Tai Food = Very Hot. Group Meal = Very Expensive

  Pingtung Time

July 9, 2009

Phew, hot again today. I think I’m just getting used to it though. But sometimes when I’ve been sitting in an air-conditioned classroom for a while I like to go outside where it’s warmer. I think I liked the air conditioner better though after practicing a Hakka dance outside today. It was fun but everyone probably got really sweaty. We all held hands, too, so I bet everyone was wiping their hands off a lot. I stopped putting my sandals back on after they kept getting stuck in the grass and just danced barefoot so my feet got really dirty but I have just fixed that with a shower. I feel pretty, oh so pretty.

Oooh, guess what? I just rode passenger on Olivia’s scooter! I was scared at first...well, I was still kinda scared through the whole thing but I just held onto the back and thought about not freaking out or falling off. It seems to have worked. I think the program includes some insurance and I have proof of insurance with me but I don’t want to push it. It was pretty fun even though I was nervous though. Olivia said she was nervous and scared too but I told her she was a good driver (you have to be, with how the traffic is. Scooters zoom in and out of traffic and sometimes look like they’re going to hit other scooters but people deal with traffic pretty well no matter what they’re driving/riding despite what I’ve said about the traffic).

I’m pretty happy right now, but kind of worried also. I’ll start with the worried to get it off my chest and because the happy news will make it better. Olivia just said she went to pay the bills. She lives at the dorm, so I’m wondering what bills they are. She has a scooter, so maybe the gas, and she got an air conditioning card, so maybe that too. I hope if it’s something that involves me she’ll tell me and let me help pay it (or pay all of it). If it isn’t something that involves me I wish I could help too. Mainly I’m worried because if something was up that I’d done or involved me she probably wouldn’t say anything if it wasn’t....I guess...something important that would show up later. But what do I know, really. I just hope I’m not causing any problems for her. I probably am since I’m a newcomer here. I just hope I can be responsible for and fix whatever happens.

Anyway, the good thing is that a student named Chen Wu Chen (I think) was talking to me and I said ‘good night’ and ‘nice to meet you’ to him in Chinese. Wan an (which is actually when people are going to bed, I thought it was good evening, but there isn’t that in Chinese apparently). He said ‘hi’ and said that he knew it meant ‘yes’ in Japanese and said that he wanted to learn Japanese. Oh ho. I think he asked if I knew Japanese and I said yes. He said that Japanese is actually used in Taiwan because it was a Japanese colony a while ago (probably during the occupation) and that old generations of Taiwanese use Japanese; he said his great grandmother could speak Japanese and Taiwanese fluently. We decided that we’d meet again sometime and I could teach him some more. I was happy because he seemed excited to know some Japanese words. He asked me what some meant, and I told him, then we said to meet up because I asked if there was anything else and I said I could teach him more. I hope I do because I bet it’ll be fun (and I’m super excited because for some reason I want to teach Japanese more than English...maybe because it was just one on one and not a class. Plus, I said one thing in Japanese and say what it meant in Chinese which was super awesome). Some of the other girls know a little Japanese too. Today I was talking to my study partner (xueban) and we ended up talking about what languages we knew. I told her I’d taken some French, Spanish, and German, and she asked if I knew any German. I said a little, then said ‘how are you’ in German and said what it meant in Chinese (since I just learned that). It’s just really cool. Usually I’ve changed languages to English but changing to a language I’m learning and one that isn’t my normal language is just really cool.

Even if I’m a beginner and probably speak a little clumsily and messy, I feel really happy. I feel happy and like even if I kinda do badly at first it’ll be ok because it’s fun and I think like most places people in Taiwan are supportive when you even learn just a few words in Chinese and show an honest effort.

It’s kind of hard to describe the feeling. I guess it’s elated. I hope this isn’t a honeymoon period like I’ve heard travelling can have. That would be annoying, and I think I am genuinely getting used to stuff.

I still need to buy an umbrella and find a cure for my swollen feet. Something you want to hear I’m sure.

Maybe I was worried at the restaurant tonight because I was wondering if I’d been going out too much (although I’m not sure what else I could do since the campus cafeteria is closed because of summer break and there’s no cooking on campus, or at least in the dorms). Usually Olivia and her friends don’t go out, I think if school is in, but in the summer I think she said they do go out. Last night about 14 or more of us went to a Tai restaurant and at first got individual meals which got canceled when we got a huge group meal that cost 3000 Taiwanese dollars (90 U.S. dollars; good golly miss molly). Ooooh noooo. I am honestly not sure how it happened (but I’m glad I paid my share of 220 or something). If I could understand more Chinese I might have understood what had been ordered but I couldn’t so I didn’t. Whoohoo! Mmm, that isn’t a good thing is it?

The guys who came with us and sat at the other table did the same thing though, and a family at another table did as well too I think so I guess it’s something people do sometimes (and that we weren’t showing off like ‘Ooh! We have money!’).

But I was still kind of horrified.

Well, I’m winding down now. Before my camera for some reason decides to delete all my pictures again I’m going to upload them to my computer. It did this morning and I lost some pictures of my friends that I took at the Tai restaurant last night....moody thing. I hope it’s not breaking down...it’s a nice camera and it’s new. I’m pretty sure I didn’t accidentally delete them; I would have noticed.

One last thing: There's a chewing gum kind of thing in Taiwan that's really popular called Betelnut. The stuff inside is red and pasty, and it's bitter. The whole class today got one when the speaker for Aboriginal peopel of Taiwan, Professor Ling, came. I didn't eat it because I'd heard the previous day that doctors said 80% of people with mouth cancer also chewed the Betelnut. And I heard that without the statistic that it causes mouth cancer, and I don't really like bitter stuff anyway. Some people tried it but I don't think they liked it. I just kept mine. Since it's a nut/fruit thing I probably won't be able to take it back with me (if it even lasts that long). I took pictures of it.

Wan an. Good night people! Hope you’re summer’s going well. J

This picture is after we were practicing the Hakka dance. From left to right is Sam, Wu Yue Yin, and me. Yue is my study partner (xueban). I just met Sam today. I can't remember his Chinese name, but he told it to me. I'm different for each person; sometimes I rememeber their English name better and sometimes I remember their Chinese one better (but get it a little wrong sometimes). Anyway, isn't the face Sam's making cute?? Hahaha.

I got my Chinese name: It's Bai (Last name) Si (Shuu) Qian (Shee-in). It means White beautiful plant.

The character for qian is some kind of plant. Yue is really behind my name; she got a lot of characters for younger girls and showed them to me, and I picked three I liked. Well, that's really all. Goodnight!