模擬聯合國 and 拍照！

Last weekend, I participated in my first Model UN conference at Wenzao! Nora and I woke up early on Saturday and made our way over to one of the basement classrooms at Wenzao for a day in committee. Because we had a smaller group, the chair encouraged all of the delegates to participate, and it was pretty interesting to see the Taiwanese students participate in MUn in English. As Nora and I have AWESOME English skills, we were sort of the rock stars of the conference. Our first session, we drew slips of paper with animal names on them and then pretended to being a group of animals discussing how to decide who would get a spot on Noah's ark for the next two hours (6 spots, 9 animals). Nora and I introduced a resolution to hijack a boat from the humans from Kaohsiung Harbor, so everyone could survive. In the post-lunch session, we moved onto a more serious topic of how to deal with "the human rights of refugees under warfare and armed conflict." I was Nigeria; Nora was the United Kingdom. Pretty much all of my delegation's research was done during the lunch break, but it didn't seem to affect our ability to participate that much. 

American Delegates plus Americans

Taiwanese boy sees hot American girls. Taiwanese boy takes picture with hot girls. He then uploads it to Facebook. 

On Sunday, we achieved a goal we've wanted for a long time: Get a Taiwanese wedding shoot. A few months back, Nora and I were at 議大 World when we saw a booth advertising for these photographs, something unique to Taiwan. Here, when couples get married, they spend a day taking pictures in various outfits that will then be displaced in a book at their wedding. The photos tend to be ridiculous and sassy, so Nora decided that our NSLI-Y scholarship group should take some. Instead of going traveling in May, we took a Taiwanese wedding shoot. We got to the store at 10 am and left at 7:30 pm. Here's a breakdown of the day.

10ish- arrival, put Nora and I in front of a mirror while two Taiwanese women do our make-up and hair, Ben and Brandon sit around for a while, then go upstairs to pick out tuxedos. I realize the US government is paying for my fake eyelashes.

10-12- We notice this building has four floors, and the upstairs are filled with wedding dresses, party dresses, tuxedos, and traditional Asian wedding clothing. We don our first of four outfits, and a photographer takes us to the fourth floor for lots of individual and group shots. She gives us instructions in Chinese and tells us to look sexy and occasionally says "No smile!"

12- Lunch 

12-1:30- Finish picking our outfits, change into an outfit, and then load up into a car

1:30-3- Go to Kaohsiung 85, take lots of pictures

2:30-5ish- Drive to the Dragon/Tiger Towers by Lotus Lake, change into Taiwanese wedding outfits, take pictures, feel like a celebrity as tons of Japanese and Mainland China tourist take pictures on their smart phones of the white people in Chinese wedding garb. Then move to the Confucius Temple and take more pictures on a bridge and a in front of a giant door. 

5- 6ish- Take pictures on a playground after changing into our formal dresses. Nora and I look hot. Scare small children who were playing on the playground until we got there. Then take more pictures in a field by the playground. 

6-7:30- Get back in the car and go to 西子灣. Take lots of pictures as we barely make the sunset. See lots of Taiwanese couples also taking beach pics. Our photographers think Ben and Nora are getting married, as Ben told one lady they're dating, and she told all her co-workers. Drive back to the store and immediately wash the make-up off my face. Fake eyelashes make my eyes hurt.

Overall, it was a great weekend. We'll get to see the professional's photographs (the one's above are from Abby) sometime next week. 

American Stereotypes in Taiwan

Nora and I joined forces to make a video featuring some of the people in our Taiwanese life and their perception of the American lifestyle. We're lucky to be exposed to a lot of international students and tons of Taiwanese people at Wenzao. I can pretty safely say that I have about 5 (if I'm being generous) friends from America here, and Nora and I often find ourselves representing the US in and outside of class.

My Canadian classmate is found of saying "美國人" (American in Chinese), whenever I do anything in class. We played with an Chinese hacky-sack on Friday during our break at 9, and I got a little too excited   when I was kicking it to another classmate. After Canadian said "美國人”， I told him I had a name, and then my French classmate started speaking under his breath in English saying "I'm not just an American. I'm a human being!"

