大家好！I have been in Taiwan for around 2 weeks now, and I am here to share what happened this week. My classes are getting a lot better because I am getting used to the heavy workload, and my teacher’s teaching style. Despite this, I still haven’t gotten used to bringing toilet paper into your stall before going to the restroom, and I might’ve forgotten while at school. Even though so much happened at school, the key part of my week was this weekend. Over the weekend, I met my host family for the first time. Normally, we are in a hotel on weekdays because I have to go to classes, but we stay with our host families every other weekend. This weekend was my first time meeting my host family, and I was really nervous, but I ended up having so much fun. My host family consisted of my host mom, dad, and two host siblings ages 9 and 7. My host family took me and Carson all over Hsinchu, but some of the highlights for me were the 擂茶(Pounded Tea) DIY. It was very good, and I wanted to take some home. Another highlight from my weekend was when my host family took me to a petting zoo, and I saw a capybara for the first time! Seeing a capybara was honestly a life-changing moment, and it made me very happy. Besides all of the great excursions my host family took me on, I noticed so many different things during my time with them. Before leaving to live with my host family, I thought that living with my host family was going to let me escape the “American Bubble” and only practice my Mandarin, but I was very wrong. Both of my host siblings were very westernized watching movies like the new Super Mario Movie, and asking me if I listen to Michael Jackson. One of my host family siblings saw a picture of my friend Jacob, and asked me if that was Michael Jackson. I laughed and responded by saying 不是，我的朋友。 No, my friend. She replied saying 迈克尔杰克孙是你的朋友？ Michael Jackson is your friend? Despite noticing some very Westernized traits, I also saw many cultural differences like turning off AC in a room when you aren’t in it (a foreign idea for Floridians who enjoy freezing themselves with AC). Or my host family stuffing me with food nonstop, despite me saying I am full. After we got back to the hotel from our host family, Carson told me “Bro, you were a trooper, I don’t know how you managed to eat all of that food, but I was rooting for you the whole time”. Overall, I had so much fun this week, and I am so excited to go back to my host family soon.