Let the count down begin...

Hi guys,

I am here enjoying every bit of Taiwan. Today as I started to think about what I should write, I realized I am officially in the "contagem regressiva " phase (aka. count down). Most the friends I have here will soon leave to go back to their home countries for the summer as well.

First things first, when I first arrived I was worried about A copa do Mundo. Last night proved that I had nothing to worry about. The friends I have made here are wonderful and we had a blast in this Western/Canadian Bar last night. We arrived just in time to watch the second half of the Portugal game- which proved to be less than exciting! Then with two hours to kill... WE DANCE DANCE DANCE, from Axe Bahia to Daniela Mercury. I love dancing more than anything. I feel so free, accomplished and filled with happiness. I should do it more often. It was so much fun sharing my culture with my friends. It is nice to see people from all over the world hanging out, having a good time! I am going to miss this. I am going to miss speaking Spanish, Portuguese and English all in the same night with group of friends. I am going to miss learning about others, and meeting random people. Last night, we met this very nice European (at least at heart she was!), we talked, she danced samba with us.
I wanted to tell you all about Bujin, she is Mongolian but a Latina at heart. She is the life of the party and has an amazing voice! Last night I wished for longer time in Taiwan, to get to know these individuals better.
Prized Moment
I got the bar owner- a Canadian to lower the price of our food and drink! :) Now, that's something I am very proud of, because he was not happy about it! Woooo finally my haggling skills are even working on printed menu prices! Maybe I should try it in the U.S..... HA HA HA.

Here are some pictures from last night! We also packed 6 people into a cab.

Dede, Bujin and Maria-Liz

Ruth no batuque!

These are my awesome girlfriends :)
Getting my face painted! ohh yea... Brasillllllllllllllllllllllllllll


Singing the best National Anthem in the World :)

I apologize the video is sideways. I really should learn my lesson and stop doing that! Bujin, THANK YOU! :)

Lesson Learned
If you are even in Taiwan and you want to do something you think is not okay- do not I repeat do not speak Chinese or Taiwanese. People here tend to allow foreigners to get away with more, I don't mean in a bad/good way. Things like seem so reasonable like, please do not turn off the cable (for the TV) at 11pm because it is the World Cup ( backtrack: M-Th the TV is disconnected at 11pm. I am serious) the respond Ok and turn it off anyway. I am not sure why, but okay does not mean okay. It means I listened but I may still do what I choose. Instead I have now learned to just not ask. I do. It works.
Trip to Yanmingshan Mountain

Remember a few weeks ago, when I mentioned I wanted to go to this park but it was raining? Well, it rained when I went last week too. However, this time I went with Minling and her sister- in a car! My second car ride in Taiwan. I am a lucky girl :) Miling has been wonderful with me. I hope to be able to take her out and about when she visits me in SC!
This park is more like a small city, many people live in there, including the president of Ming Chuan University. As you might have guessed mostly wealthy people live there.

On my way to the park I realized- this all looks so familiar. I felt like I had been there already. Within seconds of that thought I saw the hot springs I had been to a couple of weeks ago. This made me feel like I am really getting used to being here and learning my surroundings well. Minling was impressed I knew where I was! :) Thank you public transportation, for forcing me to be aware of my surroundings.

What a view!

Purple sweet potato, it was delicious!

After the park we went and grabbed some lunch. Miling shared with me that this was her mother's favorite restaurant. The parking situation is precarious, I can't believe we did not fall off the cliff- okay I am exaggerating, but I was scared! It was muddy, slick and raining, but Mingshi is a fierce driver! We survived and it all worked out! Here are some pictures from lunch!

This is a mountain vegetable that tastes bad but is good for you. So it is only natural that we eat it! I really applaud people here eat things because they are healthy not for taste. I wish I could do it too! I did eat this and it was okay. Never something I would crave. The white stuff is egg!
You asked for a whole chicken! It comes with the head as well :)

Chinese wild mushroom is scrumptious. I think I ate half of that plate by myself. I will miss that and the Water Spinach (which always makes me think of Rachel H.) Ps. The chicken leg is in the middle of the chicken plate. That was different.

