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Star Ruiz
 Sharinawa
Star Ruiz
Catalina Rotary
Outbound Youth Exchange Student
Taiwan
Star is living on the island of Kinmen, Taiwan, from
2008-2009.
May 17, 2009
OK maybe I don’t deserve a cake when I get back because this one was
soooo late! Hahaha I’m sorry!!
The biggest events since my last update were the two trips to Taipei.
One for the district conference and one for our last tour.
The first trip to Taipei in April, I was there for two weeks. Even
though the Rotary event was only for two days I went way early because I
had some visitors from the states, Suzanne and Cheryle! We were as busy
as could be in the little time they had to spend here. We went to
beaches, Taipei 101, the zoo, and a few historical sites in Taipei in
addition to our two day trip to Hualian (eastern coast) for white water
rafting! It was great to be able to share my world with someone from
back home. Besides a few glitches, like missing our train, not being
able to find the hotels we were planning to stay at, AWOL ATM machines
and a bit of rain, we had a pretty smooth trip. It was also a big test
of my Chinese skills because I was the one to negotiate, check in,
order, ask directions etc. And I think I passed with flying colors!
The district conference was on the 18th and 19th of April at the Grand
Hotel. It was not what I was expecting but there were a few cool parts
like the Tai Quan Do performance put on by all the exchange students
(besides me).
It was back to Kinmen for a while after that where I took a few more
dance lessons, went surfing for the first time in my life, went
sight-seeing with some classmates, accompanied my host family to a
“family fun day” for my host dad’s company and spent a few days in
school.
Before I knew it two weeks passed and I was back in Taipei on the 3rd of
May. We ventured to a new beach on Saturday the 4th where I took a
painful dive into the sand playing volleyball and hurt my leg, what else
is new? Hahaha but not to worry I’m fine now. Hung out for a few days
waiting for it to be Wednesday so that we could go on our final tour to
south Taiwan (Tiachung, Kaoxiong, Kenting). We took the High Speed Rail
to Taichung and then a bus to the amusement park there!! I had always
wondered what it would be like to have an entire amusement park for just
me and my friends…now I know. There was almost NO ONE ELSE THERE!!! We
went on ride after ride till I thought I was going to puke! After lunch
it was back on the bus for a ride to Kaoxiong. There we went to some
British place (sorry I was too distracted by the sunset to really care
about the building we were there to see hahaha) and then to the Love
River . We had dinner at the night market where we also saw a raccoon in
one of the pet shops! Hahaha it was really funny because it kept trying
to eat my friends clothes when she stood too close to the cage! Hahahah!
The hotel time was fun as always save for the fact that it meant 2 hours
of sleep! Hahaha the next morning we went paintballing after breakfast!
It was great fun! We played two games of boys against girls and the
girls won one! WHOOP WHOOP! Took only a few shots to the hand, one to
the shoulder and one to the leg but not as bad as the last time I went.
It was also cool to play with some of the Rotarians! After lunch we went
on the bus again to Kenting. Our hotel was literally on the beach so we
spent a few hours splashing around before a BBQ dinner and dancing. We
settled down for the night and woke early again the next morning to head
to the aquarium in Kenting. It was pretty sweet! But we had seen all of
it after an hour and spent the next hour and a half sleeping in the sun.
There was more food, a bike ride, food again and then we headed home.
I came back to Kinmen the next day (9th) so that I could be home for
Mother’s Day. They don’t consider Mother’s Day very important here and
besides some flowers my host dad bought it was the same as any other
day. Back to normal school for me. One cool thing did happen though.
Friday night we played team hide and go seek using a section of the town
as our field. IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!! About 10 of my classmates showed
up, some friends from older classes, the college exchange students, the
English teachers, my host sister and my host brother. It was so much fun
even though the humidity was killer despite the night hour.
That’s all so far this month besides me realizing how quickly it is all
going by. I have now been here 9 months and will be going back in just
under 2 (July 13th).
>From Kinmen,
Miss and love you all!!!
Star Ruiz
Photo Notes:
#1: Me, Suzanne and Cheryle at the Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall.
#2: Me and my best exchange friend in the sunset.
#3: Us in our paintballing gear!
March 6th 2009
Hey everyone!
Look look!!! It’s the barely the 6th of March and I’m already getting to
my update! YEAH FOR ME!! Hahaha I knew I could do it. I hope everyone
has been well and is still doing well.
