Registering for Classes

After my aborted attempt to register on Wednesday (I didn't have passport sized pictures with me, I was picking them up Wednesday night), I headed over early to ShiDa's Mandarin Training Center. Its off of HePing and ShiDa road. The school is actually cut in half by HePing road. It was easy enough to find the building after I spent some time on Wednesday looking for a map, so Wednesday wasn't a total loss.

I was the 2nd person in line when they opened at 8:30 and because I was a scholarship student, it was even faster. Go to station 1 to check my name off the list and pick up paperwork, then to station 2 to get my student ID made (which isn't a 3X5 card but more like a 5X7 half laminated thing). Except for using an ink pen instead of a ballpoint there weren't any major problems. I even got a discount on the registration fee I had to pay.

After that I walked over and waited my turn to go in and do my oral interview. The lady was a rather stern Chinese lady but I did much better in this interview than in the ICLP one 3 years ago. I made some mistakes like using the wrong verb "to send". I used one that means literally to hand someone something, instead of mailing it to them. The interviewer was impressed that I had done ICLP before, even if it had been a while and I forgot a lot of my vocabulary. She said that I could take the Intensive courses, which are 3 hours a day instead of 2, if I wanted. My only concern was that the morning classes are for continuing students, and I wanted morning classes. She said if I tested well enough that they would put me in the Intensive courses.

I'm both happy and sad about that. Happy because it means that my Chinese will improve faster. I'm sad because I read what the Intensive courses require. 3 hours of class every day, M-F and 4 hours of prep work outside of class. My work week is going to get filled up pretty quickly at the rate I'm going. We'll see what happens though. I took the listening test which was a standardized Chinese test of vocab, grammar, listen to a paragraph and respond, and got an 83/140 on the Intermediate level. That's not bad but a little less than I had hoped for. Either way, it shows what my level is and helps me to improve.

After getting that straightened out, I went back to the Hostel to read for a while. It's too hot to go outside and I hate the grime that sticks to me after walking in the humidity so I have begun to take cabs everywhere. I'll balance that out by riding the bike I plan to buy when it cools down some. That and eating at the vegetarian places close to my hostel, including this yummy organic vegetarian place that also offers meat if you so desire.

After reading for a few hours I was getting bored just about the time my friend Natalie called me. She and I went to High School and College together and she has been here since February. I jumped at the chance to get out and hang with her and the other grad student who is over here, Ryan Dalton. We met up at a relaxing little bar named the Penguin where Natalie was having a Language Exchange with a Taiwanese girl name Wendy. Wendy seemed nice, a little nervous, but nice none the less. After she left to go back to her dorms (its a school night for her) we sat around and chatted for a long time. They kicked us out of the bar at 12:30 because it was slow, and we weren't ordering enough for them to keep it open. Its a mixed bar/hookah place/tea shop.

I almost forgot to mention the best part. As I was walking up to the bar, on ShiDa road, there was a guy selling food out of the back of a blue truck. That in itself is nothing special, until I saw someone petting his animal. I thought it was probably just a cute dog, until I saw that it was white and had a beak. The guy had a pet goose. A big fat white goose that sat there and let you pet it. I did a triple take and almost ran into someone. I wish I had my camera with me. I mean who has a pet goose?

Anyway, it was good to see Natalie again and talk to someone else who went through the same experience I did. Hers was a little different since every quarter, people she knew left and she had to meet new people. The foreigner turnover rate in Taiwan is pretty high. I expect she, Ryan and I will be hanging out a lot since we all know each other pretty well.

Ohh and one more thing that I found out. Grandpa was right. The Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ restaurant is still here and doing well. I found some reviews for it from last weekend so I am going to have to go pretty soon. Its amazing that the place is still open after 30 years in a town that has a turnover rate on restaurants of approximately 3 months. Just when you start to like a restaurant, they rip it out and put something nasty in its place.