Sorry for cutting this one short. I plan on adding more pictures later. The connection is terrible. But MCU graduation photos to come!
Ming Chuan University International College Graduation
June 13, 2010

Anything else you all would like to know?

Observations...

Hello Everyone,

First of all, sorry for not posting in a little while. This time I wanted to share a couple of things I wrote down today at work. I kept thinking to myself, if I were asked to give a presentation about what I learned in Taiwan....what would I say?
I came up with a list of things that were interesting/different. This post is not meant to pass judgment, I just wanted to share them with you in case you were interested. Here it goes:

1. People eat all the time
2. Students/professors do not dress-up for presentations
3. People recycle a lot
4. Printing two pages in one side and reusing the back of the sheet is common as well
5. Cups have a plastic seal- no matter where you buy it from
6. Students can have finals after their graduation ceremony
7. No December commencement ceremonies
8. Residence halls do no have an oven
9. We are currently in 99 not 2010 ( figure it out!- hint: 1911)
10. Secretaries do a lot more than clerical tasks- they would be Advisors/Coordinators in the U.S.
11. All MCU students eat lunch between 12:00-12:50pm
12. One may nap at your desk after lunch
13. People will do anything to help you. If you ask, you shall receive!
14. Birthdays are not a huge deal
15. You do no buy your drink where you buy your food

These observations are personal and is not representative of the entire country.

What else would you like to hear?

FOOD

Katy this is for you! I drank this sweetened soy milk and it was delicious! I can get used to that. ps: This is a drink from Thailand.
I have eaten these dumplings twice, they are very tasty! In case you were wondering... I did eat all of them. They only cost 45NTD- food is cheap over here. In case you felt like you had seen enough about food. Here is so more. After going to a traditional Japanese Hot springs on Saturday, my friends and I went to a Korean restaurant. Needless to say the food was to die for- it was spicy but I loved it. I ordered kimchi fried rice and look all the food I got. All for 90NTD.



I should mention more about the hot springs. It was definitely and experience- a great one. I was not aware of the proper attire, until we were on the train. But I got over it before we even arrived. The place was gorgeous, we were in the mountain and the view was beautiful. Thankfully it was not sunny outside, instead it was dreary and wet- which made for an even better Hot springs day. If you ever get a chance- try it. I have never been so relaxed before. I enjoyed the women trying to speak to me in Chinese- as if I could even say where I was from- but they tried. As the southerns would say- "bless her heart."Oh yea...I thought this store was selling scooters....well it turns out it is a parking lot. Why didn't I think of that?

Hope everyone is doing well....

Next time I will be telling you all about their graduation ceremony. I will be attending one on Saturday.

INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE PROM NIGHT

Here are some pictures from the Masquerade Prom I went to this past weekend
Notice my awesome mask. It represent BRASIL! :) My awesome roommate- Ruth- bought it for me. This is the nicest dress I brought from home, I did not know I would be going to prom... well it was very fun. We had a live band, food, and friends. I enjoyed myself. Prom was not like High School, but everything looked great. It was smaller scale, and started at 6pm, by 9:30pm I was already home with my friends opening a can of beer. Classy huh? We were just

Gaby & Irene

Everyone dresses up for Prom :) Love it

Gaby, Ruth & Maria-Liz
I am going to miss these girls

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUTH!!!!!!

Kimchi Pizza

I don't even know where to begin! This past few days have been full of new experiences, from eating a an egg and corn tortilla for breakfast to getting help from a complete stranger. I went to Taipei for the first time alone and also almost missed the last bus to MCU. I have strengthened my friendships and made new friends. I have had deep meaningful discussions with my supervisor and have learned more about Taiwanese culture than I could have expected. Boy, am I lucky!

Not to mention-- I am coming home to a new house! That is right. Joe has already moved all of our belonging and cleared-out the old apt. WOW. Talk about a crazy week. :)
I tried looking for a picture, but thankfully all of the listing websites have already deactivated the real state post. We will have to wait until Joe sends me a photo to see it ! It is a beautiful home in Irmo, South Carolina. This will help shorten Joe's long commute to work, which is/was 35 miles each way :)

As usual, go into more details regarding the highlight of my week.

