My Studies Abroad

Hello! My name is Lauren, and I am a Rotary exchange student from the United States to Taiwan. Follow my adventure!

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/17/15

Thursday was a special day. I went to Chinese class as usual, but instead of wearing my school uniform, I had on a tshirt, jeans, and eyeliner. We all sat through class and learned a lot, but we were all barely contained. Once class finished at 11, we all flooded down to the lobby where we met a Rotary representative. Today we were going on a culture trip with all of the exchange students.

Outside of Chinese class students and school exchange students, the exchange students don't really interact with other groups. I'm aware of a group on Facebook where students go out and visit places together, as well as host a few parties with varying levels of law-abiding. Personally (and I found that I share this opinion with many exchange students in my class), I don't like roaming with the other exchange students on such trips. Many of us agree that developing a good relationship with your host family is and following the rules as much as you can is important because we don't want to get kicked out. In my own opinion, I am here for the culture and language, and I can't always experience that if I'm only with foreigners. I (and I'm sure no one else) have no problem with these students, it's just personally not my cup of tea.

That aside, many of us hadn't seen the other exchange students outside of our Chinese class/school, so we had a mini reunion once we arrived at the Taiwan City Council Hall lobby. We milled around taking selfies for about ten minutes before being ushered into crowded elevators up the the twelfth floor. Being claustrophobic in such situations, I was unhappy, until I reached the room. We were brought into a great room with circular tables, something that made us think of a Model UN (despite the fact that Taiwan is unrepresented in the UN coughcoughlookingatyouChina). This room was laid out with paper plates at each seat, with boxes of pizza and bottles of soda. We all eagerly took seats, listening to many representatives welcome us, before allowing us to eat. The pizzas were covered in various toppings again, but I had taken to loving the mushroom/corn/pineapple/pea pizza so I convinced my Italian friend Giorgia to eat it too. She later told me that I had made a very good choice, despite her initial disapproval. We watched a short film on Taiwan, recieved a generous gift of a keyring filled with Taiwan landmarks (I plan to hang this on my blazer), and returned downstairs.

After this, we were escorted to the fourth floor where we watched another short film on Taiwan. This one was done in a 360 degrees theater with a spinning platform. We were taken through moments of Taipei through the eyes of a photographer. Then we were then split into two groups and spent a couple hours touring the two parts of the museum. The first part was a modern day tour of the five most famous roads of Taiwan, with the landmarks of each of them. The second part was the histories of Taiwan and Taipei. When this was done, we regrouped in the lobby and crossed the street to go to a different part of the city council. This room was unavailable to the public, and we were welcomed by stadium-sized televisions. Then we went downstairs to a movie theater where we learned about what the city council does. Finally, we went to the fifth floor balcony, normally unavailable to anyone but the council members. This balcony had a beautiful view of the skyline including Taipei 101, which was only a few blocks away. The exchange students spent half an hour taking selfies with our flags and such. I took pictures with the Americans, as well as some of my closer friends.

I overheard a strange conversation from the Brazil exchange students. These students (most of South American exchange students too) often flock together because they have similar enthusiasm, closeness, and outgoing-nature that some of the other students lack. They were talking about Americans, and how they like them for the most part. One of the girls said "I like the United States, I like people from the United States. What I don't like is when they introduce themselves." This was majorly confusing until she continued "I hate when they say 'I'm American'. I'm (South) American too!" I have mixed feelings on this but I decided not to comment. It was pretty interesting to hear that perspective. Personally, I like introducing myself as American because that's what everyone refers to me as. United States is longer and slightly more tedious to say. Whatever though.

After all of this, we walked to the MRT. The group I was with couldn't resist stopping for Starbucks, so we all sat on the steps and drank our drinks (food and drink isn't allowed on the MRT, not even water!). We watched the busy street below. The place we were was a popular tourist attraction and it was "rush hour" so people were walking home from school and work. The small group of 15 exchange students I was in left one by one until Giorgia and I began to leave, and everyone else decided to head home too. We all took the same train home, saying our farewells at each stop. I was the only one to switch trains to the green line, so I went home alone. I took the bus and got home just fine. I stopped on the way to buy a folder for school and some cute panda stickers. I also refilled my MRT card before arriving home.

