Dear Outbounds,

Over the past months I would write down advice that I wanted to tell future outbounds (those who are about to begin their exchange) If you are an outbound going to Taiwan read this. If you’re an outbound who is not going to Taiwan, there’s some good info in here for you too. I’m giving you the advice, but of course you decide to take it.

1. Don’t drink the tap water. Even if they have the special little faucet that you might have at home, don’t drink from that with out asking. In Taiwan all water must be boiled unless it comes from a water machine. You’ll know what that is when you see it.

2. Taiwan uses the same outlets and same voltage as the US. Find out what kind of outlets the country you’re going to uses BEFORE you leave. There is no point in bringing adapters that you can’t use.

3. Taipei is COLD in the winter. If you look up the weather of Taiwan you’re going to see that it doesn’t get below 45F in Taipei. That may be true but because of the humidity, the winter is bone-chilling. Southern Taiwan is warmer but you are still going to want to bring some warm clothes.

4. When you are sick or hurt don’t put off going to the doctor. In the US, because it’s so expensive, we don’t go to the doctor unless it’s BAD. Don’t worry about it here. Tell your host family right away. The doctors here are good and care is cheap. You will get sick. If you are coming from the US to Taiwan you will most likely be sick a lot. You don’t have the immunities yet to fight off Taiwanese illnesses. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger;)

5. Find out if you’re phone is locked BEFORE you leave. That’s a lot of trouble you don’t want to deal with in your host country.

6. Get Line and WhatsApp now. Other exchange, your host family, and your classmates will have a much easier time contacting you.

7. In Taiwan, if problems occur, you must actively contact your counselor. Get their Line and email. There are no monthly meetings like in other countries.

8. Stop freaking out about the language. Yes Chinese is hard and it will take you longer to speak in full  sentences than your friends who are in countries that have, for instance, an alphabet. Get HelloChinese, set it to Traditional, and start now. Do it every day you can. If you’re going to a different country get Duolingo.

9. Don’t press the red button in the bathroom. That is the emergency button and it will cause you a lot of embarrassment if you press it. Squat toilets usually have the flush beside the toilet but sometimes it’s a string above your head that you pull to flush.

10. Try all the food. If you’re picky, tell yourself that you aren’t. If the food is actually bad it will make a good story later:)

11. Buckle your seatbelt when you are in the passenger seat or on the highway. Even on the bus.

12. Bring bracelets to trade. You don’t really need to bring business cards. Use that money for pins. Big, fun pins.

13. Don’t feel guilty about hanging out with other exchangers. In your home country you will be told over and over to hang out with locals. In Taiwan that is often not possible. Your friends will have cram school until 9pm. Your curfew is 10pm usually. Even after a test if they don’t do well, their parents might punish them by not allowing them go out. You can hangout with other exchangers, I’m telling you it’s okay. Just be sure to be friendly with your classmates in school.

14. What makes or breaks your exchange is your mentality. If you think “why is all this bad shit happening to ME? What did I do?” It’ll make you lose control. If instead you think, “look at all this shit I’m overcoming! Nothing’s going to spoil my mood.” That is how you will feel.  Find something to do with the first two months. It’ll be hard but you are MUCH stronger than you think.

15. Go on all the trips. They will probably be the highlight of your exchange.

16. Unless it’s a cautionary tale, tune out stories from other countries. The cultures, language, trips, and Rotary are too different. Comparing your exchange with other's is never a good thing.

17. Figure out what you want and do that. You can.

18, To bring:
          • the flag of home and host country
          • Sponsor club banner
          • More than enough eye contacts and solution
          • gifts for four families

They are going to be much more appreciative of something that they can display rather than something that they can eat or wear. I really wish that I would have just went to a truck stop, bought some "Honest to Goodness Indiana" plates and given those as gifts. I am sure that they would have loved them.  

