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Kalie Reports from Taiwan March 29, 2006 |
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think
Im due for a report...maybe overdue..
Lets
see.....november , decmeber , january , febuary , and now march...
this
is going to be a long report....
First
off I would like to share my school life
School
Life
Im
not going to lie , I am going a little crazy at my
school...unfiforms , straight lines , hair must be up , shirt tucked
in skirts , tie tucked in vest , ..yadayadayada. Everyone must be
identical , creativity and individuality is like comitting a sin...I
guess thats the basics of an all girls catholic school. its
benefiting me...i keep telling myself that...becuase now .....i
cherish my individuality, not that i didnt before , now I just
realize the importance of individuality to me.
Now
the most unforgetable experience so far. At my wonderful
school, one of my teachers "laoshi Amy" goes to several
aborignal tribes in the center of Taiwan about once a month. Her
family has been visiting them for years so she is
very good friends with all of them. Knowing what a great experience
it would be for me to visit the tribes she gladly took me along ,
with the 2 other exchange students at my school. We drove 3 hours
south to Nantou . Once we arrived in Nantou , we stopped in
the middle of a dark alley. Not knowing what was going on , we got
out of the car and switched to another , bigger , more off road car.
Finally after lots of confusion I realized that the tribe was
in the mountaints and her nissan wasnt going to make it. It was
really dark out , so the drive up the mountain was terrifying /
exciting, the "roads" were'nt exactly "roads". Finally
at about 3 in the morning we arrived
. I couldnt see much of the place because it was dark , so we all
went to sleep. When I got up , the scenery was so
amazing . Beautiful mountians , no tall buildings , no cars , no
MOPEDS. Me and the two other excahnge students immediatly went
exploring in our jammies and house slippers. We found 12 pigs
running loose , chickens everywhere ,weird grasshoppers ,
and the neighboorhood dogs. O yea , and a water
buffalo. We freaked out when we saw it , becuase we both had never
seen a water buffalo before , I personally thought it was a
Rhinosaurus. We have spent several unforgettable
weekends at the tribes. Made alot of friends with the local kids. Some
of them had never seen a foreigner before. We made a little boy cry.
He just stared at us in confusion for about 2 minuets , then
starting hysterically crying. By the end of the weekend he loved us. Actually
this happened alot . It was really amazing to of had this
experience, it made me realize how peaceful life can be with
the little simple things. When the kids played games ,
with sticks and plants that stuck to you when you threw them , their
happiness was contagious. And until late hours into the night
the families get together and eat endless amounts of strange
food , sing songs, dance and drink "mountain milk " ( the
aborignal pina colada) , then the next day get up and work on
farming. Simplicity is something I learned from them , and I
hope to live a simple and happy life , just as theirs.
November
In
November , I went on the Tea Farm Tour that Rotary set up for us , and
had my first Thanksgiving in Taiwan....
For
the Tea Farm Tour , Rotary took us exchangees to the middle of
Taiwan. We were broken up into groups and each group stayed with
a family that lived on a farm. So early in the morning , right as the
sun was rising , our "host dad" took us around the farm ,
and let us taste all of the fresh fruits. They were amazing , the
grapes were ginormous , and my favorite , dragon
eye...that is the english translation for the fruit ,so no ,its
not an eyeball of a dragon...its in a small ball shape , and the
fruit is transparent , but tasty . So it looks similar to an
eyeball...Anywho , they were delicous. Rotary set up many activities
for us to do throughout the Tour. My favorite was when we went to the
actual Tea Farm , and were able to see exactly how tea was made. I can
now differenciate teas by the smell. Before I couldnt tell the
difference , but now , Olong tea , red tea , black tea are very
different. My favorite is the Olong tea...natural caffiene...and
Taiwan's specialty.
My
thanksgiving was great. My friend Erin's host mom bought us all of the
neccesities for a thanksgiving dinner ....potatoes ,sweet potatoes ,crannberies
, string beans , apples for apple pie , and so on. She left the
house to ourselves , and me and 15 other exchange students cooked our
own thanksgiving dinner. I helped with the apple pie , and sweet
potatoes ....although I kept myself busy dancing to David Matthews Band in
the living room. The dinner was interesting , since instead of mom ,
aunts and grandma's helping , it was just the kids cooking.
December
....
December
is when my chinese really kicked in...so I was happy. Most of the
month was filled with long school days , and going out on the
weekends. I remember trying to keep myself extremly busy so the
Christmas month would pass by, which it did. I got through my first
Christmas without my family. It wasnt so bad , although I never want
to do it again. Rotary threw us a great Christmas party at a
Resturaunt that a rotarian owned. So we got the place all to our
selves. party!
January...
RYLA....a.k.a.
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. RYLA was a weekend long event. Us
exchange students put on many halarious shows for the audience. One
with a girl from Conneticut dressed up like Pichachu , a taekwondoe
show, a performance of the "walts" from the Euro's , a
comedy about the drunk vikings with Erik from Sweden , Ginni from
Norway and Mel from Belgium , and my favorite an aborginal dance we
all learned. RYLA was on the New year weekend..so at countdown we all
ran up to the roof and saw Taipei 101 shoot off fireworks for the New
Year. GOOD TIMES
Febuary..
Chinese
New Year ....My rotary counsler invited me spend the Chinese New Year
with his family. We stayed in Taipei the first two days at his
side of the families house. I ate alot of food...alot. Then the next
couple of days we drove to the west coast of Taiwan to visit the Mom's
side of the family. We again , ate alot of food. Despite the weight
gain , it was a great experience to spend Chinese New Year the
traditional way.
March...
Things are at
its best right now. Im starting to realize how soon I will be
going home. The reverse culture shock is going to hit hard. I think
Taiwanese culture is about as far from American culture as it gets. So
its going to take some re-adjusting. I hoipe I didnnt maeke alout of
speling ererrs....7 months of bad english grammer can have it affects.
My
family is coming to visit me in May and next week is our
Around Taiwan Tour..... Can't WAIT. I have alot to look forward to!
Pictures
coming soon...i swear!
LOVE YOU GUYS
PEACE
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