Thursday, February 12, 2009

The National Acrobats of China


Xie xie to my mom, Gwen Cook, for arranging for our GSE team to see the National Acrobats of China performing to a sell-out crowd at the Lied Center. The acrobats were amazing - using their incredible strength in simple but beautiful routines using props like cloth, bikes and spinning plates. Plus, for the team it was fun to hear so much Mandarin being spoken in one place.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Sharing the Excitement


The best thing about Group Study Exchange is the opportunity to visit Taiwan and experience their culture on both a professional and personal level (obviously!)

The second best thing about GSE is the opportunity to share our experiences with Rotarians throughout Rotary International District 5650. Mailani, Chris and I gave our first official GSE presentation about our upcoming trip last Friday, January 30th, with the Lincoln South Rotary club held at The Knolls Country Club.

We each had the opportunity to talk a little bit ourselves and about Taiwan as a whole. It was a wonderfully positive experience as the Lincoln South Rotarians are just as excited as we are for the trip. It was bittersweet for me because Lincoln South Rotary is the club sponsoring my trip to Taiwan. I tried to thank them as much as I could..but I'm not sure I have enough 'thank yous' to express my gratitude.

Friday night also found us celebrating our upcoming trip with the 2008 GSE Australia team. Australia team members Aaron Babcock and Jennifer Jones graciously welcomed us into their home where we were joined by the other team members - Christine Billings, Matt Novak and team leader Judy Peschio - along with District 5650 Governor Sharon Wherry and her husband Dan.

The get-together was a great energizer for the trip. We were able to spend some time getting to know the Australia team. I think they were questioned-out by the end of the night - we had so many questions about their experience and they definitely gave us some wonderful ideas and pointers that we can use on our trip. I think the thing that struck me the most about the Australia team was their camaraderie. They became genuine friends during their time abroad and I'm looking forward to that with our team as well.

Thanks again, 2008 GSE Australia team, for a wonderful and eye-opening time!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Oh, How Time Flies!


It's hard to believe that we're only about two months away from leaving for our GSE trip to Taiwan! Time is going by so fast..but don't think we've been slacking. Quite the opposite, really!

So, what have we been doing? Well, learning Mandarin Chinese, of course! One of the main languages spoken in Taiwan is Mandarin. We want to learn as much of the language as we can before we leave to help bridge the communication gap and show just how excited we are to be immersed in the Taiwanese culture.

We tossed around several ideas on ways to learn Mandarin. We thought about Rosetta Stone software. We also considered using YouTube videos and books for self-study. However, no book or computer software can take the place of using a real, live tutor to help us understand and learn the language!

Our wonderful tutor, Jeremy Jewell, is an expert in all things that have to do with Taiwan and the Chinese language. We've had three lessons with him so far and will continue working with him until we leave for Taiwan. He's been an invaluable resource for us - giving us lessons on not only the language, but culture and ettiquette as well.


Of course, we already have some favorite phrases that we're learning, including:

Nǐ hǎo - Hello

Wǒ tīng bú dǒng 我聽不懂 - I don't understand

Duì bù qǐ kě shì, wǒ bù xí guàn zhè ge cài 對不起 可是 不 习 慣 这 个 菜 - Pardon me, but I am not accustomed to this
**This is our favorite! There's no doubt that we'll encounter some foods in Taiwan that we're not used to eating, so this phrase will come in handy!**


The most important thing is that we're having fun learning Mandarin. Be sure to quiz us on our Mandarin skills the next time you see one of us!