Two Months Update

I haven't posted here in a while, so I guess it's high time for an update.  In a few days, I will have been in Taiwan for two months.  And yes, the mandatory "it has passed so quickly" line is due here.  And the past two months have passed extremely quickly, but at the same time I feel like I have been here for so long...  I think I have mentioned this conflicted time-sense in a previous post, so I'll just say that it's weird and move on.

I admit that when I think of how much time has already passed, I am a bit distressed by how little Chinese I have learned.  While I know I have learned a lot, both spoken and written, I feel that if I continue at this rate for the remainder of the year, I will not be fluent by the end.  But I try not to dwell on this too much, and to just launch myself into learning more and more each day.  

Today, for example, I studied the Mandarin Phonetic System, often referred to as "bo po mo fo".  It is kind of like a Mandarin alphabet, and is useful for learning pronunciation.  It is also what Chinese speakers use to type.  Below you can see what the alphabet looks like.

So not only will I learn the characters assigned to each Mandarin word, I will also learn a new alphabet!  However, I suspect learning the new alphabet will take less than a month, while learning the characters will be an ongoing process throughout the year.

After being here for two months, I am really starting to miss some things from Northfield.  One thing I really miss is being able to hop on my bike and just go for a ride around town, without having to worry too much about traffic.  This is not so easy here, where cars and motorbikes are constantly zooming recklessly over the streets.  Another thing I miss being able to stay out past ten PM...  while I understand the reasoning behind my ten o'clock curfew, I can't help but miss not having to worry about the time when I'm out with my friends at night.

I also of course miss the people I left behind in the US.  I think of my family and friends often, and at times wish I could be with them, but at the same time I remember that I will see them again  when summer comes.  However, I think that leaving Taiwan will be much harder, because I really have no idea when I'll see the people I'm leaving again.  I already have made some very close friends here, and when I think about parting ways with them at the end of the year, I can't help but dread it a bit.  

I'm beginning to realize this post is sounding rather serious, so let me reassure you that I'm still loving  it here in Taiwan!  The people are still friendly, the food still great, and the scenery still unique and beautiful.  Not sure when you'll hear from me again, but until then, zaijien!

Everything is so sheep!

As I have spent nearly a month here in Kaohsiung, I have learned that lack of money is an almost universally felt woe of the exchange student community...  Between transportation costs, cell phone charges, and simply wanting to buy every delicious morsel you see on every street stand in the city, it's difficult to keep your monthly allowance from disappearing within a week.  However, in Taiwan we are pretty lucky, because for some reason, products cost a lot less here than in our home countries.  I think my Brazilian friend Joao puts it best when he says "everything is just so sheep!"  He of course means cheap, but his accent gets in the way a bit...

But seriously, most stuff here is a lot cheaper than in the US.  Taking a taxi, for example, is very inexpensive compared to the US.  Here, a ten minute ride may cost you about 200 New Taiwan Dollars, or about 7 US dollars.  This pleasantly surprised me when I first took a taxi by myself, but the taxi is quite a bit more expensive than the bus.  Bus fare is around 10 New Taiwan Dollars, or about 30 cents.  A subway ride will set you back about 30 NTW, or 1 U.S. Dollar.  

The food is also pretty inexpensive compared to the US.  Today, for example, I went to an Italian restaurant on the 12th floor of a shopping mall.  We had a table with a great view, and the restaurant had a very swanky atmosphere, the feeling of a place that could set you back quite a bit.  So I was rather surprised when I saw the prices.  I had a fried squid appetizer with a spicy sauce (perhaps not classic Italian, I admit), a passion fruit-mango drink that was quite delicious, and a cliché but wonderful margherita pizza.  This all came out to about 250 NTW, or a little over 8 US dollars.  So marvelously cheap.  Likewise, street food is incredibly cheap.  And bubble tea, which I have heard goes for four or five dollars in the US, is usually only around 1 US dollar here in Taiwan (where it was invented).

