First Two Days in Taiwan
On Friday, we had our in-country orientation. Luckily, I was able to sleep well the night before. For breakfast, we ate at the hotel's cafe. I had an absolutely delicious meal that was a mix between American and Chinese food.
My Breakfast
After breakfast, we learned how to use the subway system. Here, it is called the MRT. When we switched between the red and the orange lines, we saw the famous Dome of Light in the station.
Dome of Light
We then went to a hot pot place for lunch. The food was delicious and the restaurant was gorgeous. After lunch, we had mango shaved ice, a very popular dessert here.
Alisa and I
Hot Pot Food
Seafood at Hot Pot Restaurant
Mango Shaved Ice
Next, we went to Wenzao for more orientation sessions. We received our phones, learned a bit about Kaohsiung, and went through more information about the NSLI-Y program. Then we took the bus to a Vietnamese restaurant where we ate dinner. We then returned to the hotel.
A few of us went for a walk around the hotel and bought face masks. Then we worked on preparing a presentation for our host families.
On Saturday morning, we had a video conference with a student from last year's program who talked to us about host families. We then received more information about our monthly blog and vlog assignments.
We ate lunch at the hotel and then practiced the song we wrote for our host families. Afterwards, we all gave a short self-introduction in Chinese to a professor from Wenzao. She will use those presentations to match us with our tutors.
Then, we all hid behind a curtain and our host families came into the room.
Waiting to Meet Our Host Families
On the table where pictures of our states, pictures we had drawn describing ourselves, a picture of an object famous in our state, a piece of paper with the letters of our English names scrambled up, and a picture representing one of our hobbies. Our host families had to pick the correct pictures before we could come out from behind the curtain. My host family was the first to have everything correct so I got to meet my family first!
Meeting My Family
After meeting them, I had the pleasure of watching all of the other NSLI-Y students meet their host families. Next, we played a game of Kahoot. The first set of questions were about America but were written in Chinese. The second set of questions were about Kaohsiung but were written in pinyin, the romanization for Chinese characters that many Taiwanese cannot read. The game was very fun and helped us become more comfortable with our host families. It was amazing to see how much joy filled that room!
Us with Our Families
After the game, I went home with my host family. I was shown around the house. I learned how to use the shower, sink, my door key and the elevator. I played a video game with my host brother. Then I went shopping with my host mom, my host sister and my host brother. We came home and my host brother and I built a car out of blocks similar to LEGOs. For dinner, we had fish along with a few side dishes. It was delicious! For dessert, we had pears, grapes and ice cream. Then, I taught my host siblings how to play Ticket to Ride. They had been given the game as a gift but it didn't come with instructions. We had a ton of fun playing it and I learned a few board game related vocab words.
Ticket to Ride
Next, we worked on the puzzle I had given the family as gift.
Right now, I am sitting in my new room! Most of my stuff is unpacked and I am so excited to begin my life here! I can't wait to spend tomorrow exploring the city with my new family.