Volunteering, Speech Competition and Board Games
On Monday, we had morning classes as usual. In the afternoon, I went to a musical. It was written and performed by seniors in the Chinese department as their graduation performance. While I understood very little of the musical, it was very well done and I enjoyed it a lot!
On Tuesday, I went to Donutes, a coffee shop near my house, after morning classes to study. Then I went back to school for Study of Chinese Characters. Both Katie and I answered questions in class!
On Wednesday, I had went to a rehearsal for a ceremony on Friday. Because I am a member of Serviam, I had the chance to volunteer at this event. During Wednesday’s practice, I understood very little about the purpose of the ceremony and my role. However, I enjoyed stretching my Chinese abilities in this way! I then met with my tutors to work on my speech. I also found some time to stop in to the museum on campus to learn a bit more about Wenzao’s history!
On Thursday, I went to the weekly Serviam meeting after classes. I was never at any point in the meeting lost as to the main topic of discussion or the current activity we were doing. This was definitely progress for me!
Serviam Meeting
On Friday, Katie, Kate and I went to a brunch place for lunch. The food was surprisingly American and delicious!
My Lunch
After that, we went back to school for the speech competition! I took third in my category and was very proud of this achievement! I have been working on my speech since September and both my writing and speaking abilities have grown because of this. First and second when to Alisa and Brandon respectively. It was so neat that we NSLI-Y students swept the competition!
Speech Competition
Here is a link to the video of my speech. I am talking about the time I flew with my youngest brother. I will be giving this same speech again in about a week at a competition in Taipei. I plan to post a version with English subtitles after that.
My Speech
After the speech competition, I went to an afternoon market about a ten minute walk from school. I bought myself another shirt! I then walked back to the school to volunteer at what I discovered was a ceremony to welcome first year students to Wenzao. I really enjoyed spending time with the other girls in Serviam and helping out!
Behind Stage at the Welcome Ceremony
On Saturday morning, I woke up early to go with my host sister to her high school. Her old math teacher was hosting a board game event. Katie, Kate and Alisa came as well! I had the chance to meet my host sister’s classmates and play many board games. Some, like Catan and Carrcassone, I had played before. Others, I had never heard of! We Americans taught everyone how to play slap, spoons and ninja. The teacher gave each of us Americans a board game to keep as a gift. I really enjoyed this event! The students took a ton of pictures but still haven't sent them to me yet. When I get the pictures, I will update this post!
In the evening, we went out for hot pot to celebrate my host mom’s birthday. Then, we walked around the department store. I bought some ridiculously overpriced Halloween candy so I can celebrate come Tuesday. There were also Christmas decorations everywhere. My host sister says Christmas is not really celebrated here but it is considered trendy for the stores to sell Christmas decorations.
The Department Store Preps for Christmas
On Sunday, I went to Mass in the morning. During the Mass, there was a ceremony to celebrate all the senior citizens of the parish. Each one received a red envelope with money. After Mass, I came home and worked on homework for the entire afternoon. While studying my characters, I watched the Notre Dame game. They again won!
This coming week is going to be busy. I am volunteering at a grade school and have to prepare for the Taipei Speech Competition in a week!