trip to Taipei

These are a few of the pictures from a day trip into Taipei last Sunday. Jon, Chris, Danielle and I went to Ximen Ding for some shopping and general sight-seeing. I had previously been to Ximen with Kyla and found a funky little area with a bunch of bars and outdoor seating. After siting there for about 20 minutes Kyla and I finally realised we were in the gay part of town. It is definetly one of the funkier neighbourhoods in Taipei. I look forward to taking Stepho there when she comes to Taipei.

This is Jon, he is from Oregon. He likes to have various animals put on his head.

Chris and Danielle are a couple from Toronto.

life turned upside down

This is a picture of my new room, with a WINDOW! I can't beleive how much my quality of life has increased. I also made a trip to IKEA and picked up the mirrors and bulletin board to add my own touch to the room.

I am finally starting to feel settled and getting into a day to day routine. At first I thought there was 'no way' I was going to spend my year living in the dorm. However after living here for 2 weeks now it really isn't that bad. It's nice to come home after a hard day and have 14 other people know what you have just gone through. They can cheer you up, make you laugh, give you some perspective or just listen. I think if I moved out on my own I would start to get lonely. As well, I can save more money and travel for longer in the end!

This is the dorm where I live. I didn't know before I arrived that the dorm is also one of the schools. I live with around 15 other teachers and everyone gets along really well.

my first week!

This was my tomb bedroom that I had for the first few days that made me feel like I was going crazy!

I had no window and only fluorescent lighting, yuck!