- Language: I never realized how disorienting it is to not understand; see, although my parents taught us to speak Tagalog at home when we were younger, I learned enough English through books and TV that by the time school started, I didn't need to enroll in ESL. But here, while there are a few places that have menus with English descriptions and workers that speak English, it still makes me wish that I could understand what the storefronts or signs actually meant. The fact that I don't understand also hinders me in that I'm afraid to use the bus/metro systems because I don't want to end up lost with no way to get back. Now I really can't wait for my Mandarin class to start because maybe I'll learn to decipher this now completely foreign language.
- Jetlag: Yes, I know this happens to everyone, especially when you travel to the other side of the world, but still, it's a struggle to keep my eyes open past 8 PM. It makes me glad that I arrived here a little early so that I can hopefully sleep normally by the time classes start in a week and a half.
- Eating: And not just the food itself, which, based on my experience these past few days, is delicioussssssss, but here in the I-House, we don't have a kitchen to cook food in. Instead, we (and many other people) eat out for every single meal. However, the amount that I spend for one meal is nothing compared to a meal back home; on average, I've spent about $90 NTD per meal. That calculates to less than $3 USD! Plus, the food is super yummy and filling, unlike a $6 meal at McDonalds! The thing is, the food places are only open during breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner hours. So if you just so happen to wake up at 10 AM because you couldn't fall asleep til 3, well you're out of luck because you'll either have to eat a pastry at Starbucks or wait until 11 for them to start serving lunch.
- Shopping: Here, they don't really have full out grocery stores or stores like Wal-Mart and Target. Instead, they have stores like Watson's or CosMed which reminds me of Walgreens and CVS where you can get toiletries, cosmetics, snacks, pharmaceutical needs, and other random stuff you didn't think you'd need. And then you have stores that have the other random stuff you also didn't think you'd need, such as hangers, dishes, stationery, scrapbooking supplies, bedding, etc. Then there are 7-11s (yes, those 7-11s) except the ones here are actually pretty nice and serve hot food. There's also grocery stores, but not nearly as big as Jewel or Dominick's or even the grocery section of Wal-Mart. I haven't had the chance to see where they go clothes shopping, but I'm sure I will soon :]
- Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way here.
- It has rained, well more like drizzled, every day so far, and the forecast does not indicate otherwise anytime soon.
- I don't have a TV here, and while this may not be a big deal to some, I didn't realize how much I depended on my shows to help ward off boredom. Hopefully once the semester actually starts I'll have less downtime because of classes and (hopefully) traveling around Taipei and Taiwan as a whole.
- Not having a cell phone (yet). There are times that I still reach for my phone because I think it's ringing or vibrating (it's not). I'm still debating whether to get one to use while I'm here for communicating with friends in Taiwan, but I'll decide after orientation next week and after talking to the other international students. For now, I'm mostly depending on FB chat and Skype to communicate with friends and family back home.
Anyway, this weekend I hope to get to the bank and to church. Thanks to the wonderful I-House desk workers, I think I'll actually make it without getting too terribly lost. One can hope!
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