Pack it in - six days til departure!!!

So here I am, knowing a week from today I'll be leaving on a jet plane. Pretty awesome stuff. So, as of today I've started handing out the url to this here blog, amassing followers if you will. Because of this and the great deal of questions that inevitably goes with the statement "I'm going to Taiwan for a year" I figured I'd use this entry to outline some questions I've been frequently asked.

Q: What are you doing in Taiwan?

A: Doing a direct exchange studying abroad. I'm taking classes from the university in my majors (international business and political science) as well as basic Chinese classes.

Q: Do you speak Taiwanese? Or Chinese?

A: The officially used language of Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese, although the local dialect of Taiwanese is also apparently used. I've studied Mandarin for two years, which is good to have a basis, but I'm pretty rusty - hence the name of the blog.

Q: Will you be living with a host family?

A: No, a host family wasn't an option for this school. Honestly, I wouldn't have stayed with a host family even if it was an option - I never get over that creepy 'I'm in someone else's house' feeling. I will be living alone in an off-campus suite (bedroom/bathroom combo with a desk). Apartments aren't really an option if I want something within walking distance to campus, and I'm not sure if I could live with two other people in a small space for a year (a.k.a. dorm). Should be ok.

Q: Do you know anybody there?

A: I actually do know a couple of Taiwanese students that go to the same school, which'll be really nice.

Q: What does the name of the blog mean?

A: Chinese is a tonal language, meaning that just a word itself holds little to no meaning. To give a word meaning, one must also use one of a variety of tones - thankfully for Mandarin Chinese there are only five tones (versus as much as eight or ten for other Chinese dialects). This can be difficult for Americans who aren't used to a tonal language. I myself am terrible at both using and remembering tones, causing a great deal of confusion to native Chinese speakers when I converse with them. This will probably cause me the greatest amount of hilarious problems while in Taiwan, thus the blog name "Pardon my Tones".

Q: Is Taiwan part of China?

A: Sorta, but not really. Here comes the history of Taiwan in a nutshell. Around 1600, the Dutch came to Taiwan, didn't really see mainland China paying too much attention to the island, and claimed it for the Netherlands. Lots of fighting happened, and then in 1887 the mainland Chinese government claimed ownership of Taiwan. About ten years later, the Japanese took over Taiwan as part of a settlement package for a war they won against China. America bowled over Japan, and in 1945 China (illegally) claimed Taiwan again. Finally in 1950, the shattered remains of the democratic Chinese government fled to Taiwan, threw a few flags up and reestablished the exiled government on the island. The US didn't know what to do, so we pretty much ignored it for awhile. Then, once we were throughly scared witless by the spread of communism, we officially accepted the exiled government, but we never recognized it (see the clever distinction?). Since then, Taiwan has sorta been hanging out in the Pacific as a sorta kinda not really independent country. Most Taiwanese citizens don't consider themselves a part of China, but most Chinese consider Taiwan a part of them. Let's see how this plays out, shall we?

I think that's about it. I'm sure I'll think of something later. To-do list is shorter!

Pack

Pick up Taiwanese money <---- already ordered!

Console mother

Over and out!