The photo above is the breakfast my thoughtful roommate bought me earlier this week. She has been so good to me. We have a great time together! I will be honest, when she told me she was going to get my some food- I was worried! After I saw what was in the box- I was delighted! I love eggs, tortilla and corn... I knew this was a great idea! I am sure this is not called a tortilla here- but that's what I call it!

On Sunday, Lily took me to Yilan there we went to the National Center for Traditional Arts. This place was absolutely gorgeous. There was green everywhere, and shops, lots of shops. It was more than a museum it was a small city...seriously!
(Side note: I got a traditional Taiwanese dress tailored there- it will arrive in 2 weeks!)

We met up at the Taipei Main Station, for anyone who has been to there knows that meeting there may not be the best idea. Kudos to Lily for asking me first if I knew where I was going- which I thought I did. Until our meeting time came and I was still lost inside of the station. I called her and apologized and said- "Lily, I am lost." She quickly replies, get a Taiwanese person to talk to me, they can tell me where you are. I grab the first person I see and basically give her the phone- luckily people in Taiwan are too nice not to help!!! Within minutes of this friendly encounter, Lily shows up!

We took a bus to Yilan, and in the National Center for Traditional Arts we watched a performance. I am still not sure exactly what it was about- but the kids went crazy for it. I do understand that some of the characters are the mascot for Seven-eleven- you read it right- 7-11. Not only are they more common than people here but their mascots are idolized by the children. Check this video out!





There was a lot to do and see over there. I saw a number of cooking tools used many many years ago. I walked into the house of Chinese scholar- sorry I am terrible with names- and learned that Lily's grandmother still cooks on old oven. Which looks something like this:


The cooking bowl should fit inside the whole, so that the heat will be surrounding most of its surface area.

After that we had lunch- yummy Japanese lunch. I told Lily that I loved rice....so we had rice with our meal. Can you find it?




You probably guessed it- It is a rice omelet. Does life get any better? I love eggs and I love rice, but honestly I never ever thought of putting those two ingredients together. What a genius idea! This is something I will take back with me and incorporate into my life :) I never pass up a good meal! The breaded pork was delicious as well. And the tempura was sweet potatoes- for desert! I was very full after this meal.

Next we headed to Jiaosi- which does not have its own wiki page- I am sorry. This city has been famous for its hot springs and resorts since the Japanese colonization. Can you even call it a colonization? Well, we can talk about it later!
I took this picture because it gives you a glimpse at what the people here are like, and what they value.

Yes it was raining. Why didn't you think of keeping your umbrella open while you put your feet into the hot springs? I was so amazed at the amount of people that came out on a Sunday to play in these springs even though it was raining!!! Lily shared with me that people in Taiwan believe that bathing/swimming/relaxing in the hot springs is good for your health! I enjoyed sitting with Lily with our umbrellas open sitting on my Brazilian Havaianas (to not get my butt wet) and chatting about the teenagers standing fully clothed in the water! (Of course my shoes fell in the water, I am too clumsy. Surely you all expected that from me!)



Before we got to this hot springs- which was free by the way! The fancy resorts were full of young people, according to Lily which was why this place was filled with children and an older crowd. The young professional had their private hot springs in their bedrooms. WOW! Can I go too?
One more piece of information- traditional Japanese hot springs are enjoyed in your birthday suit and separated by gender. Anyone willing to give it try?Why not!


Back to my story- Lily saw these oysters and really wanted to have them. Lawrence I definitely thought of you when I saw how they steamed. It took a few seconds on this grill before they served it to us- mind you it only cost 100 NTD which is about 3 dollars.
Here is the proof that I ate it. I just could not pass up the opportunity to try something new- from a street vendor! This one was for Felipe and Lawrence. Hope you both enjoy it! It tasted fine, but then again, I will not crave it. I need to eat it at least ten more times before I can love it! Oh yea, I did like the spicy sauce you were supposed to eat with it.

Back to work! This is a typical day at work.


