Businessman in Training

After a 4 day weekend of going home for my sister Justyna's wedding, I'm back to normal in Taiwan. Hopefully since I'm racking up so many frequent flyer miles, I won't have to share foot space with the dude next to me in coach next time...

The wedding was such a great time. I feel that every aspect of it was even better than anyone expected. Congrats Justyna and Dan! Since the whole weekend consisted of pre and post-wedding events, I was constantly bombarded by awesome family and friends. It would have been even better if Danielle was in town, but she's coming to visit me here at the end of next month hurrah :)

Meet Little White. The "motorcycle" that my roommate pokes around town in. Don't worry, this is just the parking lot.

It's a lot of fun to ride on the back of these scooters. Completely crazy. Before I came here, I was starting to notice a lot of middle aged men driving them in Naperville to save on gas. Great start, but hopefully it doesn't become the epidemic it is here. I'm pretty sure that more people would ride bicycles everywhere if scooters didn't exist, and that's the world I want. Tomorrow I'm going to the Giant Bicycle Shop to check out prices... Did you know the Giant company is originally from Taichung?

The weekend before I went back to the US, there was another typhoon. A super typhoon in fact. Once again, we didn't get hit nearly as hard as other cities, but the weekend consisting of strong winds one day and heavy rain the next took it's toll on campus.

My poncho after walking home from the night market.

Before our power was knocked out during the typhoon, my roommates and I played some card games. Cards are a great way to have fun with people who you might have trouble communicating with. Some of the most fun times I had in Slovenia were playing Briskola with the family. After you know how to say suits and numbers, cards really don't speak any language. It didn't take long for them to teach me how to play bridge in Chinese. I think it's easy to catch on to rules and strategy, and I think I'm a little bit more competitive than my Taiwanese friends. So, after winning a few games in a row while playing a popular Taiwanese card game, one started calling me a magician while another tried harder and promised he would win the next game, while referring to himself as a professor (it wasn't until later that someone told him he was trying to say professional).

I've been meaning to write about some 'lost in translation' moments I've had here, which I think are pretty funny, but maybe you won't agree...

#1 After a friend mistakenly asked me if I could speak English, I tried to make a joke in Chinese. Basically I tried to say "Well I hope I can speak English. Otherwise, I'm screwed!" After the blank stares, I tried saying it in English, which she still didn't understand because there's a big gap in the sarcasm department.

#2 I was trying to ask someone if they've heard of a specific bar. Since I used the wrong tones, which I usually do, he thought I was asking about a famous writer that studied at this university. I finally had to resort to saying it is a place to drink at. The in-between moments when neither party understands one another are kind of funny, and they usually involve google searches.

#3 And my favorite, another tone tragedy, involves a mountain and an umbrella. The highest peak in Taiwan is yu shan, and I want to go. So I asked my roommate if he wants to go. But it was raining at the time, and yu san apparently means umbrella. So, since the Taiwanese accent involves not pronouncing the 'h' sound, I was left trying to do the arms above the head coming to a peak motion, which looks far too similar to an umbrella. He kept asking me why I wanted to go outside and use my umbrella...

Finally, I'll leave with some wisdom: Please allow two days to get the stinky tofu taste off of your tongue. Now I know why every night market smells the same. Also, this 'moon fruit' as some might call it, is the answer to all youth soccer half times. It looks like a huge green coconut, then you bust it open and it's like an orange, but looks and tastes a bit more like a grapefruit. The best part: you peel each section and they miraculously come apart and stay in their slice form. No more sticky fingers kids.