Hmm alrighty, now we're on Tuesday...

Tuesday, as compared to the rest of my time here, was mostly uneventful or maybe better worded as- uninteresting.

Ali and I made the hour and a half long trek to my school by bus, MRT, and other bus.  When we got there I was in pure awe, too shocked to take a picture, too nervous to breathe steadily.  My school is absolutely enormous.  3 buildings, each as large as MCS, make up the entire campus.  It was all sort of a blur from there.  Ali and I went to the office of student affairs, met with 3 of my teachers and what I think is my principal to discuss my being there (which was actually them discussing- me listening in utter confusion), and then my three teachers introduced themselves to me by English name, and showed Ali and I around the school.  Fiona is the one who speaks the most english. She explained to me that she will be my counselor for this year.  My teachers showed me the gymnasium/auditorium first, which at the time had the entire school inside for a special presentation. Following that was the "playground" which was a combination of a track, various athletic courts, and what looked like an outdoor stage. Lastly, they showed us the library which is one big building, with the main part of it on the third floor; which is where Fiona's office is. She is very sweet. She told me if I need anything, I can get a hold of her.

After that was really nothing important.  We said our goodbyes and Ali and I began the long trek home.  When we got back, Ali went to work. I was more than happy to have the house to myself. I cranked the AC in my room, took a shower and went to sleep. (mind you this was at like 2 in the afternoon) I slept until 8 when Ali woke me up to give me dinner and to go with her to get Joy so we could all go grocery shopping together. Again, we finished, went home, nightly routine, and alas: lovely bed :-P

Okay, so Monday...

In the morning, after skipping breakfast (for some reason I never feel very hungry here-Ali makes me eat lunch and dinner :-P) I went down the stairs of our apartment building with home pa. There we met up with Robert. (remember him?)  Together Robert and I waited for a car driven by his father to come and pick us up.  In the car,  Robert told me that we were on our way to pick Jeffrey up from school; that he would be going to the National Palace Museum with us.  Robert's dad is very nice. He tried to speak as much English as he could to me which was very nice. He told me that the radio station we were listening to was 107.00 and that it was a very good radio station that has been around for many years.  It is actually an English speaking radio station, and it just so happens that when we were in the car, it was theme hour. Today's theme- color, the DJ would play song requests that only had something to do with color. Whether the song or band name had color in it, he'd play it. I heard "Red, Red Wine" by UB40 and "Purple Rain" by Prince. HA. We got Jeffrey from school and continued on our 40 minutes drive to the museum. Robert's dad told me that The National Palace Museum holds all Chinese treasures, many Chinese people go there to see everything. He was totally right. He parked the car, bought our tickets, took a group picture of us outside, and left.  

Before we went in the museum, Jeffrey apologized to me for not introducing himself to me the night before. He said "I want to say sorry for not telling you who I am last night, there were too many people around, and I do not like my English; let's start again. My name is Jeffrey." How sweet is that? Jeffrey, Robert, and I spent about 2 hours in the museum before I was absolutely bored out of my skull. We then, spent another hour there, walking around. We saw everything, big stone statues of buddah, ancient ink paintings, pottery, jade and bone carvings, and almost anything else you can think of. 

Then, we caught a bus to take us to the National Science Museum which was about 20 minutes away. The Museum is huge, 7 floors high, it takes up almost an entire block. We bought tickets and had lunch there. After lunch we went to the top floor of the museum, which was a chocolate art exhibit.  Everything was beautiful, there were so many gorgeous, detailed chocolate sculptures of everything that you can imagine.  We spent about an hour there. It was really amazing to see. There were also little fun things to read, like your chocolate horoscope, and what kind of chocolate are you?  We had a lot of fun in there.

After that we walked around and played in the rest of the museum, which was more of a Science/Discovery center type of deal... That was a blast. At four, Robert's dad came to pick us up, and Lydia was in the backseat of the car waiting for us :-)  She asked me if I had fun today and what we did.  She then told me that we would go to the night market, but first they had to go to the dentist.  

