Umbrellas, Squat Toilets, and Other fun things

Need Me!!!

2009-03-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

All my fellow Statesians (however that ought to be said) could you promise me that when I get back, you'll need me? Call me incessantly and give me all your problems so I'll feel useful again. I'm so tired of making so much effort to hang out with Taiwanese people. And no one tells me their worries anymore.

The only people that need me are a handful of Americans I know here.

I need to be needed again.

Need me I tell you. Need me.

Pretty please? With a cherry on top?

*Blinks prettily*

The Beatles=Happiness!

2009-03-29T00:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've been feeling a bit blue lately. Though I wouldn't say it's homesickness. I just don't know how to handle a good friend I fear I'm losing. She's fighting with me, and I am a failure fighter. I don't actually know how to quarrel with people and I'm not used to people giving me the silent treatment. If they're angry with me, they have but to see my goofy face or read my silly letters and they're okay again. Gah! All I want is for her to no longer be angry with me over whatever it is.

But to cure my problem: The Beatles!

And I remind myself that I'm a good and devoted friend. Devoted probably to the point it's a serious fault.

Besides, lately, I've had crazy food nostalgia. With a couple of Americans, I've made ridiculous food trips to imported American chain restaurants that are as about American as you'll ever get in Taiwan. I mean, could you imagine a Taiwanese person thinking fried macaroni and cheese is a good idea? Then there were the real cheese sticks, made with real mozzarella cheese. And the brownies. And the chocolate cake. And all the whipped cream. And the fettuccine alfredo. Good heavens, how I haven't died of cardiac failure yet is beyond me.

My favorite was the fact that our waiter called olive oil Italian butter. He didn't know the word and so he used the word Italian butter. He even tried to explain how to eat it for us. Lol. As if we didn't know.

Yeah, I've come to find that it's impossible as a white person to get by just speaking Chinese. I'd have to go back to Middlebury or move to the boonies somewhere to get all Chinese. And I'm gradually accepting and always shocking. Hehe! Though I still disagree with most people's view on internationalism. Damn being a weird person that thinks too much.

But... I've got my own country now! Freakin' 莎拉國!!!

I give you all hugs! Hugs! Hugs and more hugs!

I hope that you'll always remember that no matter what, I am always here for you and love you. If you've got me in your life, I'm pretty much there to stay. Good luck getting rid of me or making me not love you. Uber duper super special platonic love. I'm telling you, I beat a romantic interest. Lol.

Wow have I placed myself on a pedestal.

But some pictures to share:

My first Chinese massage. And check out those sexy pants. They were literally falling off of me, they were so big.

Don't laugh at me. Yes, it's another picture of 101. But it's at night. And still pretty. I left it this way because I thought it looked kind of cool and artistic like this. (Yes, now you're going to laugh, and I'm going to hide.)

The cute pandas. Though I still don't understand the Taiwanese on this. I've officially seen them three different times.

I'm pretty sure these are the best photo-stickers ever. I was in Danshui and took some sticky pics with some friends. Then, we noticed that the owner had done it too. Seriously can't help but love these pictures. I wish I had some. You see, usually they're cute Japanese girls, looking all big eyes and impossibly pretty. So this was a first. And the man was so sweet to us.

When I went to Ximending with a friend for the brownies and fried cheese food, we ran across a group of high school students advertising their school's haunted house. Talk about incredible make-up skills. It was rather creepy. And I didn't capture the best of it on camera.

And I must return to work. Gah, I'm so busy I might... Not sure yet. Explode? -Not serious enough. Turn into goo? -Not quite right either. Er, brain failure? -That's pretty serious. I guess I could have a brain overload.

Back to work!

The New Me!

2009-03-15T02:29:00.001-07:00

Before

After

(Of course I had to do the angles.)

Aaaaah! No, she did it! She straightened her hair. And it will be hanging around for quite some time. It's so super awesome. Now I know what you straight haired people feel. I can run my fingers through my hair and feel the wind comb it as I race around.

I think living in a foreign place makes me even more conducive to spontaneous haircutting. The moment the urge hits, I must change my hair. But you would have to admit that my natural curls don't really suit short hair. It doesn't work.

Anyways, nothing particular new. School is good. I'm in the process of finding students. I can't wait until the day that I can earn enough money from my writings alone that I don't have to do things with which I completely disagree.

I've had strange cravings for certain Western food. Butter, cheesecake, pancakes, homemade cookies, pasta, proper salad, cake, pie, cereal, cheese, pizza (the vegetarian version which practically doesn't exist in Taiwan), etc. That's not to say that food isn't good here, but some days I miss those certain luxuries. And most Taiwanese western food is a rather cold consolation when the cravings hit. I'm already making a list in my head of things to eat when I get back. Though I'm nervous about returning and not getting to speak so much Chinese again. And I'm nervous about seeing lots of non-Asian people again.

噴射彩帶

2009-03-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

So, I learned the word for silly string in Chinese. That is one among many new words that I've learned in Chinese class. The title would be it, 噴射彩帶. Pretty awesome huh? When I first looked it up, it translated as shoot ticker tape. But I couldn't for the life of me figure out what that meant. So then I asked my friend from Singapore.

Anyways, my class focuses on reading newspapers, and we've read some interesting stories so far. In Iran, a woman lost her eyesight because her jealous ex couldn't take no for an answer and splashed her face with bleach. Then, there was Singapore where an American minor committed a crime and was punished with a beating. Then came something about how flammable silly string is--proven at a Chinese wedding banquet in which party poppers and silly string caused the bride and groom to catch on fire. Today's lesson talks about an embarrassed little Taiwanese teen that stole condoms and got caught for it.

See what kind of crazy level I've progressed to in Chinese? But so many people won't believe that I can read and understand so well. I suppose it's mostly because many foreigners have a hard time learning the written part. Actually, one of my language exchange partners is kind of condescending about my Chinese and really won't believe it. The thing is, he never really talks to me in Chinese. I'm thinking of cutting off the exchange because I feel like I only have 'English value' to him. I don't want to be that though; I want people to care about me for who I am. I'll share culture and language with you so long as you show genuine interest.

Now, by no means is my Chinese perfect. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

Actually, I've gotten rather naughty and tell people all sorts of stories. Most strangers never find out I'm from the US. I'll insist my English sucks, or stare at them in confusion until they use Chinese with me. Except some people don't care about you the moment you say you aren't from an English speaking country and that your English sucks. Or they simply won't believe you.

I think it must be difficult being a white foreigner that can't speak a lot of English in Taiwan.

