Hello! Taiwan

I've been here a little more than 2 months...

2009-10-30T11:16:00.002+08:00

It's time again for my monthly update! This month was filled with a special holiday, a trip to northen Taiwan, a trip to southern Taiwan, new cultural experiences, much time spent with friends and family, and very many ups and no downs :)

I'd like to start this month's entry with new lists/corrections to the lists I made last time XD

First, some things I love about Taiwan:

-My host family. I truly believe I am the luckiest exchange student in the world to be placed with this family. I have a 15 year old host sister who I can relate to and talk to about anything, a 7 year old host brother who doesn't care if I make mistakes when I speak (and who understands me even if I do make mistakes), and two loving host parents who spend so much of their time, energy, and love on me. My whole family is always home and chatting with me, correcting my mistakes (and explaining what those mistakes are and how to fix them), teaching me how to cook and read and write, and teaching me more about myself and my life than I could have ever imagined. They inspire me everyday to work hard and study well to learn Chinese, because it is very important for my life now in Taiwan, my future, and my future career and schooling.
-My classmates. Since I stay in the same class all day, everyday, my classmates already feel like another family. They are caring and friendly, and are always willing to help me if I have any questions or problems.
-My Rotary club. They have many activities every month, in addition to their meetings, and they are always inviting me and including me in virtually everything they do. And all the members are very, very kind to me.
-Going to school. I can honestly say that I've ever been so happy to wake up at 6 a.m. on weekdays to go to school as I am now!
-The fact that I don't have to wear makeup or pick out my clothes for school. I realize now how nice it is to not waste time on those things and instead study Chinese, chat with my host family and experience life.
-People immediately speak to me in Chinese and don't speak English unless I really don't understand what they're saying, even though no one assumes I'm Taiwanese (many people here have told me I look Middle Eastern).
-Taiwanese food. To prove how much I really love eating Taiwanese food, I'm going to tell you all that I've already gained almost 10 pounds here. I arrived in Taiwan weighing about 103 pounds and am now 111...and it's only been two months!

Some things that may have seemed a bit different at first, but that I'm now used to:

-升旗 (Sheng Qi). This literally translates as "hoisting the flag" and is when all the students of the school have to sit outside twice a week for a 20~30 minute ceremony. Not only did it used to be extremely hot, but the humidity was almost unbearable. Sitting under the sun with sweat literally dripping down your neck, back, arms and legs was not comfortable. When I asked my friend why we couldn't sit inside the auditorium during these times, she said that it's because it would be too comfortable, and she said that Taiwan's schools are still traditional in that they see their students almost as if they were soldiers. Actually, during these ceremonies, we salute, stand, sit and turn at the same time, and, of course, sing the national anthem while Taiwan's flag is being raised. It's a very nice ceremony, and now that the weather is starting to cool down a bit, I am loving it more and more, as well as the students' pride and love for their country, flag, and school.
-Even though we usually have an hour nap at school, the 8+ hours of being at school really got to me when I first started school; I was always super tired and had to sleep at around 8:30. Now, however, I'm going to sleep at around 10:30, like many of my classmates. Haha~
-Not drinking anything until after I'm finished eating. And the drink may not be what people from the United States are used to; many times the drink at the end of a meal is hot soup. If I drink something while eating a meal now though, I get full so quickly and lose my appetite, so I prefer to drink last.
-Speaking in different languages. One of my frriends at school can speak decent Spanish. And when he asks me questions about Spanish in English, I don't know whether to reply to him in English or Chinese, and sometimes I accidentally reply in Spanish!
-The traffic. There are tons and tons of scooters (kind of like motorcycles but smaller and not as dangerous), bicycles, agressive drivers (that includes bicyclers and pedestrians...haha), and cars that don't drive in their designated lanes or put their blinkers on. Everyone starts driving at least 2 or 3 seconds before the red light turns green, some people don't even stop at red lights, sometimes the stop lights at major intersections don't work at all, and sometimes all the turn signals for every direction are green at the same time.

