This Past Month

Blog Entry: March Begins

Wow… a month since I last blogged?! Holy moley, the time flies!!

During February I returned to school and focused on my Taiwanese schoolwork. I’m doing the homework and most tests for English and Math, which are the only two subjects I can actually understand (although some of the math is more advanced than I have seen, which makes it more difficult). I bought the textbooks and received the workbooks for each (free thanks to my homeroom teacher’s negotiation skills), and have been doing everything I can understand. Other classes are far more difficult, in part due to my limited vocabulary and in part to the teachers’ styles. My conversational vocabulary is decent (I’ve been told on multiple occasions that I speak better than some English teachers whom have been living here for 3 years), but more advanced terminology such as Chemistry, Biology, Physics, or Geography terminology escapes me. Then there is the issue of how the teachers teach. This, as one might expect, varies widely. On one hand we have the Geography teacher, who often seems almost as if she is auditioning to be an auctioneer because she speaks so fast; this makes it quite difficult for me to keep up, since I can’t process what she says (when I understand the words) until several seconds after she has said it, by which time she has already moved on. On the other we have the Chemistry teacher, whose voice has a somniferous effect on me.

Since March began, I’ve been pretty darn busy. I went to Taipei on the 3^rd and 4^th for district activities. Saturday the 3^rd was having studio portraits taken, which was very fun for me. For the first/standard set, I wore black dress pants with my red chipao, and one of the ladies who worked there did my hair and makeup for me. My hair was up, with a hairpin/chopstick through it. The second set, aka personal pictures, was even more fun. I wore my blue summery dress with my black high heels and my hair down. I got to do a couple of group pictures during this set, which was also quite fun.

The following weekend was equally eventful. On Saturday the 10^th, I began Aboriginal Dance class with the other exchange students in Hualien and Yuli. I was enrolled in this class during regular school during the fall semester, so I was the only one with some prior experience in this activity. I tried to be helpful, but may have been a little obnoxious about it. I will aim to be a bit more constructive tomorrow.

The 11^th was the day of my move to my third family. I did some last-minute packing, marveled at how many things I have now, then packed them up into my first family’s car. My first host parents drove me to my new house, and helped me take everything inside. I got to know my family a little better. My host father’s Rotary name is Sand (I actually have no idea what he does), mother is Apple (she’s from the mainland), elder little brother is Willy (age 10), and youngest brother is Chuen (age 8). Willy attends an English class after his regular classes, so his English is arguably the best. Chuen is a bit overweight but more willing to play active games like tag. I spent some time playing with my brothers, and then some drinking tea with all 4 parents. That evening, my family hosted a Rotary barbecue, so my entire club was in my house. Thus, I got to share my first meal with my new family with many people I already know pretty well. I also got to explore my house a bit, and it’s huge!! We have a huge yard around our spacious house, which has 3 floors. The bottom floor is for us, and the upper two are the beautiful rooms for the B&B my host mother runs here. (There are also little huts outside for those more inclined towards camping.) This house has amazing views, and my family is wonderful. I think I’m gonna like it here. (Yes, that was an Annie reference.)

Today, we had tests in my school. I participated in the English test (which went well) and the Math test (which went horribly because it covered things from last semester, when I was not paying attention). Tomorrow I will have Aboriginal Dance class again and my host father will return from his trip to Japan (he went to play golf). Sunday, we will all go to the hot springs together.