第七日

Taiwhat? A whole week here already? Feels like months, and I mean that in the absolute best way. I'm loving my time here and am already not worried about capturing everything on film or on memory because I know I'll make it back by hook or crook.
Aite cheese factor off you guys get the picture.
Today was a pretty chill day, mostly classes and sorting out money problems (solved now! no worrying!). Our first class was titled "Taiwanese Culture and Society" which was misleading to say the least. Maybe a better title would have been "An incredibly detailed look into the religions of East Asia oh wow close call I almost said something about Taiwanese culture let's talk about inner cosmos!"
Wordy, but accurate. This class was ok but I am not so excited about having her two more times in the future.

Ok breakin' up the text wall with some pictures!Here's how the trees outside of the school our hotel is near grow! This tree is not a lonely freak, the entire row is like that. That's the last time they let the 3rd graders do the landscaping, I guess.Taipei: home to about a billion stray dogs. Seriously, they are everywhere, just chillin' and doing their own thing. I've never seen them bothering anyone, anyway. They even follow the traffic rules! There are also a ton of stray cats who are adorable and great. Guess who's a cat person in this blog!

Anyway, the next class was "Taiwanese Business Practices", much more to my liking! No inner cosmos here, just really fantastic information about how business is conducted in Taiwan, focusing especially on their struggles with the PRC. Did you know, for example, that in 2010 when Japan, Korea and China officially join something called ASEAN+3 Taiwan will be the only country 'round these parts without incredibly reduced tariffs in all the other countries? This is a huge reason President Ma is making nice with China at the moment, which is also a huge source of protests in Taipei and Southern Taiwan. Complicated! Economics vs Nationalism.

The rest of the day was spent chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool until evening, when a bunch of us decided to go to Snake Alley! Sounds pretty sweet, right? I mean, snakes! Sketchy alleys! Shady figures drinking snake blood!

Yeah, no, turns out it's just a night market like our own Shilin, just really depressing. It was full of sad-looking people desperately yelling "Snake soup! Very special!很好吃!" at our retreating figures and ayis glaring menacingly.
Cage o' snakes.Nobody in the world looks that happy when their back is being cupped...while drinking beer. With a fully clothed friend.
BUT on the way home I saw this:

Trip verdict: worth it.