This month (or rather these last few weeks hahaha) mostly consisted of
my trip to Taipei - again. Hahaha I go rather often if you haven’t
picked that up by now. About once a month.
Anyway, before I left the only exciting thing that happened was that I
went hiking up a different mountain with one of my classmates. It wasn’t
a long hike but its still nice to spend any time with my classmates
because they are usually too busy studying.
I left for Taipei on the 24th so that I could be there for a one day
tour on the 25th of Taipei including going up to Taipei 101 which I
hadn’t done before. Yes I have already seen most of Taipei but this was
Rotary sponsored and more organized. All of the exchange students do
these tours every Wednesday but because I don’t live in Taipei I don’t
usually participate. I don’t know why I did this time but it was on my
schedule so I went hahaha. Getting off subject a little sorry. It was
one of my best exchange buddies birthday’s that Friday and to celebrate
we went paintballing! (We actually didn’t go until Saturday but what
does it matter really?) It was so much fun! I love it! There were only
five of us that went but it was still a great time. We also rode these
cool bikes around for an hour or so, on the coast line. I forget the
name of the type of bikes so I’ll just attach a picture of it. I went
bowling on Sunday, another Rotary thing, then went home.
Since I’ve been back it's been all school for me if you can believe
that! Hahaha. The weather has been TERRIBLE!!! Or by my standards anyway
hahaha. I miss the big bright Arizona sun! Its been cloud cover and icy
winds until just yesterday when someone thought it would be funny to add
rain! So now its cold, cloudy, windy AND rainy! But the weather is a
small price to pay for all the cool things I get to do and see so I
guess I’ll just have to deal with it for a few more months until sweet
summer rolls around.
That’s all for this month. Hope everyone is doing great! Until next
time,
LOVE YOU ALL!!
Star
Photo notes:
Picture #1: View from the 90th floor of the Taipei 101 building.
Picture #2: Me and the guys I went paintballing with.
Picture #3: Me and one of my friends on the weird bikes I mentioned.
February 16, 2009
Howdy from Taiwan !
Well this update is late as usual hahaha. I apologize, there was a
holiday in there somewhere for me. Or at least that's the excuse I'm
using this time hahaha. Anyway I hope everyone is doing well. I know I
am.
As I said this month has been very busy. This has almost nothing to do
with school however hahaha. Actually since my last update I think I have
only had 6 days of school! But that is because of Chinese New Year. We
got three weeks break because of it. Kinda like our new year. It also
marks the end of the semester and the beginning of the next.
For the two weeks I was in Kinmen in January I mostly hung out at home
because there was a lot of end of the semester testing and such. On the
20th I went to Taipei to stay with one of my Rotarian's older brother's
family. Haha kinda confusing but that's life. Anywho, I stayed with them
for four days in Taipei, then traveled with them to Tainan because that
is where they are from and it is custom in Taiwan to return home for the
Chinese New Year and eat in the house of your parents. It was really
neat because I saw a lot of things but it was a really long drive!! And
the traffic was crazy!! At one point we were doing 10 km /hr in a 110
zone! Which is just nonsense. Oh by the way Tainan literally means
"South Taiwan" so you can guess what part of the island we were in. In
Tainan we saw a lot of historical buildings, which is what Taiwanese
people always show foreigners because they think it's what we want to
see and that its entertaining! It's not. Or at least not after the first
day. Hahaha. Anyway that's what we did in Tainan but we also traveled to
KaoXiong, another town in southern Taiwan, for a day. On the last day
they took me to Taizhong ("Middle Taiwan" literally translated) where
there was an amusement park! It was hands down the coolest thing I did
but it was also in away very boring because I went with a Rotarian and
his older brother (the dad of the family I was staying with) and neither
of them would ride any rides so I went alone. Not that I am complaining
I mean shoot I got to go to an amusement park! But I've found that
things are much more fun if you have someone to share them with. Also
there was a special showing at the park of two dirt bike tricksters from
the states! IT WAS AWESOME!!! The next day we returned to Taipei and I
stayed with them for another 4 days. In those four days I went to the
beach twice and did a bunch of other pointless stuff with the other
exchange students. Haha.
One thing that happened that I will tell you about is that on the 30th
of January one of my best exchange friends went home. She is Australian
and her school starts when ours gets out kind so she was here at the
opposite time as us and her visa was about to expire so she had to go
home. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do and hands down the
worst part of exchange. 20 of us (exchange students) went to the airport
to see her off and we were all just a big bucket of tears. It is so hard
to think that all the great friends I make here, I may never see again.
