4/6/09

So after all that flying I got to Taiwan. Talk about culture shock, I definitely think I will be experiencing that. For starters, their soy milk comes in paper cups with a thin sheet of plastic over the top. Everyone when we got to Taiwan got burrito type things with the outside being compressed rice. So, basically the food was surrounded by rice. As a vegetarian I got a sandwich. It was good, just not cultural. That was certainly made up for at lunch time. So I must say that when we got to Taiwan it was pretty organized, we got our things and then went right outside to get on 2 karaoke busses and a small semi waiting for our stuff. The busses had semi-circles of curtain hanging from the ceiling, they had tassels on the curtain with sparkly string in the mix of the tassel. The lights on the ceiling were big and oval and different colors. There were speakers all over the bus, a tv up in the front. Best of all there were lacy doilies covering the top of the seat where our heads go so they can wash them every once in a while, and there was a shower track on the ceiling, one for each side of the bus. On the shower track were some of the shower curtain hooks, I figure these were for passing notes down, I really don’t know though I just thought it was cool.

By the way, when coming to Taiwan we skipped a day. Yang Ze put on a show for us and fed us a really good traditional and buffet style lunch. We all were assigned to sit with some Chinese people from the welcoming comity.

It was interesting the first time I used a squat toilet. There was no back splash to the toilet so I was not sure which way to face. The toilet is porcelin, but on the ground. The flusher is more sanitary than in the USA though because it is more obvious that it is to be flushed with one's feet. I did not know if I was supposed to take my pants off either. So there I was, spinning around not knowing which way to face with my pants totally off, then I realize that there was no toilet paper. There was not even a place for it on the wall or anywhere so apparently people either drip dry or bring their own in Taiwan. I resolved to bring my own next time. Until then someone had a tissue I could borrow. This may have been TMI (too much information), but it is all part of what I experienced there and I figured that is why you are reading this to begin with so I might as well tell you it all.

We had another big welcome at the NTCB school, then meetings. The breaks were fun in between the different meetings.

My host family is really nice. It was quite the exhausted adventure to get home though. My host family could not pick us up so we had to travel and walk. We did all this with Dave from Colorado, our Education Coordinator, Yohan, from the Netherlands, an Advance team member who helped to set up the city, Ren Horn is also from this team and helped to bring us home too. Dave and Yohan followed Ren Horn home because Ren Horn’s family was hosting. Ren Horn’s dad is a professor at the University that we went to today that put on a dance show, magic show, and traditional Taiwanese instruments orchestral performance. The magic show was so interesting especially when he stuck juice in a bag, smashed the bag, and then the juice disappeared. Josimar from the Netherland Antillies is so funny! He yelled out, ‘but where is the juice?!’ Another magic trick was for Yui from Japan. She is so cute, she went up on stage, stood next to the magician, and turned around as did he next to each other. They each held a cup with some juice in it on their head. The trick was that his disappeared. She did not know that every time she had her back to him he would take a sip. This was hilarious for us out in the audience because we all saw what he was doing. The dancers wore dance outfits like we do in the USA in the way that there was not much fabric to them at all and that they were very fitting and glittery. I was surprised. I guess I was expecting a conservative culture. Anyways, we had a long trek home before our host sister, Irene, could meet us at the train station after we had been walking, took the MRT and took the train for about 2 hours of travel total. She had us go with our luggage in a cab and follow her on her scooter to her house. It is a very nice house. I was expecting something small and cramped and this is not that at all. It is two stories and pretty open.
This is the internet situation... there is internet but it is in my host mother/sister’s room. Actually it is not normally a bedroom, but they were kind enough to give it up for 2 weeks while we stayed downstairs in their nice bedroom. The family consists of two sisters, about 40 who live with their mom. The sister’s English names are Sharon and Irene. The mom’s name is…. We were told to call her this, Yomama! Haha I think that is the best! So, anyways, because the internet is in the computer room and not in a room I can go to after we dismiss ourselves at night I won’t really be able to get on the internet.

While trying to get on I ate this weird food. Irene and Sharon can speak a little English. They said that it is a fruit that Yomama soaked or ‘prepared’ for us. We each tasted one. They were so sour. I did not quite enjoy them. We had to eat them though. They were watching us and our faces to see what we thought of it. I ended up having to take another because Irene gave it to me and said ‘eat eat.’ It was so funny, Ashely thought it was not good at all! The fruit had a small pit inside too and was dark green and wrinkly, probably from the sour brine that it must have been soaked in.

4/4/09

So I am on the flight from Dallas to LA, CAL and then a flight to Taiwan. The one from Dallas to California is about 2 ½ hours and the one from California to Taiwan is 14 hours. For some reason a picture of a big tube for a porta-potty type thing popped into my head, like where we would have to squat on the ground. I wonder what Taiwan will be like. I need to make sure that before I eat I tell my host family that I am allergic to peanuts, don’t eat meat, and am allergic to fish oil.

