A Broad Reference

My route to class takes me past a little temple/shrine? tucked into the side of a building.

Classes are going well. I've had my first 2 and have finally realized that I've been missing a whole dimension of sound when listening to the aunties and mom talk. I've learned the basic "alphabet" of consonants and vowels, and the 4 tones. I'm struggling with 2nd and 3rd tones, but have the computer lab to practice with.
Today I did 2 hours on the computer and then 2 hours of class.

Afterwards I had a bit of a headache from concentrating so much, and from all the new information I have to store in memory. But I can hear the tones just not say them recognizably. I guess that's a start.
We've agreed that the apartment should be a "English-free zone", so that Dee and I can practice our Chinese.

We'll see how long that lasts...

Evergreen Vegetarian Restaurant:Address: No.38, Sec. 2, Sinsheng N. Rd., Jhongshan District, Taipei City 104, TaiwanTel: 2511-5656/ 25115926 Time: Lunch 11:45~14:00 Tea 14:30~ 16:30 Dinner 17:45~ 21:00

My friend Samson took me to Evergreen with his daughter and her girlfriend. The Chinese name translates as something like "Eternal youth healthy" It was a sort of vegetarian Buddhist restaurant crossed with a sizzler or fresh choice- all vegetables and buffet style, but not just salads (with familiar and unfamiliar veggies including something that looked like jade plant leaves-tangy).

They even had veggie dim sum and a deep fried veggie/tempura station, 6 kinds of vegetarian soup- including "dou jiang" (soy milk "bean soup" and "you tiao" savory donut, Wayne I thought of you),

freshly stir fried station where greens are made to order, a plethora of vegetarian cold "sushi" and many, many hot dishes with mock meat. We also had 2 special ordered dishes of mushrooms and basil in sizzling pot, and seasoned fried tofu (very interesting- salty and crisp edges with succulent melting tofu insides. Unfortunately I was so excited to eat it I forgot to get pictures of those.
The desserts/ice cream bar looked fabulous but by the end of the meal I was so stuffed- han hao chih bao la, that I couldn't eat anything except for the passion fruit (百香果 bǎi xiāng guǒ). Come on I always have room for passion fruit)
Samson had coupons that were cheaper than the menu price, but I think normally it would be about $25 US dollars for 2 people. It's upstairs, and kind of fancy looking, very popular- crowded even. Frequented by monks and nuns in their saffron, maroon and dark brown robes.

Posted by Misty at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Thanks for the emails and positive thoughts.

I'm settling in to my new space, a room in an apartment off the Guting MRT. It's down a little alley that's kind of hidden. You need special instructions to find it. It's a bit spartan and "post -college" style but the room mates are nice and very friendly. Angelica especially has helped me settle in quickly. Taipei loves Ikea it seems. It was very urban feeling to go to Ikea in a taxi rather than driving. Then if you want to buy large pieces, they'll deliver them for a fee. I bought a warm down comforter and some sheets for my bed, I guess I love Ikea too. I've already vacuumed and mopped my floors, which seemed like they hadn't been cleaned since the early Cretaceous. Kinda grotty exterior but what was I expecting for $325/month?

The dogs Dodo and Percy are very friendly, and I've managed to get them to sit and lie down on command. So either I'm the dog whisperer or they speak really good English.

I had my first lesson today, with my teacher Liu Laoshi (sp?) She has been very kind and supportive of my non-language situation. We went over the basic consonants and vowels and started on tones.
One of her instructions was "smile when you say that- it puts the face muscles in the right position". I guess any language that forces one to smile while talking must be highly evolved.

My food allergies have been acting up. Hives every day unless I take my antihistamines, double doses.
I think it's the dyes and preservatives that they use which are very similar (or perhaps identical to the ones in Japan). I don't know if it's an immediate reaction, or an exposure issue, sort of "pre-primed" by my trip to Japan in 2006? Thankfully now I'm in a space where I can control what goes into my meals, so it
should subside. But the food is so delicious, it's hard to say no! I especially love the sushi at the MRT, it's deliciously fresh and costs $2.65 for a satisfying chirashi bento (See pics above).