Actually, I want to know the reaction I'd get if I said I were from 莎拉國 (Sarah-terre), which is a country I've recently founded. Essentially, it's a nomadic country with a population of one. It's population is also it's president. Yep, in other words, I have my own country. Except, I am all that is Sarah-terre. It's kind of a cool idea since I don't feel like I can completely identify with any culture. I know that sounds weird, but then you think about how much I don't really represent the typical American or do things like the typical American would. Don't take this as rejection of anyone or anything. I've just been so many places and spent time with so many different types of people that I don't always feel comfortable in large groups of Americans, and I don't always agree with American attitudes and mentality. (And don't harp me on how there's not such thing as "typical". This comes from a more statistical meaning of the word. Overall, my habits won't match those of others in a group of Americans, either when interacting amongst ourselves or with people of another country. That isn't to say I don't have influence and such. But I don't feel like I can truly identify as completely American. I feel like each place I've been has left a part of itself inside my heart.) I insist on thinking about uncomfortable things. Making other people thinking about these things. Complaceny doesn't seem like the right solution.

Okay, now I'm going off on weird tagents. I ought to add, since you won't necessarily know, that I'm very happy write now. I'm smiling like a psycho as I write this. I'm honestly glad to have school now because I feel like I have a goal and meaning again. It's strange how that works. If I don't have a lot to do, I begin to get bored and too much. I need goals and occupations. I already said that though.

It's been raining a lot here lately. Hasn't really been helpful for my cough. (Yeah, I'm getting over a cold.)

And I wanted to add that my relationship with my Malaysian roommate has been getting better and better. She's so much more comfortable with me, and we'll occasionally go out and eat or something.

Love you guys. Even if you think I don't. I do.

I know, I know... It's been forever.

2009-03-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

It may have been forever, but please don't kill me. I enjoyed my three months of vacation, yet I'm glad to have restarted classes. Now, I feel more like I have purpose. Being a tourist and a bum does get a little exhausting after a while. Maybe it's because I have a very active mind, and as much as I might grumble, I like activity.

I've decided that instead of really worrying about recounting things chronologically, I'll just start doing little updates of random thoughts or events as I feel. Maybe it'll make me more motivated to keep up with all of this. You see, I hate routine and obligation. It also makes me a failure when it comes to diaries and the like.

I'll give you a brief summary of crazy things I've had happen. If there's something you want to here a further elaboration of, just let me know and I'll write an entry about it. So, it goes like this: I accompanied some friends from Southeastern Asia around Taiwan, saw some celebrities, went to the big New Year's concert and Taipei 101 Fireworks presentation, went to Singapore, went to southern Taiwan and celebrated the Chinese New Year, pondered big topics that have no answers, hung out with friends, went to 九份, saw some movies, got a new haircut that slightly resembles a manga character's hairstyle, had an unfortunate encounter with a health company that freakishly resembles a cult, had a couple of guys randomly harass me and tell me I was pretty, saw Taiwan's new pandas, and met the new CIEE folk. Wow! So much happened.

Anyways, I'm glad to have started class. I'm reading the newspaper now. It is the same class I was originally placed in, but this time around, I understand what's going on. Until the teacher open's her mouth and speaks newspeak. I swear Chinese news is a totally different language. But I love class this time. I'm not terrified witless. Gee whiz! I'm a big girl now!

Okay, I'll leave you with a rather unappetizing sight of my new hair-do to contemplate. Although, I realized there are none with my hair down, so you'll have to wait for the whole effect on another entry. I guess that shows how ashamed I am. Lol. You want to see other pictures, just let me know. There's a nice little Cbox for you to talk to me on.

Just A Quick Hello from Your One and Only Sarah

2008-12-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

I hope I'm your one and only Sarah, anyways. Not that you might not know other Sarahs. I'm just hoping that in your mind I'm unique. In that way, your one and only Sarah. I don't know if that really makes sense to anyone but me.

Anyways, I figured I'd drop by and give you a little update. Although, technically, I'm supposed to be working on my paper. However, I feel guilty for being so out of touch with everyone. And guilty for being too lazy to both giving you a quick note here or there.

Next week, once my papers are all in, I will officially be on break. If I would have motivated myself better earlier, I already could be on break. However, I've also been busy, spending time with people of every sort. I've also gone traveling. If you're curious, go check out my newly uploaded photos on Facebook, or ask me to send you the link.

Anyways, I have some news of sorts for you. Not really good news. Definitely not for my family anyways. Apparently, CIEE accepted seventeen new incoming students to study at NCCU. Of course, that's wonderful. Taiwan is a great place and I've been happy here. However, because of the campus situation, dorm spaces for us are limited (a small detail CIEE never mentioned to us) and we only have ten rooms in the females' dorm and ten in the males' door. Since twelve of these newcomers are female, the girls staying the year will be forced out of the dorms and required to pay rent in apartment. CIEE, of course, will help us find apartments; however, I must admit the way the program handled it is rather, for lack of a better word, crappy. As long as I'm guaranteed an immersion setting, I suppose it will be okay, but apartments are expensive and I will have a lot of extra expenses and fees. There wasn't even mention that I might have to leave the dorm under any condition. Hmm... I am not surprised. Had I had other options, I wouldn't have used CIEE to study abroad. The people that take care of us here are nice. However, much like my last study abroad program, the organization is poorly organized.

Well, enough complaining. I don't want to move out, but I can't figure out any further details until I go meet with my CIEE representatives this coming Tuesday.

Otherwise, I did accomplish the ultimate at the beginning of the week by going to Chiayi, Ali Shan, Yu Shan, and Taizhong all within 48 hours' time. Pretty incredible, huh? The mountains were gorgeous--although a wee bit too cold for my liking. I really ought to buy more winter clothing.

I had also looked forward to seeing a Singaporean friend who was coming to Taiwan this week; however, due to unfortunate circumstances, it was impossible. I hope one day to see her and hear her tinkling little voice. But trips to Singapore won't be very easy once I go back to the States. Curse plane ticket prices. Otherwise, think of all the limitless possiblities...

Anyways, I don't have much exciting to say. Just figured maybe my rambling would reassure you that I do love you. I have been busy with language exchanges and meeting all sorts of new and interesting people.

Taiwan also makes me feel young and old at the same time. Most of my peers tend to think I'm older, but I tend to be younger than most of my peers. Fascinating feeling.

Also, I do miss something about home. Being able to walk out of doors without people staring at me. Sometimes, especially when I'm already tired, I find it ridiculously exhausting. Plus you never know if they're talking to you or not. I can never understand the people who attempt to speak to me in English, and I tend to ignore people when I'm alone.

Anyways, over and out!

Love to all of you! And I will sincerely try to update more often. I don't want you thinking I've fallen off the face of the Earth or forgotten about you.

Flamingos in Taipei?!

