How ICLP Took Over My Life

So, I've been meaning to update for nearly a month and half now. I've been swamped by classes, schoolwork, and just life in general - like visiting my old students at Guting (they all got so big in less than three months!), seeing my old host family from Luodong, running/hiking/eating/just enjoying Taipei. Of course, overall, I feel like my life has fallen into a very basic pattern: study, eat, class, eat, study, class, study, run, study, sleep. Repeat.

It's not really as monotonous as it sounds though. We go through coursework so quickly that the subjects are constantly changing, and with three different "subjects" over the course of four classes (Modern Chinese Conversation, Practical Audio Visual Chinese, and Moral Chinese Tales) I hardly get bored. And Taipei is the last place anyone would ever get tired of the food. Over the last week, I've had Nepalese, Middle Eastern, Korean, Thai, and, of course, Taiwanese cuisine. Not to brag or anything...

Taipei: Food Edition

So this is what I've been up to for the last week.... 

So. Excited! I look calm below but am secretly feeling the same as Jenny.

Absolutely destroyed. And there was free all-you-can-eat ice cream afterwards.

So - verdict being - I live in a great city. I also stopped by to visit Yilan. Yay for Vietnamese food and the only chuabing place that has a mint-chocolate flavor option.

Prince Dorm

So I'm pretty happy with my new location - Prince dorm. Yeah, 'prince' as in son-of-a-king, as Fiona put it. It's a very majestic name for slap of concrete. Anyways, it's about a block away from National Taiwan University, about a fifteen minute walk from ICLP (where I'll be taking my classes), and about two minutes from a bike path along the river. I went for a run there this morning and, as much as I loved Yilan's path, this is even cooler.

 I also went to the roof of the dorm and there are some pretty nice views. The tallest building slightly faded in the background is Taipei 101. So, yeah, pretty nice. That is, it was until I found myself locked on the roof. Oops. Thankfully, with a little help from my friends, I managed to get the phone number for the front desk and someone was able to come up and free me. After about an hour. Thankfully I did not have to try yelling down at bystanders. Being fourteen floors up that might have been difficult. Oh, and embarrassing. Also, a great way to make a first impression for my future dorm-mates.

Obligatory dorm room photos:

And, of course, I can't forget the water park across the street.

Because, seriously, what is cooler than that?!

Never mind that it looks to be built for children...

23! in Taipei

Sunday was a big day. I moved into what will be my home for the next year. I turned 23, and, as a sign of my old age, I promptly fell asleep at 7:30 PM.

Before that though, I managed to get some celebration time by making popovers and watching Criminal Minds with Fiona. The day was perfected with a chocolate shake and pesto hummus at a restaurant called Chocoholic, which I believe must have been created with me in mind.

Of course the real gem of photo is this one: 

I never thought I had to worry about straw placement in photos.

 Soon I'll post photos of my dorm, which is probably the nicest dorm I've ever been in. There are nice views from the building, I have my own bathroom, and there are *hundreds* of yummy looking restaurants close by. It surely makes up for leaving this majestic piece of land behind:

Goodbye America. I'll see you again someday soon.