Here's a little bit of a recap on the first week or so of my life in Taiwan. And just so you know, my first week has not been overwhelmingly jam-packed with excitement at every turn. It's been slow, but being so void of busyness it's allowed me time to think and prepare for a rapidly approaching semester. Some preparations have included:
- recuperating from jet lag (because waking up at 6am every day and being pooped by 8pm is not conducive to college life)
- reading things that I enjoy (because, being an engineering student, I anticipate having much more school-related reading and writing this semester)
- running and getting lost/exploring (because that's the best way to get familiar with a new place real quick, and I hope to run a race later, maybe)
- trying to use Chinese in normal, everyday activities, like buying food and riding the MRT (i.e. the subway), which has been harder than I imagined
- getting a working phone
- etc.
And now, as you've probably already noticed, I have pictures down below. Some are more relevant to the list above than others.
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The neighborhood area just down the hill from where I'm now staying. In case you didn't
know, lots of people here drive scooters and live high up in apartments. |
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| Running along the river one morning near the Zhuwei MRT station. |
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| The fruit of my first shopping trip in Taiwan: milk, Oh's, apple bread, papaya milk, and Mr. Brown coffee |
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My first relatively Chinese meal (Chinese dumplings and cabbage, shared in
an American home, with Americans, while watching the Beverly Hillbillies) |
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In Danshui, a neat painting of Beethoven painted upside down, completed
in a matter of minutes, and appropriately accompanied by a remix of Fur Elise |
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The riverside in Danshui, a popular place for people of all ages
(especially during the New Year holiday). The riverside itself stretches quite a distance. |
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| They even have Turkish ice cream here! |
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| A rather pleasant portion of my afternoon stroll through Danshui |
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Due to a bit of forgetfulness on my part, I ended up purchasing this little guy
to use while I'm here. Takes me back to my time in Istanbul. |
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| After walking all the way around campus for 40+ minutes, we (the other two from NC State studying abroad at NTU, Caroline and Gloria, and I) finally made it to NTU's main entrance where the iconic library can be seen from afar. We then found out that we could have made it there in under 5 minutes if we had started off going the other direction. Go figure. |
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| This place, very near NTU, is called "Little America" and serves nothing other than fried oreos, snickers, cookie dough, and funnel cakes. I can't imagine anything better for America to be known for. |
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In honor of the Krispy Kreme Challenge this past weekend at NC State, I ate a donut
from Mister Donut. I think this one with the custard filling has already become a favorite
of mine. Buying one also made me wonder what the measure word* for a donut would be...
*(the Chinese language has measure words for specifying amounts of different types of things,
like books 本, bottles 瓶, flat objects (e.g. paper) 張, long round objects (e.g. pencils/pens) 枝,
or people 位 or 個. It's a lot of fun) |
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| My first real Chinese meal ordered in Chinese: fried rice with beef, egg, and green peppers. |
I hope to share a few other thoughts on general Taiwan culture and life in the near future.
Hi Caleb
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