Good Things

I'm slacking! I've only been writing blog entries when catastrophe occurs (of course, that seems to be surprisingly often, but still). So I'm going to start writing about the things that have gone RIGHT.

Starting with... cool non-tourist experiences!

In Taiwan, as well as fabulous touristing organized by Inky and Victor, I really enjoyed food from dodgy-looking little restaurants which I suspect many tourists wouldn't touch. And I couldn't have gone there either, without being in the company of Mandarin/Taiwanese-speakers! One great food experience was near the beginning of my trip. We'd gone to a park a ways outside of Taipei, and we stopped in at a temple to have lunch. Yep--a temple.
(Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera when we got out of the car to eat that day, or I'd have a picture to link to here.) Food is cooked and served in a temple, and there are open-air chair and table areas nearby to eat in. Inky, Victor and I chose five HUGE platters of food: duck, shrimp, squid-and-tasty-green-vegetable, fried noodles, and bamboo. We actually managed to eat almost all of it, and it was really really fantastic. (There's a picture on Inky's camera--I'll post it when i get a copy.) I also had a lot of fun just meandering around parks in Taipei. It was really relaxing and pleasant.

Ayumi's place is in a suburb of Ino town, which is about fifteen minutes from Kochi. The area's population is 90% over 60. It's really tiny, and kindof nestled in between a river and the region's hills. There's a lot of farm-land--small sized rice fields in particular--in the area. So it was cool to see a really rural place. Also, I played ping-pong with Ayumi's grandmother, which was really fun.

And when I stayed in Maebashi with Aya's family, we barbecued (yakiniku) and had a takoyaki party (fried octopus pastryish thing)--fun home stuff. I had my very first kotatsu experience. I think Canadians need to pick up the habit of putting a heater under a table and enjoying the results. Oh, and I also played ping-pong. I'm getting almost able to actually hit the ball sometimes!

In Seoul I stayed overnight with the family of a friend of a friend (yes, you read that right) and had fun playing with her (the friend's friend's) terribly cute little nephews. It was also cool to see a traditional-style Korean house! Also in Seoul (and this is something I think few people would care about, but I got a kick out of it) I, a Canadian, ate Nagasaki-style pho in a "Californian Pho Restaurant". In Seoul. It doesn't get much more international than that.

See? Good things have also been happening to me! And from now on, I'm going to try to write about them more.