Day 2 June 12

Last night I set my alarm for six, dreading having to wake up that early, however I didn’t need to because I woke up at four-thirty. My host mother Lisa made apple slices, green beans, and “cool noodles” for breakfast. At first I was skeptical but everything tasted great and was a healthy alternative to my normal morning meal. My host father Charlie then drove me to St. Peter’s High School where the delegation was about to present our first performance. As everyone trickled in we all discussed our new homes and how we slept that night. Thankfully everyone slept well and was happy with who and where they are living. The delegation was then taken to a courtyard in the middle of the school, where the students put on six incredible performances, including a break dance team and two bands. There were students everywhere and I couldn’t believe we were about to perform for them after what they had just showed us. However, I think that they enjoyed our two songs and really liked the dance. After the delegation met the principle and gave him our gifts, a teacher escorted us across campus to a class room to teach us Chinese knot tying. At first all of us struggled to even make the first knot but slowly we all got the hang of it. Once we were done, the delegation was taken on a bus to Little Ding-Dong Science Park where I thought they said we were playing a hand ball game but it turned out that I miss understood them and we were playing paintball. The paintball game was fun until I ran out of ammo and I see Megan running at me. So I decided to run back to cover which was a terrible idea because instead of her shooting me in my arm or chest, I got hit on my backside. When paintball was over, we all looked as if we were about to pass out from the heat so thankfully it was lunch time. Amusement park food in the U.S. is never that good but we were served fish, pork, eggs, vegetables, rice and tofu which was very good. After we had all finished eating we remembered that we were going to ride bikes along the coast and Ben informed us that it was a 13k trail. To be honest, I wasn’t super excited because we were all exhausted and I doubted that this was going to be enjoyable. However, we were able to rest on the bus ride and once we got to the bike shop I felt better. Ben and I rode a tandem bicycle with a roof cover to block the sun. Once we got to the ocean, it was amazing, there was a wonderful breeze and everything was beautiful. We even got to go down to the beach where I wrote “Wil was here” of course. The students we were with asked us if we would like to try some traditional Taiwanese ice cream and the thought of eating something cold sounded amazing. I am not sure how to describe the taste of the ice cream but it was sort of fruity and very refreshing. After the bike ride we were taken back to the school to be picked up by our host families however Bob had to stay late to help with graduation. So I went with Tiffany, Amanda, Vicky, and Jessie. As soon as we got out of the car I saw Ben, Kayla, and Eleanor so we all were able to hang out and walk around the city. For dinner our host students took us to Mos Burger and ordered us rice burgers which I highly recommend. All of us then went to see a movie and it was very hard not to doze off in the dark theater but thankfully I made it home without falling asleep. My first full day in Taiwan was amazing and I cannot wait for tomorrow because I get to spend all day with Bob at his school.