Up, and McDonalds, Oh My!
This morning I woke up, and both Winnie and Carol were still asleep. They wanted to sleep in because they stayed up really late the previous nights. Neither of the parents speaks English at all, and my Mom was going to drive me to school. I managed wo have the following conversations with only facial expressions and hand gestures:
Mom: 'Can I use the vanity in your Room for make up?"
Me:"Yeah, its fine"
Mom: "you need to be ready by 8:00"
Me: 'okay"
Dad: "Oh I'm sorry for smoking near you."
Me: "No, don't worry about it because it is on the balcony, not inside. Can I use the phone to call my parents?"
Dad: "Yes"
Mom: "Its time to leave. This is your breakfast."
I was really surprised how well we understood each other. I believe I am now fluent in hand gestures. I'm very glad that nods, smiles, and thumbs ups are universal.
I told my family what I normally had for breakfast the night before, so they bought me soy milk. Appearently soy bean milk and soy milk are two different thinks (according to some of the other youth ambassadors) and I had soy bean milk. It is most definately not like soy milk in America, but I appreciated my family's consideration.
When we got to school, they gave us really cute pink athletic t-shirts, and we got on the bus. It didn't take us long to notice the Kareoke mics hanging from the ceiling. They had a kareoke machine on the bus! So of coarse we sang Kareoke all the wat to Taipei (there was a section oof the Kareoke tracks with American songs in english.
We arrived at the national palace museum. It was enormous and absolutely beautiful. We had our own personal tour guide, who was really nice and very entertaining.
We saw lots of very interesting artifacts. For example, there was a water basin water bowl, which had a peace treaty carved into it. It is the oldest known boundry treaty in the world. I learned how to read two words in Chinese: King and Jade. The king simbol looks like an abstract ax because it is derived from the word ruler, and the rulers always had axes because axes gave them power. The word jade looks like the word king but with a small oval on the right side
tour guide. We saw the most intricate Ivory carvings that you could ever imagine. they were jewelery boxes about the size of a finger nail with ivory chain liks between them. The chain was thinner than earbud wires. and they were carved out of one single piece of ivory! There was also a picnic basket made of ivory mesh. Yes, they carved it into mesh. Learning about Chinese history in the museum was a million times more interesting than in school. In WHAP, I hated Asian history, but here, I loved it.
Afterward, we ate lunch and spent half an hour trying to get a jump picture of all the girls. we sort of failed.
Then we headed to 101. Someone asked how many stories it was. Here's a hint: It is called the 101 tower. The pictures don't do it justice. I'm not even going to try to describe how breathtaking it was, because you can't comprhend looking up at a building that goes throgh the clouds until you see it. When we were on the observatory deck, there were clouds below us! Also, when you go up in reunion tower in dallas, you can see for a hundred miles in every direction. Here there are mountains in the way, so you don't actually see all of the city, which surprised me. As we were getting ready to leave, we got separated, and spent about 30 minutes to an hour looking for everyone. Because that took so long, we didn't have time to go to the zoo.
Instead we went to the Memorial garden, which honors Taiwan's first president. It is an enormous gardern with a statue just like th Lincolm Memorial. Only instead of the statue being in a Roman style building, its chinese of course. When we first got there, pade and I saw the gaurds and thought they were statues. then Olivia told us they were aboult to do a changing og the gaurd, and I was like "what gaurd?" They stand completely still, and here is the part that flabbergasted us- they don't blink while on duty. Their shift is 2 hours! I didn't think that was humanly possible. The changing of the gaurd was a wildly cultural thing to see. It was VERY formal and more like a ceremonial dance than a march. The garden outside was also beautiful.