And the last list, which I guess you can consider advice learned from (culture-shocked?) experience:

-Never just bring a bikini to swim in when going to the beach or pool. Bring extra clothes to wear and swim in; and if you really want to wear a bathing suit, make it pretty conservative.
-Don't bother styling your hair unless you have some kind of supernatural hair products that can withstand the 150% humidity. Once, when I straightened my hair in the morning (and used to hair product to try to keep it straight), I got to school and people asked me if I curled my hair or if it was naturally that wavy...
-When crossing the street, always look very, very, very carefully, even if it seems like there are no vehicles coming. I've never been in direct danger of being hit by a vehicle, but I'm always aware of the constant danger of Taiwanese traffic.
-When someone says something you don't understand, don't pretend you understand; the Taiwanese will always be happy to explain it to you in more simple Chinese.

Now, I'd like to talk about the festival that took place this month. The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) is one of a few big annual celebrations in Taiwan. It's a time to spend with family, admire the moon, eat barbeque (pork, fish, beef, goat and other meats), mooncake and youzih (kind of like a grapefruit, but not very bitter or sour), and drink hot tea. The Mid-Autumn Festival takes place on the 15th day of the 8th lunar calendar month, which was Saturday, October 3rd this year. That day, my host family and I departed our house in Daliao a little before noon, and began our drive South, towards Pingtung County, where my both of my host parents' parents live. We first stopped in the rural town of 萬巒 (Wan Luan), which is my host mother's hometown. There, we visited her mother and a sister of hers, I listened to them speak Hakka, and then my host family and I ate pig feet, and pig thigh which is that area's famous food. After lunch, my host dad drove us to his hometown, 四重溪 (Sih Chuang Xi). His hometown is close to Kenting, which is definitely one of Taiwan's most beautiful places. It's near the ocean, rural, filled with fresh air, decorated with traditional houses and buildings, and surrounded by towering, lush, green mountains and a rushing river. We stayed in his hometown until Sunday, and there met with my host father's older brother, and his brother's wife and two children. During those two days in 四重溪, I learned to play Mahjong (a VERY popular game in Taiwan), saw the true, rural life lived by both Taiwanese and Aboriginies, prayed for the deceased at a temple, made friends with my host father's family, laughed a lot, learned new things, and ate all the typical foods that are eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Also, two weeks ago, my host mother took me with her on her company outing. It was so fun! She and many of her co-workers went on two buses (equipped with karaoke of course) on a trip to northern Taiwan. The bus ride was half the fun; I made a few good friends with some of my mother's co-workers and learned so much from them (from some phrases in Taiwanese, to certain aspects of Taiwanese culture). On the way north, we stopped at a national park to hike up a mountain and view some waterfalls. After that, we continued our trip up to Tao Yuan, near Taipei. There, we stayed in a hotel, which also had a spa and hot spring! We stayed there one night, and the second day, we all went to see Chiang Kai Shek's son's coffin. It was a very interesting experience. There were two soldiers standing outside the room with the coffin who weren't allowed to blink or even move anything at all for an hour at a time. And when we entered the room, we weren't allowed to talk. The park in the surrounding area was also very beautiful. After seeing the coffin, we went to another historic area and market. My friends and I bought Taiwanese 小吃 ("small-eats"), played games (similar to the ones at the Florida State Fair), won a bubble-blowing gun, and rode around on bicycles that we rented that day. We departed after a couple hours and were on our way back to southern Taiwan. On the drive down, we sang Chinese and Taiwanese songs, ate chicken feet and oranges, chatted, and joked. Finally, around 7, we arrived at Kaohsiung city, and then my host mother took some of her coworkers and I out to eat goat, which has become my favorite meat :)

Finally, I'd like to say that there are times here in Taiwan when I really feel like I'm Taiwanese. Like when I was sitting in my host father's parents house, around a small table, playing Mahjong with my host sister and her cousins, listening to the adults speaking Taiwanese, and joking with them in Chinese. Or when I'm at school, chatting with my friends (in Chinese of course) about Taiwanese culture or asking them questions about some things I don't understand. Or when I'm riding on my bike in the morning to my bus stop and people are no longer staring at me like they did two months ago. Or even when I'm at the 7-11 down the street buying milk and bread for the next day's breakfast, while texting my Taiwanese friends. I feel like I really fit in with this culture. I can't recall any moments here when I felt really frustrated because of the difference in cultures, languages or religion. There may be many differences, but I understand fully that they will not change, and that there is no reason they should change. Taiwan honestly feels like my second home; I feel so comfortable here. My host family feels like they're my real family, I definitely connect more with my Taiwanese friends than the other exchange students, I feel like I've known my Taiwanese friends my whole life, when I hear Chinese, it sometimes just sounds like English, and life just feels completely normal. Time is already flying by and I am begging it to slow down so I can relish my life in Taiwan just a little longer.

