Getting to know Hsinchu

Random Temple.  Don't know the name of.

So I finished my first full week of work at my new job.  My thoughts so far are that I should be able to do it without to much trouble.  Kids were tons of fun, even the older ones who didn't want to speak out much.  I think the older kids lessons are easier to teach as I am more of a facilitator then a teacher but the younger ones are more fun because they are still so keen to have fun.  I've been feeling some financial stress because this is probably the worst paying job I've had.  They expect a lot of donated time for marking tests and homework.  The prep time not being paid doesn't bother me to much.  I feel a little bad because, for the first month, it seems like I am taking classes from the Taiwanese teachers and they already don't get paid much, certainly less then the native English teachers.  Thursday was a day off in Taiwan.  I guess the 10/10 has meaning here.  A day of is a day off so I will take it even though I don't get paid for it.

The food has been pretty good to.  There is a Mexican take out restaurant right close to my apartment and I went there at least two times this week.  I found a Subway close to the train station so I can get my fix of mostly healthy western food.  Lots of Mcdonald's and Burger King's around as well as Mos Burger (a Japanese fast food chain like Mcd's).  I went to a small restaurant with my neighbor that served a soup type meal with meat and veggies.  It seemed like a Japanese dish (Nabe) but maybe its Taiwanese food.  I will need to branch out my eating because if you do it right here it's cheaper to eat out then it is to buy groceries and cook in.  I went to a really nice outdoor steak house on Friday night after work with some co-workers.  The beef was rare, I prefer medium well, but tasted good.  I got a steak that was extra large so I could take some home for a sandwich today.  It was even better as a sandwich with the cream cheese I had.  I got the cheese for dipping in the pizza crust.  Speaking of which, pizza is so cheap here.  I bought a 12" Hawaiian for around $6.  It was amazing.  I haven't had real Hawaiian pizza for years.  In Japan they cringe when you mention pineapple on pizza.  That's about all in the food area.

Saturday I took as a relaxing day.  I was feeling a bit down,  hopefully due to culture shock, so I wasn't interested in doing much besides watching TV.  Sunday I was a lot more motivated.  I started the day off by cleaning up a little and then I went out for a long walk.  I was hoping to find a few temples and other things like good, cheap restaurants to eat at and maybe places where there were things I could do.  Didn't find much of anything except shopping places.  A couple of large malls and a bunch of small shops.  I scoped out a few scooter shops so I know where to go when I have my license.

I managed to find 2 temples.  The picture at the top is the first place I found.  I really like the busy style of the construction.  Lots to look at inside and out.  Here's a picture of the other temple I found.

Really nice.  Very colorful. Felt like a relaxing place to contemplate life or whatever you feel like thinking about.

One of the things I like better about Taiwan then Japan is the random green spots they have scattered around the city.  Its like that in Taipei to so I imagine most of the cities have them.

There are benches to sit on under the trees.  I've seen lots of public places to sit in this country which is another thing I really like.  This park is a bit larger then the other ones I've seen.  Lots of older people gather in these areas to talk and relax.  It's really nice.

While I was walking around I totally got checked out by a girl.  She seemed to like what she saw.  Made me feel pretty good to be a piece of meat :)  Even the wildlife seemed to be into me.

This parrot whistled at me as I was passing by.  Must be having a good body day today.  Maybe the gym here is paying off.  I did go twice this past week.

Something crazy about Taiwan is that there are as many or more scooters on the road as cars.  They even have their own lanes in places.

The lower level is where the cars are racing through the underpass (train tracks above).  At every traffic light there is a place where they can wait for the light.  You are not allowed to turn left on the bigger roads so you cross the intersection and wait there for the light to turn green.  Keep in mind they drive on the same side of the road as in North America.

I could have gone to at least one other temple but I was feeling a little tired and I figured I should save some sights for the next weekend.  On the way past the train station there was some sort of dance festival going on in the area outside the station.

It's kinda hard to see them but they were pretty nice looking girls and they could dance passingly well.  Didn't look like a professional type thing, just some amateurs.  There were a lot of them lined up to take a turn.  

The weather has been amazing so far.  around thirty degrees everyday but because this city has wind its actually felt really nice.  Still wish I could wear shorts to work but hey, you can't have it all.  The temps that Taiwan has during the winter are one of the things that attracted me to coming here.  The people have been really nice and helpful and hopefully I can move past the culture shock quickly and settle into a nice easy routine.