It only took about 30 minutes from the time we walked in the dentist's office for Lydia and Robert's teeth to be cleaned and we were on our way. We walked to Shilin to go to the night market, and at about 7:30 we caught the MRT home.  When we got to Shipai, we quickly went to 7-11 to grab a sandwich for dinner and caught then next bus home. Robert and Lydia were the first to get off, it was a quick goodbye to them. Since Jeffrey lives in the same building as me, we walked home together.  

After the short elevator trip up to the third floor of the apartment building (where my family lives) Jeffrey got off with me to make sure that I got in okay. Of course I had troubles with unlocking the door (like always, right?) But of course it had to happen this time :-P EMBARRASSING- whatever haha. Eventually I got inside, we said goodnight, then I started my nighty routine and went to sleep.

:-)

Okay, so I have some catching up to do...

Sunday was by far one of my favorite days in Taipei! I told you all that I was going to Danshui with some friends of my family.  It turned into this: WE WENT ALL OVER THE IMMENSE CITY THAT IS TAIPEI! Ali taught me how to use the bus here, which is surprisingly complicated.  In Taiwan they have this thing called an easy card, which is kind of like a credit card in the way that it looks, but it has a sensor inside so you don't swipe it you just hold it against a sensor pad that every bus, MRT station, and 7-11 has. :-P Yes there are 7-11s here. They are on almost every corner, and are used very frequently because of their very cheap prices.  

Anyway, so you get on the bus, and depending on where you need to go and where you currently are, there could be about 6 or 7 different busses to take just from your one stop.  When you get on you have to look at the sign that hangs right above the driver, it tells you whether to pay when you get on, when you are about to get off, or both.  Then most likely you get off at the MRT station.  When we got to the MRT station, Ali introduced me to Jonathan (16) and his younger brother. Ali left and Jonathan, his brother, and I got on the MRT and headed to the C.K.S. Memorial Station which is where we met Jonathan's friend, Flora; who is probably Jonathan's age, and speaks English a lot better than him.  Together we went to the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial and the National Concert Hall, both absolutely stunning.  After about 3 hours and about 150 pictures, we left and went to get something to drink. We actually went to 7-11 and got slurpees :-P We then headed back to the MRT.  

We rode the MRT to Taipei Main Station, and after turning a few short corners and playing chicken with public transit busses to cross the street we arrived at Taipei 101. The second largest building in the world. It is absolutely gigantic.  We did not go up into 101 however, because it costs money to go all the way to the top.  (Ali told me that she will take me to the top of it someday.)  Instead we went into the extension of the building, which is actually like a mall :-P  Flora brought me downstairs to show me one of her favorite drinks, a Taiwanese specialty with a new age twist.  It was pearl milk tea (much more tea than milk) with tapioca and coconut jelly. It was SO good.  After walking around the mall for about an hour, we decided to go meet up with some of Flora's friends for lunch. 

I can't tell you exactly where we got off the MRT because honestly, I have no clue myself.   We walked down crowded streets, sketchy alleys, and through markets galore.  We went to a restaurant which literally translated means "Fat Boss", where we met three boys; Flora's friends.  They liked me right from the get go,  I could tell because they couldn't stop asking me questions all through lunch.   Andy, one of the boys, even drew pictures to show me what the items were on the menu-- TOO funny.  I can't remember the other boys' names, but I'm sure it will come to me.  Flora asked me if I wanted something to drink (they do not usually sell drinks in Taiwanese restaurants) and I told her that I could really use some water; unaware that she would excuse herself from her seat, go down to the corner and buy me a bottle of water from the 7-11.  She is such a sweetheart, she also bought me a package of instant beef noodle to bring home with me.  She said it is one of her favorite things to eat.  After a lunch of rice and beef, we went to a large department store. Here is where we had probably the most fun.

