- Semester exams have come and gone
- Christmas (and my birthday) has also passed - I'm seventeen now.
- Been pretty sick. Got better.
- I've found that the weather in Taiwan can get pretty interesting.
- Taiwanese parties are probably the strangest things I've ever witnessed, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
- I freaking love Chinese New Year.
As for the joke in the title - it's been "no see" because up where I live on Yangminshan it's so foggy I can barely see outside my window. It's kind of cool, actually. If I can get a good picture, I'll post it. Meanwhile, I have to look for some better jokes.
Now, to answer a question I saw in the comments - why am I trying so hard on a blog that pretty much nobody reads?
1. For myself. It's a fun way to keep tabs on my life as an expat, and it'll help me remember details I would otherwise forget.
2. It's fun writing practice, and God knows I love to write.
3. Could be a helpful tool for someone moving to Taiwan.
4. Why not?
That's all the answers I can come up with for now. Onwards.
As I mentioned above, I've found that Taiwanese parties are...strange. Haven't been to one myself, but last night my dad had to go to an "end-of-year party" for another company. It included (and I'm being completely serious here):
- KTV (karaoke) - sung by grown men, no less.
- A woman testing to see how sober a man was (and subsequently how fit he was to drive her home) by running towards him and jumping - he had to catch her with his thighs. Yeah.
- Dried jellyfish skin, an apparent delicacy.
I'll just say that Asian parties in general usually have something like that going on. They sure know how to have fun. It's going to get better this week and the next, since Chinese New Year is right around the corner. If you don't know what that is, it's basically the Asian equivalent of Christmas, Fourth of July and New Year's Eve all rolled together. The older Chinese calender proclaims that the new year actually starts in February, instead of January, and that every year has a different animal horoscope. This year it's the tiger. Oh yeah. In short, there's a lot of red-gold decorations, money-giving, and fireworks. It. Is. Awesome.
One last thing - I just saw (seriously, I'm looking at it as I type) one of Taiwan's endemic species of birds. I looked it up; it's called a White-eared Sibia (Heterophasia auricularis) and Wkipedia says it lives in temperate forests...like the one surrounding my house.
There were two of them. They're kind of cute, huh? Anyways, that's all I have to say for now. Stay tuned for next week - it's Chinese New Year, and I'm heading over to Shiiin Night Market. Hilarity should ensue.
Story Wordcount: 122,000 (currently editing)
Music: A Very Potter Musical Soundtrack
