Rainy Sunday on campus...

Got up early this morning to join the school photo club on a field trip but the outing was cancelled due to rain. Bummer... I even stayed in last night since I wanted to be awake and hangover-free for picture taking.

I now plan to spend the day at the library doing homework and then maybe going for a run in the rain. There's a river that runs directly through campus with bike paths on both sides. I've been running on the river recently and it's becoming one of my favorite things to do. The scenery is beautiful and no matter what time you run, 7am or 10pm, there are people walking and exercising everywhere. In the early morning there are lots of elderly Taiwanese doing Tai chi. Apparently the Taoists believe trees exhale the purest energy in the early morning so it's best to get up early and workout under the oldest and biggest tree possible.

Funny I still dislike Sundays even though I'm no longer in the workforce. It's been a good weekend though. After class on Friday my friend Hector and I went to the Taipei 101 food court seeking something different to eat. Around campus we can only pretty much eat noodle or rice dishes. Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world (I believe), although Dubai is building a taller one. The food court at 101 has a wide variety of options from all over the world: Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Indian, Mediterranean, you name it. You can't imagine how good the mozzarella tomato basil sandwich I had tasted. Just having cheese, tomatoes and bread felt like a mini-miracle. It makes me a little sick because I know the garden back home in Chicago must be full of ripe tomatoes. I would do anything for a tomato salad or homemade salsa.

Friday night a group of us went out for the usual free drinks at Roxy 99, then to 7-Eleven and on to The Other Side and Roxy Roots. I was dragging a little all night since I had run hard in the morning. I made it back to the dorms early without too much damage or "dehydration."

Me with one of my best Taiwan buddies, Sergio

We headed to the National Palace Museum yesterday since admission is free if you go between 5p - 8:30p on Saturdays. The museum has such a large collection of Chinese art (all pieces that Chiang Kai-shek took from mainland China when he retreated) that they rotate the works every three months. We saw lots of ceramics, jade pieces, bronzes, calligraphy scrolls, buddhas... We agreed we'll have to go back since it's too much to take in in a single visit.

National Palace Museum

I also bought a new phone this weekend. I couldn't handle having a phone without a full keyboard. Too many years of crackberry use I suppose...

Hope all is well at home. Miss you all!

Happy Birthday Bo & Bro!!

Life has been very busy the last several days. Lot's of school work, sight-seeing and socializing. This past weekend was my roommate Bo's birthday and also my brother Rob's. Happy Birthday to you both! We had a great time celebrating here in Taipei with Bo. Luckily Rob was out of town celebrating and not in Chicago. The hardest part of living far from home is hearing about family get-togethers. Selfishly I'm glad not to endure hearing about a birthday dinner at the parent's house with the family and Mom's cooking...

Here are pictures from this past weekend...

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. It was my third visit there, but we found out a lot more about Chaing Kai-shek this time around. Turns out he was pretty ruthless and was responsible for killing thousands of "suspected" communists. There is apparently talk of renaming the memorial and removing Chaing Kai-shek's statue.

Kate at the changing of the guards at CKS Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall

Taipei 2-28 Memorial Museum. It's funny the museum is across the street from CKS Memorial Hall; you get two very different pictures of who Chaing Kai-Shek was. In 1947 there was a government crackdown on black market items such as tobacco and alcohol. There was an incident on 2-28 where a woman selling black market cigarettes was beaten by a government official. A man trying to protect her was then shot. The incident triggered protests all over Taiwan. The government responded to the protests by torturing and killing thousands of Taiwanese, some estimate 30,000 were killed. The victims were mostly intellectuals and political activists.

Sergio in front of the noodle place where we had lunch. A Taiwanese guy saw us floundering in the park and took us to lunch. Probably the best meal I've had so far in Taiwan.

Noodles with pork, soup and pork dumplings.

Yummers...

The "massage" walkway in Peace Park.

Celebrating Bo's birthday at Roxy Rocker

Bo and Me. We had the best night...

After a few beers... We really liked this bar. There's a room in back that's filled with records. You pick through the albums and listen to whatever you want.

On Sunday we went to Fulong Beach. Beautiful...

Kate and Mario

Happy Birthday Bo & Bro!!

