Everyone here calls the US the "States." We've even begun calling it that. We've met some really great people already. They are from Canada, South Africa, U.K., Scotland, Flordia, Chicago, LA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. We were a bit weary about meeting our colleagues but after yesterday we're a bit more comfortable.
On Saturday evening we met up with Jos and Frances, some friends we met online prior to our arrival. They had been here for a few days before us so they showed us to a pub. The pub was right next to Taipei 101, the worlds tallest building. It was a western style bar with beer and wings. It was full of Australians watching a soccer match. We ordered some drinks and a quesedilla of all things. It was nothing like it's mexican-american counterpart.
After finishing up we hit up the mall under Taipei 101. This mall was amazing. It was filled with everything from Louis Vuttion to Christian Dior. We of course didn't buy a thing but the window shopping was amazing. And for all my Coach girls at home, I stopped in and the new stuff is so cute! But their customer service was poor, even though we were all rocking their bags. Bitches.
The food is always fresh. We stopped at a smoothie stand and they peeled fresh guava to put in my drink. It was delicious. Our friends then demanded that we needed to see Chinese style condoms. She just marched up the closest employee and asked for CONDOMS. Loud and in English. It was quite an embarrassing ordeal. Get this, their main brand is called STONKER DONKERS. They were available in jean color too!
The jet lag has begun to set in at this point. Rosanna and I were exhausted. We headed back to our hotel but not before stopping at the 7-11. They are on every corner. They are like the Stewarts of Taipei. It's easy to buy things since when they scan items the price in Taiwan New Dollar comes up on the screen. A bottle of water is 25NT but that is about 85 cents in US dollars. Food is incredibly cheap.
But like I said the jet lag is messing up our sleeping patterns. The last 2 days I've been waking up at 5:30am. I can't sleep any longer than that. I'm just wide awake. We've decided this is for the better since we want to get into the habit of getting up early.
Yesterday we also went on a city tour on a bus. Thank god it was air conditioned. We had to wear business casual clothes. What a huge mistake. I was in a button down, khakis and loafers in 90 degree heat with extreme humidity. My hair turned into a curly fro. I think i may need to cut it, sadly. We visited the Chiang Kai Shek memorial. He was the sort of the man that separated Taiwan from mainland China. The views on Taiwan and China are varied. As a foreigner it's wise to stay neutral or even better oblivious.
There was a huge Koi pond at the memorial too and I hand fed some of them. They were gigantic!
That night a group of us met at the lobby to find somewhere to eat. We were given a basic mandarin leson before we left school that day so that we could eat at an actual restaurant. Wo Yao Chi means I want to eat. We learned out to say rice (fun) and dumplings (shui jiao). We walked a could blocks with about 12 people and found a seafood restaurant. The way it works is that you pick your fish out front and they barbecue or steam it in the back. Thank God our friends Clint and Leif know some more mandarin than we do and they took care of ordering everything. We were sat in a back room with large tables with a giant lazy susan in the middle. They put the food and drinks on there and you spin it to the next person. We got 2 large whole fish with rice, steamed spinach, shrimp tempura, salad, beef and pepper steak, beer and green tea. These aren't small plates either, they are huge! They are meant to be shared among your table. The fish were served whole, eyballs and all... kinda gross but once you try it, it's actually quite good. The fish was so fresh it still had the hook in it's mouth. The whole meal ended up costing around 1700NT, which is around $56 US! We each paid around $6.50 a piece for this enormous dinner.
On the way home we stopped at another 7-Eleven. They sell hard liquor, wine and beer 24 hours a day. It's quite weird but convenient. Since we were all rained in, we decided to have a hotel room party. It was nice to get know my colleagues in a casual atmosphere, I'm really glad I get along with them so well. They are quite fun.
The way that one presents themselves is how they are perceived. Like, what you see is what you get. So when Rosanna and I showed up for breakfast in our hoodies and sweats, we stuck out like sore thumbs. We're never going out in public unkept ever again. Ever.
Well thats quite a novel for now. I'm adjusting pretty well, but it's been forewarned that I will experience culture shock. Take care everyone and I'll update after some more training and let you all know how that goes. Zai jian!
