Tainan Exchange Programme

Monday, 15/11/2004

I got up very late this morning, around eight thirty in the morning. I did a last minute check of the luggage, trying to think if I had forgotten to bring anything. However, I thought I have over packed. I was driven to the airport and found a couple of my friends were already there, loitering around the airport. Somehow, I felt nervous and excited. I feared the plane would crash (touch wood) and secondly, I feared that I acted awkwardly in front of my Tainan friends. My teachers arrived an hour later and we checked in our bags.
As I remembered from the previous flight to Japan, the ascending of the plane was breath taking and “pressurising”. It really refreshed my memory of flights. I was like pondering how was I going to spend those four hours in flight. My “flight mates”, Chen Yuan and Pauline gave me an answer- play STRESS with the poker cards we were given on the plane. We were played for like around two and a half hours? Then, there was lunch. One plate of chicken noodles, one cup of very, very sour orange juice, one serving of fruits and not forgetting finishing with a heavily creamed cake. I felt like sleeping but I was too jumpy to sleep. You know, mixed feelings just swelled in my stomach. The remaining hours I spent doing all kinds of things I could get hold of. Listening to radio which keep on repeating, changed channel to watch a movie “King Arthur”, exploring the lavatory (lots of jokes about it, very entertaining, man, I am sick) and staring mindlessly staring at the small head size window.
Time really flew before you came to realise it. We reached KaoShiong.
“Hey! Who turned off the lights? Why is it so dark outside?” I thought aloud. When my teacher told me that Tainan experiences shorted day which means they have dawn break earlier than us and have dusk earlier than us. Gee, honestly I felt stupid.
The welcoming ceremony was simply splendid. It was very warming. I was very happy to see my buddy. Everyone took a group photo but with around more than a dozen cameras to be used to take this group photo. Of course I experienced leg cramp. The principal was very active. An informal word to describe her is “ cute”. Everyone was like busy talking while heading towards the bus. The conversation got louder as we boarded the bus. Funny and interesting encounters ever since we met were exchanged. Sandy and her friends were like talking how cool was their female teacher and how funny was their male teacher. The subject soon shifted to my schoolteachers. I realised some of my buddies from Hoshun find some of my teachers very good-looking, like Mr Yeo and Mr Choy. Haha…I think so.
As I look out of the window, I found that the traffic condition was totally different from Singapore’s. In Singapore, the traffic that is moving forward is on the left hand side of the road while in Tainan, the traffic that is moving forward is on the right hand side of the road. Due to the difference of the traffic, the position of the driver is different too. The driver in Tainan is on the left hand side whereas Singapore’s driver is on the right hand side. Thus, the whole journey we were talking non-stop, laughing at lame jokes.
Soon, we reached Hoshun Junior high School. Sandy remarked that it looked like a Chinese temple. I did not think so as I thought that it looked nice. Sandy’s dad was already waiting for us. I unloaded my bag in to his car and sandy suggested that we go for dinner. I really welcomed this idea as my stomach was making quite a din. Chen Yuan and her buddy were there too. Tell you something; the food was really delicious and cheap! One whole plate of beef and two big servings of vegetables cost like eight Singapore dollars! (Hey! Those who did not go for this exchange programme, is time for you to regret now!)
Haha, after gorging ourselves, it was time to go home. I was nervous all of the sudden. Nevertheless, the outcome was still the same. I told myself, “Just act normal.” On the way back home, I hardly talked, as I was too tired. I realised that Sandy lived very far from school. Around the same distance as Kallang to Clementi? When we reached home, I greeted Sandy’s mum and began unpacking. I gave sandy her present from Singapore. Sandy’s mum showed me around the house. The house was four storey’s high. The first floor was the living room and the kitchen. The second floor was the studying room and where the washing machine was. The third storey was where Sandy's and her brother’s room. Lastly, Sandy's parents had their room on the peak of the house.
After I bathed, I was yawning continuously and sandy switched off the lights and we slept beside each other. Nightz! I will continue tomorrow.