WARNING: THIS POST MIGHT TAKE YOU ABOUT 20 MINUTES TO READ :)
Anyways, its been a few d
ays since I have updated. These last few days (Saturday and Sunday)we have had free time to do whatever we want without a guide or anyone showing us around. I feel like we have really been able to explore and get a good sense of how people of this culture lives. Saturday morning we all slept in a bit. We made plans for the day to head to the main part of Taipei City where we just wanted to explore. Five of us left to go to the Technology Park where there are hundreds of stores selling different types of electronics. Daniel decided to buy a netbook so we spent a little while asking around to find the best prices. When he decided on a netbook to buy, the salesperson who barely spoke English asked "You want operating system in Chinese or English?" Daniel responded with "English" so he motioned for us to follow him and he led us outside of the building and to the main headquarters for his business. It was MUCH different than buying a laptop in the States. Oh, also I had the most delish ice cream cone I think I have ever had. The ice cream was vanilla and chocolate with chocolate chips in it but what made it much tastier was the cone. It was like a sugar cone except the cone was hard bread. I don't know how to explain it. But it was good.
ays since I have updated. These last few days (Saturday and Sunday)we have had free time to do whatever we want without a guide or anyone showing us around. I feel like we have really been able to explore and get a good sense of how people of this culture lives. Saturday morning we all slept in a bit. We made plans for the day to head to the main part of Taipei City where we just wanted to explore. Five of us left to go to the Technology Park where there are hundreds of stores selling different types of electronics. Daniel decided to buy a netbook so we spent a little while asking around to find the best prices. When he decided on a netbook to buy, the salesperson who barely spoke English asked "You want operating system in Chinese or English?" Daniel responded with "English" so he motioned for us to follow him and he led us outside of the building and to the main headquarters for his business. It was MUCH different than buying a laptop in the States. Oh, also I had the most delish ice cream cone I think I have ever had. The ice cream was vanilla and chocolate with chocolate chips in it but what made it much tastier was the cone. It was like a sugar cone except the cone was hard bread. I don't know how to explain it. But it was good.
After, we decided to meet up with the other group that were in Ximen. We had never been there so we hopped onto the MRT(subway) and headed to Ximen. As soon as we
walked up from the MRT we saw TONS of people. Mainly younger people that are my age. Here, there were many stores with clothes, shoes, and accessories, and lots of food. Nike shoes are big here. Everyone wears Nike and Converse. I will have a pair of Nike's before I come back home if its the last thing I do haha Oh, also everyone here wears shirts with English writing on it. I have only seen one shirt with Chinese written on it. We have noticed that many of the fashions here mimic our styles. We walked around and made friends with several of the Nike employees that seemed excited to speak to us in English.
walked up from the MRT we saw TONS of people. Mainly younger people that are my age. Here, there were many stores with clothes, shoes, and accessories, and lots of food. Nike shoes are big here. Everyone wears Nike and Converse. I will have a pair of Nike's before I come back home if its the last thing I do haha Oh, also everyone here wears shirts with English writing on it. I have only seen one shirt with Chinese written on it. We have noticed that many of the fashions here mimic our styles. We walked around and made friends with several of the Nike employees that seemed excited to speak to us in English. Then we got back on the MRT and went to a different part of the city where there is a large bookstore. Since I can't read Chinese, I sat outside with Daniel and we talked to a man who was walking his dog. They have different dogs here. This man's dog was so pretty. It was a big fluffy bear looking dog from Switzerland. After they were done at the bookstore, we all split up into two groups again for the night since we all had different things we wanted to do.
Daniel, Rob, Lily, and I found an American Restaurant that we wanted to try. We stayed for a few hours there because we were so tired from walking all day. Then around 8pm we headed back to Sansia(where we are staying) and went to The Garage, a place where we have made friends with the owner very close to our dorm. We ate there and met many of the owners friends. We seem to be learning a lot about the culture from these people because the are very friendly and answer all of our questions and correct us on our Chinese when we mispronounce things. We are so shocked by everyone's hospitality here. After a long day we headed back to the dorms to meet back up with the others.