My friends have also told me that electronic goods here are a great deal less expensive than in their home countries.  I haven't bought anything of that category, but apparently nice cameras are very cheap, and computers and phones are also sold at bargain prices.  This kind of makes sense, because Taiwan is an important producer of electronic goods.

However, I think that the low prices of Taiwan are a mixed blessing.  My economical psychology has been altered a great deal, and I've gone from being somewhat liberal to almost carefree with my cash.  Because everything is so much cheaper here, I feel as though I can buy anything I want.  I'm thirsty?  Oh, I'll just go buy some tea.  I'm hungry?  Just go buy some dumplings.  I have learned that these little things add up very quickly.  The fact that we carry such large bills around doesn't help either.  Having a 1000 dollar note in your wallet really messes with you.  While 1000 NTW can buy a lot, you have to remember that it's only around 30 US dollars, despite the fact that it feels like a lot more.  Basically what I'm trying to say in this post is that, while everything is very cheap here, knowing that it is can cause you too just lose your money faster.

Just a few thoughts on the financial side of being an exchange student.  Until next time, zaijian.

Wunshan Senior High School

Today marked the third week of my exchange in Taiwan.  For the last two of those weeks, I have been attending Wunshan Senior High School in Kaohsiung, so I think it is high time I told you all a bit about my school, and the school day routine I've established for myself.

I awake every morning at 6 AM, usually take a quick shower, brush my teeth, and am quickly out the door of my twelfth story apartment and in the elevator.  I almost always stop on my way to the bus stop at a corner stand to buy breakfast, usually consisting of dumplings and milk tea, a delicious mixture of, you guessed it, milk and tea.  In my opinion, it is much better than either milk or tea, so props to whoever thought of mixing them together.  Here is a photo of the corner stand.

The people there are super nice (like all Taiwanese people, actually), and they enjoy speaking Chinese with me and seeing my progress with the language.

Once I arrive at the bus stop, I eat my breakfast and await the bus, which arrives at 6:54 sharp every morning.  When I board, I pay with my handy dandy MRT (mass rapid transit) card, which can also be used for the subway, and the ferry to the nearby islands of Siziwan and Cijin.  One of Kaohsiung's greatest feature is its mass rapid transit system.  The subway is not very extensive, seeing as there are only two lines, but it is clean, impossible to get lost in, and quite simply a joy to ride.  Any proud citizen of Kaohsiung knows that their subway system has the second and fourth most beautiful subway stations in the world (Visit the link I've included at the end of this post for more info).  Also, the fact that you can use one simple card to pay for any subway, bus or ferry in the city is just so convenient.  But anyway, back to the bus... the bus ride to my school is maybe 15 or twenty minutes long, and is very stop-and-go due to all the cars, stoplights, and most of all, the dozens of pesky motorbikes in the middle of the city.  

Once at school, I make my way through the school to my homeroom, and sit at my desk.  My classmates are very friendly, a recurring theme in the Taiwanese people, and they usually try to strike up a conversation with me, asking how my weekend was or teaching me some new chinese words.  Here, as in most countries outside the U.S., the students remain in the same room for the day, and teachers rotate around the school.  I am in an interesting mix of classes.  Most of the time I am with my normal class of 16-18 year olds, sitting through the same lessons with them (although I usually read a book or study some Chinese, because I can understand nothing of what the teacher is saying).  These classes include math, physics, computer class, PE ( I can't say I enjoy this one to be honest), Sociology, geography, survival class (not quite as cool as it sounds), and english.  However, the other exchange students and I get to have some special classes.  These include calligraphy, Kung Fu, Traditional Chinese Music, and also a separate chinese class where it is just us three being taught by the laoshi (teacher).  I think my favorite is calligraphy, the art of drawing chinese characters.  It is rather difficult, but when you draw a character well, it is quite satisfying, no matter how simple the character.  In traditional music, our teacher introduced the pipa to us, and apparently I am a natural at it, so maybe if I practice a lot before I return I can be the best pipa player in Northfie-- Oh wait...  