Totally not true! I promise I have many responsibilities- but I adore these people! They refer to themselves as "SHE." From left to right, Silence, Humor and Energy. From my perspective it is totally true! They are graduate students in Education and have been working very hard to complete their thesis. I have read their abstract and know their findings but unfortunately for me I cannot read Chinese... I guess I just have to believe them! :) They will be presenting in a conference this weekend and defending next week- only then we will be able to hang out after work! I can't wait!!! Almost forgot to tell you- we are eating seaweed chips/snack-from Korea. It is not a mustache guys. I swear! No comments on the taste.

More food!!! On Saturday I had great plans to go to Yangmingshan National Park and from the last post you know that it did not work out. Instead I took the train to Taipei and went to the Technology district only to find an open market- filled with food!


I found the green onion cakes again and could not pass it up. I love them!!!!! Another thing I will take back with me. Or at least try to replicate it!


Then I went to a mission to find the Miniature Museum of Taiwan! It was fun. I enjoyed walking in the city alone and just thinking about my experience thus far and what else I want to accomplish here.


Ikari Coffee, this restaurant/coffee shop was to appetizing to resist! It tasted just like it looks, unbelievably delicious. Oh oh oh... The small plastic cup next to the drink it not half-and-half like you might think. It is simple syrup. They are very smart- you see sugar does not dissolve very well in cold drinks to solve the problem that you instead! LOVED IT!
I have more to say, but I think I have reached the limit on the photos I can upload on this post! I will come back soon. I need to tell you all about my experience eating kimchi pizza.

1 st week in a Dormitory...

First things first. This is a sign I saw when I went to a restroom... I could not stop laughing.

I forgot to tell you all about this delicious shaved mango ice cream. Notice that the mango is fresh, they would never serve it frozen. Loved it. We ate this in the Food Court close to the Shilin Night Market!




I have been holding off on writing this next entry for a little bit now. Mostly because I have not done anything extremely exciting- I blame the weather!
For example, this morning I had made great plans to go to Yangmingshan National Park. Only to wake up to crazy thunderstorms... I decided I would be brave and go anyway, but I would check the hourly weather. Epic-fail. It is going to rain from now 9am until 11pm. My next step was to look up activities I can do in a rainy day- no luck there either!
As of right now I am still deciding whether I should just go to Taipei in the rain, and visit the Miniature Museum and grab some lunch then head back to my dorm ...or not!

Let's go back to what has happened in this last week. I have been very fortunate to have met two wonderful friends that live in the International Student Dorm. Ruth and Maria-Liz, they are el-Salvadorian and Paraguayan respectively. Who would have thought that I would be speaking Spanish in Taiwan?? That's right..me neither! Do you know what this means? I have friends to watch the World Cup games. I am thoroughly excited about that!

Maria-Liz took me out to dinner earlier this week. We went to a Thai restaurant, boy am I a fan of Thai food. I am not sure if I had ever tried it but all I know if I love it! I will be going back there more often, maybe even tonight.This is what was left of my dinner. Sorry I forgot to take the picture before I ate it! Ops..Next time!

One more food picture! This week I have been eating "lunch boxes" at work for one reason or another, mostly they there are events I seem to be eating them. Of course I am not complaining, I really enjoy them. Yesterday I was offered a choice of what kind of lunch box I wanted, I chose the friend chicken... well I got what I asked for!!!!See if for yourself.

You cannot see from the picture, the chicken is on the left and my lunch box is awesome, admit it! Notice that my juice is the size of a child's juice box in America. This is an observation and not a complaint.

Keep reading!!!

First day of Internship.....

Today was my first of my internship. Can you believe I did not feel uncomfortable? I know this is a new place and like every time I go to a new place I feel different. But people really went above and beyond today to make me feel at home. It was a nice touch. My supervisor called me this morning to make sure I got on the bus, then she waited for me on the bus stop, so I would not get lost or feel lost at any moment. She walked me through everything I will do, took me to meet everyone I will be working for.

Today I met Polar Bear, he is a very nice person. His real name is Ernest, well at least it is his English name. I was able to participate and contribute to a graduate course today. I am so glad I paid attention in class at USC. I used a lot of what I learned today to explain the Higher Education system in the US among other things.
I have to continue to emphasize just how nice everyone is here. I got to my dorm this afternoon, and realized that I did not have a mattress. I know- why would there be a bed without a mattress? Well, I have no idea, and I didn't check. Okay, backtrack; my bed is a bunk-bed with my desk underneath. Now you have a better idea of what it looks like-- here is a picture.

