memory lane and class

part one: peeing in a cup

yeah so there is a designated day to do our national health checks at school, which is nice because last time we had to go to an independent clinic on our own time. i went down the mountain in heavy rain and thunder and lightning with classmates who are thai. we wanted to be on time but wow there were so many people. they held it in the gym because there were so many things to check/record: vision (and color blindness), hearing, height, weight, waist size (for some reason), teeth, chest x-ray, blood draw, general check and the freaking urine test. of course i got caught up there because the gym mostly just has squat 😫. but also got caught at the chest x-ray because i forgot about my necklaces (they said just bite them). also, because i said i'm from the USA, the general doc went on about how he was in santa monica for a time for no particular reason. anyway, the group of thai students i've been hanging around with lately were nice enough to wait.

storm sounds from my room (sorry idk why audio files import this way)

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after, i was so hungry and the storm just magically disappeared (the rain certainly cleared the humidity for like an hour) but timing for food matters here. like i wake up early, hardly any food before 10am and then they all close around 14:00 because "lunch is over" and then you have to wait until like 17:00 for the most options. me and three thai students just kind of bumped into this really cute restaurant where a nice ayi came and explained the menu, realizing we were international students. i got sesame cold noodles which they make in-house. it's almost like zhajiangmian but just veggies on top and obviously the sesame sauce. the menu is pretty diverse and i think – just a hunch – i will be there a lot. they're all so nice and the food was good and not too pricey. then we went back to the dorms, leaving me with time to decide what to spend my last truly free day doing. i'm thinking i might suck it up and go to some of my favorite spots up north and see the beach...even though it's like 2 hours....

sounds of the dorm complex after like 17:30 specifically

part two: from the mountain to the sea

as mentioned yesterday, i had the idea to go into the city and out the other way to the sea just purely for nostalgia's sake and because once school starts this week, i'm not sure how often i can spare the 2hour-ish trip there. also it does a number on your feet! i walked 20,333 steps or 8.41 miles today according to my fitbit but that doesn't count standing on metro which i did a lot. so the destination spot is in danshui district – the wharf and shalun beach – but on the way we pass through the city and the one place i HAD to go to was first snow snow ice. i messaged the old group chat and one said they missed it so much. it seriously is a gem in a random alley in shilin district.

boba milk tea flavor – they had already sold out of watermelon😭

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this time, i took a different route than usual because i'd never seen danshui old street. so i took the red line all the way north instead of getting off and transferring to the light rail which puts you right out at the wharf. despite the heat, a lot of people were out. it seemed to basically be an all day night market vibe. to be honest, i'm not sure i even stayed on the old street. but there used to be railways there and there's a little area where they kept them for aesthetic (like at UWT). then i decide to keep walking north along the water because surely then i would reach my destination. i sure did but wow my feet hurt. it's cool though they have a path all the way up for bikes and people.

some of the path is covered and some is open, all with shops/establishments along it. there is also Fort Santo Domingo which was built by the Manila-based Spanish East Indies but was used as other things later like it was a base for the Dutch East Indies but also a British consulate for example. i did not further explore because i had just checked the walking time to my destination and wow for something that looks so close on a map, it was far hahah.

thank you to these random people for making the compositions a bit nicer

fishies on my walk along the danshui river

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f148f6_40af7cd3fc584f58935d7f967632b62c/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

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i did finally make it to the wharf and wow it did not disappoint and how could it? they had a bunch of food carts up which is abnormal. i later found out there was an event which was crazy popular. when i was leaving, people were flocking to it.

my favorite spot on the pier looking particularly heavenly today

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beach time! i was hoping to catch sunset and i did but the clouds blocked it out a lot. i like sunsets with some clouds so the light has something to bounce off of to make the pretty colors. tonight's was kind of interesting in that they were dark aside from the ones right in front of the sun. you can see the moon had already risen in the last pic. the tide was way out and a bunch of people were out "tidepooling". i didn't see a lot of animals other than little crabs, but i did get some cool shells for my collection.

first day on the mrt since i've been back!