The boys and Flora thought it would be funny if I asked some of the staff who worked at the store questions in English, because they would not understand.  Here is what we did: In almost every section, there are 2-3 employees to assist shoppers.  I went up to them with a piece of clothing in hand saying "Do you think this will look good on me?" or "How much does this cost?", and each time; the person I asked looked so completely puzzled.  I could hear my new group of friends laughing as they watched me through a clothes rack in the section next to the one I was in.  We repeated this about 8 or maybe even 9 times before we decided to stop. :-P While we were in the store, between picking on its employees, we looked at stuffed animals (oddly popular with people of all ages and gender here) and we tested out the large array of musical instruments.  I picked up a guitar and played "Good Riddance", and was shocked to find that one of the boys could recognize the song I was playing.  He then played the same tune on a piano sitting right next to me. Not gonna lie, it was pretty awesome.  

As we headed outside the store, large crowds were formed on the street (bigger than normal I should say.)  Flora exclaimed and darted towards a large platform in the middle of the crowd.  Andy explained to me that there was a surprise concert going on.  I got to see a famous Taiwanese singer on only my second day in the country- SAWEET!  When she was done performing, Flora and I rushed to the end of the stage where she was exiting and snapped a few quick pictures.  We all got on the MRT and chatted all along the 40 minutes ride to Danshui. When we arrived, Andy explained to me that we would be going to old street, which is the Danshui equivalent of a night market.  We went to a bunch of cute little shops, looking at stuffed animals, cell phone charms, and played that stupid game where you try to catch a fish in the stupid little fragile net- which honestly, I am terrible at. :-P Andy then made me try all of his favorite street foods. Soft black egg- which is famous from Danshui, it tastes sort of like a regular egg, but also some how different.  It comes in a plastic package, and when you first look at it and hold it, it kind of feels like a leathery black or dark brown stress ball. Then he showed me something that does not translate but it is made of potatoes, but looks and has the consistency of a donut hole.  Then there was the legendary tall ice cream, you can choose from 12cm to 32 cm high.  He got the 32cm one, I got 12. :-P Ice cream here, doesn't taste like ice cream in America, but it is still very good.  Danshui is a very small little town on the river, with a beautiful sunset- which we were able to see before we left.  

One last MRT ride back to Shipai- where Andy and I both got off to go home. He told me that he does not live far from the MRT station.  I gave hugs to Flora and Jonathan as I exited the train and Anthony before we parted ways at the station. I went to the bus stop, where Ali and Joy picked me up on their way to drop Joy off at cram-school (which is like a tutoring center type of deal-almost everyone here goes to one.)

Ali dropped me off at home before bringing Joy the rest of the way- where after about 20 minutes of not being able to open the door- home pa showed up, let me in, and gave me dinner- a hot dog. :-P Then I got in the shower.  When I got out of the shower, I quickly got on my computer and uploaded my pictures to Facebook and hoped to be able to talk to some friends on Skype. Ali got home shortly after I got out of the shower. At about 8:30 almost the whole family poured in. My home pa has 7 other brothers and sisters, two of his sisters came to our apartment, followed by their four kids- Robert and Lydia, who are brother and sister, both speak english and Lydia's english is amazing- then there was Jeffrey, their cousin. He was too nervous to introduce himself - ohh and his sister Sophie, it looks like she may have downs but I am not totally sure- she is adorable.  Jeffrey and his family live on the seventh floor of our apartment building. Later came another sister of home pa, who's family lives right next door.  I do not remember her name- by this time I was so tired that I was falling asleep on the couch that I was sitting on.  She has two kids- again names unknown- they are a boy of 12 and a little girl who is 8.  She was very very nice. She told me that if I ever needed anything to let her know, that she could also be like another mom while I was here. She also offered that I could come over and play the wii with them whenever I wanted.  

At around 10 my host mom finally let me go to bed, she could see me dozing off while I was sitting up.

And that was Sunday :-)

Too much happened today to remember it all. I had a lot of fun. I will try and update this tomorrow, I am far too tired to do anything now.

