Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!! 2009....whoooooo hooooo! I hope all of you back home had a wonderful New Year's Eve! I did. I went out with my cousin and had sushi for dinner. Then we went to TGIF for some drinks. After that, we watched fireworks launched off of Taipei 101! It was crazy...hahaha. I recorded it for all you to see. Hope you enjoy it!

...Actually it didn't work....so here is a before picture. I'm working on the video!

Hey all you guys out there! Everyone is all spread out! I hope you guys all had a nice Christmas! I did...going to class and studying for a test! Hahaha. Actually it was a fun day. Class wasn't that bad and I studied for my test the day before anyways. Half way through class...we all took a break and walked to Starbucks. Instead I had my Christmas yesterday at my friends house. I went to TianMu to my Thai friends house. She made us some really yummy...but spicy...food! I am gonna learn how to make it for all you guys back at home! Then after lunch, we hung out and watched a movie on tv. At the end of our little party, we played the white elephant game. I got a hello kitty pen and pencil. Other than that, I didn't do too much this week. This coming week I'm gonna go to Taipei 101 for the New Year countdown. There will be some fireworks...some crazy people around...and definitely some booze! Hopefully I can get some nice pictures for you all to see! Well...back to whatever it was that I was doing... (playing a computer game...hehe).

I didn't get my Christmas tree this year...but, I did get to help my friend decorate hers! Whoo hoo. Hahaha. My cousin and friends got together at one of my other friend's house to decorate her tree. Then we sat around and talked and snacked on some yummy food. She made a really yummy salsa like dish to go with chips. It was really good. I plan on getting the recipe from her! I also went out to buy a coat. Since it is winter time. That was about it yesterday. After hanging out, we went home.

This will be my first time away from home on Christmas. In fact, I don't even get a break! I have class tomorrow. On Christmas! It's ok, my teacher is letting us off earlier than normal. So that's nice. Then my friends and I are thinking about doing a white elephant party on Friday. Other than that, not much going on. I had a huge Christmas party with my family last weekend...which i didn't get the pictures of yet (so y'all have to wait for that post). Well...off to bed! Maybe I'll do something fun tomorrow...and my post will be more interesting!

Yay Friday! Fridays are always so fun because you don't have class the next day. I finally got together with my friends from class and we went out. It was soooooo much fun! I spoke so much chinese too! I went out to dinner to this restaurant that is famous for their Xiao long bao. It was really cheap and yummy too! We got a total of 8 dishes for the 4 of us. The total bill with tip came out to 1,045 NT$ which translates approximately to $35 US. It's so cheap. I only had to pay about $8. And then we went to Starbucks because one of our friends decided to treat us all to coffee. That was so nice of him. So we all sat in Starbucks and drank our coffee's and chatted for about 45 minutes or so. One of my friends is a Monk from Nepal. He is the one that treated us to the coffee. He is the only one of the four of us that cannot speak english. I think that it is fun to talk to him because i'm forced to use the chinese i've learned in class to communicate with him. His chinese is pretty good. The only reason he is in my class is because he cannot read and write. The other two people are from Japan and Malaysia. They are fun too! Then after coffee we randomly decided to go out to drink. So the Monk had to say goodnight (because that's a big no no for him) and the three of us went out. It was fun! I had two...that's right TWO whole beers all by myself...hahhaha! Since we ate so much and then had coffee, we were all too full to drink a lot so we just drank a little and hung out. We knew that we didn't want to have too much because it was getting late, so we went to TGI Fridays. We all decided to go out next week too. Whoo hooo! The plan is to go to a yakatori place. It's a japanese bbq place. On Friday nights, there is a 50% off all beer special. So I guess we have to go check it out...hahaha. Anyways....I had a lot of fun tonight. I hope you guys enjoy my pictures!

If you know me, then you know I love to bake! I finally did some baking this week. whoo hoo! I had to buy an oven from a place called RT-Mart. It looks like a toaster oven with a microwave door handle. As long as it worked, I was happy to get it (which it did). I tested it out this week by baking some banana bread...mmmm. It turned out quite yummy. I gave half of it to my Aunt. Hope she liked it! Anyways, it was exciting to actually bake again. This means that the oven really is an oven and not a microwave! hahaha. I was a little unsure at first because it didn't look like this device was cut out for baking...if you know what mean. So now that I know I am good to go...I have decided to do some more baking. Apple pie! you are next!