Anyway, the Kung Fu class is also quite enjoyable, and soon I am sure I will be a regular old Jackie Chan.  My homeroom teacher is also extremely nice (she has bought me tea on two occasions-- again with the Taiwan niceness), and she also plays Ultimate Frisbee, which is a definite plus.  The school's principal is also a very cool guy, and is always greeting us exchange students on our way into the schoolyard in the morning.  Also, his english name is Peter Pan, which I think makes him the coolest principal I've ever met.

Ok, I'd like to keep these posts from going on too long, so I'll just finish with a few major differences between my school here and Northfield High...  

• Even though it has fewer students than Northfield High (a bit over a thousand), Wunshan is much more spread out than NHS, so it feels quite a bit bigger.  There are several buildings, some older some newer, which serve different purposes for the school.
• The students eat lunch in their classrooms, and not in a cafeteria.  Also, there is essentially no choice in their lunch, simply rice, a meat/tofu dish, vegetables, and a soup.  However, I kind of enjoy simply eating what they give us, and not having to make a decision on what to eat.
• The walls of the classroom are basically all windows, and they are often open in order to relieve the heat of the day, giving the room a very open, airy atmosphere (there is no air conditioning, only fans).
• Every Tuesday and Thursday we have assembly in the morning, in which the entire school goes out onto the basketball courts, hears the national anthem, and observes the flag raising ceremony.  Also, the principal usually says some words, and some other people may speak as well.
• I experienced my first earthquake drill on Thursday, something that I doubt will ever happen at NHS.

Lastly, I would like to quickly thank my Rotary Club and family back in Northfield, the Kaohsiung North Rotary Club and my new host family here in Taiwan, and all of my friends for everything you've done for me to get to have this opportunity.  I am loving life here in Kaohsiung, and it is because I am fortunate enough to have all of you helping and supporting me.

Thanks for reading, until next time, zaijian.

Most Beautiful Subway Stations in the World

Nightmarket

As I promised in my last blogpost, this post will be about the wondrous meccas of Taiwanese food and merchandise, known simply as night markets.  So far, I have been to two night markets, one of which I have visited twice.  They have names, but unfortunately I have yet to figure out what they are...  Anyway, the first one I visited is the one I have been to twice, and is also the one that I prefer of the two.  It is very large, and has a wide selection of great food and drink.  The first time I went there, I bought a sort of sweet red tea that was quite delicious, and quite memorably, some fried squid...  the squid was SO GOOD.  The crusty outside was quite salty and tasted so, so good, and the actual meat was not bad either, and had a very interesting texture...  Below is a picture of me posing with it.

The second time I went to this night market I made sure to bring a camera along with me (the above photo was taken by my Brazilian friend Joao).  I couldn't photograph everything, but I tried to get some good shots that would help me convey to you what it's like to be in the middle of the night market...

Some meat balls sitting in a broth

The night market was very very crowded

Some delicious kebabs, I had one, it had some spices for seasoning and was so tasty

Chairs and tables are provided in the night market for eating in comfort

Some mysterious snack, it looked very interesting

A nice assortment of many types of meat

Small dumplings, about to be cooked

Fried octopus, I was very curious about this, but I decided to pass it up this time around

Clothing and other non-edible merchandise is also sold in night markets

There is also Bingo, in the night market, or some Taiwanese equivalent

Fried potatoes, I believe...

One can also play games at the night market, such as this one in which one tries to throw rings around bottles to get prizes

Some grilled shrimp

A unique stand, selling oysters

I decided to buy some... they were very delicious, especially with some lime added

Lastly, there is a ton of guava in the night market... which is good, because it is one of my favorite fruits here.

Hopefully those pictures can give you some idea of what the night markets are about.  They really are a fantastic way to experience the both Taiwanese food and people, and I know that I will continue to visit  them frequently throughout my year 

Until next time, zaijian.

