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!