I immediately apologized to my host mother for being late, which she told me she understood and that she figured as much. Technically I had arrived before dinner and curfew, so I was fine. I apologized for not being able to tell her I was going to be later than she expected. Luckily my host mother trusts me so everything is good.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/16/15

I woke up around 2-3am for seemingly no reason. I lay awake when suddenly my whole bed started shaking. I thought it might be just me, but I could hear the silverware rattling in the kitchen, and watched the lights shake overhead. I had never experienced an earthquake before but it was terrifying. We had had ab earthquake drill on Monday in school where we held our backpacks over our heads, and I debated grabbing my backpack from my bedside. It stopped after about 30 seconds, and I went to bed an hour later after convincing myself it was just a dream.

I went to school the next day, very talkative with my classmates. My friend asked me if I heard about the earthquakes in the city. I immediately said yes and told her about how I had felt them. Everyone I talked to was surprised that I was so affected by the earthquake. Everyone but my host parents had slept right through them, and after talking to my Rotex I found out that they're extremely common. I just have to hope that I get used to them.

The rest of the day was also mostly normal. I was following my new schedule, so I went to Japanese and Spanish class with Nao. In both classes we learned the start of the alphabet. Japanese was more difficult to keep up with because it was taught in Chinese, but I jotted down all the Japanese characters and read them when I was asked. Spanish was extremely easy. I have never been great at pronouncing Spanish words, but listening, reading, and translating simple phrases/words came naturally in this class. The combination of my Dora the Explorer knowledge and my basic Latin knowledge, I was able to show off and look like a pro for my class as I translated the example words. Though the strangest thing happened at the beginning of the class. Our teacher, Lilliana, asks us to speak in English since it's more similar to Spanish. When she helped me find my seat, I automatically said "謝謝!" (Thank you), to which she said "Oh no, you don't have to say that here." I quickly corrected myself by saying "Gracias!" And she was happy.

The only other mentionable thing that day was lunch. I have changed to the vegetarian meal because almost all of the vegetables have bits of pork in them. The vegetarian meal is just as good as any other I have eaten. I had already tried and enjoyed tofu here, as it's common and actually pretty good! My vegetarian lunches have been healthy, filling, and flavorful.

When I got home and sat down to dinner, my host sister had brought a friend to eat. She didn't speak very good English so I did my best to utter out the sentences I knew in Chinese. It was nice to see they were understood, even if my accent is strong.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/15/15

Tuesday started as a normal day. I went to Chinese class, where I actually learned some verbs that I used the rest of the day. After this, Nao and I walked to the nearest 7/11 so she could fill her Easycard. On the way, we passed a bakery. Since we were running late, I decided we wouldn't make it to school for lunch, and ordered food there. Nao and I ate our lunch on the way home. The afternoon was long. I had finished all the Harry Potter books in the library. During the last period, my classmates noticed my boredom. One of the girls gave me a Rubik's cube to play with, and another volunteered to bring me crossword puzzles. I thanked them and managed to keep busy for the rest of the afternoon.

Once I got home I was exhausted, but my host mother reminded me that we were going to a dinner for my host grandmother (Ama, Taiwanese for grandmother). I changed into a dark shirt and jeans, which my host mother said was fine. We took a bus uptown and bought a cake, before my host father picked us up and drove us to a fancy restaurant where the celebration was. I was embarassed by my attire at first until I saw we were in a private room and my family was dressed from fancy to casual to school uniforms. 

I was introduced to everyone at the table. I called my cousins brothers and sisters (older and younger respectively), while the elders all had different names depending on whether they were first born, second born, etc. It was very difficult to memorize these as some of the names were in Taiwanese, some in Mandarin Chinese, and some in English. I did my best and everyone was alright with it.

We started with some tea and appetizers, before continuing a five course meal. I mostly talked to my host sister, where we traded stories about our families. We shared pictures, and talked about the food. I also talked to the family, and we made toasts to Ama and myself. They were extremely welcoming and I couldn't feel more at home. Their family, though talkative, was much quieter than my own. It did make me miss my family, but now I have two.

