My First Sunday in Taiwan

Today, I woke up early so I could go to Mass. My host parents had already woken up and made me breakfast, complete with a cup of coffee! They walked me to the MRT station and showed me how to add money to my bus card.

I arrived to St. Dominic early for Mass. The church was beautiful, especially on the inside! I didn't take any pictures though because I wasn't sure if it would be considered rude. For now, here is a picture of the outside of the church from Google Maps.

St. Dominic

The priest was a Dominican father from Spain who speaks Mandarin and the Mass was entirely in Chinese. With the help of my Magnificat, I was able to follow the Mass pretty well. However, I didn't know any of the responses in Chinese except for the Our Father. My goal is to know the Mass parts in Chinese by Christmas. Father gave me a copy of the Chinese Mass parts so I can begin studying! Everyone at the church was incredibly welcoming. Multiple people came up to me after Mass to introduce themselves. I really hope to find a way to become involved in this parish!

After Mass, it was raining very hard so my host family offered to come pick me up. We drove home and then left for Costco. The store was absolutely packed! There were sample stations everywhere so I ate some good food. After we finished shopping, we ate lunch at the Costco cafeteria.

Escalator at Costco

When we returned home, Melissa (my host sister), Jim (my host brother) and I finished the puzzle we had been building.

Puzzle Complete!

We played a game of Skipbo and then Jim and I played a video game. After we beat the level, we all went on a walk to Wenzao, where I will be studying. I will be walking to school everyday so my host family wanted to make sure I knew how to get there. Here is a picture I took of Wenzao:

Wenzao's Front Gate

After arriving home, my host siblings and I all worked on homework together. We had noodles and squid for dinner as well as peaches and Swiss Miss popsicles for dessert. After dessert, we watched some of the US Open on tape delay as well as a Chinese game show.

We went to bed earlier than yesterday because we all have school or work tomorrow. Tomorrow, I begin two weeks of intensive Chinese class before Wenzao official starts for the year. I am excited to again be formally studying Chinese!