5 Month Report!

Five Months. I still cannot believe I have actually been living in Taiwan for five months. My exchange has officially passed the halfway mark, and I have such mixed feelings about this! I am happy because I actually made it this long and I do miss my family very much and cannot wait to see them. However, it is also quite sad to think about the fact that I will be home in five months. This amazing adventure will eventually come to an end. I remind myself this everyday. That each minute is precious and I should make the most of it! This month has been yet another incredible one. Finally, I got my winter vacation! I was actually a little bit worried because as much as I love Kinmen there isn't a whole lot to do here. I didn't know how it would be with my host family either because we had never spent long periods of time together. But it turned out wonderfully! My Chinese teacher offered Naima and I calligraphy lessons, my host brothers and I played lots of Mario bros, I went out with my classmates (not often because they still have cram school and studying), and the Rotary Club kept us busy. In mid January I went to Taipei for the second inbound orientation and a culture class. For the most part we listened to the Rotarians talk about safety and rules for the Eastern Taiwan trip. Then we had to get up and talk about the first half of our year in Taiwan. For the culture class we learned Chinese calligraphy. It was so beautiful, and so much harder than it looked! We wrote on the red paper that is hung outside of doors for Chinese New Year. The Chinese characters often symbolize the welcoming of spring, or good wishes for the new year. Although most of the exchange students red paper was not the most beautiful, we still had fun with it. In Taipei we also got to go out with the other exchange students which is always memorable. Back in Kinmen the weather is amazing so I have been spending almost everyday outside. I went biking with Naima out into the countryside and we found this old traditional village to walk through. My host brothers also took me to Zhongshan Lin, a biking park with trails. I went into Jincheng with a couple of my classmates where i tried coconut nai cha for the first time. It's times like these that make my exchange special. I feel so fortunate to have these people in my life in this beautiful place. The five unbelievable months I have been here have been life changing. I feel so lucky to still have five more to go!

Jincheng

New Word! Penguin

企鵝
Qì'é

Halfway

As I approach the halfway mark in my exchange, I decided to write a little Chinese for my blog.

時間過得真快，一轉眼，我在金門已經待了將近五個月的時間了。金門就像一個大家庭，也是學習中文的好地方。在這樣一個小島上，不需要花太多的時間就能感受到它像家一樣的溫暖，因為這裡的人們都非常友善。回想起我剛到這個小島時，心裡充滿了害怕。我害怕因為自己完全不會說中文，而沒有辦法結交新朋友。尤其難熬的時間是假日，每當假日來到，我就特別想念我的家人。但是，我的接待家庭和同學們都非常的親切和友善，每一天，他們都熱心的教我很多中文。有三個月的時間，我幾乎忘了想念美國。
我在這裡的前半年，認識了很多很多的朋友，也經歷了許多的冒險和體驗。我期待在接下來的半年裡，可以學到更多，體驗更多，我相信這一年的交換學生生活，將永遠在我心裡留下最美好也最難忘的回憶。

Jincheng

I took the day to explore my city

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.