Hmm...what was I saying?

Since the last time I wrote so many emotions have gone through me. First of all, extreme frustration. When we took the test to be placed in a Chinese class I was told that I could try both the basic and intermediate class because I scored borderline on the test. I was pretty proud of myself actually, but the catch is this was all a reading and multiple choice test. There is a big difference between reading and knowing what goes in a blank, and making up answers yourself. The intermediate class was way over my head, they were talking about presidents and impeachment, and I don't even know the word for trashcan (I know now, it's 垃圾桶). So I went down to the basic class and that was much better. I understood what was going on, but it turns out this class wasn't good for me either! So frustrating. To make a long story short, mine and Stephanie's Chinese is American Chinese. We use our American thought process to translate things into Chinese, and our grammar sucks. If you give me a sentence and tell me to find a grammar mistake, I can do it, but for me to make a sentence straight from my head and make it sound like a good Chinese sentence...天啊！(Oh goodness!). So we are now in a Beginner class...that is so discouraging. Anyway, I'm better now. I'm determined to learn tons over these next 3 months and hopefully I'll be able to find something here that will allow to come back and continue studying. One day my Chinese will be amazing!

After extreme frustration came tons of fun. I went with some classmates to a place called Yilan, it is pretty close to Taipei so it took about an hour to get there and we had to go through the longest tunnel in Taiwan, and then I learned to word for tunnel. It took the whole day to put the word into my memory, but I got it now. I ate some new tasty things, I don't remember what any of it was called, and then I ate some Stinky tofu. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but the aftertaste reminded me of the smell of a farm...I don't plan on eating it again. However, Stephanie liked it. Blah. Pretty much all we did was walk around and talk with our classmates. We talked about accents from different parts of Taiwan and different parts of the US. I let them hear my hick come out and then explained what "ain't" meant. AND THEN!!!...we found THE Ferris Wheel. In Taipei, connected to a mall is a giant Ferris Wheel. Last time we were here we saw it and wanted to go to it, but we didn't know they way, and then we kept seeing it in Taiwanese dramas. So, when we passed it on the highway, Stephanie and I freaked out a little and then they took us to see it. It was too late to actually ride it, but there is an MRT station right next to it so next time...We are definitely riding it.

Other than that my life has been consumed with my Senior thesis and other homework. I now know more about Wang Leehom than I ever thought I would know...now I just need to meet him and ask him to explain his music. One day maybe...

Love you all!! And Happy Easter!