What Do You Do With a BA in English?

Taiwan and Japan

I realized I never wrote about my Taiwan/Japan extravaganza. It was so long and so awesome and so tiring that I honestly needed a few weeks to process it. And then I forgot to write about it.

I just want to say that I should have brought my digicam. I ran out of disposables and only bought one extra bc I was busy. Now I have to learn to print photos so I can print my friend's photos to have some that I'm in! Like the one in front of Tokyo tower with the girls we met at the hostel. That's a great one.

Anyway. Everyone should go to Taiwan. Just make sure you know someone Taiwanese who comes with you because tonality is a pain in the ass if you aren't used to it. I learned "hello" and "thank you" and that was really all I had time for bc I was busy having a blast and reviewing Japanese.

But I should also let you know that if you plan to go on a tour bus full of girls don't stay over a week and a half. My choir is not a bitchy choir (we keep the drama on the DL or avoid it altogether) but we were starting to go a little crazy without men. We were so excited just to make a male friend in Taiwan (nice guy, we played pool with him - of course our choir conductor came, too).

So, basic impressions/memories that come to mind:

Taiwan is BEAUTIFUL.
There are too many stray dogs.
The seafood is excellent.
Apparently a tourbus full of American girls is easily mistaken for a tourbus full of Disney performers.
Taiwan consists of 3 tectonic plates, I think.
I met that famous T-Rex skeleton, the one that's the most complete. She was in a room in a natural history museum, not on display, but the door was open. My friend went NUTS over her.
The stray dogs like granola bars.
Velvet dresses in summer were a bad idea.
The Kenting night market ROCKED! Yummy ice cream, nearby beach, guy in leather underwear... he was just waiting to freak us out and I just looked at him like, yeah, right, don't go there. He didn't. He did touch my friend's arm. She was weirded out. My other friends posed for pics with him.
The mountains go right into the sea on the east coast so they had to extend the shore for a road. They used big concrete blocks shaped something like jacks, which, if you're careful, can be climbed on to get you from the road to the beach. I was not wearing the appropriate footwear and I had already taken my pic of my feet in the Pacific (my favorite ocean!) so I just watched.

Then there was Japan. This old guy at a temple started talking to Jamie because apparently being a Russian/Polish Jew makes her look half Japanese. (Thick black hair and slightly yellowish skin tones? Actually makes sense when you think about it). So we talked to the man and he said, in English, "You should keep speaking in Japanese. I can understand what you say." That was great, because I couldn't really figure out what he was saying. I had that problem a lot. I knew how to ask for what I wanted. I just couldn't figure out the responses too well. I'll work on that for next time, whenever next time is.

So, I'm officially a world traveler. It is AWESOME!!!

And I love my choir. I miss being in choir. Victor, the man with all the connections, also known as our conductor, called to invite me to karaoke tonight, but I work in the morning. Because he called something special must be going on. By special I mean he has something for us to do and needs a good showing at the restaurant. Not sure what project he's working on these days except maybe that SATB choir he's starting that he said I could join. He didn't mention it in last night's call, though. He did say they go there every week and I should come. If I can get a ride from the train, which should be easy, I just might. I miss the girls. And singing. I wanna sing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I sang that a lot while banquet serving; the DJs played it at almost every party. I should practice. I'll have to find the song!

Labels: travel

posted by ariah @ 7:56 PM