2008-12-06T01:13:00.000-08:00

Yes. My beloved flamingos are indeed here in Taipei. You could even consider them my neighbors. Except one small detail. You shouldn't haven't to pay two dollars to see your neighbor. Well, we'll overlook that detail since they're flamingos and should I feel energetic, I could simply walk a few kilometers and find myself at the zoo entrance.

Yes, you must think I'm odd to blabber on about flamingos, but that would probably be because you don't well me know enough. I pretty much worship flamingos. And I have some crazy flamingo things because my family knows.

There is actually a point to what I'm saying. Though I must sidetrack for a moment.

I think flamingos and I are two peas in a pod. Really. Think about it. They're colorful and funny-looking. The adjective I'd put with them would be marrant. Although my non-French-speaking friends haven't a clue what that means. However, much like a flamingo, I'm colorful and funny-looking. It's a perfect match. (That sentence sounds like words from a love story of the 18th or 19th century.)

Anyways, I just want to take a moment to let you know that I'm alive and give you some of my thoughts. Yeah, I'm a lousy blogger. I find it so boring to recount the things I've done. That's not to say I've done nothing. My Facebook albums are semi-representative of that. However, I find little interest in it. I've just been thinking a lot these past couple of days (and don't take this the wrong way or assume I'm wildly depressed).

What I really want you to know is that despite the fact I'm lousy at keeping in touch with anyone anymore, I really love you. I value and cherish every person with whom I've come into contact. No, I don't express this often. I suppose I fear being vulnerable and I fear that you won't return the feelings. Your friendship or bloodties (whichever you be) mean a lot to me. I don't want you to forget that.

I suppose at this point you're thinking I'm irreparably homesick. On the contrary, I usually have so much to keep me busy, sometimes I barely sit down for a moment of silent reflection. I love Taiwan, and quite honestly, I would be incapable of leaving Taiwan if you told me I needed to go home tomorrow. The people here are fascinating and beautiful. Their culture is so rich, and I feel grateful and humbled that they are willing to share any of it with me. However, when the time comes, I'll be glad to return to Grinnell. Of course, not without a certain amount of nostalgia for Taiwan because I always grow very attached to places where I make a life for myself.

I just feel that I don't say this enough.

I'm especially grateful to my sister, who I can always count on--no matter what.

Anyways, good luck on finals or happy return trip. What else are you up to? Work... Whatever it be, I wish you the best.

Sharah, World Famous American Chef

2008-10-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

Well, overall nothing too worthy of writing home about has happened. But that was before I got an invitation to go to Gaoxiong and Tainan. My only words of advice are these: careful about accepting any invitations for a trip where you have little details.

Last week I got an invitation from someone I know to a degree to go with her to Gaoxiong and learn how to cook vegetarian food. I figured maybe I was invited because she knows I'm a vegetarian, and of course I figured getting out of the Taipei area would be good fun. Now I'm not saying it wasn't fun, but goodness I should've gotten a little more details at the very least. Well, I blindly accept the invitation and keep it on the downlow since I figured it wasn't for everyone in the CIEE group to know about. There were only so many spots available, and so only a few other people were invited.

Well, I get the itinerary Thursday, but if you know me well, I'm rather careless and figure I'll blindly trust whatever plans are ahead. (I've also noticed Taiwanese people fairly frequently like to work out very detailed itineraries. To the point it lays out every ten minutes' activity.)

Anyways, I get all my stuff ready to go for Friday and go with some of the other Americans from CIEE to meet up with the person who'd invited us. She takes us to a huge travel bus filled with other people--none of whom we know of course. They were all rather nervous because we were all very foreign looking and I kept hearing people whisper their English sucked and they were too shy to talk to us. However, there were a few brave souls that attempted and were thrilled when they found out we could communicate in Chinese. We later found out they were all mostly university students in the area that wanted to get out and have some fun. They also all practiced vegetarianism. (I was of course in heaven.) The bus was also equipped with a karaoke system and so for a good deal of it, students sung in Taiwanese and Mandarin. Then we made a stop to meet up with another bus and take a break. During that stop we all got onto the other bus and sang happy birthday to someone that we Americans didn't know. Eventually I fell asleep; however, it was rather uncomfortable since there was too big a gap between me and the window so I had nothing to lean against. I drifted in and out of sleep, to find that the bus was watching 海角七號, a movie currently very popular here in Taiwan.

When we finally arrived in Tainan at about two o'clock in the morning, we got out to find ourselves staring at a Buddhist temple. Everyone had to line up and pay their respects before tottering off to bed. Our host allowed us to sleep until nine o'clock, although everyone else had gotten up to eat a seven o'clock breakfast. We slept well, and found getting out of bed rather difficult. Our host then brought us to eat a traditional style Taiwanese breakfast. Of course, since it was a Buddhist temple, it was vegetarian. Then we had about thirty minutes to stroll around the area and take pictures. A few people were entertained and tried talking to us about this and that.

Then some people came and our host introduced us to them. However, only then did I realize our host was not accompanying us to Gaoxiong. Instead she had a performance there at the Tainan temple and she'd come get us the following day. So we get in a van and a woman drove us all the way to another temple. A temple that was also in the middle of nowhere. My guess is I was at Foguangshan temple since it was really large and Buddhist. Here's a picture anyways:

When we show up, they set us down at a table and an old man comes up to entertain us. He chats with us for a while and takes a liking to the American that had the best Chinese. We then are showed to our rooms and after putting our stuff down immediately taken down to eat. Of course, I got confused when we were led into a rather formal room with several old men and a few women all sitting around a giant table. The table setting included the intimidating multi-array of knives and forks, since we were to enjoy a fancy Western-style vegetarian dinner. They brought out all sorts of yummy things. However, I was the only American to enjoy it. It was also not that Western, since I have a hard time imagining Westerners enjoying some of the ingredients and the vinegar beverage given to wet our palate. The plates just kept coming and coming until we'd downed ten different courses, and I had never felt more full in my life. Of course, I should've known something was wrong when I was given a free fancy dinner with ten courses, but I didn't. However, there were plenty of moments I should've realized but didn't.

After lunch was over, a man came into the room and we were asked about the competition for tomorrow. We were all rather puzzled, especially when they were sizing us up for cooking outfits and saying we would win the competition the next day. A man gave us his card, introducing himself as the chef who'd teach us how to cook.

Then we get led out and taken all over the temple grounds. Since the next day we'd be busy with the competition, we wouldn't have a chance to see it all, as they said. We were also treated to some fancy mountain tea, supposedly from Ali Mountain. I was so exhausted though that I ended up falling asleep on the shoulder of the girl setting next to me. Then next thing I knew, they were handing out cups of tea.

