Things that Taiwanese Dramas Didn't Teach You About Taiwan: 02

2. Almost every Taiwanese person is comparable to both Jiang Mama in It Started with a Kiss and any Lin Mei Xiu mother character (specifically from Rice Family)!

 For those of you who have watched ISwaK, you know the most amazing side character of the drama, Jiang Mama! As you were watching it, no doubt, you thought to yourself, there can't really be anyone that amazing, nice, ridiculous, and just all around awesome person in real life... Well, peps... Guess again! Almost everyone I've met has been just as fantastical, friendly, and extraordinary as Jiang Mama!


Taiwanese dramas would have you believe that there are tons of bad people over here with their devious plots to take over billion dollar companies, and a bunch of girls waiting to stab you in the back over a guy, and tons of guys competing amongst themselves over girls involving racing cars, playing some sort of sport, or just... running.




From the reception I've received since I've been in Taiwan (which it is about to be my two month anniversary!), it pretty much seems like everyone here is community based. People, friends, families, neighbors just all hang out together here, and they seem to always be there for each other.

People are  so excepting, constantly giving, and are so nice here that I inescapably imagine the entire Taiwanese population as Jiang Mama! Then there are those fiesty people who are exuberantly bold, loud, and extremely personable and will start talking to you in fluent, fast, impossible to understand Taiwanese and you don't even understand Mandarin that well!!! These people remind me of Lin Mei Xiu!

All in all... Taiwanese people, as a whole, are the most amazing group of people I've ever met! And I hope one day I can become integrated in their community!

Things that Taiwanese Dramas Didn't Teach You About Taiwan: 01

1. Taiwan is one big tropical mountain range!

No matter where you go in Taiwan you are surrounded by green mountains and hills!

As you fly from Taipei to Kaohsiung (like I did on my first day in Taiwan) as you look out the window of the plane, all you see are clouds and the awesome mountain range sticking out from them!

To say that Taiwan is BEAUTIFUL is an understatement! Everything is green because it is a tropical area and the way the mountains are shaped and formed is so interesting and unlike anything I've ever seen in the U.S.

I constantly feel like I live on a mountain in the middle of the ocean! I feel like the only drama that somewhat prepared me for this fact is 'Wish to See You Again' and that was only when they went to Sun, Moon, Lake and where ever Kingone's character took Terri Kwon!

Taiwan: Day 7

at Pier 2

So I have officially been in Taiwan or more specifically Kaohsiung for a week now and I have yet to actually post on my blog!!! In my defense it has been a CRAZY week jam packed full of activities, meetings, and traveling!



I am trying to figure out my way around Kaohsiung. I have the Metro pretty much figured out, but once it comes to navigating outside the metro station I'm pretty much SO GO ME and my awesomely horrible sense of direction!!! YAY!!!

'Dome of Light' at Formosa Station

So, to tell you where all I've been will be a bit difficult, but let me try:

• San Min Elementary School
• Kaohsiung Cultural Center
• IKEA
• Carrefour
• National Taiwan Bank
• Visa Center
• Metro Station
• Sun Yat-Sen University
• Cultural Tour Bus (Pier 2, British Consulate from the 1800's, etc)
• AIT Kaohsiung (American Institute in Taiwan)
• Siziwan
• CiJin Island
• Youth Market Area
• Dream Mall
• Lotus Island
• Dome of Light
• Jao Dong Port
• Some island off of that Port

So I have done quite a lot of stuff within one week! I am planning on creating my own little Black & White (痞子英雄) tour!!! I've already been to the Dome of Light and Dream Mall! I need to find all of the other cool places it was shot and take off one weekend and go reenact the show around Kaohsiung!!!

Anyway, I'm LOVING Kaohsiung! The only negatives are that the pollution is kinda insane here and the hand rails only come up to about mid-thigh on me! Other than that, the people are AMAZINGLY nice, accepting, and helpful, the city is BEAUTIFUL!!! I can't wait until I start teaching and get to interact with the kids!

Flower Rock

I'm also starting my Chinese classes in September. One thing that has been a terrible struggle for me has been my lack of Chinese skills. MANY people here speak at least a little English and help me out when I'm ordering food and whatnot, but most of the time I feel my experience is crippled by my lack of communication skills!

