My English seems horrible. I'm sorry.
Today we had a free day so our family took us to the mountains. It was pouring rain but was so beautiful. We also went to this little tea shop and I got kiwi juice that tasted like a smoothie. It was delicious. They also took us to this restaurant and had us try many new foods. I've found the best policy is don't ask what you are eating until long after you've eaten it. We also went shopping and I got a cute zebra bag and gifts for syd and phil.
So many people here know/like lady gaga. It is crazy.
We also went to a stake choir thing thing tonight. I really enjoyed it but some of the kids in our group were embarrassing and talked the whole time.
Hopefully I'll talk to you later. Goodnight.
June 26
I love church here. I love love love singing hymns in Chinese. The
people here are so faithful. They had us all bear our testimonies in
sacrament meeting. Ah it is so nice to be in a quiet ward ;) ha we
doubled their YW.
Yeah so I love it here. Ttyl
July 1
I loved living in the mountains! Me and my friend Marcus would wake up at 6:30 every day and go meditate on a tower. The view everywhere was so incredibly beautiful none of my pictures can even begin to describe
it. And living in the dorms were fun ;) a bunch of us girls would have mass singing parties in the shower stalls at night. Haha it was great. I ate some more interesting things like purple rice, cow stomach, duck and jellyfish. I've stopped asking what I'm eating until it is in my stomach. I was frustrated with the kids I taught on Monday and today except one girl on Monday and another one on Friday. Many of them are ill behaved
and knew next to no English. And we had no translators. The cool thing was that sometimes I did know what they were saying so I could speak back and they understood! I got really excited when that happened. Mostly it was confusing though. Tuesday and wednesday we taught the same kids so it was kinda fun. Sometimes they got on my nerves but for the most part I loved it. Those kids loved to dance. Thursday we had the day free so we went to this grand opening of a "skywalk" type thing. It went out over this beautiful waterfall. I got to hike a lot :) and our picture was taken while we were there so some
of us were in the newspaper! I'm trying to get a copy to send to you. I also got to dance in the gym during free time and it felt so good! And three of the guys let me teach them basic chacha ;) haha. Today we got to visit this way cool memorial for this general and learn about Taiwan's history. It was so fascinating. And I got to hike a little bit more too :) This is going to sound weird but his trip has made me consider majoring in chinese in college. Maybe minoring in international business or journalism. Idk, just an idea I've had.
I'll email more soon. We're going to the temple tomorrow. Love you all.
-Mer
P.S. My camera was lost for a day and a half and it miraculously was found by one of the elementary schools we visited and was returned right before we left. Crazy eh? I was about to die a little.
July 2
I tried tofu soup and sushi today. They were both alright. Oh and I ate this shaved frozen mango thing. Mmmmmmm The kids liked to do our EFY dance that we taught them but many also like to breakdance.
Yes it was cooler in the mountains a little but only because it was less humid. Weirdly enough I think I'm getting used to the heat a bit. I don't constantly feel like passing out any more.
The temple was so amazing! It is so different from ours but yet it is very similar. I loved it. Fraser baptized us and it was just a great experience. He is basically my Asian dad. I love him :)
July 8
So I don't think Kaohsiung is my favorite place. It is definitely full of history and beautiful scenery but it is so depressing. The ghettos are so up close and personal. And these people, they're never going to break this cycle more likely than not. I feel bad for them. But at the same time I'm not really internalizing it. It's more a passive discomfort. Idk I'm not describing it well. Anyways, the tour has been mostly fun but trying to get my group to do their assignment is like trying to get a dead dog to fetch a bone, impossible. So hopefully things will work out. I don't really feel like writing more right now so I'll email again soon. Hopefully I can skype soon. Love you all
That is all I have for now. I'll post more when I get it. We have chatted on Facebook and we got to skype.