Night Market Fun

The night market last night was absolutely amazing. It is an entire block completely jam packed with small stores, vendors, games (a lot like carnival games), street food, fresh fruit and vegetables, "snow ice" shops, and always many people.  

Ali and I left our house at around 9:30 to go get Joy.  We picked her up just about 2 miles down the road from our house.  We then drove maybe 15 miles to the night market.  We parked in a parking lot full of cars (I thought that it was insane that we actually found a place to park) and walked the rest of the way. As we walked closer to the main drag, this awful smell hit me. Like sewage and hot garbage juice, it was absolutely awful.  I asked Joy what the smell was and I was half right... she told me that it was the "garbage cars", they only come out at night and when they drive by it fills the air with that terrible stink. As soon as we got to the proper street, there it was- one of the most popular pieces of Taiwanese street eats (in America anyway); BUBBLE TEA.  Ali told me that this store had just opened so everything was buy one get one free. The man let us try some free samples, Ali told me that it was honey and lemon flavored: and it was so good. While we were walking down the crowded streets Ali and Joy both grabbed my hands, as natural as could be, just so we could stay together and no one would get lost.

We crossed the hectic street to get closer to the food stands and oh my goodness: I thought we were going to die. If I had crossed a street in America the way we crossed that street last night, I would have gotten killed. The cars here are pretty good at watching out for pedestrians however, the motorcycles and scooters that make up most of the traffic are not.  That is probably due to the fact that most of the people who drive them are very young.  Ali told me that in Taiwan you have to be 20 years old to drive a car and only 18 to drive a motorcycle.  She thought it was crazy that I was allowed to drive in America. :-P

The other side of the street had many different foods that are popular to night markets throughout Taiwan.  There were absolutely IMMENSE sausage type thing, Joy said that they are home pa's favorite. (Oh, that is what we all call my host father. He told us he did not want to come to the night market because there were too many people- I get where he is coming from :-P) Next to that was what looked a lot like the typical american version of pork friend rice, a dumpling stand that let you choose what fillings to put in the dumpling, drink stands that looked almost like smoothies, and then what we got: Fried Chicken.  Now I know what you all are thinking- "Chelsea, you are in Taiwan, a food capitol of the world; and you choose fried chicken?"- No, Ali and Joy told me it was one of their favorite things to eat there. I quickly found out why.  It is not like American fried chicken.  You can actually decipher chicken from breading, and it is not very greasy.  Ali and I split a piece of spicy chicken, which does the name justice, and Joy got plain.  It was absolutely delicious.  

I walked through the market with chicken in one hand, camera in the other. It was so amazing to see this many people in one place, for something that happens every night.  You can find anything at the night market- and all for very cheap.  Ali and Joy showed me this special restaurant (they call anything that is out of the ordinary or very nice, special) called "Modern Toilet". One of the stranger, but more interesting places I have seen in Taipei.  It is a novelty restaurant, with toilets as chairs with glittery lids; and they shape their food like- well, like poop. I couldn't help but laugh. Ali told me that someday her, home pa, and Joy would bring me there to eat.  

Eventually we made our way to a very colorful little stand. Again it was special. a man sitting in front of the stand was bending beautifully colored wires into cute little key chains, and statue figures.  Ali let Joy and I pick out the shape we wanted and we got key chains made with our name on them.

After walking around for about another hour we went to a restaurant that served what Ali and Joy call "snow ice".  We shared coffee, and green tea flavored ice with red beans on the side- beans are eaten with sweet things here.  It was so good, and worth the 15 minute wait in line. Ali says that the place we went to is the best place to get snow ice in Taipei.  It has been around since she was very young.  

We returned to the street lined with food to pick home pa up some fried chicken and dumplings before we began our hike back to the parking lot- it was almost midnight.  On our way to the car, Joy had a cockroach scamper across here foot. She shrieked- Ali and I, laughed. :-)

We went home, where home pa was watching t.v. (a lot of Taiwanese television is in English).  He was happy to see us and told Joy and I that he liked our key rings.  Joy and I got in the shower, I let her go first seeing as how she has school today, and we went to bed. I gave a short "wan an" to home ma and home pa first, they were excited that I remembered how they taught me to say goodnight.  

