Leaf Wrapped Rice Pyramids!

Friday January 18^th, 2013

So unfortunately I still had to attend school today even though I’m the only exchange student in my school doing so and it’s three hours of pointlessness, but at least I was able to sleep in an hour. Only one though. Since the Taiwanese students had a test from 8:00-9:00, I was required to be there at 9:00. I bought a cup of coffee anyway because I was in need of back up.

The first hour was cleaning the school. It turned out the cleaning was only for students who didn’t turned in their ‘communication book.’ Nonetheless I swept a room just to show I wasn’t useless. Then it was having a small talk with classmates half English half Chinese.

Once an hour passed it was time to spend two hours on the ninth floor listening to a speech that none of my classmates cared about. Even with the coffee, I conked out. Truthfully I wasn’t even trying to stay awake. ;P

The only upside to coming to school for three hours was FINALLY being able to eat at the Subway in front of Tatung campus. FINALLY YES!!!! The idea only is enough to make me happy but the sandwich was even better! The employee put way more veggies on it (love!) and ‘honey oat’ bread is different from what I’ve had in America. It has several big nuts hiding in the bread that gives a delightful crunch of flavor in a few delicious bites. It tasted great! ^_^

When I came home my host grandmother prepared bunches and bunches of the rice pyramid thing wrapped in two leafs. She first had me eat one, which was yummy, then brought me to the kitchen to show how to make them. I knew I was going to be taught today (and looked forward to it) but I expected doing it from the very beginning. She already prepared all the ingredients and only showed me how to form the final product.

The contents of the food were mostly rice with a little bit of beans, pork, egg yolk, and mushroom. You put all of that in a specific order inside the leaves, wrap it and tie it off with a string that’s connected to a whole bunch of other leaf rice pyramids. I’m just going to call them leaf rice pyramids for now because I don’t know its English name. I ended up making about two before we ran out of ingredients. I mostly watch host grandmother craft them and took mental notes. So perhaps I could find a recipe (once I know its Chinese or English name) and try to make it myself back in Texas. I think forming the leaf pyramid is the hardest part of it all so at least I vaguely know how to do it! :)

The beginning of forming the food

Host grandmother and her delicious work

The eldest son of my host family returned from college in Tainan (southern Taiwan) to spend the night in Taipei before flying for Japan the next morning. He’s spending about nine days in Japan and less than a month back in Taipei for his winter break. I’ve met him before but it was early in my exchange, which I hardly remember. (My mind wasn’t adjusted to Taiwan yet so I don’t remember everything in the beginning) But seeing him again was really cool because he’s a nice guy. His English is perfect so anything I have trouble explaining can be cleared up by him. We of course try to speak in only Chinese but that’s not yet possible for me.

Dinner was eaten out at a Taiwanese restaurant with host father, host mother, Michael and a couple that are friends of my host parents. The food was good but there was so much! My favorite was a type of tofu, not quite fried but not plain, more in the middle. I think I’ll actually miss tofu when back in the states. Maybe Chinatown markets will have them. ;)

When back in the car, we began driving home but ended up going to a camera store for Michael because he wanted a new camera. I was asked if I wanted to stay in the car or not. That for me is code for ‘It won’t take that long’ so I just tagged along. Two hours later…XD Yeah it took quite a debate in order to find the right camera. This resulted in leaving the store somewhere around 11:45 and arriving back home past midnight. I said ‘good morning’ instead of ‘good night’ to my host family. XD It slightly worries me because for the hiking trip tomorrow, Leo (church buddy) said to get plenty of sleep. Whoopsies, that didn’t happen. XD

Thanks to Michael today I did learn something interesting concerning ring wearing. A ring on the first finger represents success. For guys a ring on the third finger (left hand) doesn’t necessarily mean they are married. Actually Michael wears a ring like that but it’s supposed to be for bringing luck to find love. Girls that wear a third finger left hand ring can be used for warding off guys. It’s basically lying to other guys saying ‘I’m taken so don’t even bother’ but really they’re not married. Devious huh? :P

He also taught me the Infernal General hand gesture (mentioned in previous post) with all but the third finger upright. Also the middle finger touching the thumb is some sign for “fairies” in temples. I don’t quite understand and he had a tough time explaining but that’s as best as we got to.

