Think You Know All Emoticons?

Thursday March 28^th, 2013

Tada. Half of my breakfast. Four of these thingie-ma-whats-it and then an orange to insert fruit into the meal. I don’t know these guys English names but the outside is crispy flaky coating, softer on the inside and contains a small amount of green vegetables that have a certain sweetness. They’re kind of like caramelized onions, they have sweetness but not because of added sugar. Yummy stuff!

At University I wanted to get a warm can of kumqat tea to soothe by still irritated throat but much to my dismay, the convenient store heater box doo-hickey that would have it was no where to be found. So strange because I know that particular 7-Eleven had it before but just disappeared today. Noooooo! Oh well. Instead I settled for a normal bottle of tea hoping it would still hold some therapeutic medicine.

This came across my vision. A “super functional tea drink” with green health symbol advertised on the front. What exactly makes it so “super functional”? I wonder that myself. Out of curiosity I bought it, even if pricier than a regular tea bottle, just to see what it was like. The drink tasted exactly the same so….was it really all that different? I have no idea but surprisingly enough, my throat felt better after consuming it all. Different or not, it helped me out in the end. Thanks super functional tea drink! :D

We had an important test today though it was quite simple save for one annoyingly confusing sentence whose type hasn’t crossed my path yet. Randomly the teacher showed each student her phone that displayed a picture commonly used on a chat program called “Line.” This is quite a famous Japanese communication program for phones (wi-fi needed) used throughout Asian countries such as Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea, etc. In order to cross language barriers both in words and writing styles, they commonly use pictures to depict their thoughts.

Teacher showed us the lower picture and asked what foreigners thought it meant. Answers like “amused,” “laughing,” “embarrassed,” “cutting the cheese,” etc. were given. No one knew for certain what it was. What do y’all think? Take a moment to ponder it. Which of those choices or another not provided do you think is correct? Ok, do you have your answer? Seriously do you because it would spoil the fun if you didn’t. :P Think about it before reading on. ;)

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…The correct answer issssssssss ‘yes.’ No joke, it just means ‘yes.’ All Asians know its true meaning but most foreigners have a totally different idea when first seeing it. I was nowhere near to the right answer. XD Did any of y’all get it question correct? Let me know in the comments because I’m interested to know! :D

Except for the #8 sandwich of fruit and vegetable numminess, there isn’t much around the University campus that I like. Don’t get me wrong, all the food is tasty but the trick is to be tasty AND healthy. The thought of dumplings, noodles or egg pancake thing just didn’t appeal to me at all today. Therefore I mentally thought ‘screw it’ and after class headed straight for Tatung. I very nearly skipped lunch because I didn’t feel like eating anything but instead went by the teasing Subway in front of the campus. Remember why I refer to it as a tease? Because it’s RIGHT THERE and I can never go it for a normal high school day’s lunch since I’m not allowed to leave the campus, even if literally across the street. So for the sacrifice of giving up lunch with exchange students, I could get my Subway craving fulfilled.

Entering the store, I had immediate and friendly service. Using this opportunity to practice my Chinese and even if I didn’t know how to say things like ‘honey oat bread,’ I tried to the best of my ability. The young gentleman serving me kindly helped me with my mistakes such as correcting “ai san ming zi” (short sandwich) to “xiao san ming zi” (small sandwich) as well as the topping names I didn’t know or mispronounced. Apologizing for my bad Chinese, he told me he too was learning because he wasn’t Taiwanese. I think he said he was from the Philippines (that’s what the Chinese name sounded like anyway). The way he sweetly helped me just brought a smile to my face.

Happily consuming a perfectly made sliced Turkey vegetable filled sandwich of deliciousness, my happiness didn’t end there. Chinese music was playing on the sound system but randomly switched to English upbeat Katy Perry. During this ditty of a song, the same guy from earlier sang along merrily in an oh so adorable manner as he worked. Furthermore later he thoughtfully asked me if I wanted some water. Accepting his kind offer he brought out a small two inch high paper cup from the back, something not required from employees but coming from the generosity of his heart. Now THAT’S what I call customer service! No complaints at all, only gratefulness and delight. The combination of the fantastic service along with the actual scrumptious sandwiches, I now want to see about going there at least once a week. I’ll support that establishment whole heartily! :D

You know how in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 3’ when they were sailing through freezing glaciers, a sailor’s body gets so frozen that he accidently breaks off a piece? (Eww) Sometimes I feel in a similar situation when it comes to my body going utterly numb from naptime. Seriously, I can’t feel anything in my leg and arm to a sickly degree. Am I accidently doing nerve damage of some sort? Make the everyday painful numbness stop already! T-T

It rained like the dickens this evening. Apparently Taipei is entering a minimum two-month-long rainy season. Great. Juuuuuuuuuust great. If that's true, there goes my newly discovered exercise opportunity of jogging at the elementary school's track field. *sigh* Why do I even bother anymore? Taiwan is determined to make me as plump as possible. XD

Speaking of unusual circumstances involving nature, apparently there was a 6.1 earthquake yesterday around 10:00. (See this link for description and video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/taiwan-earthquake-2013_n_2962731.html) In the provided video, we see people struggling with their environment as well as an evacuation process. Many exchange students were telling their earthquake witness stories today, some saying it was when they woke up and others during school. According to them their classmates sat quietly and didn't do anything, just waited it out. For my school, I can't say for sure what happened because I have no recollection of tremors. Perhaps I was asleep on my desk. XD How's that for a story?
-What did you do today in Taiwan?
-Oh nothing much. Just slept through a 6.1 earthquake at school. XD

Still exhausted and had to nap an hour before dinner. Not sure if it’s because of the signs of getting sick since I seem to have conquered it with drinking lots of tea, eating an orange and Zyrtec before growing any further. Yay but it doesn’t fix being tired. T-T Here’s to hoping it gets better.

As well I hope you all are doing all right. May you be blessed this coming day, especially since tomorrow is Good Friday! :) Bye now!