Today I will be headed to Danshui with Ali; where two of home pa's, friend's, sons will be showing me around the city.  I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Goodbye America: Ni hao Taiwan

Hello Everyone,

After about 29 hours of travel, meeting many new people, a shower, a good nights sleep and almost a full day in Taiwan; here I am.

I don't want to bore anyone with talks about my flights: they were long, tedious and very, VERY boring.  Some highlights though: On my way to Washington DC- I'll admit I was crying like a baby, my stewardess was very nice. She offered me a box of tissues and asked me what was wrong. When I told her that I was going away from home for nearly a year all she could say was "oh my god." While on my way to San Francisco I met a boy named Derrick who was also going to Taiwan. Funny thing actually, I was sitting next to him waiting to board our flight and I saw his rotary patch on his blazer. I followed that glance with a simple "Where are you headed?" It was nice to have someone else with me. It was very relieving to have someone who understood just what I was going through. On that flight I sat next to the cutest little girl and her father.  We watched "Shrek" on the plane and she giggled and laughed through the whole thing, and after it was over we watched "High School Musical 3" on her dvd player: she let me have one of her ear buds. :-P When her battery died, we watched "Up" on my laptop; it was so adorable.  After landing in San Fran; Derrick, another girl exchange student who's name currently escapes me, and I all headed towards our next gate.  There we found about 14 other students from America who were all going to Taiwan.  Most of them were from Florida and California, with a few from Pennsylvania, and of course New York.  Together we boarded the plane and headed out of the country.  After 10 LONG hours on the plane we finally arrived in Narita, Tokyo, Japan.  We spent a short time fooling around and taking pictures before we headed to our gate.  Who can guess where we went as soon as we got to our gate? We BOOKED IT to the closest bathroom; you start to feel gross after a 10hour plane ride.  The first think I noticed was the squatty potty! But I was too afraid to use it :-P We had a short time in the waiting area and then we boarded our plane. I was so excited that I got to see Mt. Fuji on our way to Taipei.  YES the real Mt. Fuji, not the Japanese restaurant next to Bed Bath & Beyond :-P

Arriving in Taipei brought a crazy flow of emotions. I was nervous, scared, happy, excited, and most of all, TIRED.  Security and Immigration were a breeze to get through. Baggage claim was of course the thing that took the longest amount of time.  After all of us American exchange students got their bags (yes we did wait for everyone) we headed out our first set of exit doors to head into the lobby.  What a sight when we got there! All of our host parents and a lot of Rotary members filled the airpot lobby smiling and laughing, holding beautifully decorated signs with our names on them :-D  It was very exciting. I searched the crowd for my name on a sign and there they were: my host family.  Ali: my host mom who actually wants me to call her mom, my host dad whose name I do not know: I am supposed to call him dad,  and Joy: my super sweet host sister of 15 who is the only person in my family who speaks enough english to hold a full conversation with me.

We exchanged hugs, took pictures, and talked with a few other host families. I met a boy from Australia who has already been here for a month. He told me that he was very excited to finally see some other exchange students.

After the greetings we grabbed my bags and headed for the parking lot. My host dad helped me put my bags in the car and drove all of us the 40 minute route home.  When we arrived at our apartment building, strange scents filled my nose; the intense humidity started to create droplets of sweat on my forehead; my eyes squinted as I focused on the chinese symbols written on the walls. Here I was: home. The apartment is small, like most in Taipei are; but it is very cute.  After putting my bags in my new room Joy and Ali showed me how to use the shower. Interestingly enough, the shower here is pretty much a room. The bathroom is a semi small room, with a toilet (that you are not allowed to flush anything down but your actual "business"), a sink, a couple buckets for bathing water, and a shower head that is hooked up to a hose that stands about two feet off the ground.  There is nothing that separates the shower from the rest of the bathroom so, when you are taking a shower, the whole bathroom acts kind of like one big shower.