Speaking of food, OMG!!! I'm LOVING IT!!! Taiwanese people eat SOOOOO much carbs/bread!!! It's insane! I thought I was gonna lose weight here, but that would definitely be a miracle with how much bread and rice I eat! I hope to start figuring out some other options soon, because I really do want to lose weight so I can possibly fit into some of their clothes here! I LOVE the clothes the women wear here. The younger women are all so fashionable and well dressed! I pretty much LOVE all of their clothes!!!!






Ok, now that I've prattled on inconsequentially for a while now, I'm gonna take a shower and head to bed after I'm done watching the Live Broadcast of 'Drunken to Love You.' I hope to post more often! 

My Apartment building at KS Cultural Center

Random Fun Fact: Kaohsiung is the most polluted city in Taiwan. I have terrible allergies right now and I think it's my body reacting to the horribleness in the air and the scooters that surround us at all moments in the streets and sidewalks. 

6 Days til Taiwan: Still Not Getting Any Better

So, I'm still not getting any better at keeping up with thing!!! Gah!!! Well, I hope I get in a better habit of it while in Taiwan!

Things that have happened since my last post?

Well first off, I forgot to mention that I sold my car. My beautiful bright red Mazda3 will have a new person to call its owner soon. I sold it to the Toyota dealership in San Marcos. They took it for $10,500 when Carmax was only going to give me like $9,000. I made a profit from it! That's all that really matters! Now I have money to fall back on in Taiwan if I need it. Previously, I was about to head over there with only $30 to my name! So I feel a lot better now that I'm more financially stable.


Hmmmm... I also got my loan deferment!!! So now I won't have to worry about paying that off while I'm trying to live on the stipend they are going to be giving us while we teach.

I wanted to share some of the AWESOME fortune cookies I have been getting recently in my pre-Asia Asian food expoilts!!! I really teared up at the one about being on people's minds!

Also, since I got back from Washington D.C., my main focus has been on meeting up with friends and family before I head out! Things I've done so far:

July 16-18: Raeha came to visit me from Oklahoma! (I also got to see Rick and Josh again before I left that weekend!)

July 18: My new cousin Jason Wesley Rogers was born and I went to see him!

July 20: Went into SA to visit my online friend and now real life friend King and she helped me with my computer!

July 22: Went Tubing with friends and then saw Harry Potter at the IMAX!!! Life is so much better at the IMAX! =)

July 23: Took one of my cousins and his family to the airport to travel to Jamaica. And later that evening went to Saltlick with my mom and Mary! We had a blast and bought some new wine!

July 24: Had a dimsum brunch at Golden Wok with Amira and James then spent the rest of the day with my dad and step-mom.

Jason Wesley Rogers

And now we're on today! I have done NOTHING all day except for complete my powerpoint for our introductions in Kaohsiung.

Tonight I'm planning on completing my packing journey. I plan on going from two overweight bags to 3 manageable bags for check-in. I know this is going to be a lot of money in the end. I'm so not looking forward to it.

I've been kind of freaking out today about how comfortable I'm going to be on the plane to Taiwan. Apparently, the seats on the plane are only 17 inches. I just flew to Washington D.C. on a flight where the seats were 18 inches and I was extremely uncomfortable. I can't imagine having to do that for 13 1/2 hours!!! I'm going to have to take a lot of sleeping pills and just hope that my girth doesn't bother the two people sitting on either side of me!

Anyway, overall, I'm really excited about this experience, and I'm looking forward to spending time with all my friends and family before I leave! My schedule is quite packed! It's like I'm popular for the first time in my life! ;)

Until next time, I'm signing out!

Random Fun Fact: I spent about 5 days working on my PowerPoint Presentation for Taiwan... I think in total I spent about 8-10 hours on it. In my opinion, I think it looks really nice!

26 Days til Taiwan: Connections

I got a new camera the other day!!!

I'm actually REALLY upset with it right now. It's the Samsung Wifi sh100. Which means it should be able to upload all the pics I take straight to my photobucket or Picasa as soon as I take them if I have wifi where I am taking the pics. HOWEVER!!! I can get the camera to access my Photobucket account, but it won't actually upload the pictures to photobucket, and I can't even get the camera to access my Picasa account! It's so frustrating when things don't work out the way you want!










--------
SKYPE

Also if you want to keep in verbal contact with me while I'm in Taiwan, I started up a Skype account! My info is:

tiffiany_45

or

tiffiany.hargis@gmail.com

Add me!!!