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f148f6_36b5b44e676c41d690d5d4ed3885db27/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

my old stop for school

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the trip back is interesting because i was so set on seeing the sunset that i wasn't really registering that i would get back late. on top of that i got a bunch of reroutes because of the event at the wharf. i had to walk all the way back out of the park where i could catch the light rail to the mrt to a bus. and the question of when to switch to bus, because a bunch of buses go to school. ah and then buying breakfast in case i'm not up early enough (accounting for walking to campus) and then getting the shuttle up just in time for trash.

*interesting fact: our trash comes at 9:30 every day to the piece Für Elise. anyway, semester starts tomorrow, but i only have program orientation. because i have class on only tuesday, wednesday and thursday, i think i've got four day weekends. i say "i think" because someone from the business school already started and they have field trips on fridays that aren't marked on the school timetable.

ok so old habits die hard but being in a new side of the city, i've got to make new habits!

part three: first day (sorta)

today was technically the first day of semester so more things were open up on the mountain hillside. for example, a café that my friend and i grabbed coffee at before heading to our orientation for IMICS specifically. there were also a bunch more students on campus. i was worried that i'd wake up late today because i went to bed later than usual yesterday but thank god for the sun. i get the ideal exposure: nearly direct in the morning and then shade by the time i'm back from whatever morning thing i have going. so we walk down the mountain to orientation and finally meet our seniors in-person!

the presentation is pretty standard but we got to meet the director, some professors and other important people! when they were talking about the make-up of our cohort, first of all only two from the US, but also they said it was a very competitive year with about 3x more applications (or something crazy like that) than normal, so congrats to us! after, they provided lunch and some of us gathered in a kind of meeting room to chat. met a bunch of people – first years and seniors alike. i'll see a lot of them in class tomorrow.

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then a friend and i explored "the best" meaning the prettiest library. it's a little off campus and so, so quiet. like so quiet it feels weird saying anything at all – even at a whisper. i probably won't frequent it unless a group reserves a workspace there for a project or i actually need the books haha.

the library also had a little exhibition area that talked about restoring the Quran in taiwan as well as this really nice random display.

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after, we went back to the dorms and made plans to have dinner with our dedicated senior. each senior is assigned one or two first years to help out! since i didn't sleep a lot last night, i accidentally fell asleep and a friend saved me by calling. i chatted with her for a bit and then it was time to meet our senior again, just the three of us. we got dumplings (panfried and steamed) and i got kimchi while the others got noodles. we chatted more about IMICS (my program) and the senior shared some thoughts on professors. one apparently is really good with research and service but lacks the teaching bit of professorship (according to a few others as well). after dinner, our senior was nice enough to treat us to tea and answered more of our questions, like where is this building, where's the gym, etc. during this, we found out there's a library closer to our dorms so i'll probably go there first before the other one despite the lack of aesthetics. now, i have to sleep to make sure day one of classes goes well!

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(tangent)

*note on code-switching: i have no idea why i thought this wouldn't be hard, but it's so hard to not code-switch to chinese so far in IMICS or other designated english ok speaking places (like the host family lunch in the other post). in other words, when it's ok to speak english, i still have a strong urge to speak chinese. it's easier when it's all students because i know they all aren't profcient in chinese, but authority figures or just people signing me into events for example, i feel weird saying "thank you" – i say 「謝謝」xièxie instead. like when it's just me going out, easy codeswitch to chinese. and maybe it's just that. locationally, i'm thinking "taiwan, ok so chinese". but at the same time, in conversations with a thai native and a korean native, we use english but use "the asian sounds" to indicate we understand, heard, agree or whatever (嗯 en). i don't know if that make sense but yeah.

(end of tangent)

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i had posted a picture from the library to my story on instagram because it looks cool and a teacher from chinese flagship replied and we had a nice chat. she's still working with the program and the office is actually really close to my dorm so i said i'd go say hi tomorrow after class. also, i found a work around to the stairs when hiking up the mountain! still won't being doing that in full sun and peak heat heh.

