The past couple days have been great because we started orientation and finally met some new friends. Yesterday morning started off with a Yoga session at 9:30 in the basement of the Student Activity Center where I quickly realized how much my body lacked in flexibility. At the yoga session I finally met my friend Raquel Acosta who I met on Facebook before I came out here. She is from WA and has been here for 1 1/2 years teaching English and about to start the IIMBA program the same as me. The yoga teacher went through some "basic" yoga moves where I was already feeling every tendon and muscle ripping from the bones. I put myself or better yet, tried to put myself in positions I never thought any human was capable of doing. My body physically makes it impossible to reach around my back with my right arm, sitting Indian style and try to grab my right toe. Yea that was not happening. I made it through the yoga in a pool of sweat and barely able to stand on my weakened joints.
My next stop of the day was the pool to swim a few laps and I only made it a few laps until I was out of the pool and the people staring because I was finished in about 8mins. I did swim at a fast pace and I am not in shape for it so I felt it was enough and headed back to the room to relax for a while.
Clark and I had a campus tour at 2pm where we finally met some new friends who we later went out with for dinner and shopping supplies. I first met a man from England who was probably in his 40's with long nasty hair in a ponytail and a strong scent of body odor. He was a nice guy and though I can’t think of his name at the moment, we continued to have small talk the rest of the day. Mike was the next guy I met. He is from Arizona, but has lived in Taiwan for the past 8 years and learned little mandarin. He married a Taiwanese girl he met in AZ and teaches English here at a local elementary school. He is a larger man in his early 40's and always smiling. My next friend is Anthony, he is 24 and from Malaysia. He speaks very good English and also about 4 other languages, Mali, Chinese, and some other stuff, but in all I think it is amazing just knowing how hard it is to learn one other language.
The campus is beautiful with a lot of history behind it. Taiwan has been controlled by the Dutch, China, Japan, and now finally the Taiwan R.O.C. The trees all around campus are huge with hundreds of small trees wrapped as vines covering them. I have pictures on my Picasa webpage ill link on here to see my pictures so far of Tainan. We also went to a museum on campus which was very interesting and cool to see how things have changed around the university over time. Our last stop of the day was the new library which was amazing. I would rank it alongside our library back at ASU when it comes to class. There are 6 floors, 3 that go underground and 3 that go above. They have a section in the library where you can listen to just about any book on a CD. Another interesting part was a room that I could not describe the smell and I forgot the name of the air being pushed through, but anyways it preserves the books and the books are not allowed to leave the room due to their fragile state. The smell is almost nauseating and I’m glad we did not stay inside very long.
After the tour, Anthony planned to meet Clark and I outside our dorm at 6:30 then go eat dinner then off to Carrefour which took a cab ride only 125NT each way which is about $3.75US. Carrefour is a discount shopping area along with a grocery store. There I bought some ping pong paddles, bottled water, apples, oranges, a soccer ball, and some school supplies. Jennifer also came with us and happened to know Anthony's friend whose name I always forget, but it ended up being a fun night and just another good chance to see some more of the city.
So the next day we had orientation from 9am-5pm and it lasted the entire time. We learned more about the university and history of Taiwan and how the Dutch, China, and Japan all owned/controlled Taiwan at one time. At the orientation I met a few more friends and then later that night we all went out and I’ll get to that wild party night later. At orientation I met Martin who is from Poland and also in the IMBA program. The orientation was extremely long and drawn out, but the end was the best where 2nd year students came up and showed pictures and talked about their first days in Taiwan. One of the guys was from Costa Rica and just before he came Costa Rica and Taiwan's governments had a clash and shut themselves off from one another. So when he got here, his money in is bank back home was locked down from being withdrawn and the Taiwanese were not very fond of him since their countries were in a big argument so his bike was stolen, his scholarships were cancelled, his money was froze in his bank back home, and he fell and injured his hand which needed 3 stiches which he could not pay for or use insurance. So long story short he was able to get his bank account straightened out, his scholarship back, and paid for his hospital bill. After all of this he still loves Taiwan and does not regret coming.