We finished the night with happy birthday songs (in Chinese, English, and Taiwanese), cake (delivered by my very young, 6-ish cousin who shyly gave it to me), and pictures. Then my host sister had to escort Ama out with my host cousin, and we all headed home.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/14/15

Monday was a mostly normal day, so I feel there's no need to describe it in detail. Though in second period, I was reading a book while my classmates milled around. An announcement came on, which was normal, so I kept reading. A few moments later I noticed my classmatea had grown silent. I looked around and everyone was on the ground, a few with backpacks on their heads. I looked at my classmate in confusion and she told me the word "Earthquake."

I hit the ground, clinging to my desk. Hiro laughed and told me it was a drill. After we got another announcement, we all had to put our backpacks on our heads and march downstairs to the courtyard like ants carrying food. We listened to safety instructions which I didn't understand.

The day went by pretty normally. At the end, the boy from Spain invited me to go to the Family Mart on the way to the bus stop (near my house) with Nao and him to grab a bite to eat. I agreed and we all shuffled in. When I went to buy my chips and cupcakes, the cashier tried to explain something to me. I told him I didn't speak English, and he made flurried attempts to describe something. Finally, he went to the aisle and got another chip bag. I figured out it was Buy One Get One Free, and I thanked him and apologized profusely. He laughed it off and I went to join my friends.

After this I went home and apologized to my host mother. Because I hadn't changed my number yet, I couldn't tell her I would be late. She told me it was fine and she hadn't been worried. We ate a delicious dinner of octopus before going to bed.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/13/15

My day started at 11:30 when my host father drove my host mother and I to a nearby MRT station. My host mother stood with me until we found my host sister (from my second host family), her friend who was also an exchange student (Taiwan to Canada), and Andrea the French exchange student. My host mother took a bus home while we went off to have lunch at a local restaurant. The menu was in Chinese and I didn’t recognize any of the characters, so I just had my host sister order for me. I got seafood lasagna which was delicious.

After this, we all boarded the MRT and took a long one hour ride to the other side of the city. The journey was long so we took to talking about each of our countries, exchanges, and languages. Once we arrived in Tamsui, we departed the MRT and walked over to a beautiful river. Looking across, you could see mountains. We then went into a sort of night market, except it was open in the day. Everywhere I looked was strange but appetizing food that I was dying to try. I settled for syrup-covered strawberries, before following the group through the crowd. 

We walked through the marketplace for awhile before we reached the end and got out our umbrellas. We sat along the coast of the river, watching boats, taking pictures, and eating a snack. After a while of this, we got up and headed for our true destination.

Walking up several hills, we arrived at a European chateau. It was built by Queen Victoria, and was attempted to be conquered by many countries including Denmark, America, and Japan. We toured the building, which was vastly different in architecture than any other building I had seen in Taipei. By then the rain had stopped, so it was painfull hot and humid. We stayed in the giftshop, lolligagging to kill time because it had air conditioning. Then we followed my host sister's friend, who took us through part of her college campus nearby. The college was a branch of the Oxford college.

We then went to the Little White House, which, despite the name, wasn't a miniature model of the White House. Instead it was another European building with history that overlooked the river. It was gorgeous.

We walked a long way back to the bus stop, and took the bus uptown. On the way, we passed a small festival. People were walking on stilts and dressed in lovely colors with masks over their faces. My host sister told me this was a ceremony for protection of the town, where the people would scare off ghosts (possibly for ghost month). 

Finally, we arrived at the Fisherman's Wharf. This was a pier with a huge bridge and a gorgeous view. We sat up on the pier and ate a snack before crossing the bridge (so many pictures) and walked to the bus. Then we took a bus back to the MRT station, but since it was late, we stopped for dinner at a sushi restaurant.

The sushi restaurant was much cooler than any I had seen. All of the tables were situated around a large conveyor belt, where every kind of sushi came around. If you wanted a dish, you took it off the belt and dug in. The drinks came from a hot water tap at each table and packets of tea. I tried a few different types of sushi and liked most of them. 

