新年快樂！

Happy Chinese New Year! 新年快樂！（xin1nian2kuai4le4）

(Ya-Shu Mommy handing out 紅包）

In honor of the New Year, I've been sleeping for 10-12 hours everyday the last week. It's awesome, and now that my week of having a nasty cold is over, the last bit of break has been great.

Menu from Ya-Shu Mommy's company's party

Last week, I went to a giant Chinese New Year party at Ya-Shu Mommy's factory. It looked like a Taiwanese wedding, and (like the weddings here) there were 10+ courses of various fish, veggies, meats, fruit, and ice cream. I think the party was made up of several different factories (including the screw factory that Ya-Shu Mommy operates), and the bosses of the factories gave their employees red envelopes. Everyone ate a lot. There was a group of three Taiwanese girls singing and dancing that were pretty attractive, extremely skinny, and not wearing very much clothing. Many of Ya-Shu Mommy's employees are immigrants from Vietnam, Thailand, or the Philippines, and Ya-Shu said a lot of them are unmarried men, so they really liked the dancers' entertainment. It reminded me of a few months back when I went to a wedding with Nora where there was a performer who sang and wore almost nothing.  

January 23rd was the official New Year, but it's similar to Christmas where you can celebrate pretty much the entire month around the official date. This week, a lot of restaurants have been closed for the week while people go home to spend time with family. I went to my host grandmother's house twice this last week and got to spend time with a lot of my extended host family. Because we live in the countryside of Kaohsiung, live is a bit slower than in the city of Kaohsiung, and everyone in my host family is incredibly friendly and welcoming. On New Year's, my host family was at the grandmother's house (ah ma 家）where all the aunts and uncles gave the various cousins 紅包（hong2bao1, red envelopes)。In a way, it's more efficient than Christmas. because you just give kids money instead of presents. Jubbie told me in her family it's traditional to sleep with your "lucky money" under your pillow for the week of Chinese New Year, but also said that traditions vary a lot in different parts of Taiwan.

(the youngest cousin with her 紅包）

Jubbie with 紅包！

Jubbie also mentioned that the youngest cousins often get the most money in their red envelopes because it costs a lot of money to raise small children, so people tend to give more money to the younger children (which their parents can use for food and diapers and such). When getting red envelopes, kids say "恭喜發財，新年快樂！" or “新年快樂，恭喜發財！” (Good luck and prosperity! Happy New Year!)

Sometimes people joke, "恭喜發財， 紅包拿來“ which means something along the lines of "Good luck and prosperity in the New Year! Give me red envelopes."

(part of dinner at Ah Ma's house)

There was a lot of meat and rice at dinner as well as some pretty delicious desserts. 

(pudding, 很好吃！)

delicious pastries

After eating lots of delicious food, Jubbie, Ya-Shu Mommy, and I headed over to our family friend's house to play 麻將. 

麻將！

The version that I've learned is fun and easy to pick up. People tend to gamble when they play around the New Year. Earlier this week, Ya-Shu Mommy won a bunch of money playing, so we went to McDonald's and bought four boxes of french fries (they were 買一送一, buy one, get one free）。  

Current goal for break: Learn ㄅㄆㄇㄈ 

bopomofo, the phonetic system for reading 中文

When little Taiwanese children go to school, one of the first things they are taught is how to read this phonetic system called bopomofo. I'm ok with most of the consonant sounds. Learning the vowels are a bit harder;  some Chinese sounds are pretty different from english: the zh,ch, sh vs z,c,s sounds are especially hard for non-native speakers.

Most children books in Taiwan have bopomofo next to each character, so the reader can sound out a word when they're learning how to read Chinese. Also, Taiwanese cell phones use bopomofo to send text messages, and most Taiwanese people use bopomofo to type in Chinese rather than pinyin. Taiwan's use of bopomofo is different than China, where they use pinyin rather than bopomofo. China also uses simplified characters while Taiwan uses traditional, what they used in China pre-Chairman Mao. 

