7 Month Report

Another month has passed brining me even closer to my departure date. Each month I spend here just makes me fall even more in love with this beautiful country. Which will make going home even harder. This month I changed host families again. My new family actually owns a restaurant here in kinmen. They have many wedding celebrations and funeral dinners here. It has been a really good opportunity for me to practice my Chinese.I often get to help out with simple tasks. All of the employees at the restaurant talk to me and tell me how to say different things in Chinese. My younger host sister, Kitty, will be going to Italy next year on exchange. She is a first year student at the vocational school (her schedule isn't very busy) so we have become really good friends. She helps me with my Chinese and I help her with her English. My host family has also been teaching me how to cook. School has been really good too. I feel like I've become much more involved at my school. I like how the students in each class become so close. Which makes sense because they spend so much time together. I can see a really big difference in school here compared to American high school. It may just be the language barrier, but I don't notice any form of bullying or harassment in school here in Taiwan. This month I also had a trip to Taipei where we went to the National Palace Museum. We learned about many different bronze, ceramic, and jade pieces. In Taiwan you often see older women wearing a jade bracelet on there hand for protection. Jade is really important in Chinese culture. It has been another amazing as well as relaxing month. This place feels like home. All I can think is I don't want this experience to end!