Hey guys. Xiao Ke Ai, reporting in (finally). I apologize for not keeping up with my blogging ~ although I am not sure it has affected anyone, really. I think I am going to shut College Daze down. The main point of it was to keep a tie with my friends and family while I was traveling/living elsewhere. Now that I am home seemingly for a while (two-ish years) it seems pointless to keep it up. I will be starting a new blog focusing on eating Clean and working out while juggling life issues (including motivational tips and recipes and the like). Maybe I will resurrect College Daze when I am once again on the move. Till then, stay cool.

~Xiao Ke Ai

Taipei, Taiwan: Day 2-3

Wow! I have been behind in posting. I didn't have the computer for a few days ~ Erin has been very busy with work. =) Luckily, I have been writing in my journal so I will post days 2-3 here! (By the way, Taiwan is a day ahead of the US so as I post this, it is 1/15...not 1/14).

Day 2

Good morning!

I really wish my camera had not just had the battery die. I just had breakfast (dan bing gan re he nai cha) and wanted to take pictures. Now I am in Daan Forest Park which is gorgeous. It is a two-block long/wide park in downtown Taipei (in the Daan district). It is also the largest park in Taipei. It is roughly 10:00 am and from the bench I am sitting on I can see a group of people on the stage doing Taichi, a guy on a hill sitting on a blanket and meditating (he was doing some exercises earlier ~ I also can't see his face very well - it looks like he either has a full beard or wearing a face mask...) a lady walking her dogs (with a mask on), some park workers sweeping up, a random collection of small spinning (colored) windmills (they look like they are larger versions of children's pinwheels), and some VERY fat pigeons.

**Note**

People are very friendly ~ and forgiving. I ordered breakfast and couldn't find my wallet. The boss kept my food hot for me while I ran back to the apartment (only to find my wallet was in my backpack...) When I came back she helped me and brought my food to me.

I really hope it is not going to start raining... It is so peaceful here... I am slowly falling more and more in love with Taipei. Each experience is teaching me something new - opening my eyes to what it would be like to live here. Today I am going to go shopping. After my morning in the park (yah, I might stay here that long!) I am going to head out to Zhongshang St. It should be very interesting! I will be going on streets I have never seen before with my (very) limited Chinese. This is important. I VOW to improve my listening comprehension and speaking before I move here. Even if I don't move here, I will improve it.

How Embarrassing!

A huge pigeon just walked (waddled) up to me and some guy heard me say, "Hi...big birdie...who is walking up to me."

I will stop for lunch somewhere and then venture to the stores. Hopefully I will be able to pick up

- hairbrush

- hairbands

- messenger bag

- phone charm

- "cute poop"

- interesting piece of cloth

AND find my way back!

Erin says I will be able to buy Chinese/English bibles at the church on Sunday. She and Rick are going to be out of town on a business trip so I might be staying with Erin's friend. After I successfully make it back, I will meet up with Erin for dinner ~ and then we are off to the nightmarkets!

So... I will check in here periodically and let you know how my first day (solo) goes. I really wish I had my camera...

Day 3

This morning I thought today was going to be very boring ~ I woke up and was sore from all my walking yesterday! I went to Matsusei's grocery store and bought breakfast (cereal, milk and a waterbottle and a bottle of water) and then went back to Erin and Rick's apartment. I ate breakfast and watched the rest of Throughly Modern Millie. I then met up with Erin at the Teppanyaki buffet and then met up wit her friend Judy for some more touristic activities. We walked through Daan Park to see the flower market ~ unfortunately it is only open on the weekends (today is Friday). So we caught a bus and visted Taipei 101 (after re-filling my EasyCard at the nearest 7-Eleven). We wandered around Taipei 101 for a while, sat and ate ColdStone ice cream, and talked. (The ice cream here is interesting. It kind of sticks together...when you pick up a spoonful it leaves a trail behind..I don't know how to explain it. The taste is good ~ a little more creamy and a little less sugary). We then walked through Werner Village (the street sign said, "New York New York") and then went to Gongguan. Before bible study we stopped by her apartment and then found some food to eat. (She had a pork bun [which smells delicious] and I had a pastry bun filled with sweet onion ~ fantastic!) ~ There was a seller right next to the bun shop selling stinky tofu...yes...it smells. Will I ever eat it? Maybe. I am open to trying it but the smell is terrible.

