So, after a long but very fun 5 day tour all around Taiwan, we made it back to Sansia. We stayed one day, then Lily, Daniel Spencer, and I were off on a plane again. This time, it was back home.
Somehow, we booked a flight with an 11 hour layover in Hong Kong. It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, but there was some confusion. We arrived at Hong Kong airport at night, then proceeded to try to find the Delta desk so that we could get our boarding passes for the remaining flights. To do this, we had to go through HK customs to get to the airline desks. Here came the flaw in the plan: the Delta desk did not open until 5 am the next morning. Therefore, we spent the night watching movies and sleeping on chairs. Finally, we got our boarding passes and made it to our gate with plenty of time.
After 14 hours in the sky watching 4 movies and semi-sleeping, we made it back to the States! I was so very excited to be back home. It was nice to see my parents, but sad because I had to leave the very next day to move into my dorm. So right now, I am blogging to you all from my university!
My summer in Taiwan is really something I cannot forget. I met so many people, saw so many things, and went so many places. It is a beautiful country with wonderful people. I am so grateful to all our TA's, teachers, and coordinators. Hopefully, one day I can return. 再见，台湾！
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Current Status...
Well, we are all here in Kaohsiung, which is at the very South of Taiwan. I will fill you all in on what we have done on this 5-day tour around the island. There are many interesting stories. For now, I am too tired and occupied with other matters to post something long. As much as I love Taiwan, I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends in the States. Talk to you all soon (perhaps in person)!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Final Presentations
The night before, most of us stayed up until 4 AM, and some didn't even get sleep. Really, there's not much to say about this, other than we (7 people) presented for 3 hours. Go us. It's what the teachers wanted, so it's what they got. Also, the president of NTPU was only there for the introduction, so it took the pressure off the situation a little. I think our individual presentation were good, and everyone's Chinese has improved since we have been here.
Group presentations were a little more interesting. Daniel, Daniel, Rob, and Stephanie serenaded us with their ocarinas. Some of them started laughing halfway through the songs, so they did not always end with 4 ocarinas. It was pretty funny.
I did my group presentation with Lily. We did a short dialogue, then sang the song 老鼠爱大米, as I have mentioned before in my previous post. However, we changed up some of the words to make it about Taiwan and how much we will miss it. So cheesy. One part, instead of singing 我爱你就像老鼠爱大米(I love you like a mouse loves rice), we changed it to "I love you like a fat kid loves cake." So when we sang it in front of everyone, we both busted out laughing right before that verse and had a hard time finishing the song. Oh well. It was funny. Good news: we all passed!
Afterward, we went to a restaurant called Mr. Pumpkin and had lunch with the president, Lydia, Ya-Ling, our teachers, and our TA's. It was pretty sad because our teachers all gave us good-bye gifts and little written letters. Our teachers and TA's have done so much for us to make us feel comfortable and welcome here in Taiwan. I really do dislike good-byes and hope that we will all keep in touch via facebook or other means.
Group presentations were a little more interesting. Daniel, Daniel, Rob, and Stephanie serenaded us with their ocarinas. Some of them started laughing halfway through the songs, so they did not always end with 4 ocarinas. It was pretty funny.
I did my group presentation with Lily. We did a short dialogue, then sang the song 老鼠爱大米, as I have mentioned before in my previous post. However, we changed up some of the words to make it about Taiwan and how much we will miss it. So cheesy. One part, instead of singing 我爱你就像老鼠爱大米(I love you like a mouse loves rice), we changed it to "I love you like a fat kid loves cake." So when we sang it in front of everyone, we both busted out laughing right before that verse and had a hard time finishing the song. Oh well. It was funny. Good news: we all passed!
Afterward, we went to a restaurant called Mr. Pumpkin and had lunch with the president, Lydia, Ya-Ling, our teachers, and our TA's. It was pretty sad because our teachers all gave us good-bye gifts and little written letters. Our teachers and TA's have done so much for us to make us feel comfortable and welcome here in Taiwan. I really do dislike good-byes and hope that we will all keep in touch via facebook or other means.
Formosa Fun Coast, Yeliu Geopark, Beach, and Jioufen
Three days before our final presentations on Friday, the TA's took us to Formosa Fun Coast, a water park near Taipei. It was a lot of fun, but we were all worn out after 7 hours of traveling and playing in the water.
The next day, we went to Yeliu Geopark, where the famous "Queen's Head" is located. Honestly, from all the pictures I had seen, I thought it was going to be as big as the Sphinx. It was about 15 feet tall. The scenery there was amazing, but I was little too hot to fully enjoy everything. The pictures turned out great though!
Afterward, we took the tour bus to a beach. When we got there, it was pretty much deserted. The only person there was the lifeguard. Our own private beach! The TA's (Jovy and Summer) played in the water with the rest of us while Daniel Cook and Stephanie gave everyone swim lessons. Those two hours flew by and were so relaxing.
Our last stop of the day was Jioufen, a little town/village in the mountai
ns. It has a lot of markets and little shops selling some tourist things. I did find an owl ocarina for my grandmother and also some good tea. I liked Jioufen because there was a lot of history in there, and the scenery was beautiful from atop the mountain. 
The next day, we went to Yeliu Geopark, where the famous "Queen's Head" is located. Honestly, from all the pictures I had seen, I thought it was going to be as big as the Sphinx. It was about 15 feet tall. The scenery there was amazing, but I was little too hot to fully enjoy everything. The pictures turned out great though!
Afterward, we took the tour bus to a beach. When we got there, it was pretty much deserted. The only person there was the lifeguard. Our own private beach! The TA's (Jovy and Summer) played in the water with the rest of us while Daniel Cook and Stephanie gave everyone swim lessons. Those two hours flew by and were so relaxing.
Our last stop of the day was Jioufen, a little town/village in the mountai
ns. It has a lot of markets and little shops selling some tourist things. I did find an owl ocarina for my grandmother and also some good tea. I liked Jioufen because there was a lot of history in there, and the scenery was beautiful from atop the mountain. 
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