Woohoo! No more language pledge! Finally I can unleash my real personality on you unsuspecting internets. Actually, though, it is very interesting getting to know people while speaking a foreign language. Some people can express themselves and convey their personality pretty well, but other people (like me) come across as dull, watered-down mere echoes of their true form. I think your ability to accurately portray your character in a foreign language depends mainly on two factors: your grasp of the language, and how much your personality depends on the intricacies of your native language. One outstanding aspect of my personality is my quick wit, often manifesting itself as searing quips (did you bring your aloe), and clever word play. In a foreign language, however, one lacks the finesse and mastery of subtlety required to pull this kind of performance off.

Speaking of performance, last weekend our program held a performance/talent show event. Students were encouraged to perform skits, sing, dance, or anything, really, as long as it was in Chinese. I penned a brilliant satire in which I poked fun at our head teacher and pointed out a few funny, oft-repeating situations in class. I of course played the part of Professor Zhou (who is the head of the Chinese department at Princeton). In the skit Professor Zhou is giving the new PiB teachers some instruction on how to deal with tricky situations in class. Most of the bits are inside jokes, so I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say I had to stop a few times to wait for the raucous laughter to die down. I do have a video of it though, so I can put that on Youtube or something.

Yesterday I woke up at 4:15am to start the final leg of my journey. I had a disastrous time trying to check out of the dorm, but finally got that squared away. I caught a PiB arranged shuttle bus to the airport, and in no time made it to Taibei safe and sound. Auntie Jia was at the airport to meet me (holding a sign with my Chinese name written on it). On the way back to her house we stopped to buy a few things, then made it home and got settled in. Her house is pretty sweet, especially compared to the dorms at PiB! Today we met up with a bunch of family for lunch. It was a good time meeting everyone, and I think some of them might be playing tour guide for me later this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday I'm gonna hang out with two classmates from PiB. They are the two mixed sisters I mentioned before (Kim and Sam). They are pretty familiar with Taiwan, so they are gonna drag me around to their favorite places. I think they most of all can attest to my radically different personality when speaking English.