I'M BA-ACK!

After a lovely day of travelling, in which I arrived a full thirty minutes before I left and spent far too long in a too small seat, I made it home on Sunday and nearly collapsed in my dinner plate after a nice 36 hour day. Monday was busy, Tuesday was sluggish, and today I still feel weird. I'm fighting the jet lag and losing. You really just can't get any worse than a full 12 hour time difference.

Two Days Left in Taipei

Well, sorry I haven't posted in the past few days, but I'm in Taipei and the apartment doesn't have a computer. Right now, I'm sitting in an air conditioned internet cafe in Ximen. ^.^ It's a scoarching 33C and humid.

Wednesday: Sat on my suitcase exactly 5 times. it still wouldn't close. Had to remove fleece blanket and move it to other suitcase. Then it finally closed. Rode fast train to Taipei - only 2 1/2 hours! Shopping, rented movies, finally saw Alien. Was fun.

Thursday: Shopping, blew $40 USD on CDs. Impressive, no? Now I have 300 NT (or about $9) to tide me over for today and tomorrow. Smooth move on my part.

Friday: I'm going to see Scary Movie 4 with Amanda this afternoon. We're also planning on renting some movies. Nothing big.

Last Day at School

Today was exhausting. It was a lovely 32C and really freaking humid as I rode my bike to school. I met up with Pong pong, my only Chinese teacher, and we had our last class. I gave her a card and a map of Long Island. Then, I went to homeroom for a period and played Sudoku.

My classmates planned a huan cong, or good-bye party. We went to a nearby park and played games for an hour (which I then consistently lost at all of them, as I had not a clue as to the rules) and had a pizza lunch with a tirmisu desert. My classmates presented me with the most amazing gift - a homemade yearbook, with pictures of everyone in the class and personel notes in Chinese and/or English. They totally rock. I gave everyone my business card (the picture makes me look like an orc from the Lord of the Rings) and a Statue of Liberty pin.








I went to art after we got back and hung out with my friends there. They were pretty cool. I gave Kay, Joan, and Mao Mi little gifts as well.


After school, Mette came up from Yuli for dinner to say goodbye. I'm leaving for Taipei tomorrow - she's not coming with. We had fun. It's odd. I mean, the two of us spent almost a year seeing each other every day. Now I am going back to the US and she'll be heading home to Denmark soon as well. I'm gonna miss her.

Besides, she still has yet to teach me that Danish drinking song she promised to. (For when I go to Denmark next summer. When I am of legal age in Europe.)

6 Days

Well, today I went to school and hung out. Not much to do. I packed a box of books and CDs and clothes to send home. That's 20 kilograms I don't have to lug through the airport. Yay for that.

I have to pack my suitcase tonight, as tomorrow I have a long school day. It'll be my last day at Hua Nu. ^.^

I had dinner with Amanda and her host mom this evening at the local tea shop. I ate beef ribs. It was really tender and really good. Nothing else is going on. Now, onwards, to stuff all my shit into two bags. Can I do it? Will everyhting fit? How many times must I jump on the top of my suitcase to close it? Stay tuned and find out!

Shoot Me Now

To be honest, yesterday's Rotary meeting wasn't a complete disaster. It could have been worse. It could have been the first Thursday of the month, when everyone shows up. But I digress. Since I am coming home on the 25th, it was my last Rotary meeting. My host mom thought it would be a good idea for me to do a short speech. Unfortunately, she did not tell me until 20 minutes before I was to get in the car. I couldn't whip up a speech in that time. I decided to throw my fate to the Gods and wing it.

I was a fool.

I stuttered, I stammered, I blanked on words I've know for months. It was an experience I'd rather not repeat.

The best part? The Rotarians also realized I was leaving before my birthday, so they decided to celebrate that as well. My second host father gave me three wine coolers. White wine coolers. Then we all trekked to the railway station, where one of the Rotarians with aspirations of political power was throwing a 'party'. It was composed of two musicians playing at us and two dozen or so people milling around for the free drinks. They then proceeded to have the two musicians play Happy Birthday at me, encouraging everyone to join in.

Forget pop quizzes and showing up to the first day of high school in your ratty old undies and nothing else. This is the stuff of nightmares.

See Jane Straightening Her Hair

Weell, here are the lovely, lovely pictures of my newly straightened hair. It's not frizzy, the ends are nice, and I got a flattering cut. Yay me! However, the process was painful, long, and ultimately brain-cell killing with all the fumes I inhaled. 10 hours total. I went two different days to get it done. Thankfully, they had a computer set up at the chair so you could screw around on the net. I also read bits of "The Da Vinci Code" that Tim lent me.

Sticks and Stones

I got this link from "Iraq The Model", an Iraqi blog. It's pretty good. He had a nifty little story about this clip from TV. It's in Arabic, with subtitles. Go check it out.
Click here.

Quick Review

Saturday: Marina and I went to the 101 and did the tourist thing. She laughed at my utterly miserable French pronunciation and I explained that I took Spanish. The party that night was fun.

Sunday: woke up 3 hours after getting home, thank you, Amanda, and couldn't go back to sleep. Was hungover and grumpy for most of the day. Amanda was equally bitchy, but did not have the excellent excuse of spending the previous night out partying. Went shopping for various things with Marina. We got lost en route to a pizza place, eventually found it, and devoured some of the best pizza in Taipei. Bought Amanda a cake - Happy Birthday to her.

Monday: overslept - was late to the hair salon where they killed brain cells in order to straighten my hair. Cut, styled, and straightened. Now that I put on make-up semi-regularly, I won't be recognized by my own family.

Tuesday: leaving day. Went to Ximen, ate lunch with Casey, Brianna, and Tim. Casey is leaving Saturday. But she lives nearby in Conn. We're planning to meet up in August in NYC. We missed our train home b/c of a horrendous traffic jam outside the train station. Literally a quarter mile from our destination and we're in bumper to bumper traffic. I couldn't get out and sprint to the station to change our tickets for a later train 'cause I was stuck in the middle between Mette and Amanda. At the station, I changed our tickets miraculously to a later time without having to pay for anything. My trick? A smile. (God I love being in a foreign country.)

Lost in Ximen

Well, yesterday Marina (pronounced marena) and I went to Ximen so I could pick up a few cards for various upcoming birthdays. Unfortunately, the store, Eslite, has about three different department stores in Ximen and I couldn't find the right one with a bookstore. Sooo, Marina and I wandered around Ximen and got these awesome pictures from a Japanese photo booth. It's a craze here for anything Japanese. Then we went and grabbed Haagen Dazs. Mmm, ice cream.

Today, we're going to the 101 so Marina can see the world's tallest building. Plus, it's a cool place to hang out. Even if it is expensive. I also plan to go to a good-bye party for Anna, Fanny, and Casey tonight at a club.

For those who have wondered, I decided to permenantly straighten my hair and I am taking large amounts of pictures. I'll put them up next week when I'm back in Hualien.