Basically, I'll be able to do more with Chinese if I have bopomofo skills.

Late Night Snack with Jubbie and Nora 

新年快樂！It's a great time to be in Taiwan. 

我在台灣的生活故事 (aka, my all chinese post for NSLI-Y)

大家好。 我叫敖媚聲。 我是美國人可是現在我住在台灣！如果台灣人看到我， 他們常說:
“外國人！”

“你從哪裡來的？”

和

“你吃過臭豆腐嗎？”

我常告訴他們我是美國人。現在我十八歲，可是下個月是我的生日。今年二月十八號我十九歲！我想要跟朋友們一起去玩。

 去年五月的時候， 我從高中畢業。在高中的時候，我學中文四年。 雖然我已經學過中文， 我去年八月來台灣 的時候，我很多東西不知道怎麼說 。 到今年一月的時候我住在台灣已經差不多五個月了。 我覺得我的中文進步很多. 我很高興! 今年六月的時候，我會回去美國，然後九月的時候我會去美國加州的大學。  

我在台灣的時候，我住高雄。高雄在台灣的南部。 高雄很漂亮但很熱。我覺得高雄比台北更好。因為高雄的天氣很熱， 我喜歡穿短褲 和 T 恤。 雖然台灣是一座島嶼, 很多台灣的女生不太喜歡去海邊，因為她們怕變黑。我是美國女生，所以我還喜歡去海邊。台灣人覺得外國人很奇怪，因為 我們喜歡曬黑。

在高雄， 我住在岡山因為我的寄宿家庭住在那裡。而在美國，我家有七個人，可是我台灣寄宿家庭只有三個人，分別是: 我，我的媽媽， 和她的女兒。 我寄宿家庭的妹妹也是十八歲。她叫張裘比。她也學西班牙文。 她很喜歡肚皮舞。她也很喜歡我美國的弟弟，可是他只有七歲。

每一天， 我從岡山坐火車到文藻，然後搭民族幹線路公車。從我的家到文藻差不多一個小時。雖然我家離文藻很遠，但是我很喜歡岡山。 坐火車的時候， 我可以跟台灣人們聊天。 因為我會說中文， 所以我可以交新朋友們。 但有時候我聽不懂。每次台灣人說台語， 我都聽不懂。 我還不會說台語。

我台灣的媽媽很忙，所以我們常常吃外面。有時候我們會一起去夜市然後買烤玉米。台灣的夜市有很好吃的小吃！我喜歡台灣菜，可是我也想念我繼母煮的好吃美國東南料理。 我也想我的爸爸。去年四月的時候，我跟我的爸爸一起去女神卡卡的演唱會。 

在高雄，我也有很多非常好的台灣朋友。 因為文藻外語學院 有很多的外國學生， 我也認識韓國人，西班牙人，墨西哥人，德國人，印尼人，日本人和法國人。歐洲人真的很愛抽煙！我們都學中文，所以我們常常練習中文。 我愛我的外國朋友們。

 我也有很多西班牙文課。 在美國， 我學了西班牙文。 因為文藻是外語大學 ，我也可以學西班牙文。在西班牙文課上， 我練習西班牙文，也練習中文。我跟我的同學們會說中文。 我跟老師會說西班牙文。我會說西班牙文，所以 我可以有很多西文系的同學們。

我在健身房也認識很多台灣男生。 去年三月我做了一個膝蓋 的手術，所以 現在我差不多每天都在文藻的健身房復健。在健身房， 台灣男生喜歡舉重.  所以我們聊天然後當朋友。  

我回家的時候， 我會上大學， 可是在那個時候，我很 多文藻的同學們 都得找工作了。

在課堂上，我們討論工作的經驗。 雖然我是年輕人，但是我已經有工作的經驗。在高中的西班牙文夏令營， 我是營隊輔導員. 以前暑假的時候， 我在冰淇淋店打工。我也是保姆和救生員。上一個暑假，我是Vanderbilt 大學 的研究助理. 我比我二十三歲的同學還更多經歷！

