Post #3: I love food…and school?

Hello everyone! It’s been too long! I vowed to be more regular but alas, my posts have been constipated. I need more blog fiber!

So far, it’s been a little over a month since we got here. Time certainly flies! We are enjoying it very much. We haven’t experienced the constant raining so maybe our feelings will change later…

In other news, there was a typhoon that hit Taiwan two weeks ago. It was quite the surreal experience. The winds were so strong, some people riding scooters tipped over and some couldn’t even move! We just stayed home and watched Netflix.

You’ll also be glad to know that we’re eating well! But I’m sure you already knew that. Here are some shots of food that we’ve enjoyed so far in Taiwan!

Haha OK OK, so it’s not all just American food…We are enjoying the local stuff too. By the way, that Subway pic has a backstory to it. We were told that when we’re in Taiwan, we would start craving the most random things, things that remind you of home. Never in my life have I craved Subway, but being here, I really wanted one. I don’t know, I think it was something to do with wanting some sort of fresh veggies and just an American style sandwich. So yeah, I finally got one and the first bite was amazing.

Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and beef roll from one of our favorite places. This place is open 24 hours and within walking distance from our place! I got the beef roll because it was the closest thing to a burrito I could find….it wasn’t the same. 😦 Carne asada burritos, oh how I miss you…

Some noodle stuff and more dumplings. These are from the vendors that set up nearby our school. All of that cost about $2.50 US.

Wonton noodle soup (I think that’s what it is?) after service. I have to say, Taiwan does noodles very well.

Bear Paw from Feng Chia Night Market. It’s basically a crispy chicken sandwich inside a steamed bun. Pretty tasty.

Gene looking as delicious as the two mango snow desserts he’s holding up.

A close up of it. Taiwan is famous for their mangoes. I have to say, this was really delicious. That was actually our first time getting it since being here.

A lot of restaurants here have this setup for ordering food. Yeah……if there aren’t any pictures, we’re hopeless! Always good to go with a local.

There doesn’t seem to be too many bars here. And even popular areas like the Night Market don’t serve beer! At least no where we’ve seen. The drinking culture here is more tea than beer. Thanks to Gene to finding a nice one near the Feng Chia area. We’ll be coming back again!

As for learning Chinese here, we are enjoying it very much. I actually look forward to class! 17 year old me would kick my butt for saying that. We are studying really hard, trying to make the most of our opportunity here. The class has been getting a little tougher now that it’s focusing more on characters.

Making up dialogue with vocab words that we have learned.

We really like our teacher. He’s very creative and uses a lot of different methods to teach.

Also, here is a video of our daily route to school. I realize that I did not do any stabilizing of the video. I apologize in advance for the headache and nausea that watching this video may cause.

Two weeks ago, we had a Friday off. We decided to go to Dongfeng Bicycle Green Way. It’s a bike path that goes through an old railway.

We realize we should’ve rented the motorized bicycles instead. The weather was so hot and the path heading east had what seemed like a perpetual incline. We were dying! But some of the scenery was quite nice. We got to see more of the rural side of Taichung.

And now for some miscellaneous photos from the past month:

The Costco here does samples of beer! Can you imagine that back in the States?

Random, but I have to say that the packaging here in Taiwan is really handy. When you get drinks, they always give it to you in a small plastic bag for convenience. And you can easily place it on the hook thingy in your scooter! Also, placing things on the floor part of the scooter. I’ve seen people put all sorts of things in that small space; dogs, TVs, garbage bags full of recycled cans, kids (see below).

You see that pretty often around here. Pretty crazy, right?

The Songs are here! More Californians in Taichung. They’ve only been here for 2 days and we’re already getting down.

This past Sunday, we visited the Taichung English Congregation. It was pretty awesome being able to understand everything and comment freely! Since our Public Talk/Watchtower is on Saturday, we’ve decided to make it a regular thing for us to visit on Sundays.

The majority in attendance are Filipinos. It seemed there were quite a few Bible studies attending. For the Watchtower discussion, they use the Simplified Watchtower. Goes to show you what an amazing gift the Simplified version of the Watchtower is!

Hey we’re related! Well, somewhat. My brother’s wife’s sister’s husband’s sister is the one in green. Got it? Haha. Basically Joyce’s sister in law. He was the visiting speaker and gave an excellent talk. Since it’s a small congregation and the next closest English hall is pretty far, they are usually in need of speakers. They’ve already asked me if I could give one! If it happens, I’ll be looking forward to it.

So that’s pretty much what we’ve been up to the past few weeks. Hannah’s mom and sister are visiting in a few days so we have some exciting things planned with them.

Hope you are enjoying our blog! We enjoy the comments you leave us. Thank you for the love!

—
Andy & Hannah