and so ends my blog for Taiwan.
But, now, on to Shanghai -- the international capital of China:
It’s been a full day and 2 nights since my arrival in Shanghai. Other St. Olaf students (Virgina Ma, Matt Venker, and Nick) will be arriving today (and possibly Tim Knutson?) ~ Um YaYa!~
The campus here at ECNU is GORGEOUS!!!! It’s like taking a leaf out of Hangzhou’s or Suzhou’s book….(two famous Chinese cities, known for their gardens). The campus is big, I got lost at least 4 times trying to find my place of residence and then a place to eat…..albeit, I did arrive at night. The staff have been super friendly, and the maids always say hi when you walk by. My room is comfy and does have air conditioning. The weather isn’t much of a change – although, it is a little smoggier and rainy here =(
Today I’m heading out to the Yu Gardens with a friend, Ling Gu, who is also a St. Olaf student – but who will be returning to St. Olaf’s fall semester on Sept 9th or so. I’ll face Shanghai’s elaborate subway (which has at least 14 lines) in about an hour. 0___0; it’s huge compared to Taiwan.
I live on the 15th floor of my building, which is of average height for an apartment complex. I have my own TV! And the bathrooms are nice – and partially western style (they have western toilets, as compared to squat). As of yet, I do not have a roommate – but that will probably change later in the week. School starts next week, on the 9th? (I should figure that out, haha). Before then, I look forward to exploring. Already, I’m comfortable with some parts of the campus and 2 entrances. There is a huge statue of Mao Zedong at the center of the campus, which serves as a great place-marker. ECNU is well known here – a good school for many different fields of academia.
I do have internet, but quite a bit of my regular sites (including this one) is blocked. The way my room is set up, I can have either internet or power, but not both. The skype connection, for those of you who want to talk with me face to face, is not so great – as Thu, Erik, Alex, and Kelsey found out……email is best for contact. (among other things)
I’m on the north-west side of the city, and the architecture is CRAZY. It’s like taking random things from Italy, Beijing, France, Hong Kong, the US, England and shoving them in random places and random buildings ><; very confusing for the onlooker. Very confusing, BIG, and exciting.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Leaving Taiwan - Last thoughts....
hello!
Just wanted to quickly compile some interesting last-thoughts about my travels and internship in Taiwan. Without further ado, here is some top 5 quickies for you ~~
Top 5 best foods:
1. Scrambled eggs and tomatoes over rice (or noodles) -- a simple dish that even I have made! this will continually be my favorite thing to eat. I don't really know why, because it's nothing special.....but soooo tasty
2. 剉冰 (cuo4bing1) -- shaved ice with fruit (like fresh mango) and coconut milk (or condensed milk). This can't be beaten in Taiwan's summer. I eat mine like lightning.
3. 豆花 (dou1hua1) -- soybean milk pudding with a syrup and other goodies. delicious and taiwan-style. I'm attracted to sweet things.....
4. 猪跟 (zhu1gen1） -- shaved pigs heel with cilantro and some salts....
5. 蛤金格面汤 （ge1jin1ge2mian4tang1) -- clam and ginger noodle soup, mmmm! the clams are fun to eat, too!
Top 5 best places:
1. 九分 Jiufen-- <3 want to return....and ascend their mountain.....
2. 背投图书馆 Beitou Library --- the architecture is old, wooden, and relaxing.
3. 剥皮了 Bopiliao - One of Taipei's oldest streets, Bopiliao has seen masses come and go, and it still remains. It smells like damp wood......
4. 十分 Shifen-- who can resist all those lanterns???
5. 士林夜市 Shilin Night Market -- a little materialistic, but I do like to browse through all the cute objects
Top 5 activities:
1. making mochi balls for the ghost festival and talking with all the volunteers!
2. going to the 88 floods remembrance and seeing the president of Taiwan (how neat is that??!)