After they'd finished showing us around the grounds, they took us back to the place in the temple we were staying and explained to us we needed our passports so we would get reimboursed by the government for coming to the competition. No one had their passport. Although I had my ARC card, which was still not perfectly appropriate since they wanted it to look like we'd come especially to Taiwan for the competition and had just gotten there. Of course, I was a little confused since I had proof of identity, but I didn't fully understand what was going on at that time. The adults leading us around were mostly speaking Taiwanese to keep us from understanding much. And understanding older Taiwanese people is hard for me.

Then they take us for dinner. I ask if it'd be really large that time too. However, to my dismay they led us back to the same dining hall and fed eight of the ten same courses we'd had at lunch and added a few other pieces. I never imagined I could feel fuller, but I didn't want to be impolite. Then they take us downstairs where we are to wait in order to learn how to cook. Except the chef decided it was too late, and we just needed to come back at ten so he could explain our dishes to us. It was only at this time did I understand I was to pretend to be a chef and compete in the following day's competition. Not only that, but we just might be on television, especially since we were foreign.

We went back to our room after this discovery and realized we were all of CIEE's white kids. Not only that, we didn't realize that the person who'd invited us had no idea of the situation either. We had no cell phone service. We began to freak out, which is normal when you're in a temple in the middle of nowhere and have no idea what is going on, but you do know that you're being used because they wanted to make their festival look more internation, but didn't have the money to bring in real famous Western chefs.

We then go back to learn about our dishes. I had a menu as follows:

We also met another American who had been living in Taiwan for twenty years and a Turkish man. They too had been roped into doing this. In order to make it look like we'd made the food, we'd have to carry it all in to the competition place the next morning along with register at six thirty in the morning.

Well, the one American guy with us ended up staying in our room with us because he was freaked out by the situation and didn't know if he could trust one of our hosts from the day. We didn't get into bed until well after two and had to be up by five thirty the next morning.

The next morning, we eat breakfast and don our chef attire, making the transformation. We created a story and carried through with all the plans before sitting around and waiting in the competition area. Reporters came and interviewed one of the people, who came up with a bunch of BS about animals crying more than vegetables so vegetarianism was good. However, he was totally for killing cows because of the methane problem. Then we took some pictures and pretended we didn't understand any Chinese since we were supposedly famous American chefs fresh off the plane. Despite the fact that five of us looked like college students and definitely couldn't pull off a very convincing chef look.

Sharah!

Italian-style Vegetable Cold Platter

King Oyster Stuffed Tofu

Italian Panna Cotta

Then when we brought our plates in for judging, we discovered the chef was actually a judge and so the whole thing had been set up. It wasn't just about looking good for a chef; it was about looking good for a festival. I'd never been part of such a dirty competition. Plus I was forced to lie to Taiwanese people and unbalance what ought to be a fair competition.

When our host showed up, she became very apologetic, but she eventually helped us out of the situation since a couple of the Americans were super uncomfortable with the situation. I, however, being too carefree for my own good, just found the whole situation rather amusing.

We managed to get out of the situation by about ten thirty or so. We went off to take a nap and enjoy some of the little fair's free food. We also supposedly won something, but none of us were too interested in collecting on an unfair competition. We were happy enough with the free things we did get.

Overall, I saved lots of money that weekend, and got a free ticket back on the HSR. Although nothing in the trip happened as I'd imagined it, it was a good time, and I figured you'd like to know that I'm now apparently a world-famous chef. I also figured you'd like to know I'm still alive and kicking. However, this will definitely be on the top of my study abroad experiences. Going off on a random trip Taiwanese-style and becoming a chef.

Just A Little Entry to Brag

2008-09-28T04:14:00.000-07:00

I have no class tomorrow! The typhoon that's headed towards us is definitely worse than the last one that I'd mentioned to you. There've actually been three typhoons here. However, one of them didn't really affect Taipei--other than a little rain. The eye hits tomorrow and no one is to go to work or school tomorrow. So while some of you are busy slaving away, I'll be having another lazy day. I love lazy days a little too much when I think of it, but whatever.

Queer Horse Guard Parade

2008-09-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

The title is in reference to a shirt I saw. However, I suppose it fits somewhat with yesterday's events. Taiwanese English t-shirts... I can't figure out what to think of them. They use such strange grammar sometimes and mean absolutely nothing. Sometimes, they also don't understand the connotations of the phrases they use. My theory is, some t-shirts can really only be worn in Taiwan. I shudder to think of what would become of a poor innocent girl wearing a t-shirt that says, "Credit Cards Accepted Here" were she in the US.

Well, it's been a while. I know. I've been busy lately; however, there was nothing of note to tell you about. My days mostly consist of homework, class, homework, sleep, and repeat. I try to save money by not going out too frequently. Although a girl can only sit around so much, and so this weekend I went out quite a bit.

Before I get you too excited over the past couple days' events, I figure I'd give you the lowdown on new developments in my everyday life. It always seems like something new is changing. Anyways, it looks like I'm going to be in French club, some service clubs, and yoga! Along with that, I teach English as a volunteer for poor kids in the area. It looks like we'll be breaking up the class of kids, and so I'm hoping to have the older kids. Older kids tend to like me better than younger ones, so I'm hoping that'll work out. I've also been studying some Taiwanese, and I'm currently thinking about what to do my big paper next year on. I might continue with Taiwanese for my research project, but I feel that Hakka is very seldom explored. We'll see.

I think my roommate situation for the semester is finally settled. It's been ridiculously confusing, since when I arrived, I was living with three different teachers. At that time I thought they were permanent, but of course they weren't. The only one that has left no confusion from the start is the Malaysian one. Then a graduate student got confused and began to move into my room. She was really nice to me, so I was sad when I found out she was in the wrong room. However, she told me to come find her so we could hang out some. In her place came an adorable little girl that chatters incessantly. I'm a fan, so it worked out. Then there's the one I referred to as "Mysterious Roommate #3" since I hadn't seen her, but she'd always managed to place things in here and never show her face. When I finally met her, she seemed less than thrilled and a little prickly. However, once we finally got to talking, she seemed pretty chill. I talked to her about my hometown's 'beloved' mayor cum McCain's right hand woman, and now she might think I'm a bit on the insane side. I also didn't know Mysterious Roommate #3's name for several days. All the same, I'm also a fan of Mysterious Roommate #3.

Actually lately, I feel there are too many weird coincidences in my life. I credit the atmosphere.

I know...

Maybe Taiwan's magical! I mean, the big typhoon that hit here when there was a big one back in Houston at the same time and Sarah Palin. Meeting a friend's boyfriend last night who happened to be at the same bar I was the night before.

Now, come on. I'm just playing around here. And we all know that my mind is awfully random. (Well, if you didn't, then I suppose you do now. Cat's out of the bag!) I believe it's my dad's biggest frustration when trying to get a story from me. Okay, now then, enough rambling.

