Midterms, More Cooking, and Multiple Trips to the Beach
It’s been a busy two weeks! On Monday, I got out of school at noon so I went to Cijin. I met up with Alex, an alum of the Korean academic program, there. The island is beautiful!
Cijin Island
Two weekends ago, we had our January NSLI-Y culture trip. We went to an indigenous village in the mountains. After Typhoon Morakot in 2009, the government helped the people rebuild their village. We learned about the traditions and history of the tribes there and also had the chance to try on some of their traditional clothing.
Traditional Taiwanese Aboriginal Clothing
Then, we learned how to cook some traditional dishes. Our lunch was amazing!
Lunch in the Village
Most of the people living in the village are Christian so we went to see one of the Catholic churches in the area. The art in the church was beautiful!
The Catholic Church
After this, we went to a culture park about half an hour away to see a performance. The performance told the story of one of the tribes through song and dance. Then, we learned how to perform one of the dances. After the performance, we walked over a suspension bridge up in the mountains.
The Bridge
Next, we went to a bead store. There we learned about the symbolism surrounding the traditional beading of some of the tribes. We also each had a chance to make our own bead.
Beading
On Tuesday, I finally had a chance to go see the latest Star Wars movie. I went with Tyler and Katie as well as our morning tutor, Hueyin. The movie was amazing! Afterwards, we went out to dinner at a restaurant Hueyin really likes. The food was delicious.
Heuyin and Me
This week on Wednesday, I gave my midterm presentation. I had been preparing for this presentation for months (literally)! I interviewed Taiwanese people of different religions about their opinions towards monks and nuns and then presented their answers. I learned a lot about Taiwanese culture as well as tons of new vocabulary through this project! I’ll post a video of my presentation once NSLI-Y uploads it!
Midterm Presentations
On Thursday, we had a pizza lunch with our tutors to celebrate the completion of the first semester. After lunch, they surprised Katie and I with a cake for our birthdays. Our birthdays are only separated by one day!
Birthday Celebration
On Friday, I went back to Cijin with Katie, Scotty and Brandon. I finally got to see the lighthouse on the island! It was absolutely beautiful.Then I went to the Cihou Fort to read my book (I am in the middle of The Two Towers, the second book in the Lord of the Rings series!). This fort was built in 1720 when the Qing Dynasty ruled Taiwan. I watched the sunset from fort. Then, I went back home for dinner.
Cijin Island
On Saturday, my host sister and I went out for brunch together again. We both ordered the German Breakfast. I can’t speak to it's authenticity but it was delicious!
Brunch
There was a by-one-get-one-free deal at Starbucks so Melissa and I walked over to the nearest Starbucks to get some coffee. Then, we went to multiple different grocery stores to try and find the materials we needed to make my mom’s oreo cream pie. Saturday evening, we made the pie crusts and then froze them overnight. We spent the evening learning how to play “A Million Dreams,” a song from The Greatest Showman that my host siblings and I really like, as a duet on the piano. My host brother is learning to play it on the violin! We also watched a lot of the Australian Open, a tennis tournament. My host family absolutely loves to watch tennis and they know an incredible amount about all the different players.
On Sunday, Katie’s host family came over for a birthday party. We celebrated my birthday, Katie’s birthday and my host sister’s birthday! We made lasagna and two oreo cream pies. The food was absolutely delicious and tasted just like home! My host sister and I are becoming pros at recreating American recipes without traditional American ingredients or cooking tools!
The Birthday Party
That evening, my host siblings and I played the Monopoly card game I got my host brother for his birthday. All the cards and rules were written in both English and Chinese. All the places in the game were real places in Taiwan which was super neat. The game is super fun, and much shorter than a real game of Monopoly!
Monopoly Taiwan Style
The next few weeks, we only have classes in the mornings so I am looking forward to having the chance to explore more of Kaohsiung!