So there’s my Friday for ya. Hope you enjoyed and I’ll see ya later. Byes! :)

Break Out Into Dancing!

Thursday January 17^th, 2013

University but no high school today! Can I get a whoop whoop?! :D

Only three people where able to give their star presentations today both because of time restraints and completed projects. Over half the class didn’t finish theirs so it’s not like everyone was going to go. I was the second of the three people with my auspicious Miyavi to exhibit. As I suspected, he was not taken too lovingly because he came across as weird to my classmates. Now that I think about it, that really surprises me since we are exchange students (in Asia!) and are exposed to this kind of stuff all the time. Many were saying he was gay even though he’s completely straight with a wife and kids because of the Japanese J-Rock style appearance. But oh well it doesn’t matter in the slightest because I love his work and I don’t need other people’s approval to do so. It so happens my idol was the only one still alive out of the presented ones today. I get the pleasure of anticipation for his next performances unlike the others who will never have anything new released. I win! ;D

With an American boy named Garret, we went to lunch at Sushi Express. It was so nice to sit down, unhurriedly enjoy the food and leisurely chat. Man I love no high school after University! Even though my host father and I had Sushi Express yesterday, it didn’t yet satisfy my craving because I didn’t eat two specific dishes. Today I discovered there was a menu you could order from in case the sushi bar belt didn’t contain it. On the menu there were both pictures and English labeling each food. Brilliant! So the craving was subdued with the veggie seaweed ice cream cone (real name: Chinese Yam Hand Roll) and nut/raisin/bean sushi (real name: Fried bean curd with mix nuts). Non-cravings but still delicious dishes also eaten were ‘Steam Egg-Custard with Scallop’ & ‘Imitation Abalone Salad.’ That last dish was a stab in the dark because it was on the sushi belt and it looked interesting. Without knowing what it was, I gave it a shot and it turned out tasty. Yummy! That was such a great meal both the food and company aspects.

Back home I did some stuff and had a nap. It’s going to be hard breaking out of that habit when back in Texas. XD Funny how both my exchanges had them (Spain’s siestas). Host dad brought dinner home. It totaled to three different rolls that we spilt into three and shared them between host grandma, father and I. The flavors were, shrimp, pork and spicy chicken. Oddly enough my favorite was the spicy chicken. Also consumed was a cup of pumpkin soup. I can’t say I’ve ever had it before but now I know I’ll have it anytime in the future. ;) Other parts of the meal were soymilk, guava slices and a giant green date that resembled a small apple. A very tasty dinner indeed!

Here’s an LOL moment for me. With the miracle of increased time (thanks to no high school) I took the opportunity to do something I’ve been wanting for awhile. Learning K-Pop dances again! My victim of the day was a song that has been on replay in my head and has a dance that fits its sound so well. The moves are not difficult but nothing dead easy and the style is geared towards masculinity. So that was my chosen dance. Later on in the night my host parents showed me a video of a singer called 伍佰 (literally “500”). With the song was a dance that my host mother was learning that I absorbed as well. Refer to the link below (dance is at the beginning and repeated several times):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHHWrkfZFRA&playnext=1&list=PLt7rxWFUGyyeP2KZSHyabQSFw8LrG654t&feature=results_video

The pure difference between the dances just cracks me up. Here I am studying a macho smooth dance while my host mother is learning a down-to-earth disco dance. I think the contrast is amusing and cool. And no I’m not going to tell you the K-Pop dance because y’all will make fun of me. :P Just have fun and use your imagination on that one my fellow K-Pop-ers. ;)

In my first viewing of the above video I actually found a mess up at 2:27. They should’ve done the ‘spin the wheel’ move instead of the ‘shoot the ground move.’ XD

That about wraps it up. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some dancing to do…both types. :D

PACKED FULL Day! Market, Guards, Miniatures, Kung-Fu, etc.