中文越來越重要所以更多人要學中文。 雖然中文很難學，但是學中文的人會有更多的機會。因為在高中我 學中文現在我會去台灣 。美國大學也很喜歡學中文的美國人， 然後美國政府 喜歡美國人學中文是因為 中國和美國是兩個 富強 國家。要是我說中文和英文， 我就能找到很多工作。

最後我很喜歡我在台灣的生活。我的寄宿家庭很好。我也很喜歡文藻。台灣的菜又便宜又好吃。台灣的茶很好喝。 台灣的衣服又便宜又可愛。 我愛台灣！！！

~special thanks to diego for checking my chinese~

Here's the translation:

“My Taiwanese Life Story”

Hi everyone. I’m McKenzie. I’m an American, but I live in Taiwan right now! If a Taiwanese person sees me, they often say “FOREIGNER!”  “Where did you come from?” and “Have you eaten stinky tofu?”

I often tell them I am American. Now I’m 18, but next month is my birthday. On February 18^th, I’ll be 19 years old. I want to go have fun with my friends for my b-day.           

Last year in May, I graduated from high school. During high school, I studied Chinese for four years. Although I had already studied Chinese, when I came to Taiwan in August, there was a lot of stuff I didn’t know how to say. Since then until this January, I’ve lived in Taiwan for about five months. I think my Chinese has improved a lot. I’m very happy. This year in June, I am going to come back to America, and then in September, I will go to college in California.

In Taiwan, I live in Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung is in southern Taiwan. Kaohsiung is very beautiful but also hot. I think that Kaohsiung is even better than Taipei. Because Kaohsiung’s weather is very hot, I like to wear shorts and t-shirts here. Although Taiwan is an island, a lot of Taiwanese girls don’t really like to go to the beach, because they’re afraid of getting tan. I’m an American girl; therefore I still like to go to the beach. Taiwanese people think that foreigners are really strange, because we like to become darker [via tanning].        

In Kaohsiung, I live in Gangshan, because my host family lives there. In America, my family has 7 people, but my Taiwanese host family only has three people: me, my host mom, and her daughter [my host sister]. My host sister also is 18 years old. Her name is Jubbie. She also studies Spanish, and she really likes belly dancing. She also likes my American little brother, but he’s only 7 years old.

Every day, I take a train and then the MingZhu bus from Gangshan to Wenzao. From my home to school is about an hour. Although my family lives far from school, I really like Gangshan. When I take the train, I can chat with Taiwanese people. Because I can speak Chinese, I can make new friends. Sometimes I don’t understand what people are saying. Every time Taiwanese people are speaking Taiwanese, I don’t understand. I still can’t speak Taiwanese.

My Taiwanese mother is very busy, so we often eat out. Sometimes we go to a night market and buy barbequed corn. Taiwanese night markets have a lot of delicious snacks! I like Taiwanese food, but I also miss home-cooked American food.  I also miss my dad. Last April, my dad and I went to the Lady Gaga concert.

In Kaohsiung, I also have a lot of great friends. Because Wenzao is a foreign language school, there are a lot of foreign students. I have met Korean , Spanish, Mexican, German, Indonesian, Japanese, and French people. The Europeans really love to smoke! I have Chinese class, so I often practice Chinese. I love my foreign friends.

I also have a lot of Spanish classes. In America, I studied Spanish. Because Wenzao is a foreign language school, I also can take Spanish. In Spanish class, I practice both Spanish and Chinese. I can speak Chinese with my classmates [all of whom are Taiwanese]. I can speak Spanish with my teacher. I can speak Spanish, so I can meet a lot of Taiwanese students in the Spanish department.

I’ve met a lot of Taiwanese boys in the gym. Year in March, I had knee surgery, so now I’m at the gym doing physical therapy almost every day. In the gym, Taiwanese boys like to lift weights. We talked and became friends.

