Christmas Abroad

This is a little warning so you will not be so shocked. Taiwanese people don't celebrate Christmas. At all. Don't expect gifts or even anyone to say "Merry Christmas" and expect to go to school.

I didn't go to school though. Pfft. Like I would ever. XD Sorry but, come on, it's Christmas.

So, in order to create a Christmas for myself, I wrapped gifts I had brought from America for my host family. Wrapping paper cost money so I used newspaper and made EVERYTHING myself. It took hours. But I felt very pleased with myself. I didn't tell my host family what I was doing until the day of christmas and I gave them a shower of gifts.

They really enjoyed it and it helped make me feel Christmas was still happening. It was really nice.

Picture of me around the Christmas time:
















Gifts I wrapped:

It really brought my host family and I closer together. I recommend this if you're in a country where your host family has no clue what Christmas is and you feel like something is really missing from your life by ignoring the day.

So I missed American food so much that I started playing Restaurant Story nonstop all the time.

 I even got my boyfriend into the game. We left tips in each others restaurants.

I recommend you find a way to cope as well. XD


My birthday is the 28th so my host family got me a pizza! They know I love Taiwanese pizza!

Isn't it cute?

My host parents also gave me this. Princess wand for me.

They also gave this.
A matching bracelet for health with for my boyfriend and me. And a wallet.

They gave me this card.

They also gave me a cake. It was a Christmas cake. Really beautiful.

Shortly after my birthday was my host mother's birthday and my host father made her "Golden Noodles" which is a special birthday dish. It tastes really good.

Chao huang mian

I'm just going to throw this picture in. My host father does most of the cooking and he cooks this really good fish very often.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year if it's that time when you read this!

My mother sent me this.

My Second Host Family

This post is going to be dedicated to talking about my second host family  because I know a lot of people are really wondering what host families are like. This time around I got really lucky with my host family.

The structure of the family is my host mother, my host father, and me. Their daughter is in Denmark and they have no pets. In America I would have thought that this wouldn't be a good thing as it might be awkward or boring or something like that. But every family is different and this family has been great. I like it better this way. They have more time to help me and talk to me. And things aren't loud all night long.

My host mother speaks pretty good english. My host father doesn't speak english. But they're both very attentive. If I have any problem, my host father will be the first to notice and solve it for me even without me saying anything. This family is totally willing to compromise. They are doing some things they never did before, like buying chicken nuggets, snack food for me, not using basil when they cook, allowing me to teach them about Christmas (I gave them a small tree and helped them set it up and I gave them a christmas stocking and they have it displayed in the living room!), etc, etc. They also still live mainly the way they did before I came, which allows me to see into a normal Taiwanese family. They show me all kinds of Taiwanese foods and the ones I like they always make again for me.

Sometimes we watch movies together as well, Taiwanese TV has HBO movies which are in english with Chinese subtitles, we also watch Chinese movies with english subtitles. It helps us bond. And sometimes we have family talks with my host mother sitting in between my host father and me and translating what we're both saying.

When my host mother isn't home, it's good for my Chinese because if I want anything I need to talk Chinese with my host father. It's great because they don't pressure me into speaking in chinese with them around their schedule. They let me come to them when I have a question. I really don't like to feel forced or pressured into something. Let it come naturally.

They're both very calm and nice. They have a very wise and relaxed outlook to life. My host mother is really into the Chinese zodiac which is great because so I am and we talk about it a lot. We always do different matching test to see if our different relationships will be good or bad or etc. She knows so many of them.

They are very into health and Chinese medicine. My host mother often takes me hiking with her on the weekends. When I was sick my host parents gave me some Chinese medicine.

They cook and buy food for me. I clean my own room. I do my own dishes about half the time. I wash my own clothing. They're bedtime for me is 11 pm. They're willing to talk about it if I want to watch a movie or whatever. It's a loose guild line. I'm not allowed to eat snacks in my room.

They work with computer stuff and they started their own business. They work at their office or from home sometimes. They work a lot and really hard, but they make their own hours and so it's flexible.

I really adore them. We haven't had any problems.

REALLY STUPID UPDATE

Some stuff I wrote is no longer true and also, I just want to share some non-picture stuff.

Anyway, so my Swiss exchange friend from my school read my blog yesterday and complained to me about how I wrote about him being mean. That's not fully true, he's nice when he feels like it.

So if you guys want to say anything to him, just leave it in the comments. He'll be delighted, I'm sure. (ZACK, I expect to see something amusing from you)

Oh, and just want to add that this creepy rapist guy tried to 'massage' me yesterday. Or maybe the day before. I was really freaked out. But nothing bad came of it so it's whatever now.

