Yes, it's a weird title. All will be explained. Anyways, it's been quite a while since I had an update. It's finally here though! With all of it's excitement and... What am I kidding, it's you reading what I typed a while ago. I'm writing this at 16:42(+7 or something like that, maybe +8). To the update!
First, I moved! Tears of excitement have been shed, I'm really glad that I moved. I moved on December 2nd, so I've been in my new house for about 10 days. Sure, the 2 hour commute to school sucks, the freezing nights are rigid, but I like it up here. I'm in the coldest part of Taiwan, Tamsui(pronounced Danshui, not Tam-Swee). I guess I'll have a cold Christmas this year, I think that's good? My host family is really nice, and they try to treat me like one of their own children. Their daughter is in the states, and she's in Midland, Texas. They have another daughter, but she lives two hours away and I haven't seen her in the house yet. I met her a couple of times at meetings 'n such. Other than that, it's just Host Mother(Doris), Host Father(L.D.), and myself! It's quiet but I kind of like it quiet.
On a side note, the internet here is MARVELOUS. So I can maybe revive my vlog! I'm thinking of doing a video on how I get to school, I have Coming of Age Ceremony videos, and I will do a vlog update. I have a general idea on what to do. Maybe I will have vlog instead of a blog update. Not too sure yet. Maybe mini-vlog. So yeah, be prepared to see my face. I never got a new camera by the way. I like the sound on my picture camera, so I could use that... Quality just depends on how the bloody thing is feeling, I swear, it has a mind of it's own. Some days it's crystal clear, some days it's the crappiest photo in the whole world. That could just be me though. Anyways, next thing, update stuff.
School is rather boring, but aren't all schools like that? My Chinese courses are ending tomorrow, and I will have to continue on by myself and hopefully get fluent hahaha. I can kind of grasp the general idea of a conversation if I listen intently during a conversation. I still can't talk to save my life > _<; ...I'm trying to fix that. I'm planning on writing a bunch of letters sometime within the next few weeks, and send them out before Christmas. Sorry folks, no Christmas letters from me, maybe a little bit after Christmas. Umm, other than that, I'm just relaxing(to a degree) in Taiwan, and enjoying life! Next paragraph, the reasoning behind my title, and the coming of age ceremony.
I had a dream, in Chinese. I'm sofa king excited about that :D! It happened a few days ago, but still, a dream in Chinese. High five to myself!
Now the coming of age ceremony... It was a fun day, seriously, I had a blast, even though I came like 40 minutes late, because of my stupid bus. The part I missed was walking around the Confucius Temple, and I probably missed out on some good history and pictures. I blame the bus. After that we did our practice dances and ate lunch during those. Then we all got our fancy silky shirts. I slept in mine already. They're really comfortable :D! Then all the festivities happened. We did our performances, watched some kids, took MILLIONS of pictures, and had a good time. Oh I did a self shot with Mark Zimmer, which nobody really does. He was totally cool with it too xD. Then we got a normal picture. Ummm, other than that, I went home right after that because I was just really tired, and my jackets were all wet and I had a bunch of stuff in my bag. That's about it.
Nothing too much has been happening, I had to say goodbye to two close friends of mine. One because her exchange was up, and the other because she was having health problems. Totally sucks, but stuff like that happens. Not too much you can do. A roller coaster of emotions these last few weeks. I also got some nice beats(songs) this past week and I've been listening to those. So, be prepared for some videos, updating the page for pictures, and all that other jazz. Next update should be around Christmas I reckon.
Take care!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Just an update(friggin long update)
Nothing too exciting. Just an update. Couple things I need to type up on this here blog.
Anyways, a couple days ago(Wednesday Nov. 21 late evening) I arrived in Taiwan! So I've been here for three months... Take that people who didn't think I would survive that long. ::does the in your face dance:: Anyways, been here three months, and I am enjoying probably 85% of the time. Why not 110% of the time? Well just some stupid stuff due to communication problems with my host family. I tried my best to mend the relationship with them, but it's just not happening. I leave on Saturday at 14:00(2pm), so only a little bit longer. Not delving into the details on this hahahaha. Anyways, it's been an awesome three months here in Formosa. I am glad to have met all the people that I know here, and am very thankful for the new friends that I have met from around the world. One day I will visit them all xD. Anyways, next topic, the switch.
Ok, so I switch in approximately 6 days 12 hours and 10 minutes. (There's a countdown app > _>;)... Yeah, so when I switch, I will try another blog update where it doesn't take two bloody days to upload a video that is a couple minutes long. Not doing that again. I will try to get a new webcam for my vlogs. I have thought of something else too, I can use my headset I look like a gamer in(gaming headsets for the win) and put pictures in the video, or just deal with the terrible camera quality and have the headset on. I will ponder on the decisions. I also will try another camera video, since I like that idea. This is all hoping I will have internet at the house, I'm pretty sure I do, hopefully. Anyways, I will start living in Tamsui next week. My house is a 30 minutes walk from the MRT(Metro/Mass Rail Transit) system. I hope I will have a bike... Tamsui is a lovely place and I can't wait to live there. My second host family is amazing too! Overall, I'm excited for moving. Next thing, what I've been up to...
I have a bad habit of writing like I'm writing an essay for English hahahaha. I've been quite busy the last few weeks. I've been practicing a dance for Rotary for the Coming of Age Ceremony. I'm not sure if I am supposed to keep on doing the first dance I learn, or I will just stick to this weapon routine I'm doing with a group of 14 others. Sudden realization, that I'm the only guy in the weapons group. REPRESENT THE MEN. Anyways, it's really fun, the routine is easy, and the first routine/dance is with a spear :D! The next one(there were other weapons, so I'm just assuming) is with one handed axes. It looks like we will be holding two at a time. I hope so anyway. This routine/dance is going to be really fun :D. I am looking forward to how it will turn out.
I went to the middle of Taiwan last weekend, to the Taichung area. It was really fun, I was mainly there for Rotary and I didn't have too much time to myself until the night where I just looked around the night market near my hotel. We visited a town where some famous person named "Dragon" in my club used to live, and we donated $45,000 NTD which is roughly 1,500 USD to his elementary school. It was a rather rainy weekend too, and I didn't like the rain too much. I brought my canvas shoes, and well, they got muddy, and soaked through, and I had to do a terrible job cleaning them xD. They are still a bit dirty. It adds character. We also visited a flower garden and I found that freaking amazing. There were quite a few cool looking displays. I enjoyed it ^_^. I'm going to a convention tomorrow(secret till I upload the pictures) so you'll just have to look for my picture update. Mwahahahahahaa. I really haven't been around too much, I'm going to Tainan(near the south) on Monday via High Speed Rail, so I will be taking pictures left and right. I'm really excited about that. Oh, another place I went to in the next paragraph.
About two weeks ago, I went to a pottery place. It was in the Yingge township, which is 30 minutes by train... Also, that was my first train ride of my life. A legitimate train ride, not the one at bloody Disney Land. We made some pots, and they should be at our school around Dec. 3-7. We looked around and stuff, and yeah. Were going to Taipei 101 FINALLY, with my culture class this week too! It only took me three months to go! I will bring Kalevi(my version of flat stanley), and flat stanley for my friend's little sister. World's fastest elevator here I come :D. I will take a video, with the chemical brothers playing of course. Pretty sure I will go with them. I'm pretty excited about this. Anyways. Yeah.
Time to wrap this up. I've been drinking coconut milk/water/whatever you want to call it, like no tomorrow. Same with pearl milk tea. That stuff is delicious. I'm also starting to learn parkour now. I suck at it, but I'm learning the basics, and yeah. Should be a fun hobby I'll stick to. CRAP. I forgot to talk about Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving, was decent I guess. I went with my Culture class to Xinbeitou and we went in the hotsprings. It was full body, but it was public, so we wore swimming suits(thank Buddha!). After that, we came back to my home station, and we saw this pie salesman, and we bought pie. One bloke(Michael) bought a whole pie, with a bunch(8) different flavours. We went back to my house and had milk and pie. It was amazing. After that we just lounged around. After dinner I met up with my cousin(she's an exchange student too, distantly related) and our friend and I got an Adventskalendar. I am excited about that hahaha. Anyways, that was Thanksgiving.
There you go. I am POSITIVE I haven't forgotten about anything. There will be a relatively short update next week, just about my house, and a few pictures to upload on the books of my room all messy when unpacking. Anyways yar. Updates next week too.
More to come.
(Whoever gets that, gets a shoutout)
Anyways, a couple days ago(Wednesday Nov. 21 late evening) I arrived in Taiwan! So I've been here for three months... Take that people who didn't think I would survive that long. ::does the in your face dance:: Anyways, been here three months, and I am enjoying probably 85% of the time. Why not 110% of the time? Well just some stupid stuff due to communication problems with my host family. I tried my best to mend the relationship with them, but it's just not happening. I leave on Saturday at 14:00(2pm), so only a little bit longer. Not delving into the details on this hahahaha. Anyways, it's been an awesome three months here in Formosa. I am glad to have met all the people that I know here, and am very thankful for the new friends that I have met from around the world. One day I will visit them all xD. Anyways, next topic, the switch.
Ok, so I switch in approximately 6 days 12 hours and 10 minutes. (There's a countdown app > _>;)... Yeah, so when I switch, I will try another blog update where it doesn't take two bloody days to upload a video that is a couple minutes long. Not doing that again. I will try to get a new webcam for my vlogs. I have thought of something else too, I can use my headset I look like a gamer in(gaming headsets for the win) and put pictures in the video, or just deal with the terrible camera quality and have the headset on. I will ponder on the decisions. I also will try another camera video, since I like that idea. This is all hoping I will have internet at the house, I'm pretty sure I do, hopefully. Anyways, I will start living in Tamsui next week. My house is a 30 minutes walk from the MRT(Metro/Mass Rail Transit) system. I hope I will have a bike... Tamsui is a lovely place and I can't wait to live there. My second host family is amazing too! Overall, I'm excited for moving. Next thing, what I've been up to...
