WOW!! Hard-launching this blog at 8:26 pm while in my sturdy little bed, in my lovely little apartment in Zhongzheng District. It has been exactly one week since I left my (meager, dire) quarantine hotel, and I feel so grateful for the fun people, my kind teacher, and just how quickly everything is moving. It has become so much more clear to me, coming out of quarantine, that I made the right decision to defer. I've never wanted to improve my Chinese more!! Slightly unsettling, however, I am feeling a little sick (my 2 COVID tests have been negative). I am resting for the next few days in my room without going to class in-person. Lemme recap the last few days. August 31, 2022: My first day out of quarantine was a busy day. Indeed, I left my quarantine hotel (good riddance!) as early as I physically, humanly could (I can't wake up earlier than 9:30 am). I ate lunch near my apartment (*picture below on the left!*), registered for classes (snagged a 10:20 am class) and took my Chinese placement test (level 3), went to Ximen to grab dinner (*picture on right*), then scrambled to Ikea before it closed (sadly, did not have the time to buy meatballs). I came home pretty late with a massive Ikea bag full of random necessities to see my roommates for the first time all chatting around the table. They are wonderful. Half of the roommates are foreigners: American (Corinn), Lithuanian (Kamille), Italian (Gulia) and Spanish (Cosima), and the other half are from Taiwan (Roy, Ian, Xiaoyu, ATao). A total of 9 people living here! It's quite funny, Ian is in love with Cosima. I'll keep you all updated. The foreigners talked for a while, but then we split away to each go through with our evening plans. I was going to go out with Leon from Belgium and Ben from Switzerland (met them on the flight from Taipei to Istanbul) to Shida Night Market, but realized that I had a telehealth appointment at 11:00 pm, so couldn't make it :( Later that night, I ran into the Taiwanese roommates--they are so sweet and fun! They go to a performing arts college and don't speak English. We are planning to go to their end-of-year performance in November! Early September, 2022:
A couple notable normal-life things: 1) Orientation was about 3 hours, and we learned...nothing. But, no fret because grabbed coffee & 牛肉面 at a place near campus with some new classmates. 2) It was bound to happen, but 3 of my roommates ended up getting COVID :( they are doing okay! But, I had a sore throat for a few days, so I took some classes over zoom until my sore throat went away. I tested negative 4 days in a row (but still have a nasty sore throat), but I think I'm in the clear. 3) Toured around to Ximen and Longshan temple! 4) Climbed Elephant mountain during sunset with Leon! Had a Taiwan beer at the top. Actually, I like Taiwan beer, and it's only about $1 at 7-11 for a huge can. Some notable going-out things (Another Brick, 23musicroom, TikiTaipei, Triangle, Revolver): Okkkkaaay so Taipei nightlife is actually more bustling than I thought. There's a lot of live music here than in Seattle. 5) Met some fun people from my school (NTNU MTC) at Triangle that I'm getting lunch with next week, also this was crazy: I MET A 20-YEAR OLD WHO WORKS at qfc wallingford???? And went to Garfield?? Wow, it's fate. 6) This 26-year-old Taiwan-Singaporian that we met at the bar was with us for one of the nights, and we were talking about how we wanted to hear I Want it That Way by the Backstreet Boys, and literally~7 seconds later~ the song plays at the concert/bar, and we run up to the front and sing with the singers in the mic. So funny. We ended up seeing him at another bar a few days later, and we had a huge huggg. ALSO, 2 DRINKING TIPS FROM THE EUROPEANS THAT I DIDN'T KNOW: 1) When you cheers your drinks you MUST maintain eye contact until your lips touch the liquid when you sip. It's bad luck and weird if you don't. Did not know that. 2) When you go out, always buy your own beer at 7-11 for less than a dollar, bring it with you to the restaurant/bar where you order a glass of beer, and when you finish your beer from the bar, you sneakily pour your 7-11 beer into the cup. Very very clever.
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施安雅我是個愛喝咖啡 吃東西 和朋友家人在一起的人。我從西雅圖來台灣學中文 學九個月。歡迎! Archives
March 2023
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