4 Month Report

December is finally coming to an end and as much as I hate to see time fly by so quickly, i'm happy. This month was probably the most difficult for me so far. Being away from my family during Christmas was heartbreaking. This is the first of sixteen years that I have not been with them during the holidays and I knew it would not be the highest point of my exchange. However, the month of December itself was absolutely incredible. Aside from Christmas I have had many exciting adventures in the past thirty days. I was able to go on a class trip to Southern Taiwan, travel to Taipei again with the Kinmen Senior High School Interact Club, sing with my class in an English song competition, and much more. I have also been able to practice my Chinese much more in my new home. My new host family includes a six year old boy who is constantly speaking Chinese with me. We watch little kid television shows in Chinese like Sponge Bob which helps so much. Because I already know the dialogue from watching the shows in America it is a great way to learn new words and phrases. I think my new host family is really motivated to help me learn Chinese which makes it a wonderful environment to be in. Although I am becoming more comfortable in my new home, Christmas was still a very lonely time. I skyped with parents, but that was it. Afterwards it was just a normal day in Taiwan. I went to school, came home, did my homework, and went to bed. What helped the most during Christmas was definitely the Christmas party in Taipei. Being around the other exchange students who were going through the same thing was comforting. We had our own celebration, I was with my second family. It truly is amazing how tightly bonds are between people sharing the same experience. I was so grateful for all the other exchange students this month. We made it through the hard part of exchange. Now that things are back to normal i'm much happier. I still love my island and my classmates and my life as an exchange student. I am so excited to see what new adventures await me this January!

Taipei!

This month I went to Taipei with the interact club at my high school! We went to an amusement park on the first day as well as a night market. The next day we went to the airport to meet with the Japanese interact club. It was really strange not being the only one that didn't understand what was being said. I was told it was at least an hour before any interaction took place. At night the other exchange student from kinmen and I went to the district Christmas party with all the other exchange students. It was a lot of fun with a sad ending because we had to say goodbye to the Australians. I'm so thankful that they were a part of my life and will miss them terribly. Overall a great weekend in Taipei!

Southern Taiwan

I went on a class graduation trip to Kaohsiung and Tainan! We had a great time at an amusement park and sitting on the beach.

Friends from Germany

3 Month Report 我愛台灣!

So I have officially completed three months in Taiwan! This past month has been absolutely crazy. For the most part it has consisted of school and well, more school. However at school I participated in a class cheerleading competition! It was fantastic, and a little bit weird. Being the only tall, blonde girl out there made me stick out quite a bit. I'm also in the interact club here at school. On Kinmen Sports Day we danced Gangnam style in front of half the island! It certainly has been an interesting month for me! This month was also the second culture class in Taipei with all the other exchange students. I was really happy to see everyone again. They're all so nice, and always include us exchange students from Kinmen. It was really nice to get off the island for a few days. We had to set up a table at a culture fair where we would present our country to the 2012/2013 outbounds. We had a great time with it, and I made some friends! (I got to present Australia a couple times!) In addition to the culture fair with the other exchange students, I also went on a trip with the other exchange student living on Kinmen with me. We travelled with her host family for a day trip in Neiwan, a Hakka Village about and hour and a half outside of Taipei. It was beautiful! We were about to eat traditional Hakka food and see a famous cartoonists' old house. It had been turned into a museum. This town is actually up in the mountains so we had an amazing view! Mainland Taiwan was awesome, and I am really glad we were able to go after Thanksgiving when everyone is a bit homesick. Being around so many other foreigners was really comforting. For me Thanksgiving on Kinmen was actually very nice. The American teachers here invited me to celebrate with them and all the other foreigners on the island. We ended up having an actual Thanksgiving. It was wonderful but I still greatly missed my family. I haven't actually had much homesickness during my exchange, but the holidays really brought it out. Overall this month has been awesome. Chinese is still hard, but I actually feel like i'm understanding more and more. The real trouble is with the tones, I have really hard time identifying them when others are speaking to me. When I incorrectly use them it can change the entire meaning of the sentence! However, I have learned a lot since i've been here and the more I listen to the language around me the more familiar it becomes. I'm also changing my host family this week! I have mixed feeling about this. Right when I really feel comfortable in a place, it's time to move. But it's another exciting adventure! I'm loving my time here in Taiwan. I have learned so much about myself in the past three months and I hope to continue growing. Heres to seven or eight more wonderful months!

Neiwan, Traditional Hakka Village

We took a bus and two trains up into the mountains to spend a day in the beautiful town of Neiwan.

Back to Taipei!

This month we had a culture fair with all the other exchange students in district 3480! I <3 exchange students!

美麗的世界 So Beautiful!