I have a bad habit of writing like I'm writing an essay for English hahahaha. I've been quite busy the last few weeks. I've been practicing a dance for Rotary for the Coming of Age Ceremony. I'm not sure if I am supposed to keep on doing the first dance I learn, or I will just stick to this weapon routine I'm doing with a group of 14 others. Sudden realization, that I'm the only guy in the weapons group. REPRESENT THE MEN. Anyways, it's really fun, the routine is easy, and the first routine/dance is with a spear :D! The next one(there were other weapons, so I'm just assuming) is with one handed axes. It looks like we will be holding two at a time. I hope so anyway. This routine/dance is going to be really fun :D. I am looking forward to how it will turn out.
I went to the middle of Taiwan last weekend, to the Taichung area. It was really fun, I was mainly there for Rotary and I didn't have too much time to myself until the night where I just looked around the night market near my hotel. We visited a town where some famous person named "Dragon" in my club used to live, and we donated $45,000 NTD which is roughly 1,500 USD to his elementary school. It was a rather rainy weekend too, and I didn't like the rain too much. I brought my canvas shoes, and well, they got muddy, and soaked through, and I had to do a terrible job cleaning them xD. They are still a bit dirty. It adds character. We also visited a flower garden and I found that freaking amazing. There were quite a few cool looking displays. I enjoyed it ^_^. I'm going to a convention tomorrow(secret till I upload the pictures) so you'll just have to look for my picture update. Mwahahahahahaa. I really haven't been around too much, I'm going to Tainan(near the south) on Monday via High Speed Rail, so I will be taking pictures left and right. I'm really excited about that. Oh, another place I went to in the next paragraph.
About two weeks ago, I went to a pottery place. It was in the Yingge township, which is 30 minutes by train... Also, that was my first train ride of my life. A legitimate train ride, not the one at bloody Disney Land. We made some pots, and they should be at our school around Dec. 3-7. We looked around and stuff, and yeah. Were going to Taipei 101 FINALLY, with my culture class this week too! It only took me three months to go! I will bring Kalevi(my version of flat stanley), and flat stanley for my friend's little sister. World's fastest elevator here I come :D. I will take a video, with the chemical brothers playing of course. Pretty sure I will go with them. I'm pretty excited about this. Anyways. Yeah.
Time to wrap this up. I've been drinking coconut milk/water/whatever you want to call it, like no tomorrow. Same with pearl milk tea. That stuff is delicious. I'm also starting to learn parkour now. I suck at it, but I'm learning the basics, and yeah. Should be a fun hobby I'll stick to. CRAP. I forgot to talk about Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving, was decent I guess. I went with my Culture class to Xinbeitou and we went in the hotsprings. It was full body, but it was public, so we wore swimming suits(thank Buddha!). After that, we came back to my home station, and we saw this pie salesman, and we bought pie. One bloke(Michael) bought a whole pie, with a bunch(8) different flavours. We went back to my house and had milk and pie. It was amazing. After that we just lounged around. After dinner I met up with my cousin(she's an exchange student too, distantly related) and our friend and I got an Adventskalendar. I am excited about that hahaha. Anyways, that was Thanksgiving.
There you go. I am POSITIVE I haven't forgotten about anything. There will be a relatively short update next week, just about my house, and a few pictures to upload on the books of my room all messy when unpacking. Anyways yar. Updates next week too.
More to come.
(Whoever gets that, gets a shoutout)
Monday, November 5, 2012
Hey, I'm alive, I just been forgetting to post stuff on here.
It's almost been a month since I've posted on this... Where did the time go? Anyways, I'll chat-chit it up on what's been new.
For the month of October, I was terribly broke. I spent over half my Rotary pay money in a week to buy a phone, and put credits on it. That was about $100 USD... Apparently my host family had a phone for me, and they told me I had it, but I don't even remember receiving it... Anyways, that's all behind me now. I have a decent phone(I call it my old man phone, since there is an SOS switch on the back, and the numbers on it are HUGE.) I also bought a Pokémon doll(a Bulbasaur), and named it Kalevi. I'm thinking of it as a Flat Stanley... Take pictures of it with landmarks/something cool in the background. Should be an interesting activity... Though I've only taken two pictures = .=;. Anybody want me to go somewhere unique and have a picture for you? Tell me and I'll go there. Please make it in the Taipei area :p. Back to the money situation. So I hardly use my MRT card for traveling, so I used the money I had on there for buying my low blood sugar food(yes, I still have to do that, which is infuriating), and when I went with my host family somewhere, I was low on MRT money, and they refilled it, and I was like "Oh yeah, more food money" but I also felt bad for it not being used for it's intended purpose :p... I have to take care of my diabetes y'know! So that was how I used my MRT money for the 3 weeks I had no money in October.. On to the next small snip-it I just want to throw in.
COFFEE! My host mom bought me a big box of these coffee packets, and it's delicious. Though I still prefer fresh made coffee, this will be a good alternative for a while.. Thanks Host Mom. Next thing to talk about, packages!
My aunt, and my blood mother(sounds like a cult thing doesn't it...) has been sending me packages for a bit. I've only gotten one from each, but my aunt has one in transit, and my mother has one being prepared right now. The first one was the one that came into my hands, and it had: American deodorant(there's a difference), marshmallows, Hershey's chocolate(SPONSOR!), my father's CHOCOLATE FREAKING CHIP COOKIES(Oh my lawdy, I was so excited to see those in there, I was about to cry. Yes, I will cry over chocolate chip cookies. It was like, God told my dad to make cookies, and God blessed them with the sweet deliciousness of an angel's kiss, and yeah. My taste buds were in heaven. I still have one left.), test strips for my diabetes, and letters. I asked for some letters and I was glad I got some, this package was kind of like a second wind. It made me feel kind of good. Just a memento that I have my own personal cheerleaders cheering me on. Anyways, my aunt's package. It was rather small(only 3 items) but I was bursting out laughing for about 20 minutes. So, I asked her for some khakis for my uniform, and some other stuff(I'm pretty sure the other stuff will come in the next package, but I'm not sure.). So, I opened the package and I see the pants, and I was happy I got those, but they had little bumps in them... So I unroll the package, and potatoes fall on the floor. I sit there for a second, with my mind trying to process what just fell out of my pants. After abut 20 seconds I say to myself, "My aunt just sent me potatoes in the mail..." This was just funny, I'm sponsored by a district in Idaho, so EVERYBODY thinks I have a potato fetish. Sure, potatoes are good, I like baked and mashed potatoes, but I don't have a potato fetish. I was raised in California. Before this gets too out of hand, I will end it here: next sentence about October.
So, October was a rather boring month, due to me not using my money to hang out with people, and using it to make sure I don't go to the hospital. That's it. Now Country fair!
The country fair happened October 28, and it was one of my favorite days in Taiwan. This was a blast, I got to see most inbounds, and took a bunch of pictures, and all that. I got to make cookies too with my cousin, which was pretty cool. Distant cousin, like 5 generations back or something. I can't remember. Anyways, I got to make cookies, and I thought they were going to be terrible, but they came out all right! I wouldn't mind baking some more, let me think about stuff, and just relax for once and not have too much of a care. Back to the country fair. It lasted from 8am-2pm, and we had booths for our country, and we had to put on attire from our country, or colors, or whatever. Just had to look like you were representing your country. I wore my blazer, my Louie's shirt, and some nice shorts. Everything was pretty fun, I got my face decorated with different flags, and I got a Germany flag with the Eagle crest on it. So far my flags are: South Africa(given by Stephanie), Germany(given by Konstantin L), Taiwan(given by Brian), and 'Murrica(I bought it from Walmart.). The food at the event was amazing, and yeah, in general, I had a blast. On to the next, Halloween.
Well, it wasn't much, but I got to hang out with a couple people. We kind of just derped around my apartment for a couple hours and watched movies. It was fun. Some people probably did something, but yeah. Kind of just a simple Halloween. We watched The Husk, and I watched The Princess Bride or something like that? It was kind of funny, and I was told to watch it. Nothing else really happened.
I think that's all I can think about... As I said, October kind of sucked too. I hope it turns around. I change host families December 1st, so hopefully I can do more stuff. Anyways, sorry about the delayed update, I should update more often now. I hope so anyways. I'm also looking at other people's blogs, to see if there are any worth noting of.. I might make a quick post to inform people of blogs. I won't post it on my Facebook.
Till next time!
Some crazy foreigner in Taiwan.
For the month of October, I was terribly broke. I spent over half my Rotary pay money in a week to buy a phone, and put credits on it. That was about $100 USD... Apparently my host family had a phone for me, and they told me I had it, but I don't even remember receiving it... Anyways, that's all behind me now. I have a decent phone(I call it my old man phone, since there is an SOS switch on the back, and the numbers on it are HUGE.) I also bought a Pokémon doll(a Bulbasaur), and named it Kalevi. I'm thinking of it as a Flat Stanley... Take pictures of it with landmarks/something cool in the background. Should be an interesting activity... Though I've only taken two pictures = .=;. Anybody want me to go somewhere unique and have a picture for you? Tell me and I'll go there. Please make it in the Taipei area :p. Back to the money situation. So I hardly use my MRT card for traveling, so I used the money I had on there for buying my low blood sugar food(yes, I still have to do that, which is infuriating), and when I went with my host family somewhere, I was low on MRT money, and they refilled it, and I was like "Oh yeah, more food money" but I also felt bad for it not being used for it's intended purpose :p... I have to take care of my diabetes y'know! So that was how I used my MRT money for the 3 weeks I had no money in October.. On to the next small snip-it I just want to throw in.
COFFEE! My host mom bought me a big box of these coffee packets, and it's delicious. Though I still prefer fresh made coffee, this will be a good alternative for a while.. Thanks Host Mom. Next thing to talk about, packages!
