I went to Taiwan with T and G for New Years. The trip was an 8 day one.
There were some things that shocked me in Taiwan though. You don't flush paper down the toilets there. I don't know why.
I also got bitten by like, forty something mosquitoes while I was there.
There were a lot of people that spoke English there, which I thought was interesting. I feel like it was much more common there than it is here, but that could be because I speak Japanese... and I always initiate the conversation- in Japanese- so the clerks at the stores and such don't think that they need to speak in English. Not sure about that.
We went to the Taipei Zoo and I finally got to see a stinking panda. It was so cute. There were also koalas there, which were super cute too.
For New Years Eve, we went to Taipei 101 which was really neat. They had a huge fireworks show from the building, and there were tons of people there too.
The trip was fun at some times but horrible at others. G gets a really bad attitude if he has to do something that he doesn't want to, or if something doesn't go the way he wants it to. He is quite like a child, and I will never be traveling with him again- I will not subject myself to that again. I will not be inviting him to go to Tokyo with me next month if I go like I am intending to. Perhaps I will go by myself, and that is okay.
We ate way too much food, and I feel that I probably gained a lot of weight.
I told Momo this last night when we were talking on the phone and she said "Good, you have been looking too skinny in your pictures." I disagreed with this, but she insisted that she was right. Well, that may be, but I will be starting a diet here very soon. I probably will be cutting meat from my diet at home (I still have to eat it at school if I am served it, and that's fine.) But I would like to eat more healthy now. I am in Japan after all- the food here is supposed to be super healthy and I feel like I am not taking advantage of it.
Another thing that I will be starting is regular walking. Since I have Fujitsu on Tuesday and Fridays, I will not be able to do this on those days but every other day of the week, I will be going on walks after school. I wish that the wind would die down though- it's still horrible and has been for weeks.
Another goal I am setting for myself is to read 30 books this year. I almost met that goal last year.
Finally, I would like to make more (better) friends here. I have met some really cool Japanese people and I want to make an effort to see them more. This means that I am going to be hanging out with L more, which is fine. She's crazy, but she's really nice. She's one of the few white people that doesn't drive me nuts when they speak Japanese. Hanging out with them will probably help my Japanese speaking too which would be good.
