KTV: the ultimate past time in Taiwan

Well we have finished our time in Taipei and all of our training. Wow what a long 9 days. We had a little graduation party up in the penthouse of the Hess main ofice where the owner has a party slab, very sleak and up class. We had a nice time with good food and wine. Jay and I both got awards out of about 25 people and only about 5 got awards, so we felt pretty special. I think they really like us. That night as our last time all together we all went to KTV which is Karaoke. Oh wow they know how to do it here . It was about a 15 story building and it was kind of like a hotel. You rent a room and then they take you up. So we had our own private room with plasma TV, bar and 3 mics. WE had a blast. Althought they are sort of stuck in the 80s with their music it was still really fun. The next morning about 12 of us were picked up and taken to Taichung, which took about 2 hours. The country side was really green and nice when we drove through. WE came here and the rain stopped and the sun was out. We already like it so much better than Taipei and we actually liked Taipei We all arrived at our really nice hotel which Jay and I are on the top floor of a 19 story building. It has an amazing view. They took us out to a really nice dinner and then we went apartment shopping. It was fun. We found one place that we really like but we are going to look again today to make sure and we will let you know with our decision and some pictures of the apartment. I think we will probably move in tomorrow. We start teaching on Monday which is good we can kind of get settled in. Our schedules are not that bad. I am at Feng Chi Branch and Jay is working at Ken Su branch and my branch. The are only about 10 minute scooter ride away. We are going to be gettign a scooter soon which will be fun. I will have to learn that. We already met some some people that we will be working with and they are so helpful and nice. We are so excited to finally get settled in somewhere. We will write more later when we have things a little more organized.

Pictures!!!

Here are some pictures from exploring around, training, and going out on Friday night...Enjoy
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It's 1996!!!!....WHAT???

Well an interesting fact about Taiwan we found out today is that it is actually the year 1996 according to them, so we sort of feel like we are getting back 11 years of our life, kind of nice and crazy. I wonder if they will go through the crazy/rediculous Y2K thing and everyone will act like a crazy person and start buying generators and a year supply of cigerettes because everyone smokes here.. Anyways...Jay an I experienced the night life last night. VERY INTERSTING!!! we met up with Daniel Ray and then some of our friends we have made at the Hess training and went to a place called Party Room. It cost about $500 NT which is equivilant to $15 US. It was all you can drink maybe not such a good idea haha. The scene was very intense, lots of Taiwanese women groping and striping the foreign men. But we had fun and stayed out later then I think we have since we have been married. Today we had the day off from training which was really nice. We had a slow start but then we got out and about and did the regular thing of getting lost and exploring around the city. We went to a nice nature preserve that was more outside the city so we could see more of the countryside which is very beautiful, really green, mountains that remind us of North Carolina. The weather was nice today finally, no rain until the end of the day. It rains a lot in Taipei and for some reason the people here think it is cold this time of year but its about 75degrees which feels great. We are glad we are going to Taichung though becuase the weather there is supposed to be so much better. The scooters here are facinating. They have the dogs on them their 2 year old children on them, the art of scooter riding is beyond me but I am sure we will master it. Jay of course is looking at motorcycles, which is a NO from me. It is so easy to get around this city, public transportation is great here. Jay and I have also mastered the art of eating with chopsticks. I mean we eat everything with them, scrambled eggs, french fries, fruit, and cereal, well maybe not cereal but I am sure it can be done. We have found this great little dumpling place which we have fallen in love with. They really know their food here, I don't see there being much of a problem with missing certain foods from home. They have everything and some things are soooo much better. It think our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of going to the night market which is awesome and eating soup filled dumplings, Taiwanese sausage (which is kind of sweet), Rice sausage, and beer.....with the smell of stinky tofu in the background, you can never escape it. We will have pictures up on here the next time we write on it which will probably be tomorrow. So sorry for the delay in pictures.

Ni Hao......Hello!!

Hello everyone, we are alive and well. We have made it to the other side of the universe. And believe me when you fly for that far and that long (14 hours from LA) you really feel like you have taken the plunge. We arrived here Saturday night our time and Saturday morning your time. We are 13 hours ahead of your time, so for your calculations. Sunday, Daniel Ray took us around Taipei, which the weather was kind of glumy rainy and sort of cool but not cold. I don't think it will ever be cold in this country. We went to a buddhist temple, Taipei 101 (tallest building at the moment) actaully doesn't look that tall because all the other building are not that tall. Taipei actaully doesn't seem that huge, the bus and subway systems are great and very easy to use, we have already mastered that...... EXCEPT for the fact that we can't ready absolutely anything. CHINESE/MAnderine is something that is beyond Jay and I at the moment and probably for the rest of our lives, but we sure plan on taking classes and learning as much as possible. Which we have learned Beer already Pi Ju. Sunday and Tuesday night we went to the famous night market in Taipei, we got awesome food. And they sell anything and everything imaginable, I mean seriously ANYTHING. The fashion here is different that anything I have seen. I think the guys here take about and hour longer than the girls to get ready because of fixing their hair in basically looking like they were just in a typhoon. But I plan on trying to buy some cute clothes and shoes. (When Jays not looking) We started our training on Monday and it goes until next Wednesday. It is very internsive training and we haven't really had much time for anything else. We finally found an internet cafe to have some contact with the outside world. We are going to move to our location next Thursday which is about 2 hours south of Taipei on the western side called Taichung. It is the 3rd largest city but more spread out than Taipei. It is a mountain city with lots of hiking and close to the beaches, probably about 45 minutes or so. We are going to have to buy a scooter which I am excited and a little scared about because the driving here is a little erratic. We are very excited to find an apartment and get settled and not live out of our suitcase. Food here is amazing and you can't really go wrong. Squid on a stick, whole fish (eyeballs and everything), chicken intestines, Stinky tofu (which I can't even discribe how bad it smells, you will just have to come visit) So actually maybe you can go wrong with the food BUT there is a ton of wonderful things as well. The people are amazing and are very helpful, even if they don't understand you they really try to help you out. So far we are falling in love with this country. I will write more later when we have pictures to go with our stories. so keep looking and we will try not to go so long without getting in contact. Oh and please wrtie on our guestbook, since we are so far away if you read this please take the time to let us know what you think or if you have any questions, it would be great to have contact from home. Relaly anyone, because I know some random people read this and pass it along if you think people would be interested. IF you want to email us as well it is akeever42@hotmail.com of Jay hustead@gmail.com Love all of you BYE BYE