My aunt, and my blood mother(sounds like a cult thing doesn't it...) has been sending me packages for a bit. I've only gotten one from each, but my aunt has one in transit, and my mother has one being prepared right now. The first one was the one that came into my hands, and it had: American deodorant(there's a difference), marshmallows, Hershey's chocolate(SPONSOR!), my father's CHOCOLATE FREAKING CHIP COOKIES(Oh my lawdy, I was so excited to see those in there, I was about to cry. Yes, I will cry over chocolate chip cookies. It was like, God told my dad to make cookies, and God blessed them with the sweet deliciousness of an angel's kiss, and yeah. My taste buds were in heaven. I still have one left.), test strips for my diabetes, and letters. I asked for some letters and I was glad I got some, this package was kind of like a second wind. It made me feel kind of good. Just a memento that I have my own personal cheerleaders cheering me on. Anyways, my aunt's package. It was rather small(only 3 items) but I was bursting out laughing for about 20 minutes. So, I asked her for some khakis for my uniform, and some other stuff(I'm pretty sure the other stuff will come in the next package, but I'm not sure.). So, I opened the package and I see the pants, and I was happy I got those, but they had little bumps in them... So I unroll the package, and potatoes fall on the floor. I sit there for a second, with my mind trying to process what just fell out of my pants. After abut 20 seconds I say to myself, "My aunt just sent me potatoes in the mail..." This was just funny, I'm sponsored by a district in Idaho, so EVERYBODY thinks I have a potato fetish. Sure, potatoes are good, I like baked and mashed potatoes, but I don't have a potato fetish. I was raised in California. Before this gets too out of hand, I will end it here: next sentence about October.
So, October was a rather boring month, due to me not using my money to hang out with people, and using it to make sure I don't go to the hospital. That's it. Now Country fair!
The country fair happened October 28, and it was one of my favorite days in Taiwan. This was a blast, I got to see most inbounds, and took a bunch of pictures, and all that. I got to make cookies too with my cousin, which was pretty cool. Distant cousin, like 5 generations back or something. I can't remember. Anyways, I got to make cookies, and I thought they were going to be terrible, but they came out all right! I wouldn't mind baking some more, let me think about stuff, and just relax for once and not have too much of a care. Back to the country fair. It lasted from 8am-2pm, and we had booths for our country, and we had to put on attire from our country, or colors, or whatever. Just had to look like you were representing your country. I wore my blazer, my Louie's shirt, and some nice shorts. Everything was pretty fun, I got my face decorated with different flags, and I got a Germany flag with the Eagle crest on it. So far my flags are: South Africa(given by Stephanie), Germany(given by Konstantin L), Taiwan(given by Brian), and 'Murrica(I bought it from Walmart.). The food at the event was amazing, and yeah, in general, I had a blast. On to the next, Halloween.
Well, it wasn't much, but I got to hang out with a couple people. We kind of just derped around my apartment for a couple hours and watched movies. It was fun. Some people probably did something, but yeah. Kind of just a simple Halloween. We watched The Husk, and I watched The Princess Bride or something like that? It was kind of funny, and I was told to watch it. Nothing else really happened.
I think that's all I can think about... As I said, October kind of sucked too. I hope it turns around. I change host families December 1st, so hopefully I can do more stuff. Anyways, sorry about the delayed update, I should update more often now. I hope so anyways. I'm also looking at other people's blogs, to see if there are any worth noting of.. I might make a quick post to inform people of blogs. I won't post it on my Facebook.
Till next time!
Some crazy foreigner in Taiwan.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Kind of in a rut, which isn't good. For the most part.
Yeah, I am in a little rut. Things are finally sinking in, I still don't have a phone so that may be one of the things I need to fix soon. I'm starting to get in the hang of things, I met a classmate named Ivan, who is really nice, and is friends with all the other exchange students. I got a new Chinese name, 湯哲明 which is "湯- for Thomas" "哲- Philosophy" "明- bright, positive" I talked with one of my Chinese teachers and I told her I disliked my current Chinese name, so I told her some stuff and she thought up of two. I really like that one so It's a keeper :3. Nothing exciting has happened in the weeks since my last update, but this week has been really interesting. Let's start with Monday.
Alright, this Monday I thought was going to be another boring Monday, but I was wrong. I woke up at 05:30 and got ready for school and left the house at around 06:40 to go to classes that start at 08:30, even though I live only a couple minutes from the house. Long story and I shouldn't share it with the public. ANYWAYS, I read my book for a few hours, getting into the story and all and start seeing classmates for my Chinese class. So we chat-chit for a while and start our classes. During lunch we saw a BUNCH of foreigners at our school, and it really interested me. I met a few and chat-chit with them for a bit, then went to my class. My Life Prep class was rather boring, and didn't like it. I asked to go to the infirmary to sleep since I had a headache. So after class, I tried to find the foreigners, and didn't find them, so I guessed that they were busy with whatever, and I watched some basketball. So I see them come out of the student building, and wait for a little bit for them to get comfortable where they were sitting and went up to them, and found out they were from America.
I need a new paragraph.
So it was pretty cool some of them were from the states, and two people were from Jackson, Wyoming. That's pretty darn close to Idaho, we are like neighbors. Only a few hours from Boise. So I took some of them to a bakery and they got some delicious treats. Anyways, that's it for my Monday, chat-chit with them a bit, and other things. Tuesday was REALLY boring, except I had my fish burrito, so I'm happy.
Wednesday, today is 10/10. Double 10. Taiwan's birthday. Why am I using so many periods? Fraction sentences! What'cha gonna do about it English teachers? Just kidding, I love you guys. Today I woke up at 06:00, left the house at 06:40, ran to the MRT, met up with some exchange students, went to Taipei City Hall station and met up with more. We did some festivities and had some fun. I was going to post pictures, but that's not happening, taking too long, just look on my Facebook album, sorry. Anyways, two other exchange students and I go to Ximen, and they go shopping for earrings, and we get some food and see a movie....
This movie was terrible. Oh my gosh, it's just ugh. I need holy water to cleanse my eyes. It was just terrible! Think of all the movies Nicholas Cage was in(excluding National Treasures since those were pretty good, I don't think there are any others) and this movie makes those movies look good! It was called, Upside Down, or something like that. I don't know. My friends said we were going to go see it, and one of them didn't see Taken 1, and wouldn't understand, so we just saw that. It was only around $6.66. So not too much money wasted. Anyways, the movie was bad, and the theatre was meh. You have assigned seats, and since the movie theatre was full, people wanted their stupid seats. We got asked to move around like 3 times, and we ended up in our seats, in the back corner, lovely. I think that was my worst experience with a movie theatre. Oh well, it's not like I need to go to them :p.
After the movie we took the MRT to the end of the red line, to a place called Tamsui(pronounced Danshui) and we spent a good few hours there. We met up with an exchange student and he accompanied us there. We got some good food, and shopped, and looked around. So the original two were there on a mission to buy something, and they got what they wanted, but the third got a something too, so they all had their somethings on and took pictures. Something= mask. They were getting pictures left and right, and we got a bunch of pictures taken. I didn't get a mask so I didn't photobomb the picture being the only white person without a mask. So I stood to the side. Anyways I had a bunch of fun with them and it was funny in general.
So on the way home on the MRT, somebody fell over, people were looking at us, and we stood all the way from Tamsui to Shandao Temple. The girls didn't though. A little kid was staring at us the whole time, we were watching one of my friends play Minesweeper. Yeah pretty eventful day I have to think. Check out the pictures on my Facebook, there's a link on the side, if you didn't notice that(I hope you did). OH today we saw a Neil Patrick Harris look a like. It was cool.
I think that's it, a little update, only three days, but it was quite a bit. I think I kind of ranted though. Oh well. I'm still thinking of a vlog schedule. I don't know, maybe just whenever I want. I want them to be consistent, but it's more effort. I should stop being lazy. I need to get quite a few things. Phone, camera, webcam. Maybe I will use my iPhone. I'm not sure, it's good video quality, I checked it out. I can also do walking vlogs too, show you around and stuff. It might be a good idea :). I will test it out. Well, I'll see you in the next update!
Alright, this Monday I thought was going to be another boring Monday, but I was wrong. I woke up at 05:30 and got ready for school and left the house at around 06:40 to go to classes that start at 08:30, even though I live only a couple minutes from the house. Long story and I shouldn't share it with the public. ANYWAYS, I read my book for a few hours, getting into the story and all and start seeing classmates for my Chinese class. So we chat-chit for a while and start our classes. During lunch we saw a BUNCH of foreigners at our school, and it really interested me. I met a few and chat-chit with them for a bit, then went to my class. My Life Prep class was rather boring, and didn't like it. I asked to go to the infirmary to sleep since I had a headache. So after class, I tried to find the foreigners, and didn't find them, so I guessed that they were busy with whatever, and I watched some basketball. So I see them come out of the student building, and wait for a little bit for them to get comfortable where they were sitting and went up to them, and found out they were from America.
I need a new paragraph.
So it was pretty cool some of them were from the states, and two people were from Jackson, Wyoming. That's pretty darn close to Idaho, we are like neighbors. Only a few hours from Boise. So I took some of them to a bakery and they got some delicious treats. Anyways, that's it for my Monday, chat-chit with them a bit, and other things. Tuesday was REALLY boring, except I had my fish burrito, so I'm happy.
Wednesday, today is 10/10. Double 10. Taiwan's birthday. Why am I using so many periods? Fraction sentences! What'cha gonna do about it English teachers? Just kidding, I love you guys. Today I woke up at 06:00, left the house at 06:40, ran to the MRT, met up with some exchange students, went to Taipei City Hall station and met up with more. We did some festivities and had some fun. I was going to post pictures, but that's not happening, taking too long, just look on my Facebook album, sorry. Anyways, two other exchange students and I go to Ximen, and they go shopping for earrings, and we get some food and see a movie....
