Thursday, February 5th, aka longest day ever!

• First Morning and Trip to Taichung
o I woke up to people speaking in Chinese… OMG, I’m really in Taiwan!
o Probably because of the time difference, I was wide awake at 7am
o Yay! I got to see Paul Whitaker, from England, who works for Up with People as the Asia Tour Director.
o My first shower in Taiwan… working toilet and hot shower! Good start!
 I used this AWESOME smelling Pomegranate Sunflower shampoo!
o Breakfast was soy milk and currant bread
 Surprisingly, I really liked the soy milk!
 Currants are like grapes… kinda
o I had lots of luggage to carry through the subway MRT to train… Luis helped me until I got on the train
 He said get on this train, take it until the first stop 45 minutes down, it will be Taichung. There, Paul Chen will be waiting for you with your host sisters. (I knew Paul kind of through emailing, and he speaks very good English because he went to school in Canada)

o When the train stopped at Taichung, I couldn’t get off the train! People don’t believe me that I get lost going EVERYWHERE, but really, it’s true!
 So we were going to stop, and I saw people lining up to get off, so I got up and grabbed my suitcases… I started going down the aisle to the front to get off, and all of a sudden, tons of Taiwanese people started coming at me down the aisle! I tried to say “du bu chi” (phonetically) “I’m sorry” and get by them, but the train was stopped for a grand total of maybe 90 seconds, and I barely made it halfway down the aisle when it started moving again!!!!!!!
 So after I missed the Taichung stop, I had no choice but to stay on until the next stop…. Another 45 minutes… haha! I found a nice worker on the train who kinda spoke English and he stamped my ticket and told me which train at the next station to get on to return to Taichung. When we arrived at the next stop, another worker helped me with my bags and got me on the next train safely, making sure I knew what I was doing. She kinda spoke English, too. The finally on that train back, another worker said that she talked to my friend in Taichung and they are waiting for me, it’s okay…. Ay ay ay!


• Meet Xiao Paul and host sisters
o So I finally got off at Taichung and made it to find “Xiao Paul” (“Small Paul” to differentiate between him and Paul Whitaker from UWP) and my host sisters
o My host sisters Linda and Jennifer were very very shy, and they didn’t talk very much
o Paul was very nice and translated some things for us
• We arrive at my host house and dropped off my luggage
o It was a very nice house with four floors (two bedrooms on each floor 2-4); I am on a floor with my host sisters and our shared bathroom
 Working toilet and hot shower! Yes!
o I am staying in Jennifer’s room (Jennifer moved in with Linda)
o The back of our house connects through a little walkway to my host aunt’s house; I met Christine, my aunt, and Jeff, my host cousin, next door
• Then we went to an office and met Gary, my host dad
o He was very nice and very funny (even though he doesn’t speak English!)

• Then Paul, my host sisters, and I went to buy office supplies and to see our UWP office here in Taichung
o We are sharing a medical technicians office on the 12th floor of a building with two very nice women, Ray and Vicky o There is a Starbucks right next to our office! Woot!
• We went back to Gary’s office (it’s his company) and met Robert, Xiao Paul’s dad, who works there (Christine works there too)
• I hung around that office with Paul and my sisters; I learned some Chinese and we worked on pronouncing the English alphabet with my sisters
• After Gary and Robert finished working at like 7pm, we went to eat dinner at a restaurant: Gary (dad), Linda-20 & Jennifer-16 (sisters), Christine (aunt), Jeff-20 (cousin), another cousin named Baby-27, Gary’s girlfriend Maggie (who also works in his office), Xiao Paul (22) and Robert (his dad)
o Lot of people went! We got a big round table
o First use of chopsticks! I wasn’t bad!
o In the middle of the table was a lazy Susan, the round thing that spins
o Very interesting food… I asked what the different things were, but I tried everything
o I wasn’t thrilled with the food, but it wasn’t bad
o I learned that my sisters call my dad “honey” which I think is really cute
• After dinner we walked over to see a Chinese Lantern Festival, which was still up in honor of the Chinese New Year
o “This colorful, charming holiday marks the official end of the Chinese New Year holiday season. According to legend, celestial spirits could be seen by the light of the first moon, so torches were lit to improve visibility. This in turn led to lantern making. These days, Lantern Festival is marked by lantern displays and contests. This includes an annual Taichung City Lantern Festival celebration and display, usually held in the Taichung Park. Other similar displays are also often found at other locations, like the Taichung Folklore Park or the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art. In local parks and other areas around the city, lantern-carrying children are also a common sight, out for evening strolls with their parents.”
o The night we went was the last night it was going to be up!


• When we got home it was only about 10 but I was sssoooo tired!! I climbed into my ridiculously comfortable bed, laid on my memory foam pillow (I think), and fell right asleep!