Partying Around the Island

We left Yilan and headed back to Taipei. There we spent the night at Grant's place and then one night at the wife of a diplomat's place, and then a few nights in two different hostels. Did I mention I have never been in a hostel before? I honestly had no idea what to expect. My life as a flight attendant made me use to some pretty nice hotels; it was always on the company dollar of course. The second hostel was much nicer than the first (we had our own private bathroom), however they were both pretty good; their locations were amazing. The first was located right downtown across the street from the Taipei Main Station. That was great because I got an interview in Hsinchu and took the High Speed Train there, so it was super convenient.

The job however, I turned down. It just felt too sketch for me. I'm not an idiot when it comes to legal documents and contracts, so I will not be signing my name on a blank one. When the employer just beats around the bush everytime you ask a question, even one concerning pay, it's not a place you want to work. It was certainly an experience though. I show up at a building that looks like an office, but it's completely gated and has cameras everywhere. A woman finally comes to open the gate, I am told to wash my hand at this little low outdoor sink and use a bar of soap that looks like it's been sitting there forever. The water was ice cold, and I didn't have anything to dry my hands. I enter the school and meet the assistant and I didn't know what to do. Do I shake her hand even though my hands are soaking wet and cold?  Wouldn't that just be gross and rude? She reached for my hand so I apologized but shook it anyway. I had to do a ten minute demonstration of my teaching abilities and then had an interview with the principal, assistant and executive (I did not know what those titles truly meant). The interview didn't seem like it was going very well and I thought they had no interest in me, but out of know where I felt pressure to accept their job. They kept telling me that if I want the job I had to sign the contract right now, because they have another interview at 2pm; it was about two minutes to. Once I realized that they weren't going to answer my questions and actually thought I would sign a contract with no pay indications or any real information in it, I simply told them that I would take the chance and think it over. I didn't leave there until about 2:30pm and no other potential teacher showed up. Either they were pretty late, decided not to bother (very common here) or simply did not exist. Despite that they were very nice people and helpful enough to order me a cab back to the train station. However, that's not enough for me to accept a job when the school tries to take advantage of me because I am a brand new teacher and they think I am desperate or stupid. When the school is desperate for foreign teachers (as this one had none in sight), no tactic is too low for them.

I headed back to Taipei. Matthew and I decided to switch it up and moved to a different hostel in the Shilin district of Taipei. We were lucky enough to find one right in the mist of the night market. It was great, walk downstairs and they we are; great cheap shopping, street meat, crafts, noise, smells, everything. It is quite something to see. The picture does not do it justice (it was a rainy day so there were less people out as well). Matthew did take a video that you can view here if interested:
http://pinterest.com/pin/550565123166119003/

 

We ate some interesting foods there as well, but I must admit, I was not as adventurous as Matthew. We ordered a plate of sea snails, but after watching him struggle to get them out of their shells, and some even had those two antenna type eye things, I just couldn't try them. Matthew loved them though and ate the whole plate.We wandered around the night market for three nights in a row because it's just different every night; the crowds, and even the vendors. One night, a guy came up with a tarp full of stuff and just plopped it in the middle of the walkway and was selling sweatshirts and t's.

During the daytime though there is no market and even most of the stores are closed. We decided to take a stroll to the Tianmu district of Taipei; Matthew wanted to check out a specific stationary store. Yes, stationary. Tianmu is the classier area; mostly rich Taiwanese or foreigners live there, like diplomats. It was a very pretty area but there seemed to be a lot of hills, which just got to be exhausting because we seemed to constantly be walking uphill and got lost so many times because google maps puts the store somewhere that it is not actually located at. We happened to find the store just by chance once we decided that we had enough and it probably did not exist. On our walk back we came accross a lovely street with some beautiful green trees that shades the road.

On Saturday we were invited to a Balck & White Masquerade goodbye party for a girl we met that night. That's right, we attended a going away party for someone we met just before the party began. Matthew and I did not know all the details, so I had bought a dress the night before at the night market. We got to Taichung and realized we would be underdressed, so while our friends got their hair and makeup done, I made us some masks and Matthew mostly sat in the salon. However, he did do a wine run! The going away party was for a girl named Melissa; she has lived in Taichung, Taiwan for seven years and has decided to move. She is actually a tattoo artist and is heading to Anthens where she will ride through Europe on a bicycle and tattoo people wherever she stops. She will have videos of her travels but she may also have a television show if the broadcasters decide they like it enough after she visits a couple of cities. She is originally from Montreal, Canada, so be on the lookout for her!

That was a very late night, we did not get to sleep until about 7am. But it certainly was fun! Sunday evening, we rushed back to Hsinchu with two friends who were at the party. What for? Well, for the Lantern Festival of course! The Lantern Festival is where people make pretty intricate lanterns out of paper and they release a whole lot of them into the sky. You can also enter your lantern into a competition. We really wanted to see them float in the sky, and the four of us drove around like maniacs on the scooters. No one seemed to know where they were being released, each person told us something different. Probably after about an hour of useless circling we asked an officer who told us it was cancelled due to weather. So, we ate some food, Matthew ate a fish eyeball, and we went home to bed. Monday morning I was headed to a little town called Erlin outside of Changhua city for another job interview.