1 Month

I cannot believe it has already been one month. I am having a great time, and learning so much. My classes are going well, and everyone is so nice. People are always saying hello to me at school. It can be annoying, but it is sweet that they are trying to be friends with me. As promised, though a little late, here are the pictures of my uniform. It is actually quite comfortable, and it is nice to blend in a little. It sounds like people are confused as to what moon cakes are. They are a baked dessert eaten during the Mid Autumn Festival. Their are thousands of varieties, but I only have tried 4. My favorite is filled with green bean paste and 1/2 an egg yolk. I think it is delicious, and the yolk adds some salt to all of the sugar. Also, in handicraft class, we made bracelets. They turned out better then i expected. Thank you for all of the encouragement, I love you!

Zai Jian

Tuesdays (The pictures are in reverse order and I don't know how to fix it, sorry)

Tuesdays are very interesting days, especialy this Tuesday. So, I wanted to let everyone know what my Tuesdays are like. Here are pictures from throughout my day, start to finish. It begins with me biking to school with my neighbor. Then, I go to the kindergarten for 1 hour. The kids are insane, but it is fun. I don't think I could last for more then an hour there, it is just a little to crazy. Then, I have sewing for 3 hours. We were working on small test shirts today, and mine is almost finished. After that, it is lunch time. The food isn't amazing, but that is to be expected, it is school food after all. Then, I have chinese class in the library, the giant elevator-less building in the picture. Then I had free study time, so no pictures.
After biking home, I go to dinner with my host mom and dad. Tonight, we went to Japanese food. The food pictured is what I ordered, beef and rice. The desert was a rice ball. It was all really delicious.
Then, we went to a Rotary gathering to celebrat the Mid Autumn Festival tomorow. It was awsome, their was great food, fireworks, and nice people. In the final picture, my host dad is on the far left, my host mom is on the right, the man next to her is one of their friends, and his daughter is standing behind him. The girl infornt of me is another one of their friend's daughters.

Uniform!

I finally got my uniform today! Now I can send in some pics next time. Here is my school schedule:

-Monday: Math for 2 hours, Multimedia Design for 2 hours, Self study for 1 hour, Handicrafts for 2 hours, P.E. for 1 hour.

-Tuesday: Help in Kindergarten for 1 hour, Sewing for 3 hours, Chinese for 2 hours, P.E. for 1 hour, Self Study for 1 hour.

-Wednesday: Cooking for 4 hours, Class gathering, school gathering, and then club. I don't know what I club I will join yet.

-Thursday: help in Kindergarten for 1 hour, Crocheting for 2 hours, Self Study for 1 hour, Clothing Design 2 hours, Chinese for 1 hour, Piano for 1 hour.

-Friday: Activity Design for 4 hours, Piano 2 hours, Children's crafts for 1 hour, Self study for 1 hour.

I am very happy with my schedule, and I think it is going to work very well. I am having a lot of fun, and studying plenty. The weather is still insane, and I hope it will clear up soon. Cooking class is my favorite, along with sewing and fashion design, and the moon cakes turned out delicious. Moon cakes are a traditional pastry during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The ones we made were stuffed with green bean paste and some other ingredients that I don't know what they were. I have cooking again tomorrow, and I have no clue what we are making, though my Chinese teacher suspects we will make a different type of moon cake. The Mid-Autumn Festival is this weekend, so that should be fun.

Here are the answers to the new questions:

I call my host mom 'Jenny' or 'A yi' which means aunt. I call my host dad uncle or Jin.

I do live in an apartment, but it is huge. It is 4 stories tall, and each floor is a good size.

I think about 400 SCRATCH THAT 1,200 STUDENTS IN MY SCHOOL students in my school, but I am not sure.

Their are 3 types of high schools. Schools for people that want to major in history and language, and those that want to major in math and science. Vocational high schools are also very common.

People get to choose what school they go to.

I am about 120 miles from Taipei, and 30 from Taichung.

Thank you for all of your support. I feel the love and prayers all the way over here. They have kept me going strong when I am weak. I love you all!

Zai Jian

Monsoon!

We have had at least 3 monsoons in the last week. The weather has been insane, monsoons aside. It is always hot and humid. It can be sunny in the morning, and raining the whole ocean down by lunch. I started riding a bike to school this week. It is relatively flat, so it is a quick, simple ride. This week, I also started my schedule. My only academic classes are my Chinese, and one math class on Mon. Tomorrow, I have cooking all morning, and I heard we will be making moon cakes. My classes are going well, and I am having a lot of fun. I do not have a uniform yet, but I promise, their will be pictures as soon as I do. Here are some answers to the questions I have received:

I am in math class with the first years. I am not sure what level it technically is.

I am not sure if hibiscuses are naturally occurring in Taiwan.

I am not taking any science classes, but because my school is home ec. and bossiness, I don't think their are any.

I have no clue about the constellations. I live in the middle of the city, so their are a lot of lights all of the time. Plus, I am exhausted by the end of the day, and I fall asleep fast.

I don't think I will ever get to meet my host brothers. One is in Brazil for a year, and the other is in New Zealand.

My Host mom and dad are very helpful and supportive.

Thank you everyone for being so helpful and kind. Love you all,

Zai Jian!