The festivities!
It’s been over a month since my last post, and for that I apologize. I’d like to say that I have been so busy gallivanting around Taiwan, however quite the opposite has been the case. It seems like an eternity has passed, and in a way it has. Where to begin; let me set the scene.
As we prepared for Thanksgiving, Taiwan ushered in wet, cold weather. I was able to fully appreciate commuting to and from work by bicycle in all of its glory. The first few weeks were rough. I lacked waterproof gear, and as a result, for a while I was soaked and miserable. Since then I have managed to obtain a few key articles of clothing and gear, however, I’m still in need of some pants to keep me dry.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with a pot-luck dinner in the dorms. A fair amount of people showed up, both foreign and native teachers. It was a fun night, but the dinner made me miss being around family for the season.
Fun Thanksgiving
A few weeks later I began taking Chinese classes again, however this time I decided to go to a more structured school: National Central University. I like it a lot more than the last class I enrolled in. It is fast-paced, sometimes it seems a little too fast, but we are learning a lot of useful language and given a lot more resources than the other school. All in all I am really happy to be back studying and hope that it continues to go well.
Christmas and my birthday went well. My buddy Scott and I stayed up all night chatting on Christmas Eve, so I spent the 25th quite tired. Me and a few friends went up to Beitou in Taipei, which is famous for hot springs. We spent the day lounging around the springs and then headed back into Taipei and ate some really good Indian food. Definitely the most unusual Christmas I have ever had.
A quick week went by and we gathered again for New Years. A large group of us went to Taipei to watch the Taipei 101 fireworks. I had never done the big city, large crowd New Years event, and am happy that I experienced it. It was a ton of fun and a good start to the new year.
Sweet Fireworks at Taipei 101
Proof we were there!
In two weeks me and four friends leave for Malaysia for a week-long vacation during Chinese New Year. I can’t wait, and hopefully then I will have some more fun photos to share. Hope everyone’s holidays were fantastic!