Hello people of Earth! Has it been over a month since we last talked? Geez, it feels like just two weeks ago. It's kind of a strange phenomenon here, it feels like the days are creeping by, but yet every time I look at the date it seems to have jumped 5 or 6 days into the future. Three months have came and went in the blink of an eye, thankfully I don't think the memories will fade that fast.
Speaking of thankfully, it was Thanksgiving recently! Despite 98% of people here not having a clue as to what that holiday is (Europeans included), I had a great time. My English teacher and YEP chairman took me out for turkey where I met her American friend and we chatted for hours about important American stuff like history, politics, and how many licks it would actually take to get to the center of a tootsiepop.
Anyway, I had a lot to be thankful for this year. I am very thankful to all of the people who made this experience possible: Rotary for being crazy enough to allow me in their program, sponsors for being crazy enough to fund a 16 year old's year-long excursion, and of course for my parents who were crazy enough to let me go halfway across the world on my own for almost an entire year while I live with complete strangers. I'm also very thankful to my amazing host family who really made me feel like a true Lee, and the other exchange students who I've met on this trip, they have been there for me through the ups and downs of the past three months and have become like family to me. Enough sappiness! Let's move on to some updates, shall we?
School Update: I switched into normal classes in order to become more of a regular student instead of just an Asian Eye Magnet. It worked. In the past two weeks or so, I've made more friends than in the entire two and a half months before, which is nice. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten on the good side of any teachers since my switch because I just sit in the back and read or sleep, but, eh, c'est la vie. They don't get mad at me as long as I make an effort to listen, which I do, until I get a headache, at which point I put my head on my desk and try not to snore too loud.
Chinese Update: My Chinese is not as far as I had expected it to be at this point, but then again I had no experience with this sort of thing before so my guess was just a shot in the dark. My host family and my Taiwanese friends say they are impressed with my progress so that's a good sign. What has surprised me the most about my Chinese is that I find it much easier to read the language to write it, speak it, or even understand other people speaking it. In the beginning, I anticipated that I wouldn't be able to read at all but it has turned out to be the easiest aspect of the language. It's the easiest because each word has a character and in Taiwan that character will always look the same. On the other hand, however, when people speak, almost everyone has their own little way of saying it. There are three main ways to say almost every Chinese word here: the way they say it in Beijing, China, the young Taiwanese way, and the grunt. For example Ch is how you would pronounce the word for Eat in Chinese in China, but here some people say Ts and most old Taiwanese people just mumble something aggressively. A lot of people mix and match which method they like per word so that everybody has his or her own style. I think this might have resulted from not having a set alphabet. Luckily, I am getting really good at understanding the first two methods, but the third still throws me. As for writing, I haven't given it much effort because there aren't many circumstances that I've needed it, and every time I try, I forget how the character looks. It's like what happens when you misspell a word: if you read it, you would understand it, but you just can't seem to picture the word in your mind. Speaking is coming to me, but with difficulty. In Chinese everything is based on tones. If you speak without the tones, absolutely no one will understand you except-and this is strange but true-for another foreigners.
After school update. Everyday after school I go to a gym with my good German friend Julian, then I go home and eat dinner and go back to the same area to do karate. It's pretty taxing considering that I have to ride my bike for 90 minutes everyday, but it's better than sitting around being bored. I can't really hang out with my Taiwanese friends because they don't get out of school until 9:30.
Family update. They are the best family I could hope for, very nice and very cool. I will switch in February and only have two host families this year because unfortunately my Danish friend Jonas got sent home :(.
Stuff I have to do update. I have to give two speeches within three weeks, the first is next weekend and it's three minutes about whatever I want to talk about, and the second one is about my family, friends, my country and culture: it's thirty minutes long. Both are in Chinese.
Overal exchange update: I'm having a great time with the exchange kids, I'm learning a lot about the language and culture, I'm making Taiwanese friends, and I'm loving the experience. I've got a lot to do, most of which is stressful but hopefully it will help me in the future.
I Have a Homework Assignment for You! I need lots of pictures for my 30 minute speech Powerpoint so if you think you have any good pictures to send me don't hesitate! It could be of you and your family (if I know you), pictures of you and me, of my family, of great places in the country, you eating at McDonalds (for the stereotype), you refusing to eat at McDonald's (to go against the stereotype), anything that you think would be helpful! The deadline for the speech is January 4th. My email is Taiwantom33@gmail.com. The more pictures the merrier, thank you!
That's all for now everybody! I'm Tom Richter and this is my blog. Miss you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment