Fun in 台灣

It's hard to believe we're already over a month into our second semester! Recently, time has flown as I've been living out my new schedule and spending time with new and old friends at Wenzao. I've become friends with my new Chinese classmates, and there also new faces at the Chinese Center to greet me after taking the train to school at 7:15. On my commute in the morning, I run into so many high school students, and it's fascinating to see how many of the them are studying English on the way to school (but will never speak to me). There also a few students at the Kaohsiung America School that often have their noses in English textbooks of "Biology" or "Chemistry". I talked to one students from KAS, a private, much more expensive high school that only teaches in English, and he told me how they recently switched to an IB program, and how difficult it was, especially for his classmates who were working for an IB diploma.

(the group takes self pictures)

I felt myself getting busier and busier these days, especially since my day starts 2 to 3 hours earlier these days than it did last semester. Belly dancing this semester is a hour three times a week (excessive? maybe, maybe not) in preparation for our May performance, and we most recently learned the beginning of a dance to Shakira's Rabiosa. 

(hot pot dinner with friends during the school week)

It's been great to see friends from last semester since we came back, and there's definitely a camaraderie between the internationals students are here for the year. Much like in high school, I spend tons of time at school everyday, and it's nice to grab lunch or dinner with friends after class. It's also getting to be graduation season, and several of my friends (Diego, Alfredo, Ivette) will be heading into a world outside of Wenzao after this May. Recently at 文藻, you can spot various students from the 5-year school and 4 year college taking cap and gown pictures around campus. 

Alfredo! He lived in Spain for three months and will start his mandatory, one-year military service after graduation. My friend is hoping to serve somewhere in Latin or South America, because of his foreign language skills and the fact that's where Taiwan has some diplomatic relations. In Taiwan, every male has a year of required year of military service.

(外國人！！ We're from the US, the UK, and Indonesia.)

On the weekends, there's been a lot of bike riding by the beach since school started. For three US dollars, you can rent a bike for the day, and it's super beautiful to go up and down the coastline or up into the mountains for the day. In the mountains, you sometimes see wild monkeys. Over winter break, I saw one jump Nora and steal a bag of almonds out of her pocket. 

Nora recently figured out I-movie. Check out her new videos on Youtube!

Nora's First Semester Video Wrap Up

Nora's Artsy Taiwan Video

Confession: Over winter break, I found a guitar shop on the way home from the train station in Gangshan. This semester, I'm starting to learn my first stringed instrument (see reference above), and I had my first lesson two weeks ago. It's a great opportunity to practice Chinese, and if I get there earlier, I can casually drink some tea and talk with the employees and shop owner. I was probably worrying out loud about my Chinese abilities, when the owner advised "不想太多” which means "don't think too much".