It was pretty funny, but we've encountered quite a few misconceptions about our homeland while we've been here.

Second Semester Chinese!

Enjoy!

American Stereotypes! (by Nora and Mack)

Benson's Come to 台灣！

This last week, the Benson family came to visit Kaohsiung! It was great to have Nora's family in town, and we had a lot of fun showing them what we've been doing here for the last 8 months. We took them to our favorite Italian restaurant (Cafe Grazi), gave them a whole roast chicken to eat with their hands, and watched them struggle with chopsticks-a skill we mastered long ago. Talking with Americans refreshed my memory of what it was like when I first came to Taiwan: there are 7-11's everywhere.

(The Bensons, Diego, and I eating traditional Taiwanese food)

Our weekend with the Bensons, Jubbie helped us organize a really fun trip to 阿里山, a beautiful mountain near 高雄。 We stayed in a cozy cabin after a pretty terrifying ride there in a taxi (the yellow line in the middle of the road was more of a suggestion for our driver), and it felt like a girl scout camp out as I spent time with some of my closest friends here in Taiwan. I enjoyed chatting with Nora's family, and I was in awe once again about how capable and wonderful my host sister Jubbie is. (She planned our Korean trip, and the Alishan trip with Nora's family <3) 

Hot Pot with part of the Benson family!

On Monday, Nora's family came to Wenzao, and I got to give them a tour of the campus while Nora has class from 10 to 12. It was really fun to walk around the back gate and point out shops we buy tea at and our normal lunch spots such as the dumplings place, duck rice store, Subway, curry restaurant, the Taiwanese bakery, and--of course-- the tea shops. There are at least four shops within a minute from school. I also gave them a tour of the library and gym. There are a group of guys and then me who work out nearly everyday, so it was fun to introduce Nora's sisters to a few of my gym rat friends. (Sentences I occasionally hear from other international friends in the 健身室: "Shakira going hard!" or "Shakira's hitting the gym!" ) 

A few weeks ago, a Taiwanese friend actually gave me hairdryer, because I shower at school, and he thought it'd be better if I started drying my hair. 

Group picture with friends and friend's family post-hot pot.

Looks like we have the Asian pictures poses down.

During my campus tour with the Bensons, I took them to the delicious fresh fruit juice store on Wenzao's campus, I got to serve as a translator so they could order juice. It was my first time I had helped a group of people that really don't speak any Chinese navigate the life here, and it was a pretty awesome feeling to be able to translate a menu in Chinese, take a order in English, and then relay it back to Taiwanese juice blending lady in Chinese in order to get some fresh juice. I realized in Taiwan that I love translating for people in real life situations; it's pretty awesome to be the link that helps two people communicate. 

Jubbie and Me at 阿里山！

Nora's statement on her family's visit: "It was a good time".  On Thursday, they flew out to visit another cousin in Hong Kong; hopefully with some fond memories of Taiwan. We certainly love it here, and its crazy to think that there are less than three months to cherish before we're back home. We got our return ticket information, and we leave Taiwan on June 25th. It's been an amazing ride so far. 

花蓮 and 運動會

The last few weeks have been pretty exciting. Our NSLI-Y group traveled to Hualian (see Ben's Recap Video)  for the weekend. 花蓮 is in beautiful Northeast Taiwan, and for some reason, NSLI-Y payed for us to take a plane there (about 30 minutes in the air). While waiting in at the airport, I treated myself to a massage which cost a little less than two US dollars.

The mountains in Hualian are beautiful, and the air there is so clean! It was great to get out of the city for a few days and experience a bit of Mother Nature in Taiwan. We also found a store that had some of the best ice cream we've found in Taiwan.

The NSLI-Y Taiwan Crew

Wearing Helmets to Protect Ourselves from Possible Falling Rocks

Finding Home

Brandon and his girls

We like to take pictures of ourselves

 It was great to finally experience Hualian in its glory, and at the end of the weekend, we took a 5 hour train ride back to Kaohsiung.