After this we mounted the MRT and took the long ride home.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/12/15 First photo was another picture of the city. I'm in love with the architecture here! Pictures 2-7 are of the boardwalk and bridge. Pictures 8-9 are my dinner and dessert! And the last picture is my host parents and I with the singer of the band who dedicated a song to me.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/7/15 - 9/11/15 The first picture is of a strange sticky note drawing I found pasted to the handrail of the stairs at my school. Pictures 2-6 are a few quick pictures of my school. Picture seven is myself and Nao on the bus from Chinese class to school (aren't her eyes really pretty???). Picture eight is a quick snap of the city from the balcony where I do laundry. The last two pictures are me in Chinese class (first with the Swedish boy named Gusten and the second with an Italian girl named Giorgia).

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/6/15 - Part Two First seven photos are more from the Miffy museum! The eigth was a picture of a strange shop stand we found - the items sold included barbie heads, while beneath sat a bunch of headless naked barbies. The ninth photo is my host family and I at the park near the shopping center. The last is my cactus named Tom and I.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/6/15 - Part One Miffy exhibition! Look at all these cute rabbits! The repetitive music did make us a little kooky though~

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/12/15

I asked my host parents if I could sleep in today, since it was a busy week. They agreed, so I didn't come out of my room until 11. They told me we were going out at 5, which I happily agreed to. I've discovered that though I like staying in my room, I don't like being cooped up for more than a few hours at a time. I'd rather be exploring the city.

So until we left at five, I worked on my presentation on America for my English class and my report on the future of Taiwan for my school's Chinese class. I got the report done in under an hour, but it took three to perfect my presentation. Around five, I left my room and followed my host parents to the car. We didn't have to drive long like usual. We arrived at a gorgeous gray-brown river, with stone structures around it. We ran into friends of my host parents, who told me in English about how the site was historical and only an hour's walk from our apartment.

It was a beautiful day (very sunny yet only around 70F!) so we took a stroll down the riverside. The river was covered in swan-shaped paddle boats, and the sidewalk was covered in people (lots of children) on bicycles. I took this as an opportunity to use my adjectives and name dogs that we passed (big dog, small dog, white dog, two dogs, fat dog - I must have sounded like Dr. Seuss). I even saw a pretty orange cat that I affectionately called out to "你好 貓！" (hello cat!). We reached a giant bridge that crossed to the other side, which we happily walked upon. I couldn't take many photos because occasionally it would swing strongly and I was afraid of losing my phone to the river below. Once we crossed, my host parents tried to take me to the restaurant on the water's edge, but it was closed.

We crossed back across the bridge and I must admit that the dogs here are very loyal and brave. I've seen many dogs, most of them very large, riding on scooters with their owners across the city. Street dogs are smart and cross when humans cross so they don't get run over. And I watched as a scared German Shepherd cautiously followed it's owner across the rickety bridge, scared to death but unwilling to leave it's owner's side. I was so proud of that dog. I told my host parents that the dog was a "好大狗" (good big dog). Once we got back to the other side, we walked along the food shops looking for something to eat. I sometimes forget I'm a foreigner because people have stopped staring at me at school. But as we walked down the boardwalk, people would stare or do doubletakes. A man on a bike almost hit me when he did a double take. I took it as a compliment.

We finally sat down beside the river, near a band, and began to eat. My host father took the opportunity to teach me many words, repeating them so they would stick in my head (fork, spoon, knife, coffee). The coffee here wasn't as bitter, so I managed to drink my whole glass. When it got darker, the hostess brought out a multi-colored light, where I impressed my parents by showing them some words I knew (light, red, yellow, green, and white). They then taught me how to say blue, and as the light faded between colors I did my best to name them all.

Once dinner arrived, I dug in. Mid-dinner, the hostess informed me that the band was dedicating a song to me. I then happily listened to an English love song, which was very beautifully performed. I made sure to clap extra loud, grinning the whole time.