Letter from host mom (kind of) and High School in Taiwan!

Hey Everyone,

It's the weekend before finals and I'm going to do a post to update you, but I really shouldn't be. XD Such is my dedication to you.

I'm actually hoping one of my teachers will be able to use this as my final grade, but that might be doubtful.

I kind of received a letter from my host mother. She sent it from her other email, so I think that means she doesn't use the one I've sent her things on. I don't think she's been receiving my letters. But I sent a letter to her other email yesterday.

Um, the email she sent was telling me to arrive in taiwan from August 20 to August 26. But I don't really book that, rotary does. Anyway, I leave the 2oth. She didn't write much more than that.

BUT!!! I just found out school starts August 30 for me! Which means I'll be in Taiwan for like a week before I have to go to school!! Chotto kowai (A little scary).

I'm going to Taipei Kai-Ping Vocational and Culinary School. I've heard a lot about Taiwanese schools. Like, many of them are in old prison jail buildings... And in Asia, you're not allowed to curl your hair, wear nail polish, jewelry, etc. This is an article about my school in Taiwan. It's in English. It's very interesting. I have a pretty sweet school, I think.



http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2007/09/23/2003380133

Some pictures I found:

I hereby name you.... CHEF!! XD

Intense.

I can't seem to find any pictures of the actual school building.

I wonder if our school lunches will be better than the average in Taiwanese high schools...? I'll find out when I'm there and tell you!

My host mother wrote:

"Dear Michelle:

I'm your host Mom Olivia xxx, Did you receive my emaildated 9/6/2010.

Please make arrangements to arrive Taipei, Taiwan between August 21 and August 26 in order to give you time to settle in to your new home before School begins on August 30."

My visa stuff is sent to the visa place also! We were a day late, but I was told it didn't matter and was just going to sit around for a couple weeks anyway. Weird.

So, wish me luck on my finals. I'm going to need it.

~Michelle

If any of you have ever been an exchange student, please tell me about it! Comment below! What are the pros and cons?

AND if you're going to be an exchange student what are you happy/ worried about? Tell me!!

Host Family Worries

The reason I started this blog was to give people the truth. I don't want to sugarcoat things, or focus on the positives or negatives. I want to give you the real deal. Even if I'm wrong about something, I want to tell you what's on my mind.

In light of that, I have a worry. I have to hope for the best, but expect the worst case possibility.

I don't have much to go on with this worry. I know that. But it still worries me, so it's my moral job to tell you.

I'm worried my host mother doesn't see me as her soon to be daughter. Both the student and the host parents are trained. I'm trained to call her mom. She's trained to tell me to do so. One thing, I asked her was what to call her. And she, in the letter, implied I'm to call her by her fake American name.

She calls her daughter, "her daughter." -Not my soon to be sister.

She may not want to impose. But it worries me. She was trained for this. If she's not wanting me to call her mom, it could only mean she sees this as more of a business transaction.

She might think she's hosting me and then in return I will teach her daughter english.

Wrong. This program is not a trade. I would love to teach Demi english but, as a family member. Not as someone who is being "paid" to do it.

I want a family.

Please don't lecture me on how stupid these things are. I can see your points. And believe me, I'm waiting hopefully to feel foolish later when I meet her, or get to know her better.

You have no idea how taxing it is to wait until you're an exchange student. XD It's horrible.


If you have been an exchange student, tell me about your host family! How did you like them?

If you're going to be, share your excitement/worries with me!

Comment below!

Update From Several Years Later:
If you are a host parent, I strongly recommend you soldier on through and think of your host child as your own the best you can, including asking and feeling comfortable with being called 'mom' or 'dad' or whatever those terms are in your country. This is one of those things that actually can really make or break the whole experience because it sets the tone of things. 

If you are a host student, I recommend you force yourself to refer to your host parents as 'mom' or 'dad' or whatever those translate as. It may feel uncomfortable however, in the end you should be aiming for making a lifelong bond that you can treasure, or at the very least, lifelong memories of the bond you created. 

If your host parent does not want you to call them 'mom' or 'dad' you can still have a great exchange! But if they do this and they also seem to not really accept you into their family as a member, your exchange simply is not going to be as great as it otherwise would be. Although, I'm sure it can still be great in its own way. 

This post was too early for me to tell, but the family I was placed into was not a great match at first and I think I was picking up on some tiny early signs. However my second family was really beyond wonderful and really did treat me as their host daughter.