I'm coming home

I was unfortunately unable to steal internet the last couple of days, which basically means that I've been stir crazy for internet. The pictures turned out fine. Sorry Casey, no flashing of abs, but there were plenty of pictures of us in ballgowns. I'll post them when we get the CD. Or maybe I'll have a viewing party during lunch sometime. My dad jokes that he's going to blow up the pictures and post them in front of our house to attract suitors.

So, being in Taiwan is interesting right now... Our political climate is very confusing. Our president and his entire family apparently have taken lots of gifts that they weren't supposed to. To cap it all off, the daughter's husband is involved in insider trading. They've locked him up in a jail for now. To make this even more soap-opera-ish, the president's daughter is 8 months pregnant. They also wanted to go to Japan to escape from all of this. The background to this marriage is that the daughter actually liked someone else and was dating someone for 8 years. Her parents didn't approve, and so found this man for her to marry. What a great candidate he turned out to be, right? Also, the president refuses to step down, probably because he is afraid of what's going to happen to him once he's not president. He's known to take bribes as well as messing up the entire banking and health care system in Taiwan. The news here is always about this story. People are celebrating... that's the saddest part... his approval rate is at 11%, even lower than Bush!

Okay, I'm going home tonight!

YAY!

No Brian, There is no French Fry Equivalent

Unfortunately, there was no fried starchy vegetable that replaces french fries, just rice burgers. After serious consideration, I would rather try the rice burger chain just next door named MOS than McDonalds.

A giant pet peeve of mine in the US is that people don't give up their seats for elderly people. It should be instinctively to give up your seats if there is someone who needs the seat more. In the US, people don't seem to do that. They just look the other way while elderly people stand on BART. Here is completely different. All you have to do is gently tap the person you want to give up your seat for and offer them your seat. Usually there is some banter of, "no no, I don't need the seat," "oh no, but I'm really getting off soon." Eventually, the elderly person sits down and all is well. Why can't all societies work that way?!

Another giant peeve of mine is people who are obsessed with their weight and think that not eating is the solution... uh... no... how about trying to exercise. It also annoys me that models that are modeling active merchandise(gyms, workout clothes, etc) are very skinny and obviously have never worked out in their life because they have no trace of muscle. There is a difference between being skinny and toned, and most models here have no concept of having muscles. They are literally like sticks here and it really kinda freaks me out. Being skinny is not the be all end all to everything!

Anyway, tomorrow I'm taking the fancy pictures. I will not have a jason-esque pose because the focus is taking pictures of our entire family. Now that my grandparents are 90, I want to have as many memories as possible. Also, we're not sure when we're all going to be in the same place at the same time, so we're going to capture this opportunity. We are bringing 2 sets of clothing plus a gown that they're providing for us. It's going to be a half day affair and if all goes well, I won't look like an Asian Tara Lipinski... *shudders* of all people, why do I have to look like her in print?! Anyway, I'll post some pictures as soon as we get the disc.

How's everyone? The weather here is crazy hot and I'm being stung like crazy by mosquitos... damn them all!

Taiwanese TV Advertisements

I've always found Taiwanese TV advertising very fascinating. In any given 5 minutes on TV, you could hear up to 5 different languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, English, Japanese, and Korean. Such diversity doesn't seem as rampant in other countries. My theory is that Taiwan welcomes diversity so much that having advertisements in so many languages has become the norm.

These companies seem to fall into 2 camps of thinking. Either they use the existing commercials that they used in the US or they create a custom advertisement for the Taiwanese market. Those that use the existing commercials usually have Chinese print translation as the tagline. Very rarely do they dub into Mandarin. Somehow, I think these commercials lose their effectiveness. What it says to me is that the company doesn't regard Taiwan as an important enough market to create a new commercial just for the Taiwanese market. These commercials really annoy me because I don't feel like they are respecting the different cultures that they are marketing to. Apple last year had I-Pod commercials purely in English with no translation. That says to me: "I'm so cool that I don't really need your business and so I'm going to make a commercial that you don't understand." It's really arrogrant and annoying.

The other companies rework their advertisement for the Taiwanese audience. I think McDonalds is really successful in that aspect. They managed to convert the "I'm lovin' it" campaign and integrate the slogan into the campaign into an acceptable and nomal advertisement. They hired Taiwanese actors, blended the need for bright colors as with traditional Taiwanese commercials and threw in random English words for extra hip-ness. As much as they failed in the US, I think they were successful here.

On a side note, McDonalds here have rice burgers. Instead of the bun, they have 2 rice patties and instead of ground beef, they have strips of sauteed beef. I kinda want to try it, but don't want to be that person that goes to McDonalds when you have plenty of good local cuisine to try.

P.S. Random shout out to Casey! I saw really cute stuffed animals in owl shapes!

