This is a picture of the entire family at the harbour in Keelung City. Isn't the ocean beautiful?

This building that is decked out in advertisements houses what is known as a cram school. These cram schools take place after the regular school day (from 7-10pm) and teach a variety of subjects, a popular one being English. Students go to these cram schools in order to study for important exams that will get them into a good college.

This is my room. It is clean, cozy, and comfortable. What more could you ask for?

Due to the request of my family (back in the USA), I will do my best to explain what this shrine, for lack of a better word, is. As you may or may not know, the main religions in Taiwan are Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religions. Usually, however, people and families will blend these religions together. After taking into account the blending of religions in Taiwan, over probably about 95 percent of people here on the island are some form of Buddhist/Taoist/Chinese folk religion religion. The family that I am in is primarily Taoists, with a smaller blend of Buddhism and Chinese folk religion. The shrine in their home is to honor their ancestors and their Gods. Every morning and evening, they perform a ritual know as "bi-bi". This involves replacing the water in the cups in front and the lighting of incense. Not every family does this in Taiwan, but many do. I will try to touch more on the religious practices of Taiwan in my later posts!

For my birthday dinner we went to eat steak at T.G.I Friday's. There, I recieved a happy birthday song in Chinese and English from the staff and ate a New York Strip. Afterwards, I was so tired from the busy day that I fell asleep at about nine o'clock!

Yesterday we went to the harbour in Keelung City. There we ate a lunch of mysterious foods that (I think) included squid, some sort of seaweed, whole shrimp, and fish skin. Afterwards, we visited the fish market. I have never seen so many fish in one place! There were sea snails, live octopi, clams, live puffer fish, just to name a few. As you can see in the picture, in order to get a fish out of the buckets, a person would just climb on top of the edges of the buckets to the fish. About three feet behind me as I took this picture was the harbour where the fish were caught!

Wow. I wish I would have taken my camera to the CostCo last night. I can't even begin to describe how overwhelming the store was. Imagine Sam's Club in Springfield with three stories and ten times as many people in it. I never imagined that there would be any warehouse stores in Taipei! Next time I will be sure to take my camera.

Today was orientation for new exchange students to Taiwan. At the orientation, we exchanged banners with the district president, as well as learned about the laws and rules of Taiwan and communication skills. The orientation lasted nine hours! The picture above is of all of the inbound students to Taiwan. Tonight we go to CostCo to go shopping and eat dinner.

Tonight for dinner we had sushi. The sushi goes around on a conveyor belt and you can select which one you want to eat. It was delicious!

This is a typical dessert in Taiwan. I can't remember it's name or much about it except for the fact that it is semi-sweet and made out of soy beans. It was certainly different from American dessert!

This is Hank, Fiona, Sam, Justin, and I at the night market last night. We ate all sort of delicious food! I had a combination of chicken and rice that tasted just like turkey.

This is me with the famous drink of Taiwan, Pearl Milk Tea (yi bei zhen zhu nai cha). At first, I didn't really find it all that delicious, but now I do! If you ever get the chance to try it, be sure not to pass it up. In Taibei, it costs $30 NT. That is less than a US dollar!

Today's lunch was pizza. To the right is your normal, everyday, American pepperoni pizza. To the left, however, is the most popular pizza of Taiwan: octopus pizza. It is a delicious blend of sweet, salty, and chewy elements.

After we ate dinner, Engrid, Hank, and Justin, and I went to a twenty-four hour book store. I think it is the biggest bookstore that I've ever been in in my life! The picture is of Engrid, Hank, and I standing outside of the store. Inside the book store they had English language learning materials that consisted of great American and British novels, as well as famous American speeched and the U.S Declaration of Independence and Constitution. What a way to learn English!

This is a picture of Justin and I eating my first dinner in Taiwan. We had some sort of pork and soup stuffed dumplings, shrimp soup, fried rice, and tea. The restaurant is actually located in the bottom of a department store/subway station!

Well, I made it! Here is the welcoming party that was waiting for me at the airport. The plane arrived on time and everything went well at customs. In the picture is Engrid, Justin, Michael (Engrid and Justin's uncle), and myself. After I got home I got a few hours of sleep, some delicious lunch (chicken and rice) and hung out with Hank and Justin discussing the culture of Taiwan!

Well, the day finally came. I woke up, dawned my rotary apparel, and headed for the airport. The picture is of me standing in front of not the airplane I boarded, but the airplane next to the one I boarded. I'm publishing this blog post from LAX right now, so everyone back home who is reading this, I've gotten this far! Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible! I can't wait to get into Taipei!

Every first weekend of August is our family reunion. This is a time for family all around the country and world to gather together and meet one another. Friday before the reunion, my family hosts a fish fry for all of the family to attend. This is a picture of my grandpa frying fish. It is so much fun for my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents to get together!

凡是八月我的家庭集合在我的家。我們吃魚肉。我的祖父在燒魚肉。我的家很好玩。