Of course I will also be on Facebook, Blogger, Tumblr, gchat, etc. But, you know, just one more way to keep in contact!

-

So the packing situation has gotten a little out of control...

I really hope I get to spend some time organizing next week, bc next Wednesday I will be heading to Washington D.C.!!!!!!

My 'Activities Before I Leave' so-to-speak are:

• July 6 - Apply for Resident Visa in Houston
• Clean and detail my car completely
• July 8 - Spend all day attempting to sale my car (hopefully at a profit)
• July 9 - Baby Shower for my 2nd Cousin Baby Jason
• July 13-15:  Washington D.C. Fulbright Orientation
• July 16-18: Raeha comes to visit me! (HP-DH part 2!!!)
• Sometime btn July 22-July 25: Kemah/Galveston Yacht trip with Mary & Gabe
• July 29: Leave for LAX (spend 29th & 30th with Cali friends Tina, Lisa, and maybe Jess)
• July 31: at 1am I will leave LAX in time to get to Taipei, Taiwan at 6am on August 1st
• August 1: Then I take a short flight from Taipei to Kaohsiung to start my new life for a year

 I'm kind of busy... At least it won't give me too much time to dwell on the fact that I'm going to be living in a foreign country for a year! I need to find time to do my final packing sometime in there!!!

I'm in the home stretch!

---


RANDOM FUN FACT: It is about 200 miles between Taipei and Kaohsiung (about the same btn San Antonio and Houston)! I hope to frequent the trail btn the two cities as often as possible!!!

Kaohsiung

Taipei

26 Days til Taiwan: Bad at This

(My most favorite fortune I've ever gotten from a fortune cookie)

Sooo... As you can tell, I'm not really used to bloging very often! It's been over 10 days since my last one! A LOT has happened in these past days too!

I'm starting to get a little nervous because the date of my departure is ever so speedily approaching. But as I was cleaning out my car, I found this saved fortune cookie, and I had to admit that it suited my situation quite well! So I'm gonna focus as much as I can on the bright side of things!

-

That being said...

Apparently it's nigh impossible to get a "Hansen's Disease" check-up in San Antonio!!! Hansen's Disease is another name for Leprosy. I, of course, do not have leprosy, but getting a doctor/clinic to sign off on me confirming that fact is like I actually do have the disease and all want to stay far away from me and everyone is adverse to helping out this deformed creature. REALLY?!?!?! COME ON!!! THIS IS FOR A VISA!!! THERE HAS TO BE SOMEWHERE THEY DO THESE KINDS OF EVALUATIONS!!! IT SHOULDN'T BE THIS DIFFICULT!!!

-

So another fun fact about when you're applying for a Resident Visa, you have to get tested for STD's!!! That's right, kids! HIV and Syphilis tests are required to enter Taiwan! When I went to get those tests done at the San Antonio Metro Health Clinic, they threw in Gonorrhea and Chlamydia tests for free! So in-case you were all wondering (which all of you who really know me weren't), I do not have HIV, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, or Chlamydia! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!



-

I will be going to the doctor who did my physical for the Fulbright program tomorrow and bringing my shot record and STD tests with me, and hopefully he'll just sign off on me saying I don't have Leprosy, and then my Medical form for my Resident Visa will be complete!

If that's the case, then tomorrow I will be heading to Houston to register for my visa! I will need:

• Application form
• Health Certificate
• Passport
• Birth Certificate
• Two 2x2 photos
• Fulbright Name List
• MOFA Letter

I have everything except the stupid completed Health Form. >:(

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RANDOM FUN FACTS: Did you know there are over 6,000 cases of Leprosy in the U.S., and that the disease is treatable, and that it's not easily spread because most people have a natural immunity to the bacteria!

Every single one of these facts shocked me as I read up on Hansen's Disease.

(Link to info)

40 Days Until Taiwan: Books

I have finally picked out all the books I am planning to take with me to Taiwan as reference materials for making lesson plans, curriculum, etc!

I'm missing my curriculum design book though! I'm really upset about that!

I'm also ordering two other books that Dr. Hult recommended for me! So, yeah, I will have some nice extra fees on my hands for my luggage!


Random Fun Fact! - Book is 书中 (Shū zhōng) in Mandarin