Hiking and Wunshan High School

In my previous post, I said that I would tell you about my trip to the mountain with my host father, and I will also be talking a bit about my high school here.  On Monday, my host father (or as I call him, baba) informed me that we would going to a nearby mountain for a hike.  So we got into the family car and headed over to to the mountain.  On the way we passed two temples, and they are REALLY cool looking.  They are extremely colorful and are decorated with tons of intricate carvings of people, dragons, and other things.  I have yet to actually enter one, but the insides seem very beautiful as well, judging simply from the glimpses I've seen from the outside.  After walking past a few small food stands (there are many food stands here, just on the sides of the roads) we were on the mountain.  Forest surrounded us on either side, mostly consisting of palm trees and bamboo stalks.  My father had warned me that there would be many monkeys on the mountain, but as we climbed I didn't see any.  However, when we finally reached the top of the mountain (calling it a mountain might actually be a stretch, it's more of a very, very, very  large hill), many monkeys suddenly came into view.  They were rather shy, which made it difficult to get good pictures of them. I was also surprised to see squirrels at the top of the mountain. They look remarkably similar to the squirrels we have in Northfield, but with shorter tails. They are also much more daring, and were very fun to watch as they leapt from branch to branch in the trees.  Also at the top, there were several large, metal bins, filled with tea, which are provided to climbers for free!  There was also a view of the sea, and of the city, although it was rather foggy, so the view wasn't quite as good as it would be on a clear day.  My host father tells me that we will return on Sunday, to eat lunch with a group that meets there every week, and I'm hoping that it won't be cloudy so that I can get some good pictures.

Yesterday, I visited my high school for the first time, along with two other exchange students.  One is a boy from Brazil, named Joao, and the other a girl from France named Farah.  It was really nice to meet with other exchange students and talk about how our first few days have been going.  Luckily for me, they both speak English very well (it's incredible how many people here speak English), so we didn't have any trouble communicating.  We met the principal of the high school, who cannot be described as anything other than jolly.  He is always smiling and seems to really enjoy his job.  I also met my homeroom teacher, Jennifer, who was also very nice and welcoming.  She took me to see her class, and I introduced myself to a few of her students.  Introducing myself in Taiwan is sort of an embarrassing procedure.  Usually, I say "Wo jiao Eduardo", and then I introduce myself with my Chinese name, which my host family chose for me, "Wo jiao Kuo Fu Cheng".  To a westerner this may seem like a normal Chinese name, but Kuo Fu Cheng is an extremely famous singer and actor known in pretty much all of eastern Asia, so people usually laugh whenever I tell them my name.  Just try to imagine a foreign exchange student coming to Northfield High School, and introducing himself as "Justin Bieber" or another super-famous actor/singer that everyone knows about-- you'd have to laugh.

Anyway, I also met a guy named Craig from Manchester, England, who is working at Wunshan High School as an English teacher.  After meeting these people, there was a short presentation where each of us exchange students introduced ourselves, and then there was presentation about Wunshan high school.  Afterwards I mostly just talked with Jennifer and Craig, and learned that they play Ultimate Frisbee here in Kaohsiung!  I was extremely surprised to hear this, but also elated to know that the great game of Ultimate Frisbee had a solid foothold in Taiwan.  I later also found out that my high school has an astronomy club, which I plan to join and am excited for. 

That night, I went to the night market with Joao, which was an incredible experience.  The night market is basically a place with a TON of food stands.  However, I think I will save that for another post, because this one is fairly long already.  But before I go, I will just share a quick list of interesting things I've noticed here in Kaohsiung.

• People don't use the Chinese word for goodbye very much (zaijian), they usually just say bye-bye
• There are annoyingly few trash cans around the city
• There is a ton of seafood, most of it very fresh
• It is not very common to drink water here, people drink a lot of tea
• The streets are CRAZY, but people jay-walk and walk along the streets as if it's no big deal
• There is quite a bit of smog, and one thing I miss is the bright blue sky back in Northfield, because here I have only seen it as a rather pale blue

Thanks for reading... until next time, zaijian!

