This week, all of the Californians have gone out traveling Asia, especially since they get a week off of classes to properly celebrate Thanksgiving. To say the least, I've been working hard, excluded from temptations and distractions, rationing off bits and pieces of my homework assignments, one at a time. A seven-page paper, the design of my robot fish project, and several cups of 7-11 coffee--I've dedicated the past few days to (really) get ahead and fixate the rest of my December on enjoying Taiwan.

Spending the last 32 days of Taiwan will hopefully be memorable. I've spent time with family, exercised a good deal, met plenty of new friends, studied areas in engineering I thought I would never get to specialize in, learned more day-to-day Chinese, and really made some inspiring friends. Not only have they showed me how to get my party on, I've gained a little more inside of me than I thought.

I've really matured, especially in a place where my understanding of linguistics and how people speak is not fully under my grasp. It's difficult to understand how people think or feel when they speak in Chinese to me. I imagine reading a long news article about tragedy only to finish, realizing I had only captured the physical event and none of its inner feeling. Nonetheless, exposure to this linguistic nightmare has not only helped me learn more about Chinese words and phrases but also taught me a sense of patience, humility, and care in realizing others' emotions. There's really no other words to describe it.

Plans for the rest of my trip? Finish up all of my work--I have tons of assignments and tests to think about before I leave. I'll definitely have many more visits to this island. I do, however, need to go back to my grandmother's grave for the sake of my father's and my own. Coming here was a responsibility not only of my own to study a language and engineering skill but also of my dad's to renew spiritual grounds with my grandparents, relatives.

Expect to see pictures from a big, going-away party!