I went shopping with my mom, Winnie and Carol. We walke through the makeup section of a department store and I let out an audible squeel. I was sort of embarassing. I had spotted the Shu Uemura counter. Shu Uemura is my absolute favorite makeup brand, but they quit exporting it to the states. It was not cheap, but about 20-30% less expensive than it was in the US. I needed moisterizer really badly, and this was a perfect oppurtunity to buy some. I was interested in the moisture sets (they are a better deal) but all of them had "white recovery lotion" included. People actually buy products here to lighten their skin! the lady offered me the set, but I told Winnie that getting whiter was the LAST cosmetic change I would want. The moisterizer works really well. I wonder, since it it Japanese, if the product is designed more for the climate on this side of the world. The make up lady gave me a makeover with electric blue eyeshadow and ultra glittery gold eyeshadow. If I didn't stand out enough before, this garenteed attention as I was walking around as a tall white red head with sparkly blue eyelids.
For dinner, I got to pick what I wanted. I was very tired, so I wanted it to be fast. also I wanted it to be a "safe" choice (to be sure I would like to food). So I chose the only place Iwas sure I would like the food: McDonalds. Yes, I voluntarily chose to eat McDonalds when I had other options. I never thought I would do that. I had the best Big Mac ever. I think it tasted so good because I just wante farmiliar food, not because the McDonalds prepared it better. The food seemed to be the same as in America, bu the buildin.g was way nicer. They have 2 places to order: downstairs (to go) and upstairs (sit down).
Overall I'm getting used to taiwan, and I'm having great experiences.
I can already tell that Winnie and Carol are getting better at English from talking with me, which makes me happy that I am able to give something back to them after they have given me this oppurtunity.
Mom: 'Can I use the vanity in your Room for make up?"
Me:"Yeah, its fine"
Mom: "you need to be ready by 8:00"
Me: 'okay"
Dad: "Oh I'm sorry for smoking near you."
Me: "No, don't worry about it because it is on the balcony, not inside. Can I use the phone to call my parents?"
Dad: "Yes"
Mom: "Its time to leave. This is your breakfast."
I was really surprised how well we understood each other. I believe I am now fluent in hand gestures. I'm very glad that nods, smiles, and thumbs ups are universal.
I told my family what I normally had for breakfast the night before, so they bought me soy milk. Appearently soy bean milk and soy milk are two different thinks (according to some of the other youth ambassadors) and I had soy bean milk. It is most definately not like soy milk in America, but I appreciated my family's consideration.
When we got to school, they gave us really cute pink athletic t-shirts, and we got on the bus. It didn't take us long to notice the Kareoke mics hanging from the ceiling. They had a kareoke machine on the bus! So of coarse we sang Kareoke all the wat to Taipei (there was a section oof the Kareoke tracks with American songs in english.
We arrived at the national palace museum. It was enormous and absolutely beautiful. We had our own personal tour guide, who was really nice and very entertaining.
We saw lots of very interesting artifacts. For example, there was a water basin water bowl, which had a peace treaty carved into it. It is the oldest known boundry treaty in the world. I learned how to read two words in Chinese: King and Jade. The king simbol looks like an abstract ax because it is derived from the word ruler, and the rulers always had axes because axes gave them power. The word jade looks like the word king but with a small oval on the right side
tour guide. We saw the most intricate Ivory carvings that you could ever imagine. they were jewelery boxes about the size of a finger nail with ivory chain liks between them. The chain was thinner than earbud wires. and they were carved out of one single piece of ivory! There was also a picnic basket made of ivory mesh. Yes, they carved it into mesh. Learning about Chinese history in the museum was a million times more interesting than in school. In WHAP, I hated Asian history, but here, I loved it.
Afterward, we ate lunch and spent half an hour trying to get a jump picture of all the girls. we sort of failed.
Then we headed to 101. Someone asked how many stories it was. Here's a hint: It is called the 101 tower. The pictures don't do it justice. I'm not even going to try to describe how breathtaking it was, because you can't comprhend looking up at a building that goes throgh the clouds until you see it. When we were on the observatory deck, there were clouds below us! Also, when you go up in reunion tower in dallas, you can see for a hundred miles in every direction. Here there are mountains in the way, so you don't actually see all of the city, which surprised me. As we were getting ready to leave, we got separated, and spent about 30 minutes to an hour looking for everyone. Because that took so long, we didn't have time to go to the zoo.
