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| MRT station after New Year 地铁站非常挤 |
I woke up on Tuesday at 6 AM with great excitement because I
knew that we were celebrating the New Year in the evening. I went to class,
which was extremely difficult. But I think everyone knew that my listening and
speaking abilities were not that great, so the students were all very friendly
and eager to get to know me. On Tuesday night at around 8 PM, we arrived at
Taipei 101. I wasn’t surprised by the crowd of people because I already assumed
that the area was going to be overcrowded. We sat on the ground and while we
waited for the New Year’s countdown to start, a few of us played games – an
intense clapping game that requires you to be able to follow directions under a
high amount of pressure. When the countdown began, we all stood up and counted
down followed by a great firework display. The fireworks literally came out of
the sides of the building, it was so cool! But the firework show was about
three minutes long, so I thought it was a little short. Josh and I made it
known that we were excited by screaming at the top of our lungs. I’m sure that
we were the loudest ones there. After the fireworks finished, we went back to
our rooms, and by the time we got back it was 2 AM, and immediately I went to
sleep. The following day we didn’t have to go to class, so I slept in till 8
AM, followed by an intense three hour Chinese study session. Afterwards, we all
met with our Taiwanese friends and went to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. We went
into the main museum and learned history about Chiang Kai Shek, it was very
interesting. One of my favorite parts was seeing the painted jars. I was amazed
that the inside of the jars were painted, and the painting designs were so
intricate and precise. Also, I spoke a lot of Chinese today. I think my Chinese
is improving! I feel more comfortable talking in Chinese than ever before. After
the memorial, we went to eat at a very expensive restaurant. The food was okay,
but I think the price was not worth what I ate. Overall, it has been a great
few days and hopefully there are more good days to come!
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| 我的台湾的朋友们 |
A large
difference I noticed between Americans and Taiwanese is that I feel that
Taiwanese people are much kinder and polite. When we were at Taipei 101, we
were sitting on the ground waiting for midnight to happen. While we were
waiting there were many people passing us, and pushing into us. But it seemed
that although the Taiwanese people pushed into us they would apologize. We
encountered an American from New Jersey who reacted in a very hostile manner.
He was upset that we were sitting on the ground and said that we were the cause
for the traffic jam of people. He said, “It wasn’t like this 10 minutes ago”
followed by other unnecessary comments. It just showed the difference between
the two cultures. It seemed that in this case, the American had to voice his
opinion about how he felt, and he approached the situation in a very vulgar and
mean way, while the Taiwanese people simply said sorry as they walked by us. I
know that among my friends, I have several who have no problem voicing their
opinions; sometimes without even considering the impact it might have on the
people around them.
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| 美国人！ |
This
weekend we are going to the southern part of Taiwan to learn more history and
culture, and also just to see another part of Taiwan. We will be going to the
night markets in Tainan and Kaohsiung. Also, although I will be exploring
Taiwan this weekend, I will also be studying hard because I have another test
coming up, covering the topic of traffic in Taiwan. Next time I blog I will
discuss my experiences in southern Taiwan and more cultural comparisons between
northern and southern Taiwan.
我觉得我的中文越来越进步！祝你 新年快乐！ 我最喜欢台湾的吃饭也我的新的朋友们！
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