I took my shower first (we take showers at night) and then began unpacking my things.  My host mom told me if I needed anything at all to just tell her and she would help me.  After about an hour of unpacking, she told me that it would be good for me to go to bed, that we would be leaving at 9:30 to go to her shop. So I stopped unpacking, leaving it for the next day and got myself ready for bed.  Joy and I brushed our teeth together and we all said goodnight.  I started to watch "Juno", because I wasn't able to sleep yet, but soon after I went to bed.



I woke up at around 7:30 this morning, unable to go back to sleep. I went to the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and then resumed unpacking.  At 9:30 Ali and I headed to her shop. On the way she picked us up breakfast and coffee.  We drove maybe 10 miles to her store.  When we arrived, I soon discovered that she owns a paper craft store; it looks almost like a scrap booking supply store.  There she sat me down at a table, unpacked my coffee and showed me all the things that she had bought for breakfast.  My choice was a small breakfast sandwich: not a typical one though. I was a bread bun (almost like a hamburger bun) with egg, ham, lettuce, and PEANUT BUTTER on it! The internet lies- there is peanut butter in Taiwan- thank heavens.  after I ate breakfast she showed me around the shop and showed me some of the craft instruction books that she had published.  After about an hour at the shop, Ann- my host mom's best friend who lives in California, came into the store.  Ann had breakfast with my mom and talked to me in English.  She is a very nice lady, who speaks English well. She helped Ali tell me the rules of the house, show me how to use my new cell phone, describe the metro and bus maps, and eventually just asked me how I was :-)  At around 1 we all ordered lunch. Ali ordered me some kind of beef and rice that was very very good. After lunch, we got into the car and headed down the road to a local temple. Ann explained to me that this month, and this day in particular is very significant in their religion.  It is a time when ghosts are supposed to be leaving them.  Ann says it is sort of like Halloween.  We arrived at the temple, which was extremely gorgeous; I studied the detail of the paintings and artwork inside, and I watched Ali and Ann bow to these dragon statues that were holding burning incense. After temple, we went back to the store to drop Ann off and Ali and I headed back to the apartment.

In a little while Joy will be out of school and I will get to spend some time with her. Tonight, we are all going to the night market, which is full of shopping galore! I am so excited!! Tomorrow I am supposed to go to Danshui with the sons of one of Ali's friends who are 16 and 14.  It is sure to be a lot of fun.

Let's Get It Started

Well here I am, 81 hours and 8 minutes until my departure time.  My psyche is going bipolar on me. Part of me is in a whirlwind of excitement, ready to go out into the world on my own new adventure; and the other part of me is in a complete downpour of tears and affliction over leaving my friends and family behind. What to feel, what to feel? Friday night brought a painful goodbye to a great deal of my friends, some having already gone. :-(  Saturday brought even more grief as I bid farewell to a great deal of my family, and my extended family of friends at interskate. I know that I should be ecstatic, I should be jumping up and down with joy at the thought of going on this amazing trip, and leaving in only a few short days; but I can not help but think that I am ill-prepared.

On a lighter note, I recieved my itinerary today. Oh boy: 22 hours of flying :-P
I depart from Binghamton Airport, at 5:50am. Then it's a 1hour and 30minute flight to Washington Dulles Airport for a 1hr, 35minute long layover and a connection flight to San Francisco lasting 5 hours and 54 minutes. When I get to SanFran, I have 1 hour and 50 minutes to find my gate and board my flight to Narita Tokyo, JAPAN.  A 15 HOUR FLIGHT! but because of the time difference, it looks a lot shorter.  After that it is a 1 hour 40 minute break and straight to Taipei!!! I will arrive on Friday at 8:45 pm, their time; Saturday 8:45am, our time.

Hopefully I will get to see everyone that I need to before I depart, so I can say my goodbyes.

<3