Instead we went to the Memorial garden, which honors Taiwan's first president. It is an enormous gardern with a statue just like th Lincolm Memorial. Only instead of the statue being in a Roman style building, its chinese of course. When we first got there, pade and I saw the gaurds and thought they were statues. then Olivia told us they were aboult to do a changing og the gaurd, and I was like "what gaurd?" They stand completely still, and here is the part that flabbergasted us- they don't blink while on duty. Their shift is 2 hours! I didn't think that was humanly possible. The changing of the gaurd was a wildly cultural thing to see. It was VERY formal and more like a ceremonial dance than a march. The garden outside was also beautiful.
I went shopping with my mom, Winnie and Carol. We walke through the makeup section of a department store and I let out an audible squeel. I was sort of embarassing. I had spotted the Shu Uemura counter. Shu Uemura is my absolute favorite makeup brand, but they quit exporting it to the states. It was not cheap, but about 20-30% less expensive than it was in the US. I needed moisterizer really badly, and this was a perfect oppurtunity to buy some. I was interested in the moisture sets (they are a better deal) but all of them had "white recovery lotion" included. People actually buy products here to lighten their skin! the lady offered me the set, but I told Winnie that getting whiter was the LAST cosmetic change I would want. The moisterizer works really well. I wonder, since it it Japanese, if the product is designed more for the climate on this side of the world. The make up lady gave me a makeover with electric blue eyeshadow and ultra glittery gold eyeshadow. If I didn't stand out enough before, this garenteed attention as I was walking around as a tall white red head with sparkly blue eyelids.
For dinner, I got to pick what I wanted. I was very tired, so I wanted it to be fast. also I wanted it to be a "safe" choice (to be sure I would like to food). So I chose the only place Iwas sure I would like the food: McDonalds. Yes, I voluntarily chose to eat McDonalds when I had other options. I never thought I would do that. I had the best Big Mac ever. I think it tasted so good because I just wante farmiliar food, not because the McDonalds prepared it better. The food seemed to be the same as in America, bu the buildin.g was way nicer. They have 2 places to order: downstairs (to go) and upstairs (sit down).
Overall I'm getting used to taiwan, and I'm having great experiences.
I can already tell that Winnie and Carol are getting better at English from talking with me, which makes me happy that I am able to give something back to them after they have given me this oppurtunity.
Amanda: Let it be...let it be
Day 3
Today was another fabulous day in Taiwan. I getting used to the jet lag now and got 9 hours of sleep! My host mother, Irene, never ceases to amaze me with her delicious cooking and breakfast today was no exception. I had a milk flavored bun with scrambled eggs and other vegetables inside of it. :) After breakfast, the gang started the day of at Yung Feng High School where we were given diadora shirts for the day. The girls looked pretty in pink and the guys looked "manly" in their black. It rained all day but that just made it cooler and more fun to be outside so I was actually happy about that. The tour bus that we rode had a karoke machine and so we off course put on a "concert" for the host students and jammed out to my girl, let it be, jingle bells, and of course oh when the saints go marching in. Our first stop on the tour was the National Palace Museum in Taipei. We had an amazing tour guide who was knowledgeable and funny. What else could a girl want in a guy? Haha just kidding. He was definitely married. In the museum we learned about the different chinese dynasties and the artifacts that came with them. We were able to see the famous glass cabbage and things like wine bottles, ivory carvings, and bronze items. After, we had a delicious taiwanese lunch. There was an assortment of soups, meats, and other delicious items and I think we had an interesting time sharing the bowls with partners. After lunch, the group went to Taipei 101. It is the 2nd tallest building in the world and has the fastest elevator (110 m/min). We all tried to see the top from the ground and ended up with a strong feeling of dizziness. Once at the viewing level, you could see the entire city (well what wasnt covered in fog that is from all of the rain) and it was a breathtaking site. Unfortunately because of the rain we did not get to see the pandas at the zoo but we did get to see a monument of a famous leader in china. While we were there, we got to see the changing of the guards which further showed the discipline and focus of this great country. After returning to Taoyuan, my family took me to a cantonese resturant (where all of your food was wheeled to you) and then went shopping in small stores along the streets. Taiwan is amazing and I am making so many friends. I am learning to eat foods I would never have tried before and going with the flow more when things to go according to a plan. I'm learning to let things be and to just have fun.
