Month Number Three

I have officially completed my third month in Taiwan. This was by far the best month, but also the worst month.

I had so much fun this month. I hung out with a lot of new Taiwanese friends this month. They invited me out to bars and on a day out of town. Going to Taichung with two of my Taiwanese friends was really fun. It was good to get out of my small city and walk around a bigger town. Taichung was great for some cheap shopping. It's interesting to see all the different types of style around. Taiwan is both the most fashionable and the least fashionable place I have ever seen. Some people really know how to dress, and some people just do not.

One bad thing that happened this month was I got a really bad cold. It was the worst cough I've ever had. It was really rough being so sick and feeling so bad without anyone to take care of me. Luckily, my boss is a super nice lady that helped me out a lot and took me to the doctor. After a week, I'm finally starting to feel better. One thing I learned when I was sick is that Taiwanese people think you should not drink anything cold when you are sick. No cold water, no iced anything. Everyone kept buying me this really delicious hot drink though. It tasted like sour tangerine Altoids and it was so soothing for my sore throat.

I've learned a little bit of Chinese this month too. I have been learning what some of the symbols are, which is really helpful and cool. I know how to count to ten, and I have learned some common phrases. Chinese seems really difficult, but I want to buckle down and start getting serious about learning it.

Another bad thing that happened this month is my computer completely fell apart. It just broke in half. I got almost five good years out of it though. But on a good note, I got a new laptop! My wonderful mom helped me by a new Mac Book Air. It is so nice to have a new computer.

One thing I learned this month that I thought was interesting was that Taiwan uses a different system for numbering years. They started with 0 in 1911 because that is when Taiwan was founded. So right now, it is year 102 here. I found that really interesting. My health card says my birthday is is 80/6/24.

Lastly, it is finally getting colder here! I am so happy about that. It was so hot when I first got here, and now I can finally wear sweaters and things like that. I love it!

This month was so far the best month. I can't wait to see what November has in store for me.

My Day In Taichung

Today I went to Taichung with two of my Taiwanese friends. Originally, we were going to go to a jazz festival but ended up doing other things instead. We spent most of the day shopping and hanging out with their aunt in her shop. Here is a play by play of my day.

We started by taking the train at 11am from Changhua to Taichung. It's a pretty quick ride by train, about 15 minutes. After that, we got lunch at McDonalds. I had fries and iced coffee (lunch of champions). It was perfect.

Outside the train station

After eating lunch, we took a bus to a shopping area in the city. There were SO many people, so many places to shop, and the biggest mall I've ever seen. The mall (they call the whole mall department store) was three buildings that were connected, went 3 floors below the ground, and at least 14 stories above ground. It was insane and expensive. So we went to the cheaper places. It was basically a bunch of alleys jam packed with people and shops or stalls. Lots of clothes, phone cases, purses, and food. It was impossible to walk around without running in to someone. It is a popular place for young people to hang out and shop because everything is so cheap. It was fun though. The stores had interesting names like "Merry Jane", "Pancake", and "Animal Girl". Here are some pictures from that excursion:

At the department stores

People sell things anywhere they can

The floor of a shop

Super cool sign

The ugliest shirt in Taiwan

During this shopping trip, we got something called "special green tea". It was really good but really weird at the same time. It was iced green tea with this white foam on top. The foam was sweet but also salty and bad tasting at the same time. One sip it would be sugary, and the next it was bitter. It was very interesting. I asked my friend what the foam was, but she didn't know how to explain it in English. After we got our green tea, we got lost and we found this awesome, HUGE silver goat. I'm talking gigantic. It was so cool.

Special green tea

The silver goat (or ram maybe)

After that, we hung out in my friend's aunt's shop. It was a crowded clothing store, but it had some pretty cool things in there. Another family member insisted on taking us out to dinner, so we ate in the mall food court. I was giving a very interesting Taiwanese snack. It looks like soup. But it has peanuts in it. So it kind of tastes like peanut juice, if there was such a thing. In the peanut juice is chunks of processed soy beans (and it looks like fresh mozzarella). I was okay with the peanut juice, but the texture of that soy bean stuff was probably the worst thing ever. It was like, liquidy/mushy/melted in your mouth but also kind of chunky? I can't even put it into words. It was something different. For dinner, I ate fried rice that had beef, shrimp, chicken, AND tiny octopus tentacles in it. It was really, really good. I also had a side of seaweed soup and some unidentified veggies.

The Taiwanese snack

After eating, we went back to her aunt's shop and hung out for a long time. We drank tea and had a really good time. They didn't speak English so my friends at to keep translating everything. Here is the shop:

It was a really good day. I bought/given a lot of things but only spent about $30 US. Here are my purchases:

The coolest shoes ever

Headband

Black sweater and a $3 skull scarf

The aunt gave me this for free (and I bought the flower overalls at a very cheap price)

After a loooong day, we took a bus and then the train back home. It was a really fun day. It was cool to hang out with new friends, and to experience a different, bigger city. I will definitely be heading back there soon.

First Time at the Doctor's

I have been really sick the past few days. I've been coughing, have a sore throat, and a runny/stuffy nose. It has been rough, but I was a little scared to try to go to the doctor.

Today my boss took me to the doctor and it was the fastest, easiest thing I've ever done. It took a total of 7 minutes from walking in and leaving with some medicine. Another great is it only cost me $5.11 US.

It was thirty minutes before I was supposed to teach my first class and my boss was like, I am taking you to the doctor. And I thought she was crazy. I didn't have an appointment and I had to be back to teach! But we went and it was great. It helped having her there because she of course speaks Chinese and that made it easier. We filled out one form, and they immediately sent me back to the doctor. I sat in a chair, he sprayed some stuff in my throat and nose, stuck weird Q-tips up my nose, and told me I had a cold. He gave me a prescription for all these different pills that I got two minutes later from the office. I was so scared, but it was so easy. Here are some pictures:

Now I'm just waiting to feel better, and drinking some hot green tea in the mean time.

The Genius of 7-11

I think the number one thing I will remember from my time in Taiwan is the insane amount of 7-11s there are. I pass about six of them on my short ride to work. They are EVERYWHERE, and open 24/7. According to some research I did, there are almost 5,000 7-11s in Taiwan. It's not a very big island, guys! I've thought a lot about this, and I highly approve.

Who ever runs 7-11 is very, very smart. You can do anything and everything at 7-11. They are the ultimately the most convenient convenience store. They are so convenient that I haven't had to go to the grocery store for a month. Why you ask? Because 7-11 has everything. And it is extremely delicious, high quality stuff too. Over half my meals come from 7-11, and that probably sounds horrible if you've never been to a Taiwanese 7-11.

You can do so many things at 7-11. You need food, vitamins, clothes, candy, and vodka? All are easily acquired at 7-11. Oh, you also need minutes for your phone and to pay a traffic ticket or a water bill or electric bill? 7-11. A taxi, photocopying, stamps, AND you need some pictures developed? 7-11. You can even have your packages delivered to 7-11. I don't understand how one place can do so many things so efficiently. It blows my mind. It's just so smart.

I go to 7-11 at least twice a day. The people that work there are would be my best friends if we spoke the same language because I see them so often. I just think everyone needs to know how impressive the 7-11 takeover is here. One thing I've learned is Taiwan is all about convenience. 7-11 definitely has the right idea.