Life has been very busy the last several days. Lot's of school work, sight-seeing and spending time with friends. This past weekend was my roommate Bo's birthday and my brother Rob's. Happy Birthday! We had a great time celebrating here in Taipei with Bo. Luckily Rob was out of town celebrating and not in Chicago. I think the hardest part of living far from home is hearing about family get togethers. Selfishly I was glad not to endure hearing about a birthday celebration at the parent's house with the whole family there and Mom's cooking... That would definitely bring on a can of homesickness.

The weekend was pretty packed. Here are pictures from our adventures.

Business as usual

Not too much to report tonight. I was up early on Wednesday and went for a run. Then to class and a late lunch with friends at our favorite place, "the blue chairs." We don't know the name of the restaurant, but it's vinyl blue chairs distinguish it from the rest. We're beginning to be able to decipher the characters in it's name and it appears it's called Beautiful Fragrant ____ Fast Food. The restaurant's specialty is noodles or rice with whatever flavor you like: curry, spicy thai, all for $1 USD. I probably spend $6 USD a day on average and live well.

Wednesday nights we go to Roxy's, a bar that offers two free beers to people who arrive before 10pm. In good student fashion, we take advantage of the free drinks, then head to 7 Eleven for one last round rather than buying the more expensive drinks at the bar. Yesterday was independence day for Mexico so the Mexican students had a good turn out. I can tell holidays here are going to be odd; obviously the 4th of July will have no significance to any non-USer. Christmas is also not a big deal in Taiwan; in fact, I have class Christmas day.

Kate and me at 7-Eleven

Today we moved into characters in school. Writing the characters is fast becoming my favorite part of learning Chinese. I'm loving the homework assignments right now since they are all calligraphy and perfecting the characters.

Alright, time for bed. Hope all is well at home!

Back from the beach

Yesterday we headed up north to Baishawan, a beach about a thirty minute bus ride from Danshui. The name means "white sandy beach" -- definitely a stretch since the sand there is closer to coffee grounds, but still a great spot. We swam for over an hour and then had drinks while watching the sunset and moon crest over the water.

Today I hit the books. I told Bo that I feel I've died and gone to her country, Korea, since it seems to be the cram/testing capital of the world. I had an oral exam today in Chinese class, and then the teacher assigned 77 new vocabulary words that we will be tested on tomorrow: tones, pinyin spelling and all. I studied with my classmate Kate all night. I'm glad my teacher is so demanding but I can't imagine doing this every night. I hope there will be some evenings where the workload is less rigorous.

Slow Motion

Time has been going by sooooo slowly... Some would think that's a negative; I actually enjoy feeling like there are three days packed into one. Because it's a new country for me, new sights, faces, languages, I'm seeing the world in technicolor. It's exhausting, exciting, and causes time to trickle by the way it used to as a kid. Remember how long a day at school felt in first grade? That pretty much sums up my experience of time here.

School has been going well. We're learning Bopomofo, a shorthand phonetic alphabet most Taiwanese use for texting. We're also learning pinyin which uses the western alphabet to spell Chinese words and tones. We will be moving along to characters soon. As I anticipated, the workload is starting to increase. I need to find my study zone so I can continue to keep up. The dorm room is no good for studying since there are 3 of us (soon to be 4) packed into a space half the size of my bedroom at home. It's impossible to concentrate...

Yesterday it was my new friend Kate's birthday. A group of us went to dinner, then on to Babe 18, an all-you-can-drink night club in downtown Taipei. We met at the main gate on campus at 6:30p but didn't wind up sitting down to dinner until 9p since we were gradually picking up people along the way. Kate's from the US as well, the only fellow US-er I know so far. We kept laughing the whole night because we were trying to coordinate everybody, "we're are the Swedes?", "Have you heard from the Mexicans?", "What happened to the Ukranians/Hungarians/Koreans?" -- it's so different/awesome to be hanging out with people from all over the world. In the last week I've met some of the most inspiring people. Young, driven, intelligent, fearless kids. Kate's in Taiwan for three months. She then heads to Peru on a Fulbright scholarship to teach English for a year. I spent my twenties so constricted, trying to get ahead in work. It's amazing to find that really, there are so many options.