Day 1 (opps forgot to put this up)
Well what an adventure this has turned out to be! I think in the last 1 or 2 days (I completely lost my sense of time while I was on the plane) I have gotten around 3 jours of sleep, but my excitement is keeping me up. Well yesterday, we started the long journey to Taiwan. We began in Dallas, travled to Narita in Tokyo, flew to Taipei, and now I am with my host famiy in Taoyuan. ONe thing that I've discovered is that my spanish skills i learned in school are completely useless in this new part of the world. I'm not entirely used to hearing people speak and having absolutely no idea what they are saying. I've loved just seeeing all ofthe people around me though. We had a lot of time between flights to just sit arounda at the airports and I loved just watching other people. It amazes me to see how differently people here carry themselves while still retaining characteristics similar to us. When we arrived in Taipei, there was a group of peopel with a banner welcoming us here. My host mother immediately called out my name and my fear instantly melted away. They were so kind and friendly that I had no reason to be afraid of what they had in store for me. While I am so excited to be here, I couldnt push away the feeling of homesickenssI got as soon as I left the group to go home with my family. As we walked away from the rest of the group I remembered that this was the first trip that i've ever taken without my parents. I was sitting in the taxi wit h2 peopel I could barely talk to. My host mother, Irene, is very kind and as we passed the city and schools on the way to her home, I couldnt helpe but compare her to my own mother. That was when it really hit me that I was in a foreign country and but that I would be okay. Well its been a long day and tomorrow we're going to Taiwanese school!!! I can hardly wait to see that and to try all the new foods here. Even though I'm homesick, I can't wait to do all of the things we have planned here in Taiwan.
Today was another fabulous day in Taiwan. I getting used to the jet lag now and got 9 hours of sleep! My host mother, Irene, never ceases to amaze me with her delicious cooking and breakfast today was no exception. I had a milk flavored bun with scrambled eggs and other vegetables inside of it. :) After breakfast, the gang started the day of at Yung Feng High School where we were given diadora shirts for the day. The girls looked pretty in pink and the guys looked "manly" in their black. It rained all day but that just made it cooler and more fun to be outside so I was actually happy about that. The tour bus that we rode had a karoke machine and so we off course put on a "concert" for the host students and jammed out to my girl, let it be, jingle bells, and of course oh when the saints go marching in. Our first stop on the tour was the National Palace Museum in Taipei. We had an amazing tour guide who was knowledgeable and funny. What else could a girl want in a guy? Haha just kidding. He was definitely married. In the museum we learned about the different chinese dynasties and the artifacts that came with them. We were able to see the famous glass cabbage and things like wine bottles, ivory carvings, and bronze items. After, we had a delicious taiwanese lunch. There was an assortment of soups, meats, and other delicious items and I think we had an interesting time sharing the bowls with partners. After lunch, the group went to Taipei 101. It is the 2nd tallest building in the world and has the fastest elevator (110 m/min). We all tried to see the top from the ground and ended up with a strong feeling of dizziness. Once at the viewing level, you could see the entire city (well what wasnt covered in fog that is from all of the rain) and it was a breathtaking site. Unfortunately because of the rain we did not get to see the pandas at the zoo but we did get to see a monument of a famous leader in china. While we were there, we got to see the changing of the guards which further showed the discipline and focus of this great country. After returning to Taoyuan, my family took me to a cantonese resturant (where all of your food was wheeled to you) and then went shopping in small stores along the streets. Taiwan is amazing and I am making so many friends. I am learning to eat foods I would never have tried before and going with the flow more when things to go according to a plan. I'm learning to let things be and to just have fun.