I mentioned to my roommate who quickly said, I have two mattresses I will let you use one for tonight. What? Why would you have two? Well it turns out these are the ultra-thin pads some people use for sleep. Now that I think about it, it will be good for my back! The point is, she was willing to give up half of her cushion for a night for a complete stranger... I have no words to describe how compassionate and caring people have been throughout this trip.

As most of you have heard by now, Joe and I closed on a house earlier today! So, when I get back I will live in a different home. That's right, Joe will be moving us out and in without my help or input-which can be dangerous..hahah jk! I trust him.

I got to talk to my mom and dad today and I was nice! :) I miss them a lot too.

Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!!!!

Gaby

Making my own Hakka Tea...

Short Trips around Northern Taiwan

Yesterday we went on a long day trip. We first went to Beipu, then to Yingge followed by Sansia.

Beipu




This city is known as the center of Hakka culture, especially for its special Hakkanese blends of tea and nuts called leicha. What you see in the picture is a map of the village we were we visited. I asked two new friends, Stella and little Ivan to stand with me in the picture!!! They are very nice and in fact they are what we might call in the US group/Orientation Leader for the icoming international students. According with what they told me, they are in charge to showing the new students around Taiwan. They were awesome. As always they made us feel at ease and welcome! One of them works part time in the office I will be interning for, I am looking forward to working with her!!! Although I have only been here for 2 weeks I have been able to connect with a number of people and this has enhanced the quality of this trip. I say thit because, it is important to interact with the locals when traveling and such interaction can be very difficult when you do not speak their native language. Lucky for me, they all speak English.


This is my Hakka Tea!

Back to the Hakka people, while we were there we got to make Hakka tea/Leicha. Below is a video of part of the process. Also, I have included a picture of the ingredients and if I remember correctly they were, green leaf, sesame seeds cooked and uncooked, green tea powder, sun flower seeds and I am forgetting on last ingredient- ops!
As you can see from the pictures it was a lot of fun! I enjoyed the process of making tea more than the actual tasting of it.





Yingge

It is a town located in Northern Taiwan as well. It is famous for its production of ceramics. ( If you want to know more just google it).
Since everything is so inexpensive here I feel like I can shop all day long and not feel like I broke the bank. This was one of those days...I usually dislike shopping because it means spending lots of money--but not here!

Taipei County Yingee Ceramics Museum

What a small world- this art exhibition belongs to a professor at the University of South Carolina.
Her name is Virginia Scotchie, she is the head of the ceramics department at USC. You can find more information about her and her work here: http://www.virginiascotchie.com/

Tiger Dance




Sansia




The main reason we visited this town was to see the Zushi Temple.

This is what wikipedia and our guide shared with us --Zushi Temple (袓師廟)- The most important religious site in Sanxia. Originally built in 1769 by Fukienese immigrants to Taiwan, it has been rebuilt three times, of which the last effort (beginning 1947) is the masterpiece of renown Taiwanese artist Li Meishu. It is considered by many to be the most intricately sculpted temple in Taiwan.






When I took this picture I wished for Joe's camera. I knew my camera would not do the scenery justice, but here is my best attempt. As you can see in the picture this a narrow street. It is not actually used for cars, which makes me very happy! I did not even see scooters come through either.

It was so hot yesterday I really thought I was going to melt. I think I will be bringing my umbrella out on sunny days, the Taiwanese have the right idea. They use their umbrellas as parasols... It works!!!

At night Rachel and I went to the Night Market, we are getting much better at ordering without having to struggle a little. We also had deliciously sweet mangoes. I know you all keep reading about me eating mango, but the U.S. does not have great tasting fruit in general. For example, I heard yesterday that not all grapes have seeds-- hummm... really? OK. We will leave it at that. I do not wish to start this kind of conversation on my travel blog!!!



One thing I learned today: In Taiwan, you can always find restrooms at Temples and MRT stops! This is very important to know, since restrooms are a scare commodity here along with trash cans.





GOING TO TAIPEI 101 today!