Cuz there's something in a Sunday that makes a body feel alone

I'm not actually feeling alone, but it's a high crime to not mention this song when you're blogging on your first Sunday alone in another country.

I slept in really late today (11:30 am), and loved every minute of it. I'm still really exhausted from the time here with the class. We ran on about 4 hours of sleep most days, and it was great but now my body is ready to play a little catch up. So, the rundown:

1) I walked into the city of Taoyuan today, and wandered around with one headphone in. As a side note to myself, I should probably finally break down and just buy new earbuds. One of them has been broken for awhile, and I might as well get them now. I think the iPod and music in general are like a security blanket for me, I can still experience things and hear the sounds and see the sights, but I have some familiarity and consistency in the other ear. Or maybe I've overanalyzing and I just like to jam out while I walk around!

2) The city is much less hectic than Taipei, and I enjoyed wandering into shops and along the streets. About five people stopped me to take a picture of me, I think it's much rarer for Westerners to be here than in Taipei. They were very friendly and helpful when I got lost.

3) Yeah, I got lost. Not a little lost, completely turned around, not sure where I even walked from, lost. When the whole class was here, I just followed Gavin or Ryan or Jay and knew that if we got lost at least we'd all be lost. Here, I got lost alone. It was weirdly not a panic moment though. Apparently, "wide-eyed American girl with a confused grimace glancing wildly around at signs" translates as lost in every language. Thank you, strangers in Taoyuan! 

4) When I get back to the US, I really hope I remember how it felt to be a "stranger in a strange land." I really hope I can hold onto how scary and confusing it really can be sometimes. When I'm lost or confused, and not sure how in the hell I'm going to get back to campus or to the bus or anywhere at all, there's an engulfing wave of relief that hits my chest the second someone makes eye contact with me and smiles. The kindness of strangers is pretty much all I have here, and I hope I can remember how that felt.

5) I start my internship at 8:10 am tomorrow morning (Monday) with a bus ride into Taipei. So, the long days of gchat/AIM/Facebook and reading and listening to music might be over for awhile. The schedule looks pretty busy, but I'm feeling more confident about being able to fulfill it all. This internship will definitely be a lesson in flexibility, the plan for Monday has already changed three times. But, one way or another, I start tomorrow!

6) It's starting to get warmer and warmer here, and everyone keeps reminding me to drink plenty of water and to rest lots. So, sleep lots and drink lots of water. Taiwan, you GET it.

Because I do what I want!

I do promise not to turn this into a "look at this neat thing I like" blog. But, I wanted to share at least a little bit of the artist I was talking about before, Kenna. Here are two songs, one from each of the albums I got. Both albums are worth the full "High Fidelity" treatment. Just don't whine about the top five things you miss about your ex's bathroom habits. No one but Cusack is that cute. 

Anyway, first: Baptized In Blacklight. Ignore whatever kind of video that is, just listen to the song. And then wildly hunt down what show that is! No, really. I must know. The one is from Make Sure They See My Face (more recent).

Kenna - Baptized In Blacklight
by EmilyD86

And then there's War in Me, from New Sacred Cow, an older album (by a few years). Again, ignore the video. Anime, lawlz.

AMV - Haibane Renmei - Kenna - War in Me
by ddavid67

If you play them both at the same time, it weirdly works out to be pretty neat. So what do ya say? Can't wait to be forced to listen to it on repeat in my car, can you? I thought not.

I feel like I'm nowhere

This isn't about Taiwan in the strictest sense, but it is about me and this is my blog. Right? Narcissism, gon' and get it.

I was finishing up reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink this morning (really good, yeah, you can borrow my marked up copy) and in one chapter he mentions this musician named Kenna as an example of the space between what market experts (in this case, music execs) think is amazing and how the actual market reacts to it. It was all very interesting, about the power of our rapid cognition and how different that can be from what we think is helping us choose something over something else. Anyway, that's not really the point. If you want to talk about the book, we can, but you know...on with the tale.