Ughhh....I hate being sick! So as you've noticed, I haven't been posting anything in my blog lately. It's because I've been sick all week! And I'm still sick! The picture of the buildings is the view I have from my place. It's the only thing I've been looking at this week. I tried to cure myself with some Robitussin I got from Costco...but that only helped a little. Then on Saturday my Aunt took me to the doctor since I wasn't really feeling that much better. My mom called before I left and she thought I was a guy! That's how icky I sounded! Anyways, I went to the doctor's and he gave me some medicine...we'll see if I get better soon. Like I said before, I didn't do anything this weekend because I was sick...but I did catch up on my Anime watching...whoo hoo! And I got some Mario playing in. That was fun! Besides that...I did some homework and I ate porridge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yum! I guess it wasn't all bad. I actually got to stay home and chill by myself. That's always nice every once in a while. Well...time to have lunch and down some more pills. Adios!

The first week of school is done. And so is the weekend. I had pretty nice weekend. Both days were really eventful. Saturday morning I got up early to go with my Aunt to a traditional Taiwan market. Think of a farmers market except with more than just veggies. On the way there she bought me breakfast. A dan-bing....mmmmmmm....hahahaha. For all you at home, that's basically a thin tortilla egg burrito with some soy sauce. It's quite yummy. Then when we got there it was crazy. I don't remember seeing this kind of thing before. There were a bunch of vendors selling anything from clothes and jewelry to fresh chicken (I'm talking about really fresh chicken if you know what I mean). All of it was fun to experience. Now I know where I can go shopping to get some fresh meats and veggies. Then after the market, I went back to my Aunt's house and she cooked noodles for lunch with all the fresh ingredients she just got. We had lunch...then she told me to go home and rest because we were gonna go out again that night. So I did what I was told. Three hours later we were off again. I met up with two of my cousins and my Aunt and we went to Shi-Da. There we had random things for dinner. I had an Oyster and Egg omelet thing and a piece of fried chicken. Then we got some yummy sweet bread things. It was fun!

Sunday...also a busy day. I met my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins again and we went to Zhong-Li to visit my other Aunt. I got to see my cousin's kids. They love Naruto just as much as I do. Hahaha! I'm such a kid! I spent about 4 hours hanging out there and talking to them. It was fun. After that I went to Hukou and had dinner.

It was a really busy weekend with family. But I can't complain. I have a great family! Well...now it's Monday. Time to prepare for class!

Whoo hoo...Street food! Hahaha. After class today I went to Gong Guan just to hang out and walk around. I decided that I should try and order some food...just for fun. So while I was walking down one of the alleys...I saw some one eating this Chinese bread sandwich thingy...and I was like, "that looks good! I want one of those". I started to look for it. I saw a place that had a nice big line. And it was the place! So I got in line and was like...hmmm...how do I order??? Since I can't read yet...and I had no idea what these sandwich thingys were called, I asked the vendor to give me his favorite one...Hahaha! He understood me! No questions or funny looks! I guess he could tell I was a foreigner. And as I had predicted, it was delicious. It was this chinese steamed bread with pork, parsley, onion, and a peanut topping. Mmmmmmmm!


Oh yeah and here is a picture of my school and my place. The closest building is where my class is. The further building is where my apartment is. I really live about 2 minutes away! All I have to do is cross the street...it's so great! So that about covers what I did today. I went to school and then I went out to eat. Now I have to do some homework!

Yesterday was my first day back to school. It's been a long time! There are a total of 5 people in my class. It's the smallest class that I have ever been in, but it makes sense. It will probably be really helpful to have so few people in a class. I'm in Level 1...whoo hoo...Haha. Class was pretty easy for me. We learned things that I learned in the past. The lesson consisted of tones, pronuciation, and numbers! I think that the first few weeks will be a breeze for me. When we start to do more reading and writing of characters, I think it will be much more challenging and more fun. Until then, I get to refresh my memory of the basics.

Other than that, I've been just doing some homework and watching crappy movies...hehe. Hopefully I'll do something fun sometime this week. I'll keep ya'll posted!

The weekend is over...school starts tomorrow. Ahhhh, what to wear! Haha just kidding. I suppose my vacation is over. It was a nice week. This weekend I got a cell phone. I was soooo happy to get it. I felt oh so naked without one. Now I can call people if I get lost, check what time it is, and hopefully get phone calls from friends! Other than that, nothing exciting happened. I spent most of my time hanging out with my family. Saturday I got the cell phone and then spent the day with my Aunt and my cousin while they went shopping for a lap top in Taipei. Then Sunday I went to Hukou to see the rest of my family. It was fun.