Trip Over and First Day

I am sitting here in Kaohsiung, trying to decide how to begin my first blog post from Taiwan, and all I can think to say is HUMID.  There literally hasn't been a moment in which I have not been able to reach up to my forehead and wipe perspiration off of it.  I am not used to this.  It gets humid in Minnesota, but only for a little bit at a time, and I can usually go inside and cool off, but that humidity doesn't really compare to here.  Luckily, I do have a fan in my room, and it helps to relieve the heat and humidity.  Right now it is cloudy outside, and the winds are very high.  My host brother, Alex, tells me that a typhoon is due to arrive tomorrow, which makes me a bit anxious, but also excited.

Anyway, enough about the weather.  I will now describe my trip over to Taiwan.  I arrived with my family at the airport in Minneapolis at around 3:00 PM on the 24th, and proceeded to say goodbye (there were surprisingly few tears, although I miss them quite terribly already) and go through security.  After successfully finding my gate, I waited for a bit, then boarded the plane and before I knew it, we were landing at the Los Angeles Airport.  LAX is an... interesting airport (for specifics, see Connor Rohwer's latest blog post), but after a stressful hour of walking around, looking lost, and checking and rechecking monitors, I was able to find my gate.  After a bit of a wait, we boarded, and I fell asleep almost immediately on the plane, as it was around 4 AM, Minnesota time.  I awoke after about 5 hours of sleep, and proceeded to watch 3 movies:  The Tourist (a personal favorite), 21 Jump Street (Not sure what to say about that one), and part of The Social Network.  Time passed quickly, and soon we had arrived in Taipei.  As we landed, I was offered my first glimpse of Taiwan...

Not a great photograph, but you get the idea... verdant and rather beautiful, the lanscape excited me even more.  The Taipei airport was very nice, and I quickly boarded my final plane to Kaohsiung and was soon in the air.  After a quick flight, we arrived in Kaohsiung, I found my luggage, and was greeted by a welcome party and my host family.  They had made an amazing poster with a picture of my face on it!

Soon, I was in the car with my host mother, father, and brother, driving to their apartment.  My mother, whom I simply refer to as Mama, and Alex, my brother, both speak English, and were very talkative on the ride home and kindly asked if I was hungry, thirsty, tired, or if I needed anything.  My host father, who I call baba, is not quite as proficient in English, but he is also very friendly, and we can communicate in a sort of Chinese/English language combo (Chinenglish...?).  Driving through the streets of the city was great.  There are a ton of motorcyclists here, and on the major roads of the city they actually get their own separate lane.  Also, palm trees line the streets here, which is a pretty cool sight.  Right before we got to the apartment, I was surprised to see a huge Costco store right across the street from where we live.  My host mom got a huge kick out of the look of surprise on my face when I caught sight of the store... it was honestly the last thing I was expecting, but also somewhat comforting to see something so familiar in a sea of foreign-ness.  Another thing I was happy to see before arriving at the apartment was a room at the bottom of our building (we live on the twelfth floor) devoted to ping pong.  As some of you may know, I have a deep love for ping pong.  I plan on becoming a master while here, so I can show off my skills to my fellow ping pong lovers in back Northfield and respond to any challenges I may receive.  Anyway, we finally arrived at the apartment, and it is quite a wonderful place.  It is very new, has very fancy wood floors (which I was careful not to scratch with my suitcase wheels),  and it is also quite spacious.  I have my own bedroom, and a very large bed.  The bathroom is also very nice.  My host family has already made me feel quite at home.