So I wiki the Kenna guy and read about him, take a brief detour into a wiki article about Ethiophia (Kenna is Ethiopian-born). I then took a little stroll through an article about how difficult it is to classify musicians into genres (Kenna is a typical example). Did you know that some musicians say that race is a huge indicator for which genre they'll be placed in? Anyone who knows something about this, what do you think? It seems true if I were going on knee-jerk reaction, but don't know enough about it all to really judge. 

Then I read about the Grammy Awards and their genre system if it can be called that. Finally, I bought two of Kenna's albums on iTunes--Make Sure They See My Face and New Sacred Cow.

What a different reading experience it would have been if I weren't near my computer, or hadn't decided to check it out. I learned a ton today about topics I never even cared about before. I'm not sure how much of it I understand, mostly because I only took two hours to read some stuff, and am pretty sure that makes me the least educated person on the topic of musical classification ever.

Kenna is good stuff, I'm half way through New Sacred Cow and listened to all of Make Sure They See My Face.  What do I know though, I'm just part of the market!

Bought a borrowed suit and learned to dance

For once I'm actually going to blog about a day right after it happens. This should be pretty regal!

1) Wondered around campus a bit today. Had my iPod in for part of the walk, but realized I was hearing some other kind of music also. So, off with The Smiths, and I hear what sounds like a band rehearsing upstairs in the gym. So, I climb the stairs thinking I'll just peak in, see what's what and then disappear. I walk into what seems to be a reglass jam session with some students. Acoustic guitars, bongo drums and a few singers. Several other students were sitting and listening, so I sat down for awhile and just listened. A few students started asking me questions, and I had to leave shortly after, but for a little bit it was nice to be anonymous and just hear some music.

2) My roommate Lauren and I went to Taipei, and I got a haircut. Yes. I did. Really. And I LOVE it. *Begin vain chat* No really, I like it tons. It's shorter than I thought it would be, and the amazing hair stylist gave me lots of crap about how I shouldn't be dying my hair I should let the natural color grow because it's pretty. That's not happening, but he was amazing and the overall experience was great. Diggin' the hair, too. A little past shoulder length, choppy bob with swoopy bangs. Yep! *End of vanity...except not because you're reading a BLOG*

3) We also did some night market shopping, and I got a bunch of jewelry, a few gifts (Andrew Moyer and Gavin Weiser, ya'll are going to die of happiness).

4) I took Lauren to the Heineken bar near the Jihe Teaching Hotel where we all stayed with the class. A few things: The waiter recognized me. He immediately brought the tiny cups to drink from and two beers. Lauren says it's the best food she's had her whole time here. So, GREAT SUCCESS EDHE 832 SEC. 2. That's right, got the course number memorized. I'm that real.

5) Being here is sometimes like being two people in one body. Part of me is here, experiencing stuff and doing things, enjoying it or learning from it or both or neither. But part of me is in South Carolina, Mississippi and Tennessee thinking about those places and people and missing it all the time.

Markets, Questions and Erfahrung

Yesterday I met up with five Education students who attend Ming Chuan in Taipei. We went to a street market, got lunch, shopped around and drove back to Taoyuan. In so many ways, it was just like what I was up to when all the USC students were here with me. Walking around, occasional rain, guessing at what food was, laughing and teasing.

One important difference: I don't speak any Chinese and the students spoke basic English. When I say basic, of course I mean their English was very good. So, I surfed along with them, just eating whatever they gave me and randomly buying necklaces and bracelets. It was strange to have five people focus all their attention on asking you questions and learning about you. Maybe that happens more often than I realize?

At lunch, they went around the table and each asked me questions: Tell us about your family. Do you have a boyfriend? Are you a Christian? Do you like music? Do you drive in the States? Do you like to read books? Do you like the pace of life in the States? This went on for an hour, after having walked around for two hours and having several conversations.

They weren't being rude, in fact, they were being incredibly wonderfully hospitable! They were fascinated, and wanted to know about me. But, a few things came to light for me.

1) I'm really not used to talking much about myself. In "regla-ass" conversations, I end up being the listener usually, asking questions and drawing people out. I think most people have some kind of default setting in conversations, that's mine. There's something uncomfortable about changing that default for me, or maybe everyone feels that?

