It rarely feels like we are living on an island these days. The city life is bustling and full of opportunities for exploration and other cultural experiences.
Teaching school keeps us busy and our students rarely give us time to be bored. Most are inquisitive and somewhat comical. Chris has done well researching and planning projects for his students. He definitely enjoys keeping them on their toes and giving them a hard time. I have been thoroughly inducted into the school of education from the "other side" of the classroom. We've had some good opportunities for bonding with the kids both in the classroom and out. Chris and I are the Senior Class Sponsors, and I am a Basketball Coach for the TAPA girls team.
Chris and I live about one mile from the school where we teach as well as the closest hub for public transportation (MRT and buses). We walk to and from school every day as well as to/from transportation if we decide to do any extra exploring. We also live across the street from the largest night market in Taipei, Shihlin Night Market. If you were to visit Taipei, this place would be on you list of places to visit. It is one of the most intense bonding experiences you will ever have with thousands of strangers. We are lucky enough to experience this every night on the way home from work (sarcasm noted?? ha ha). Shihlin Night Market also provides a plethora of "interesting" smells, the queen of which is endearingly named "Sticky Tofu." Stinky Tofu is literally tofu that has been fermented in its own juice for several days/weeks and has obtained a smell that cannot be ignored. This can only be described as a combination of milk that is about 3 months past its expiration combined with death itself. I am told that you either love it or hate it. I can't pull my nose out of the latter category to see if my taste buds are genetically capable of fitting into the first category. :)
At first, we struggled to find food that we really liked. We weren't starving or anything, but everything is obviously packaged differently here... like with Chinese writing instead of English. :) It just takes a while to get into a niche of meals and restaurants that are "safe". We are finally getting there! We are fortunate enough to have a "neighborhood" Costco and a huge French grocery store called "Carrefour." Between the two we can usually find most things that we want, although they don't always carry our favorite American items or brands. I never have missed Kraft Macaroni and Cheese this much in my life! (The funniest thing is I never even ate it that much when I was in states!!)
Overall, Taipei is similar to a pretty typical American city- well, except I don't see any white OR black people for weeks at a time. OH! And when we go to Starbucks, I order my Tall Toffee Nut Latte by pointing like a 5 year-old.
3 weeks ago
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