Taiwanice people

Taoyuan

Taiwanese people are the nicest. According to my Taiwan boss lady, Taiwan is the second safest country in the world (rumor has it that Norway is #1, but we'll let Google be the judge of that). Of all the countries I've visited, this one is the only one that hasn't had random nasty teenagers wandering around the streets (except for Norway). They're all too busy doing school.

Seriously, these poor kids go to normal school, then they go to "cram school" so they can study to get accepted to high school, where they'll only study hard so they can go to a good university. :(

That's not the only rough part of Taiwanese life. Taiwan is an island the size of Delaware and Maryland combined (I don't actually know how big that is, I just know it's SMALL). A lot of these people have never left the island. Can you imagine spending your whole life in a area that small????

On top of that, they eat the same thing for every meal: rice. Rice with cabbage, rice with sausage, rice with noodles, rice, rice, rice, rice, rice. What the fetch? How about mixing things up from meal to meal? Maybe some pancakes for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and a whole pizza to eat by yourself for dinner while you think about how all your old roommates and friends are married now? Butt rice is life for them. Bummer for them all.

Anyway, I feel very safe in this country. I wake up every morning, run to the park, and do some intense muscle pumping. I feel completely fine wandering around alone any time of the day. I know I stand out like a man in bra shop because I'm white and don't know any Mandarin Chinese, but they're all very welcoming. A lot will wave and say, "Hello!" in English. My first morning when I was looking for a 7-11, a little dude handed me a badminton racket and wanted me to play. (I took a swing at it, but ran away when I missed my own serve.)

I'm been staying in a city outside of Taipei called Taoyuan. I went to Taipei on Saturday and it was very cool. I haven't gotten out of the city to see some plants and stuff yet (which is a big bummer for me), but I hopefully will be able to next week!

Stuff I seen I want you to see:

Detail of a temple roof in Taoyuan.

Street art in Taoyuan.

Welcome to my cave of wonders.

Taipei 101 (a VERY tall building in Taipei)

Breakfast+Lunch+Dinner. NOT COMPLAINING

LDS temple in Taipei.

A neat building in Taoyuan.

View from up top. (Taiwan boss lady's apt.)

1. Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.

This dude just sits in the CKS Memorial Hall all day. I call him Asiabraham Lincoln.