Dear Friend,

	Our group with other Rotary members at the welcome dinner

Taiwan is a stunning country! Beautiful mountains surround the city of Taipei, where I’m staying now. And it’s spring here, so everything is green and flowers are blooming.

My trip is part of the Group Study Exchange sponsored by Rotary International. My biggest fear is that I’ll have a hard time understanding and fitting into the culture, and I know that I shouldn’t be worried. Five of us were chosen to come here to learn about the culture. Even so, I was still a bit nervous as we arrived at the welcome dinner to meet our host families.

Happily, dinner was great! I struggled with my chopsticks when I was eating a Peking Duck roll, but Chen “Alarm” Chou-Ho told me that it’s actually OK to pick up that particular food with my fingers. I think I’m going to like it here. :-)

Tomorrow I’m going to work with David “Willy” Tsai, the father of my first host family. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Your friend,

Carla