part four: first day

don't mind my stuff drying out in the back

so today was my first class! research methods with Crissy Cook. it was a giant class but it seems sylly week is real here (unlike UO). the schedule has us marked for three hours each but we were out in like an hour and a half. she introduced herself, went over the syllabus and then had us all introduce ourselves and our interests in regards to the class so she can tailor examples, which i find really nice. because it's a required class for IMICS, there were a lot of familiar faces. Dr. Cook was like "yay you can beat the lunch rush" but i had grabbed a coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the cafe up at the dorms before and most weren't hungry yet. i helped a Dutch classmate go get his ethernet set up and pay the cashier for the term. by the end of that, we had gotten hungry and we went to mr. light – his first time, my second – and wow i'm so glad i have a crispy salad place! we were joking that the logo character is a bit like popeye for spinach hahah. one of our Thai classmates joined us in the library and we chatted hobbies, culture things, class and i tried to help them prep for their chinese placement test tomorrow. the topic of the gym also somehow came up. i'd been meaning to get that figured out but the Dutch guy already knew the rundown so on the way back, i grabbed a form in case i decided to commit. it's crazy cheap – for 6months, $22 USD. and the space and equipment is really pretty good.

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but we did have the entire afternoon off so i didn't know what to do. but i remembered i needed to check in with the flagship (the program i did before) to say hi to a teacher. she was in a meeting but saw the program banner and the building.

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later, i was invited to the gym. i guess because we were talking about it earlier. we just paid a one-time fare just to check out the most convenient one on campus. we could only see so much from behind the gate earlier. we did arms/shoulders/chest today but also just goofed around a bit. i kind of led our stretching warm up, he taught me some lifting stuff. i only lifted 2.5 kg each arm 😅 i miss pilates so i showed him bird/dog and dead bugs hahah. also. the 49ers were playing on the gym tvs!

got dinner up the mountain because well, i didn't want to get dressed (for society) again tbh. athleisure is not a thing here. like it's almost like wasting an outfit for maybe only 2hrs and i say that because of the humidity.

cheers to this sunset though~

part five: friends!

today i had two more classes: communication theories and digital disruption, news media, and citizens. the first we just went over the syllabus, but the latter we actually went the full time, partially because we had to pick a paper to present on already so we spent a while looking through the papers on our own. then this professor did the most in-depth "get to know you" chat with us (comparative to the others). each of us explaining our reasoning why this class and what concerns us most in the umbrella of the class title. stuff from AI to echo chambers, algorithms (that often feed echo chambers) intersections with other ideas like paywalls, profit/capitalism, etc.

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but in between the two classes there's a two hour lunch break (today was longer because we got out early. either way, the same friend that went to the gym with me, "organized" lunch with the IMICS students. by which i mean he thought it'd be nice (didn't actually pick a place), so then ten of us wandered the streets for a place with enough room. didn't take long because the first place we checked had a back room! we pushed the tables together and and had noodles! and turns out here, they have beef noodle soup! after, people had different things to do like chinese placement tests etc. but a fair amount of us got boba and i whipped out my totoro themed drink carrier. then we went in search of AC to hang out. we ended up in the room that another student and i had afternoon class in, which was really convenient. then we played counting cards (hard to explain here, just dm/call me if you want details) and enjoyed our boba until class. one student came in and asked if she was in the right place for class and we were like yeah we're just playing around ahaha.

must-have item in taiwan – a drink sleeve so your hands can be free! some even come with a straw sleeve too

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after class, i grabbed food from the café up the mountain (got three more mosquito bites while i was waiting – i swear dinner time is when they are out) and called with my friend doing flagship right now. writing this now, and then going to watch highlights and as much of the debate as i can take. wish me luck.

part six: education

today was a busy day. i went to my 9am to find that the AC didn't work in the assigned room, but thankfully our director had that changed very quickly. today's class was international media advocacy and social marketing. just from the first class, it seems like we will be looking at the corporate sphere more, but it's is quite interesting already.