The only thing that made it bearable was that after she left we had each
other to lean on, wipe away our tears and remind us that everything was
going to be ok. I know leaving is going to be very hard for me so I try
not to think about it much.
A few days after I returned to Kinmen in Feb a Swiss exchange student
and her family stayed at our house for three days which was a lot of
fun. The day after they left (the 9th) there was a small Lantern
Festival to mark the end of the Chinese New Year holiday. There was a
pretty neat dragon dance, some fireworks and a small parade. OH! Some of
you may be wondering what we actually did to celebrate Chinese New Year
and I must say I was a bit disappointed because of what a big thing we
seem to think it is. Really it is just when all the adults give their
children/grandchildren money and everyone eats together and shoots off
fireworks. I went to a Japanese restaurant with the family I was staying
with and all of their relatives and then to bed. Hahaha it wasn't too
thrilling. I did get 4000 NT though (a little over $100) which was cool
and much needed.
On the 11th I started school again. This Friday I had a friend stay the
night at my house and then Saturday afternoon we went to the English
teacher's house and played ultimate Frisbee with them and some new
college exchange students from the U.S. Sunday we hiked up a mountain
which was amazing because it was an actual hike!!! Today is Monday and I
went over to where the American English teachers live and played
volleyball with them for a few hours. It was a very busy physically
demanding weekend and my body is not very happy with me about it! I am
so out of shape!! But that is soon to change as I have picked up three
PE classes a week.
I told y'all it was a busy month! Hahaha but I think that is all. I
really am going to try and get my next update out in the BEGINNING of
March rather than the middle haha. It has officially been 6 months since
I left the states and let me tell you time has flown! I love it here and
am just so thoroughly happy with my life right now it is pretty much
amazing. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me get here and to all
of you for supporting me in what I am doing. It is so incredible I don't
really know the words to describe it, which is saying something because
I always have someway to explain these things! Hahaha.
I miss you all and think of you often! Again I hope all is well with
you!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Photo notes:
Picture #1: The streets of KaoXiong (in southern Taiwan ).
Picture #2: My Swiss friend (Flo) saying goodbye to my Austrailian
friend (Laura) at the airport.
Picture #3: Me and one of the American English teachers (Micah) on top
of the mountain.
January 5th, 2009
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that all is well. I am sorry
that it has taken soooooo long to send this update, last month was crazy
busy for me as the holidays usually are. Thanks to some help from my
family in the States and a few good friends of mine I had an almost
normal Christmas with my host family. New Years was spent watching the
fireworks explode from the Taipei 101 building. I will start where I
left off in November and bring you up to speed with the life of an
exchange student in Taiwan.
I went to Taipei on November 20th for a Chinese speech competition and a
country fair. Though my Chinese is fairly decent and better than a lot
of the other exchange students I didn't do very well in the competition
because of my stage fright. It may be hard for some of you to imagine me
being shy but I was very nervous and did not place. The country fair was
the day after and loads of fun though very long. The country fair is
where all the inbound exchange students set up a booth representing
their country and the Taiwanese students who will be exchange students
next year can ask questions about the country they will be living in. I
thought it was a rather neat idea and lots of fun for both the Taiwanese
students and the exchange students.
When I returned from my trip to Taipei, one of my American English
teacher friends went to the hospital to get her appendix removed; it
gave us a bit of a scare. I stayed with her in the hospital for the 4
days she was there and visited her every day afterwards because she was
condemned to bed. From this we became good friends. Turns out she's a
lot like me and we spend a lot of time together now, most of it laughing
till our sides are sore. She helped the time past faster until I was to
go to Taipei again on the 20th of December. Somewhere in there was
Thanksgiving, which I spent with the American teachers who prepared a
big meal. It was the best thing I've tasted since being here, hands
down.
Back to the Taipei trip. On my first day there the ROTEX (return
exchange students) put on a Christmas party for us, complete with a gift
exchange. The next day a few friends and I went to the beach for several
hours. The weather was perfect, it was a great way to spend the first
day of winter hahaha. Christmas Eve we went out to an American
restaurant and spent way too much money on dinner hahaha. Christmas Day
I went ice skating with one of the Chinese classes and then to lunch
with them. That weekend we went to RYLA, which is leadership camp put on
by Rotary. There were lots of games, lectures, a dance, performances and
some community service. It was a very long but fun weekend. New Years we
went to karaoke for a friend's birthday, then to a park to watch the
fireworks. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT!! The building itself
looked like it was exploding! It was awesome!! I got back from my trip
just this Friday and have been nonstop busy since then.
