Today I leave for Taiwan. I've been home for the past week, doing pretty much nothing. The best kind of nothing. In a lot of ways, packing for this trip is a lot like packing for Beijing--but a million times easier.
This program is eight weeks long, as opposed to Beijing's fourteen. I feel so much better having gone through the motions once already--what to bring, what not to bring, and most importantly, what to expect. My language skills are much better than before, so I am confident of my ability to get around. Learning traditional characters is going to be a problem, as about a quarter of characters are written differently than on the mainland. They are simply not as simple as the simplified characters of the PRC!
I have a lot of hopes for Taiwan--that I will improve significantly in my Chinese (without having to pull my teeth out), that I will learn about Taiwan's way-of-life, and really make Taipei my own. I think I'm most excited to compare Taipei with Beijing, and how the political split of 1949 has affected their respective societies. Oh, and, apparently the food is really good too :P
Anyways, there's this song that's just surfacing, and it's been in my head all day. It applies to this blog because it's a Chinese girl named Wanting (曲婉婷) . Her music is amazing. I think she's from Harbin, which is a Northern city famous for its ice buildings. Take a listen--Jar of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgqnkT3ehfg&feature=related
Anyways, my flight is here and I am on my way to LA, then to Taipei. See you after 20 hours of plane...!
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