Countdown

This is my last post from Taiwan. I'll probably post at least once when I get back. That post will probably be during the 7 hours I'm stuck in the LA airport. I've been out and about lately. I went to Kaosiong in southern Taiwan the other day to visit a friend. We had a great time. We went to a nightmarket and we visited a few other places around town. I'm off to Taizhong with my Chinese teacher today. We're going to KTV. KTV is kareoke television and a pretty common source of entertainment here. Most people have a system in their home. I'll be going to Taizhong again before I leave to visit the art museum. Mostly I need to pack. I have got a fair amount shoved away, but it is going to take a bit more work. I can't belive I'll be shipped back to the U.S. in a few days. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th. I love you!

Zai Jian!

Incase you were wondering, Taiwan's independance day is on the 1st of January.

Schools Out!

No more waking up early. No more getting home at five. My sleep cycle is gretly improved. I miss my friends, but I have another final final day on Thursday. I've already gone to Taizhong to hang out with one of my friends. Unfortunatly most of my other plans have been postponed. It starts raining cats and dogs at around noon everyday. My chinese teacher and I are going out to dinner tonight. Not sure where yet. Getting my stuff packed up id proving to be a challange. I seem to have accumulated a large ammount of stuff. A lot of it seems to be stuff people have given me. THough most of the stuff is just my stuff. I'll figure out a way to get ride of what I don't need before I leave. I get back on July 9th. I only want family to meet me at the airport. (H can come too) I'll need a few days of rest before I'm prepared to go out into the world again, but it shouldn't take too long. I love you all, thanks for everything. You're amazing.

Zai Jian!

School

This is my final week of school. It is a bit sad. It is also rather boring. Many of my classes have been cancled because my classmates have to study for final exams. This means I spend a lot of time in the library. It isn't horrible, but it will be nice when school ends. Last weekend I went with one of my classmates to the Taizhong art museum. It was interesting. We saw an exhibition of Marc Chagall. Next weekend I'm heading back to Taizhong to hang out with some of my friends. I don't have a lot planed for after school ends, but something should come up. I'll probably go to Taipei once or twice. Thank you for all of your love and support.

Zai Jian!

If you have any questions, please ask.

Plans

My weekends are full for at least the next 2 weeks. Next week I'm going to the Taipei National Art Museum with a classmate, the week after I'm going to Taichung to hang out with some friends. It should be fun and I'll deffinetly bring my camera. I'm not to thrilled about the long train rides, but as long as I have a fully charged mp3 player, I should be fine. School has been keeping me bussy enough. I only have a week more of classes untill I can finnaly start sleeping in. Not much to report this week. The next post should be a lot longer. Thank you for all your love and support.

Zai Jian!

P.S. Mom, if the giant desk in my room happened to be ubducted by one of the boys, I wouldn't mind. It is just taking up space.

Trip!

I had a great time. It was fun to hang out with the other exchange students and to chat. School is going well, but it was nice to have a week off. I got an e-mail and it looks like my flight will leave Taipei on the 9th of July at 4:40 pm and arrive 2:05 pm in L.A. Then I have a flight to Sac. Yah. Time travel. Sweet. Okay, I'm tired. This was my first day back at school and I spent a lot of time sewing. Love you all!

Zai Jian!

Trip

Tomorow I leave for a 7 day trip, so there will be no post next Tues. I should have plenty of pictures when I come back, and hopefully a magnet or two. Love you!!!

Zai Jian!

Keeping Order

So this post is going to be about how teachers and student relationships work in Taiwan. If it sounds boring then feel free to skip it.
So students start learinging how Taiwan school life works right away. Once a week in the kindergarten the students go outside stand in line with there class and do exercises (they dance, it is adorable). This eventualy evolves into twice a week school wide gatherings in high school. Mondays we all stand outside with our classes. Military style. Someone in front yells out the way we are supposed to stand, hands held behind our back, hands at our sides, or on had on the hip. There is no slouching or talking, unless no one is looking. We have 3 military officers on campus. They help everyone stay in line. Corporal munishment is not alowed, they just yell. Luckily I don't get punished. Though, I could waltz off campus and no one would think anything was wrong (don't worry Mom, I don't ditch school). On Wednesdays we also meet, same place same time. Except this time we do a 5 minute exercise routine.
When class starts and the teacher walks in, everyone stands up. Then we great the teacher and do a little bow. Students don't ask questions in class and rarley is student participation activly used. I have some great teachers that don't always follow this ideal, but it is very different from America. In the U.S. the teacher demands attention, in Taiwan it is readily given. When students pass teachers in the hall, they say hello.
I think Taiwans system is a bit too strict, but that America's is deffinetly to lax.

Thanks for reading this and for everything else. I love you!

Zai Jian!