finals! spring! a show! singapore! mama! wooooooo!

This week was a big week! On Sunday, March 10, I celebrated my three-months in Taipei mark, as well as my parent’s wedding anniversary + my dog’s birthday! Tuesday I booked an children’s English teaching musical that tours Taiwan! Last but not least, today I gave my final presentation of the semester at school + my mom arrives in Taiwan tonight for a 2-week Asia trip! WOOT!

I can’t wait to show my mom around Taipei. Believe me, you will hear all about it. We will also go to Singapore for four days next week to visit family friends! I have already set up some posts to go up so I can enjoy Singapore + time with my mom without worrying about slacking on the blog job. 😉

In general, since I started at ICLP 2 1/2 months ago, I feel like I have gotten a lot more confident in my Chinese use. A few weeks ago was the first time I could tell my cab driver with words (!!) where my house was + I was almost able to have a conversation with a 6-year-old girl at the Post Office! (It didn’t get much farther than me telling her where I was from when she asked + then politely telling her that I didn’t understand what else she was asking because I only can speak a little Chinese…)

Spring is definitely in the air here. I see butterflies + smell the sweetness of flowering trees + bushes everywhere! I got to wear one of my fave rompers for the first time the other day. So indulge me as I share some of the self-portraits that ensued…

me/the crib, taipei/mar 2013

Anyway, my final presentation was a 5 minute speech I had to give for the students + teachers at my program. I spoke about my family + why I came to Taiwan, since those are pretty much the only things I can speak about for 5 minutes! It was videotaped, so I will upload it here if I can get my hands on a copy. For now, here is the written content for your perusal (sans the BRILLIANT PowerPoint presentation that I made to go with.)

我<3台灣!

大家好. 我叫Lulu Fogarty. 上上個月林老師給了我我的中文名字. 在ICLP我叫方璐璐. 我很喜歡這個名字.

Hello everyone. My name is Lulu Fogarty. Two months ago, Lin Laoshi gave me my Chinese name. At ICLP, my names is Fang LuLu. I like that name very much.

我是紐約人. 在紐約是演員也是寫劇本的.

I am a New Yorker. In New York I am an actress and a playwright.

我家有三個人: 媽媽, 爸爸跟我. 我爸爸, 媽媽也住在紐約,他們都在工作, 可是我還沒學怎麼用中文說他們的工作. 他們都很喜歡看美國電視, 也看很多國家的電影. 我覺得他們最喜歡看英文書. 我爸爸會說一點德文. 我媽媽會說一點法文. 可是我不知道他們說得好不好因為我只會說英文, 一點西班牙文, 還有一點中文!

There are three people in my family: mom, dad and me. My parents also live in New York and both work, but I haven’t yet learned how to use Chinese to say what they do. They both like to watch American TV and movies from many countries. I think they most like to read English books. My dad can speak a little German. My mom can speak a little French. I don’t know if they speak well or not because I can only speak English, a little Spanish and a little Chinese!

我媽媽今天從紐約坐飛機到台灣來呢. (Cue Disha cheers: Wooooooo!!!) 對啊!在台灣, 我們打算去看很多地方. 我們也買了飛機票到新加坡去.我們要在新加坡玩四天.

Today my mom got on a plane from New York to come to Taiwan. (Cue Disha cheers: Wooooo!!!) Riiiight! In Taiwan we have plans to go see many places. We also bought plane tickets to go to Singapore. We will enjoy ourselves in Singapore for four days.

我家也有一隻狗. 他叫 Otto. 他常常做不好的事, 可是我最想他! 在 Skype上我跟我父母一起說話. 我也能看見 Otto, 可是他不懂Skype.

My family also has a dog. His name is Otto. Otto often does bad things, but I miss him most. On Skype I can speak with my parents. I am able to see Otto, but he doesn’t understand Skype.

我第一次來台灣的時候, 是來看我好朋友的. 我只在台灣五天, 可是我真喜歡! 我覺得台灣人太好了, 台灣的風景很好看, 台灣的飯最好吃! 所以那個時候我知道我想再回來.

The first time I came to Taiwan, I came to see my good friend. I was only in Taiwan for five days but I loved it! I think Taiwanese people are extremely good, Taiwan’s scenery great to look at, Taiwan’s food the most delicious! So, at that time I knew I wanted to return again.

我去年十二月從紐約坐飛機回到台灣來了. 在台灣, 我想寫一個劇本. 我想跟台灣人說話, 寫跟他們說的事. 所以我到ICLP來學中文.

Last December I flew to Taiwan from New York. In Taiwan I want to write a play. I want to speak with Taiwanese people and write the things that they say. So I came to ICLP to learn Chinese.

我的老師, 我的新朋友, 我都真喜歡! 在台灣我很快樂. 謝謝你們!

I love my teachers and my new friends! In Taiwan I am very happy. Thank you!