The weather is getting cold fast, which acts as a constant reminder that Christmas is almost here! Christmas is my favorite time of the year and it makes me a little sad that I won’t be home this year. My program ends in less than two weeks and everyone around me is excited to head home for the holidays. It’s finally starting to hit me that I won’t be home until next September. NEXT SEPTEMBER! It’s funny how when planning my year abroad, I just assumed I wouldn’t get homesick. I just try to convince myself that it’s not Christmas and when I do hear Christmas songs playing in department stores, I run away. Hearing it would make me feel even worse. =(

However, I’m extremely happy to be here. I feel it’s too early to leave Taiwan; there’s still so much more I want to see and want to experience. I’m hoping that before spring semester, which starts in March, I’ll be able to improve my Chinese even more. I’m currently interviewing for internships in Taipei and crossing my fingers that I can find something to do for the next few months.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

Posted by Natalie at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Sawasdeeka! I had a wonderful time in Thailand! I arrived at the brand new airport in Bangkok and it was beautiful. It’s currently the newest airport in the world and I’m thrilled that I was able to see it. My mom and my sister picked me up from the airport and I was really happy to see them! I’ve been feeling homesick recently and was really glad to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my family. My mom and a few of her friends hired a personal tour guide to take a group of us around Pattaya in a van. Although it was already the end of November, it was still incredibly HOT in Thailand. We first watched a Thai Cultural show which included Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing), a battle between 2 Thai kings on elephants, sword fighting, Thai Dancing and other performances that portrayed Thai culture. We then headed outside to watch an elephant show which showcased a lot of different elephant talents. They knew how to play basketball, soccer, paint, dance, bike, massage people in the audience and so much more. I have never seen anything like it! Visitors of the cultural center were allowed to take pictures next to elephants, tigers, monkeys; it was amazing! The closest I’ve ever been to any of those animals back at home is standing 20 feet away outside a fence at the zoo.

We then had dinner at a really nice restaurant with tons of fresh seafood. It seems like I’m always talking about seafood in my blogs but you can probably tell how I could never get sick of the food. I tried alligator meat for the first time…it was delicious! I also tried some Thai desserts which are mainly coconut based and those were great as well. We then headed off to watch The Tiffany’s Show which is a musical performance by men that dress up as women. It was really entertaining and is definitely a show that everyone should watch when visiting Thailand; it’s part of the experience!

The place we stayed at that night was absolutely breathtaking! The balcony of our room overlooked the coast of Pattaya and the view at night was incredible. I’ve honestly never seen anything quite like it. The beach was right underneath us and there was also an enormous swimming pool connected our building. My sister and I decided to go walk out on the beach and go for a swim first thing in the morning the next day. We then spent the day visiting some temples in Pattaya and also went to ride elephants. Riding elephants was the best part of the trip! It was really exciting because our elephant was acting funny and kept trying to walk off the trail. The downhills were the scariest part because our elephant would run fast down the hill to scare us for fun. We then bought some bananas to feed the elephants and headed back to Bangkok.

We spent the next 2 days in Bangkok shopping and eating away. We went to Bangkok Night Market Bazaar which is the largest night market in Bangkok. It’s full of vendors and tourists and the whole night market is full of energy and noise. Overall, I had a wonderful time in Thailand and was really sad to leave since I won’t see my mom and sister until next summer!

I’ve wanted to visit Thailand for years now and I’m so happy I was able to share the experience with my family!

Posted by Natalie at 05:29 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)