I truly can't thank Rotary, and the Rotary Clubs of Clearwater East and Kaohsiung North enough. "Thank you" will never be enough to show you all how thankful I am for this experience. Nevertheless, 謝謝你們!! Thank you all!! :)

Until next month,

陳安娜

Some lists...

2009-10-02T11:52:00.012+08:00

Resa, hope you don't mind my copying your idea XD

Some things I love about Taiwan:

-Low fat milk tastes like whole milk.
-I've been eating at least 5X more than I used to eat back home, but I haven't gained weight.
-Taiwanese food in general.
-My classmates and my neighbors.
-My school in general.
-I don't have to wear makeup...ever.
-Riding on motor-bike-scooters (idk what to call them XD).
-My bus ride home after school.
-Lion King's boba tea and mango juice.
-MANGO SHAVED ICE; I have never eaten better mango than I have here.
-The way people say "aiyo~" when they're surprised.
-People immediately speak to me in Chinese and don't speak English unless I really don't understand what they're saying.
-Jin Wen, Ma, Ba, Xiao Yi, Yun Qing, Teacher.

Some things I've had to get used to:

-Senqi (idk how to spell it). This is when we have to sit outside twice a week. And it feels like 120 degrees plus 110% humidity...and there are literally rivers of sweat falling down my back and neck and arms.
-The heat and humidity. It was really hard to get used to. And I'm from FLORIDA.
-Women here don't shave.
-The attention. Although I was already sort of used to the staring since I went to Japan, I wasn't used to people whispering and pointing at me while I was standing right there. Sort of awkward XD
-Even though we have a nap at school, the 8+ hours of being at school really got to me at first; I was always super tired and had to sleep at around 8:30.
-Eating anything and everything given to me, no matter what it looks like. But everything (aside from stinky tofu and oysters) has been delicious.
-Eating extremely fatty meats. I used to hate eating meat that wasn't lean, but it's so good here XD
-Watching Korean dramas dubbed in Chinese.
-Not drinking anything until after I'm finished eating. I used to get soooo thirsty when I first got here.
-Speaking in different languages. One of my friends (a Taiwanese guy, not another exchange student) can speak decent Spanish. And when he asks me questions about Spanish in English, I don't know whether to reply in English or Chinese, and sometimes I accidentally reply in Spanish XD
-Sometimes when I say something in Chinese, someone will reply speaking very quickly and then just stare at me if I don't understand.

Some advice:

-Don't wear a bikini in public. So embarrassing.
-Don't bother styling your hair. It will return to its natural state after you step outside your door.
-Don't cross the street without looking. You will most definitely die.

One day behind :<

2009-10-01T15:38:00.001+08:00

Haha...man, I wanted to post this for September...but I didn't get the chance T^T

Anyway, here's my journal for "September":

Staring out the window of my bus on my way to school oe of these past days, I realized that I am completely at home here in Taiwan. I could read many of the signs I passed. It didn't faze me that the bus came close to hitting a number of people on bikes, walking, and on scooters. The sight of an outside market, with live seafood, slabs of mysterious meats, stray dogs, and elderly women butchering chickens was an everyday sight. The hundreds of school kids crossing the street in matching uniforms was normal. For the most part, the Chinese conversations of the students and children around me flowed through my ears almost as if it were English, and the Taiwanese conversations between the elderly sounded nicely familiar. When I ate lunch at school that day, I happily devoured the pig blood with rice, stir fried 'mater convolvulus' (a vegetable that apperantly has no common English name...this is what came up when I translated it from Chinese), fried fish cake, and sausage. Actually, all the food here, which was so different to me at first, has become my comfort food.

