Tuesday March 12th, 2013
Regarding the first half of school, 70% was filled with
Chinese homework and the other 30% was snoozle time. The afternoon was Chinese
class at Tatung high school. This one ranks as the best so far because we
didn’t have any tests but rather had three hours of learning both in-book and
out-of-book stuff. Whoo hoo, yes! Though it was supposed to be a review, some
material was actually new for me since the teacher covered lesson 10, a lesson
not yet reached in my college classes. Even though quickly run over, the
grammar section was helpful to me because I could ask the teacher questions.
Learning grammar by oneself isn’t easy peasy so teacher help is appreciated. I
found today that we will have a test over the whole Chinese Learning Book 1 (12
lessons) in exactly one week. That gives me seven days to learn chapter 10, 11
and 12 both in vocabulary, Chinese characters and grammar when University
covers it between 3/18-5/9. Woooooo-wee! This’ll be a challenge for sure! BUT
when there’s a will, there’s a way! Andrea has the will therefore the way is
not far behind! >:D FIGHTING!
Meeting up with Maxime after school at Taipei Main Station,
we headed out to begin our individual projects assigned at University. In this
project we have to pick a favorite shop in Taipei and interview the shop owner
or employees. It must be a ten-minute presentation including why you like it,
pictures, questions and answers. Thinking long and hard for which shop would be
my favorite, I finally settled down on the small anime store at the Z
Underground mall where I purchased my oh so beloved Sengoku Basara figurines.
Since it had both figurines and video games like most other anime shops nearby,
I picked this one above the others since I’m loyal to it for the above reason.
Maxime and I approached it and began our work.
First was a snapshot of the front with yours truly.
Entering the small shop, a customer was currently being
served by the shop owner so we waited. Only one worker was there instead of
others I’ve seen at previous visits. Apart from the customer, he also had a
phone call or two that we patiently waited through as well. When no other
person was in the shop and the man wasn’t on the phone, I made my move and
politely asked if I could interview him for a school project. The result, “我很忙”
(I am very busy). He was trying to explain that he was too busy for an
interview so he turned me down. …*sniff* How sad. *sniff* Rejected! What was I
to do? How can I do a favorite shop project if my favorite shop can’t spare
time for a short interview? I predicted this sort of thing beforehand because I
knew nearly all Taiwanese shops are too busy to take time for an interview.
That’s the reason I wasn’t looking forward to this project because I knew
getting an interview would be hard. Teahouses, convenient stores and Taiwanese
restaurants, all places I like, would not be able to spare time for little old
me. This gives me quite a dilemma indeed!
Therefore we just
headed towards Maxime’s favorite shop at Donghu so he could get his part of the
project accomplished. Before that we recharged with dinner because each of us
was becoming weary, me especially from disappointment. Maxime ordered ten
dumplings while I indulged in some wonderful stinky tofu. Man that stuff is
fantastic! Apart from the sliced and diced tofu squares, a bit of garlic was
plopped on top, fermented cabbage on the side and of course stinky tofu sauce
on the bottom. Really tasty! Though it does make one thirsty so I stopped by a
teahouse and got a cup of pearl milk tea. With the half sugar and no ice added
options, the drink was average. Not bad but I prefer other versions of Taiwan’s
iconic pearl milk tea.
Maxime’s favorite
store is primarily a bookstore but it also has some other do-dad things such as
headphones, knick-knacks, school supplies and socks. Going up to an employee at
the cash register, we asked for an interview. Both of us held our breath when
the lady was hesitating but thankfully in the end she agreed to do it as soon
as she took care of waiting customers. Maxime admitted that he was scared she
would say no because of what happened to me. When she was free the interview
commenced, Maxime asking ten questions while I filmed. Everything went fine, no
customers came up and the lady answered everything. Only amounting to two
minutes total when our teacher wanted an interview closer to ten minutes, we
sniffed out another employee and repeated the process. Success again! With the
second round, Maxime was satisfied with his gathered information and his part
of the project was done for the night.
Maxime in his
favorite store, ‘Nobel Bookstore’!
The interesting
thing about this bookstore along with a similar one nearby was that both are
underground. Usually I’ve seen stores climb upwards on different floors of the
same building yet these chose to go down inside. Different but super effective
and efficient! Good job Taiwan!
Contemplating what
store to interview in place of my beloved figurine/video game one, a baking
store not yet visited but seen while riding the bus popped into mind. I had to
take a different route home because of visiting Donghu with Maxime and that way
so conveniently allowed me to pass by the baking shop before taking the bus
home. Getting my explorer side on, I briefly scanned the contents within the
small shop. The baker in me happily squealed at all the wonderful items! There
were things between cookbooks, baking ingredients, pans, cookie cutters and
variously shaped molds. No other customers were present and it seemed as if
there were more than just one worker. SCORE! Tomorrow will therefore be my
second attempt at the University project but with a promising location.
Actually, when I think about it, the baking shop may honestly become my
favorite shop giving truth to the “favorite shop” assignment. No shopping was
yet done there but I can assure y’all that it certainly will tomorrow! Several
things seen there today have made it onto my wish-list and I thought it would
be a good notion if I buy something before asking for an interview. You know,
incentive for the shop owner. XD
Wish me luck on
that! In the meantime, have a nice day! ^_^
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