Monday, December 1, 2008

The New Place (now with more interaction!)

I have never been anything but the oldest kid. I have also never had sisters. I have also never been an uncle. Now I am all three.
I have three older sisters, one of which has a daughter of her own.
But let's flashback a little while, to the beginning of this "new chapter", if you will.

It was Saturday, the 30th of November, quite a beautiful day actually. My Swiss friend Sarah was having a birthday party at her house way out in Neihu, which was very much an enjoyable experience. However, I was looking forward to that afternoon. My things were packed and I was ready to trade spaces.
Mom showed up at four o' clock in her big Lexus (maybe it's an SUV, I don't know), my things stashed in the back, and after some goodbyes we began our journey back into the city, my friend Adam running alongside waving. "He's crazy," I explained to the first of my four moms (maybe it would be better to say "one of my many moms").
Close to half an hour later we arrive at my new residence. I've visited before for various reasons, and every time I've thought to myself how nice it would be to spend some real time there.
It's a relatively large apartment, actually two. They own the first (ground) floor and also the fifth. I think they have over nine televisons, if that describes the kind of environment I now find myself inhabiting. But enough about their things.
When I arrived, they took me up to the fifth floor apartment, where I could drop off my things (only half of which I had actually brought with me from America) and be given a brief introduction to my room and the bathroom. I met Yo-yo, who is the second oldest sister,on her way out, and then we travelled back down to the first floor for dinner.
Joy, mom number one, hung around for awhile to chat and make sure I would be alright. After she left, the youngest sister (she's maybe 20 or 21 years old) took me out to the nearest night market, but first we both had foot massages. She thought it hurt a lot, and I did too, but I was better at grinning and bearing it. I found out that the right side of my body is a lot more sensitive and tense than my left side. Weird.
So, we toodled around the night market. She was looking for Japanese DVDs because she likes to practice her listening skills. She lived as a teacher in Japan for a year. Well, we found the DVD place and purchased five DVDs for $500NT (pretty cheap, like $18US), one was the Tenth Kingdom, which I might have to take back to America. Later, we played a game where you try to hook little shrimps to barbecue. They were alive, which made things difficult. In, the end, after breaking about twenty hooks (which is really wht you're paying for), I managed to catch seven of the little guys. My sister caught one. She was really afraid of them though.
I don't have enough time to explain everything that's happaned in the past couple days, but I am sure that I won't be lonely, or alone, very much at all with this family. Where my little brother and my host dad of the last family were short on words, my sisters and niece always have something to say.
Did I mention I am pretty close to the heart of the city? It's great, I have street noise, people yelling, cars, buses, school bells, I really enjoy it, there is so much going on. I've never lived actually in the city before, so I think my exchange is getting a whole new dynamic.
Still having a blast, hope you all are as well.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Tenth Kingdom was a favorite of mine when I was young. You just have to find the time to watch it. It used to be a tv series.
It's really amazing that you've adapted so much. Well, it just seems that way through your posts.
I'm happy for you.
I hope to send you something for Christmas. I don't have much time anymore to get to the post office even though it's so close to my house.