This past month, I've eaten duck's tongue and throat, pig blood with rice (which was named the world's strangest food...it's not strange to me at all now), duck blood blocks, pig and chicken feet, and an entire goat meal, which included stir-fried goat, boiled goat, goat stomach and goat soup (my favorite!). I was also fortunate enough to eat the famous Taiwanese oyster omlette and Taiwanese stinky tofu. I must admit, though, that stinky tofu is the one food I have not yet liked here. I tried it on three different occasions and each time it tasted worse...haha. There are probably other strange foods I've eaten that I've forgotten to write down because it all seems so normal now.

I've done many things this past month, including starting school. I started on September 1st and I am in Class 1-11. The 1 means I'm in first year (equivilent to sophomore year) and the 11 just means I'm in the eleventh first year class. I love my class!!! All my classmates (45 of them) are very caring, friendly, and always positive. There's never a day when they seem down. My first days of school, however, were crazy! The second day I attended school I had to give a self-introduction in front of the whole school (2,000+ students...) and of course, I missed my bus and had to take the MRT to school, so I was almost late....and of course I tripped while walking up to the stage to give my introduction. But all was well in the end, and no one cared about my tripping, or that I was nervous so my speaking wasn't that great.

Also, there are many differences between my school here and my high school in the U.S.:

1. There are only blackboards in the classes.
2. The teachers, who change classes instead of us, use microphones to lecture with.
3. Of course, we all have uniforms. There are three different uniforms that we wear on certain days. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we have to wear the "exercise uniform," which is a white shirt with blue pants and any sneakers of our choice. On Tuesday, we have to wear a more formal, white collared shirt with dark navy blue dress pants, and "pi xie," which are just formal, black shoes. And on Thursday, we have to wear the same formal, white collared shirt with a skirt (our school's skirt is pink, white and blue plaid), socks, which have to be at least above our ankles, and our black "pi xie."
4. As in many countries, we clean the school, not janitors. Each student must do one of the following: sweep, mop, take out the trash, clean the windows, clean the blackboard, sweep outside, or wipe the desks (which is my job).
5. Hardly anyone asks questions during class.
6. Along with the uniform, students aren't supposed to dye their hair, wear jewelry, or wear makeup...
7. The students don't form cliques as much as the students in the U.S., and everone in the class gets along with each other.
8. School lasts from 7:30 in the morning to 4:10 on two days a week, and until 5:10 three days a week.

During the school week, I have three days in which I have Chinese lessons. On Monday and Tuesday morning, I have about 30 minutes to an hour of one-on-one Chinese conversation with a teacher at the school, and on Wednesday I have one-on-one tutoring with another teacher. Because of this, I feel that my Chinese is really improving. In fact, about 60~70% of the time, I can understand what is being said, or at least the main idea of people's conversations. Though, my speaking is not yet as good as my comprehension, of course. But I really feel that the time I spent back in Florida studying Chinese really helped me so much. If I hadn't studied Chinese back then, I feel like I'd probably only be comprehending about 20~30% of what is being said most of the time.

Apart from school, I attended a Rotary meeting in the beginning of September, and a Rotary get-together/dinner in the middle of the month. At the Rotary meeting, I did a self introduction with a PowerPoint and met many Rotarians. Everyone was so kind and happy to meet me! And last week my Rotary Counselor (Teacher Hong) took my host sister, another Rotarian's daughter, and me to Kaohsiung's history museum. We had so much fun! I went there to prepare for a Chinese presentation that I will do in December, introducing the city of Kaohsiung.

The last thing I want to talk about in this journal is the diligence of Taiwanese doctors (especially when they're also Rotarians), schools, Rotarians, and the Taiwanese people in general. Earlier in the month, I got H1N1, aka the swine flu. I came home from school one day feeling like I was extremely lacking energy, so I went immidiately to take a nap. When I woke up, Ma and Ba noticed that my face was pink, so they took my temperature and learned that I had a 104 degree fever. They then took me to one of the only American-trained doctors in the area. Not only was he also a Rotarian, but he also spoke Spanish! I was so surprised (I've actually met about three or four people here who can speak Spanish)! Anyway, after a test at the doctor's, they found that I did indeed have H1N1. Unfortunately, because I got H1N1, I couldn't go to school for about 4 days and I couldn't go to the District 3510 inbound orientation. However, I was able to go back home that night, but the next morning I woke up with another 104 degree fever, so I had to be taken back to the doctor's. Thankfully, all is well now and I feel better than ever here in cozy, home-y Taiwan.

