Taiwan Journal 03
Back on it for a short one…
Weather in Taipei thus far could be accurately described as “soupy”. When it rains it is warm and foggy, when it doesn’t it is hot and humid. I have acclimated and the weather does not bother me too much. But it does make me incredibly thirsty. This, mixed with Taiwan’s questionable drinking water, means I have had ample opportunity to explore Taiwan’s many bottled drink options.
In many cases I have been pleased with what I have found. 7eleven offers $17($0.50USD) iced teas that have served me well, and there is a far better variety of canned and bottled coffee drinks than the US has. Where I run into problems is when I want a non-caffeinated drink late at night. There are many juices, and milks, and juice-milk combos. But they are often terrible. Most fall into one-of-two categories; “Soapy” or “Salty”. Neither category is what you want when parched. And one must be careful when buying large bottles of water to read the label carefully, to make sure your not getting “Lactic Acid Drink” or “Pocari Sweat”. Delicious.
Today is Yom Kippur, and last night I found a “synagogue” to go to for services. It was a reasonably nice service, with my only complaint being that, since it was being held in a hotel room in the Taipei Sheridan and because I accidentally came early and therefore ended up in the front row, when the service went in an unexpected direction in regards to the melody of the prayers or the order of the service, I felt that my confusion was prominently on display. I am not going to the service today, because 9 hours of synagogue is too much for me. I am fasting though, drinking only water. I am making the exception for water because, as I mentioned above, I am sweating all the time here. I have not pee’ed clear once since I got here and I’m worried that I will get ill if I do not drink.
Anywhoo… I found out about my classes. Ill be teaching a mixed bag of high-schoolers and munchkins. I seem to be having some problems with my Debit card, which is Really convenient especially since I need to pay my rent and deposit… today. 
Weather in Taipei thus far could be accurately described as “soupy”. When it rains it is warm and foggy, when it doesn’t it is hot and humid. I have acclimated and the weather does not bother me too much. But it does make me incredibly thirsty. This, mixed with Taiwan’s questionable drinking water, means I have had ample opportunity to explore Taiwan’s many bottled drink options.
In many cases I have been pleased with what I have found. 7eleven offers $17($0.50USD) iced teas that have served me well, and there is a far better variety of canned and bottled coffee drinks than the US has. Where I run into problems is when I want a non-caffeinated drink late at night. There are many juices, and milks, and juice-milk combos. But they are often terrible. Most fall into one-of-two categories; “Soapy” or “Salty”. Neither category is what you want when parched. And one must be careful when buying large bottles of water to read the label carefully, to make sure your not getting “Lactic Acid Drink” or “Pocari Sweat”. Delicious.
Today is Yom Kippur, and last night I found a “synagogue” to go to for services. It was a reasonably nice service, with my only complaint being that, since it was being held in a hotel room in the Taipei Sheridan and because I accidentally came early and therefore ended up in the front row, when the service went in an unexpected direction in regards to the melody of the prayers or the order of the service, I felt that my confusion was prominently on display. I am not going to the service today, because 9 hours of synagogue is too much for me. I am fasting though, drinking only water. I am making the exception for water because, as I mentioned above, I am sweating all the time here. I have not pee’ed clear once since I got here and I’m worried that I will get ill if I do not drink.
Anywhoo… I found out about my classes. Ill be teaching a mixed bag of high-schoolers and munchkins. I seem to be having some problems with my Debit card, which is Really convenient especially since I need to pay my rent and deposit… today. 
2 comments:
sounds amazing, im so jealous.
Question: why does the huge cell phone structure say "2009 Deaflympics" on the bottom? Isn't that a little ironic?
Does your new apartment look like the ones in the pictures?
Otherwise, sounds good, Ben!
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