About the weekend now. Yes.

Well, I went out Friday by myself to the 师大 area to explore. I wanted to leave campus and Shida was small enough I wouldn't get lost. It was nice. It started to rain. Luckily I had my handy-dandy umbrella in my purse. When I got bored, I took the bus home only to get off in front of a group of friends going to October Fest. By the time we met up with some other pals, October Fest was over, so we decided to go back to Shida and hang out at the bar.

Yes, my luck in meeting creepy guys still reigns. A very young-looking thirty-one year old man decided he had to play cards with me and my friend. Sadly, I've been out of practice for at least six years and don't remember anything more than war. So I taught him war. Now, I don't say he's creepy for being thirty-one or for playing cards. Yet you can't help but question a person who asks you how old you think he is and then announces he's thirty-one. Not only that, but when he persists in flirting with me even though he knows I'm twenty, I'd say that's sign of him seeing me as potential flesh. Unfortunately, I don't think I gave him the right number, and even if he did, I don't think he has any hopes of talking to Sarah.

I find lots of weird men here like to bother me because I'm foreign-looking. It's really quite creepy to have someone on the street come up to you and begin to greet you in English. I had that happen when I went to Ximending the other weekend. I felt like a patrol of weird, middle-aged men had been stalking the area that day.

Anyways, we had a good time at the bar until about three. Then we felt the need to leave, and thus did so.

I'd barely stumbled into bed Saturday morning before I had to get up again and get ready to go to the gay pride parade. A group of four foreign girls (including myself) went off to Taipei's City Hall and began to wander around the boothes of gathering people. My friends and I bought shirts, and drumroll please... I bought a watch! However, it was so cute, and you know how I am where rainbows are concerned. I'm like a magpie, except rainbows and not silver draws me in. It's really sweet. I might even wear it to class so that I don't have to start getting antsy because I want to know what time it is. Then I wouldn't have to come up with creative ways to read other people's watches.

The four of us. (I forgot to mention I cut my hair!)

Lots of people at the parade were excited by us, and took pictures of us. It was actually how we got the chance to join in with the T&G group and march for about thirty minutes. I think the director was a bit aggravated with us but she still let us. I'm sure there's pictures of me and my friends circulating the internet because of the parade if you're too curious. Anyways, I made a friend with one of the girls, so I felt better about myself that day for being so foreign-looking. Despite the rain, all the parade participants were really pumped up. It was fun to see people just in tight spandex underwear or dressed as spirits or school girls or what have you.

Rainbow flag!

Fun characters

Rainbow Vodka

Unfortunately, we reached the East Underground Mall and had to part ways with our new friends in order to get to the Confucious temple. There wasn't much to report on that since I didn't really understand any of the ceremony. Our teacher had only given us information on Confucious's past, but that doesn't prepare us for understanding the actual ceremonial acts. I have pictures. The temple was really pretty. However, the humidty caused several people to fall ill and even faint.

Pretty Confucious Temple

After that, my friend and I went off with another boy in our program and met the guy's boyfriend. Oh my goodness, this Taiwanese boy goes to 台大, speaks like five languages, and his English is almost fluent. I wouldn't say it was so impressive that his English was good if it weren't for the fact he didn't study abroad to learn it. Anyways, he took us to a Cantonese-style restaurant and a bookstore. I also had him show me the all-you-can-eat cake buffet. We went to the really big bookstore next to Taipei 101 and I bought a book on Hakka and a book on Taiwanese. Now the learning can really begin. I mean, other than 金多虾 and a few other basic phrases, I couldn't do much without a textbook. (You see, a friend and I had one of the program directors teach us 五月天's 金多虾.)

Then I went back and chilled some with new cute little roommate. She's so talkative and she had me help her with Spanish. She apparently thinks my Spanish is rather 厉害. The sad thing is my Spanish background is really weird, and most of the reason I can ever do anything with it is that I know French. Even my pronunciation, according to a friend, sounds like a French person's.

Anyways, today is another typhoon day and so I'll probably just chill at home and do homework. I'll bet you're jealous. Admit it.

A Little Note of Reassurance

2008-09-14T04:48:00.000-07:00

Sinlaku did not blow me away, although it did make me a little wet. It also might have made it a little difficult for people to move in this weekend, but other than that everyone around me has made it through without any serious bumps or bruises.

I did have a nice and boring weekend. But, it was nice to just relax and chat with friends online--I got to talk to people I haven't talked to in ages. Then I explored the finer culinary skills of 7-11. I also did a little homework, but I feel like everything I'm during here pales in comparison to the work I do in Grinnell or Middlebury. It's almost as if I were on leave.

However, tomorrow night I'll get to start volunteering with underprivileged children. And of course, with tomorrow comes a new week of class. So, that's the story.

Just wanted to make sure you knew I was doing all right. I'm particularly amused by the fact that Houston also had a hurricane.

Well, gotta run. Trash time waits for no man.

Just in case you thought I'd fallen off the face of the Earth...

2008-09-12T00:55:00.000-07:00

...I haven't. In fact, despite last weekend's challenges, I'm still alive and thriving. To name a few exciting things, I have discovered ice in the middle of Taipei (who would've thought), started class, taken a wrong bus, and had a rock-slide that took out the power. Then to make matters more interesting, I've celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival and will get the chance to experience my first typhoon this weekend. Just in time to coincide with stuff going on in Houston. At least last I knew. Now you can sit back with a hot mug of something (it just seems more appropriate that way, no?) and read whatever my loopy mind decides to share with you.

Well first off, my good intention of updating was destroyed when I was in class last Friday in the middle of presenting. Right in the middle of an oh-so-interesting story about a man that bought a bad apartment, the lights went out on me and later my class discovered it was thanks to a rock-slide that damaged the power line. Well, from there I took off for Shida Nightmarket and hung out by myself until I got a call from someone saying the power wouldn't be on until the following day and not to be scared. Later, after listening to a group singing on the streets, I then received another phone call from a friend wondering what I was up to.

By the time I'd gotten back, I found a group of CIEE kids outside my dorm. Well, trying to get information from them was challenging because they'd only tell me the dorm smelled bad and asked what I was going to do for the night. I couldn't help but be puzzled. Why would I care if it smelled? Well, lo and behold there was carbon monoxide inside the dorm from the diesel generators, and we'd been advised to stay elsewhere.