4/3/09

Talking with my host dad Brett on the last night I am here in Texas… Tyler, Texas to be specific. We live in Arp, Texas though, so we drive in about 30 minutes every day. Their children are BJ, Luke, Landon, Lance, and the nephew, Gary.
I swam in the rain in the middle of winter! Nouria, Joey, and I along with the others of the Louisiana roommates came home and it was raining. It was cold and raining. Nouria and Joey are so crazy. They decided that it was a good time to go swimming. They jumped in the pool after putting their bathing suits on. They came to the window because I was inside. They said come swim with us. So, I did not want to miss a good opportunity to ‘bond’ and have fun so I went outside. We were at my host grandma’s house, I do not live there, so my stuff was not there. I went outside, took off my pants, jacket, socks and shoes, not in that order, and jumped in. It was cold and I had had a glass and a half of wine so I felt it some. We swam around for a bit and then got out after about 10 minutes. Geneova, our host grandma took lots of pictures. When we get to Taiwan I need to send my host families of Louisiana and Texas a postcard. I will actually send all of them a postcard! They would like that I am sure. It will be expensive, but also meaningful.They came to see the show tonight! That is everyone except my host mom, Honey, who stayed at the hospital with her sister. Honey is a nurse and did not like the nurse that was taking care of her sister after the surgery. Wherever it was I just remember that it was cancerous. So Honey spent the night at the hospital. The boys loved it. Even Gary, their cousin liked the show!!! That was my goal for the whole night! He even liked it enough to buy a CD and a photo and had each of us girls sign it! Just because of that I think the whole show was a great success.

I flew a plane before with my host family on our Sunday together in DeRidder, Louisiana. Subu, Yewalashet, and I each got to fly the plane. I mean we only flew it to an extent, but we still guided it by flying. Joey said that she was just feeling run down and needed to stay home for herself. I guess they ended up going out

I am feeling a bit rundown lately, but am really excited for Taiwan.

Value Auction -Extended

So we had a value auction where we could purchase in the style of an auction different things. Some of the options were as follows:
-A new Porshe every 2 years
-To understand the meaning of life
-Good health and a long life
-A happy and healthy family
-Unlimited closet
-Financial security
-Peace in your country
-An excellent relationship... partner-wise
-A close-knit community that helps each other out
-Discover a cure for something
-Respect from others
-Fame
-Beauty
-A beautiful and large house
...there may have been one or two more, but I do not remember what they were.

So, we could bid on these things. We were each given an imaginary $1000 and needed to budget on what values we felt to be most important to us individually.

I won the bids on the excellent relationship, I spent a lot of money for this, but I would have put all of my money down for this one. The second one I spent my money on was the Porshe. I love cars, and a new, nice car every two years for the rest of my life just sounds like such a beautiful thing. I could also use them to be more financially secure by selling my used Porshes after I received my next one. Theresa and Ashley were going at it for the happy and healthy family. Theresa was the first to think about, after a while, to put all her money down to buy it. Afterwards Ashley said that she would have done the same. I remember Yohannes bought fame, Ann bought the wardrobe, Emil bought beauty and a big house. Alexia bought peace for her country. Alana bought understanding to the meaning of life. Finally, Matt bought the recognized community service. There were more, but I don't remember and am a little too lazy to go and look for the sheet that I saved from this activity.

3/18

The next few blogs will be me summarizing the blog-appropriate and worthy points from my personal diary. This one is to summarize our time in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Here are a couple points about the city, like some impressions that stuck with me mixed with some that I wrote down in my journal... you will not be able to tell which is which.

-There are many bugs. The main bug of the area are the gnats. They bite. When they bite it looks like a mosquito bite. Personally, all those little buggers are the same. They all leave you itching and there are always more who are not satisfied or satiated so you need to fight them off. Brodie said that his host mom taught him to fight off millions of little pesky buggers with a dryer sheet. I had bug spray one day and he rubbed the dryer sheet on my skin. I don't know if it was the bug spray or the dryer sheet, but I was not bitten. This was on our regional learning day by the way. The next day was a community service day. I had previously, as in the previous city, signed up to volunteer in the administrative office of the Katrina Relief organization. I brought a dryer sheet with me just in case, but ended up staying inside during the 5 or 6 hours of community impact. We helped out by doing a lot of filing. Dave, Stuart, Jeffrey, Yohannes, and I all worked in the building that day. We sorted a lot of files. I forget who looked, but one of us mentioned to the rest of us afterwards how we were filing and organizing papers and folders from a year ago. We all agreed that the Katrina Relief organization could definitely use another two people in the office to help out. Their cause is amazing and each employee puts their heart, soul, time, and effort into their job 100%. Basically, from what I understood, they took calls from around the area about houses that need help. They help people who are in need after the Katrina devastation to get back on their feet. Each person is dealt with individually for each person is given a different amount of money and help based on their salary. There is much more to it, but that is all I remember.

Updated Schedule

Orientation: Denver, Colorado: January 9 - February 5th
Greeley, CO - February 5 - 12
North Miami, FL - February 12 - 23
St. Augustine, FL - February 23 - February 27
**Just added -Orlando, FL - February 27- March 2
Dada City/Zephyrhills, FL - March 2 -9
Pensacola, FL - March 9 - 16
Bay St. Louis/Waveland, MS - March 16 - 23
DeRidder, LA - March 23 - 29
Tyler, TX - March 29 - April 4

Taipei, Taiwan - April 5 - 17
Taichung, Taiwan - April 17 - May 4

Saltillo, MX - May 4 - 10
Veracruz, MX - May 11 - 17
Mexico City, MX - May 18 - 24
Puebla, MX - May 25 - June 1

South USA: June 1 - June 15

Value Auction

Also, as an education workshop today we had a values auction. I will explain more about this later... I just wanted to write it up here now so that I wouldn't forget.