(Sorry, this one is going to be extremely long... if you are bored its ok for you to stop reading, but I am about to tell you about one of my favorite days so far hahaha)The next day we all slept in since we were up so late the night before. By sleeping in I 
mean we slept until about 10:30 (I slept the latest out of everyone haha). Daniel had his heart set on hiking. So he picked a mountain for us to explore and we went. Daniel, Daniel, and I set out on an adventure of a life time. We got onto the bus that takes us to the MRT and rode for about an hour to Northern Taiwan. Where we went is a poorer part of the town. There were a lot of farming areas. As soon as we got off the MRT we saw a sigh that pointed us in the right direction for our trail. We had about a mile and a half or maybe 2 mile hike UP the roads to get to the beginning of the trail. Just before the trail we saw a huge stair case leading up to the unknown so we had to 
check it out. At the top was a pretty little park with a small pond and many locals having picnics and relaxing. After our first pit stop we kept on going. The roads leading to the trail were very VERY steep. Little did we know that the first 600-700 meters were 90 degrees UPHILL. It was so steep that they put stairs on the trail. As painful as the first 20 minutes of the hike were, it was so worth it. When we FINALLY reached the top of the mountain, we were met by a magnificent view of the entire city. This picture doesn't even capture how beautiful Taipei City looked from the top of this mountain. The view was breath taking and we were just in awe of the sight. When were had taken it all in, we continued down the trail until we found our way back to the MRT.
mean we slept until about 10:30 (I slept the latest out of everyone haha). Daniel had his heart set on hiking. So he picked a mountain for us to explore and we went. Daniel, Daniel, and I set out on an adventure of a life time. We got onto the bus that takes us to the MRT and rode for about an hour to Northern Taiwan. Where we went is a poorer part of the town. There were a lot of farming areas. As soon as we got off the MRT we saw a sigh that pointed us in the right direction for our trail. We had about a mile and a half or maybe 2 mile hike UP the roads to get to the beginning of the trail. Just before the trail we saw a huge stair case leading up to the unknown so we had to 
check it out. At the top was a pretty little park with a small pond and many locals having picnics and relaxing. After our first pit stop we kept on going. The roads leading to the trail were very VERY steep. Little did we know that the first 600-700 meters were 90 degrees UPHILL. It was so steep that they put stairs on the trail. As painful as the first 20 minutes of the hike were, it was so worth it. When we FINALLY reached the top of the mountain, we were met by a magnificent view of the entire city. This picture doesn't even capture how beautiful Taipei City looked from the top of this mountain. The view was breath taking and we were just in awe of the sight. When were had taken it all in, we continued down the trail until we found our way back to the MRT.
We were soaked from sweat from head to toe. Too much information? Well this is necessary information so that I can tell you how awkward and out of place I felt being on the subway first off, being an American, and second off, being nasty. BUT then I heard someones ringtone go off playing Justin Bieber's song Baby that I absolutely LOVE and felt right at home. Also, side note: I'm on a Justin Bieber kick today. OH, I almost forgot. I saw my first cat here yesterday. Daniel made the comment that it must have escaped. Either he is right and the rumor is true about eating cats here and that is one lucky cat, or Chinese people just really hate cats. I will find out the truth and get back to you on that one.
Well after our long ride back, we took showers and headed to The Garage where we talked to our friends for a little while. But we were so exhausted that we only stayed a short while and went to sleep.
Quickly I will recap today(Monday) so far. This morning we had Chinese Language class. We are sparated into two classes. We each have TAs in our classes. We learned so much Chinese. Its hard being thrown back into Chinese class after not having it for so long but we will quickly adjust. After 3 hours of class, our TAs went to eat with us and then we went to sit at Starbucks for a few hours where they walked us through our homework and helped us. I just love our TAs. They are SO nice and patient with us. After language practice we went ot the supermarket here where i got school supplies like a binder and notecards and paper and a few snacks. It rained for the first time so far. It cooled things down pretty good. Tonight I will study so that I don't feel so behind in my Chinese and then go eat dinner. Less exciting day, but much needed.
I feel like the more we are getting to explore this island, the more I love it. Life here is SO much more different than what I am used to. Things that I consider necessity don't seem so necessary here. Or maybe I am just adapting to this more modest way of living??
Thank you for reading my excessively long blog!! :)
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