Week 6

I can't believe how quickly this Summer went by. I have reached the sixth week. Midterms are over, but the workload picks up. I now complete twice as much homework and memorize about thirty more characters a night. In my classes, we go through lessons at three times the usual speed. I am spending more and more time studying with my language exchange partner. Life has become more stressful, but certainly not less enjoyable. Quite the opposite, actually. Learning Chinese has become part of my daily routine. I knew that back at Yale, Chinese had already taken over my life. Now, I can confidently say that Chinese is my life. I feel the improvement and I am quite content. I remember the first day of classes, where I didn't understand a word my teacher was saying. Now, I can sit back and almost understand everything. I remember the first time I entered a convenient store, and felt embarrassment to even say "xie xie" ("thank you" in Chinese). Now, holding small talks with the local Family Mart cashier is a part of my social entertainment. I remember the first time I had to write an essay about Taiwanese parks. I had to constantly review my sentence structure and check if my characters were correctly drawn. Now, I approach the writing of an essay with nonchalance.
But apart from language skills, Taiwan has also given me a new sense of independence. I came to this island, not knowing anyone, not knowing anything about the culture, not knowing if I would find an apartment, not knowing what my daily diet would be. It certainly took its time, but I have finally assimilated into this once alien culture. I feel comfortable, now. I have many formed many relationships, I have learned to find an apartment, learned to take out the trash in Taiwan, learned the intricacies of Chinese food, and most importantly learned what it takes to be by oneself in a foreign Asian country.