Day 1 - Confusion ensues. Day 2 - Buckle my shoe.

And now you're probably confused too. As am I.
What?
Onto the post.
Ann came to get me bright and early in the morning, which was so nice because I was freaking out, a little bit. This guy at the hostel let me use his phone to call her, which was super nice of him.

Yay Ann saves the day!
I rode the MRT for the first time. Ann helped me get a you you ka - Easy Card. You can just swipe like at school through a purse. It's oddly comforting to have such small consistencies here. So we went to ximen to try and find a cell phone for me but everything was closed because it was so early (9:30 am).
So we went back to Taida.
Palm trees!!!!!!!! I thought it was a myth that there were palm trees in Taipei. Although that would be kind of a boring myth.
I was also mad hungry so we went to family mart (where I wanted to buy everything) and I got this peach tea

and pineapple, which was so sweet it seemed candied. But wasn't. Now that's sweet. (har. har.)
And then Ann took me to the ICLP office so that I could take my written test. I was planning on sitting and waiting for my luggage, too but then it turns out that it had already been delivered! YAY! SO MUCH YAY!
So I took the placement exam (very difficult, of course) and did my forms and whatnot.
Then we went to lunch at the can ting. And I had... wait for it... beef noodle soup! OMG!
And it was all the beefy goodness that I expected. The noodles weren't my favorite, but the broth! It was like they stuffed a whole cow into this bowl. And made him delicious.

After lunch, we went to get me a cell phone. Ann had seen stores on a street near school so we went to check that out.
And we succeeded in that too!

Look at happy Ann
Then we had to get a SIM card and that was more difficult. They wanted me to have 2 forms of ID from the same country, but I did not, being a Chinese citizen but Permanent Resident of the US. Boos. But it was ok. So I had a functioning phone!!!
And proceeded to call people about apartments. One guy told us that the apartment was "mins" from the center. LIES. It took us at least 40, with me dragging my large pink suitcase down the road.
Then we saw another but it was a little far from the MRT station slash down a sketchy little alley.
And then I dropped off my stuff at the hostel, and we went to meet up with Genevieve.
Little did we know, that would be the biggest struggle yet.
We wanted to go to a vegetarian buffet near Taipei Main Station since G is a vegetarian. We said exit 1, because every MRT station has like a few to make it easier for people to get where they're going.
So we get off our MRT and we're like following the signs. But it's pretty small and complex to find and says 1 south. Hmm...
We get there and we just cannot find her. We ask someone and they tell us that in fact, there are 4 exit 1's - north south east and west. Oh goodie. So we ask G which she's at, and she says West, so we go over there. No sign of our little red headed friend.
Hmm...more struggles.
So then, she tells us that she's at the exit 1 at the entrance of the Zhongshan mall. Hmm...
And it takes us about 20 more minutes to find her there. Reunited at last, approx 1.75 hours after we were supposed to meet.
So we walk down the street in search of this elusive vegetarian restaurant but have little luck so we decide to try Taipei Main Station instead.
There are like a bajillion restaurants on the top floor of Taipei Main Station.
And we looked at all of them.
This one dim sum place had some vegetarian noodles for G but then after we sat down, I realized that I did not really want anything there. Shoot. Social awkwardness ensues. So much.
So the woman starts passive aggressively taking like a year to prepare our dish. And sternly looks at us and then at her watch. Cool
But we leave her a tip of 60 NT and suddenly she's all smiles. Well I guess that's pretty easy, then.
I get xianr bing instead, or filled little pancakes, one with veggies and one with pork. The pork was juicy. And the veggies were very refreshing.
And then we got bubble tea but got these odd sweet bubble like squares. Very weird. Still delicious, though. Tea here is so good.
So we said our goodbyes and went home.

Day 2
We had orientation at 9, so I got up pretty darn early to go. But still ended up being way late. But I did get a tea egg and a bottle of milk tea on the way. Delicious.

Orientation was great because I finally got to meet the other people in the program. They were really fun and I'm excited for a summer with them.
Lunch was so good. It was in another can ting and it was like buffet style, pay by weight. All this cost only 83 NT or about $2.50. And it was delicious. Eggplant is so soft and xiang.

After lunch, we went to get our gym cards. Sweet. And then Nancy took us to the Amex office to change our traveler's checks.

When I got home to Shandao Temple MRT stop, I decided to explore a bit. And I found a pharmacy where I bought bug spray and cream for bug bites! YAY! My legs are right now one throbbing mass of pain and itch. But no more.


And I found a supermarket! I spent so long looking at everything inside before deciding on tea, milk and tomatoes.
I have no clue what's going on with this cheese. I see no burger, with it.



What do you get when you put those 2 things together??

Milk tea!

So after resting a bit, I went to see the apartment that my mom had called about before I came.
And it was perfect. And now I have a home! No more wandering around sadly.
And there's a cat. Which is great for stress. His name is Mitch, and he's super cute and furry.

After seeing the apartment and such, I went to dinner with Momo, who helped me get my entry permit.
We went to a place near Shida Night Market.
I had herbal tea with orange peel and pomelo. It was pretty good.

Pretty fudge cake - presentations are so nice here.
And I went a little nuts buying things. Including the dress below. But I loved it. And it loved me. And true love cannot be parted.
So yea. End of day 2. And I got a student MRT card. Which I dunno if it makes a difference, but it might.