| 大家好．我剛到了美國．．．所以好像我把這個journal寫玩了．我知道我以前不常update，但是我要跟每個朋友見面，告訴台灣的故事．我其實很難過地離開台灣，連到了美國以後也很難過．但是我知道我會漸漸習慣美國．（其實只要大家會中文，就好了！哈哈）
Anyway, my whole point is that I'm back in America, so you can now find me and ask me why I miss Taiwan so much. Because that's probably all I'll be talking about for a while!
(818)522-5702.
Also, journal duties are officially transferred back to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) llamacracy.
Lastly, if you speak Chinese fluently, please become my very good friend so I 多有機會練習中文． | 13個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply   |
| Well, that's that. I'm pretty much done. I still have an essay left to write for my Contemporary Taiwanese Fiction class, but that's due in January, so I have a while. Taiwan has been... great.
Truthfully, I don't want to leave. For many reasons. If I could import my friends and family here, that would be ideal. It's amazing that I found a place I like more than Southern California.
I'm really... really really... really really really going to miss the friends I've made here. I expect to keep in contact with the ones I'm really close with, but my Australian(s) are going back to, well, Kangarooland. And of course the Taiwanese people will stay in Taiwan.
Mostly it's a shame that I won't have anyone to practice Chinese with once I get back. OK, that's a lie, because friendships are made on more than language exchange, but it really is quite 可惜. There are too many stories to tell, too many experiences to talk about in ways which fail to convey their greatness, too many jokes to tell which will fall flat, so until I see you all in person, just look at my pictures and jump to your own wild conclusions about their background.
http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/heweili/
And the Best of Taiwan album, the truncated version of my pictures, which will sadly stop growing
http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/heweili/Best%20of%20Taiwan/
I'll be back in the states on the 19th (Tuesday), but probably unable to see anyone until Thursday due to 時差 (take a guess what that means).
Also, I'm transferring journal duty back to Llamacracy, until next I come to Taiwan.
I really hope I can get back here for an extended period of time in the future. I'm in love with this country and its people. 我愛台灣． | | 12個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| Since Meghan is lazy and doesn't want to look through all of my 2500+ pictures, I've made a special gallery to collect my favorites. I've narrowed 2500 down to 176, so that's a good start, right? I'll update as I update the others... assuming I take more pictures I like. Oldest pictures come first.
Best of Taiwan | | 16個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| | Hi everyone and no I will not be back from my trip to Southern Taiwan until Saturday. | | 3個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| 民國95年10月18日，下午 11：14。 18 October, 2006, 8:14 AM PST.
WOW it's been a while, huh. So here's my update! A while ago (I've lost track of time in this chaotic country), I went with Kyle to visit his relatives in 大溪 Daxi, Taoyuan County, for the 中秋節 Mid-Autumn Festival. I did this because I don't have any family in Taiwan, and in fact have my doubts as to wether or not a Holzer had yet set foot in this country before my arrival. Wow, I'm intrepid.
Daxi is
rural
kind of close to Taipei
filled with little screaming children... and farms
rural
does not have soap
a nice place to visit, but...
Story first, pictures after.
An hour's train ride out of Taipei got us to Taoyuan station, which really wasn't remarkable. Taoyuan, the city, looks like Taipei but smaller and less well maintained (HAH, Taipei is maintained?). We sat in a car for about 30 minutes to get out to Daxi (I believe it's English name is Middle of Nowhere, Taiwan, Republic of China). Kyle's cousins'(?) house is huge, and awesome in style, and also filled with more spiders than I can count.
The whole town village farm-ish area is somewhat rundown, yet they inexplicably have these nice, clean cars in their garages. My facial expression looked somethiing like this upon finding them: "???"
We set thing on fire (barbeque), blew things up (small fireworkds), and threw things around (basketball). It felt like the Fourth of July in America! There was also some kind of rudimentary torture karaoke, but I did not partake... Thankfully.
The country-side is really different from the city. It seems to be pretty poor, and things are definitely below the American standard of living, but spiders aside, it's really not bad, and everyone seems to be really happy.
