The Curtains?

I slept through the entire night on my first night! Hurray! I woke up around 7:30, laid in bed for a while and decided people die in bed so I got up! Checked e-mails, made notes of everything I had done, and waited for the rest of the household to awake. Ali had coffee plans with a friend (I would like to think it was with a secret lova, but she denies it), and planned to pick me up on scooter after so we could go for some hotpot with some friends. She ended up running behind so I went with Nikki in a cab. I couldn’t figure out why Nikki was taking forever to get ready. Turns out my clock was set an hour ahead.

Lunch was amazing! I met a tonne of people and had Thai iced tea. The kind I remember from Australia! After lunch we scooted over to look for an apartment for three of the gals. Rent is sooo cheap here! At one of the stop lights this lady on scooter started talking to Ali and told her I had beautiful skin. I am glad someone other than me can appreciate the pink complexion!

Mik showing us her new mask. People wear these everywhere! I guess they should be fashionable too.

Then we hit up a couple markets, and I bought a towel. Yes, I forgot one! I know exactly where I left it on my bedroom floor. Not that I had room for it anyway.  There are lots of stores around. Only one problem: Everything is one size fits all. Eeek. I hope I don’t need to buy clothes anytime soon!  After this we went for a quick swim at Kelly’s apartment before heading home for a shower.

We went for dinner at this great little place down the street. They cook everything in front of you. Teppanyaki? I think this place is a hidden gem! Depending where I live, I could myself frequent this place. After dinner, we took a cab over to this parking lot where we partaking in the Hash run. I am not sure exactly what it is, but we walked around following chalk marks on the road all around Kaohsiung! It was extremely hot and humid! At the end of the walk, we covered about 5 km, my new Birkenstocks were well broken in, I was sweating bullets, and I vowed to never wear jeans again regardless of bugs being present. The end of the run/walk is in a park, and they “nominate” people for things and then they have to drink beer. It was extremely refreshing in the heat.  Once that ended the rest of the crew decided to head out for some drinks. I had been there just over 24 hours! I was exhausted! So I opted out of the fun and walked home around 11:30.

We walked most of the evening along love river

Of course I woke up at the first sign of light. Ali took me to breakfast at a cute little place called Calorie. Yes they have a place called Calorie, and they serve fantastic food! We then headed to the junk market where I found a cell phone with a battery, and a charger. Of course it worked for the guy, but of course not for me. It was a dud. I will take it back this weekend.

Not French or in Saskatoon, but it will do!

After this we headed out on scooters to monkey mountain to spend the afternoon relaxing at the hidden beach.  There was just us and a few older gentlemen. I don’t think they had seen many Caucasian people before. This was the location of my first photo shoot. A man was taking pictures of the scenery, saw us, and asked if it was ok to take some pictures of us. This old man then came over. He was super shy, and asked the first guy to ask us if he could take a picture of us. He was delighted when we said yes, and he scooted away to get his camera phone.  

Can you feel the serenity? 

Unreal!

Beach bums! First time I had ever saw black sand.

After hours in the sun, we headed to a small roadside café where we had a little snack. We headed back into the city. On the journey home, this little grey thing scurried across the road in front of us. At first I thought it was a cat, but no it was my first Taiwanese monkey! There were many more staring down on us from the embankment! It was a fantastic day! The scenery here leaves me speechless.

Monday was another early morning. I had some breakfast and waited for Leon to come and pick me up! He arrived with his adorable daughter Betty. We went and had my professional pictures taken. Leon warned me that they do a tonne of photoshopping on them and nothing would be left but white. More white is better. I didn’t believe him. I now officially know what my face would look like without freckles, red cheeks, and less eyebrows than I already have.  The photo also makes me look like a convict. A convict without freckles.

We went to get me a SIM card, and this was where I found out my junk phone was indeed junk. I invested in a new one to save myself from anymore hassle.  We dropped Betty off at her school, and I spent the rest of the day apartment searching on a Chinese website. Needless to say it was time-consuming.

Yesterday morning I was once again picked up by Betty and Leon. We headed to the hospital for my health check. They have quite the setup. Betty is a celebrity there since she comes in with all the newbies. She assisted me in disclosing my medical history to the doctor, and double checked that the doctor didn’t miss finding anything in my ears with one of the ear checking things. The health check was a breeze. All the doctor asked me was how long I had Diabetes for, and then she responded with, “Oh that’s a long time” and sent me on my way.  Oh by the way I am obese in Taiwan. They have this nifty little machine that calculates your weight and measures your height at the same time with invisible laser beams (or so I imagine). It then calculates your BMI, and puts it on a health scale. It ranges from underweight to overweight. The child before me was underweight according to the scientific calculations.

Everywhere!

I spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around. I went to a large park a ways away. It has the gallery of fine arts in the centre. BY the time I finished taking in the beauties of the park, it was almost closed.  There was this murky pond that all these children were staring into. Naturally I went over to inspect the situation. In the pond there were tonnes of turtles, a few ducks, and koi fish! It was interesting watching them all interact with another. I wonder what Jamie would think if I got a pet turtle from the brown water?

This is Michelangelo

The next time I attempt to go to the gallery, I will be less distracted! It was just so gorgeous there! It had rained most of the day so everything was covered in raindrops. There was this older man in a marble shelter. He was playing a flute of some sort. I walked around to the other side of where he was to admire a sculpture. I went back to watch him play his splendid instruments, but he had noticed me already and thought I was more interesting to watch than his instruments were to play. Where is my invincibility cloak?  

I could have listened to him play all day

I am still trying to get used to people staring at me. It is such a weird feeling. Children especially are mesmerized by white skin. I thought people were exaggerating about this, but no, the stares never stop. It is such a strange feeling to be watched by everyone.

I was up at 5:30 this morning, but thankfully was able to fall back asleep till 7:30. My room is too bright in the morning to sleep once the sun starts rising. I will have to purchase blackout curtains as soon as I am settled into my own place. *feel free to make a Monty Python joke here regarding curtains J

Today I went out with Jacki. He is a sneaky, independent agent here that helps people find apartments. Unfortunately he is one of the only options to finding places here. It was a total bust. We are going out with a lady named Lillian tomorrow and with Jacki again on Friday.  And by we, I mean Emily and I. She is an ESL teacher from Colorado. She is super nice, and I just found out that her degree is also in anthro. I hope we have a place by the weekend. Wish us luck! P.S. I saw my first rat this morning while waiting for Jacki and Emily. It was in the shrubberies by the McDonalds where I was waiting. I feel like I am slowly piecing together the story of the ninja turtles. If only I liked pizza and brought my yellow jacket.

Almost got my ducks in a row

So most of my days are filled with wondering around. Ali and Nikki teach in the afternoons until around 9 at night. I can only spend so much time in the sun and walking in the humidity. This leaves a fair bit of free time right now. I really think that this is going to be a great experience. It just feels so right. I will be extremely busy once I start training on Monday! I hope, hope, hope I have a place by this time!

Sketch of Kaohsiung in a cafe.

Park, buildings, and mountains. These are my surroundings.

Rain or shine,

Teri