Editor’s note: We published the story about Boyce Gladden’s upcoming trip to Taiwan in the Friday, August 21 issue of The Herald Independent. She sent us this first update from her trip. the post was dated August 22.

Ni hao! (Mandarin Chinese word for hello)

Everything is still absolutely amazing here. Today (Saturday) we went to a Daoist temple. My host mother and grandmother get up every morning at 5 and pray there. Aah ma burps the whole time because she feels the gods and goddesses within her.

Then, we had lunch...It was interesting. I had thousand-year-old eggs and stinky tofu. The eggs were brown, and the middle was black. They are really good!

After that, we went to the airport to meet three other French exchange students. To get there, we road three subways, walked a looong way (in downtown Taipei), taxi, and one bus. After that, we stayed downtown and went into the shops and restaurants. I got many odd stares, I really really looked out of place! haha...

My Chinese vocabulary has already been improving a lot. I can now count to 4! And, I learned something that is similar to the English alphabet. But, unfortunately, my English has already been going downhill. I am beginning to speak in broken English. "Want to go to store now?"

All that I can say is that everything is wonderful! I will email again when I get a chance. (It is after midnight right now.)

I hope everyone is doing well!

-Chiao yi (Boyce Gladden)