Day 1 (opps forgot to put this up)
Well what an adventure this has turned out to be! I think in the last 1 or 2 days (I completely lost my sense of time while I was on the plane) I have gotten around 3 jours of sleep, but my excitement is keeping me up. Well yesterday, we started the long journey to Taiwan. We began in Dallas, travled to Narita in Tokyo, flew to Taipei, and now I am with my host famiy in Taoyuan. ONe thing that I've discovered is that my spanish skills i learned in school are completely useless in this new part of the world. I'm not entirely used to hearing people speak and having absolutely no idea what they are saying. I've loved just seeeing all ofthe people around me though. We had a lot of time between flights to just sit arounda at the airports and I loved just watching other people. It amazes me to see how differently people here carry themselves while still retaining characteristics similar to us. When we arrived in Taipei, there was a group of peopel with a banner welcoming us here. My host mother immediately called out my name and my fear instantly melted away. They were so kind and friendly that I had no reason to be afraid of what they had in store for me. While I am so excited to be here, I couldnt push away the feeling of homesickenssI got as soon as I left the group to go home with my family. As we walked away from the rest of the group I remembered that this was the first trip that i've ever taken without my parents. I was sitting in the taxi wit h2 peopel I could barely talk to. My host mother, Irene, is very kind and as we passed the city and schools on the way to her home, I couldnt helpe but compare her to my own mother. That was when it really hit me that I was in a foreign country and but that I would be okay. Well its been a long day and tomorrow we're going to Taiwanese school!!! I can hardly wait to see that and to try all the new foods here. Even though I'm homesick, I can't wait to do all of the things we have planned here in Taiwan.
Maritza- Second Day in Taiwan
Day two; what an amazing day! We met at the school at 8 AM and rode the bus to Taipei. It is about an hour bus ride. We went to the National Palace Museum. We learned a lot about the Taiwanese culture and traditions. The tour guide was an amazing and knowledgeable individual with a great sense of humor. Taipei is a large city with over 2 Million people (that is what Olivia told us this morning). It is hilly and surrounded by mountains. It is beautiful. The rain, the clouds and the fog made it very interesting and intriguing (at least to me). After an hour and half at the museum (I will let the students tell you more about what we saw there) we went to eat at a restaurant next to the museum. We experienced a lot of different dishes, but the main course was noodle soup that to me was excellent.
We went to the famous Taipei 101 building, which again, it was hard to appreciate due to the rain and fog. We rode the elevator to the 89th floor where the observatory is located. We took the high-speed pressurized elevator that only took 40 seconds to reach the 89th floor from the 5th floor. It was pretty impressive. Even though it was raining, we were able to see parts of the city from the observatory. Students spent a lot of time posing and taking pictures of each other but mainly learning about the second tallest building in the world. Lala and Connie, former exchange students came to see Gena and I today. It was pretty cool. Thanks girls.
The last stop of the afternoon was “The Memorial Hall and Gardens”; a dedication to the memory of Chiang Kai-shek, a former president of the Republic of China. It was built few years after the death of the president. It reminded me of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. We skipped the zoo due to the lack of time but mainly because of the rain.
We got back to Tao- Yuan after 5PM and students were picked up by their families. Hopefully the students will tell you details of what we did today.
FYI- Tao-Yuan County just reached 2 million people.
We went to the famous Taipei 101 building, which again, it was hard to appreciate due to the rain and fog. We rode the elevator to the 89th floor where the observatory is located. We took the high-speed pressurized elevator that only took 40 seconds to reach the 89th floor from the 5th floor. It was pretty impressive. Even though it was raining, we were able to see parts of the city from the observatory. Students spent a lot of time posing and taking pictures of each other but mainly learning about the second tallest building in the world. Lala and Connie, former exchange students came to see Gena and I today. It was pretty cool. Thanks girls.
The last stop of the afternoon was “The Memorial Hall and Gardens”; a dedication to the memory of Chiang Kai-shek, a former president of the Republic of China. It was built few years after the death of the president. It reminded me of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. We skipped the zoo due to the lack of time but mainly because of the rain.
We got back to Tao- Yuan after 5PM and students were picked up by their families. Hopefully the students will tell you details of what we did today.
FYI- Tao-Yuan County just reached 2 million people.
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