Finally the orientation was over and we were to meet back at 6:30 to catch a bus to watch the Lions play which is the professional baseball team in Tainan. We had a special deal with the team that allowed us to meet the players and be on the field during warm ups. They also allowed 9 of us to be on the field and when our home team was introduced to the field a player came to their position with a signed baseball as a gift. The game was televised nationally and we are supposed to get copies of the footage showing us on TV and being on the field. This was a huge honor and was just an amazing experience. At the game I was able to meet some more friends like Joe from Canada, and Sanders and his girlfriend Maria who are from Estonia. I was very surprised to find out how many people even knew how to play the game, the rules, and the purpose or even swing a bat. I always thought there was not much to baseball until I spent half the game explaining everything about the game. How many players, the positions, what the pitcher and catcher do, strikes and balls, outs, double plays, fair balls and foul balls, running the bases, etc... It was fun to teach them about a game I grew up playing and enjoyed so much. We had free drink coupons and I also had some fries and a corndog with I’m not sure what kind of meat inside. I want to guess and hope it was pork. Our team was destroyed in the game 6-2, but my player who gave me an autograph ball hit a 2 run homerun in the bottom of the 9th. We all went back and planned to meet at 10:30 at the "Country Club" to start drinking before we went out on the town. I will have to say that the Country club is actually a 7-11 across from the Kuang Fu campus gate where there is a table and very common to see people during the evening just hanging out and drinking. The laws are not the same as back home and it’s ok to drink in public for example outside the 7-11. The other big difference about the party scene is people do not start drinking/pre gaming until 10:30 or 11pm and no one goes to the bars/clubs till about 1:30 or 2am. I thought this was really weird, but was told that most the people teach English till 9pm so that’s the main reason the party’s start later and the bars do not close till everyone leaves which can be around 6:30am.
We went to the first bar called the Armory where I rode on the back of a scooter with a friend Sarah who is from Canada. I normally don’t like riding with girls even in cars, but this was a new experience of riding on the back of a scooter with a girl. Scared a first, but she ended up being a good driver and I had a good helmet which made me feel better. The bar would cook food the whole night and my friend Aaron and his girlfriend who are from Canada ordered Canadian fries which are French fries with melted cheese and brown gravy poured on top and they were amazing. Sanders and his girlfriend came out with us and it was great chance to get to know them better and hang out with more people from all over the world. We left around 1:30 from the armory and went to a popular club called the Orient which had a 400NT cover and then free drinks. The dancing was really fun and I was able to meet an American guy who was a pitcher for the Lions and was originally from Houston. He has played for the MLB before coming out here on the cardinals and another team, but with the music was really hard to hold a conversation. He said he left because the pay was a lot better than back home and he loves it. I stopped drinking about 2 1/2 hours before we left at 5am and which I am very glad I did because Sarah did not stop and I was sober to drive her scooter back. She rode on the back to give directions and driving the scooter in Taiwan was by far one of best times of my life. There was almost no traffic so it was a good time for me to learn to drive out here and had her on the back giving me directions and our other friends with Clark on the back of a scooter beside us. I felt like a hells angel until I realized I was on a moped haha. We got back and Sarah had some friends hanging outside the country club so Clark went to bed and I went to meet some new people. We sat out there till 6:30am where I saw the daylight creep upon us and then I decided to call it a night. Sarah had sobered up and drank coffee from the 7-11 so she was safe to drive home and had her other friends to ride with.
The same day at 1pm we had another orientation from 1-5pm and everyone who went out with us last night had the look of a long night on their faces. I’m not sure if I had introduced Jay Gaddi who is the office manager and also a student in the IIMBA program. He had to wake up at 9am that morning to create a PowerPoint for the orientation he was holding that same day. Jay is from Ontario Canada and a great asset at the university. He plans the parties and still finds the time so stay professional.
The orientation ended up being really fun when we did our group activities where we split up in groups where I had Jess from the Philippines, Willy from Ecuador, May from Thailand, and David from Malaysia. We talked about cultural differences on 5 questions: What is considered on time? Do people still live at home after college with family? Is there any traditional dress in your country? And how important is work/socialization? It was wild to hear some of the differences such as, being on time in the U.S. is being there 5 or maybe 10mins before the meeting where as in Ecuador Willy said people show up around 1 hr. late that is normal. David said at weddings in Malaysia it may start at 6, but people do not show up till around 8. For business meetings the U.S. , Malaysia, and the Philippines all agreed that on time or 5-10mins before is good where Thailand said 10mins late was ok. Another big difference was the living arrangements. In the U.S. we are encouraged to move out of the house at 18 or when we are finished with school, but in Ecuador, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines live at home until they get married. Once a couple is married, the wife moves in with the Husbands family to live so there is typically an extended family in every home meaning kids, parents, grandparents and even great grandparents.
Finally the orientation was over and a few of us went to dinner at a Thai restaurant then walked around the city some and looked at cell phones for Clark and I to buy soon. We went back home and showered and napped before we went back out again for another 5am night which I will have to get used to because that is just the norm here. The Typhoon has been causing some high winds and lots of rain the past 2 days so the walk home was not very pleasant.
That’s about it on the orientation days and it’s been a lot of fun and just amazing how many friends I have made from all over the world. I start my first class tomorrow where it will not be uncommon for me to have people from over 30 different countries in one class. I can’t wait.
I also want to let everyone know that I am being very safe when I go out partying and not to worry too much because I would never put myself in an unsafe situation or where I did not feel comfortable. The Taiwanese people are very nice and it is a safe city to be in. Love all of you and I’ll continue to keep everyone updated. We have a BBQ trip planned in the mountains next weekend so that should be another good story and pictures to add.
Love Always,
Logan