Settling in

Now that school has started, I've established a routine. Things are starting to feel slightly normal but nothing like my former life in Chicago. My days go something like this:

7:30a - Wake up and go for a run
8:30a - Shower, tidy room
9am - go to 7/11 and order a latte (I order from the same guy each morning and we're gradually speaking in Chinese -- he doesn't speak English)
9:10am - Back to the room to study, email, chat with roommates, run errands
11:45am - Grab a snack and head up the hill to class
12:10p - 3p - Chinese class
3pm - Lunch with new friends
4:30p - 8pm - Study, read, blog, walk campus, catch the sunset while speaking Chinese to myself
8pm - light dinner/snack
8:30p to end of night - meet up with friends

I'm happy with my new routine. Getting in shape, learning, meeting people from all over the world... I know this won't last forever which makes it more blissful; I so appreciate being a student again! I' m also aware this is just the first full week of school and things will change as we get deeper into Chinese, learning/writing characters, exams... I've signed up for a language exchange (exchanging English for Chinese with a Taiwanese student) and will be enrolling in one additional language class which focuses on colloquial/conversational Chinese. For now, life is good…

Back to School

Today was the first day of Chinese classes at the NCCU language center. I've been anxious to get started since I haven't been able to communicate with the locals. I really like my class! Particularly the teacher -- she's outspoken, feisty and forces everyone to speak and participate. There are 10 students in my class: 2 girls from the US (including me), 2 guys from the Philippines, a guy from Peru, a British guy, a Japanese girl, a guy from Palau, a Honduran guy and a Korean girl.

School is five days a week from noon to 3pm... A pretty relaxed schedule, but everyone says the homework is intense. I have an 8-sentence oral presentation due tomorrow in which I have to introduce myself, say where I go to school, name the members of my family, say what I like to do and what I dislike doing, and then close with giving everyone my cell phone number. It sounds pretty simple, but there are a lot of tones, numbers and details to memorize.

After class we went to an early dinner with the Mexicans and a guy from Russia. We talked about worldwide corruption which led to a lot tangent conversations. After about two hours, we all headed our separate ways. I like that there are other people here that enjoy sitting at the dinner table beyond eating… Although I miss a good bottle of wine with dinner. Alcohol is rarely available at the restaurants we go to. I think the Mexican students are also used to wine. Where there’s a will there’s a way, so we’ll figure something out soon I’m sure.

This evening I walked around campus, watched a bit of the sunset, then got down to memorizing my presentation. I think Bo and I are going to spend the rest of the evening with new friends from our dorm: one girl from Gambia (she’s my idol since she travels all over the world by herself) and two girls from Hungary.

Zai Dian for now…

Aiyo....

Up at 8am yesterday and went for a run on the track. This time there was no rain. After 15 minutes I had to quit since I was majorly overheating. I don't know how the Taiwanese do it; there were six people sprinting circles around me -- no one appeared bothered by the heat.

After lunch in the campus cafeteria (good food!), Bo and I headed to Taipei 101 to Page One books. I opted to leave my Taiwan guide books back in the states since they were too heavy to carry along with the novels and Chinese language books I packed. Bo has a good guide book, but it’s in Korean so I can only look at pictures. Not ideal, and it’s unfairly forced Bo into the tour guide role. I now have Culture Shock Taiwan and Lonely Planet.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Ximending, an insane shopping area in the center of the city that offers all the latest Taiwanese trends. Clothing prices seemed to be in the $1-$12 USD range. I tried a few things on and had to get plus sizes. I’m a giant here and practically obese by Taiwanese standards.


We met up with the Mexican/Guatemalan scholarship students in the evening for some bar hopping. We started the night at Club Roxy, then to another place -- I can’t recall the name -- and wound up the night at Spark. Drinks are really expensive and there are also cover charges. After a while we decided to go to 7/11 and buy some beer before heading back to the club in order to save cash. It felt odd/awesome to drink beer in the street… it’s perfectly legal here. We had a great time. Many of the scholarship students are also here for language and masters programs; I’m happy to be meeting interesting people that will staying in Taipei as long as I will be. We got home at 5am. I’m dragging today… and know for sure that I’m back in college.

