Settled In

Back from Taiwan! Okay, well I've been back for a couple days but I'm finally settling down and getting used to the time zone difference...somewhat. I had SOOOOOO much fun with Taiwan Tara and had an incredible opportunity to travel 14 hours (insanely long time) to Taipei and then Haulien. I was only staying for about a week but Tara made sure I got to take in PLENTY of sights! I was super busy sighseeing, shopping, and eating...and couldn't believe the cultural differences. I ate fried pig skin, goat, and prawn with their little black eyeballs in plain sight. 7/11's in Taiwan are THE BEST. They have actual meals which are Gaysian of course and each time you buy something you get a sticker to put on a "punch card"...except instead of punching the card, you put a sticker on it. I'm doing a bad job explaining and you have no idea what I'm babbling about but you should go and find out for yourself. The night markets were like our version of farmer's markets only with more clothes, jewelery, and stinky tofu...which STINKS. A lot.

On our 2nd night (in Taipei, we were going to a club when a guy fell off his scooter and ate it in the middle of the street and I'm sure he had broken SOMETHING! The next day was my turn to ride on a scooter (luckily Tara drove so I only had to hold on and pray we wouldn't get hit/fall/tip over/etc) Riding on the back of a scooter without the safety of walls around you is nerve racking. However....Tara was a safe driver and after a couple more days, I felt a lot more comfortable as we wove in and out through traffic.

I also went to Tara's school where all the kids told me I was beautiful because they don't see a lot of "foreigners" and our coloring is beautiful to them. I was tempted to stay there because of the self esteem boost. I had a lot of fun visiting with the other teacher's and having tea time. Oh yes. Tea time. Best invention ever!!!!!! You sit and drink tea and talk for a long time! The teachers spoke english very well and I picked up some Chinese from Tara so I could communicate with them a little. Okay, basically all I said was thank you in Chinese (pronouced SHAY-SHAY or SHI SHI depending on your accent)lol.

Tara took all the teachers out for dinner one night and I was so pleased with myself that I took the time to get to know my dinner before eating it. I said hello to the chickens,pigs, and goats on the on site farm that I didn't realize I would later be chowing down on after they'd been killed, fried, and sauced up. It was a fun dinner and though I don't think I'll be eating goat in the near future, I did get a tad carried away with the tempura.

My least favorite part of the trip: tie between super long flight and smelling stinky tofu. There is no polite way to describe the smell.

My favorite part of the trip: EVERYTHING except stinky tofu and the super long flight :)

Thanks to my parents for encouraging me and allowing me to go on this adventure and to, of course, Tara for being a great/generous/amazing/awesome/funny/entertaining hostess and being my tour guide.

Now I'm going to work up enough energy to upload my Taiwan pictures :)