Beaches, Basketball and Bicycles
On Wednesday, February 21, I had school off but my host parents and host siblings were back to work and school. I took the orange line way out west to Fengshan district. There, I saw a moat that had been built for irrigation in 1838 by the Qing Dynasty government. I also had the chance to see two different forts along the moat. The moat had been in complete disrepair but was restored by the Kaohsiung government in 2007.
The Moat in Fengshan District
Next, I went out for pizza for lunch. I ended up with a pizza made with ketchup for sauce with German sausage, large strips of onion, and mustard for toppings. It tasted better than that sentence just made it sound but it certainly was not what I was expecting!
My Pizza
Then, I went to the local Catholic church called Christ the King. The statue of Jesus outside of the church was placed inside a Taiwanese-inspired pagoda structure. I've noticed almost all Catholic churches here have a grotto with a statue of Mary to the side of the church. The Hail Mary is written on the plaque in the picture.
Christ the King
I also went to see the Presbyterian Church in the area. It was absolutely massive! Sadly, it was locked so I wasn’t able to see the inside.
Presbyterian Church
We went back to school on Thursday, February 22. In the morning, we had our last morning tutoring class with Hueyin. I am so grateful to have had Hueyin as a teacher since August. I have learned so much in her classes and she has really pushed me to work harder. Thank you Hueyin!
Last Day With Hueyin
In the afternoon, we had our monthly meeting were we talked about plans for March.
On Friday, February 23, I went to the stationary store with Katie to film our vlog. We also went to the nearby night market and some local stores. We did our vlog on strange English translations we have found around Taiwan.
That Sunday, I ran a 5K with Jim, Melissa and my host mom! My host dad ran a half-marathon. The pollution was really bad that day but the race was still really enjoyable. Shout out to my NSLI-Y classmate Scott who also did the half-marathon!
On Monday, I went to the Lotus Pond in the evening after classes. I hiked around for a bit, bought a new skirt and then went to the local Catholic Church, St. Therese. I ran into a lady who was attempting to teach herself to play the piano. She was also in the church choir. I spent some time talking with her, and playing some hymns and Mass parts on the piano for her. My limited piano skills from grade school are coming in handy!
On Tuesday, February 27, we had the chance to try out University classes in the afternoon. I went to a class called Logic and Correct Thinking (that’s the best translation I can think of) which was about using basic logic to make decisions. Then, I went to a phonetics class. In this class, I learned about where you are supposed to place your tongue to make different sounds in Chinese and how to group sounds together.
In the evening, I went to a language cafe in Taiwan. I found this event online and Katie and I decided to try it out. We met some really interesting people and basically practiced our Chinese for two hours. I had conversations about earthquakes, culture difference between Taiwan and America, problems with current language textbooks, the 2016 presidential election, and Taiwanese opinion about China. These conversations really stretched my Chinese abilities and helped me learn more about Taiwanese opinions.
On February 28th, we had the day off of school because of Peace Memorial Day. This holiday commemorates an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that was subsequently repressed violently in 1947. I went to a cafe near my house with Katie to study for our finals.
Coffee
On the first day of March (wow, it’s March!), I tried out more elective courses. I went to a course on correct pronunciation that was incredibly difficult but super interesting. I also attended a class called Global Ethics and Local Action which is an introduction to ethics and then a practical application of those ethics to everyday life. I next went to a class on how to create picture books and an introductory class on the news.
On Thursday and Friday, we had our final exams in our Chinese language classes. I thought my exam was more difficult than last trimester but I passed!
On Saturday, I went out to brunch with my host sister at the brunch place near our house. I got a burger! It came with a salad topped with corn flakes on the side.
My Burger
After lunch, I went over to Katie’s house to watch Cape Number 7, a Taiwanese movie about a band in Kenting that we were assigned to watch for class. After watching the movie, we went back to the light festival.
