3 weeks down, 3 to go

Never in a million years did I think I would be given the opportunity to study abroad or even travel to the other side of the world! I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life thus far, and my time here only proves to get better as we are learning more and more each day and experiencing new things I never could have imagined. The people here continue to shock me with their genuine hospitality and eagerness to help at a moments notice. With that being said, the past few days have kind of been emotionally draining in the sense that I feel like I am missing out on so much back home. Suz and Laura(two of my best friends) are finally back home but I won't be able to see them until maybe Christmas, all of my friends have been making road trips to see each other this summer, everyone has their countdown of how many days til they move back to Starkville. But I still have 3 weeks left. I didn't realize how long 3 weeks actually was until I spent what seems like an insignificant amount of time out of the country, away from all of my friends, family, and familiarity. I have only been gone for 3 weeks. It seems like it has been an eternity. Today I realized that my problem was that I haven't been having my quiet time. I looked back to a note that I wrote on facebook with some bible verses and a devotion from a book. It was very encouraging. I was also reading through Psalms and found this verse: "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I will sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hang upholds me." PSALM 63:1-8. But I am OK. I am still excited as each day holds new surprises for us and new things for us to discover. Right now it is Monday night. I will back track to Friday. On Friday, we went to Old Sansia and went to the Indigo and Haaka Culture Park which consisted of a few rooms down a sketchy alley. This was one of the favorite things that we have done. We learned how to dye cloth and the process that they go through to pick the leaves and make the dye come out. We got to pick a pattern or make our own and create a bandana that we got to dye ourselves! It was fun to do something creative and be able to see the outcome! I love mine! They all turned out so well and we were all excited to have been able to take part in this! Then we went to a very nice restaurant in Yingge where a famous ceramics museum is located. On each "cultural" trip that we take, we have different professors from different colleges within NTPU join us. One of the professors graciously treated us to lunch. The food was beautifully presented and it was delicious! After lunch we proceeded to the Yingge Ceramics Museum where we had a quick tour. Then we were led to the Ceramics Workshop where we got to make our own creation. Sadly, it takes about 1 month for the entire process to be complete so we were not able to keep our creations; however, it was fun being able to play with the clay and make whatever we wanted. SIDE NOTE: This class consisted of about 50 other people. Excluding the parents, the oldest kid in there besides us was probably 6 years old... The theme was "Castles". Needless to say we got some looks when we walked in... The next day the girls took it easy. We had a lazy Saturday. The boys went hiking all day so we were on our own. We decided to see the movie "Inception". We found a movie theater on Google Maps that looked fairly close (about 30 mins away) to where we are. I marked where it was on the map(approximately) so that we would have an idea of its location. So with map in hand, we got on the subway and went. Well the map didn't quite look like what we thought the streets would look like. So we decided to take a cab to where we needed to go instead of try to find our way ourselves. Well... this cab did not take us to the place that we wanted to go. After walking around for a little while, we took another cab and finally arrived at the correct place. During the movie (which was in all English, with Chinese subtitles), I had a hard time understanding the concept for about an hour. Despite all the praises, it was not my favorite movie. Anyways, after that we went to Banqiao Night Market then went home. Sunday was study day. We all had tests on Monday. This was not a fun day. After a very late night, we were awaken at 7:30am by a fire alarm making a terrible screaming noise with someone speaking Chinese at the same time. We were NOT very happy. I thought that I was finished with fire alarms when I moved out of Building 3?? Apparently not. Well, my test went ok. Hopefully I did well. After class, our teachers came with us to lunch. We ate at a Japanese restaurant where we actually sat on the floor at a table and ate. It was interesting. After class, we had Calligraphy class. I have found that Calligraphy is NOT my calling in life. But it was very fun and interesting to attempt such a unique art form. After that we had Chinese Traditional Music class where we had students who play in a band bring their instruments in and play them. We also learned how to play an ocarina. OK. There are no words to describe how hilarious we all sounded. Here is a video of a guy playing an ocarina. Maybe someday you all will have the pleasure of me serenading you with the magical sounds of my ocarina hahaha I thouroughly enjoyed todays classes! We only have 6 class days left!! Well, today I went to dinner by myself. I was hungry(surprise, surprise) and no one wanted to eat. With the risk of looking/feeling like a social outcast, I walked over to the only place I knew I would feel comfortable- The Garage. I walked in and was welcomed by Wayne, our friend the owner. Actually I found out the difference from American hamburgers and Japanese hamburgers. We use 100% beef. They use beef and pork because its cheaper. Well for now, I am just happy to be here. I know that there are only a handful of people who have been given the chance to do the things that I have been able to do. Thanks for reading my blog! Sorry that there are no pictures this post! All of my pictures are on my facebook page if you want to see them! I have about 4 Taiwan albumbs already... It means a lot to me that people will actually spend their time reading! :)