Thank you again to the Rotary Clubs who are supporting me: Rotary Club of Kaohsiung North and the Rotary Club of Clearwater East; thanks to my family and friends for their support and love, and for understanding that I'm not at all homesick :p and thanks to my wonderful Taiwanese host family and my amazing new friends here in Taiwan.

Until next month,

安娜

3 months behind...sorry ^^;

2009-08-14T01:17:00.003+08:00

Sorry for the EXTREME lack of updates! This summer has kept me busy. I was taking summer classes (American government, since my college requires it for an AA degree =_=, and of course, Chinese), volunteering in my mother's ESL class (where I met a Taiwanese student!), among other tedious (house) projects. And my computer broke. D:

Anyhow, now I'm here, IN TAIWAN!!

I can't believe how time has flown...especially near the end.

So, here is my first documentation of my new life:

After 25+ hours of flights and layovers, and a delayed flight that had my next flight being held up for me, I finally arrived safely in Kaohsiung...and the greeting I received at the airport could not have made me feel more comfortable. I felt as if I had just gotten home from that long trip, instead of arriving in a completely foreign country. One Rotary officer even spoke a little to me in Spanish! I was so surprised and happy that she did that.

The first thing I noticed after leaving the airport that night was that my trips abroad (especially the trips to Japan) really helped prepare me for this trip. I haven't yet experienced any culture shock. Also, had I not gone to Japan, I think I would be fairly uncomfortable here, in the rural township of Daliao, as every single person that I walk by stares with astonishment at the only foreigner this town has probably ever seen...me. Many people back home told me that I was lucky; they said that my dark hair and eyes would help me blend in with the people of Taiwan, but they couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, I really don't think these traits make much of a difference, because my appearance is still very different from theirs.

However, my family here in Taiwan is very similar to my family back home, in so many ways. I felt like they were really related to me the moment we met. Here are some of the similarities:

1. My host family, just like my real family, is very caring with each other; Xiao Yi (my 7 year old host brother) always holds my hand when we're walking somewhere, and Jin Wen (my 16 year old host sister) links arms with me. The parents also hold the childrens' hands a lot too.

2. Jin Wen and Xiao Yi really show their love for each other and get along, just like my real brother and I.

3. Xiao Yi is exactly like my real brother, but younger and a little more hyper. He's hilarious! He is constantly talking, which is really helping my listening and comprehension skills.

4. My host family is multilingual; everyone speaks Taiwanese and Chinese. Ba (which means Dad in Chinese) also speaks Japanese, while Ma also speaks an indigenous Taiwanese language. My family back home can all speak Spanish and English, my parents also speak French, and my dad can speak Portuguese as well.

The weather here is also very similar to the weather back home; it's in the 90s here, but according to the weather channel, it feels like it's 105 degrees.

Although my families and the weather may be similar, the food here really is different. However, there hasn't been one thing I haven't liked. The first day I arrived, I ate what I think was jellyfish, but I'm still not sure. It was delicious! The second day here, I went to a night market, which has many small street stalls that sell 小吃 (xiao chi) which are small snacks. I ate goat sausage, tiny conchs (which were definitely my favorite food so far!), spicy grilled squid on a stick, tiny octopi, fresh and fried oysters, snails, a soup with seaweed and tiny fish, and for dessert, chunks of the best mango I've ever had on top of shaved ice. And yesterday, I went to a BBQ party with my host sister and her friends, and ate chicken hearts (among other things like shrimp and beef)!! I tried one chicken heart, wondering if I'd like it or not, and I liked it so much that I ate 5 more...haha. Ironically, the most distasteful thing I've eaten here was a greasy, grisly fried chicken leg my host sister got for me from McDonalds, along with soggy french fries.