When I go home, I’m going to college, but a lot of my classmates at Wenzao be looking for a job at that time.

When we were in class, we talked about our work experience. Although I’m pretty young, I already have work experience. In my high school’s Spanish summer camp, I was a camp counselor. Before in the summer, I worked in an ice cream shop. I also have been a babysitter and a lifeguard. Last summer, I worked as a lab assistant at Vanderbilt University. Compared to my 23-year-old classmate, I have even more work experience.

Chinese is becoming even more important, so more people are learning Chinese. Although Chinese is pretty hard to learn, people who can speak Chinese have even more opportunities. Because I studied Chinese in high school, I got to come to Taiwan. American colleges also love American students that study Chinese, and the American government wants Americans to study Chinese, because China and the United States are two rich and powerful countries. If I can speak English and Chinese, I’ll also have more job opportunities.

In conclusion, I really like my Taiwanese life. My host family is great. I also like Wenzao [my school]. Taiwanese food is both cheap and delicious. Taiwanese tea tastes good. Taiwanese clothes are cheap and cute. I love Taiwan!!!!

             

             

期末考 & 台北

As of last Friday, it's official Winter Vacation in Taiwan!

(fireworks at midnight on New Year's at 夢時代)

I rang in the New Year with a group of Taiwanese friends. Earlier in the night, they taught me how to play 麻將 (Mah Zhong) and later we ate two boxes of fried chicken at McDonald's. Everyone I was with was studying Spanish at Wenzao, so conversation was mostly in Chinese, but I also could use Spanish before reverting to English. 

 In January, the last few weeks were busy with our 期末考（final exams). Last Friday was bittersweet, as we had our end of semester party in the Chinese center. I said goodbye to friends who were only at Wenzao for a semester, but as Ben said, it's OK cause we're still connected on Facebook.

Both my Japanese and French classmates are going home =(

In the morning, the Americans at 文藻 performed Jump On It and the Chicken Dance .

The first Sunday of break, NSLI-Y took us on a three day trip to Taipei. We took the High-Speed Rail to Taipei, and when we got there, we ate a huge lunch. Jane, a IEARN woman from Taiwan, gave us 紅包 （red envelopes) for Chinese New Year which is essentially a red envelope with money inside. It gave insight into why so many Taiwanese friends love Chinese new year: everyone is giving them free money. In fact, my Chinese chess teacher gave also me a red envelope on the last day of class (I was the only girl in the class and the only student that got a 紅包; it was great). 

(found in Taipei, the happiest I've been in Taiwan)

We went to the National Palace Museum and saw tons of calligraphy and Chinese artifacts. Taipei definitely has a different feel than Kaohsiung; there are a lot more foreigners. Brandon and I met a Brazilian and a German that are also here for the year when we said hi to some random non-Asian people in the gift shop. I also met someone from England who is in Taiwan for the week. When I asked if he can speak any Chinese, he said he knows how to order beer.

(The National Palace Museum) 

Our hotel had an elliptical machine and milk that tasted the same as home- two things I hadn't had enjoyed since living in Nashville. Monday morning, we went hiking in a really beautiful area of Taipei, and though it was raining, we had fun. 

We broke into groups after coming back to the hotel to dry off, and Nora and I found a department store that sold pants that fit our big American selves. It was probably the best part about going to Taipei, as I previously had two pairs of pants, and Nora had three. (Now I have three, and Nora has five.)  We walked explored the city with Brandon and Abby and saw Taipei 101. That night I got a bit sick, so the next morning, Abby came back to Kaohsiung with me earlier than the rest of the group on the high speed rail. When I got home, I watched a rented copy of 愛你一萬年 on my laptop, which I later learned is also on Youtube for free.

(Nora and I in front of Taipei 101)

Now, we're on 寒假(han2jia4 aka winter vacation) for over a month, and  I'm hoping to get over this cold. I have a big list of fun for break, but I'll probably only be reading The Return of the King in bed until I get better.