Well, the director hooked us up with a suite at the Holiday Inn. There were about ten of us in a four-person room, but shh! Don't tell. This is our secret. It was pretty sweet and I managed to walk off with a couple of real black instant coffee packets! I was also given the pleasure of finding out just what I'd missed out on not going and seeing the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (If you know me well, at age ten the old one from the seventies had me terrified from getting out of my bed because a crazy man would appear and chop me up with a chainsaw despite the fact that it was broad daylight and my bed was really close to the lightswitch. The fact that I as child also had a superstition that if you slept with dangling limbs or limbs outside the covers, the limb monster would come and chop them off didn't help either.) Anyways, the movie was terrible, and just ridiculously gory. I couldn't help but wince at all the blood and torture.

When the power finally did come on, I was more concerned with getting homework done. You see, I'd planned to have a boring weekend of studying Bopomo and reading up on school assignments and doing research on Taiwanese and Mandarin. (Yes, it's well established that I'm a nerd, so deal with it.)

As for class, it's wonderful. I went down a level. I am now in 321 with a teacher that's a pink (color, not singer) fan. My vocabulary and my oral proficiency just aren't quite ready for newspaper class. I would rather read a newspaper on my own time (and when I feel motivated) than struggle through one for a grade. I won't lie to you by saying my oral proficiency really has a ways to go yet. Darn my roommates for not all showing up. Though I try and force my Malaysian one to talk by just telling her really mundane things about myself. I figure she can't sit there and be awkward with me forever.

I have class everyday from 12:10-15:00, then I attend CIEE core class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So far, core class has been a bit of a letdown. I suppose the problem is that I'm used to being in class with a bunch of really smart kids and having very meaningful and productive discussions; whereas, here we didn't seem to get further than why Chinese has characters and what their significance was. I was more interested in what we could've discussed based on Taiwan's sociolinguistic makeup. I suppose that's for me to study myself then. Hopefully this satisfied you boring folks who find pleasure in knowing my approximate schedule. It's nothing too thrilling, and I do my best to avoid routine. God knows I detest routine, thus my absolute opposition towards watches.

Ah, good news! I know have a Singaporean 阿姨 that I've never seen or met, but it's still exciting. 妹妹她不会生我的气，对吧？ And my 妹妹 is coming for me in December, not to mention another friend from Singapore and hopefully my very special childhood friend who's presence makes everything less pink.

Yes, I know some of you have no idea what I'm talking about, but then you already think I'm insane enough. We won't add the complications of all my inside jokes and those pet names. I like to think of myself as incomprehensible. I'm happy that way. So you should be happy too.

What else? A yes, yesterday was moon cake day! And I do love moon cakes. So I ate three of them, despite how terrible they are for you. In addition I had a little vegetarian cookout. What fun! I love vegetarian food here. Too bad it's not always convenient for me. So much meat here. And vegetarian food tends to be a little more on the pricey side. Though, I have a rice balls man. He knows me and seems amused. He always knows I want a vegetarian riceball and fills it with all sorts of delights.

To top it all off, tonight I get to meet up with my teacher from Middlebury. I can't begin to express how excited I am. Plus I hope that this coming typhoon won't mess up my weekend plans. (Some of you know what I'm referring to. Though, I'm so nervous. Ah!)

Much love to all of you. And do feel free to use my Cbox if you don't have an account and hate clicking the extra buttons to leave a comment. I do read and treasure each person's comment. On my Cbox, I've been replying. I always feel weird to make my own comments on a page you see.

For The Sake of Black Coffee

2008-08-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it's me again, and don't kill me for not updating all of my recent happenings. Despite how much fun it was, orientation was exhausting and I can't help but get pumped up for a boring weekend of nothing. I haven't had one of those in quite a long time. Anyways, I don't know how chronological this will be since I hate chronological-styled blogs. Make a time map if you need to. Essentially, I went to the National Palace Museum, the huge bookstore with almost nothing but books on every level, Taipei 101, and a little night market on Wednesday. Yesterday, I practically trekked across Taipei and did nothing but eat along the way. Today was a little calmer, and I just wandered through Taipei on my own after lunch with a friend in Ximending.

I also figured you'd like to know how my upcoming plans are looking here in Taipei. I start class this coming Monday. Apparently I tested into the second highest level of Chinese, which once again is only grâce à Middlebury. We'll see what happens in respect to that. I think my 口语 still has a ways to go, but my reading comprehension and character recognition is rather good since I'm a very visual person. Hopefully, my roommates will come soon so I can get the immersion factor, and I'm looking into involving myself in various activities to help me meet other Taiwanese people. I hope to go volunteer with a pet humanitarian service on Sundays since not only will I be able to practice Chinese, but also avoid animal withdrawal syndrome. (In other words, I love animals and need their companionship to feel complete. Blame it on my farming relatives' roots.) Since I'm interested in learning 台语, I will also get my own private tutor for it, and I can begin working on my research since the program director lent me books on Taiwanese and Mandarin. Apparently, she thinks I'm very academic, but I feel rather the opposite. Maybe since Grinnell is so academic, I give off the academic vibe. However, my study habits are honestly a little disgusting and maybe somewhat disturbing. I don't recommend for people to watch me study. I'm also hoping to tutor some impoverished children in English Monday nights and go to the high school once a week or so to tutor English for a small sum. Hopefully, I'll also get a few private English students to tutor so that I can network some more through them, or at least help pay for my new lifestyle since I've been rather depleted of cash without having a summer job and all the visa expenses. In addition, I want to practice calligraphy since I think Chinese characters are so fascinating and so beautiful. I also might sit in on some French classes to keep up with my French. I might as well add that I'm just going to save the world. (That was a joke.) It looks like I'll be really busy, but we'll see how some of these things pan out. I'm just really interested in getting to know the Taiwanese and making connections with the people here. I want to make the most of my exchange.

I'm still not sure what to make of being a foreigner here in Taiwan. Most people instantly assume I'm incapable of anything but English. For example, once when I was out on a morning jog, these men greeted me in English and I responded, "我听不懂英文." I pretty much embarrassed them, but the stereotype that every Western looking person must speak English bothers me. Stereotypes bother me in general. Sometimes, I'm totally ignored because of the way I look. For example, when a person passes out advertisements, they skip me. However, there are other times where I attract a lot of attention. A lot of people express the sentiment that I'm really cute, which makes me uncomfortable since I'm not used to people complimenting my appearance. However, I just figure these are things that I'll get used to, and the best way to conquer their stereotypes is to prove that I am able to communicate with them in their language. It makes me wonder, though, just how crappy some of the Westerners who come here for whatever purpose must present themselves to the Taiwanese. (And no, please don't take this as some sign of distress. I'm really very happy here. I'm just expressing a sentiment I've gotten from being here.)

