In my apartment

Quite a bit has changed since the last time I posted. My mom is on her way back to the US, I'm registered for classes, and I'm in my new apartment. That's quite a large change to occur in four days, no? Well, here's how it happened:

Sunday I started the day off apartment searching. I first got in touch with Amanda, the girl Monica told me to contact about a room. The apartment is on the twenty-sixth floor of a relatively new complex in the city of Xindian, which is south of Taipei but accessible by subway. I visited the place and was very impressed by the surroundings, the room, and the nearby stores. I told her that I'd probably take the apartment but there was one more place I had to check out that afternoon. I checked out the other place and it wasn't even close to as nice, so I called up Amanda and said I'd take it. My big apartment search was over and it wasn't even 2 o'clock.

That night my mom and I went to Longshan Temple. There was quite the hubbub there, and it turns out it was because it was the day before a Chinese festival honoring the dead. Many people had small fires where they burned "ghost money" that their relatives can spend in the afterlife. After the temple we went to Snake Alley, which lived up to its name by featuring all sorts of snakes. We didn't eat snake, however, even though it was offered there. We ate at a pretty high-class seafood restaurant which prepared some excellent shrimp, lobster, and clams. After spending a little time at Snake Alley we headed to the Shida night market, the market near the school I'm going to. We found a college-style bar there and had a couple of drinks. All in all, a good night.

The next day was my big class registration day. I went to my school (nicknamed Shida), filled out the paperwork, showed my passport, paid tuition, and took a proficiency test. After the test I went to get my scholarship paperwork. The scholarship lady tells me that I'm not on their list. She checks her paperwork and finds me on a list for a different school, National Taiwan University (not to be confused with my school, National Taiwan Normal University). She said that I'd have to sign up there. I was quite incredulous, so she told me to go to the American Institute (like an embassy) to work it out. I did, and they said that they couldn't help me, and that I should probably contact the people who gave me the scholarship. I sent them an e-mail and they said that there was a little mix-up and that they could fax them to fix it. That was a relief. My mom and I went to a bar not too far from the hotel called Saints and Sinners. We had some French fries and a few beers before heading back to the hotel.

Tuesday was a rather bittersweet day since it was the last day with my mom. After checking at the school to see if they received the fax from Chicago (they hadn't) and picking up the checklist to get the scholarship money, my mom and I went to Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. While there we saw the changing of the guard and read about what Sun Yat-Sen did for China and Taiwan. From there we walked to Taipei 101 to eat lunch (at the same place we went last time - my mom really liked those noodles) and to look for souvenirs (which we couldn't find). We took a bus back to the hotel and began packing, since I told my future roommates I could move in Tuesday night.

After packing up and setting aside an overnight bag at the hotel, my mom and I decided to eat at a restaurant called Eight Immortals. At that restaurant, you order the seafood up front, go up to the upper-floor porch, and drink beers. We did just that and enjoyed a view over the nearby Da'an Park. At the restaurant I got a call from John, one of the roommates, saying that he was home and I could move in when I get the chance. We walked back to the apartment, got my stuff all ready, and took the subway to Xindian. Unpacking didn't take long, and we stopped at the nearby RT-Mart (think Wal-Mart but Chinese) to get some essentials, brought them back to the room, then headed back to Taipei. My mom and I shared a beer and after a while finally got some sleep.

The car to the airport for my mom left at 6:00 AM, and I was semi-conscious when she left, but I was glad I was there to send her off. It was a good time spending the past three weeks with her. It'll be hard going nine months without having direct contact with any of my family. I slept a little bit more, ate breakfast at the hotel, and headed to my new apartment.

After spending about fifteen minutes at my apartment alone and stopping at the RT Mart to grab some more stuff, one of my roommates comes in. Simone is from Australia and studies Chinese here, but not at the same university I do. Her friend Sarah is visiting too, so we all go for a walk to check out the nearby area. Afterwards we both get on the MRT (the name for the subway system), them to go eat, and me to accomplish the tasks on my scholarship checklist. I'm able to do everything - go to the police office and register as a foreign citizen, copy my important documents, buy a name stamp, and open a bank account at the post office - except for hand in everything at the scholarship office (the scholarship lady went home early). I went back to the apartment and soon after Amanda comes home from work. I chat with her for a bit and she says she needs to go to the RT Mart. I haven't done much food shopping (despite my repeated trips), so I join her. I get some veggies, some ramen, and some Diet Pepsi. Afterwards I try to set up the Internet to no avail. When John got home, I asked him for help, but that didn't work either. I try one last time and magically it works. How about that. I set up Skype and find out I'm able to call home for cheap (about 2 cents US per min), but after calling my dad I find there's a pretty bad delay on the line. Hey, if the price is right, no problem.

As I'm typing this while lying on my bed, I'm considering purchasing a desk and table for my room. That and stopping by the scholarship office are on my to-do list for tomorrow. Friday I have orientation, books to purchase, and I'm set to hang out with a guy I know from Madison that I ran into randomly on the street (Wayne Lin). Stay tuned!