Week Nine Top Five
1. Ultrasounds are a regular measure at the doctor’s offices here in Taiwan In America, an ultrasound is pretty expensive so they are rarely used. However, that is not the case in Taiwan. When I went to the doctor's office this week for a stomach ache, the doctor did a quick ultrasound. I was surprised to learn that this is a regular procedure used to diagnose minor ailments here.
2. Taiwan is a lot smaller than I often think This Friday, I traveled to Taipei. Kaohsiung is near the southern tip of Taiwan and Taipei is near the north. However, it took us under two hours to get there. This weekend, my host family went oyster picking. When I pulled out my phone to see where on the island I was, I was very surprised to discover that I was in the middle of Taiwan! Taiwan often feels very big because I am constantly discovering new places and meeting new people. However, this week I was struck at how easy it is to quickly get to cities all over the island. 3. Math really is a universal language On Monday, I volunteered at an after-school tutoring place. Despite my limited mathematical vocabulary in Chinese, I was able to teach the kid I tutored how to simplify radicals. This was a very rewarding experience for me!
4. Movie theaters here are awesome The new Thor movie was released here on Friday. I went to see it with my friends on Saturday afternoon. We paid under $7 each for our tickets and bought enough popcorn for all of us for under $5. The theater we went to was very nice with comfortable seats and a large screen. I really enjoyed watching the movie and was especially happy to discover I can see a new American movie for such a low cost!
5. Although speech competitions can be stressful, they are a great way to improve my Chinese This Friday, I competed in a speech competition in Taipei. I started writing my speech at the end of September, so this really was the cumulation of a lot of hard work! Although I was very stressed about giving the speech, this experience was so helpful for my Chinese growth. I learned many new vocabulary words that I find myself using frequently. Also, as I practiced giving my speech a lot, I have noticed that my tones and my pronunciation have improved as well. Receiving an honorable mention (placing somewhere between 5th and 16th) was icing on the cake!