Relaxed to the Point of Exhaustion

Well, it seems a little early to update, but for the first time in a while, I feel like I’ve actually done stuff worth talking about, instead of just ranting on about various topics selected at my leisure. I’ve actually found myself starting to finally get settled into my life here in Taiwan…of course I leave in just three weeks. I suppose it always seems to happen like that, you get comfortable right before you have to leave.

If you thought I indulged myself last weekend with cake, as I’m sure you must have because I sure felt like I did, and are in any way jealous (*cough* Thothmuffin, *cough*), then you might not want to read on. If last weekend was indulgent, this weekend was overindulgent. For the sake of argument (and more stories), we’re going to say that my weekend started last Thursday night, the night of one of my friends’ (Zhunhao, a Korean studying abroad here) birthdays.

So, instead of studying, as would have been proper for a Thursday night, we spent the evening eating, drinking, and generally being merry. The night started with dinner at a really good Sichuan place right next to campus, then continued over to one of my favorite “haunts” on campus, Fan Square (as the name implies, it is a square [place if you will] in the shape of a fan) for drinking Taiwanese beer and eating Taiwanese cake. Good times were had by all, and I got to hear two different Korean songs sung by two different friends. I love how I came to Taiwan and am learning more about Korea than either Taiwan or China…that’s what you get when like have your friends are Korean though, and I’m really not complaining. I realized that I don’t really know any Koreans in the US (that are real honest to goodness Koreans that follow traditional Korean ways), so being exposed to a new culture is fun and exciting.

As for Friday, after class and lunch I had to take care of administrative business and get my visa renewed for the next 30 days so I can finish out the term. But really it went quite smoothly, and I just spent most of the time reading anyway. Then it was off to meet friends for a decent Indian style dinner. After we came back to the dorm, Nick and I just hung out and talked for a good long while and played cards. I probably shouldn’t say, but thanks to all the practice I got at Casablanca, I keep beating him pretty handily at Rummy.

Saturday was a day of rest (as opposed to Friday…). I spent the morning in a café reading, went to lunch, and spent the afternoon in the park reading, eating that ice dessert I described in my last entry, and taking a nap in the hot hot sun (it reached a high of 37.7 [100] that day!). I met up with Nick in the early evening, and spent time with him exploring parts of Taibei that were fairly new to me. I swear I’ve done more interesting stuff than eating, but I have to mention that we went to Sushi Express for dinner (that’s the place where sushi comes around on little conveyor belts, and you just pick up the plates as you go), and we stuffed ourselves silly. Then it was off to Snake Alley, where we watched demonstrations of snakes being drained of their blood and whatnot, and tactfully avoided drinking any of it. As my back has been giving me some troubles, I thought it would be a good time for a massage, so I went in for a 40-minute half body massage. Good, but not the best I’ve had in Taiwan. For comparison’s sake, the cost of that massage was NT$500, or just about US$15.

And today? It was off to the beach with friends. We went to Fulong (foo-l-oh-ng) beach in eastern Taiwan, and really had a good time. It’s only the second time that I’ve actually ever swam in the ocean (the first being in the English channel), so I feel like it’s somewhat of a big deal. I managed to get slightly sunburned, but I certainly wasn’t as red as my compatriot from Byelorussia. The beach itself was quite beautiful, and the water much warmer than in the English Channel, that’s for certain! The only interesting “cultural” thing about Taiwanese beach culture is that they seem to be somewhat scared of the ocean. It was mostly (though not entirely) foreigners that ventured out far enough to really get their full body underwater. I’ve heard rumors that the Taiwanese don’t know how to swim as a general rule, which seems daft to me if you’re living on an island, but that’s only part of the explanation. I think that just the other month a group of college students went out to that beach, and one of the students was whisked away with the undertow, and a professor that went out to save him ended up drowning. So maybe the fears are justified.

For such a relaxing weekend though, I’m simply exhausted. It amazes me how much laying around in the sun (and swimming a good deal I suppose) takes out of you.

Next weekend will probably be just as exciting, but not as relaxing, as we’re planning a trip down to one of Taiwan’s National Parks to see Tailuge (thai-lou-ga), a really famous marble gorge, and do some hiking. It should be fun.

Also, for those of you who’ve made it this far, I have some more pics up of campus and some of my adventures. You can get to them by heading to:

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=juntis&password=30997125