My Trip to Taiwan

During my Christmas break, I was able to visit my friend Davis and his family for 10 days. It was nice to be able to see a different part of Asia and after having been to Taiwan I can tell you that it is a lot different than Japan. It was weird for me to hear a language that was different than Japanese. I can now distinguish when someone is talking in Japanese or Chinese. They are completely different languages. I think learning Chinese is even harder because there are all these different tones that you have to pronounce. The only thing that is similar about the two languages is that they both use kanji and that's only because the Japanese borrowed it from the Chinese. Even though I was in a completely different country with different customs, I still found myself doing some "Japanese" things like bowing or saying sumimasen when I accidentally bumped into someone. One of the nice things about going to Taiwan during X-mas was that it was hot, especially down south. I was also glad that I was able to see different parts of Taiwan from the southern tip to the northern countryside. It was also nice not being stared at. When I'm in Japan I get stared at almost everyday. Sometimes it seems like the Japanese have never seen a white girl before. It kind of gets annoying after awhile. In Taipei, however, I didn't get stared at. I think because it's more of an international city. So thank you Davis for being my tour guide and of course for all of your translations!