This movie was terrible. Oh my gosh, it's just ugh. I need holy water to cleanse my eyes. It was just terrible! Think of all the movies Nicholas Cage was in(excluding National Treasures since those were pretty good, I don't think there are any others) and this movie makes those movies look good! It was called, Upside Down, or something like that. I don't know. My friends said we were going to go see it, and one of them didn't see Taken 1, and wouldn't understand, so we just saw that. It was only around $6.66. So not too much money wasted. Anyways, the movie was bad, and the theatre was meh. You have assigned seats, and since the movie theatre was full, people wanted their stupid seats. We got asked to move around like 3 times, and we ended up in our seats, in the back corner, lovely. I think that was my worst experience with a movie theatre. Oh well, it's not like I need to go to them :p.
After the movie we took the MRT to the end of the red line, to a place called Tamsui(pronounced Danshui) and we spent a good few hours there. We met up with an exchange student and he accompanied us there. We got some good food, and shopped, and looked around. So the original two were there on a mission to buy something, and they got what they wanted, but the third got a something too, so they all had their somethings on and took pictures. Something= mask. They were getting pictures left and right, and we got a bunch of pictures taken. I didn't get a mask so I didn't photobomb the picture being the only white person without a mask. So I stood to the side. Anyways I had a bunch of fun with them and it was funny in general.
So on the way home on the MRT, somebody fell over, people were looking at us, and we stood all the way from Tamsui to Shandao Temple. The girls didn't though. A little kid was staring at us the whole time, we were watching one of my friends play Minesweeper. Yeah pretty eventful day I have to think. Check out the pictures on my Facebook, there's a link on the side, if you didn't notice that(I hope you did). OH today we saw a Neil Patrick Harris look a like. It was cool.
I think that's it, a little update, only three days, but it was quite a bit. I think I kind of ranted though. Oh well. I'm still thinking of a vlog schedule. I don't know, maybe just whenever I want. I want them to be consistent, but it's more effort. I should stop being lazy. I need to get quite a few things. Phone, camera, webcam. Maybe I will use my iPhone. I'm not sure, it's good video quality, I checked it out. I can also do walking vlogs too, show you around and stuff. It might be a good idea :). I will test it out. Well, I'll see you in the next update!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
One month! (Boring update; health, school, I'm sick)
I was laying in bed today, sick, and I thought to myself, "Maybe I should do a blog post..." Here's what you'll see in this blog post: I'm sick, school stuff, health issues. Let's get it started, this might be rather boring.
Oh hey, I just remembered half way typing this, that it's my one month here in Taiwan! I've had a blast here so far(but the last couple of days).
Alright, first thing, I've been sick for about a week. Let's just start going through the week. Monday I went to school, doing decent, but a little ill. The day was OK for the most part, till after lunch. For lunch I went to a place called Saizeriah(sp), and it's really good, cheap food. I like it a lot, so do the other exchange students. It's like American Italian food. So it's pretty good, since I'm kind of used to that. Meals range from $60NT($2USD)~$200NT($6.33USD). It's cheap, and delicious, there is unlimited drinks for $1USD. So if you ever visit(I'm talking to you birth parents, and blood related siblings)! After that I went to a food place, and found some rice flour bamkuchen(I think that was it), and got excited and bought it. I found some strawberry marshmallows, with strawberry filling for $1.33, and it was delicious. So I ate the apparently gluten-free(I'll get on that subject later), and I had an über bad reaction to it, and rested in the infirmary, then went to class, feeling really darn sick. I didn't go to school on Tuesday. Wednesday, everything was ok, but I was feeling ill still, starting to get a bad sore throat, enflamed tonsils, migraines, other stuff. So I go to my other classes,(the schedule for this day was the same) and continue through the day. I didn't go to school Thursday, and Friday. I slept all day those days, and kind of got around today, since I had some medicine in me. Still feeling a bit bad though, but I'm not as bad. Up next is escuela!
I really like my classes, and I've met some awesome people. Though I'm going to have a hard time remembering names, and I already have forgotten a few(I'm sorry ^^;)... Anyways, all my classes are awesome, I switched out of some, and my new ones are: ...I forgot a few, but I have ESPAÑOL as one of them. That will be a fun class, plus I think it would help me a bit if I did learn Español, so I'll be learning Spanish, instead of Japanese. Other than that, I might be joining the cooking club, or interact club. Or both if I can. Anyways next topic is my health.
Well, my diabetes is good, so blood related family members, calm down. It's something I kind of self diagnosed myself with, so it's not legitimate yet. Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'm celiac, ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001280/ ) there's the link to sum it up. To simply put it, if I eat gluten(wheat, barley, rye) I will get bloated, be constipated, throw-up a lot, and have a bad time. Ummm, I think that's it, so I can't eat bread or anything like cakes and cookie and stuff unless I make them with gluten free cooking flours. When I get back to America in 9 months I will see if I really do have it, if I don't I will really question why I don't, because it can't be cured, and I was having most of the symptoms. Anyways that's it about my health.
Ok, so NEXT SUNDAY I will post a freaking vlog, whether I like it or not. I will get my butt around to it, sometime during the day, whether it's in the middle of the day, or at night! So prepare your eyes, and your ears(it might be a crappy audio quality). I think it will be OK, if I have to, I will use my stupid gaming head phones, (I brought them for skype calls when I don't use the camera, because it makes my voice better), or my iPod ones hahaha. Oh well, just be ready! I will have a vlog post on Sunday! Mark your calendars, prepare your tissues for the tears(aimed at my family), and uhhhh, yeah. See you guys Sunday.
YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/TaipeiBenjamin?feature=plcp
Oh hey, I just remembered half way typing this, that it's my one month here in Taiwan! I've had a blast here so far(but the last couple of days).
Alright, first thing, I've been sick for about a week. Let's just start going through the week. Monday I went to school, doing decent, but a little ill. The day was OK for the most part, till after lunch. For lunch I went to a place called Saizeriah(sp), and it's really good, cheap food. I like it a lot, so do the other exchange students. It's like American Italian food. So it's pretty good, since I'm kind of used to that. Meals range from $60NT($2USD)~$200NT($6.33USD). It's cheap, and delicious, there is unlimited drinks for $1USD. So if you ever visit(I'm talking to you birth parents, and blood related siblings)! After that I went to a food place, and found some rice flour bamkuchen(I think that was it), and got excited and bought it. I found some strawberry marshmallows, with strawberry filling for $1.33, and it was delicious. So I ate the apparently gluten-free(I'll get on that subject later), and I had an über bad reaction to it, and rested in the infirmary, then went to class, feeling really darn sick. I didn't go to school on Tuesday. Wednesday, everything was ok, but I was feeling ill still, starting to get a bad sore throat, enflamed tonsils, migraines, other stuff. So I go to my other classes,(the schedule for this day was the same) and continue through the day. I didn't go to school Thursday, and Friday. I slept all day those days, and kind of got around today, since I had some medicine in me. Still feeling a bit bad though, but I'm not as bad. Up next is escuela!
I really like my classes, and I've met some awesome people. Though I'm going to have a hard time remembering names, and I already have forgotten a few(I'm sorry ^^;)... Anyways, all my classes are awesome, I switched out of some, and my new ones are: ...I forgot a few, but I have ESPAÑOL as one of them. That will be a fun class, plus I think it would help me a bit if I did learn Español, so I'll be learning Spanish, instead of Japanese. Other than that, I might be joining the cooking club, or interact club. Or both if I can. Anyways next topic is my health.
Well, my diabetes is good, so blood related family members, calm down. It's something I kind of self diagnosed myself with, so it's not legitimate yet. Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'm celiac, ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001280/ ) there's the link to sum it up. To simply put it, if I eat gluten(wheat, barley, rye) I will get bloated, be constipated, throw-up a lot, and have a bad time. Ummm, I think that's it, so I can't eat bread or anything like cakes and cookie and stuff unless I make them with gluten free cooking flours. When I get back to America in 9 months I will see if I really do have it, if I don't I will really question why I don't, because it can't be cured, and I was having most of the symptoms. Anyways that's it about my health.
Ok, so NEXT SUNDAY I will post a freaking vlog, whether I like it or not. I will get my butt around to it, sometime during the day, whether it's in the middle of the day, or at night! So prepare your eyes, and your ears(it might be a crappy audio quality). I think it will be OK, if I have to, I will use my stupid gaming head phones, (I brought them for skype calls when I don't use the camera, because it makes my voice better), or my iPod ones hahaha. Oh well, just be ready! I will have a vlog post on Sunday! Mark your calendars, prepare your tissues for the tears(aimed at my family), and uhhhh, yeah. See you guys Sunday.
YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/TaipeiBenjamin?feature=plcp
Monday, September 10, 2012
Food Poisoning, Speedos, Orchestras, and School!
Ahhh, it's September already. Time is going by at a decent pace. I'm pretty glad it's not going to slow, or too fast. Anyways, all has been well and I started school today. I this might be shorter update, because there isn't much to talk about.... Anyways, let's get the ball rolling again.
So I didn't really do much after my lego exhibition. I hung out with inbounds and just explored Taipei. Nothing too fancy. There might be something different going on but if I dive into the subject, it will be personal, and will breaking a rule so I will refrain from it. On a different note, on Sept. 3rd, I went to a family reunion thing, where we ate a bunch of food. Sure it was nice eating some kind of decent stuff... I just got food poisoning from it. So I was sick Tuesday->Friday, and I hardly ate. If I did eat, I would of had see food 20 minutes later. Not good, so I refrained from much food digestion. One last thing that goes with me being sick, a bit. I messed up my right foot pretty bad on Sept. 5th xD. I have a decent sized bruise on my foot and it hurts a lot when I walk, especially when I wear shoes... Which would be every day... joyful.