I can't wait to start school! My family took me a few days ago to see the route along which I'd be going to school. I'm going to ride on bike about 15 minutes to get to the MRT (mass rapid transit) station, then get on and ride the MRT until the ninth stop, after getting off, I'll walk another ~5 minutes to arrive at my school, 高雄高商 ( Gao Xiong Gao Shang). My school is huge...I can't believe how big it is; it's about 9 stories tall! I visited it again yesterday and met my principle and the other exchange student, who is from Finland. Everyone was so kind.

Also, one of these past days, I think I came close to experiencing what it feels like to be one of the locals here in Daliao. It's probably as close to feeling like a local as it'll ever get, since I'm probably always going to be stared at. That day, I went with my host sister, Jin Wen, to play basketball with her friends. We got on our bikes and rode down the narrow, winding road that leads to Daliao's Junior High School and the basketball courts. On the way there, as usual, cars and scooters barely, yet expertly, missed us as they drove by us. As usual, the warm, muggy air had my hair sticking to the back of my neck. As usual, Jin Wen and I yelled 你好 (hello) to Zen Ma, the best cold tea seller in Daliao, and we passed her on our bicycles. Then, when we arrived at the basketball courts, Jin Wen and I played a little as we waited for all of our friends to show up. Once they arrived, we all played together for a while, and then Jin Wen and I sat down and let the guys play amongst themselves. Then, she and I walked back down to Zen Ma's little street shop to buy 20 cent, ice-cold, large cups of green tea.

That night, after returning home and showering, my host mother, Jin Wen and I went out onto the street so I could meet the neighbors. Here, on Lane 100, Daliao Township, the neighbors all congregate around a single, sturdy wooden table. They sit on small wooden chairs, drink tea and eat sesame seeds, and play some Taiwanese board game which I still haven't come close to figuring out. They also speak by mixing Taiwanese (the local dialect) and standard Chinese, which can be slightly confusing at times. Although they were all meeting me for the first time that night, they all accepted me with open arms. In fact, I have never felt more at home, so far from home. I was sitting with them around the wooden table, drinking tea and sweating, speaking Chinese and listening to them speak Taiwanese, laughing at their jokes and even telling one or two, and swatting flies and petting the dog that hangs around there. These people have shown to me that the Taiwanese people are indeed the most open and kind hearted people I've ever met. There is absolutely nothing I'd trade for this experience here in Daliao, with these amazing, admirable people.

And before I finish, I'd like to thank my Chinese tutor and friend, Yen Fen Wu. Had it not been for her, I would be completely lost these days, not being able to understand the language and perhaps culture of this wonderful country, Taiwan.

燕芬, 真的謝謝妳!!

Until next time (I'll have pictures next time, I promise),

安娜 (Anna)

Host family, etc.!!

2009-05-06T00:16:00.016+08:00

Ok, so I've gotten a host family!!! I don't think it's official yet since only the host family themselves have written to me, and not any of the Rotary officers, but I'm so happy :D

They wrote me an e-mail on May 3rd, Sunday, telling me that they have three children, the oldest of which is going to be in Brazil on exchange when I go to live with them. So I'm going to have two younger siblings! I'm not positive whether or not they're both girls, but the way they phrased it in the e-mail made it seem so.

Also, for my host city!! I'll be in Daliao Township in Kaohsiung Prefecture (I don't know if it's called a prefecture...?). It's a small-ish area of about 110,000 people. That's about double the size, population-wise, of where I live now XD It's actually surprisingly similar to my own area; it's pretty close to the beach, and the hot season has an average temperature of 87 degrees fahrenheit, and the winter months are "mildly cool." I'm really glad, because one of the things I hate the most is cold weather (x__x) Daliao is pretty close to Kaohsiung, though, and that's going to be pretty different since I don't live that close to a such large city, and it also has an MRT/rail/bus system!! I'm so excited for that! I really wish my area in the US had a good public transportation system (-___-)

