The Netherlands INVADE!

Monday December 3^rd, 2012

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? Not to mention a great tasting fruit! Therefore I got me ‘n apple today! A Gala if it even matters. What was most delightful was looking on the sticker to read “USA.” Oh snap it’s from America! How cool! *bites into it* Ahhhh…the taste of freedom. I can just feel life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness at the core! Ohhh-oh say can you seeeeee! Byyy the dawn’s early light! :P

Reeling back to Taiwan, some of the Netherlands was sprinkled upon lunchtime. Yes Will was there but I’m more referring to another special person associated with Holland. No, it’s not my husband. XD Good guess though. :P The person I’m referring to is a girl my age called Anne. Prepare for slight complicatedness. Anne is Taiwanese but raised in America, Texas in fact. She’s in my same Rotary district for the Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) program. Her country is the Netherlands (2012-2013). Unfortunately, her grandmother passed away in Taiwan while she was on her exchange to Holland. So she flew to Taiwan for the funeral and while here, freed up a lunch time to spend with Akiko and I before she flies back on Wednesday. Since she is one of my besties in the Texas Rotary District, it was amazing to see her again!

Demanding something Taiwanese, Anne settled for a good noodle shop by the University. A famous dish throughout Taiwan is beef noodle soup, which has a place in its people’s hearts. With no access to such a meal in Holland, Anne excitedly ordered one and adored it. My own lunch was wonton soup (just soup, no noodles = healthier). Gosh wonton is so great! Love!

Introducing Anne to Will, the two instantly connected and started talking in Dutch. Oh it was so cool to listen to! Back in the English language, our chit chat rotated around our exchanges so far. It was nice to hear about another exchange in a different country for a change, especially the one of a dear friend. As a gift from the Netherlands, Anne brought something called ‘Stroopwafel.’ This Dutch pastry is a thin waffle cut in half (making two really thin slices like a sandwich) and slapping a sweet sauce in the middle. Tasting this new food, I fell in love. THIS STUFF WAS BRILLANT BEYOND BELIEF! Oh goodness me I want to learn how to make this deliciousness! I see now why Will was breaking down from happiness when consuming the beloved Dutch treat (not authentically available in Taiwan). Heck I almost spat out tears. It’s just that awesome! Does Texas have stroopwafels? I wonder… But yeha, it was very sweet of Anne to bring them. Will loves her for it. XD

To continue our time together just a wee bit longer, coffee time followed lunch. My drink was interesting as its called ‘Milk Tea Iced Coffee.’ It’s like the three major drinks in Taiwan all combined into one. Cool huh? Not bad either. ;)

Something I found funny with our conversation was that Anne missed Asian cooking so much that she will buy a rice cooker in Taiwan and bring it back to Holland for the rest of her exchange. Woah that is intense! XD Twas a pleasant time seeing Anne again. Next time we meet at the Rotary reunion, I’m demanding stroopwafels because she said she would bring some. :P

Art class wasn’t today but I still nonetheless had to draw a picture for an assignment I was absent for. I find it pointless since (1) The grade does not count in the slightest (2) I didn’t know what the flying flip I was doing. You’re supposed to make a duplicate of a scenery drawing that’s all in black and white with everything heavily influenced by shading in different tones. I don’t know how to do that! I wasn’t taught anything! *sigh* Whatever. I did it and therefore it’s out of my life. …I want the paper dolls again.

This Monday afternoon was ‘a picnic’ with the other exchange students at Tatung. Rike brought butter cracker biscuits called ‘Kid-O’ and I brought pineapple and blueberry cakes. The cakes are little rectangular pastries with a chewy inside of its particular flavor, the same as the ones I baked at the museum where I got married. :P The cakes are very famous in Taiwan being not too sweet but still tasty. Nothing else was at the picnic because the other three gals didn’t bring anything. I consider that a good thing because the amount of cakes I brought was enough to suffice. With snacks and conversation, our afternoon was spent.

Tonight was supposed to be the day we brought my laptop in for repairs but it got cancelled. My host father asked me if my data was backed up on an external hard drive. Answering no, we concluded the need to do so in case something drastic happens during the repairs. Trying some storage devices of his, they either didn’t work or lacked the space I needed. So it led to the decision of purchasing one for myself tomorrow and going for repairs Wednesday. Whoo! Game plan!

Just in case I haven’t explained my laptop problem already, let me break it down for you. The same problem has happened several times in the same week. At first there are minute size static things across my screen. After awhile the screen starts to blink black stripes in a sporadic fashion, thoroughly freaking me out. The flashing will go on violently for about thirty seconds until the screen goes completely black, preventing me from seeing anything. The laptop is still functional just concealed under a black coat of doom. That makes it kind of hard to type Taffys, write reports, do research, etc. Apple Care to the rescue!

TV was amazing today! First I discovered a channel with ‘Cake Boss.’ Cake decorating awesomeness?! Oh my good sweet Lord, YES! I LOVE CAKE SHOWS! HAPPINESS! (FYI, I adore making cakes all fancied up and pretty. These shows are an inspiration!) Second was a travel program featuring Texas. TEXAS?! Howdy there my darlin’! It was amusing to hear about Texas and its people from another’s perspective a well as being heartwarming. Not to mention coincidental that the place covered was my home state. I find humor in that Texas finds ways to sneak in Taiwan by itself. :)

With it still showering outside (this has been going on for at least a week!), I bid y’all a rainy good night!