Foodtastic

Today, we went to a very famous restaurant for soup dumplings. The beauty of these dumplings is that somehow they make a steamed dumpling full of meat soup, thus making it very delicious to eat. Of course, we also had shumai, which was also delicious.

Unfortunately, because it has many chains, we thought that the restaurant opened at 9AM when it actually opened at 10AM. This meant that we wandered the streets for a while and my 90 year old grandparents took a walk around the block. While waiting for the restaurant to be opened, we found the chain for 24 hour fitness here. It's called California Fitness and every treadmill has a television. Unfortunately, it's about 15 minutes on the metro for me... and really... the shopping will get me my 6-pack abs, right?

On a semi-related note, when we left the house this morning at 7:30AM, the metro was completely packed. I'm pretty sure that the classes that the students take here to get ahead don't start that early and people usually don't work on Saturdays here. My dad claims that the young people are out to date for the entire day. What the heck do you do as a "date" the entire day? Does it really have to start at 7:30AM? I don't know... if I wanted to start a day early, I'm not sure that 7AM on a Saturday morning is the way to go.

Anyway, after lunch, we went to do our favorite activity here: wandering around the department stores. While shopping, I found out that the lingerie here is not as exciting as Kuwait. No sexy pirate outfits Sue, but there are sexy schoolgirl outfits... Not sure which one is better but both equally scary.

Hope everyone is well!

Yes! Free Internet

Yes! I'm finally able to steal free internet!

Anyway, some interesting observations that I've made about Taiwan. The salary here is alarming low. The average for a college graduate is about $800(US) a month. In addition, there is no minimum wage here and so when I saw that Subway was looking for employees, their starting wage is a mere $3 an hour. This is okay since food is also incredibly cheap here, but the clothes here are atrociously expensive in the department stores. Clothes here in department stores are easily $100(US) for something that you can buy in forever 21.

The clothes on the side of the streets are relatively cheap at about $13 a shirt. The funny thing about Taiwan is somehow American Eagle and Old Navy are very big here. A shirt can easily cost $30(US) for something that cost $15 in the US. Also, there are a lot of people who are making cheap knock-offs. For example, the AE logo looks a little off. Also, Aeropostale is spelled Aeropstle... a clear sign that it is a knockoff... or that the factory messed up and they are pushing all the faulty merchandise in Taiwan.

Anyway, I'm having tons of fun... though I feel the urge to work sometimes. I also think that I am single-handedly saving the Taiwanese economy by buying tons of clothing.

I'm here!

I arrived in Taiwan without a lot of fanfare. It's everything that I remembered. On the landing, we saw a EVA plane with Hello Kitty pictures on the plane. My sister was amused and I was just scared. It's amazing what an obsession this country has with Hello Kitty. They have jewelry with Hello Kitty's face and even cakes stamped with Hello Kitty. It's just too cute and pink for me!

I apologize if you've sent me an e-mail and I haven't replied. Despite being one of the world's leaders in manufacturing computer chips, which really should lead to a very technological driven society, Taiwan is not nearly as connected as Silicon Valley. This basically means that there is no wireless that I can steal and the internet cafes are a thing of the past. I've finally found one, so I'm not sure how frequently I can update or check my e-mail. On a funny note, my 90 year old grandfather wants internet connection so that he can keep an eye on his stocks and he uses a laptop everyday. I think I have the hippest grandfather ever! Nor do I think I can post pictures of all the yummy food that I'm eating.

Speaking of food...I am eating so much! I swear I'm eating 5 meals a day and then buying 2 meals more as "snacks for tomorrow" though they usually end up being snacks for today. It's kinda sad, but I'm starting to feel fat here. Every girl is skinnier than the last like some sort of competition and I'm losing and proud of it! It means that there are actually clothes here on sale that I can wear! So... starve on tiny Taiwanese women! Clothes also fit me awkwardly here. They say it's because I have long legs, but I'm a little suspicious... how can pants all miraculously end at my ankle?! One thing that I've noticed about Taiwan is that girls are not shy about asking complete strangers how something look on them. They do that frequently in stores and will ask you what you think and that if you were them, what would you choose. They also delve into why you think that something looks good on them. Thank god I've been watching What Not to Wear, otherwise I wouldn't know what to say!

Anyway, needless to say, Taiwan is the place for shopping and I'm taking full advantage.

On a medically note, I've been coughing and the first thing that my parents made me to is to go to the doctor. The line was oh... 5 minutes long on a Sunday morning and the doctor looked at me for 5 minutes and then gave me enough medicine to stun a large elephant. Finally, they charged me $15( with no health insurance, with health insurance, it would be $3) for the entire visit with medicine included! I don't think I can get that in the US even with my medical insurances! Anyway... that's all for now. If you want anything, you're going to have to leave me a comment and pray that I check it before i take off for US!

Testing for take-off....t-2 days