The bible study was good ~ each person there had good insights to the passage (1 Peter 1). Although I got a bit bored because I did not understand what was being said (and it lasted for 3 1/2 hours) I enjoyed it and am glad I went. After the study Paul and his friend Kenneth came up and started talking to me. (Judy is a social butterfly and was occupied talking). Paul's English is very good ~ he completed his graduate studies in Atlanta. He is also in a dance crew ~ hopefully I will be able to see them sometime (their name is Oaf). Paul then invited us to a bar (or as Judy says, "pub"). We decided to join them ~ I am glad we did! I enjoyed myself immensely and can't wait to be able to carry on a conversation in Chinese! I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

Judy is such a doll. Her English is great! Although I have only known her for 9 hours, we have already had some deep theological conversations, some good laughs, and some fun outings. Before I got out of the cab tonight she said, "I am glad I know you. You are such a blessing." She is the sweetest. She let me wear a cute hate ~ I need to give that back to her. All-in-all, a very good day!

**Note**

My legs are incredibly sore from all the walking. It makes me happy to know that I am walking so much! =) Today is going to be a little bit of a slower day ~ It is 2:30pm and I haven't done anything but eat and update Facebook. =P Judy is going to call me after she goes to a wedding with her family. Then we will head over to Gongguan and do some shopping. =) I will let you know how it goes! I love you all ~ and miss you... =P

Xiao Ke Ai

Taipei, Taiwan: Day 1

Hey guys. Today was my first full day in Taiwan... =) It feels great to be here...and strangely very normal. Although I am still incredibly exhausted (still feel like the world is sideways?) I had fun. ^.^ Erin and Rick took me out for dan bing and fried radish cakes this morning. Dan bing is kind of a mixture of scrambled eggs, tortilla, cheese (or whatever filling you want), and sweet soy sauce. It was quite good (and warm... XD) Despite how they sound, the fried radish cakes were not bad. Not my favorite, yet, but they were better than I expected.

After breakfast I followed Erin around for a bit while Rick went to work. Unfortunately this is the end of the school's semester and thus the busiest week for Erin and Rick. Erin took me to a large cell phone corporation's headquarters (entirely by accident...the bus driver didn't stop at our stop and took us to the next one...teehee) so she could pay her phone bill. -Interesting fact: You can pay all your bills at the 7-Eleven...unless you pay it late...then you have to go to one of their offices. - We then stopped by her office and then headed out for lunch. We went to a teppanyaki buffet ~ I got to choose from a table full of yummy-looking asian food and then payed NT58 for all of it. (Roughly $2). It was awesome. =) I have decided to save all of my food adventure videos till later so that I can put them all up in one video...and not bore you all to death. They will be up on AmaDruNinja soon. =)

The weather is...typical Taipei weather. =P In the dramas it seems like it is always raining and the characters are running around with umbrellas or forgetting umbrellas or trying to stay warm... Well, now I understand. I learned that there is a belief here that if you let the rain touch your hair, your hair will fall out. I think this stems from the prevalent acid rain in this region... Every place here has a stand outside of the door for you to leave your wet umbrella while you are eating or shopping. It is pretty nifty! All the of the people are super friendly, too. The nice thing about everyone being so friendly is that when you make a mistake or do not know Chinese...they understand and do everything they can to help you. The sad thing is that some people take advantage of this and do not even try to learn the language or culture. Rick told me about some missionaries who have been here for 9 years who do not know any Chinese. That astounds me.

I am debating on what to do tomorrow...I am thinking either going on a day tour of Daan Park and the Taipei Zoo, or traveling on the MRT to see this place Erin was telling me about. (I forgot the name but I will be going there sometime during my stay here...so I will tell you then!) Apparently the zoo has penguins and pandas and polar bears (oh my...?) so I will take lots of pictures/videos if I feel so inclined and post them up here (and/or Facebook) for your viewing pleasure. ^.^

For those of you who were worried about my challenges with directions, please fear not! Today I made it back to the apartment without getting lost (I took a detour through the back alleys... XP). I know the landmarks I need...Erin has given me her business card so in case I get lost I can give it to a cabbie and stalk Erin. AND....she has also very graciously lent me her phone (which has a google maps feature) so I can see exactly where I am and where my destination is. =)

So, I think I am going to go play with uploading my videos and posting them on YouTube now.

再見!