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I have been living in Taipei for about five weeks now and have adapted to surviving here.  In the summer heat, I no longer wear any jeans, jackets, hats or any sort of outerwear.  Most of my clothes still lay in the suitcase untouched.  My wardrobe consist of a few t-shirts and 3 pairs of shorts.  On average the temperature here is about 80+ degrees Fahrenheit which isn't as bad until you factor in the humidity.  Humidity is what kills me, its ok to be hot but being hot and wet at the same time is something else.

My friends always ask me how I manage to move halfway across the globe and manage not to get homesick.  The answer is simple, I do get homesick.  The first three weeks here I was fine, I guess since I just moved here that I was too busy exploring and settling down to realize what I have left behind back in the states.  After the third week, it suddenly hit me that I would be living in Asian in the foreseen future and all my college memories flashed before my eyes.  I started working here about a week after I graduated from college so all my recently memories are of my college life.  I wanted to relive the days were I went to class for a few hours of day and played afterward.  I missed all the weekend BBQs, late night DOTA sessions, weekly parties and just doing nothing with my friends.  These thoughts would appear in my head randomly throughout the day and I would feel empty again.  At one point, during work, I wanted to stop and immediately book a ticket back to SF but instead took some time to think things through.  After some thought, I came to the realization that what I am doing now will greatly benefit me in the future.  I am still pretty young but instead of wasting my time and gaining nothing, I am fully utilizing it to broaden my future.  Don't get me wrong though, I still do miss home but in order to get ahead in life you have to take risks and sacrifice some things...

Moving on, Taiwan is a great place to eat, drink, shop and explore.  On almost every block, you will find at least one 7-11.  Back in the states, when people think of 7-11 they think of slurpees, hotdogs, clerks who don't speak a lick of English and all the scum that hang around there but in Taiwan it is so much different.  All Sevens (what they call it over here) is well lit, has friendly staff and an assortment of healthy teas and snacks.  You are also able to pay your phone bill, parking ticket and some government bills here as well.  Seven is very well integrated in Taiwanese society, so much that if they were to be taken away overnight chaos would ensue.  There are also an assortment of mom and pop breakfast shops open during the morning.  You can order anything from chow mein, burgers to luo bo gao (fried taro cakes).  At night, there are various night markets (Shilin being the biggest) that sell things from Engrish t-shirts to fish balls.  Hopefully I will be able to post up some articles about these places in the near future.

Stay tunes until then :D