As promised, I did not forget to take a picture of breakfast. Today was something a bit different - a "rice ball." It looks just like an avocado but it is made of rice and stuffed with toppings of your choice. It looked like you could choose from a number of different meats - ham, chicken, pork, bacon etc., veggies - turnip, beat, spinach (I think?), spices, nut mixes, dried fruit, and much much more. I honestly had no clue what to mix together so I asked the vendor...actually I got my buddy to ask...to make me his favourite mix and it was delicious! I think he added a curry powder, dried raisins, seeds, the turnip looking veggie, and a crunchy tempura-like piece and I couldn't believe the taste. So far it has been my favourite meal here. Claudia, her buddy and I ate it in the Faulty lounge room of the Commerce building before going in for the start of our orientation day.
After a brief presentation and some student introductions we were taken on a short tour of the Commerce building where all of my classes will be held.
As an IMBA student we are treated very well. This is the student lounge where most students come to study or read. Off to the left is a beautiful sun light seating area with orchids and other beautiful flowers all around and behind is where some of the classrooms are located. At the end of the hall to the right we have another lounge where they have complimentary food and drinks all day long and nice meeting rooms with leather seating.
This is one the the classrooms - they look very similar to the classrooms at Ivey. Apparently they were built to mirror the Harvard Business School classrooms.
The next stop was the Commerce library. This is Claudia doing her best Asian pose.
We were behind schedule so we cut the tour short and head to the buses to start the cultural part of the orientation.
They announced that we were going to I-Lan - an agricultural town in North East Taiwan about an hour from NCCU.
I asked Gerry to fill me in a bit. He told me that unlike Taipei, which focuses on the service and technological industries, I-Lan is an agricultural city that grows tea and rice. He said the people in I-Lan are much more concerned with the environment than the people of Taipei and that it is much less crowded.
Arriving in I-Lan I could definitely tell the difference. The air was much cleaner and there was much more space to move around. Most people rode bicycles instead of motor bikes and far fewer people drove like maniacs. The terrain was also much different too. Everything was very flat - there were no tall buildings and most of the land was divided into plots for rice crop.
Driving onto the main street I saw something familiar - Beetlenuts! Yes dad - Beetlenuts! (My dad mentioned that he tried to get Beetlenuts for the family to try at my Farewell dinner).
For those who don't know, Beetlenuts are nuts that grow on trees and when chewed act as a sort of stimulant. Taiwanese girls stand on the sides of the road peeling the nuts in their underwear to attract buyers - mostly truck drivers and labourers. Nice dad.
I told Gerry that I wanted to try some - he warned me that they would make my mouth go red and that I shouldn't have too many because they are bad for your health. Unfortunately we were on a tight schedule and I didn't have time to stop and get some. Next time.
The first thing we did in I-Lan was go to a famous seafood restaurant on the river. I was surprised we came here because I heard that I-Lan was famous for the way they prepare duck but the food was incredible so no complaints.
These are some of the buddies giving Tatianna (a German exchange student in my dorm) a lesson on how to use chopsticks.
This was the first of 8 different courses - octopus, eel, squid, and salmon sashimi. I don't normally eat the sashimi at sushi restaurants in Canada, but I was so excited to see something somewhat familiar that I took it right down. They even had the soya sauce and wasabi as well which I loaded up on - Lots of burn.
This is me enjoying a soup which came out with the first course. I ate four bowls of it before finding out that we had seven more courses to go.
The manager came out to show us how to prepare this course before eating it. It was some sort of white fish that was crisped on the BBQ and had to be de-boned before it was eaten. I ended up picking the only fish that was filled with greeny brown guts. Gerry gave me a taste of his and I moved on.
These were delicious - clams in a creamy tomato mushroom sauce on a bed of penne noodles. Mmmm.
My table.
After lunch we arrived at the National Centre for Traditional Arts.
Tatianna, her buddy and I standing in front of a traditional Chinese street.
We were the first group to go and experience the Lion Dance. The instructor showed us the Traditional dance with drums and then let us try them out. Some of the footage I got it pretty funny. I will try and upload it later.
This is me in the lion after my big debut. The instructor kept telling us that we didn't look fierce enough - we looked like "sissys." Gerry told me that he thought I really, "became one" with the lion.
After the Dancing we all walked along the street and did some shopping. Gerry and I went to Starbucks and I decided to try the Sesame Green Tea Latte. You can't see in the picture, but there were tons of sesame seed chunks floating around at the top. It was fine.
There was a temple in the centre that I wanted to check out. Gerry handed me two wood pieces and told me to make a wish. When I was done I was to throw them on the ground and hope that they landed properly - one facing up and one facing down. Luckily they landed right which meant my wish was supposed to come true. After I was able to go to the front and pick out a stick that had a number on it - my number was 93. I then had to go to a chest at the front of the temple, find the number 93 drawer and take that fortune. Gerry translated it for me. It went something like this:
"You are a very talented person, more talented than many. IF you use your talents for good, you will experience great success." (Interestingly enough it never said anything about using them for bad). It also said that, "When the timing is right, you will find everything you are looking for."
Apparently this was such an unusually good fortune that Gerry felt the need to show his friends and then take a picture with it. I asked some of the other exchange students what their fortune was - one boy had, "If you sue, you will loose." Another had, "Don't be so sure of what you think you know." Maybe mine was pretty good after all.
Gerry and I ditched the theatre presentation and went for a walk by the river to learn more about each other and our countries. He takes a great interest in Canada and tells me that he may do an exchange there in the future.
It was so cute. During a moment of silence he spoke up and said, "Shannon, can I ask you something that may be offensive?" Of course I said, sure, go ahead. He wanted to know first, how many boyfriends Canadian girls have on average by the age of 22. Then he wanted to know what Canadian girls find attractive in a man. I told him what I thought, (tall, blonde, masculine type) and then I asked him out of curiosity what he would consider to be an attractive woman. He told me, "Well Shannon, I think you are too cute, but you are way to tall for me." Huh...Can't please everyone I guess.
I was exhausted on the ride back to NCCU and apologized to Gerry, but told him I had to take a break from the conversation and have a nap. He understood and pretended to take a nap with me.
When we got back to NCCU the girls and I went out for a bite to eat. From left: Angelina, Tatianna, myself, and Marie. We chose a pretty grungy place to go and we even saw the women cleaning the pots in the gutter on the side of the street as we were leaving. We weren't satisfied after that and were getting frusterated until...we found the chocolate pancakes. Oh yes. There is a vendor on the side of the road and you can buy these delicious pancake treats with melted milk chocolate in the center for only 10NTD or about 30 cents Canadian. We were in heaven eating these strange little pancakes on the side of the road completely oblivious to all of the little Asians trying to push past us. Oh so good but oh so deadly. It's obvious the Taiwanese do not stay thin eating these. We all plan on signing up for a gym membership tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment