24 Plates of Sushi?!?!?!

...at 30 NT$ a plate, which came out to 720 NT$ (~ 25 USD), for the non-math majors out there (do I know any math majors?) for seven people. Did I mention we ate all this in under ten minutes? What can I say, it's hard to resist sushi going by on a conveyor belt after sitting in class for three hours.

I've been having a few pretty fantastic days. I'm finally starting to feel part of all this. Connecting with people on intimate levels, feeling close to each person here, getting the hang of the culture, actually using the small amount of Mandarin I know! It's all really great! Yesterday, I came up with and used my first full sentence of Mandarin, free of hand motions action words! I was very happy with myself --- even if I did only ask someone if this was a certain train station --- my question had a noun and verb. And (I never thought I'd say this) I'm getting used to the weather. My body defies you, humidity!

I'm not feeling like a visiting student anymore. I feel like everyone is on one trip now, we're all in this for the long haul and excited as ever.

Yesterday we went to the Museum of World Religions, which is probably the most beautiful museum I've ever been in. There is incredible attention to detail and each room is a place for self-reflection in itself. The whole flow of the museum is designed to make you interact with the information, which leads you to reflect on your personal spirituality and how it relates to the greater whole. The message of the museum was that love and peace are central to all of us. I would absolutely recommend the museum to anyone visiting Taipei. Go on a tour in the morning and plan to go back through the museum at your leisure after because the guides definitely have an agenda (that is very beneficial to having a general idea of the layout of the museum and the uses of each room), but the guiding definitely inhibited the self-reflection goal that the museum offers.

A few of us had spaghetti at a restaurant near the museum called Go Go Brazil. The whole restaurant was basically one big paradox. Ordering was an issue because there was no English menu and we were without a Mandarin-speaking peer, but the coffee was excellent (and complimentary), so I'm not complaining.

News from home brought me back to the real world and also made me realized that yesterday was the 6 month anniversary of Autumn's departure. K, if you're reading, regardless of the ocean and landmass between our bodies, my heart is with you right now.

With (excited) love,
B(ee)