Cold Water, Cold Days

The last few days have been cold and rainy. Colder and rainier than when we first got here (highs in the 50s, lows in the 40s), but not horrible. Everyone else seemed to freak and put on layers upon layers of warmth as if it were winter. Apparently they are not used to autumn temps like we've had.

I will say, though, that it was pretty uncomfortable this morning taking a shower in the meat locker that is our bathroom. Moreover, there was little to no hot water. Have you ever taken a lukewarm shower? Not pleasant.














Otherwise, things have been pretty routine. We went out to dinner the other night with Andrew Chen (an RA on the floor above us) and some of his friends.

The food was great. Served family style with each person's own little bowl of rice.







This is a Chinese hot pot. You can get them at lots of restaurants and there's many many different versions. It's part soup, part meal, but all delicious! This particular hot pot had blood jelly and pig intestine. I did not eat the pig guts.









These were greens with garlic and chillies. Pretty spicy but very very good.









Seafood hot pot. Shrimp, mussels, crab, lobster, tofu and sea cucumber. Very yummy!

















And, of course, no meal would be complete without beer! Taiwan Beer is common across Taiwan, and very similar to Budweiser or Miller. Not bad, but not spectacular.

For the record, I did not drink the entire bottle! Each person had a small glass and you share with the group. (see glass below)