Last Friday at Wenzao, we had 運動會 (SPORTS DAY!!) I bought an American flag bandana from the English department and experienced the Taiwanese equivalent of Field Day. Jubbie's Spanish Department (西文系）won for the five year school, and the English Department （英文系）won for the four year college. It was cool to see so many people on campus supporting their classmates in various relay races, and students shouting "加油！" completely surrounding the track.

Orange shirts are Japanese Department's students 

  

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".

A bit more on winter break:

Over winter break, our group volunteered at a week long Winter Camp for little kids in Taiwan. Nora did a great job writing about this on her blog: http://noranoranoratheexplorer.tumblr.com/ . One of the highlights of our week was giving informative presentations about "Our Hometown". I just realized IEARN filmed these, so if you're interested, check out Nora's blog or the links below for the recording of our presentations.


Part of my Tennessee Presentation in Chinese!
The end of my presentation

If you're from Nashville, you should recognize some of the special things from Tennessee I highlight in my powerpoint. There are also several pictures of friends and family doing various American things, so look for yourself in my PPT.

~Mack~

Second Semester Senior Part 2?

The last few weeks have been pretty busy as we've been figuring out our second semester schedules. The biggest change for me is that my Chinese class moved from 10-12 every day to 8-10. I live pretty far from school, so it's been an adjustment waking up around 6 every day to get to Wenzao. The 6:56 train has a lot more high school students and a lot less old people than the train around 9. My host family gave me a bike for a Chinese New Year/Birthday gift, so I've also started biking to and from the 岡山 train station rather than walking or waiting for a ride.

This semester, my schedule looks something like this:
Monday-Friday: 中文課， 8-10am. My new class has lots of native French speakers (two from Belgium, one from France, and one from Canada), two Japanese girls, one Spaniard, my Mexican classmate from last semester, and a student from Vietnam. It's also really early.

Monday: 1-3, 成語課/idioms class, 3-4 Spanish history, 4-5, Spanish-English language exchange

Tuesday: 2-4, "Fitting in in Chinese", (This class has gotten really great reviews from other foreign students and is similar to our morning Chinese class.)

Wednesday: 1-3, my year long Spanish writing class, 3-5, year long calculus class

Thursday: 1-3, auditing a Spanish grammer class taught by one of the best Spanish professors at Wenzao. Brandon's also taking this class, and many of my Taiwanese classmates in this class took other Spanish classes with me last semester, so it's cool to already have some friends. The professor has been really engaging in the last two classes, and she's my first female Spanish professor I've had whose from Spain.  Then, from 3-6 on Thursday, I'm taking "International Political Economy" with Nora. This class is my first (and only) 文藻 class taught in English, and the professor seems very good. He's a joint professor at Wenzao and the London School of Economics and has a very British accent. The class has some foreigners, but there are also a lot of Taiwanese students, and I'm amazed that they can follow his lectures on topics like mercantilism, political liberalism, and civil society. My group will eventually do a presentation on BRIC later in the semester, and we'll cover topics like transnational corporations, Sino-US relations in the 21st century and its implications for Taiwan, the rise of the Chinese Middle Classes, and the January 2012 elections in Taiwan during the semester. I'm quite excited to learn more about Taiwan outside of studying the language, and I think this class will be quite interesting (though a bit long). These sorts of classes were my jam in high school, and it will be cool to get a European perspective on United States' and China's political and economic relationship. I'm also excited to be expected to speak English in class.

Friday: 1-3 year long Spanish conversation course

I think it's a great schedule, and I'm especially excited about adding new Chinese classes and a political science class in English. With my new free block from 10-12 every morning, I've been trying to get my ACL physical therapy/work out done early in the morning, and I've been getting it done so far. Public service announcement: morning workouts make you feel great for the rest of the day.

Also,
I'M 19!

Thanks for all FB and real life birthday wishes. Last weekend marked my first beach birthday party, and we ate cupcakes my family sent from America. Delicious and very sweet.

frisbee

Me and Nora

我愛台灣！