Welcome to Taipei!!!
This past week has been amazing. The city is beautiful, the people are great, everything is better than I ever imagined. There’s been so much going on everyday and it’s hard to find time just to sit down and blog. But don’t worry! I will definitely be writing more frequently once things start settling down.
Taiwan has changed a lot since the last time I was here which was five years ago. The places I used to know so well look completely different. Stores and restaurants have changed which reflects the constant changes that every big city experiences. The first day consisted of moving into the dorms and buying necessities. It wasn’t until my uncle dropped me off at the dorm after shopping did it really hit me that I was on my own. I didn’t know anyone and it was the first time in a long time that I really felt scared. The shock lasted for less than an hour until I met the girls that live across the hall from me. They’re from Singapore and moved into the dorms a week before I did. They invited me to dinner and we ate at Mala King, also called MK. It’s similar to hot pot in the states, but with a lot more variety of food. Everything was so fresh, including seafood, vegetables, sauces, anything you can think of. They even had ice cream!
The first day was a LONG day for me. I arrived in Taipei at around 4:40AM and went to bed at 1AM. I’m surprised I never had jet-lag. I spent the next day exploring the campus and the area around campus. That night, I met Angela from Australia and we really clicked. I met her friends and we all went to a club called Luxy the next night. It’s an extremely popular and expensive club in Taiwan. Clubs are a little different in Taiwan. Although they play American hiphop and the DJ speaks English, people are allowed in smoke inside. And the way the guys dance…well, let’s just say they’re very interesting to watch. I’ve always been warned that Taxi drivers try to rip you off if you don’t know where you’re going and that’s what happened to us that night. The taxi driver pretended he was lost and charged us an extra 150NT so that’s definitely something to watch out for. It might be a good idea to find out ahead of time how much it’ll cost to get to where you want to go, and let the driver know you are aware of the price.
Angela’s friend, who is a Taiwanese local also took us to an aboriginal Taiwanese dance and opera performance which was very interesting. It was at a theater called TaipeiEYE and many of the performers ranged from high school students to middle aged men and women. I especially enjoyed the aboriginal Taiwanese dancing which portrays how Taiwanese people who live in the mountain of Taiwan hunt and gather food. They also asked the audience to take part in the dance performance so Angela and I learned a basic dance. It was so fun. I’m trying to find an aboriginal Taiwanese dance club on campus at NTU so I can learn. I love cultural performances and how it ties so much into the history of Taiwan.
During the past few days, I’ve been getting the know Taipei a little better. I’m learning how to get around on the MRT which is the main source of transportation in Taipei. It’s sort of like BART in the Bay Area of California. I’ve been eating a lot, shopping a lot and visiting a whole bunch of well known landmarks in the city. I have a lot coming up this semester. Some of the students in my dorm are planning a trip to Japan in either October or November so I’m really excited about that. I’ve always wanted to visit Japan! I’ll keep you guys updated. Today is my floormate’s birthday so we’re headed off for Club Wax! I’ll let you guys know how it goes! =)
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