Let's see... One of my most wonderful epiphanies was how to use my universal charger. I know that sounds strange, but I have been with limited cell phone use because I couldn't figure out how to work it, and the box didn't include instructions on how to use. Well, that's where the Internet comes in handy, and let me tell you, my charger is sweet! No joke. When it's charging, it looks like a Christmas decoration, changing from blue to green to red to yellow. However, I wouldn't say it was very idiot-friendly unfortunately. Hopefully no one here is trying to reach me at the moment. Anyways, I know feel really pathetic for going on about that, but you must understand how frustrating it is to have a cell phone on low battery for several days, and be without any sense of time since I rely on it as a watch. I know I could get a watch, but I have my reasons for stubbornly refusing. I'll remain stubbornly opposed to buying one for the time being thank you very much.

One thing I have found difficult is getting my hands on a non-creamed, non-sweetened cup of coffee. So, when I was in Taipei 101, I got super excited to find a place other than Starbucks--er, I don't particularly like Starbucks honestly speaking--that served it. (And I know there are other coffee places too, but I'm not about to spend a fortune on my bad habit.) I'm such an addict. Tsk. Tsk. However, it's been hard to go from my usual at least three cups a day to almost zero since I don't overly like sugared coffee. I suppose it could be worse. However, I've gotten very into a lot of the tea drinks around here. Bubble tea and milk tea are actually pretty good.

I'm also glad that I can now choose to go to the vegetarian restaurants now because I feel more comfortable eating their dishes than any other restaurants' since in my mind it's not 100% guaranteed to be 素的. Actually, my vegetarianism has helped me bond with one of the coordinators of CIEE. She's going to help me get apply to volunteer with the pets and audit a French class. I can't believe how excited I am for school. I love studying in a sick way despite the amount of time it takes away from other things like exploring Taipei or other particular habits we won't discuss--though some of you know what I'm talking about. That's when I have to tell myself there's always the weekend.

Besides, after yesterday, I feel like I've seen so much Taipei. I wandered from the Mayor's office to Danshui on a scavenger hunt. Along the way we had to eat various dishes. I ate so much desert yesterday it's not even funny. Plus, I wasn't hungry, so I didn't have much of an appetite for anything. By the time we'd gotten to Danshui, which is a beautiful touristy night market, the idea of eating wasn't anywhere near appetizing. However, everything was delicious. Plus, I ate frog eggs! No, just kidding. However, there's this drink you can buy with bubble tea-like balls inside it. It's pretty good.

Anyways, I miss you, and to answer some of your comments, I still haven't had a chance to figure who I've told and who I haven't. I tagged many of you on Facebook. I sent some emails. Sorry to those who might have overlooked it, or I might have accidently overlooked. I know way too many people to keep track of everything. Shella, I did take a trip down that way, but there's nothing to report. I bought Supao for the first time at the 7-11 there. It reminds me of uncarbonated Sprite. Though when you were signed in under your friend's name, I thought you were someone else.

Well, I'm off for the time being.

Tea and SOGO

2008-08-26T05:33:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm shocked to see so many interested people. But, I take that as a good thing, and I'm glad to hear from so many of you. After all, I do want to have an opportunity to communicate with all of you, and as I'd found the last time I was abroad, email is rather irritating. Then you get issues of 'I'm too busy to read your emails and you write so much.' (Yeah, I have writer's diarrhea as some of you know all too well.)

Anyways, I've of course been ridiculously busy. As much as I'm enjoying the orientation period, I can't say I've had much time to catch up on ten weeks worth of lost correspondence. But that's okay because I have time to slowly catch up on everything and I hope each of you will understand. In a sense I had no way to contact many of you for nine weeks and then with two days to pack for a year abroad, catching up was a wee bit difficult.

Over the weekend I, of course, had been busy preparing my level placement test, which went rather well. Some of the questions were a bit beyond my level, but when I'd taken a look at the reading I couldn't help but laugh. Reading the questions made me feel bad for the lower-level students though because the test asked some rather sneaky little questions that could easily snag any beginner. By the time I'd reached the grammar part, I couldn't help but mentally bow to my Middlebury teachers. I knew every one of the grammar points but one. Makes me happy to know that despite certain misgivings toward Middlebury, it was a summer well spent. However, I won't know the results however until tomorrow or Thursday.

After that I had lunch at a little restaurant before attending a little lesson on calligraphy. For anyone not particularly familiar with the art of calligraphy, an artist's method is quite deceiving. It is not as easy as it looks, and my 永 was only passable. However, my little excuse was I'd never touched a brush in my life. Actually though, I had the artist do my Chinese name in calligraphy. It looks pretty amazing! In addition, the class gave me a clearer picture of how calligraphy works. There are several different methods and each attempts to capture different emotions. Then you must consider some of the more contemporary stuff. I actually received a free book with a mix of styles. If we ever meet up in person and I have the book on me, I'd be more than glad to show you.

Later I went off with my group to the East district and explored some of the food and the department stores. I, of course, went to SOGO. It was the classier one of the two on the same block. My Singaporean friends know just what I'm referencing when I talk about SOGO. Oh dear, I really am pathetic. Anyways, I checked it out and noticed the change in the way people there dressed. They wore lots of expensive name-brand clothing whereas many of the Taiwanese I know can't afford to wear some of the stuff I saw there. Anyways, a good friend of mine and I went off and found the camera section. It was really quite amusing, and the poor vendor must have thought we were the perfect representation of American girls because we looked at the cameras and bought the same one, which in his mind we did so on impulse. But, we really got a good deal--along with a ton of free stuff. Because I'd given my friend the L'Occitane kit, the vendor gave me a pity notebook and pen. So this means I'll finally be able to upload special pictures and put them on here for you to see. Anyways, it was good fun conducting a transaction in Chinglish. I believe both the vendor and my friend and I each learned new vocabulary.

Anyways, I've found that sometimes my vegetarian diet isn't too compatible with group outings and I either have to get something special or just deal with meat. It's really difficult for me to eat meat too since I haven't eaten it in so long. I'm thinking after orientation I'll become a regular at the neighborhood vegetarian restaurants. I love being a regular, and it'll be good practice for my Chinese. Though honestly speaking, I'm still a little nervous to interact with strangers in Chinese because I'm afraid I won't understand their 国语.

As for today and the tea, I got to go up into the mountains and explore 猫空。It's apparently famous for its tea and trams. Let me tell you, it was some pretty amazing tea too. We went through a semi-traditional tea ceremony; however, something about our mannerisms prevents it from being a traditional one in my mind. We switched around tea and ate processed food. Not to mention the fact that our tea was made by ourselves so we weren't necessarily overly familiar with the procedure. All the same, it was a lot of fun. And I ate the biggest looking chocolate Cheerio-looking things you've ever seen. No joke.

Once the tea had been drunk, I went with a few friends upstairs to the little gift shop and made friends with an employee. She was an adorable little woman that tried to explain to us the different types of tea. She even gave us a chance to sample the mountain's local tea--both strong and weak versions of it. I really liked the strong, but if you know me well, I enjoy strong tea.