          • Different pin designs

TOCFL language test

The TOCFL is a globally recognized test of how familiar a person is with any given language. There are six levels, A1 through C2. Native speakers have to study for C2. When a person takes the test they must decide which level and category they are testing for. I was hoping for A2 but expecting A1.  The test I was taking was reading and listening. So I got up on Saturday morning and took the bus to Taipei University of education. I met David, William, and King, who will be my last host brother. There were a few other exchangers there, whom I had never met, but it was mostly just adult, foreigners who were living in Taiwan. We had a bit of trouble finding which room we were each in but we all got to our places on time. For some reason we weren’t allowed to wear shoes in the computer room. That was fine with me. I was comfortable in my little Tortoro socks. David on the other hand, was wearing sandals and the test room was quite chilly. The instructions were all in Chinese. My vocabulary does not include how to use volume or which one is the “next” button so I had to mostly guess on the pictures. The first question I guessed wrong. What I thought was the pause turned out to be the skip. I shook it off and kept going. I ended being four points away from A2 in listening and two in reading. That means I’m “intermediate-mid.” David got A2 for reading but he was disappointed that he didn’t get it for listening. After the test we went out for very tasty Mexican food. It was good. I’ll take it again in May and maybe I’ll get A2.
Thanks for reading,
Autumn Crisovan 丁晚秋

Translating for other Americans

My host sister is in the US for exchange. As far as I know she is having an amazing time in the grand ol’ state of Oregon. Her first host family are Mormon and their son was in Taiwan on a mission trip for the previous two years. So, my host sister’s host family came to Taiwan to see what their son had been up to. We picked them up from the airport Friday night. It was VERY strange to be back in the airport. I kept thinking about how I’ll be back there in two short months. 唉唉！But it was also nice because I got to eat New England clam chowder, which was something I’d been craving since I started my “Culture of the US” presentation;) We went out for dinner at a place my host mom said she had to go to the day before to be able to get us a table. The food was very good. Even I got to try a new dish of fried shrimp and pineapple with a light  mayonnaise on top. Their son has better Chinese than me (of course) but he was mostly talking, and translating for, Baba and his dad. I was translating for Mama and the mom. It might sound stressful to be translating but I felt really kick ass! I was the link between these two women and if I was a bit off with the meaning neither of them would know! It felt great! I always think my Chinese isn’t very good but if I can translate I must be doing something right!
Thanks for reading,
Autumn 丁晚秋

Poem: wandered here

For those who’ve wandered here

It seems those who won’t have nothing to fear.

But I remember how I trembled,

Afraid to be free of these strings I’d entangled.

They kept me down well, warm, and safe

But stuck me securely in one place.

Something kept me from being content,

So away with scissors, I quickly went.

Then without them holding me sound

I floated, terrifyingly, off the ground.

Time is quick to take me back

But now I know what we most lack.

I truly hope you will take a turn

For now my strings can never return.

Autumn Crisovan 丁婉秋

4/23/19

Poem: half a year ago

Well over half a year ago I left

A place that was my blood family’s nest.

Now there are people in a far off, foreign land

People, the thought of leaving I can hardly stand.

Completely strangers but over such little time

These people have become dear, new friends of mine.

Four more months and another family before it ends

But how will I ever leave this family who were once barely my friends.

Autumn Crisovan 丁婉秋

3/3/19

Beach Day!!!

When you live grow up really close to the Great Lakes you don’t really need to go to the ocean. There’s beautiful beaches and water as far as the eye can see. Saturday the weather was perfect. When someone suggested going to the beach everyone was on board. It was two hours on th MRT and bus but it was worth it. The water was freezing and few people were swimming but I had to swim. It was my first time in the ocean! It was amazing and I couldn’t believe I had never been there before! I dove into a wave, the heat instantly leaving my body, the salty taste creeping in at the corners of my mouth. I swam out until I had to dive deep to touch the bottom. We played football, chatted, drew in the sand, and when it started to get dark someone made a bonfire. I left with the others from my school around eight so we could make our ten o’clock curfew. It had been an incredible day, I met lots of new people and hung out with some that I have known for what feels like a really long time. But when I got home I was horribly burnt! I NEVER burn in the US, to be honest, I didn’t even think about sunscreen. The burn was bad but I still think it was worth it. That day will be one I remember for a very long time.