3. practicing Chinese with my coworkers (this was a lot of fun -- trying to explain phrases or words)
4. walking around Beitou and the hot springs. We went to "thermal valley" where the water is so hot you would receive some 2nd or 3rd degree burns! But it looked gorgeous with billows of steam around the green foliage....
5. taking the Green 9 bus back to the IHouse. This small, often cramped, bus that again and again defeated the mountainside with sharp turns always made for interesting nightly returns........and conversations!
Top 5 unfortunate happenings:
1. mistaking $600 for $200 by mishearing and being too stubborn and embarressed to not buy a shirt.....
2. having a 6 hour delay at the San Fran airport =(
3. asking a ladｙ on the the street (who was selling bread (mianbao)) how much her noodles (mian) cost.....oops....
4. having to kill a cockroach at 3 am in my room.....
5. not getting to go in the hot springs at beitou (my coworker wasn't feeling well, so I bailed out as well....)
Top 5 reasons why I don't want to leave Taiwan, and why you should come! :
1. the food
2. the really really nice people
3. the cheap prices
4. the food.....
5. the aethetic, natural fauna - everywhere.
<3
to be continued......but in Shanghai!
(thank you everyone, for bearing with me.....)
Just wanted to quickly compile some interesting last-thoughts about my travels and internship in Taiwan. Without further ado, here is some top 5 quickies for you ~~
Top 5 best foods:
1. Scrambled eggs and tomatoes over rice (or noodles) -- a simple dish that even I have made! this will continually be my favorite thing to eat. I don't really know why, because it's nothing special.....but soooo tasty
2. 剉冰 (cuo4bing1) -- shaved ice with fruit (like fresh mango) and coconut milk (or condensed milk). This can't be beaten in Taiwan's summer. I eat mine like lightning.
3. 豆花 (dou1hua1) -- soybean milk pudding with a syrup and other goodies. delicious and taiwan-style. I'm attracted to sweet things.....
4. 猪跟 (zhu1gen1） -- shaved pigs heel with cilantro and some salts....
5. 蛤金格面汤 （ge1jin1ge2mian4tang1) -- clam and ginger noodle soup, mmmm! the clams are fun to eat, too!
Top 5 best places:
1. 九分 Jiufen-- <3 want to return....and ascend their mountain.....
2. 背投图书馆 Beitou Library --- the architecture is old, wooden, and relaxing.
3. 剥皮了 Bopiliao - One of Taipei's oldest streets, Bopiliao has seen masses come and go, and it still remains. It smells like damp wood......
4. 十分 Shifen-- who can resist all those lanterns???
5. 士林夜市 Shilin Night Market -- a little materialistic, but I do like to browse through all the cute objects
Top 5 activities:
1. making mochi balls for the ghost festival and talking with all the volunteers!
2. going to the 88 floods remembrance and seeing the president of Taiwan (how neat is that??!)
3. practicing Chinese with my coworkers (this was a lot of fun -- trying to explain phrases or words)
4. walking around Beitou and the hot springs. We went to "thermal valley" where the water is so hot you would receive some 2nd or 3rd degree burns! But it looked gorgeous with billows of steam around the green foliage....
5. taking the Green 9 bus back to the IHouse. This small, often cramped, bus that again and again defeated the mountainside with sharp turns always made for interesting nightly returns........and conversations!
Top 5 unfortunate happenings:
1. mistaking $600 for $200 by mishearing and being too stubborn and embarressed to not buy a shirt.....
2. having a 6 hour delay at the San Fran airport =(
3. asking a ladｙ on the the street (who was selling bread (mianbao)) how much her noodles (mian) cost.....oops....
4. having to kill a cockroach at 3 am in my room.....
5. not getting to go in the hot springs at beitou (my coworker wasn't feeling well, so I bailed out as well....)
Top 5 reasons why I don't want to leave Taiwan, and why you should come! :
1. the food
2. the really really nice people
3. the cheap prices
4. the food.....
5. the aethetic, natural fauna - everywhere.
<3
to be continued......but in Shanghai!
(thank you everyone, for bearing with me.....)
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