Summer days are done, but the fun remains

It has been a while since my last post. Sorry for keeping everyone waiting. The start of school has definitely kept me from blogging as much as I'd liked, but I will try my best to fill you in on my adventure thus far.

Yesterday marked my first full week of teaching here in Taiwan. As expected, things were rough to start with, considering how clueless I was about the school system here, and trying to get used to the unfamiliar schedule, the teaching style, and the school culture. It was quite an arduous few days for both me and my co-teachers, frantically trying to work everything out. I am most grateful for their assistance however, for I would have been even more lost if it wasn't for them. Nevertheless, I am relieved to say that after a full week, I am starting to have a clearer picture of the system here. Things are picking up a bit and I am gradually getting the hang of it, meaning less frustration and more time for exploration!

But more on school later.

What I do want to note is what a wonderful time I've had the past 2 weekends, spending time with some great friends, eating some of the best food, and visiting some of the most entertaining places I have been to since I got here.

The weekend of August 25-26th, our friend Beta met up with Shannon and I in his hometown Taichung, and took us to see a movie in this mall called Mode Mall. From our town, it was a 40 minute train ride to get to Taichung train station, which wasn't bad and we did see some great view along the way. Taichung is considered the 3rd largest city in Taiwan, next to Taipei and Kaohsiung, and it definitely felt like it. We felt the immediately hustle and bustle of a large city as soon as we set foot off the train. Having been in our small town for the past few weeks, I had sort of forgotten how crowded a large city can be like. The atmosphere was definitely different, and the people as well. Certainly there is a much bigger population of younger generation Taiwanese there, in contrast to the majority of older people and small children we had seen around our town. I guess the large cities are where most young people would go to for better job opportunities.

So we made our way to Mode Mall, conveniently right behind the train station, after stopping for some awesome crepes and shaved ice on the way. The mall itself was 11 stories, each floor had a wide selection of shops, with the top 2 floors being themed restaurants and the movie theater. My first movie experience in Taiwan was rather...interesting. It really surprised me how packed the movie theaters here are. The movies (even popular ones) have less showtimes than in the U.S., and some may only have one show a day. However, it was extremely crowded and we found ourselves standing in line for quite a while just to get our pre-ordered tickets. Apparently, they have assigned seating here. We were a bit late, and after fumbling around awhile just to locate the right seats (the seats are numbered very strangely here), we had to awkwardly squeeze through a whole row of people just to get to our seats. However, it all went well after that, and we enjoyed our movie, then walked around and explored all the levels of the mall, all 11 of them.

 Beautiful view on the way to Taichung

 Taichung train station

 Exterior of Mode Mall

 mmm shaved ice

 In line for movie tickets

 So many weird things here. This is one of the weirdest yet.

 Food court

View of mall from 11th floor

The following weekend (US Labor Day weekend), Shannon and I had the pleasure of witnessing one of the nicest fireworks shows I have seen yet, right here in Miaoli county. Apparently, the Taiwan government has decided to host the International Arts and Fireworks Festival in Miaoli county this year in celebration of 10/10 (Taiwan Independence Day). As part of the preparation, they hosted a pre-show for everyone to test out the site. I went the first night with Beta, Antonio (another Foreign English Teacher), and a few of Beta's friends, then again the second night with Shannon. Asides from the fireworks which happened later that night, the show kicked off with performances by several popular Taiwanese singers and bands. I didn't really know any of them, except for one, but I'm assuming they were pretty famous by the reaction of the crowd. It was a great show and I enjoyed the music a lot. There weren't much people when we first got there, but the floor started filling up the later it got, and by the time of the fireworks, it was packed. Interesting thing: while we were watching the concert, there was apparently a small earthquake, actually 2 small ones, like tremors right under our feet, which startled everyone for a bit since I was told they haven't had earthquakes here in quite a while. Me, meanwhile, I was quite oblivious to it all. I was busy watching the concert and might have thought it was part of the vibration from the sound. I didn't even realize we had just experienced an earthquake until everyone around me was talking about it >.< Fortunately, it didn't happen again and it was soon forgotten as everyone turned their attention to the spectacular fireworks showcase that followed. The fireworks were amazing, displayed in the style of a narrative, interpreting an ancient legend and music that was played in the background. There were so many kinds of fireworks that I have never seen before! It was 30 minutes of pure amazement.

 Miaoli County governor and other officials

 A-Lin

 Penny Dai, my favorite

Wanting to make the most of our weekend, Shannon and I decided to go catch another movie that Sunday, along with our friend Kari and one of our counselors from orientation, Ben. Ben lives in Taichung, so he was able to pick us up from the train station in his car and gave us a private mini tour of the city. We saw many interesting sights along the way, and went by the infamous Food Street/ Students' Street (一中街) to grab a bite. Oh my...that street sure was busy! It was filled with people, street vendors and shops, just like a festival! Apparently, it's like that everyday there. I will surely be back. Afterward, Ben took us to another mall (newest and biggest mall in Taichung) called Top City for our movie. If Mode Mall was nice, then Top City would be super duper nice, because it was HUGE and so fancy! It's probably the nicest mall I have ever been in. High-end shops lined the mall, with giant crystal chandeliers hanging from almost every corner. There were so much to see, and everything was so nice! Some of my favorites were the very top shopping floor, where they had gift shops filled with all kinds of eccentric and bizarre products, and the floors with the traditional food court and the themed restaurants. The traditional food court was all decorated in the old-school Taiwanese style, with wooden and bamboo furnishing, and all kinds of vintage decors. Meanwhile, the floor with the themed restaurants was right below, and was the complete opposite. It was so fancy and elegant, designed to mimic a Venetian atmosphere, similar to the Venetian in Las Vegas. It was surely an eye-opening experience to see everything there, and only made me want to come back for more. For dinner, we went to the basement of Top City to enjoy a very special dumpling meal at Taiwan's most famous dumpling restaurant called Din Tai Fung. It was so delicious, one of the best meals yet. I absolutely love the soup dumpling there! What a wonderful weekend...

 Amazing bakery we stopped by. Reminds me so much of something from Harry Potter.

 The outside of the bakery

 Found Hong Kong dim sum on the Food Street

 Food Street. It's always this crowded.

 Fancy shops inside Top City

 Top City movie theater. Packed, as always.

 View of Taichung from top of Top City

 traditional food court

 I love the vintage atmosphere they have created there.

 Themed restaurants

 These bags are so funny!

 Love all these vintage pouches!

 The infamous Din Tai Fung

 Yummy soup dumplings

Well, there should be much more in store for this weekend, since we are planning a trip to visit a historic sight in Sanyi township this Saturday, and then meet up with some friends in Hsinchu city this Sunday. So more to come! I love weekends! :)