Now all the depressing stuff is out of the way, let's go onto some brighter subjects. I got to explore some of the surrounding area of my house on Friday when I was feeling a bit better. I needed air and some sunshine, so a walk was the perfect thing. "Just what the doctor ordered." (I think that's a good way to use that phrase). Saturday I hung out with my mentor, Samuel, so I had a good time hanging out with him, walking around and stuff, eating at this good all you can eat place, and going to some foot hotsprings. It felt amazing! Especially with the bruise on my foot, it was like God was rubbing my feet. It just felt sooo good, I don't know how to explain it.
Sunday was just a weird day in the beginning... I get woken up rudely, and I get yelled at while I'm getting dressed... When I heard the door open, I put my under garments on so fast, it was like a bolt of lightning. Then I get told to eat really fast, so I did, and we left an hour later after I woke up... I think I could of went a little slower hahahaha, oh well. When we were driving, I had no idea whats-so-ever on where we were going, and what we were doing. So I just listened to my iPod till our destination(I seriously couldn't speak any Chinese during that car ride, I was just too exhausted. It was a lost cause. I gained my speech back later though. So, we pull over to the side of the rode, and I'm met by some man. I have no idea who that man was, so I ask him some questions, and he was my home stay mother's brother hahahaha. He was driving a scooter that day too, so I got to ride my first scooter. Those things are fun, and I didn't feel like I was going to lose my life the whole time. He drove very well, in my books anyway. He also told me to hold on to this small bag, and I didn't know what was in it, or bothered looking at the time.
Anyways, we reached the first destination, a swimming pool. Oh my gosh, I quickly look in the small bag, and I see the swimsuit I was going to be wearing.... A speedo. Oh dear, this was going to be embarrasing. So I told him, "I do not want to swim." He wasn't paying attention, and bought me admission. Dammit. I go to the changing room, and sit down looking the devil right in the eyes, in the form of a speedo. I thought to myself, "No way I'm wearing this." So I bought one that went down to two inches above my knees... better than a speedo. Close call number one in Taiwan.
After swimming, I went to Home Stay Uncle's house, showered, ate, had a sun cake, and got in the car shortly after. We went to the next destination, an Orchestra. I found the music REALLY GOOD, and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. My home stay sister was in it too. It was nice seeing her play the instrument she has been practicing a lot. After that we went to some big shopping centre/mall thing. It was nice walking around, seeing all the expensive imported clothing. I was like frustrated with something, I couldn't really enjoy it that much... I think it was the speedo. After that we drove to C.K.S. Memorial Hall and ate at this dumpling place, and it was delicious. I wouldn't mind going there again.
So, it's Monday morning, and I start school today. I was excited and nervous, and all that jazz. I woke up at 6 am, but I got there at 8 am... What the heck, why did I have to wake up so early... I was annoyed, but what can you do hahahaha. I also got a bag today too! I was freaking excited about that, it was one of the things that made my day too be honest. Now my pockets won't be bulging with all my stuff hahaha. We get there at 8, and we go into a conference room, and were handed a little packet. It had rules in it and such, uniform is optional, but I might be wearing it a bit. Not too sure. After that, we walked to our Chinese class, and the teacher is awesome. She only speaks Chinese, but she writes the pinyin, and there are pictures and stuff, and I actually retained some information. We have to memorize some stuff that we learned today, and introduce ourselves n' such. After Chinese class, we got to meet the people taking us around school, when it got to my group, it was 5 girls, and I was like, "Ok, that's cool I guess". So we walked around for a bit, and ate lunch, and talked, introduced me to the classmates in the first class that I have. It was pretty fun, I picked up some words, and she translated the main points of today's lesson in English.
Schedule for Semester One: Monday-Thursday Chinese 08:10-12:00
Monday: Life Preparation 13:30-15:15
Tuesday: English 13:30-16:15
Wednesday: Art Advertising 13:30-15:15
Physical Education 15:25-17:10
Thursday: Art of Life 13:30-15:15
Life Sciences 15:25-17:10
Friday: Military Training 10:10-12:00
Music 13:30-15:15
Japanese 15:25-17:10
"I like this school so far." was my thought at the end of today, as I'm writing this. I think things are finally swinging into motion. The prolouge has been read, and lived through, so it's complete. I think I can finally say, "Let's start this exchange adventure at full speed!" I'm learning chinese, meeting new people, trying new foods, learning about the culture.... Those are the four main things on my main reasons I wanted to go to Taiwan. I've been fulfilling the main quota. I hope to delve into more of my minor reasons I've wanted to come here. We'll see what happens in the future. As for now, I might actually do an introduction to my vlog. I might just test it out, and see how it goes.
READ THIS( please :) ): For those of you going onto here from my facebook posts, I will stop doing that starting next month. I am giving you guys plenty of time to subscribe to my blog. Basically, go to the side of the page, enter your email, and you get to chose to follow publicly, and privately. If you haven't done so, do eet nao. Save the blog on your favourites, reccomend it to your friends and stuff! I'll stop advertising now. If that's considered advertising.
Anyways, that's the end of it. I hope you enjoyed reading my prolouge, and I hope you will enjoy reading my experiences in the future. See you soon :)!
So I didn't really do much after my lego exhibition. I hung out with inbounds and just explored Taipei. Nothing too fancy. There might be something different going on but if I dive into the subject, it will be personal, and will breaking a rule so I will refrain from it. On a different note, on Sept. 3rd, I went to a family reunion thing, where we ate a bunch of food. Sure it was nice eating some kind of decent stuff... I just got food poisoning from it. So I was sick Tuesday->Friday, and I hardly ate. If I did eat, I would of had see food 20 minutes later. Not good, so I refrained from much food digestion. One last thing that goes with me being sick, a bit. I messed up my right foot pretty bad on Sept. 5th xD. I have a decent sized bruise on my foot and it hurts a lot when I walk, especially when I wear shoes... Which would be every day... joyful.
Now all the depressing stuff is out of the way, let's go onto some brighter subjects. I got to explore some of the surrounding area of my house on Friday when I was feeling a bit better. I needed air and some sunshine, so a walk was the perfect thing. "Just what the doctor ordered." (I think that's a good way to use that phrase). Saturday I hung out with my mentor, Samuel, so I had a good time hanging out with him, walking around and stuff, eating at this good all you can eat place, and going to some foot hotsprings. It felt amazing! Especially with the bruise on my foot, it was like God was rubbing my feet. It just felt sooo good, I don't know how to explain it.
Sunday was just a weird day in the beginning... I get woken up rudely, and I get yelled at while I'm getting dressed... When I heard the door open, I put my under garments on so fast, it was like a bolt of lightning. Then I get told to eat really fast, so I did, and we left an hour later after I woke up... I think I could of went a little slower hahahaha, oh well. When we were driving, I had no idea whats-so-ever on where we were going, and what we were doing. So I just listened to my iPod till our destination(I seriously couldn't speak any Chinese during that car ride, I was just too exhausted. It was a lost cause. I gained my speech back later though. So, we pull over to the side of the rode, and I'm met by some man. I have no idea who that man was, so I ask him some questions, and he was my home stay mother's brother hahahaha. He was driving a scooter that day too, so I got to ride my first scooter. Those things are fun, and I didn't feel like I was going to lose my life the whole time. He drove very well, in my books anyway. He also told me to hold on to this small bag, and I didn't know what was in it, or bothered looking at the time.
Anyways, we reached the first destination, a swimming pool. Oh my gosh, I quickly look in the small bag, and I see the swimsuit I was going to be wearing.... A speedo. Oh dear, this was going to be embarrasing. So I told him, "I do not want to swim." He wasn't paying attention, and bought me admission. Dammit. I go to the changing room, and sit down looking the devil right in the eyes, in the form of a speedo. I thought to myself, "No way I'm wearing this." So I bought one that went down to two inches above my knees... better than a speedo. Close call number one in Taiwan.
After swimming, I went to Home Stay Uncle's house, showered, ate, had a sun cake, and got in the car shortly after. We went to the next destination, an Orchestra. I found the music REALLY GOOD, and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. My home stay sister was in it too. It was nice seeing her play the instrument she has been practicing a lot. After that we went to some big shopping centre/mall thing. It was nice walking around, seeing all the expensive imported clothing. I was like frustrated with something, I couldn't really enjoy it that much... I think it was the speedo. After that we drove to C.K.S. Memorial Hall and ate at this dumpling place, and it was delicious. I wouldn't mind going there again.
So, it's Monday morning, and I start school today. I was excited and nervous, and all that jazz. I woke up at 6 am, but I got there at 8 am... What the heck, why did I have to wake up so early... I was annoyed, but what can you do hahahaha. I also got a bag today too! I was freaking excited about that, it was one of the things that made my day too be honest. Now my pockets won't be bulging with all my stuff hahaha. We get there at 8, and we go into a conference room, and were handed a little packet. It had rules in it and such, uniform is optional, but I might be wearing it a bit. Not too sure. After that, we walked to our Chinese class, and the teacher is awesome. She only speaks Chinese, but she writes the pinyin, and there are pictures and stuff, and I actually retained some information. We have to memorize some stuff that we learned today, and introduce ourselves n' such. After Chinese class, we got to meet the people taking us around school, when it got to my group, it was 5 girls, and I was like, "Ok, that's cool I guess". So we walked around for a bit, and ate lunch, and talked, introduced me to the classmates in the first class that I have. It was pretty fun, I picked up some words, and she translated the main points of today's lesson in English.
Schedule for Semester One: Monday-Thursday Chinese 08:10-12:00
Monday: Life Preparation 13:30-15:15
Tuesday: English 13:30-16:15
Wednesday: Art Advertising 13:30-15:15
Physical Education 15:25-17:10
Thursday: Art of Life 13:30-15:15
Life Sciences 15:25-17:10
Friday: Military Training 10:10-12:00
Music 13:30-15:15
Japanese 15:25-17:10
"I like this school so far." was my thought at the end of today, as I'm writing this. I think things are finally swinging into motion. The prolouge has been read, and lived through, so it's complete. I think I can finally say, "Let's start this exchange adventure at full speed!" I'm learning chinese, meeting new people, trying new foods, learning about the culture.... Those are the four main things on my main reasons I wanted to go to Taiwan. I've been fulfilling the main quota. I hope to delve into more of my minor reasons I've wanted to come here. We'll see what happens in the future. As for now, I might actually do an introduction to my vlog. I might just test it out, and see how it goes.