On Sunday, I went out to Domino's Pizza with Katie. Much to our surprise, it tasted almost exactly like real Domino’s Pizza! This was the first actual slice of pizza I’ve had since August and the first time I have even seen pepperoni in Taiwan. I plan to go back again soon!
Finally Found Real Pizza!
On Monday, we just had two hours of class in the morning. For lunch, I went out to a salad place with Katie, Scotty, Brandon, Alisa and Hueyin.
Then, because it’s already summer weather here, Katie and I went to the beach! We first stopped at National Sun-Yet Sun University to check out the campus. Then we took a ferry over to Qijin Island to enjoy the beach and the sunset!
National Sun-Yet Sun University
On Tuesday, I had the afternoon free because I decided to stack my elective courses on Thursday. I brought my lunch home and watched a Chinese kid’s movie called Big Fish and Begonia. In the evening, I went back to the Language Cafe with Katie. This time, we first listened to a presentation about a Taiwanese woman’s perspective on her work trip to Viet-nam. Then, I had the chance to meet new people. I really enjoy going to the Language Cafe and plan to keep going throughout the rest of my time here.
On Wednesday, we took a trip back to Tainan to visit the high school we visited in October. It was super excited to see my friends at the school again! We spent the morning volunteering with people from a senior center. We sang a song in Taiwanese and then played various games with them.
Volunteering with the Taiwanese High School Students
After eating lunch, we played a mathematical scavenger hunt game. My team came in second place and the game was super fun!
Scavenger Hunt
Then, we went to PE class with the students. After doing some basketball drills, we had free time. I played basketball with some of the other Taiwanese students.
Playing Basketball
Then we had to say goodbye and head back to Kaohsiung. Thank you to the Tainan students who worked so hard to prepare for our two visits. I really enjoyed getting to know all of you and am grateful to call you friends!
On Thursday morning, we had a special Chinese class. In this class, we had a debate style activity where we each represented the head of one of the departments of the American Federal Government. This activity was super enjoyable and stretched my Chinese abilities!
On Friday morning, we left for our March culture trip. We took the bus to 恆春 where we first stopped to visit a petting zoo. The zoo had a bunch of Formosa deer.
Formosa Deer Petting Zoo
After lunch, we took a bicycle tour of historical sections of the city. We saw the four (north, south, east, west) city gates as well as parts of the wall that used to surround the city. We also saw a mountain like structure made out of old coral that had been pushed up onto the shore.
The Bicycle Tour
After the bicycle tour, we took a bus to 墾丁, Kenting. There, we had free time. We first went to the ocean.
The Ocean at the Southern Tip of Taiwan
Then, Alisa, Scotty, Lina, Brandon, Katie and I went out for Italian. My pesto pasta was delicious! After this, we walked around the night market area outside our hotel. I got a delicious waffle ice cream dessert.
In the morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel. I had scrambled eggs for the first time in forever! We then we to the Kenting National Park. Lots of the scenery in the park consisted of old coral formations that had been left on land as the ocean waters receded years and years ago. There were also amazing caves we had the chance to walk through! Finally, we went to the look out tower where we had a beautiful view of the absolute most southern point of Taiwan.
The National Park
After the park, we went out for Thai food for lunch. It was absolutely delicious! Then, I stopped by the local Catholic Church. They were actually having the opening ceremony for it today which I just caught the end of.
We then took a bus to see the Kenting Lighthouse. The lighthouse was beautiful!
Kenting Lighthouse
After this, we had about an hour of free time to go see the ocean. The weather was perfect and the water was absolutely beautiful!
We took the bus back to Kaohsiung. In the evening, I went to Mass. I also finished watching another Chinese kids movie called 小門神, or Small Door Gods. It tells the story of the gods who traditionally guard the doors of temples and homes as well as explaining some of the traditions around Chinese New Year.
I’ve spent most of today catching up on various assignments and getting ready for the start of classes tomorrow. We start our third and final trimester of Chinese language classes tomorrow!