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Published: August 31st 2007
Just the gals
Moi, Nicole, Emily, & Julia having some girl talk :)I am very excited to have a new roommate! Her name is Nicole, and she is from New York City. Since May, she has been teaching in China but decided to transition to Taiwan. She arrived last Thursday, and we had a welcome dinner for her. My friend Tammy came over after the dinner, and the three of us had some "girl talk" for a few hours. I am very happy that I have met so many nice women here to keep me company 😊 On Friday night we just hung out watching movies and talking again. Actually, my back problem crept up on me again, so I've been "laying low" since last week. Unfortunately, my working out had to be put on hold for awhile, so I have to wait to get buff 😞
On Saturday, Nicole and I went to lunch then took the bus from our apartment to Tainan Center (downtown.) We walked to the Confucius Temple, which is the oldest Confucius temple in the Taiwan, built in 1666. The grounds surrounding the temple are beautiful - with rock walkways and fabulous trees. I found the temple and surroundings to be extremely peaceful. The temple is known
as "The Highest Institute" because of the high standard of education and culture that took place there.
Confucius temples differ from Buddhist temples because they do not have statues and are less ornate. I have read that statues and paintings of Confucius were banned from the temples because the people wanted to emphasize honoring Confucius' writings, instead of idolizing him as a man. However, I also read that people simply wanted the Confucius temples to be different than the Buddhist temples, which have many statues of Buddha. Either way, the temple is filled with tablets of Confucius' writings, which are a sight to see even though I cannot read Chinese :-)
After the temple, Nicole and I walked past this little stand that made fresh-squeezed juice (watermelon, mango, papaya, etc.) My juice wasn't sweet (mixed fruit,) but it was refreshing! They tend to put sugar in everything here, so I think it tastes different when you ask for it without sugar. After the juice, we walked to the train station to meet Emily & Kirk. We all had tea before Kirk went to teach his Saturday class. Then, Emily showed us some of the necessary sights (Mexican restaurant,
Confucius Temple
This is actually just one of the little buildings surrounding the actual temple. Indian restaurant, English bookstore, and the University.) I am excited that Nicole is as passionate about food as I am, so we can explore the culinary aspects of Tainan together :-) I've been missing different kinds of food, so it was very exciting to have Mexican food on Saturday night.
Ryan, Mike, Kirk and Julia met up with us for dinner, then we all went back to their apartment to have some drinks. After that, we went out to The Orient again. I wasn't going to dance (because of my back,) but somehow I ended up out on the dance floor anyway ;-) Nicole was teaching in a small city in China before she arrived in Taiwan, where they did not have dancing. Being a dancer, she was excited to go to a club and really dance. There were so many foreigners there on Saturday night! It seems like it is really easy to meet people here, now that I am venturing into the main part of town. This weekend will bring new adventure, so stay tuned for another update :-)
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