Life Across the Striat
Overall the past week was not only slow, but it was better than the past weeks that I had been here. I guess the fact that school has started does help a little bit. Also, I figured out the major key to keeping my emotions stable with this Chinese class is to eat all the time in it, but the consequence of it is that I am starting to get a little chubby. Guess I need to go workout more. I made it to the gym last week one time, but it is so far down the mountain that I really never want to take the time to get up early and go. The weight room in the gym does not have air-conditioner and is in this basement area with shady looking weights that have accumulated rust since God knows when and machines that were either put together improperly or obsolete.
My room is also a cleaner place now and so my mind is not so scattered although I have many tasks to complete every week now. Our CIEE director here was not lying when she said that we would be a bit busier as time went on in the semester. Now I feel stretched just to complete homework assignments for my classes. Between my self-studies of Korean and Chinese, two language exchanges (one for Chinese and one for Korean), five three hour days of Chinese class, two one and a half hour main course classes, and one paid tutorial for English every week, I have a lot to do and very little time. It is to the point now that I have to "schedule" people in for "appointments" with me. Thank God for the iPod Touch; it is now serving as my PDA to manage everything.
Sunday we went to the "Modern Toilet" to eat. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me to take awesome pictures of eating out of model toilets. It was a pretty good place with decent tasting food. Just wish that it wasn't so expensive to indulge in food that many people around the world considers disgusting. Don't worry; the food is not put in real toilets. Cheers Taiwan! Here is to a better life, living it and living it with freedom and independence.