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 :)!
Monday, September 10, 2012
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)
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