That night, my host family took me out to a rotary dinner at a very nice restaurant called the Predestination Hong Kong Tea Restaurant.  There was a TON of food served, a total of around 9 courses I believe.  Though I can't really remember the order, there was:  Beijing Duck (served inside a wrap with a delicious sauce, it actually reminded a bit of a taco), some sort of a preserved egg dish, pieces of fried duck, a shrimp and noodle dish, a broth served in a large pot with an entire duck inside of it (head and all), a seafood dish with fried octopus and rice (this was very spicy),  a dish consisting of leg of pork, and finally a cake of sorts.  It was all quite delicious, although I didn't actually try the preserved egg dish, which I somewhat regret.  We were served tea the entire time, but my host mom asked if I preferred something else to drink, and I asked if I could have some water, as I was quite thirsty.  I was quickly brought a glass of water, but was surprised to find that it was a hot as the tea!  I still drank it however, and my thirst was soon quenched.  As the meal went on, karaoke was set up and many of the adults began to participate.  I was impressed by the enthusiasm of the adults, at an activity which may seem childish in the US.  They seemed quite unabashed about the whole situation, so when my host mom asked if I wanted to participate I said sure.  But then I learned that there were no songs in English, only in Chinese, which actually relieved me quite a bit.  But I am determined to do K-TV (their word for karaoke here) at least once before I leave!

Afterwards, I was accompanied back to the apartment by Alex, while my host parents stayed a bit longer at the dinner.  I was quite tired, and was soon asleep in my room.

And that is the story of my trip to Kaohsiung and my first day in the city...  I am off to go hiking at a nearby mountain with my host dad in about an hour.  I will be sure to let you know how that goes in my next post.  Thanks for reading, until next time, zaijian.

Four Days...

Well, I have been meaning to write my first blog post for quite a while now, and am only just getting around to actually doing it four days before I leave on the 24th.  I am extremely excited to go to Taiwan, and will  be living in the city of Kaohsiung, which lies on the western coast of the island, and in the southern half.

I will be living with host families throughout the year (although I'm still unsure as to how many-- somewhere between three and five), and my first host family consists of a mother, father, and two sons...  One of these sons will be going to Hungary on exchange, however, and the other will be leaving soon after I arrive, to go to school in Switzerland.  I will be going to a high school, known as the Kaohsiung Municipal Wunshan Senior High School....  it seems like a very interesting school, and focuses on maintaining an "international perspective", as it says on its website.  Language classes are very important to the curriculum, and I've learned that much of my class time, at least early in the year, will consist of instruction in Chinese.  Speaking of Chinese (Mandarin Chinese is the predominant language spoken in Taiwan, although there is a distinct Taiwanese language as well), I have been trying to learn some before I leave, and know some basic phrases, vocabulary and grammar.  As everyone seems bent on telling me, it is one of the hardest languages to learn.  Probably the most challenging aspect in my opinion are the 4 tones...  when speaking Chinese, each syllable has a different tone, and getting the tones wrong while speaking can lead to awkward misunderstandings, and ultimately just sounding stupid.  However, as I've worked on Chinese, it appears to be a very logical language, grammatically speaking, so hopefully it won't take too long for me to catch on.  

To give you a bit of information about Taiwan, it is a relatively small island (sometimes I just stop and think about how cool it is that I'll be living on an island),  about 110 miles away from mainland China.  It's relationship with China is famous, as Taiwan (technically known as the Republic of China, but not to be confused with the People's Republic of China, which is mainland China) claims independence from China, but China does not recognize its claim.  The state known as the Republic of China was founded in 1949 on Taiwan after the political party known as the Kuomintang fled to the island, after being defeated by the communist party on the mainland...  this involved the migration of about 2 million people to Taiwan from China, and the two countries have had a tense relationship ever since.  It's a somewhat confusing history, so I won't go into any more detail here, but it's also really interesting, so feel free to go read more about it!  A few more quick facts about Taiwan are that it has a population of about 23 million people, its currency is the New Taiwanese Dollar (about 30 are worth 1 US dollar), and it is 13 hours ahead of central US time, which will make for some interesting skype dates.  My city, Kaohsiung, has about 1.2 million people in it (a bit larger than Northfield), and is a port city, which I think should be quite exciting and different.

That's all for today, but hopefully you'll continue to read my blog posts about my life in Taiwan, and the crazy adventures I hope to have there!  

Until next time, zaijian!