Connected at last............

I'm on the internet!!!!! What a relief....

I've been in Taiwan for five days so far. The transition has been smooth and I'm happy to say I feel I made the right move and NCCU seems to be the best school possible. I've been so happy walking around campus....

I left Chicago at 6:30p Friday. My family got together at my parents house in Oak Park. We had our last breakfast at George's Diner and then spent the day together, everyone helping as I did last-minute packing. It felt reassuring to have my family around and though it was difficult to say goodbye, it was somehow less painful as I know I will be in touch and see them all over here at various points during the next three years.

Last supper with my fam

When I arrived in Taipei at 5:30am Sunday, I found my ride forgot to pick me up. Luckily I had her cell phone number and was able to get her to send someone. I spent the first day unpacking, exploring campus and sweating profusely (weather-wise, with the humidity and heat, Taipei feels like a steam room). My roommate, Bo, from Korea arrived in the evening. We were both surprised by our dorm room -- a small, dirty, colorless box with all aluminum furniture -- we refer to it as our jail cell. The room has warmed up a bit now that we've moved in. We're expecting two more roommates in the next couple of days.

Dorm room

Day two was orientation at the language school. The walk to the International building from my dorm is a 15 minute uphill hike; a good thing since I'm hoping to get in better shape.

International Building at NCCU

The campus is paradise... greenery and flowers everywhere, everything nicely landscaped.

The walk to the Intl. Building

At orientation, I met two other scholarship students from Mexico. They'd arrived a week earlier and had struggled in getting everything together: bank accounts, cell phones, subway cards, alien resident cards (ARCs), etc. etc. We had lunch together and they listed out everything I needed to do in order to get situated. I can't thank them enough as it's really made the transition smooth. I have everything I need now. On September 14th I pickup my ARC which will allow me to have most benefits Taiwanese citizens have, such as national health care. I'll also be able to leave the country and come back anytime I want.

View from the International Building

I spent Tuesday running around working down my list. Bo and I wanted to go to a night market. In the evening we met up with Meggan and Rachel, two other scholarship students from the US, and explored Shida night market. We walked around looking at all the vendor stands and sampling local specialties: lime juice, pork dumplings, sweet potato donut holes and fresh mango over shaved ice were some of the favorites.

On Wednesday I was up early and went for a run in the rain. I had the track to myself since everyone else was huddled under various shelters waiting for the rain to stop. It rains 3-4 times a day for short periods, then the sun comes out. Bo keeps telling me the rain here will make you go bald because of the acid levels in it... I haven't been worried, but seeing that the Taiwanese wouldn't run in the rain made me a little concerned. We spent the rest of the day exploring and walking around memorial hall.

Memorial Hall

On Thursday we headed to Danshui, a coastal town and the last stop on the MRT. Some of the areas along the wharf reminded me of a Taiwanese version of the Jersey Shore. We walked around, stopped for fishballs (Danshui is famous for fishballs... balls made of fish paste and stuffed with pork. They're served in a light broth with green onions. Very good!), We then took a ferry over to Bali (Paris). I'm not sure why they call the town Paris... It had more shops and vendors. We sampled seafood and walked around. The locals were gearing up for a festival; every truck that drove by had a decorated slaughtered pig in back.

Danshui

We took the ferry back to the mainland and walked up into the hills overlooking the bay. We walked around a high school that was the filming grounds for Secret, a famous Taiwanese movie. Then headed to Hongmao Castle/Fort San Domingo, a compound built in the 1600s by the Dutch which also was a British embassy for a while.

Fort San Domingo, Danshui

It was evening by the time we made it back to the MRT... We decided to stop at Shinlin, though we were exhausted, since it has the most famous/largest night market in Taipei. It was worth the stop. We tried stinky tofu, fermented tofu served in a brown sauce with steamed cabbage on top -- pretty delicious aside from the garbage-pale odor it wafts. We also tried beef noodle soup, another famous Taiwanese dish. Stuffed, we headed home and kicked back with some beers before bed.

More tomorrow... This post is lengthily. I promise to keep them shorter now that I have internet access. Miss you all!