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after, a friend from my department and i had plans to see a movie in the city. because buses are not always on time, we headed out right after class and decided we'd eat lunch closer to the theater. by the time the movie was over, we needed to get back to campus if we were going to keep to our workout schedule.

dw we got food too

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back at the dorms, we quickly get into workout mode. we also decided that we'd commit to 6 months of unlimited use so that we'd actually keep to going and not be like those new years resolution people who fall off after the first month ahaha. i led stretching and some pilates based core stuff – abs, obliques etc. and he's teaching the lifting haha. then it was leg day so deadlifts and some of the machines. we also did triceps because we kinda missed them earlier in the week. we actually were at the gym until it was closing and the funniest thing is that in the overhead speakers, the gym plays a song that says 晚安 wan an over and over. wan an means "goodnight" so i guess it's their way of saying "get out soon please". we both hadn't eaten dinner yet so we ran into town and by now (21:00ish) a lot of places nearby are closed, but we found a korean place open for takeout. aww the aunties we're so nice. we took dinner up to the dorm cafeteria and there are a bunch of people playing mahjong and card games. one table was celebrating a birthday and the whole place sang to the person. just a very lively place at night. the most lively i've ever seen it.

also poked my straw at the perfect spot on my tea tonight hahah

part seven: housekeeping, saying hi, and a proper friday out

so today i had no class. for the record, the sun woke me up around 7, but i allowed myself another full sleep cycle. then it was time for laundry as well as food & coffee. i appreciate the laundry machines but it's a bit of a pain to keep going up and down to the roof to make sure no one discards your load so that they can do theirs. the café up by my dorm is a truly a savior. i grabbed coffee and a morning sandwich.

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then it was time to organize and get class materials. i use goodnotes to do all of this, so downloads, folders, notes were all in order. that took quite a while for four classes. and then i had to grab dinner before outing with a friend tonight. but before all that, i met with my friend from capstone this year and caught up a bit. i also got to the flagship office at the right time to run into two of my former teachers. like i said, earlier liu laoshi wanted to say hi and i found her, but i didn't know another teacher stayed with the program. i caught up with them and chatted all about me and taiwan and my corhort-mate, taixia, who's also in taiwan for a master's at taida.

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we get to the karaoke place no problem, but i don't know a single person other than the person who invited me. to be honest, everyone seemed older (and already in friend groups) given behavior and song choices. to be quite honest, it was annoying. idk karaoke is fun with friends but with like 30 total strangers, not so much. karaoke is also not really the place to do introductions. i was also really annoyed at the karaoke system because they were missing a bunch of classic taiwanese songs. idk who set it up or if it's just the system but no Eric Chou!? that's a crime. i dipped because 1) not so fun and 2) two bars i like were nearby. first of these was the brass monkey and then a block farther, the wonder bar. the friend who invited me to karaoke was nice enough to accompany me even though i would've been fine. kinda felt bad to tear them from the reason they went out, but i guess they agreed with me and wanted to dip. got home safe via uber around 2:30 and now about to crash.

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psa: moon festival is the 15-17th this year so make sure to get your mooncakes!

part eight: 西門 ximen

thank god for friends because otherwise, i probably wouldn't have done much exciting today. like i could read for class but what fun is that? she called me and was looking for somebody to accompany her for shopping. ximen is very famous for the rainbow crosswalk. today, they had a bunch of flags up too. anyway, also a famous shopping district. unfortunately, she didn't find anything. me on the other hand, found a few extreme deals i could not say no to. it's between seasons so summer stuff is way discounted. and to me, taiwan weather is almost always "summer" hahah. we did stop by some local, non-chain places, but my friend and i both have issues with asian sizing. i have no idea how women stay so skinny here. even at stores we have in the states, i'm like one or two sizes up – does wonders to your self esteem 😬

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we (window) shopped for a good five hours or so (with a boba break of course) and then had dinner over there too. we yapped for a long time. pretty sure the seating right next to us went through two groups at least. i guess that makes sense though. here, you don't really dawdle at restaurants. first, because a lot are "pay first" so you just leave when you're done. but also, it's a fast-paced place in my opinion.

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getting back home was a bit annoying and the rain didn't help – loved the lower temp and humidity but it makes all the tiles and stairs slippery. i had to transfer from mrt to a bus and i experienced about the worst thing for a transfer – being stuck on the wrong side of the road and watching your bus (which would've been direct) drive away. in place of that, i had to take two buses with another transfer. and then at school had to wait for the shuttle up. so maybe tomorrow it's best i stay close and do my readings for class. the rain is gonna hang around for a bit.

random things i've noticed compared to last time (2022)

• pda seems more common

• more tattooed people (maybe international students or immigrants?)

♡蘇晨