I learned a few more words (beautiful, handsome, glasses) and had chocolate cake before taking a picture with the singer from the band. We then walked home, where tiny light rockets were being launched in the air. As we walked home, we talked about family and went over family words (mom, dad, grandma, grandpa). I also learned words like stars, bicycle, and moon. Honestly, today was a big day for learning words! Then we rode home, practicing all the words I had learned to make them stick.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/7/15-9/11/15

My school days kind of blur together these days, as my schedule is pretty repetitive. I probably won’t update much on weekdays since they’re pretty standard. On Mondays and Fridays I go to school and read all day. Tuesdays and Thursdays I take the bus across town to Chinese class, get lunch with Nao, then we ride the bus back to school for the afternoon lessons. On Wednesdays, I attend go to Japanese class and Spanish class with Nao. Then on Fridays it’s another normal school day.

On Wednesday we arranged my slightly adjusted schedule to include Spanish and Japanese. Nao and I agreed to take these together on the agreement that she helps me in Japanese and I help her in Spanish (since I know a little and the class is taught in English).

Japanese class was fun. Nao helped teach the lesson by pronouncing all the words for the class to repeat. Since this class is taught in Chinese, she comes up to me later and explains what each thing means in English. In Spanish, I immediately took to the teacher who speaks in a very understandable yet gorgeous accent (I can’t place where it’s from - possibly a mix of Latin American and Chinese). We all have Spanish names, but I got by Isabella, my middle name. I chose Nao’s Spanish name from the board - Celeste. 

On Friday after lunch we (myself and the other exchange students) met up with our counselor and the Japanese teacher - the two people who have been helping us through our enrollment - to figure out our final schedules and receive our uniforms. I traded some classes I didn’t enjoy for three more English classes, three library periods (for studying Chinese in the quiet library) an art class, a culinary class, and a computer class (where I can go on Facebook, Tumblr, or study). This schedule will be put in place Tuesday - I’ll update on how it works out.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

Cultural Differences and Language Barriers: What I’ve Learned

This is going to be a long one but I feel like it’s very important for any future exchange students that may be reading this blog. So here we go:

Of course, any country you go to, there’s going to be cultural differences. You’ll notice them from day one. Some prominent ones I’ve noticed in Taiwan are drinking soup instead of cold drinks at dinner, not needing to buckle up in the back seat, and the whole toilet paper thing. But if you stay for a long time in another country, you’re obviously going to make mistakes and even offend someone. It’s apart of being an exchange student, but you’ll learn. Here’s the mistake I made three times without knowing.

So about a week into my exchange, my host sister pulled me aside and asked why I was uncomfortable with calling my host parents “home ma” and “home ba”. I of course told her that I had no problem with this, I just hadn’t really addressed them often. She then informed me that it was quite rude to tap an elder on the shoulder to get their attention. I remembered doing so to my host mother before, so I quickly apologized and promised not to do so again. My host sister then informed me not to address my host parents as “you”. This confused me. I never said “you” to get my host parent’s attention - that was straight up rude, even in America. I was also informed not to call them by their first names, which of course I hadn’t. So I agreed to all of this and went on.

The next day, my host mother was helping me with laundry. I had taken my clothes down from drying and put them in the dryer for a quick 30 minute cycle so they could finish and I could take them back to my room to fold. My host mother scolded me for this, saying, from what I could understand, that I was supposed to leave them to dry for at least two days. I quickly apologized and offered to hang them back up, but she just grumbled and started the dryer for me. I apologized again, and said “Dui” (okay/yes) when she repeated the instructions. She then yelled at me for not calling her home ma. This confused me, but I nodded, apologized, and said “dui”. She then said “No dui! I’m home ma!” I then said “Yes home ma!” and she was somewhat satisfied. After this went down, I hid in my room for a couple hours. Of course, the language barrier made her words rather blunt and rude. My host parent’s English isn’t the best, which of course I understand. I’m supposed to know better Chinese, so I don’t expect them to learn English for me. This makes the language barrier especially strong, because the words are often extreme (An example was when my host mother lightly called me “dirty” for using my hands to eat a Kinder egg. My host sister informed her that it was a little rude to say that, so she apologized the next day and told me she meant “unsanitary”. I told her it was fine). Nonetheless, it makes confrontation that much more terrifying, as it’s hard to communicate how we actually feel.

After this incident, I was very timid to talk to my host family. How was I offending them and not realizing it? By that evening, my host mother seemed happy again, and I called her “home ma” at every occasion I could. 

