Moon Festival Rotary Gathering

Wednesday September 26, 2012

AAAAAAAHH! NO TIME! QUICK! SPEED BLOG GO!

BREAKFAST! Home parents set out two round roll things with some seed or nut in the bread. Yummy.

Breakfast part 2! This so far is my favorite breakfast at school. One of these triangular breakfast sandwiches accompanied with a tall cup of soymilk. This particular sandwich was composed of white bread, lettuce, egg, a yummy unknown sauce, and two different types of meat, which my guess is sausage and ham. The best part is that the whole meal totals up to a little more than $1US. Score! Unfortunately, they are only available in the morning, which is sad because I think it’s a better value than the lunch food choices. But then again, I’ve grown to love this delicious, healthy combo!

Andrea was unconsciously a bad girl today. No really, I was unconscious. During the break between a morning class, I just had to rest my head on the desk just as other students sometimes do. Problem is, I didn’t exactly hear the bell that signaled the end of break. So I accidently slept through the first ten minutes of the next class. Whoops. Is that my fault? Since I wasn’t conscious, I say no. :P Except for that little slip up, I haven’t slept in class while in Taiwan yet. That’s an accomplishment! :D

LUNCH! Meh, got an average corn and egg sandwich with some other veggies inside. Iced tea included in the meal. Wasn’t really that fascinating to require a picture. Maybe next time. But a fellow classmate to the left of my desk was a sweetheart because she gave me a chocolate cookie/biscuit. Gosh darn it I wish I could do more for my classmates! Little acts like these just brighten up my day! And yes it was tasty. It reminded me of teatime with tea and biscuits but without the tea. :P

Another chica in my class has developed an interest in learning some basic Spanish. Somewhat missing learning and speaking Spanish, I happily oblige. I taught her the basics of “hello” “how are you?” “I’m fine, and you?” “Thank you” and other stuff. It ended today with a fun greeting enactment with toy dinosaurs. She later wrote on my desk a part of the conversation which made me smile up a storm. Of course I had to go reply on her desk but I don’t want to erase what she wrote on mine. It’s just way too cute!

After school I went to kill some time at a café nearby that Eric recommended. I’m currently looking for a café near my daily life that has free Wi-Fi and good, well-priced drinks. So the place was called “Artco de Café.” Andrea is not going there again. Why? It’s a wee bit expensive, iced coffee wasn’t that great and I nearly lost my eyes’ virginity. As I trucked up to the second floor with my drink, I noticed a statue of a non-clothed man. Thank gosh my eyes didn’t fall upon…you know…’it.’ Running away in fear, I go to the third floor. AND THERE’S ANOTHER ONE! Creeped out like heck, I fled to the farthest corner I could find to escape the thing’s presence. It was uncomfortable just knowing it was there. I get it, it’s an art café and that can be considered art but Andrea doesn’t like that kind of art. I like my eyes’ virginity, thank you! The upside to the place was a nice bathroom that allowed me plenty of time and room to change into formal clothing for my upcoming Rotary meeting.

Onto a blister, fun trip. The place the meeting was held at was called the “Ambassador’s Hotel.” Quite fitting since I am an ambassador! I’ve been there once before and knew what MTR station to get off at, but this was still my first time going completely alone.  Getting off the subway, I follow a sign that conveniently says “Ambassador Hotel” leading to Exit 1. So I go out of Shuanglian Station Exit 1 and start walking in the direction I remembered from last time (a month ago). After two or three blocks I come to the conclusion that this was not the correct way at all. Going back to the MTR station, I found a map that showed directions to my destination (below). So what I deciphered on the map was that I come out from Exit 1, go behind the station, continue down a main road, looking for the landmark of Starbucks and at a major intersection, turn left.

