In The Shoes of Mila Librodo

Two countries so close, but different in so many ways. From the Spanish-sounding words of Tagalog to the crisp-yet-elegant tones of Mandarin. In the country made up of thousands of islands, the smell of fish sauce wafts through the air. Only a two-hour plane ride flight away, stinky tofu overpowers everything else.  When looking at the neon signs that fill the streets of Taipei, you might notice the spelling… Sometimes Tamsui might be Dansui. In Manila, all you see is the English alphabet, as it is used in Tagalog. Going to Filipino malls, you’ll hear a good amount of English. In The Philippines, malls aren’t places to break the bank but to hang out with friends. In Taipei however, coffee shops are a more popular place to hang out, filled with Chinese chatter with little to no English. English is Taiwan’s Achilles heel, they don’t use it often. People here will try to use English, and we always had Google Translate.  In the city of boba tea, education is as essential as food. ...

 Another 6 weeks of school went by, so last week we went to the Philippines. We flew into Manila from Taipei. the hotel we stayed at was the Sofitel. It was pretty nice. There were a lot of Christmas decorations. When you drive into the hotel there are people who will check under cars for bombs, and dogs who will smell for them. It was pretty crazy, the security. The Sofitel had a pool, so Dai and I went swimming while my parents met up with my Tito Nelson.  The next day we flew to Coron. The airport in Coron is teeny-tiny. After we landed, we drove to a boat that took us to the houseboats that we would be staying in for the next three days. The Paolyn houseboats were amazing. There was a big deck that we could jump off, or flip off. There was a table outside to eat breakfast and dinner. We ended up playing cards on the table. Also,  on the deck, there were chairs for sunbathing, but we used them to look at the many, many stars. At night the sky is beautiful, there are so...

 When we start to miss English we go to Maji Square. Maji Square is right next to YuanShan station. There are a lot of people who speak English, so Dai and I don't have to translate. We go there pretty often when we miss home. Sometimes we just go to Costco instead. Maji Square has this pretty awesome oyster place. The owner is super friendly and speaks English. He knows his oysters. I always see kids riding in little electric cars around the square. I think I want to try it one day. Sometimes I'll just read my book under a big tree. 

 One thing I said to myself when I first got to Taiwan was that I was never going to ride a scooter. Well, I also said that I wasn't going to try stinky tofu, but I did.  My first time going to 小琉球 was also my first time riding a scooter. Our plan was to rent bikes a bike around the island, but there was no place to rent a bike. I mean there's one place where you can rent a bike, but it was closed. Keep that in mind when you go.  The first day we walked around the island. We looked very odd. Nobody in 小琉球 walks around. Everyone has a scooter. That's probably why the sidewalks are so small. Actually, there aren't any sidewalks at all. Our plan was to get one of the two taxis on the island to drive us around when we met someone who convinced us to rent scooters instead.  We ended up renting two scooters. It was a good thing because there are lots of hills in 小琉球， biking would have been really hard. It was my mom's first time driving. Dai and I ended up waiting in a 7-...

 Every 6 weeks our school gives us a week off because it's the end of a Quest. Last week was our week off. We took the HSR then a bus then a ferry to 小琉球（Xiao Liu Qiu). 小琉球 is a little island off the bottom of Taiwan and kinda looks like a footprint.  After dinner the first night we found a little shop called the Iran Bazaar. A really nice guy named Chirs owns the place. We got saffron and rose-flavored ice cream. I really liked it. We also met his friend's daughter Hana. She had just turned 5. Hana was also really sweet. My parents were really excited to meet someone who can speak English. We went back to the Iran Bazaar 3 times the next day. We bought a lot of yummy food each time. While we ate Chris told us how he had met a lot of people from all over the world because of his business. He is from Iran and moved to Taiwan. Ever since he was a little boy Chris had a dream of selling ice cream on the beach. Now, he sells Persian food in 小琉球 and gets up super early and goes to ...

 For school, the guides said because we don't have grades we have to earn badges. You earn badges by meeting a goal. Like, finishing a Khan Academy course or a unit in IXL. So far I've gotten 4 badges.  One badge that took me a long time to get was Badge Book. I had to choose a book and write some stuff about it. The book I read we A Promise Land by Barack Obama. I don't know why I chose that book, I think it's because it has a lot of pages and you can earn stuff by reading books with a lot of pages. It took me 2 and a half weeks to read the book. It was ok. Not my favorite because it was about US politics. I definitely learned a lot of things from it. Like, how they pass a bill. I also learned what it's like to be President. I don't think I'll ever want to be a president. Too hard. The president would literally go to the other side of the world for a meeting then the next day goes to a whole different place. You see when I go across the world I at least st...