2) Those questions are so hard to answer. It's hard enough to answer questions about music, books, religion, etc for another English speaker, but figuring out how to articulate those answers for someone who doesn't fully speak your language feels impossible. It isn't, but many things are lost in translation for sure. It's a pretty great experiment in exploring yourself though. You really have to trim the fat from your answers, and you can't beat around the bush much. Or, you can just generalize and never really answer the questions. That's probably easiest, but I was too tired of not having a real conversation that I just dove in. Discussing the finer points of Sgt. Pepper's is never easy, especially through translation. But, we did it, at least partially.

3) It seems like there are at least two ways to have this experience: Lay back and let it wash over you, hoping you grasp something from the stream of experiences to hold onto and think over, but mostly just being carried along. Or, you can carefully examine it, try to suck the life out of every second that happens and work really hard to remember it all and make it a part of yourself. I'm sure there are lots of other ways to experience it too, but those are the two I've tried. Neither is perfect, you miss a lot either way and it ends up feeling like work sometimes. But, for now, I'll just be laying back and trying to pick out something every now and then to grasp at.

4) I've been running a lot at night here (Mom, please begin to breathe again, it's very well-lit) and in some ways it's been a saving grace these first few days. I have total alone time, and end up zoning out some, doing some processing in my head and even day dreaming about what various people might think about different things.

5) I've only been in Taoyuan three days. I haven't even started my internship. Who knows what this will even look like in a week?

6) The world does not stop because I'm in another country. This became painfully clear this morning for me, that the relationships you have with people don't change radically or get put on "growth hold" just because you're in another country. Things change just the same if I'm there or here or somewhere else. But it's a lot harder to figure all that out when you're so far away. It's also easier to just ignore it, but I'm pretty sure I've never ignored or brushed anything off. Let sleeping dogs lie is like the Anti-Dani Mantra. I WAKE ALL THOSE DOGS UP TO PLAY WITH THEM!

Alright, team. Keep your rally hats at the ready, maybe in a few weeks we'll put them on! Wait for it...

-Dani

Taoyuan: Day 1 of 39

Internship at Ming Chuan University, Taoyuan, Taiwan. 5 weeks, Office of International Students. Housing provided.

So, I applied, interviewed and ended up as the intern here at MCU. I officially moved in yesterday in the afternoon, and spent the day getting settled and relaxing. For those of you cocking your eyebrows at home, yes. That's Dani code for "I unpacked my things, walked around, freaked out, holed up for a while, and walked around some more." Let's all just roll with it.

Some stuff:

1) I have four roommates: Tracy from Vietnam, a girl from Korea (not sure of her name yet) and Lauren from the University of South Carolina. Both Tracy and the Korean girl have limited English, but are very nice and friendly. Lauren was great, she helped me get some necessities and took me out to dinner with some of her friends.

2) No mattress on the bunk bed where I sleep. So, buy a mattress, right? Sort of, but hold up, player. The only mattresses they really sell are actually bamboo bottomed pallets with a thin layer of cotton stuffing and fabric on the top. Like a sleeping pad you'd take camping. Not that I take sleeping pads camping, I'm pretty much a badass who sleeps only on my polar bear skin rug laid over the jagged rocks that lay by the side of Lake Minnetoka.

3) I have no idea what I'm going to be up to as an intern. It seems to involve some office work, some accreditation work, some presentations about American Higher Ed and frequent travel back to Taipei. I have some anxiety about being able to do the tasks they've set up for me, but I guess this is a case for "fake it til' you make it." 

4) I had a great dinner (Taiwan classmate alert: Those Heineken bar places are all up IN Taoyuan! It felt like coming home), and drank Taiwan beer the appropriate way -- one person is in charge of pouring everyone else's and they don't wait until your glass is empty. They just pour whenever it gets down some. Lauren took me out with three of her friends : Chris, a Taiwanese student; Valerie, a German student and Benjamin, a German student also. Definitely interesting.

5) Tomorrow I'm going to Taipei to get my hair cut and colored and conditioned. Hold the phone. Say what? Yes. Gentlemen, tune out. (Gender stereotype alert, holla!). Yes, I'm going to get my hair "done" in Taiwan. I'm actually trying to learn the appropriate pronunciation for "Leave the length, adjust the layers, give swoopy bangs, take weight off the ends, dye it an espresso brown and lay a gloss coat on it." Yeah. Really. No, not kidding. Not even a little. If I walk out of the salon with some crazy asymmetrical haircut, I'm not even returning to my dorm. I'm on the first flight back to the US, so keep your eyes and ears open for that.