I guess the only crazy thing that happened was my freaking out that I didn't have any hot water for a night. My cousin spent the night with her Dad in another city while I stayed home by myself on Saturday. No big deal...but when I went to take a shower Saturday night...the water was cold! So I decided that I wasn't really that stinky...hehe, and went to bed without the shower. I assumed that I would have hot water in the morning for some reason. But when I got up in the morning to take a shower, the water was still cold! I started to get all annoyed. I kept looking at this gas water heating thingy. I knew that there was suppose to be a pilot light on...which wasn't on...and i didn't know how to fix it. And I was all by myself. So I freaked out.

I had to muster up the courage to call my Uncle for help! So I was forced to speak Chinese!!! I managed to explain to him that the water wasn't hot...and he said he'd come over to see what was wrong...Yay! (He lives down the street) He came over and was like...you need a new battery. That was it!!! Lame....I couldn't figure it out... HAHAHA, at least I have hot water now. I'm such a wuss...and I guess a little spoiled!

That's all I have for you guys now...maybe next time I'll have something more interesting...we'll see, HAHAHA!

So yesterday was a pretty chill day. I didn't do much during the day. Went food shopping at a place called "Wellcome"....don't know why they need the extra "l"... but it's not really my problem. I was pretty happy with the place. I found that I can get produce and meat there, and it's walking distance. I'm still trying to figure out where everything is so that when school starts, I'll be all set.

Then after I had dinner, my cousin and I went to Shilin Night Market. It is the biggest night market in Taipei. There were a lot of "interesting" things there. Definitely a lot of strange foods. I took a picture of one of the street vendor's cart. Mmmmm....ok not really...hahaha! I didn't try any of these foods. It was just fun to look at. The one thing I will for sure try...eventually, is stinky tofu. It's suppose to smell puttrid, but taste good. Not quite sure how that'll turn out...I'll let you know. I spent most of my time at the "claw" game place. I don't know the correct term for these games, so from now on, it will be known as the claw game! Anyways, I played a few and and mostly lost, but i did win twice! I won a mini Super Mario Red Mushroom key chain thingy and a hello kitty bag. I knew what I was getting into with the mushroom...but the bag was the result of picking a box with a prize written on a piece of paper inside of the box. My cousin and I wanted to win a talking stuffed parrot...but no such luck. But you just wait! By the end of the year we'll have that parrot! Hehehe.

Well, that was yesterday...Today I went to the Taipei Zoo. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was. I probably only saw about a third of it. I did of course, made sure that I saw the insectarium! I was quite pleased with it. There were a lot of butterflies. In fact there were just as many cool "wild" butterflies outdoors as there were indoors. I didn't really get to take to many pictures...i forgot to charge my battery...lame... But I did get a few nice ones. So I guess I'll have to go back and finish the rest of the zoo. And I need to pick a nice warm day so all the bugs will come out and play.

Well that about covers these last two days. I have just the weekend left to play. School starts Monday. I'll find out when my classes are tomorrow...then my mini vacation is over. Then hopefully I can talk to people without feeling like a dummy! Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you at home!

So it's begun...I finally made the decision to go to Taiwan to study...and here I am. It's been 5 days. I arrived nice and early (5:45 am) Friday November 21. A whole 25 minutes early! So I sat around and began to take in the surroundings. Since then, I have been to Zhoung Li, Hokou and Taipei visiting all my relatives and then moving in to my apartment. After I got all my stuff put away, I went to school to register. And I found out that I practically live on campus! All I have to do is cross the main street right next to my apartment and i'm not only on campus, but the first building on campus is mine. Ahhh...laziness. How great this will be! Hahaha!

I'm excited to start school again. It's been a while. It'll be nice to know how to communicate with people. So far it's been interesting "talking" to people. Everything I say is so basic that I actually want to stat school soon just so I can go order some food or ask a stranger for directions! I've been relying on my family way too much. One funny thing I noticed is that every time I visit Taiwan, people like to give me free stuff. Hahaha! I was shopping for some fruits with my Aunt and she asked if I had ever tried this fruit called "budda's head" (i'll have to take a picture of it next time)...which I replied that I hadn't. And the owner overheard us and decided to give one to me as a welcome gift. Hahaha! It was yummy.

I know it's only been 5 days, but I miss all of you at home! I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving! I'll try to post as often as I can. My next one will definitely include some pictures. Enjoy the holiday everyone!