Today, around a week later, my host parents and I were out on a lovely evening. Everything was great, we were eating good food and looking at the pretty boardwalk. We were laughing and my host mother had the band dedicate a song to me. It was all great. My host father left for a moment, to go where I assumed was the bathroom. Then my host mother began typing characters on her phone, and I soon realized she was using Google Translate (we use that when there’s something important to communicate). A few seconds later, she turned the phone to me, where it said: “You are not calling home ba by his name - home ba. He is very upset. This is not the United States. You are doing this all wrong.”

These words hit me like a brick. I quickly had to assure myself that the bluntness was due to Google Translate, because my host mother did not look as angry as the words were. I quickly apologized, having trouble smiling. This was incredibly terrifying for a people-pleaser like myself. Especially the words “You are doing this all wrong”. I spent the rest of dinner trying to realize what I had done wrong. Of course, I hadn’t tapped either of them on the shoulder or addressed them by their English/Chinese names. What had I done that was so upsetting. When my host father returned, I thanked them for the meal by saying “Thank you home ba, thank you home ma”. I substituted the usual “ni” (you) for “home ba” and “home ma”, which seemed to satisfy them. This time, as soon as I got home, I looked up how to apologize in the most sincerely way possible. I talked to my host mother about it, telling her that I was trying my best and I didn’t mean to offend them or be disrespectful in any way. She said that she understood that it was different in America, but she told me that this is Taiwan, and it’s disrespectful to not call your elders by their proper titles. I understood this time, and I even took to talking to my Rotex to make sure I fully knew how to avoid such problems in the future.

What I learned:

Don’t Worry - Accidentally offending people through cultural differences will happen. It’s part of your exchange and learning process. It may be scary, but you’ll get through it! Don’t take it to heart, because you’re learning. 

Be Open-Minded and Understanding - Tiny differences like these may seem insignificant to an outsider, but obviously this was seriously offensive to my host family. Take other’s feelings into consideration. 

Ask Questions - Don’t leave it up to guessing. Learn from my mistake, and ask for clarification. It helps to avoid future troubles! It especially helps to reach out to your Rotex - they can really help in these kind of situations!

Beware of Language Barriers - I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Learn as much of your language as you can. Language barriers make it extremely difficult to communicate feelings. If your host family, friends, or club, say something extremely hurtful, but you feel like they didn’t mean it that way - ask! They probably didn’t mean it like you thought, and there’s always a little miscommunication.

This has been my first bit of advice. Good luck, and I hope this helps any future exchange students!

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/6/15

I spent most of this day in my room sleeping until about 2:30 when we left home. Since we had missed the concert that we were supposed to attend the day before, we went to my host sister’s work where the same man would be playing again. We listened to the music, which was of course very beautiful. My sister informed me that the man was an aboriginal to Taiwan, and many aboriginals had gorgeous voices. I found this to be very true as we listened to the man play. After this, my host sister toured me around the shop she worked in (part of WIND Music, my host father’s company) and showed me many things. She had to keep me from touching the beautiful red ukulele, which I instinctively lunged for, without knowing that it was only for display. We also met my host father’s sister and her children.

After this, my host mother covered for my host sister’s work shift, while we went down to the shopping center. We walked along before arriving at an art exhibition for Miffy, a popular cartoon rabbit. We walked through, observing the evolution of Miffy and posing for dozens of pictures. My host sister and I cooed at all of the cute rabbit items, and had much trouble restraining ourselves in the gift shop. Eventually, we both had custom Miffy stickers printed for us with our names on them. Mine have my Chinese and English names on them, and I put them on most of my items. They’re very cute!

After this, we walked back through the marketplace, unable to keep ourselves from buying things. I purchased a lovely shirt with paper airplanes on it, along with a small cactus that I fondly refer to as Tom. My host sister bought a keychain cartoon character as well as a shirt with a cat on it. Then we met our father and had the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever. After this, we headed home, because it was very dark out. 

