Taiwaneers

After playing video games to the point of boredom, watching more then two crappy movies on TV one of which was a Segal (need I say more) and getting to the point where I started to contemplate the existence of everything I decided that typhoon or not I needed to get out of our apartment. So where did I go? McDonald’s!

McDonald’s in Taiwan is quite the social Mecca. At the table behind me the guy who had been sleeping for a while has awoken and is reading his book again. However this won’t last long as he’s trying to read an English dictionary and has gone through this read a little sleep a lottle cycle for over an hour now. The table right next to me has four late-teen to early-twenty something guys playing some sort of card game but they are special cards, not like poker cards. Other tables have dates going on, groups talking, etc. Are there children? Yes, but they are the minority and there is definitely no play-places. Don’t worry; they do still have happy meals.

This semester is shaping up to be interesting. It’s hard to tell at this point, unlike last year with the presence of Calculus, which class will be the most demanding. My Statistics class appears to be easy to understand but because of that the teacher seems to move fast and I worry that she will be focused on forward motion and not enough on giving us practice. We are able to use calculators though, unlike Calculus, and I have gotten giddy in class punching in numbers and then pushing a button to get the answer! My Management class is being taught by a Taiwanese professor woman who is in her thirties probably and has the hugest curly hair I’ve ever seen on an Asian. She also whips out one of those hand-held fans in class while she teaching when she feels hot. You know the kind I mean: those little fans that people use while waiting in line at Cedar Point. My computer teacher is such a vast improvement over last year all I can think is I’m ecstatic that the four hours of that class every week won’t be a slow decline into depression over being alive and considering the Amish lifestyle. The Dean of MCU’s International College is my Public Speaking professor. So far I still haven’t made judgment on the class but I have noticed she is one of those ‘there is something positive about everyone’ people but at the same time emits a ‘if you screw around with me I’ll fail you’ tone……..confusing. My Intro to Law class has been the most fascinating so far. The professor is teaching us about Taiwanese law but it’s the basics of the basics which I would guess are pretty much the same anywhere. You know, the definitions of things like: a natural person, a juridical person, a juridical act, rights and obligations. Its fun and that’s not sarcasm!

One story I do have to share. Through a series of unfortunate events that are sorted and complicated the IC (International College) was pretty much going to force us sophomores here in Taipei to take a French class. I decided I didn’t want to do that and was willing to travel to the Taoyuan campus once a week for a different class instead. Well the class I am taking instead is called Classical Myth & the Arts. I went the first day and I was pretty much the only international student (at least going on looks which can be deceiving) in the room. The teacher wanted to know my nationality and when I told her she said the class would be too easy for me. Asking if I could take it anyways she agreed. However instead of actually attending class and using the hand-out that she prepared for the students to use as study material for the semester she and I have worked out an independent study plan for me using a real textbook. What I thought was going to be a blow-off class to give me enough credits to keep my full-time student status and therefore my scholarship has become something totally different. I’m really excited about it and so far have really enjoyed reading my textbook. I have to admit I am completely ignorant of Greek mythology which is basically what the class is on. I’ve only gotten through Creation so far but already I feel like I have so much more context with which to approach literary references and artwork including these themes.

The PE class this semester is at the top of the mountain (our campus is on the side of a mountain), the equivalent from the road as about 14 stories, on the track field at eight in the morning and so far we’ve been learning how to bat baseballs and softballs….you know you’re jealous. Lastly, my Psychology class which got scheduled last minute and started two weeks late. I think I’m really going to like it. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it for the content but most definitely because the professor is a flaming Taiwanese guy who is hysterical. I just laughed thinking about him.

In other news I am just about to finish C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity which has been wonderful. I feel like I’ve found a book I can recommend to Christians and non-Christians alike and I can do so with an authentic belief that it will benefit them. I have also been trying to capture video footage of our summer in the USA from our new (new to us) camcorder onto my laptop so I can put together something for taiwaneers.com. However I can’t seem to get the audio to go with the video and I’ve become frustrated. Hopefully it will work out!