Wednesday January 16^th, 2013

Why is not having school awesome? Because I can do things like going to a food market only open during midday hours with host grandmother to help her out. She picked out the food, host father paid for it and I rolled the cart around that carried the groceries. Teamwork! :D

Here’s host grandmother (lady to the far right) buying seafood stuff. If you look at the other lady’s hand, that’s what the baskets look like to carry your groceries around in. They are your own personal ones because it’s not like the supermarket where they provide carts. You bring your own.

This market was a long street of mainly food but had a few stands with household items and some with clothes. But really it was a place to buy ingredients for cooking. I guess not many foreigners are taken there because I was heavily stared at, more than usual anyway. XD Host grandmother was famous because of it since people came up to her and asked about me. She looked like she was having fun. ^_^

Afterward we shortly visited what would be my host aunt (sister on my host father’s side/host grandmother’s daughter). It was really quick and nothing memorable.

Host father and I went back to the house to drop of host grandmother and the groceries then headed back out. Our first stop was S.Y.S. Memorial Hall to watch a guarding changing ceremony. At this memorial hall sits a large statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of Taiwan. Two guards stand in front of it, guarding much like the British fluffy black hat guards do in England.

The procession of switching guards was a long process as two other guards lead by a leader slowly marched into the room like molasses. It was like raise your foot and arm. Pause. Stamp it down. Pause. Repeat until you eventually reach the destination.

Then a whole fancy shmacy gun handling ceremony took place as they stepped off their posts and switched with the two new guards. All throughout they had stern faces and precise movements. After watching it, I felt like I should be doing their strange walk of molasses speed yet clear-cut actions just or the heck of it. XD

Photo time outside of S.Y.S. Memorial Hall.

As it was nearing lunchtime, the two of us met up with my host mother at her government work building. It had an underground cafeteria where you can get a large amount of food for cheap. All this plus free refills of rice, soup and tea was less than $2US. That’s the perk of eating here and not out at a restaurant. It all was very tasty.

A characteristic of this cafeteria was that it had many large round tables that could fit about 8-10 people. There are no smaller tables so you have to sit with several other people. The thing is you may sit right next to someone but not a word is spoken between y’all. It seemed like people weren’t open to meeting new people even though they work in the same building and are eating together. So when my family and I were sitting down a young man in his 20’s had joined our table. When I brought my observation of not meeting new people to my host mother, we whipped up a conversation with the nearby guy. It resulted in finding out that he’s a very bright, friendly man who would make a great friend. See what happens when you reach out to other people? Good things happen!

There was a little museum in the same government building concerning the surrounding area’s history.

Picture time with host mother

Now with host father

This was part of a miniature depicting one of the several gates that created a box-like area that existed many a year ago. It shows a bit of Chinese architecture.

This gizzy was a fortune cookie without the cookie. What happens is you pull out one of the sticks and a piece of paper is printed out with your fortune on it. I believe it mimics fortune giving that is present at temples but without the printing aspect. I so conveniently have lost the fortune under the piles of brochures and papers but I know it was at least good. The fortune paper had a whole bunch of Chinese characters with a small spurt of English on the bottom. I’ll find it again…eventually. XD

The last part of the museum was a little theater that showed a film promoting modern culture in Taipei. A coolness factor came into play because it was a 360° film, meaning you are a circular room surrounded by screens and the floor rotates slowly around. That was totally new for me and quite impressive! What if an entire battle movie was filmed like that? You would definitely feel like you’re in the battle since you are completely surrounded by action. Next step after 3D perhaps? ;)

Leaving the building, host father and I headed to a new one via subway. This one was adorable because it was the “Miniatures Museum of Taiwan.” It was filled with miniatures of all types of buildings and rooms from English origin to French to German and so very many, many more! Better shown than explained!

Here’s “Rose Mansion” which is American. But I say it like “A-mur-ican. XD

Random miniature room but it’s so realistic that it’s almost like I can just step into it and jump into that fluffy bed! There were quite a number of rooms such as this throughout the museum.

ADORABLE TINY PASTRIES! OH MY GOODNESS LOVE!

