Settling In

Last Monday (August 31, 2009), I sent off my sister who is going back to the Philippines after a week in Taipei. I then moved to my new place and basically just made it more livable. I'll share a picture or two when I'm finally satisfied with how my new place looks. :-)

I also met my housemates - all 5 of them! In no particular order, there's

• Taiwanese Aimee (F) - a high school English teacher
  
• Vietnamese Ah-ming (M) - a HS graduate whose taking up Mandarin in Shida
• Brazilian Paolo (M) and his dog Nato - an English teacher and Mandarin student
• Thai Neung (F) - a college graduate who is taking up Mandarin in Shida, as well
• Indonesian An-lie (M) - an officer who is also taking up Mandarin in Shida

I instantly hit it off with An-lie and Ah-ming so we went out for dinner together at the school canteen. Ah-ming has an older sister who has been in Taiwan for 3-4 years, and she also ate with us during my first dinner at my new place.

Jen was around Shida campus, monday afternoon, so we also met up and bought some stuff that I needed for my new room (like bed sheets and stuff).


The next day, Jen invited me to go sight-seeing in Xindian. An-lie and Ah-ming came along with us, and we walked around the place to take pictures and go exploring. We met a Filipina caretaker who asked us if it was our "day-off".

For dinner, Jen and I met up with other Philippine scholars (Diet, Mhuck and Bea) and had dinner at the Taipei 101 mall.


Yesterday was the orientation day for Mandarin students. Jen and I met up with Heidi and Suzette (other Philippines scholars) for lunch.

Jen and I also familiarized ourselves with the Shida area so we'll be able to ride buses and trains more efficiently. A Filipina helper overheard us speaking in Tagalog and asked us if we work in factories. >_<

Yesterday, we were also able to pick up our schedules (2-5pm daily for me) and books for the quarter. I got the hardest book compared to everyone so I got a bit iffy and studied the whole night!


I'm going to talk about my first day of school (today!) next time because I still need to do my homework! Yes, I'm procrastinating.


PS. Please wait for the pictures next time. I'm already starting to feel the need to develop my film! Hey An-an, have my 5 rolls sent to Digiprint already!