First Week of School Recap

So the first week of classes are over and we have worked out all the kinks in our schedules. I have switched out of my original class and into a much better class. I took a pronunciation class and after my third day of class I spoke to the Pronunciation teacher if she knew of a better teacher that was more likely to speak english and teach me Pining, the english equivalent of the chinese alphabet, so she suggested her own morning class. So my schedule has not changed and I am in a much better class.

We have been eating a lot of the local stuff and we have also been walking all over the city to find interesting little stores and places in addition to familiarizing ourselves with the city center. We have walked to Sogo and Breeze, the big malls, and also all the way to Taipei 101. Who ever says walking isn't an exercise is doing it wrong. My legs are killing me from all this walking and stair climbing, 190 stairs to my class on the 10th floor. All this exertion explains how people here eat so much.

In addition to our normal classes we have also been attending some additional classes such as Taiwanese and Cuisine and Dining. We are going to start watching the chinese movies as well. We have to accumulate 15 hours a week of classes to qualify as full time students for our visas and our regular only counts for 10 so we will be getting credit for the movies as well as the other classes we are taking. I have taken a few tests already and feel very comfortable in my abilities to learn quickly and stay at the top of my class.

Been eating a lot but my camera is heavy so it hasnt been making it out into the heat or into the rain so not many pictures. I am becoming a big fan of the bakeries here, though its a little difficult to figure out if the baked goods are dessert like or snack, meal like.

Best food of the week has to be the Green onion pancake that are fresh here. You can buy them frozen in the US. Each goes fro about 25 NT so for two its just a little over a dollar. One of the few places that is open for me on my way to school at 8 in the morning.