Day 5/6

Li bai yi Shi yue ShiEr

Ni Hao
Wo Jiao Chris
Wo bu shi Taiwan ren Wo shi Jianada ren

Hello All!
So as you can see I started Chinese class today, found it somewhat boring yet somewhat interesting all at the same time. I have decided to combine day 5 and 6 and suspect I will do the same as I am not always living large, some days are just not that note worthy. Wait all days are note worthy some I just do not have a lot to write about.

So yesterday I met with another person from couchsurfing.com and he took me over to someones house for a monthly movie day. This was pretty awesome there were about 6 or 7 people including one gorgeous girl from check republic, and I do love me cute smart girls! Everyone there was super nice and it was good to be able to see a actual house(apt) here in Taipei. It was really nice even tho they look dodgy from the outsides, after entering from the alley and climbing the equivalent of the Calgary tower in stairs(ok maybe exaggerating a tad) I entered the house. We watched 2 films that I HIGHLY recommend. The first movie was the secret life of words, and the second was things we have lost in the fire. The first movie really has no one in it but is excellent and the second movie has lots of famous people but is still very Independant type of film.

After the movie a couple of us went out for dinner and wow who would have thunk I had Italian, and not just Italian but some of the best I have had. Again for 200 dollars I had a cream soup, salad, bread, and a huge shrimp pasta. I am starting to think that everything here comes to 200 dollars(until I tell you about today's meal). I must comment on the service out here too, They just watch and remove your plate and bring you more stuff instantly there amazing! and you don't tip here, however they deserve it, they truly are great. We had realy interesting conversations about TED which is a very informitive website. Two topics that stood out where a lecture done based on how nature has solved all the problems that we are trying to deal with. Everything we need can be found in nature. There are many examples and I suggest looking up the lecture on TED I believe if you search the ladies name Jenine it should come up. Another is the amazing abilities the mushroom has from detoxifyin ground from oil spills to taking radiation contamination and decreasing the levels 1000 percent within days. Again look it up.

From there I had the privileged of finding my way home via bus and subway from along distance from my place. I met a couple from Holland at the bus stop and talked with them for a good portion of my trip. I really like this whole traveling alone thing as it makes you step out of the box and forces you to meet and interact with people you don't know. I really think this has been a great learning lesson for me and it has just began, I can't wait to see the end of this journey and what I learned. I managed to make it home however the subway system is amazing I would love to see some plans of it as Taipei main station has many different underground levels for different trains going all different directions. I think it must look like a giant human ant hill underground.

Today was uneventful, I went to the hospital and saw many of the same patients. Here because it is all under medicare and the things that we treat here are more severe we see a lot of the patients daily. This is needed though to see the results that we achieve here which is still really amazing. Tomorrow I am going to follow an Doctor who specializes in weight loss, I am not to interested in this but think it would be beneficial to see and learn and be useful back in Canada. I had Chinese class tonight and I did learn some, but a lot of it was review of pronunciation that I did learn in first year of school back home hence why I said it was boring yet interesting.

By the time I was all done school related things today it was 8pm and I was famished! I still have troubles ordering food but have been lucky to be with people for most meals. However tonight I was alone, I was going to walk to the night market and point but didn't make it that far. The restaurant by the school looked good so I went in and just told them I wanted 'wai dai ji rou and fan' or 'take out chicken and rice' well that sucked. Not only did this small meal come out to be 300 dollars it was the first meal out here I didn't really enjoy. Lesson learned cheaper food stands on the sidewalk or small restaurants that look scary WAY BETTER AND WAY CHEAPER than nicer restaurants. There are little stands with makeshift tables and chairs all around the hospital but I don't know what they have to offer I think I need to bring someone with me so I know what to get.

Well I apologize not all blogs are fun to read but this is partially for your entertainment and mostly for my records so my burn out brain remembers this trip! I hope all of you wonderful Canadian friends of mine had a good thanksgiving and I do hope the weather breaks for you a bit!

I will leave you with this:
'Knowing is not enough, we must apply;
willing is not enough, we must do'

Until next time,

Zai jian