Second Week of School & Taipei Trip #2

The second week of class seemed to go smoother but I still have to listen carefully in class to make sure I understand what the teacher is saying. Tuesday July 16^th I felt my first earthquake which was strange because I felt my desk chair and building move but didn’t realize it was an earthquake. The earthquake that I felt was located on the other side of the island in Hualien County and was a 5.3 but I could still feel it in Taichung, turns out that we had 4 earthquakes that day in Taiwan  but I only felt one it’s weird how far one can travel. On Wednesday July 17^th I went to the movie Pacific Rim with 8 other of my language classmates, which is fun getting to know different people. However, when we were waiting for the bus to come a person on a bike stopped and I could see that she was going to come over to us she just kept saying Americans, turns out she was homeless and wanted money. So I guess the Americans stereotype it is thought we all have a lot of money and being college students we don’t have an unlimited amount. But as soon as she realized none of us was going to give her money she got back on her bike and rode off.

Then on Friday our friend Dengxiong took us to eat Korean food with 2 other language classmates at the place he works. I was told that I needed to try soju which is a Korean alcohol that I found to not be a sipping alcohol. We had ordered so much food, we ordered Korean pork BBQ and beef, steamed egg and I ordered Bibimbap (which is a mix of rice, vegetables, and beef). It was so much food that we could not finish it all, had we known that it was going to be so much food we would have known not to have ordered as much as we did. I also got to try kimchi (spicy cabbage) that was very good. I also wanted a picture of how they deliver mail in Taiwan and had to hunt down one to make sure I had a picture.

Saturday we decided we were going to go to Taipei to visit more sites since the first time it rained. We got there and was getting ready to go to our MRT stop but alas I was approached for the first time and asked if I spoke English, and what the swimming stroke was called that the swimmer did not move their torso and I said breaststroke and was

then asked to spell it. It was my most weird encounter since I normally do not get approached when I am with other people. When we got to the MRT stop it was time for lunch so we went to California Pizza Kitchen because I had never been and they had very good pizza.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

Then we went to Sun Yat-sen Memorial (國立國父紀念館) to take pictures then were off to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial (國立中正紀念堂). The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial is a square that has the famous monument and landmark, which was so beautiful to see and then we went to go see the changing of the guards.  After the changing of the guards we went to the museum attached where I could see history of Chiang Kai-shek. We then headed to Danshui (淡水) and ate chicken that was far too big to eat by myself it needed at least 2 people to eat. Then I wanted to go see the traditional market because last time we were in Taipei it was raining and I did not get to buy anything.

After buying gifts I wanted to go to the biggest night market in Taipei the Shilin (士林) night market but we wanted to see if our friend James wanted to do something because he lives in Shilin. He took us to another night market that sold mostly food I would not eat except that I got told that Douhua (豆花) is very sweet and I needed to try it later I found out it was a Tofu pudding. After walking around the night market we were going to try Tappanyaki where they cook the food right where we were sitting. After walking around the night market I kept hearing about the massages in Taiwan but little did I know they are not like the massages in America because they hurt but after getting my back realigned from all the traveling in buses it felt good. It was another good day of sightseeing in Taipei.