Aaaaand, that's that, really, aside from a nice little story. After using the restroom:
Kyle: Where's the soap?
Kyle's cousin: There isn't any.
Kyle: ???
Cousin: We don't like soap.
Kyle: Oh. Do you like showers?
Cousin: Nope.
That was all in Chinese. As well as everything I said and heard for about 24 hours. How awesome is that?
( AND NOW PICTURES )
Oh, by the way, I'm not updating again until more than two people prove to me that they read this. | | 8個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| Right now, I'm in  .
But, I very nearly instead went to  .
Why didn't I? Because ever since third year Japanese, my interest in the country has been fading. As I think about it more and more, the less interested I become in Japanese culture, history, and maybe even the language itself. (中文練習：越來越無聊) So I don't know what to do. My interest is minimal... I'm about as interested in Japan as I am in Spain. The last bastion of interest is the language from a linguistic standpoint, but even that has been fading lately.
Dear Internet, I seek your advice.
My majors are currently
1: Chinese
2: Linguistics with an Emphasis in Japanese
It gives me lots of units and work. That's bad. If I dropped Japanese and made it
1: Chinese
2: Linguistics
it actually wouldn't save me any classes, I'd just have to take different ones.
If I changed my major to
1: Linguistics with a Chinese Emphasis
it would make graduating in time really easy, and also give me a degree with both of those words I like ("linguistics" and "chinese", although I do also like the word "emphasis"). The only thing is, I feel like it would deemphasize the Chinese aspect of that... And I also feel like it's not enough.
I also don't know if I really want to abandon Japanese. This is the only opportunity I'll get to learn it in a college environment.
請問，怎麼辦？？？ | | 3個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| | Current Location: | 男七舍 | | Time: | 12:51 |
|
| Oh man, do I have a lot to post. It's been like two weeks I think, and I've had two very big things to post about, BUT NO TIME. In fact, this is typed in haste as I rush off to climb up my ladder to my bed to sleep study.
So here's a picture.
This is Kyle's family's house. It is so very Chinese.
And this is a massive amount of protestors demanding the President resign.
SEE YA
再見 | | 4個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| Haha. So apparently Americans aren't as acquainted with international calling as other people!
So, to you Meiguoren, here is exactly what you should dial if you want to talk to me and spend $$$.
011 886 9 1649 4518
011 = International from the USA
886 = Taiwan code
9 = Cell phone prefix
1659 4518 = My number
CIAO
(P.S., keep in mind my roommates and I do sleep, so figure out what time it is before you call.) | | 6個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| As if I've been easy to contact, i'm disappearing for a day or so to the countryside to visit someone else's family for the moon festival since I don't have any here. Hahah. You all can still call me on my cell phone.
Also, here's a picture to prove I have friends.
 | | 8個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| 
09 1649 4518
Feel free to call me as I only have to pay for outgoing calls! HAH | | 18個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| I feel like I've been posting too many pictures. I feel like I can no longer tell a story with words. So from this point on, no pictures AT ALL.
Except for maybe this one...
( And maybe these... ) | | 7個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| A realization:
Japan and Taiwan are the exact same place, except Taiwan is more humid, marginally more populous, and a bit shadier.
Oh, and also, the Chinese are lazy as crap and never clean anything.
(No offense, Chinese people!)
( Something highly experimental! )
Also, here's a picture.
 | | 8個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| 
A naked dude and some cats. It's currently the start-up image on my dictionary. Because I get bored.
On the bright side of things, I'm starting to draw again (on paper), but I currently lack a way to scan in any drawing. Also, I'm experimenting with coloring in Photoshop.
Fun times. | | 1個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
| So my dictionary has what is essentially MS Paint on it. It's lots of fun. But the pictures look a lot better on the dictionary than on a computer...
Anyway, here are my crappy little drawings!
(That's a deer.)
Chelsea would probably enjoy this. | | 13個回信 ﹔ 給我回信 Reply |
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