Pictures around town

Here's some pictures from around town. Sarcastic captions too!




Silver anchovies in a bag.



Apparently they only cost $99 New Taiwanese Dollars (NTD) or about $3 US.


Close-up of anchovies. They look sad :(


Rice crackers. Not too bad.


Pocky. A tasty snack! Its a bit like an unsalted pretzel coated in either strawberry or chocolate.


Shark power! I saw this on the back of a Ford and couldn't pass up the picture opportunity. Apparently in Taiwan their American cars are powered by sharks? I can only assume that's why they are so rare.





Breakfast today was green onion pancake with egg and some kind of hot sauce. Mighty mighty tasty.



Dorm bed. Rather small and unmade.

Typical side street near campus.



Picture of the main road near campus. It is called Section 1 Wan Shou Road.



Lunghwa University of Science and Technology main entrance sign. Yes, on the left is a 7-11. They are literally everywhere.

Day three and four

Yesterday was lots and lots of fun! Went to Taipei and saw many sights . . . and of course forgot to put the memory card in my camera, so no pictures. Hopefully descriptions will suffice.

Our first stop was Chiang Kai-shek National Memorial. The grounds are massive with gardens and two smaller performance areas. The Memorial itself is a massive pagoda with an equally large seated statue of Chiang. It's very reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial.

Within the memorial is a museum and gift shop. Apparently the US is not the only place that makes money off of history.

Our second stop was Taipei 101 which is the second tallest building in the world. Most of what we saw was shopping. Lots and lots and lots of shopping. . .

Today and tonight will be pictures of things around town. Until then,

Zai jian!

Maps

FYI, here's a map of Taoyuan County, Taiwan, where Lunghwa University is located. Lunghwa is in Gueishan Township. The second map is of the country as a whole to give you some perspective as to where we are in relation to Taipei.

Pictures!

Plate of food from Chinese buffet restaurant. You get a bowl of rice and food (above).


Bowl of rice with food to mix in. This may or may not have been worms. (I think may!)



Turtle Mountain from the top of the student union.


View of Turtle Mountain on campus.




College of Management Building


Main area of campus.


Management Building.

Day Two

Well, I'm rested. . .more or less. It's amazing how good an eleven hour sleep can feel, even if it is on a flat futon-style "mattress."

Overall, the dorm facilities are ok, though, I'm not a fan of dorm life generally. Getting to shave after almost three days without, however, felt great!

Today's agenda includes food, first and foremost, as well as an orientation meeting, ans possibly a trip to an Ikea near-by (yes! they have them here!)

Once I'm out and about today I'll have pictures to post, but until then, zai jian!

Day One

Well, it's day one and I can honestly say that I'm exhausted. All told the flight was 20 hours in the air with about three hours lay-over.


Once we arrived in Taiwan we were taken to the dorms to unpack.

Next to a brief tour of the university, and lunch at a great family-style Chinese restaurant. After lunch, it was more orientation.

Pictures coming soon, but as or now I'm beat. G'night!

My Story

Welcome one and all in the blogosphere!

My name is Nate, and I'm a history student from Youngstown, Ohio.

This blog will document my semester study at Lunghwa University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. I'm traveling with two other students from Youngstown, Gary Davenport and Sarah Lowry.

I've never been abroad before this trip, so part of this is to document my experiences while in the Far East, and part to keep in touch with family and friends.

I leave Tuesday February 23, so updates will likely be coming shortly after that!

I hope you all enjoy my posts, and I promise to update often!

Until next time.

-Nathan Pavalko

Youngstown, Ohio