NO! Whatever happened, I walked through a dark alley that was not a main road at all. And instead of finding a Starbucks, I found a McDonald’s! Not only that but I ended up at a different MTR station (Zhongshan)! Confused as heck, I find a police officer to ask directions from.  I didn’t really understand what he said but I concluded, go straight, then turn left from where we were. Problem was, that lead straight back to where I was in the first place! So walking allllllll the way back to Shuanglian MTR station. Take note I was in heels with some fresh blisters developing. Lovely. Hot, tired, late and flustered, I called Uncle Kaiser (a Rotary member) for some desperate help. After a confused conversation he was sweet enough to come and find me at Zhongshan station and walk me to the hotel. Notice how that meant to walk allllll the way back to the other MTR station. My feet hurt. But thankfully, Uncle Kaiser found me and we walked together to the safe haven of my Rotary club.

We entered during a wonderful choir performance with songs dedicated to Taiwan. I may not understand a lot in Chinese, but I can tell when people are singing about their love for Taiwan.  I didn’t take many pictures because I was afraid it would seem impolite plus the lighting wasn’t that good. But just imagine all kinds of small, delicious, fancy courses from beans to sticky rice to all sorts of mushrooms. It was soooooooo yummy! A Rotary member sitting next to me gave an appreciated comment on how I tried and loved every food at the table. That means a lot that someone notices my efforts, or lack of since the food was delicious in the first place! But then again, I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t try it. Really though, I could’ve gone for seconds in each course if I had a bigger stomach. XD I just hope they didn’t mind me saying “Bu yong xie xie” (No thank you: polite version) to wine. A Rotary member knew that the drinking age in Texas was 21 so I think it isn’t impolite to turn it down. Plus I don’t think turning down wine is considered rude…at least I hope not since I don’t like it.

I did brave out of my comfort box twice. First was to recite a famous Chinese speech that is ultra famous in Taiwan. Second was to accept the request to sing a song for the Rotary club. The poem I knew of ahead of time, the singing was a surprise. Thankfully I was able to choose an English song, which I picked out carefully and dedicated it to Taiwan. This particular song, I believe fits my exchange/Taiwan perfectly. Sometime I’ll have to write a paper explaining in depth my comparisons. But the song was “You’ll be in my heart” by Phil Collins. Anyone seen Tarzan? Yep, it’s that song. I’m not confident at all in my singing and don’t even know how to properly sing but I still went up and let my heart do the talking.

This meeting was actually a party for the Moon Festival. All the members brought their wives and Roteract came along too. So a Moon Festival celebration isn’t a party without moon cakes! I have a confession to make. When I was a little girl, I watched a Chinese cat cartoon called ‘Sagwa’ that had an episode including moon cakes and how delicious they were. Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to try a traditional moon cake. Yes, I’ve had modern types of moon cakes before, but I wanted a true traditional moon cake with the beautiful designs onto the pastry with traditional filling. MY WISH CAME TRUE! Not only did it come true but it was fulfilled 700%. When I told some Rotarians of my desire since a child to try moon cakes and how scrumptious they were now that I tasted one, they encouraged me to try more flavors. I eagerly did just that. But then my sweet uncles went on to grabbing other tables unfinished moon cakes and asking the hotel workers to pack a take away box full of them. So I ended up bringing home a container of 21 slices of moon cake. XD Oh lord, my mouth is watering just thinking about it again! I LOVE MOON CAKES! Both in name and flavor. :P

All the guests also received a bag from “Way Fong.” Once home I opened up the strange package, only to be confused to what it was. My guess is either food or that smelly stuff which I can’t remember how it’s spelled. (Roughly pronounced ‘pope-er-e’) My guess a type of food because it has what looks like an expiration date and charts on the back that mimic a nutrition chart. I’m really not sure at all. Anyone have an idea what it is? If not, I might just have to ask a classmate at school. XD

I had a little too much fun with the camera and gifts from Rotary. Here’s the proof…

I CAN’T HELP MYSELF OK?! XD

Fin! * dives into la-la-land *