I have been here in Taiwan for more than a half year now. Former exchange students have told me, that at this time of my exchange, my life is going to go crazy. I guess they were right.
Recently I have been very busy in my school’s music club, as we had a big performance together with three other high schools last Monday (a national holiday in Taiwan). The concert was held in a real concert hall that could house 1,400 people. Which just says something about how many people watched the concert, as there weren’t seats enough!
So the concert was a big deal for all of us members of the music club, and we had all been preparing for a long time. That has meant, that my host family for a period didn’t see me a lot, as I had to practise every day after school. And when I am saying after school, it is after five o’clock.
But all the time spent on practising was totally worth it. Not only because we did a good job good at the concert, but also because all this practising made me much closer to people in my club, and made me meet new awesome people from the other school’s music clubs. So maybe my family hasn’t seen me a lot, but I’ve not just be hanging around with other exchange students – I’ve been involved with the local people here. Actually so much that I last Tuesday was in the newspaper, as I was the only foreigner participating in the concert.
Me in the newspaper to the left
A really good friend (Si-Min) and I ready to rock out on the stage
Another really good friend (Shia-Tong) who is also leader of our music club
The two craziest and most lovable persons I know. Translated their names are Dog-dog and Goofy
I was on the stage four times. Two times keyboard, one time piano and one time singing.
During the concert!
Because Thursday morning, one of my really good friends from America took a flight home – and he is not coming back to Taiwan. He was not sent home by Rotary. He was not a bad exchange student. Things just didn’t work out for him here. He wasn’t happy. And when you aren’t happy you get sick. And then it is just not worth it.
It is hard to say, what went wrong. I guess some of us are just luckier than others. Not fair but true. And then I am just so happy, that I have my dance club, my Guzheng classes, my music club and my crazy friends there. These things might totally stress me out sometimes, but these things are also, what makes my exchange totally worth the hard times that you as exchange student sometimes have to fight yourself through. So trust me – if you just have SOMETHING to fight for, you’ll get true it, and your life will be all good and crazy!
I love Taiwan!
Julia