READ THIS( please :) ): For those of you going onto here from my facebook posts, I will stop doing that starting next month. I am giving you guys plenty of time to subscribe to my blog. Basically, go to the side of the page, enter your email, and you get to chose to follow publicly, and privately. If you haven't done so, do eet nao. Save the blog on your favourites, reccomend it to your friends and stuff! I'll stop advertising now. If that's considered advertising.
Anyways, that's the end of it. I hope you enjoyed reading my prolouge, and I hope you will enjoy reading my experiences in the future. See you soon :)!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Soaked to the bone.
Well, as the title suggests, it has something to do with rain. I think I've been in so much rain that I've had five years of Idaho's rain in a week. I know it's typhoon season in Taiwan right now, and holy cow, when it rains, it's going to rain like no tomorrow. The rain is pretty unpredictable too, kind of like the weather back home. It can be sunny one minute, and the next it's raining cats and dogs. I think I can hear the barks and meows right now. There's some thunder too.
Well, I guess I should update, since I had a few things going on this past week. Some rotary, and mostly hanging out with friends. Anyways, onto the update.
Last saturday, we had Rotary D3520 orientation for all the inbounds.I thought I was going to be bored the whole day, but it was pretty fun, I met some awesome people, and just talked with them. I got more pins on my blazer too, which is pretty nice. I also have some other stuff I need to pin on it too, but no pins. So after orientation, I was going to go to a night market, but my host family made plans for me already, so we went to Ximen. I had quite a bit of fun there, I was part of a "magic" act, and had some udon noodles, plus some Taiwanese ice cream. It's prepared differently, it comes in like a wrap, with peanut shavings, and some green leaf thing. It was quite delicious.
Sunday I went to Keelung and saw the beach, and reminded me of my home town. I kind of just had time to think and relax while I was there, I enjoyed it. It was like I didn't have much care for the stuff around me when I was there hahahaha. Anyways, I went to a mineshaft and had to duck the entire time, and I saw an old Japanese house. Other things too, like site seeing stuff.
Tuesday I went to the Taipei zoo with a few inbounds, and just had some fun with them. I had the most calories I've ever eaten in one meal here, because it was ice cream and whaffles. I haven't had that in a long time, so it was good.
Wednesday I went to a Lego exhibition and my first night market with a girl who went to Idaho two years ago, and one of her friends. I had fun at the exhibition, and took a picture of all the sculptures. So I'll probably post pictures of them sometime later, same with all my other pictures n' stuff.
That's pretty much my time in Taiwan so far, I have a Rotary presentation tomorrow, and I'm going to Taipei Main Station for lunch on Sunday. It should be really fun.
Note: Adding some pictures n' stuff today, and a couple of new pages.
Well, I guess I should update, since I had a few things going on this past week. Some rotary, and mostly hanging out with friends. Anyways, onto the update.
Last saturday, we had Rotary D3520 orientation for all the inbounds.I thought I was going to be bored the whole day, but it was pretty fun, I met some awesome people, and just talked with them. I got more pins on my blazer too, which is pretty nice. I also have some other stuff I need to pin on it too, but no pins. So after orientation, I was going to go to a night market, but my host family made plans for me already, so we went to Ximen. I had quite a bit of fun there, I was part of a "magic" act, and had some udon noodles, plus some Taiwanese ice cream. It's prepared differently, it comes in like a wrap, with peanut shavings, and some green leaf thing. It was quite delicious.
Sunday I went to Keelung and saw the beach, and reminded me of my home town. I kind of just had time to think and relax while I was there, I enjoyed it. It was like I didn't have much care for the stuff around me when I was there hahahaha. Anyways, I went to a mineshaft and had to duck the entire time, and I saw an old Japanese house. Other things too, like site seeing stuff.
Tuesday I went to the Taipei zoo with a few inbounds, and just had some fun with them. I had the most calories I've ever eaten in one meal here, because it was ice cream and whaffles. I haven't had that in a long time, so it was good.
Wednesday I went to a Lego exhibition and my first night market with a girl who went to Idaho two years ago, and one of her friends. I had fun at the exhibition, and took a picture of all the sculptures. So I'll probably post pictures of them sometime later, same with all my other pictures n' stuff.
That's pretty much my time in Taiwan so far, I have a Rotary presentation tomorrow, and I'm going to Taipei Main Station for lunch on Sunday. It should be really fun.
Note: Adding some pictures n' stuff today, and a couple of new pages.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
I'm in Taiwan :D
Well, I'm here, in Taiwan, enjoying the Taiwanese life, being an exchange student and stuff. Anyways, updating you guys on my life, since the past 5 days were all exchange related stuff.
Friday-Sunday: Alright, so I had inbound orientation at my sponsoring district(5400) in Ketchum, ID. I met some awesome exchange students. I had a blast with them and I hope they have an awesome exchange year in Idaho. I'm kind of sad that I can't hang out with them more, but I will most likely keep in contact with them over facebook or some stuff.
Sunday through now: Alright, so when I got back from the orientation, I had to finish packing. After I got that done, I went to the store and get some more medicine supplies. So I got on my plane to Seattle to spend the night at my travel agent's house. It was pretty fun, and I had some awesome food. After that night, I woke up at 06:00 having my last American shower, and my last bowl of cereal lol. So, I get to the airport at 8am, and got through security at 8:30 or so. I meet up with an exchange student friend, and she takes me to the other exchange student friends. So we hang out in Seattle-Tacoma airport for a bit. We fly up to Vancouver, BC and when we go through customs, we lose two people. So I'm with the other exchange student and were both hoping that we would meet up with the other two lol. We end up meeting with the other two, and adding two more people later on. So after that, we hang out in BC for about 3 hours, and get on our flight for 11 hours, going to Seoul, South Korea.
The flight itself wasn't bad, and I thought it was going to be long... They had some good movies on there, and I listened to some albums I've been looking to buy for a while. Looks like I might need to get them, sometime soon. During the flight, 2 other exchange students and I were watching movies, and we tried to get them to go at the same time, and we got it pretty close. We watched "21 Jump Street", and "The Hunger Games". I liked 21 Jump Street, and I laughed like an obnoxious American. The Hunger Games was meh, and I almost fell asleep during it lol. We arrive in S. Korea 20-30 minutes late, so we go through security, and we get seperated again. What the hell is up with us getting seperated? So we eventually meet up again, and meet with the California group, and the Boston group. Were a group of 13 exchange students, what more could possibly go wrong? Nothing bad happened though lol. We hang out in Seoul for a bit, and get on our final flight. It was pretty slow, and I sat by myself, but 2 others were next to me in the middle isle. So we arrive in Taipei, and I'm doing the giddy dance in my brain. I can't believe I'm in Taiwan was all I thought lol. So we went through the final checkpoint/whatever you want to call it, and were going to get our bags. We find them easily since they were the last ones to get there, since somebody forgot to fill their form out lol. We all get through and we get going. So we walk for about 20 seconds, and then we see a bunch of freaking signs. Now I thought to myself, "Wow, this is a big freaking welcoming party." So I'm thinking to myself, "Where is my family" and I look left and see my group as they're yelling my name, and we all get seperated for the final time. I get like a thousand pictures taken, and I forgot about my camera, so I felt like an idiot. I got the pictures from my second host sister though lol. Anyways, we get going back to my house. I have two houses for my first family, one is a sleeping house, and the other is where we talk, eat, and study. It's pretty nice lol.
Anyways, that's about it. That covered my hectic happenings in the past few days. I will most likely do a post every 2 or three weeks I think. So yeah, time to start this exchange studenting career xD. I'll post pictures later in my pictures page, and will put another page up with my other ways to contact me.
-Benjamin Michael Thomas
Friday-Sunday: Alright, so I had inbound orientation at my sponsoring district(5400) in Ketchum, ID. I met some awesome exchange students. I had a blast with them and I hope they have an awesome exchange year in Idaho. I'm kind of sad that I can't hang out with them more, but I will most likely keep in contact with them over facebook or some stuff.
Sunday through now: Alright, so when I got back from the orientation, I had to finish packing. After I got that done, I went to the store and get some more medicine supplies. So I got on my plane to Seattle to spend the night at my travel agent's house. It was pretty fun, and I had some awesome food. After that night, I woke up at 06:00 having my last American shower, and my last bowl of cereal lol. So, I get to the airport at 8am, and got through security at 8:30 or so. I meet up with an exchange student friend, and she takes me to the other exchange student friends. So we hang out in Seattle-Tacoma airport for a bit. We fly up to Vancouver, BC and when we go through customs, we lose two people. So I'm with the other exchange student and were both hoping that we would meet up with the other two lol. We end up meeting with the other two, and adding two more people later on. So after that, we hang out in BC for about 3 hours, and get on our flight for 11 hours, going to Seoul, South Korea.