We also had a chance to see some of the biggest spiders you've ever seen in your life. Well, maybe. I love how tropical climates have so many large, crazy looking bugs. Bugs you never imagined could've existed.

Then we went off for a tram ride down the mountain. On the way we gave the locals a chance to sample our singing-voices. How lucky they must've felt as they listened to us sing "Ce rêve bleu" (A Whole New World). It might be a little sad I know that song in French better than in English. At least my fellow Americans weren't as odd as me and sang it in English.

Anyways, the trip down the mountainside was beautiful. The mountainsides are a mix of forest, housing, temples, and tea farms. It was incredible to see how many people want to take the tram up the mountain too. Apparently people that wish to go up must wait several hours when I just hopped right on to make my way down to Taipei.

Anyways, that's probably the big excitement of the last few days. You're obviously free to come as often or as little as you'd like to read my blog, but I can't promise when I will update. At the moment, since I'm getting the chance to travel around Taipei, I'll do my best to share what I'm up to, but you might not want frequent updates on my weekdays once class starts. Just imagaine...

September 1st:

I went to class and....

September 2nd:

I went to class and studied some more. It was...

September 3rd:

I went to class again and...

....

September 21:

I went to class where...

I worry you might yawn with exhaustion and boredom.

Anyways, tomorrow I get to go to the National Palace Museum and see Ancient China's treasures. Then I might either go to Taipei 101 or the monastery.

Taiwanland

2008-08-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

For better or for worse, I have arrived in Taiwan. And this shall be my field blog. I don't know if any of you got that, but I'm an Anthropology student. Hopefully, I needn't elaborate any further. Besides, you all know I have a particular sense of humor.

Let me first off apologize to those who I had not contacted before I left the States. I got home from Middlebury with about two days to pack and take care of business before I had to be on that plane again and once again head westwards. Anyways, from here on out, there isn't any language pledge to prevent me from communicating with you, so feel free to contact me. I'm mostly planning on using Skype and MSN. And for those of you who know me well, I'm always on MSN. Well, usually. But nonetheless it's a convenient means for contacting me.

Anyways, I'm sure you're not too interested in what I might have done in my last days, but for those who are curious, I did cram in as much pie and cheesecake as possible.

As I left, I have to admit I was extremely nervous. Extremely nervous. I'd never before been in Asia, and I know that despite Taiwan's certain Western characteristics, things are different here. More so than going from the US to France. But, as I boarded the plane from San Francisco to Taipei, I found myself next to two wonderful women that were very helpful to me. We spent a lot of time chatting about the US. And let me tell you, did my Middlebury Chinese come in handy there. They also told me it wasn't a good idea to stay near the airport and helped me get to a youth hostel and call a cab. I have no idea what I would've otherwise done. I probably would've spent time wandering around the airport like a lost sheep and too stubborn to ask for help.

When I got to the youth hostel, I had to lug three bags up three flights of stairs, and not only did I curse myself for bringing so much (although my past experience was I didn't have enough) but the landlady began to tease me for the amount I'd brought. But, I also know that finding hair products for my hair here was not going to happen since my hair is so different. There are just a few things that you can't really buy in Taiwan.

After I'd settled into my tiny little room, I decided that despite twenty-one hours worth of travel I still wanted to explore. So, off I went on my own in Zhongshan. I was the only foreigner walking around there at the time, and many people began to stare at me curiously. Eventually I'd gotten lost in Zhongshan, but I pulled out my map and made it back.

The next morning I took a cab to Zhengda, where I'll be living for the duration of the year. It's a beautiful campus at the base of a mountain. Being the Grinnellian I am, I of course find this campus huge and I still get lost. In addition, Zhengda is one of Taiwan's best universities and is known for its social sciences and business programs.

I live in a dorm though I found out I could get an apartment next semester. However, I find the dorms to work just fine for me. Before arriving, I'd been told I'd experience culture shock from the dorm situation. However, the biggest difference is the style of the bathroom and squat toilets are kind of amusing to me. Also, they don't do co-ed dorms. Boys and girls can only be at the other dorms during visiting hours. Although I still don't know my roommates for this next semester, I've been staying with three summer students. They're all teachers from the south of Taiwan. I'm assuming I won't meet my other roommates until the summer students have left. So far only one of my roommates has left since she has to be back to teach this week.

The other big thing I've discovered is you want to bring toilet paper with you. Bathrooms don't necessarily supply toilet paper for you.

All the same, I'm rather smitten with Taiwan. I can feel myself going through similar feelings from when I was in France. When I'd first arrived, everything was wonderful and the thought of leaving tears my heart up. So, I suppose the worst waves of culture shock are yet to come. However, having spent time abroad has me more prepared for some of the psychological effects to expect this coming year.

So far, I've found everyone to be really nice to me; however, because I'm very obviously a foreigner, people seem hesitant to approach me or talk to me since they don't think I can communicate with them. Or else, they automatically assume I speak English and try to talk to me in English. I do, however, admit that I am struggling to switch to 国语 since I've learned so many 大路 expressions. Despite understanding half of what I watch in a Taiwanese drama, I'm still not used to the Taiwanese accent either.

Anyways, I've met my ambassadors and program director. They've taken me and the rest of my group to see so many wonderful sites and eat so many wonderful foods. Since this month is ghost month, we visited a beautiful Buddhist temple and were told to observe the people around us. There were so many people there chanting or burning incense. And though I messed it up out of confusion, you visit different points of the temple and bow before placing an incense stick in each of the different holders. You also must enter the temple from the right and exit from the left according to my program director.

In addition, I've gone shopping and karaoking. I found a used cell phone for about a NT$1000. Also, you're required to buy a mattress for the bed, but the mattress is more like a pallet. Luckily everything has been rather cheap. If I want Western brands and products, however, I understand the price goes up quite a bit. As for the karaoking, I'll leave that to your imagination. But, Asian-style karaoke is way better than American-style karaoke. You get a little room and with your group, go in and sing whatever you please.

Next week, I'll be visiting Taipei 101, the National Palace Museum and the nightmarkets (although I came across a small one in Zhongshan already). I think we might also visit a tea plantation. I understand we're right next to a famous tea plantation, and you know me, I love tea! I'm also extremely excited to go to the National Palace Museum. As some might know, going to the Forbidden city, you won't see more than the architecture because the Nationalists had fled with its art to Taiwan. All of this art is now in the National Palace Museum.

Anyways, I know this was a sloppy entry. I just wanted to write something quick for you. I'll try to put more effort into my next update. But, how do you cram a week's worth of new experiences into a short entry without cutting so much out? If I'd had internet sooner, I would've given you a little more detail.

Anyways, until next time my friends.