Visitors from the Outer Space

So, Adam's family from Idaho is in town. I met them last Sunday and I think it's safe to say we hit it off really well. His parents actually moved out to Idaho from Wilkes-Barre, PA and they go back to visit from time to time, so I might be able to see them this July, which would be cool. Adam has an older sister, who went to Italy as a Rotary exchange student, and a little brother, who's a freshman in highschool right now. They both came along, too, I guess it's spring break this week or something.

I think Anneke and I are just as excited as Adam is to see his family while we're over here in Taiwan. We three are really siblings in some sense and I felt like talking to Adam's brother was like talking to Jarik a little bit.

There's an interesting thing about exchange in Taiwan that I used to see as a negative, but now see as a positive. It's the fact that, as I've been here, it's been far easier to make fast and good friends with other "foriegn visitors" than it's been to have that type of friendship with my classmates. Like I just made a friend from Russia last Sunday. I was on the MRT, he walked on and stood across from me. That thing happened where glance at someone in such I way that you feel you should wave, and then he came over and we started talking. It was that easy. Same thing happened two weeks ago with a guy from Seattle in a restaurant. Wha-bam!

I don't think it has to do with cultural difference either, when it comes to my classmates. They goof around with eachother the same way I used to in highschool. I think it's the feeling that there should be a difference or a barrier that keeps them from playing along. Both sides don't want to do anything that wouldn't be right on the other side and thus, nothing occurs. However with the other "aliens", we're united by the commonality of our alien-ness, maybe even just the way we look on the outside. It's a reality of our world though and, although to a far less of a degree, I find myself identifying with the reasons for the Civil Rights Movement.

But the upside is truly having a lot of friends from all over the world. That couldn't be bad in the expanding global community and culture we live in.