School both before break and after break has been going really well. I like my class and my teacher and I've been hanging out with a lot of people outside of class. I think my Chinese is currently at a level where I'm on the brink of being functionally literate and fluent in Chinese. If I kick up my efforts another notch (I'm planning on taking a more challenging course next semester), hopefully I will be at a good level by the time I'm done at Shida.
During break I didn't end up going anywhere. It was pretty boring, but it was also relaxing. Traveling over Chinese New Year's is comparatively expensive, so I also saved some money. I did do some cleaning around the apartment and fixing around with my computer, though, so it wasn't completely unproductive.
Some more fame: before New Year's I was interviewed by a woman from Taipei Times to get a look into foreign student life in Taipei. This past week they put out this article. My blurb is about 3/4 the way down. I hope this doesn't count against my 15 minutes of fame.
I've also all but given up my job search here in Taiwan. There are basically two reasons behind this: the first being that the salary is about 40-50% of what I'd make in the US and the second being that I might not be able to legally find a job here unless I work in the US for two years. (I'm not sure of the truth behind the latter, but I applied for a job and the lady who I was in contact with said so. I think she's misinformed.) So, unless a magnificent job offer falls into my lap, I'm set on heading back to the US in June.
I also have a few pictures of the Pingxi lantern festival. Yesterday I went with my Shida classmates to Pingxi (a town south of Taipei) where they set off thousands of sky lanterns after Chinese New Year. The lanterns basically act like miniature hot air balloons. On the outside of the lantern you write your wish and if your lantern flies high it will come true!
So that's what's happening with me. I'm not sure what I'm doing over the semester break the week after next. Earlier I was planning on going to Green Island with my friend but we decided to scratch that due to costs and the fact that the weather has been pretty crummy for the past month and it probably won't be much fun in bad weather. We haven't decided yet but we may go down to Kenting, where they have beaches. I'll keep you guys up to date!
1 comment:
Sounds awesome, Ted. That article was neat, too, although I have to admit, when it referred to "The Minstry", I initially thought "The Ministry of Magic".
Glad things are going swell for you.
Later!
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