AIESEC TAIWAN // The Fifth Week

Helllo, Hello.

bad news first: this past week I slacked.

the motivation to vlog was low, and the footage that I took wasn't to my liking... 

so this vlog is currently a slow work in progress, sorry.

This week was a bluuuur it started so slow and then ZOOooM now it is Monday and I have no vlog edited and still don't know how to feel about the week. 

Highlight #1: The principal was super excited for me to visit a farm in Damorlee last week because it was owned by a Canadian. So, I started my week from going on a school trip to visit the country side of Taiwan last Sunday and then got sick.  It was the constant change of temperature from being in the burning hot weather to super cold air conditioned bus. It also rained that day so that didn't help. Since I got sick and really wasn't having it that day, that trip is debatable  to be labeled as "fun". The farm is also suppose to be special in the fact that the owners built the buildings themselves by making/ using newspaper cement. They mix newspaper into the cement and lastly put a water bottle in the middle for support.. when it dries after 2 weeks the brick is SUPER light. Don't worry altogether as a building it's sturdy. This whole time, I was thinking that it isn't that special like why newspaper cement? Arn't they just basically using cement still and just adding newspaper inside? But, now that I actually have to reflect back about the week ... it actually is pretty cool because the difference is maybe they don't have to use as much cement + it was a super light brick! 

Besides being sick physically, I also got a little home sick too. This week's host family didn't have wifi, and so maybe it was knowing that I definitely couldn't contact my parents that made me miss / want to call them even more. Thus, I spent basically half the week at a very low / sad drifting mood  

( yup my words for yah ) just waiting for it to be over. On the plus side of the week: I got to go exploring streets and department stores by myself, found something that may be better than fried chicken - this fried fish pancake thing and . . . Highlight #2: EP Gathering weekend. All the other participants on exchange and I were dropped off at a subway station Saturday morning and we all went to Taitung for the weekend. This weekend was mainly loooong subway rides (2.5 hr), bus rides (30 mins - 2 hour ones), walking distances (30 mins or so), and biking distances (city length kms)... which was AWESOME in the sense that I finally got some exercise. We hit up Teihua Village, The Garage (old sugar refinery factor), Jimmy Village and Sansiantai Island. Basically they were all amusing landmarks .... for about 5 mins (enough for me to take pictures) and then the "wow" factor was gone. The best part of the whole weekend was definitely just the aspect of hanging out with other EPS, and chatting about each others experiences. I found it interesting to hear what others trip was like so far. For an example, I found out that one of the EP is at an elementary school with an indoor swimming pool, a room with the arcade basketball machine, a rock climbing wall and has AC. #canibeyou? 

(basically had my own Tour de Taitung)

(8 EPs and the rest are the AIESEC execs at Jimmy Village)

(Sansiantai Island)

what I learned this week:

* Friday was the second time that I've ever seen a lizard within 30cm away from me. Right before going to bed, I saw one crawling on the wall and then eventually making its way behind a bookshelf. My natural instinct was to whip off my slipper and squish it SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST Y'ALL but my brain kicked in seconds later with the reality of a) I'm not wearing slippers, b) it isn't a mosquito so would that method even work? and c) I don't even have the nerve to squish it. period. so I called the host family's son immediately over. Explained to him about the lizard, used a lot of hand gestures to demonstrate a lizard and how it ran behind a bookcase, asked him if you normally hit it with a shoe? and then finally asked him what would one usually do in these situations because I am definately not use to it... he then takes a min to process what I was trying to say and then breaks the silence with telling me that you just leave it because it helps eat the mosquitos in the house. I also learned that they sometimes make this weird noise at night, I have yet to find out why but the mom says its like they're singing a song. You could have guessed that I did not sleep well that night knowing that I had a roommate.. I was paranoid about getting bitten by not only mosquitos but by that lizard (despite the mom saying that it wouldn't ever bite people) and at one point I was awoken by it's "singing". 

* Grade 4 is not for me. short and simple lesson of the week haha

good news last: you're done reading <3
+ 918038123 hours later HERE IS THE VLOG:

so Thank YOU for reading!

Until next time,

Becca