This Blog Post Will Remain Untitled, Due to Lack of Creativity

A couple weekends ago, we ventured over to Taipei. 

Via railroad.

(Kendra is such a picture-taking doll.)

We shopped (the elusive Chambray Top was discovered and PURCHASED), we wandered, we bonded, we had picnics.

We had Indian food here, too:

Taipei 101: the island's own Eiffel Tower.

Except 101 has the added bonus of a food court in the basement, and high end brand name stores I can only lust after on the two floors above. 

Plus, the fact that the 101 was advertising Cartier kind of tickled me pink. (Guess what famous diamond brand has a headquarters just a few blocks away from here? That's right.)

This made me happy, too.

 

 

These girls are some of my favorites:

(I always want Kendra to take the pictures, because she has this totally legit camera--a big black one with the long lens thingy--that makes an awesome "clicking" noise when you push the button. It makes me want one, so I can carry it around while wearing a mustard cardigan, a striped scarf, and square glasses to make people think I'm a legit hipster.)

The next day, we had a picnic here:

 

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

It's a memorial. For Chiang Kai-shek, a military leader of 20th century China. (That's all Wikipedia would tell me straight off of the Google page.)

It was Sunday, so there were quite a few other people there, as well.

 

"Kendra, Kendra! Lemme see the picture you just took, lemme see the picture you just took!"

It was fun being in Taipei; because it's kind of a famous city. You know, Taiwan's capital, and all. People tour there, and stuff. I live in Fengyuan, which--plenty of people remind me--is a rather small town. So, being white, we get looked at a lot in Fengyuan. Because there aren't many people touring in a small town. 

 But in Taipei, there are definitely more foreigners around. It's always fun to see a blonde head, or a tall old white guy, at the train station, or at the memorial hall where you had a picnic. My initial reaction when seeing a fellow white person is, "Oh, look, a foreigner! How cute, there's a group of them touring. Look at them, with their strollers and their cameras. Well, I'm no tourist. I live here. So there. I'm cooler." 

But I bet you can guess what they're thinking when they see me: "Hey cool! Another white person who decided to take a vacation to Taiwan! I wonder how long she's been here? Probably not very long. Well, I've been here a week already. So there. I'm cooler." 

Mostly it's funny, because human beings just think like that. 

But really. I'm cooler.

Awkward.

That awkward moment when:

-You're not sure whether the red spot on your face is an incoming zit, or an outgoing mosquito bite. 

- That stagnant water smell wafts up your nose during your shower, and you're not sure if it's from the open window, or the shower water you're currently bathing in. 
 

-You get your picture taken through the window of a bus, 'cause you're white.

-You pay 7 bucks for a gallon of questionably hydrogonized/pasteurized milk.  

- Chinglish tees excite you.

-You forget your grocery bag when you go to the store, so you stuff everything but the milk and frozen onion pancakes into your purse, and try to maintain a sense of dignity as you walk out. 

- You find yourself humming the catchy jingle that garbage trucks blast out to announce their upcoming approach.

- The 7-11 workers know you.

- The Taiwanese woman behind you in line is pushing her 7 year old daughter toward you, telling her to "Speak! Speak! English, English!"

- You accidentally bike into the recycling frenzy frequented by senior citizens on a street corner.

- A random grocery store employee gets really close to your face, says "You so beautiful," in English, and then proceeds to spout out a current of excited Chinese, to which all you can do is smile and look confused until they beam at you, nod enthusiastically, and walk away.

#sillyamericanlivingintaiwan