An unexpected but pleasant surprise

(apologize in advance...not much of a blog writer!)

When I first found out about this program, I was in the middle of a family roadtrip around the east coast-we got a call one morning from a Chinese school teacher, recommending that I apply to this "extremely prestigious program" that apparently could not be found online. Okay, let's be a little more vague why don't we? Unfortunately, at that point, we were running late, and seeing how we were on a tight schedule, we had to keep moving, which meant that my mom was frantically trying to steal wireless from random people from the car in attempt to find out more information about this program. Unfortunately, this was to no avail, and I ended up just sending in the one page application form, putting my summer plans into another person's hands.

At first I was quite hesitant to accept this program, because I already had my heart set on another OCAC program, the AID Summer program, which involved teaching english to children with disabilities or some other...something more in line with my interests and career. However, after much deliberating and consulting, I decided that this new program seemed pretty legit, especially since the bulk of the participants were college students, unlike the AID program, which consisted mostly of high school students.

Not sure what to expect, even up to moments before registration, I was kind of wary about the program, not sure what kind of new people I would meet, if I would be accustomed to the different parts of Taiwan that I rarely ever experienced, etc.

From the moment I registered, all qualms I had about the trip disappeared, and I quickly adjusted to my new surroundings. As Vanessa Hudgens and Zack Efron say, it was the start of something new (don't judge!). There are so many memories that we have made together-some that may be forgotten entirely, some that may be tucked away into the back of our brains until future stimulation is presented (as a psych major I feel like I should know the more technical terms for this, but memory, as some of you may know, is not my forte), some that we will never forget, and some that we will keep reliving (perhaps through the photos that have documented our trip from the start to the end).

Through this trip, I have encountered so many amazing people, and I have learned so much from each and every one of you-for that, I thank you. I feel as though I have grown not only as a member of the Taiwanese community, but as an individual as well.

I hope we're all able to stay in touch with one another...it would be too much of a loss if our journey just ended here.

Cheers,
Angela