Blogs from Tainan, Taiwan, Asia - page 5

Hello friends, It has been awhile, so I wanted to give all of you an update. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I wanted to let all of you know that I finally bought a scooter! So, now I can zip around the city. Actually, I am confining myself to the area of the city I live in (Anping) for now. Once I get my scooter license and have more practice, I will begin to drive in the more crowded parts of the city. Driving a scooter is so fun for me! It's like driving a bike that goes fast :) I feel so much less-isolated now that I have transportation. If I want to go home during lunch or drive to the park, it is easy (plus, I don't have to worry about getting ... read more

Some of you have heard; others maybe have not. Three typhoons whipped through Taiwan last week, with a big one expected on Saturday. Fortunately, people in Tainan were not affected much by the typhoon. The only thing we had to deal with was a lot of screeching wind shaking our windows and a lot of rain. Oh yeah, and we were told to "stay indoors," which was a bit of an inconvenience. For me, it meant stocking up on food & water then watching a lot of TV & movies with my roommate. I must admit that I was a little freaked out. Fortunately, my friends all took care of me, and we are safe :) Unfortunately, people in other parts of Taiwan were affected in worse ways. Due to the great amount of rain received, ... read more

When I stayed at my friend Emily's and everyone was still sleeping at noon, I realized that I missed hanging out with people my age :) Since Emily has introduced me to a few people, my social life is growing. Two weekends ago, we all went to a movie, played pool, & bowled. After a few weeks of wandering around Tainan by myself, the socialization was very welcomed! It also helped that everyone spoke English :) Emily introduced me to her friends Brent & Tammy (a couple.) Brent is from Canada, and Tammy is from Taiwan. Tammy is in graduate school for English Literature, so I offered to help her with her papers. In exchange, she'll teach me some Chinese! Last weekend Tammy & Brent invited me to go dancing with them. Brent came to pick ... read more

A familiar face arrived on Wednesday - Risa "Around the World" Janzen, my roommate from Boston. We have been exploring the city of Tainan since she arrived, and we've also had some "chill" time :) She has been traveling through Asia meeting new friends since February, so she welcomed the chance to hang out with an old friend. On Wed. night, we went to dinner at this little place by my apartment, and I got to taste my first "Taiwan Beer." Basically, it tastes like Bud Light :) For dinner, the menu was all in Chinese, so we asked the guy for anything but not beef. When the dishes arrived to our table, they were....ALL BEEF! haha....it was still good though. On Thursday, Risa came to my school with me to meet the children. When we ... read more

So, I have finally arrived in Taiwan! Actually, I got here yesterday morning. First of all, I am experiencing a bit of culture shock and homesickness (I'm sure that's not a word :)) I'm not sure what I expected it to be like, but I definitely feel lost. Not many people speak English in my little area of town, but at least I have some other teachers to help. Craig & Helena are wonderful! Helena took me to the store on her scooter today, which was quite fun :) Plus, they have a 3-week old baby, who is quite perfect :) They invited me to eat dinner with them tonight - cheeseburgers and french fries! Craig is from Canada & Helena is from South Africa. Back to my arrival story....First, I was scared about getting through ... read more