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/5/15

I woke up late so I wasn’t able to go swimming like I planned. My host parents offered to take me walking with them, which I agreed to. We walked up and down the city, looking at shops, street dogs (I screamed “狗!” every time I saw one, which is the word for dog), and even buying grapes from a local vendor. Then we went to a breakfast place right outside our apartment, where a nice lady helped me read the menu. My host father’s meal arrived first, and he offered me some as usual. Unfortunately, I thought it was an appetizer, so I ate so much of it that he had to order a second dish. I had some delicious french toast, along with some orange juice that was a little pulpy for my taste.

Then the owner’s daughter translated some things for me, before asking questions about where I came from and such. She said that she had seen me pass on the way to school a couple mornings, telling me that if I ever needed help with something I could come to her. After thanking her many times, we began to leave and the owner complimented how pretty I was. I thanked her (people call me pretty very often here - I swear my ego is inflating faster than my stomach) and we went back home. After resting a while, my host parents took me out again. We drove across the city to the Eslite Spectrum, a department store where my father’s company was having a concert. We went to the third floor, a bookstore, where we met the artist. Then I looked around the bookstore, which wasn’t as exciting as they usually were because everything was in Chinese. Then my host mother took me down to the Artisan level. My mouth was shaped like an “o” the entire walk through, where I looked through gorgeous jewelry, tiny potted plants/cacti in cute pots, soaps, and more. I even got to watch glass sculptures being made! As I waited for my host parents to finish, I found possibly the coolest thing ever - an art cafe. You sit with your coffee and muffin, after buying a canvas and renting brushes/paint, and then you paint! No need for fancy art studios - you can paint right in the middle of the quietest corner of a huge department store. I was amazed.

After this, I was starving, so my host parents took me downstairs to a Japanese-style noodle shop. The first part was a small buffet, where you took whatever meat and drinks you liked (most people didn’t buy drinks because here in Taiwan, soup usually serves as your drink). I got a coke, some chicken, and shrimp, which I realized was a big mistake. I ordered the noodles from the menu, and the bowl sized seemed tiny. Turns out the noodle soup was huge, and I felt bad for buying so much. So I set out to eat as much as I could, eating all the meat, drinking all of my coke, and eating almost all of the noodle soup until I couldn’t eat another bite. My host mother was very proud, saying I finally ate a good amount of food! Honestly, I felt like I would have to be rolled out of the establishment. I swear I’m gaining three pounds every day I’m here.

We went upstairs to browse through the fashion department, before going through the art galleries across the street. One of the art galleries was half food, half art. So my host parents handed me samples, the first one being “coffee”. This drink was the color/consistency/opacity of cold tea, but tasted like very bitter coffee. I tried to hide the disgust on my face, but my host mother caught me before I managed a pained smile. She and the vendor apologized, but I croaked out a “It was great!”. The rest of the sampled were better, but I was surprised when my host father bought a whole bottle of the “coffee”. After exploring this, we bought some juice (I refused it, despite how good it looked, because I was incredibly full) and kept walking. We found a beautiful pond with an abundance of birds and fish. We stared at the water for a while before heading home.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/4/15

I woke up very early to Skype a friend from back home, only to be almost late for school. I ended up running the whole way (the steps aren’t bad - it’s the inclined slopes that really kill me), arriving there at 7:58. I went up to my classroom, winded as per usual, and spent the first period reading. Then, the next class was P.E., which I had been warned about but assumed I wouldn’t go to it because I had to leave early. So we went down to the courtyard and learned a dance, before breaking for free time where I played badminton. This was all done in blazing, humid heat on one of the rare half-sunny days.

Afterwards, one of my classmates asked if I had a drink. I said no, and she panicked, stressing to me that I needed a drink. I ran up to the classroom, got some money, and went back down and across the courtyard with her to go buy myself a drink. It was only when I passed a mirror that I realized why she was so concerned - my face was actually the bright red color of a tomato. It wasn't until I sat down in class afterwards (post going up and down three flights of stairs three times) that I realized how dizzy and exhausted I was. I spent the rest of the time I was there reading before leaving at 11 to go to a Rotary meeting.