There is a negative side to the area though, (which I was kind of expecting...), and it's that Daliao is pretty polluted. After doing a lot of research for the paper we had to write about our host country for Rotary, I realized that Taiwan in general is pretty bad about their levels of pollution, so I wasn't expecting a really clean city or anything, but still XD

So...that's about all the updates I've gotten so far :D No host school yet, official acceptance, or blazer, but I have a host family <33333

Edit:

I now have a school! It's called Kaohsiung Vocational High School of Commerce, a.k.a. 高雄高商. It's really big @_@ and it's in the middle of Kaohsiung city...which is Taiwan's second largest city :o

And here's the uniform:

Although, I think this is the summer uniform because I've also seen images of the same uniform with a dark blue vest, a bow that matches the skirt and knee-high socks...

And finally, here's the main webpage, then you can click on either Chinese or English to read more about the school.

http://www.ksvcs.kh.edu.tw/releaseRedirect.do?unitID=183

大家好!!

2009-04-20T11:03:00.005+08:00

好啦, 我覺得我應該寫一個中文的update.

(因為我只3個月學中文, 所以我中文寫得不太好啊. (T_T))

你們好! 我叫安娜. 我從美國來的, 今年八月到明年六, 七月在台灣<3 我要是溜學生啊~! 我很高興喔~

我今年十七歲. 我有一個弟弟. 他今年十五歲. 他對我很好啊~哈哈.

我常常跟我的朋友出去在一起唱歌，在ＫＴＶ的時候．因為十三號四月是我的生日，所以我跟十個朋友去ＫＴＶ!

好了，我想要睡覺啊~

晚安!!

安娜

Birthday and then some...

2009-04-13T20:26:00.002+08:00

Yay! Today's my birthday XD

Anyway, I had my district conference...and I found out some stuff!

No, not where I'm going yet, but I did find out that I'm leaving August 20th and probably staying until July :o 11 months! Ya-y <3 I was also told that I'll probably find out my city anytime from the beginning to the end of May...and that I should be recieving my jacket/blazer in May as well...

So pretty much I was told a bunch of 'maybe's and 'probably's XD But that's ok~I'm excited!! And my rotary district chair gave the outbounds from my district and me some pins. And the inbound that we met from Switzerland showed us her blazer--it was full of pins!!

Another thing that I did was go to my sponsoring Rotary club. It was...odd. One woman in particular seemed really fake, and she kept pressuring my parents to join the club. She was strange. Also, the whole club said a prayer at the beginning together, which I didn't know and another one at the end that I knew a couple words of. I think some people saw that my father and I didn't really know them: they seemed a bit annoyed with us ;__; I was told that Rotary is not religiously affiliated, but I guess that can't be helped here XD

So, that's about all that's happened this month regarding Rotary~

Until next month (when I find out my city!!! and get my blazer, etc.)

General

2009-03-23T08:27:00.005+08:00

So, about a month ago, I was told that I'd be sent to one of the following districts: 3460, 3470, 3490, or 3510. As you can see from this district map, these four districts make up most of the area of the entire island, but it's still better than not knowing anything XD

That also means that I'm not going to be going to Taipei. And I'm actually glad. Taipei, from what I've heard, has a LOT of other exchange students, and my number 1 goal is to get really good at speaking Chinese, and I think the presence of other exchange students would hinder my language learning abilities -__- Also, Taipei is really polluted and is too packed with people for my taste XD I don't like New York, so I don't think I'd like Taipei too much~

Some of the main cities there are Kaohsiung (this is the city I'm hoping for!!), Tainan (where my tutor is from), Taichung, and Hualien, which is on the less populated east-coast. I was also given the e-mail and name of the District Coordinator in Taiwan, who is really nice!! He and I have e-mailed a couple of times.

My district conference in April 4th, and I'm really looking forward to that :) I may find out what city in Taiwan I'm being sent to, but besides that, I'm not really sure what we'll be doing~XD

Yeah~that's pretty much all that's been happening...no information yet on the District, city, host families, or any official acceptance >_> yet. Although, I think it'll be fine :D

Just ranting

2009-02-05T04:49:00.004+08:00

Ok, so ever since I was asigned Taiwan as my destination, a lot of things have happened.