The flight itself wasn't bad, and I thought it was going to be long... They had some good movies on there, and I listened to some albums I've been looking to buy for a while. Looks like I might need to get them, sometime soon. During the flight, 2 other exchange students and I were watching movies, and we tried to get them to go at the same time, and we got it pretty close. We watched "21 Jump Street", and "The Hunger Games". I liked 21 Jump Street, and I laughed like an obnoxious American. The Hunger Games was meh, and I almost fell asleep during it lol. We arrive in S. Korea 20-30 minutes late, so we go through security, and we get seperated again. What the hell is up with us getting seperated? So we eventually meet up again, and meet with the California group, and the Boston group. Were a group of 13 exchange students, what more could possibly go wrong? Nothing bad happened though lol. We hang out in Seoul for a bit, and get on our final flight. It was pretty slow, and I sat by myself, but 2 others were next to me in the middle isle. So we arrive in Taipei, and I'm doing the giddy dance in my brain. I can't believe I'm in Taiwan was all I thought lol. So we went through the final checkpoint/whatever you want to call it, and were going to get our bags. We find them easily since they were the last ones to get there, since somebody forgot to fill their form out lol. We all get through and we get going. So we walk for about 20 seconds, and then we see a bunch of freaking signs. Now I thought to myself, "Wow, this is a big freaking welcoming party." So I'm thinking to myself, "Where is my family" and I look left and see my group as they're yelling my name, and we all get seperated for the final time. I get like a thousand pictures taken, and I forgot about my camera, so I felt like an idiot. I got the pictures from my second host sister though lol. Anyways, we get going back to my house. I have two houses for my first family, one is a sleeping house, and the other is where we talk, eat, and study. It's pretty nice lol.
Anyways, that's about it. That covered my hectic happenings in the past few days. I will most likely do a post every 2 or three weeks I think. So yeah, time to start this exchange studenting career xD. I'll post pictures later in my pictures page, and will put another page up with my other ways to contact me.
-Benjamin Michael Thomas
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Getting prepared to leave (bored at 02:35 in the morning)!
Holy cow, it's already August. Time sure has flown by, it feels like just a couple days ago, I was starting this weird blog hahaha. Anyways, my update.
I leave sometime soon but I'm not sure on that yet, since I haven't gotten my visa back from my travel agent..They told me my visa has been delayed because they didn't have this document that I swore I sent to them, but oh well. I scann it and sent it via email to them, hopefully I don't have to send a physical copy. I'm cleaning up my room and preparing to move out of it soon because the exchange student replacing me is coming on Monday at 13:20. So my room is becoming really empty.
I haven't even started to pack yet, which I probably should start soon since I have no idea when I'll leave now. Just been busy with my introduction powerpoint for Rotary, and studying my Mandarin Chinese.
Onto what's been going on in my personal life that I'm willing to share with everybody. I've had a pretty uneventful Summer ever since I got back from San Francisco, but things got thrown around on Wednesday. I got a text on Monday from my friend and she asked if she wanted to hang out at the park on Wednesday, so I said yes, thought we were just going to hang around n' stuff. So I get there, and she tells me to follow her, I see some feet hiding and all I could think of is, "Oh dear, a surprise party," I was right, but it kind of ruined the surprise lol. Oh well, it was really fun though. Later on Wednesday night, I got to talk to one of my good friends that I've known for a while, that I haven't talked to for about three years. So I hung out with her all of Thursday and caught up and decided to hang out again some day before I leave. Other than that, I think I'm going to have a little get together and set fire to some of the weeds that need to be burned. Not sure on that though lol.
Well I think this will be my last blog post in the United States. Maybe I should do the obligatory introduction to my youtube vlog soon... Just depends really. Anyways, I'll update this sometime when I'm in Taiwan! Maybe after orientation. (*￣▽￣)ﾉ~~ 一会儿见！
I leave sometime soon but I'm not sure on that yet, since I haven't gotten my visa back from my travel agent..They told me my visa has been delayed because they didn't have this document that I swore I sent to them, but oh well. I scann it and sent it via email to them, hopefully I don't have to send a physical copy. I'm cleaning up my room and preparing to move out of it soon because the exchange student replacing me is coming on Monday at 13:20. So my room is becoming really empty.
I haven't even started to pack yet, which I probably should start soon since I have no idea when I'll leave now. Just been busy with my introduction powerpoint for Rotary, and studying my Mandarin Chinese.
Onto what's been going on in my personal life that I'm willing to share with everybody. I've had a pretty uneventful Summer ever since I got back from San Francisco, but things got thrown around on Wednesday. I got a text on Monday from my friend and she asked if she wanted to hang out at the park on Wednesday, so I said yes, thought we were just going to hang around n' stuff. So I get there, and she tells me to follow her, I see some feet hiding and all I could think of is, "Oh dear, a surprise party," I was right, but it kind of ruined the surprise lol. Oh well, it was really fun though. Later on Wednesday night, I got to talk to one of my good friends that I've known for a while, that I haven't talked to for about three years. So I hung out with her all of Thursday and caught up and decided to hang out again some day before I leave. Other than that, I think I'm going to have a little get together and set fire to some of the weeds that need to be burned. Not sure on that though lol.
Well I think this will be my last blog post in the United States. Maybe I should do the obligatory introduction to my youtube vlog soon... Just depends really. Anyways, I'll update this sometime when I'm in Taiwan! Maybe after orientation. (*￣▽￣)ﾉ~~ 一会儿见！
Thursday, July 5, 2012
My Host Family (Update Too).
Time to make a new paragraph, that was a bit much. So, I'm in San Francisco right now, enjoying the touristy crap(which I hate doing, but might as well do it). I went into China town today and it was a neat thing to do, get a little taste(even though it won't even be like Taiwan... Taiwan will be infinity% better). Anyways, I'm staying with my 3rd cousin, who is a bit older than me, and there will be Danish girls here too on Sunday. I made cookies for them last night, and they loved them, my cousin's family did. I haven't been able to study as much as I wanted to these last few weeks, I've been trying to just keep on the flash cards, but I simply can't. When I get back to Idaho(July11) I will have the biggest crash course on learning my Chinese... So I will hopefully be able to have a decent conversation with my family.
I also got information about my name. Well, I only know what my last name would be. It's 游(YU (pronounced yow)) and that's all new with my name. They told me it'll be like a translation of Benjamin, maybe my mom and dad will tell me, other than that, I'll figure that one out on the first night(I will have a blog of my first week or so after orientation). Other than that, no other new information.
I think that'll conclude this little update on my blog. I should start my Video Blog things(I think they're called vlogs now-a-days). Maybe I'll do a vlog, maybe not. I already made a youtube channel, so might as well. Might not be constant, but it'll be good for a video if there was a lot going on, or I'm too lazy to type all of the stuff up lol. Anyways, I'll end it here, getting longer than I expected. 再见!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
I lied. Lol... But I delivered! (That update I was talking about.)
Well, you know it's not Monday when I put my last post up hahahahaha. Totally lied. Shouldn't happen again... I hope. WELL, here we go.
Ok, so last time I posted I told you I was going to talk about my new (not so new now) information... So, I figured out where I am going to be living, I'll be in the Zhongzheng District in Taipei, Taiwan... I'm being hosted by the Chi-Shan Rotary club.... Um, I will be living in an apartment building I think. It's pretty close to the Shangdao Temple Station.I will be going to National Taipei College of Business. I will be arriving at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport... I have two host sisters, one will be in Europe while I'm staying at her house(she is 18), then I have another sister that is the same age as me, so I'm pretty excited about that.
Nothing is really new now, our inbounds in the district are starting to leave now, so were a bit sad. It's life and it just happens. Um, been working on my visa stuff, which is a pain in the butt. So much stuff is needed for that hahaha! It kicks your butt sometimes. It's due this Friday, and I STILL need my medical forms... I blame the diabetes (just this once).
Oh, I leave around Aug. 17th. So I'll have my first Taiwan video around a week after I arrive... Before school starts lol. Umm, my host sister seems pretty awesome from the time I've talked to her, and my host parents don't know much English, so I hope my Chinese will be good before I leave so I can communicate with them hahahaha. Hopefully my other host sister knows some English... I'll get through it, I will learn through immersion :D
Studying is going really well actually, still have a hard time with forming sentences, and writing, but I know some words. It will all click (with what I know) when I get there. Well, I think that's it hahahaha. See you next time... Also, planning on a video maybe? I won't know what to talk about though. Maybe just more introductions lol. Idk. I will plan on it!!! Till next time.
Ok, so last time I posted I told you I was going to talk about my new (not so new now) information... So, I figured out where I am going to be living, I'll be in the Zhongzheng District in Taipei, Taiwan... I'm being hosted by the Chi-Shan Rotary club.... Um, I will be living in an apartment building I think. It's pretty close to the Shangdao Temple Station.I will be going to National Taipei College of Business. I will be arriving at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport... I have two host sisters, one will be in Europe while I'm staying at her house(she is 18), then I have another sister that is the same age as me, so I'm pretty excited about that.
Nothing is really new now, our inbounds in the district are starting to leave now, so were a bit sad. It's life and it just happens. Um, been working on my visa stuff, which is a pain in the butt. So much stuff is needed for that hahaha! It kicks your butt sometimes. It's due this Friday, and I STILL need my medical forms... I blame the diabetes (just this once).
Oh, I leave around Aug. 17th. So I'll have my first Taiwan video around a week after I arrive... Before school starts lol. Umm, my host sister seems pretty awesome from the time I've talked to her, and my host parents don't know much English, so I hope my Chinese will be good before I leave so I can communicate with them hahahaha. Hopefully my other host sister knows some English... I'll get through it, I will learn through immersion :D
Studying is going really well actually, still have a hard time with forming sentences, and writing, but I know some words. It will all click (with what I know) when I get there. Well, I think that's it hahahaha. See you next time... Also, planning on a video maybe? I won't know what to talk about though. Maybe just more introductions lol. Idk. I will plan on it!!! Till next time.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
A lot of information, and my weekend.
Well, it's been 3 months... I hope you guys didn't think I was dead or anything or think, "He isn't going to be on an exchange anymore. That butt!!!" Since it's May, I had my last Rotary Conference, it was a melting pot of emotions, but it was fun!
So, I figured out that I'll be hosted by the Chi-Shan Rotary Club in Taiwan District 3520... But I can't find the club in the internet so I don't really have more information on that... I get my guarantee forms on Monday, since the head honcho said he sent them out on Thursday, so I'm pretty excited to learn more about where I'm going to be headed (school, house, first host family ect.)! Umm.