I left school and met my host parents at home. We drove to a bank to do some transactions that ended up becoming long and confusing to the point where we were almost late to the meeting. We got to the very fancy building, where I felt completely underdressed in jeans, a black Rotary Youth Exchange shirt, and my blazer. I was introduced to the wives of my host club, where they fawned over me and I was asked many questions. Then I sorted out some paperwork with my counselor, before we all welcomed the District Governor to the meeting (a rare, busy visitor). Then we all went into the dining room to eat. My plate was filled instantly (not by me), and I ate almost all of it (I couldn’t bring myself to eat a whole sardine - which had scales, eyes and all).

After this, we filed into the meeting hall. We started the meeting with all of the important people having their names called to stand up and wave. I was one of those people. Then we sang songs to begin the Rotary meeting, most of which were in English. Once that was done, all of the people with September birthdays were called up to get a small gift, and we had cake. Then I went up front to give a short introduction of myself in Mandarin, similar to the one I did in school (though I messed this one up - I was very happy that I didn’t get hung up on it, and instead continued). Once I was done, DG May did a presentation that took up most of the meeting. She answered questions, we sang a song for her, and then we all took a group photo. Then my host parents led me out, and I was gifted 24 mini pineapple cakes by my host father’s friend.

We returned to the bank where we finished getting everything straightened out. My host father drove us home, before we walked down the street to buy me school shoes. Then we refilled my bus card and returned home for real. I tried stinky tofu (wasn’t half bad - smell and taste wise) and ate a lot of noodles, before finally going to bed.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

First Rotary Meeting: The first photo is myself and two of my host mothers (maybe? The lady to the left is going to be part of my second host family but some of her title got lost in translation). Then my host father and another lady joined in. Then almost all of the Rotary wives crowded into one photo with me. The fourth is myself giving my brief introduction. The fifth and sixth are me recieving my monthly allowance. And the seventh is my whole host club, plus the District Governor May and her crew.

[taiwan-exchange-student]

9/3/15

I woke up an hour earlier than usual and went down to the bus with my host mother. I managed to be the last one on the bus, so I managed to look like a three year-old at the monkey bars while trying to get to my seat using the over head railings. We took an hour bus ride to the University where I would be studying my Chinese course with twelve other exchange students.

Once there, we played a lot of games to learn each other’s Chinese names, a few phrases and the rules of the class. We even started learning Bo Po Mo Fo (somewhat of an alphabet for Chinese characters). This lasted three hours before we left to go to school.

Nao and I are in the same class, so we agreed to take the bus together. We met my host mother downstairs (who was teaching me the buses - I’ll be taking them by myself starting Tuesday). Our class let out late so it was 11:15 by the time we left. We had to take the hour bus ride back to school, where lunch was from 12-12:30, but we didn’t have to be back until 1:00. I knew that by the time we got back, we wouldn’t have time for lunch. This was where one of my first “Uh-Oh/Aha” moments set in.

As we were walking, Nao split off to go eat at Starbucks. We waved goodbye, and as my host mother and I passed several food places, I mentioned to her that I probably wouldn’t get to school in time so I should probably eat now. Of course, I didn’t know how to explain this in Chinese so my host mother could only understand bits of my English. Because of this, she continued to herd me to the bus stop. By now I was starving, as I rarely eat breakfast.

I tried to explain again at the bus stop, but she just shrugged and laughed (which is our sign that she cannot understand a word I’m saying). I decided it would be fine to ride home, as there was some more food stops on the walk home. So we boarded the bus and I stared at the clock, silently hoping we would get back early.

We arrived at our stop at 12:10. I tried explaining one more time, but I was pushed to the school. After all of the stairs and steep inclines, I arrived winded in the food lounge at 12:20. All of the bins had only tiny bits of food left, so I went to class with a small bowl of rice, a small chicken tender, and a sports drink. By the time I ascended the three flights of stairs and sat down in my seat, I was hungry, exhausted, and dehydrated. The other students seemed to catch an aura from me, because no one looked me in the eye, mumbling small “hellos” to me. I wolfed down my tiny meal and drank my entire sports bottle before feeling well again. This was when some people started talking to me, asking me where I was. I managed to explain before nap time, where I promptly passed out.

The rest of the day went smoothly. I was starving by the time I got home, but luckily my host mother had cooked a great meal for me to refill on. This has taught me the valuable lesson that I need to study my Mandarin because language barriers can be a pain. Hopefully, that will be the worst of my language struggles.