Well, that's it for today (or yesterday, I guess). Taiwan class people: I hope your travels home were comfortable and exciting. I miss you guys lots *cough* I mean, now that you're all gone I'm free to do all the crazy stuff you were holding me back from. Dem's jokes, you guys are great, see you soon.

Don't know why you say goodbye I say hello

"A change gon' come." Sam Cooke is always right, and this time is no exception. I'm finally going to start blogging about my Taiwanese summer. For the first two weeks, I slacked off. Check out my hilarious, talented, diligent and handsome friend Ryan's blog about those two weeks (Ryan, that'll be 500...NTD): http://adventuringtaiwan-ryan.blogspot.com/

Pretty neat, right? Just assume all his brilliant insights are mine, and check out how truly awful Taiwanese water is for hair. Right? Right. Ryan, thank you so much for keeping up your blog, if you hadn't no one would even believe I'd been there. The image of me sitting in my Columbia house, blinds drawn, drooling and ranting about Taipei is enough to gross anyone out. But, I was there! Proof!

But, now I'll do my own blogging, mostly because I'm the only one here now. The class group left this morning around 6:30 am this morning. We passed around hugs outside the bus, and I forced a few friends into obligating themselves to Skype, gchat and Facebook lots. I wish I had said more about how much I really loved getting to be on the trip with them. It wasn't all sunshine and puppies, but I missed them enough to immediately feel sad when I was back in my hotel room alone. You guys had me playing Purple Rain! Just kidding....right?

I had a great time with the class, and even though I ran ragged on very little sleep it was so worth it to learn as much as I could as fast as I could and try to soak up parts of the experience and the people. It definitely wasn't easy, food adjustments, people adjustments and space adjustments weren't easy at all. And we acted foolish a few times, but not in any disproportionate way. I know this is entirely self-indulgent, but I really have to just write about how nice some of the hang out time really was on this trip. We had some amazing conversations, and I learned so much about the people I travelled with (even people I knew really well before the trip), and I definitely learned a lot about how our world can operate, change, motivate and discourage. I think I'll leave it at this: If the world were left in the hands of some of our group on the trip, we might not have it all right, but I think it'd be pretty impressive. And everyone would wear Jersey Knit Cotton. Why? Because it's elegant.

So, two week chapter closed (don't worry, we'll write more when we all get back to Columbia!), and internship chapter opened. 

The Revolution WILL be televised...eventually

Some slight technical difficulties on the blog, which my jet lagged mind can't quite figure out.

However, we landed at Taipei airport about 11:30 pm last night, and today had several hours of class time, I visited the Silin Presidential Residence of the first Taiwanese president and his wife, and then explored the Shilin Night Market with some class friends.

I have some great photos, stories, observances but they'll have to wait until tomorrow night. Hopefully I'll be able to post more lengthy entries and get photos on the blog by then.

Honeysuckles and Plum Blossoms: Pre-Departure

I decided to start up a blog, and attempt to share plenty about my upcoming trip to Taiwan! I have no idea how diligent I'll actually be about updating, but I'm hoping to at least let you in on some of the experiences.

Honeysuckles are one of my favorite blooms, and always remind me of Southern summers (and they're edible, sot of). Plum Blossoms are (as nearly as I could find) the national flower of Taiwan, where I'll be spending this summer (I have no idea if they are edible). So, Honeysuckles and Plum Blossoms. Mostly because "Danielle in Taiwan" just doesn't have that musical ring.

To start off, here's a timeline of my trip:

May 11th - Depart from Columbia, SC to Taipei, Taiwan

May 12th-May 26th - In Taipei, Taiwan for graduate course in Taiwanese Higher Education

May 27th- July 3rd - Internship at Ming Chuan University's Taoyuan's campus

July 5th - Depart from Taipei, Taiwan to Memphis, TN

So, let the fun begin!