Had a warm welcome from the roommates who made fried rice last nite. The kitchen is decently equipped, so I expect I shall start cooking soon.

Garbage pickup is a hoot. You wait to hear ice cream truck music, then gather the large bags of garbage and bins of compost and run down to the end of the alley. There are 3 trucks in a row- recycling, food scraps (pig feed/composting), trash. Everyone throws their stuff into the appropriate truck and trundles off home, while the music fades in the distance.

Posted by Misty at 04:22 PM | Permalink

Hi all
i finally made it to Taiwan after weeks of interminable packing like
crazy. It's strange but I feel a great sense of relief and adventure-
Hey I'm finally doing it after such a long time planning.

i managed to get a reasonable flight last minute and landed in Taipei on
Thursday. Of course it was long and arduous as these trans Pacific
flights tend to be. Somehow losing a day in the middle of the flight
makes it longer... I'm suffering from jet lag as usual, but have
decided to try a combination of chemicals- melatonin and caffeine
administered at the appropriate moments to try and reset my clock quickly. so far
it's working great- I'm up at weird hours when nothing is open. But
neat coz it's empty of people when normally it's packed!

Click on the picture to get to the rest of my photos.

From TaiwanTastic

Mom was super worried about me and so booked me into a rather fancy
5 star hotel for my first 4 nites here. Hardly starving student style.
(Thanks Mom!) It's called the Grand Hotel and it was built by Chiang
Kai Shek to host foreign dignitaries. It looks like a temple perched
up on the hill overlooking the city. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's so large I can't actually fit it in my frame. I had my first miscommunication
experience en route from the airport- I took the airbus to the
Grand Hyatt rather than the Grand hotel. Apparently a frequent enough
problem that the bus people were able to get me to the right place
eventually. Have already used the nifty translator tool loaned to me
to get my way out of that pickle (thanks Doreen!)

The hotel has a free shuttle that runs frequently down the hill to
the local subway line, so it's relatively easy to get around.
I've bought myself an "EZpass" which is a magnetic transit card that
allows one to ride the MRT and buses by just swiping the card rather than using
tokens. Have ridden almost the extent of the north-south (Red/Green line) in
search of schools and housing.

Some are cheap but grotty- yuk /
expensive and grotty-no thanks / clean, cheap and far away- well maybe..
BUT just found a place (hopefully- they're talking about it
tonite) but they are pretty easy going so... It's right near language school and the 2
universities where I hope to land a job. I've decided to just get a
room in a apartment month to month rather
than renting my own space so that i have at least a couple of people
to hang out with. in the short run at least i can move
out of the hotel that I've been staying at. 4 nights here is
essentially the same cost as 1 months rent for the room. which i think is the
going rate in the area.
but since they haven't confirmed yet I'll spend the day looking at other places.
I will concentrate on getting a phone on Monday so it's easier to get
hold of me but will be available on skype also.

The weather has been damp raining drizzle and cold 51 degrees C brr but is
still better than the flooding in San Francisco Bay Area, so I reckon I'm doing ok. I had planned on bring
my scarves with me, but at the last minute decided it was too hot for
scarves (aberrant 83 degC btw), of course now I very much regret not
bringing it, since it would have been perfect for the chill which is the norm this
time of year.

Here's my school Taipei Language Institute on Roosevelt Rd.

I've signed up for individual classes for the first month as a way to
jump start my learning, and will move into group classes next month
when the semester starts. School starts Monday and I already have homework!
I've been invited down to Kaohsiung to visit for the weekend.
I'm actually meeting up with a friend from San Diego/Bay Area which
will be nice. It's almost new year so am looking forward to experiencing the traditional Taiwanese version of the holidays.

Unlike the states, all the shops will be closed for 4 days coz
everyone here celebrates the holiday. Apparently one has to plan
in advance in order to not run out.

anyway must go get ready for bed since i'm trying to get back onto a
proper schedule.

ps if you have any friends, relatives or contacts who wouldn't
mind being bothered by me, I'd love to meet some locals just to help
me find my way around. thx

Posted by Misty at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)