I received a few gifts from my family in the States for my family here
and had a few already for them. I snuck down Saturday night and placed
all the gifts under a stuffed animal Christmas tree I got from my
family. Then last night I made them chicken fajitas with beans, (a good
friend of mine sent me them) and we opened gifts. My little brother was
very excited because he has never had a Christmas like that before. It
was a lot of fun and almost like a real Christmas except it was at
night.
Now it's back to school for me for a week until the Chinese New Years
break on the 17th! Hahahaha then I get three weeks off.
>From the island of Kinmen in the country of Taiwan,
Until next month (if I don$B!G(Bt get lazy again),
Star
November 16th, 2008
Hello Everyone!!!
I am very sorry for not sending my update sooner I have been very busy
however I assure you very little time passed when you all were not on my
mind.
Since my last update one of the most noticeable changes has been the
weather. All through October shorts and a T-shirt have been acceptable
wear and even hot at times, but just last week I was layering up the
shirts; summer is over. The cold here is very different from the cold
back home. In Arizona the winters don't get much colder than high
twenties most of the time (except perhaps in the mornings) but it is
such a dry cold that it tears at your face if there is the slightest
breeze and freezes your ears in seconds. Here, however, the water from
the ocean, which is never too far no matter where on my island you go,
moistens the air just enough so that you always feel like you've just
stepped out of the shower and into a freezer. It isn't really that cold,
only about 14 C (about 58 F) but it's the kind of cold that seeps into
your muscles and rattles your bones. Also there is no heating in about
90% of the buildings on the island including the schools and houses so
that the only times you really feel warm are in a steaming shower or
when you are bundled up in bed. I for one am not a big fan of the cold
so this winter will be an interesting one without a heater. Thankfully
some of the exchange students from last year that lived here gave me a
heads up and I have lots of warm clothes to layer on!
Besides the weather only a few things have happened in the last month or
so. I played in my first and possibly only basketball game for my
school. There is some rule here that says exchange students can't play
in regulation games so I am not allowed to compete unless it is friendly
competition. Last Sunday was a friendly competition game against both of
the high schools I attend. It was a lot of fun even though we lost by
too much to even say we put up a good fight. Oh well hahaha. Also I have
finished 10 books since the 1st of October, which really isn't saying
much because most of the English books in the school library are about a
middle school reading level but they are long enough to keep me occupied
for a few days each.
The two biggest things that happened were a tour of a small portion of
Taiwan with the rest of the exchange students the last week of October
and a visit from a Brazilian exchange student (in the same district as
me here) to my island just this weekend. The tour itself only lasted 3
days but I was in Taipei for 10. It started with a Halloween party put
on by the ROTEX (Taiwanese kids that were exchange students in the past
years) for all of the inbounds (students coming from other countries to
Taiwan). It was full of games, costume contests, candy, music and (get
this) PIZZA! hahaha Pizza is a rarity for me for those of you who don't
know, so I was particularly thrilled about that part. I was actually
just really happy to be celebrating Halloween at all, I was afraid I'd
miss it this year. That was on the second day I was in Taipei and the
tour wasn't until the 6th day and I got to fill the free days hanging
out with the other inbounds and seeing how much different living in
Taipei is compared to living on my small island, Kinmen. It was a lot of
fun but a completely different culture. The tour itself was cool but the
people made the trip, as they so often seem to. We went to the
northeastern section of the island called Yilan (pronounced E-lawn).
There we saw a couple of historical museums, a Buddhist school type
thingy (hahah sorry I don't remember exactly what it was, it was on the
last day and I was dog tired), we went on a 3 hr bike ride and stayed
the night on a rural farm in the mountains of Yilan. For a lot of the
students it was the first time since leaving their countries that they
had gone to bed without hearing the honks and the bustle of the city.
All of it was a lot of fun and I can't wait for the next tour! I will be
going to Taipei this week for a Chinese speech competition and a country
fair. The country fair is where the inbounds set up booths with
information about their country and the students from Taiwan that will
be going out next year can visit the booths and learn about the country
they are going to be living in.
