Tuesday, December 8, 2009

趕上一下 - A Little Catch Up

So again, it's been a while.  I won't make any promises to keep on top of my blog better, because most likely I will not, but be sure to keep checking back once in a while for updates.  
 
(some of the smaller metal barrels of high mountain oolong tea at the Lin Hua Tai Tea Company)

1)  Lin Hua Tai Tea Company - This was a particularly fun
 excursion for me since I am pretty much a tea addict.  Turns out that one of my friends from high school cross country has been studying here for the last semester, but unfortunately he is leaving today.  However, we did manage to meet up one last time to obtain some high quality Taiwanese tea for him to bring back home with him.  There is certainly no lack of tea stores around here, but a lot of them have become very commercialized with high prices and fancy displays.  This is all fine and good if you're looking for a pretty picture, but I'm all about quality, so I asked some of the native Taipei residents at my school where the best place to buy tea was.  After a few mins on google maps, my friend and I were off to Lin Hua Tai Tea Company.  Essentially, it was the bare basics.  Huge metal barrels filled to the brim with different grades and different kinds of tea.  One thing that was notable was the smell of the place.  Never have I been to nor do I expect to visit again a factory so fragrant.  The people who worked there were very friendly and helpful, and we ended up buying a decent amount of tea leaves.  I'm definitely planning a return visit sometime in the near future.  

2)  National Palace Museum - If you all remember, I left my last Adventure Thursday up to a vote on the facebook between Longshan Temple and the National Palace Museum.  Well, luckily enough, I ended up going to both, just on different days.  I met up with a friend and headed to this famed museum in Taipei.  There's actually kind of an interesting controversy surrounding the treasures inside it's walls.  Quick East Asian History 101 course for those of you who aren't familiar.  :)  China's last emperor was dethroned at the beginning of the 1900s, 
after which the new republican government took over.  This regime persisted through the war with Japan several decades later but was finally driven out by the communist forces toward the middle of the century, at which point in time they fled to the island of Taiwan (Formosa).  However, the republican nationalist forces managed to round up many of China's finest cultural artifacts and bring them along to their new home.  Then, during the 60s, mainland China experienced what is called the Cultural Revolution, in which nearly everything old was wiped out in an effort to rid the country of any decadent influences and help it embrace the new communist utopia.  This meant that the majority of the treasures that had remained in China were destroyed.  Anyway, the big issue now is that China wants everything back from Taiwan, 
claiming that it belongs to the motherland.  This is true, but many people say that the objects were saved from the Cultural Revolution and wouldn't even exist if they hadn't been taken to Taiwan.  Regardless, it was amazing to see that many priceless things in one place.  The two most famous items on display are actually the smallest.  There is a cabbage made out of jade and a small rock that looks like a piece of meat.  These are treated like the Mona Lisa in the Louvre with people crowded around taking pictures and talking in amazement.  They were ok I guess...  :)

(top: the park nearest to my school; bottom: the entrance to Kojen English School 2 where I teach)

3)  Life at school - Some of you have been asking for updates about my classes.  For the most part, they're great!  We're entering the Christmas season here in Taipei, and the next few weeks will be devoted not only to teaching the normal English curriculum, but also to Christmas songs.  Most of the kids really have fun with this, and I'm currently teaching them Brenda Lee's "Jingle Bell Rock" and Bobby Helms' "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."  I'm gonna try to have the TAs take some pictures of me with my classes so you all can see them.  I'm also starting to settle into life at Kojen, and I no longer have to spend as much time preparing for classes, which has left me with time to try out different places to eat in the area.  There's a killer vegetarian buffet just two blocks away that I'd never noticed before, so my diet has improved a lot.  I usually have tofu, squash, lima beans, steamed greens, peppers, dumplings, and curried potatoes all served on top of brown or white rice.  It even comes with a free side of soup, and all for about three or four
dollars.  Delicious!  I also spend a lot of my free time between classes walking around the parks in the area.  I've included two pictures of the parks by my school.  It's really relaxing, and I'm definitely enjoying the 70 degree weather (sorry to all you folks back home in snow-bound Wisconsin.)  

(Another park where I walk between classes)

(The Red House Theater at night, about a 10 minute walk from my place)

4)  Life at home - In addition to getting accustomed to my job and my students, I'm also starting to get used to my neighborhood.  While my place isn't perfect (all I'm gonna say is a story involving a rat rooting around in my trash at 2:30 am), it's the place where I call home, and will be for the next 10 months.  The area around it is pretty lively, with weekly religious parades and fireworks.  It's also located close to a place called the Red Theater, a building built by the Japanese in 1908 as a marketplace, and later converted into a theater for the arts.  Now, it plays host to Taipei's teenage crowd and the city's gay and lesbian population.  The area around it is studded with movie theaters, restaurants, bars, and trendy stores.  Basically, Ximending (the name of the area) is a place to come to have a good time, which is convenient since that's what I plan on doing here.  :)




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