Thanks for reading,

Autumn Crisovan 丁晚秋

Hiking with monkeys!

It was still pretty early in the morning when I got off the MRT in Beitou district. Nils, a German, and his host mom were already there but more people were on their way. We ended up with a group of about nine people and I was ready to hike! Unfortunately, the weather did not think so. At first it was a little bit of nasty, drizzly rain but it quickly turned into a windy downpour. As we hiked up the mountain the rain began to come from all sides so that, despite my Nike rain jacket, I was soaked. As I watched the slippery rocks a pungent smell of sulfur followed us. In Taiwan, when it rains the sky becomes one shade of white-gray making the sky lack depth. On this particular day the sky was like that but we were in the clouds so the effect was heightened. A view that was probably quite rewarding at the top of the mountain was reduced to the dull white and wind. With all of this do you think we were having fun? Of course we were! We are exchange students, well most of us, and we were in good company. The conversation was always amusing or interesting, and all of us being soaked and tired only made the lunches we had packed for ourselves more enjoyable. I talked to Nils’s host brother who wants to go to the US for exchange about joining sports and life in America. I was able to answer his questions and ease his concerns. The highlight however, was definitely the monkeys. I have never seen monkeys in the wild before! The biggest ones watched us as the smaller ones moved away. They were tan and fuzzy and because it is spring there were a few baby monkeys with them.

The moral of this story is to make the best of your situation. It’s really easy to look at the things that are going wrong on exchange, but sometimes the view isn’t what we’re looking for:)

Thanks for reading,

Autumn Crisovan 丁晚秋

Xitou park 溪頭國家公園

My first family invited me to spend three days at 溪頭國家公園, a National park in central Taiwan. Of course, I agreed. It was really nice of them to invite me, they have their own exchanger now and they definitely did not have to do that:) My lunch on the way to the park was a squid, pasta dish! It wasn’t the best squid I’ve had but it was still pretty darn tasty! The cabin we were staying at was beautiful and the only thing rustic about it was that hot water shut off at midnight. That would have been nice to know before midnight but it’s all good! Me, Sophia, and David(their current exchanger) slept upstairs in a room that looked like it belonged to the seven dwarves. There were five beds lined up next to each other, the one at the end being a double, the room could have easily fit three more people. Because David is the tallest he got the double but Sophia and I got the extra blankets from the spare beds. This was more than a fair trade because it was FREEZING! We also went to a small market that was called “monster village.” Everything had eyes or was a monster. We went when it was dark so it was a bit more spooky;) I could write another paragraph about the amazing scenery but you know what they say... so here’s the pictures:

Thanks for reading,

Autumn Crisovan, 丁晚秋

Companion

For some reason, a few of the exchangers got residency cards that expired in January. Luckily, I was not one of them. Heloisa and William were however. So when my host mom invited me to go with them to change their cards, we all assumed it was because we would spend the day together. As it turns out my host mom had to work afterwards and we have no idea why they asked me to come. It turned out okay though. Heloisa and I had seen on some of our classmates’ instagram that there was a giant, inflatable art piece (called “Companion”) at the Chiang Kai-Shek. Neither of us had anything better to do so we decided to check it out.  To be honest, I thought the giant was kind of scary and a bit strange. He was dressed like Mikey Mouse but with just shades of gray, but he has a human skull for a head. We took pictures with him anyway. The most interesting part for me was when we went into the memorial hall. Lots of seemingly random videos were. One of those videos was of a post-World War II Nazi rally in the US. It was quite surprising! It was in English, American flags were flying along side swastikas, and a Jewish man was dragged on to stage and beaten. After the video I had two questions. First, why had I never seen this before? Second, why was it playing here? Those questions are yet to have answers but I am glad to have seen that tape and learned a little piece of American history, regardless of the strange setting.

Thanks for reading

Autumn Crisovan, 丁晚秋