The Brazilian student's name is Pedro and he has been in Taiwan since
February and is leaving next week to go back home. He had asked me two
months ago if he could come sometime and see the island and we had been
working at it ever since haha. We went to see all the sites I had seen
and some I had not. I asked some of my friends if they would help show
him around because I didn't know the places and they jumped up to lend a
hand. Friday when he got here I took him to the second largest town on
the island (second to my town) were we mostly just walked around and
visited my school. Then my host mom took us to the beach because the
tide was out and it was the perfect time to rake for clams. We had a
dinner that night with the returned exchange students from last year,
one student who will go to South Africa next year, my host family and a
couple Rotarians in my host club. The next morning we were up before the
sun to join a group of my friends to go to Xiao Kinmen, which is the
little sister island of my island (small enough to bike the perimeter in
about 4 hours). And that is just what we did, stopping to see the sites
on the way and playing at the beach a while. After four hours on the
little island we went back to mine, had lunch with the group then headed
home for a nap! We strolled around town a little bit just to see the
people, then went to dinner with another friend of mine from school.
This morning we climbed the one and only mountain on my island. I was
soooo tired I thought I was gonna fall asleep walking up it!
Pedro left at 1:00 which was kind of sad because I don't think I'll ever
see him again. It's the worst thing in a package of greatness, the fact
that when we leave it is final. I mean a few people may meet up again
later in life but for the most part you will never see any of these
people again. Quite the depressing thought but I don't have to worry
about it for another 7 months so I won't.
Other than all of that I am just going to school and living life just
like the rest of the world. Oh! And I'm learning some dances to perform
at Christmas for RYLA in December. I know all the in and out bound
rotary exchange students will be there and everyone has to perform a
little something, in a group or individually, it doesn't matter. It
sounds like a lot of fun but I am not so sure about the dances we are
doing. They are very Taiwanese hahah meaning lots of little hand
movements and leg movements but not a lot of flow or beat. It is ok
though, its "cultural" so I guess I don't mind making a fool of myself
in front of all my friends hahaha I do it everyday anyway!
That's all from the other side of the world for today. If I don't slack
off again the next update should be in early December. Talk to you all
then!!
Miss yoU!!
Star
October 2nd, 2008
Hey everyone!
I am sorry it has turned into a monthly update rather than the weekly I
was going for but things don't always go as planned. I hope all is well
back home, I'd love to hear about the going's on. I feel a little cut
off from the world, or at least that part of the world hahaha.
Since my last update (when school started and around the time of my
birthday) there have been many changes, as is to be expected. I am now
attending three different schools a week. Two high schools (one is a
vocational school and the other is a regular high school) and the
elementary school my younger brother goes to. It is terrible that even
in a third grade class I feel far behind! That is soon to change though
as I am putting a lot of work into improving my Chinese even though I
have hardly any actual lessons. I've had one since I've been here. In
the vocational school I have all culinary classes which are most
enjoyable because as I'm sure if you've known me for any length of time
you know that I love food. Though I've become weary of a lot of it here
now that I've seen what it actually IS. Mostly in the department of fish
but I still proceed with caution. My regular high school classes are
going well and in English I was given the opportunity to show a little
of my culture by carving a pumpkin for the class. School is a lot more
enjoyable than I thought it would be and the language barrier is growing
thin which makes it easier to have friends.
Outside of school I have been busy mostly with basketball. Turns out
both of the high schools I attend have a team, though I can only play
for one. No volleyball teams. So I am now playing on an actual team
which I am VERY happy about because prior to coming here I was under the
impression there was no organized competition of any sports. Also I went
on a cruise with my host family last weekend which was tons of fun aside
from the weather (there was a typhoon in our area, no worries it happens
a lot).
In summary, things are quite cheery here on my little island. Though I
do miss everyone back home but that's why I thank God we have the
internet or I'd never keep in touch! hahaha Again hope all is well with
everyone.
Love and miss you all!!
Star
September 7th, 2008
I figured it was time for a quick update on life here in Kinmen, Taiwan.
I am doing good ha ha ha ha. I have picked up enough of the language to
be able to hold a conversation well and communicating with my host
family has become fairly easy. I have started school and it was very
challenging at first because my classes are all in Chinese and I don't
understand them. But I have found that if I focus on the classes I can
follow (math, biology, chemistry and of course English) I get less
frustrated with myself when I don't understand the other subjects. I
will be attending a different school next week. It is a culinary school
and should be much less frustrating. I have got to hand it to a few of
my teachers. I mean, if I can understand the material even when it is in
another language they must have taught me well!
Recently I have been busy with mostly school but my birthday was Monday.
And today I went on a hike with my host dad up Mt. Tai-Wu.
Love ya'll!!
Star
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