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.