Another weekend flew by...

It's scary how time is flying. When I first arrived, each day felt endless. Now the weeks and weekends are flying... My Chinese midterms are just one week away.

This weekend was the Moon Festival, an autumn harvest festival. Most Taiwanese get together with their families, barbecue, eat moon cakes and polmelos (grapefruit-like citrus fruits), and light fireworks. There's also a folk tale behind the holiday but it's really obscure. Click here if you're interested in reading further -- I don't want to butcher the story and it looks like there are multiple versions.

In class on Friday we had a little moon festival celebration and our teacher surprised us with Domino's pizza. I know people from the states might not consider Domino's delivery a great surprise, but believe me, it's one of the nicest things that's happened yet. The whole class was ecstatic. The pizza toppings were mozzarella, jalapenos, pepperoni, onion and chorizo -- a delicious combination.

Me with my Chinese teacher, Mei Nu. She's incredible; she really pushes each student and wants us all to succeed.

Me and my classmates - we have a great time

The progression of my Chinese writing. There have been some major improvements; I no longer write like a first-grader.

After class on Friday Sergio, Hector, Emilio and I made a trip to Costco. Due to poor planning and bad directions, we left campus around 5pm and didn't return until 10pm... Costco was a madhouse with pre-festival shoppers.

I picked up sharp cheddar cheese, crackers, wine, mixed nuts, peanut butter, Dentyne Ice... All things hard to come by at local Taiwanese supermarkets.

We finally made it to Underworld on Friday, a little bar that we've been meaning to go to. It's fun going to the clubs in Taipei, but it can be tiring. We've been craving a neighborhood place that's comfortable and laid back. Underworld fit the bill, I definitely want to go back.
Bo, my roommate, was out of town this weekend celebrating the festival with a Taiwanese family. I missed her a lot. It was just me and the guys on Friday -- we had a lot of fun and good conversations. It was nice to be in a place where you could hear each other over the music.

Sergio's idea of mimicking a goddess scene... ha ha. I have to say that all the Mexican men I've met here are true gentlemen. I think our standards and manners have slipped a little in the states, possibly due to everything being so PC with female/male equality.

On Saturday there was a wai guo ren (foreigner) BBQ on campus. We had a good time drinking by the river and watching fireworks.

This is the dog I wish I could adopt. I see him everywhere... The other night when I got home he was sleeping on the doorsteps to my dorm. There's a huge stray dog problem in Taiwan. I have been told that people here like to have puppies but not full grown dogs. There are at least a dozen strays living on campus, all clearly abandoned since they have collars. The dogs do look healthy and are friendly. I think someone must be feeding them because oftentimes they won't eat food when I try to give it to them.

We are now bracing ourselves for Typhoon Parma which is supposed to hit anytime now. I think it will just be a lot of rain for me and not anything too scary since Taipei is north and not on the water.