Oh, so I have decided to sever A LOT of friends when I go to Taiwan. Now the sever might seem drastic, but it's true. There will be a vast majority of people I won't talk to over the next year. I think there will only be 3 people I will talk to every 2 or 3 weeks, heck maybe every month? Yeah, that would involve a conversation during the weekend on Skype, but that's about it. (And by friends, I mean like people in the US. I'm pretty sure I'll still communicate with the other outbounds in my district.) I'll probably send out emails and have an update every so often when I either talk to somebody, or if it's urgent or something like that. I would be trying to update this blog every week, even if it's little information that's going on, or hell just some pictures of cool stuff I found hahaha. But yeah, there will be 3 people that I will keep in touch with while I'm in Taiwan... I should tell you why only 3... Well, I don't want to be in Taiwan, and America at the same time. I simply won't give a flying rat's butt about your friend's finger being broken or your stupid boyfriend/girlfriend. It's stuff I don't need to know about! I'll be going through some crazy crap while I'm in Taiwan, I'm going to have my own stuff on my plate to try and eat, I'll be in a different culture and will want to learn about it more and more over the little time I have over there. It's a year, and there is only so much I can do there for crying out loud. I don't need to listen to your problems. It's harsh but it's true. I don't want a foot in Eagle, Idaho USA and a foot in Taiwan. I want both feet in Taiwan, and a finger in Eagle, Idaho USA. But like I said, I won't care about your boyfriend/girlfriend.
Friday was a bit slow for the beginning(This was the Rotary conference). So I wake up at 7:30 and I leave the house at 8, and we get to Sun Valley at 11:30. We meet up with everybody and chat it up for about 15 minutes, then we went to go and eat lunch. And oh my good god, this lunch was amazing. It was like a 3 course meal, first was this salad thing, then we had salmon and rice, and we had red velvet cake. All good. Then after lunch, the inbounds/outbounds went our separate ways and we gave our speeches. Mine, was bad... I think I could of done a better job, but heck they still want me to go to Taiwan, so I'm studying my butt off hahaha. So that's what I'll be doing for the next 3 months... After that, we had some talks with the coordinators, and went to go eat. We had some soft shell tacos, and I got to make guacamole with an Ecuadorian and a Finnish girl xP that's something you don't get to do every day... Also, new verb: " guacin' ".
Second day was hectic, we wake up at 7 am, we go eat at 8, we hang around our lodges till 10:30, then we go to the inn, and we do the flag ceremony. We do a bunch of Rotary stuff, and I stood for what felt like 2 hours, in a hot room, and I'm trying not to lock my knees so I don't pass out hahaha. So after that, we have another delicious lunch, but... We only got salad. When they were handing out the cake, (it was strawberry shortcake, and oh my good god, it looked delicious) they announce, "All the outbound Rotary young adults need to go follow Mr. Dave Shaw." I was heart broken. I wanted to flip a table, that shortcake looked SOOOOO GOOD. Then I saw an outbound girl eating some, and I was like "What the flux capacitor? I want some freaking cake." Well, I didn't get any. Oh well. After my heart break, we had a few hour talk, and we said our good byes and headed home. There was also some other stuff in between all the other main parts, but that's for my thoughts :).
I think that was about it. Ummm, I will put another blog post on Monday, to talk about my first host family and all that jazz.
-Benjamin Michael Thomas
(Eagle, Idaho USA -> Taiwan 3520 Chi-Shan Rotary Club)
So, I figured out that I'll be hosted by the Chi-Shan Rotary Club in Taiwan District 3520... But I can't find the club in the internet so I don't really have more information on that... I get my guarantee forms on Monday, since the head honcho said he sent them out on Thursday, so I'm pretty excited to learn more about where I'm going to be headed (school, house, first host family ect.)! Umm.
Oh, so I have decided to sever A LOT of friends when I go to Taiwan. Now the sever might seem drastic, but it's true. There will be a vast majority of people I won't talk to over the next year. I think there will only be 3 people I will talk to every 2 or 3 weeks, heck maybe every month? Yeah, that would involve a conversation during the weekend on Skype, but that's about it. (And by friends, I mean like people in the US. I'm pretty sure I'll still communicate with the other outbounds in my district.) I'll probably send out emails and have an update every so often when I either talk to somebody, or if it's urgent or something like that. I would be trying to update this blog every week, even if it's little information that's going on, or hell just some pictures of cool stuff I found hahaha. But yeah, there will be 3 people that I will keep in touch with while I'm in Taiwan... I should tell you why only 3... Well, I don't want to be in Taiwan, and America at the same time. I simply won't give a flying rat's butt about your friend's finger being broken or your stupid boyfriend/girlfriend. It's stuff I don't need to know about! I'll be going through some crazy crap while I'm in Taiwan, I'm going to have my own stuff on my plate to try and eat, I'll be in a different culture and will want to learn about it more and more over the little time I have over there. It's a year, and there is only so much I can do there for crying out loud. I don't need to listen to your problems. It's harsh but it's true. I don't want a foot in Eagle, Idaho USA and a foot in Taiwan. I want both feet in Taiwan, and a finger in Eagle, Idaho USA. But like I said, I won't care about your boyfriend/girlfriend.
Friday was a bit slow for the beginning(This was the Rotary conference). So I wake up at 7:30 and I leave the house at 8, and we get to Sun Valley at 11:30. We meet up with everybody and chat it up for about 15 minutes, then we went to go and eat lunch. And oh my good god, this lunch was amazing. It was like a 3 course meal, first was this salad thing, then we had salmon and rice, and we had red velvet cake. All good. Then after lunch, the inbounds/outbounds went our separate ways and we gave our speeches. Mine, was bad... I think I could of done a better job, but heck they still want me to go to Taiwan, so I'm studying my butt off hahaha. So that's what I'll be doing for the next 3 months... After that, we had some talks with the coordinators, and went to go eat. We had some soft shell tacos, and I got to make guacamole with an Ecuadorian and a Finnish girl xP that's something you don't get to do every day... Also, new verb: " guacin' ".
Second day was hectic, we wake up at 7 am, we go eat at 8, we hang around our lodges till 10:30, then we go to the inn, and we do the flag ceremony. We do a bunch of Rotary stuff, and I stood for what felt like 2 hours, in a hot room, and I'm trying not to lock my knees so I don't pass out hahaha. So after that, we have another delicious lunch, but... We only got salad. When they were handing out the cake, (it was strawberry shortcake, and oh my good god, it looked delicious) they announce, "All the outbound Rotary young adults need to go follow Mr. Dave Shaw." I was heart broken. I wanted to flip a table, that shortcake looked SOOOOO GOOD. Then I saw an outbound girl eating some, and I was like "What the flux capacitor? I want some freaking cake." Well, I didn't get any. Oh well. After my heart break, we had a few hour talk, and we said our good byes and headed home. There was also some other stuff in between all the other main parts, but that's for my thoughts :).
I think that was about it. Ummm, I will put another blog post on Monday, to talk about my first host family and all that jazz.
-Benjamin Michael Thomas
(Eagle, Idaho USA -> Taiwan 3520 Chi-Shan Rotary Club)
Sunday, March 11, 2012
So, I went browsing on amazon for some bags today, and here's what I'm planning on getting.
This one for personal stuff (diabetes, laptop, ect.)
Freaked out for a second since it was a big picture. I need one now anyway so I was like, "Might as well get one now."
This one for all the other stuff I'm bringing, (my flag, clothes, other things) but I'm not too sure because it's 36 inches (which is freaking huge.) I'll probably ask some rotary people if they know what bag size I should get.
Hopefully I'll be able to get these soon, since the backpack is like 40$(50$ cheaper) and the duffel is like 180$ cheaper xD. Also had a stupid mistake on my end, I'm not going to District 3480, but District 3520. Whoops. They're still pretty dang close, but 3520 is more in the mountains I think.
On a side note with personal stuff, I got a job working at a Idaho Italian food place called Louie's, and I'm a busser there so I should have money to save up :) only took like 7+ months to get a job though. More money = more stuff to do, more things to eat... Also, another thing I want to do, is try some different foods you guys want me to try... Now I'm just sitting at my computer thinking of what to type since I kind of already typed out what I was going to type out and all that. No cheesy endings or anything. I swear. Maybe if I think of something good.
This one for personal stuff (diabetes, laptop, ect.)
This one for all the other stuff I'm bringing, (my flag, clothes, other things) but I'm not too sure because it's 36 inches (which is freaking huge.) I'll probably ask some rotary people if they know what bag size I should get.
On a side note with personal stuff, I got a job working at a Idaho Italian food place called Louie's, and I'm a busser there so I should have money to save up :) only took like 7+ months to get a job though. More money = more stuff to do, more things to eat... Also, another thing I want to do, is try some different foods you guys want me to try... Now I'm just sitting at my computer thinking of what to type since I kind of already typed out what I was going to type out and all that. No cheesy endings or anything. I swear. Maybe if I think of something good.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Well hello there.
As the title says, this is my first blog. Exciting right? Probably not for you, but for me. Man oh man, I don't know what to talk about. Well, this blog is for my foreign exchange year from sometime in August 2012- Sometime in Summer 2013. I'm type one diabetic, so that will add some spice to my year abroad. Basically this blog will be about me in Taipei, Taiwan going through all the ups and downs with everything else in between. I think this will be fun. I will put videos on my youtube channel also, and you can subscribe to that with the link below. (Not a RWJ reference.) I also have a meeting in May where I have to do a speech in Mandarin only so I'll have to put picutres up from that and my 5 minute speech xD. Stay tuned for more information. (It might be dead for a few months. Nothing going on except for me studying my Mandarin.)
-Blog to you later? (That was awful, I'll think of something later.)
Benjamin Michael Thomas.
Click this!
-Blog to you later? (That was awful, I'll think of something later.)
Benjamin Michael Thomas.
Click this!
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