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.