First off, emotional stuff :/

I really wanted to go to Japan, and I wasn't wishing for Japan because I'm obsessed with anime, or love Pocky (because I'm not), even if that's how my whole infatuation may have started five years ago. The thing is, last month I went to my first orientation for Rotary and talked with some of the people who are going to Japan. One girl seems truly interested in the culture and people, while the others that I talked to only seem to have surface knowledge of Japan's animation. It just sort of miffed me (ok, maybe a little more than miffed >_>) when I heard that one of the exchangers going to Japan said he wanted to go to Taiwan to learn Mandarin, and yet said that "Japan's good enough." I've studied Japanese for five years and visited twice, established good Japanese friends, gotten interested in it's history, pop-culture, and yet here's this boy who can't even pronounce 'arigatou,' let alone know anything about how to write in Japanese and who feels indifferent about his destination.

But, I've gotten over it and now I'm just concentrating on how good it'll be to get to go to Taiwan.

Not only will this give me more diversity in the Asian cultures and languages that I know about/speak, but it'll give me some more personal insight into the lives of two vastly different groups of people.

Anyway....well, as I mentioned above, I had my first orientation!! It was so much fun *0* I met the three other people who are going to Taiwan. Two of them also had Japan down as their first choice~haha. Actually, a lot of the people I talked to there wanted to go to Japan, so I guess the competition was tough. And I think another reason I didn't get Japan might have been because I sent my application in on time for my district, but it was quite a bit later than the deadline for the other districts, so people who sent their's in earlier would have gotten higher preference.

Enough looking back though. I found a list titled: "You know you've been in Taiwan too long when..." and it was quite interesting XD some parts even had me laughing out loud (i.e. ...when you think a pack of dogs is cute; seriously, what is that even supposed to mean?).

On another topic, I've really been slacking on my Chinese :( and since I have this stupid class that's required to be taken on two Saturdays, I've missed two weeks worth of my Chinese lesson, which sucks D: I really should practice more.

我叫陳安娜. 我是美國人. 我媽媽,爸爸是老師. 我和我弟弟是學生. 我九月去台灣! 我很快樂!! 今天是2月4日, 所以今天是星期三. 現在是4點47分. 我的朋友是中國人, 不是台灣人. 不過, 我的中文老師是台灣人. 好啦~再見 ^^

Relief

2008-12-15T23:14:00.006+08:00

Ok, so it's official! I've been accepted by Rotary, and they're sending me to........

Taiwan!! :o

Before I was accepted, I kept hoping that I'd be sent to Japan (and only Japan), but now I realize that this trip is going to be more beneficial than a trip to Japan would have been. I already speak conversational Japanese, and I mean, being able to speak English, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese? Do you know how quickly that'd get me into my preferred uni?! I do want to major in Asian studies after all.

And the first orientation for all the outbounds is in about three weeks!! I'm so excited~I can feel everything coming up quickly~~~

Anxiety

2008-11-07T07:14:00.004+08:00

I mailed most of my application yesterday...most of it. I still need to get my doctor to sign the medical form~argh~and I actually need to mail in the form that my principle filled out -_- She was supposed to mail that in, but she just handed it back to me in the envelope that I already wrote the address on and stamped...?_?

Anyways, I hope I met the deadline; I think it was November 15th for my district, but I'm not positive. I'm just really stressed out atm.

I hope everything works out!! At least OBAMA WON!!!
☆★オバマさん、本当におめでとうございます★☆

Hope

2008-10-20T06:03:00.005+08:00

Today I went to my Rotary district's first informational meeting; I was surprised to see so few people! There were only 4 other students. I spoke with the person who held the meeting, and I feel now that I may have a very good chance to be accepted to go to Japan! One other boy wants to go to Japan from my district, but he hasn't studied Japanese, so perhaps that will be an advantage for me...

As for my application, I just have to finish my letter and re-type my doctor's form because his handwriting is so difficult to read. Then I'll be mailing it!! :D

Anticipation

2008-09-16T04:17:00.004+08:00

It's only a matter of a month or a month and a half before I'll be sending my application for Rotary!! I hope they accept meeee~~

日本に行きたいーぃ！！！