OH MY GOSH MINI ASIAN FOOD! THAT IS TOTALLY CUTE! ME GUSTA!

This English castle was on quite a large scale with numerous detailed soldiers guarding its splendor. It was quite impressive.

My favorite miniature of them all! Roman ruins! I love it because: (1) the amount of detail was astonishing (2) When I looked at it, I saw Ezio jumping from structure to structure. XD What?! I’m an Assassin’s Creed fan alright? You can’t erase it from your mind once it invades. ;P

This was the final miniature…or rather…large-ature. Buckingham Palace is what you are looking at. It was quite big and remarkable to look at. Then I stepped behind the front and was shocked back in amazement. The back view didn’t show the outside of the building but rather the inside of the front rooms. Deep royal red coloring was displayed throughout the rooms with gold accents in a very majestic manner. The lighting was too dark for pictures but it was quite a splendor to look at. Good job to whoever made this piece of art!

The gift shop called for several sequels from the cuteness factor of tiny things, especially when it came to food. XD Near the cashier was the best tiny thing of them all. A…mini…bible…of the Old Testament…less than two inches in length and one inch in width…with full scriptures! The best part of it all…I could actually read the extremely miniscule print! I shocked both the saleslady and my host father with my awesome ability of read-a-fa-cation! He bought me the tiny bible just because of the skill and since I’m a Christian. How sweet of him. ^_^

Leaving the museum, we headed out for dinner at Sushi Express. Yay! I’ve been craving this place’s food! The selections were all delicious but the sushi conveyer belt didn’t have my favorites. Sadness. My taste buds shall some time have them again! >:)

The final event of the day was my first lesson at outside school club martial arts class. Same teacher but different location and this time I pay for it. The place is kinda far from my house, an hour away, but it still was fun to try something new. The class was from 7pm-9pm and had older students. When I say “older” I mean people in or past their 50’s. I was by far the youngest of them all. Kinda amusing. XD

For the first hour it was basically stretching and exercises like stances or kung-fu movements (kicking, punching, etc.). Following that was the grasshopper routine run through. Then it was onto some new fun stuff of comebacks! We were taught five moves that counters an opposing punch. I felt like I was learning self-defense, which is totally sweet and useful! These moves basically turned the punch into a painful arm lock of some sort. The only problem was my practice partner was an older lady who I was afraid of hurting her. The point of the moves was to cause pain. I didn’t want to give her pain but I wanted to learn the moves. As a compromise I performed the moves gently hoping I did them correctly but without the hurt aspect. Perhaps when I get back to the USA someone young would volunteer to be my practice partner. *eyebrow wiggle* I’ll teach you the moves as an inceptive. ;D

Overall it was a fun new experience and I’ll continue to attend lessons until my mind is made up whether or not to stay dedicated to it for the rest of my exchange. We shall see! Until next time, good night all! ^_^

Poor Shizuo Aged!

Tuesday January 15^th, 2013

Today needed a little risk factor. What comes to mind when I say that? Skydiving? Twirling fire batons? How about drinking coffee? XD The third guess was right because I’ve become very cautious and weary of coffee from last Saturday’s incident. That stuff is scary to me now. XD Even so I needed a pick-me-up and got myself a can. Thankfully there was no uncontrollable energy or crash, just the delicious taste. Yay!

In English class I took a practice test along with the other students because I was bored and wanted something new. What a pleasant surprise it was to find the test had a reference to Texas when comparing its size to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The printed word “Texas” was then bombarded with hearts, colors and a bunch of underlines by Andrea’s hand. Fun patriotic stuff. ;P

Students got their paperdolls back in art class. Remember my handsome little Shizuo? He had vivid blonde hair, bright purple sunglasses and an outstanding red sign? Well being exposed to too much light has led to him looking as if he aged a bunch. XD The colors have been bleached out. It kinda seems like he is becoming older since his hair is turning white. Oh poor baby. Luckily he still is intact with all his parts nice and sturdy thanks to my supreme paperdoll skills! Some students got their projects back with missing arms and legs. Whoopsies! XD

Nothing else to report so good night all! :)