Yesterday, I had another conversation in Chinese with a stranger. I was waiting for a friend at a bus stop in Daxi. A woman asked me the usual things: what I do here (wait for a friend), what I study (computer science), how long I’ve been here (I said, “three … Continue reading
Last week, at one of the free days during the moon festival, I was guided through Sanxia and Yingge by Jessie and her sister Erin. Sanxia is famous for the Zushi temple and it’s old street. 袓師廟 (Zushi Temple) The temple was first built in the mid-18th century. It was … Continue reading
As a means of self motivation I am going to publicly keep track of successful conversations in Chinese between myself and one or more strangers. And I already have something to tell! Supermarket Last Wednesday morning I had my first Chinese conversation, which was in a small grocery store buying … Continue reading
On Thursday, rain was forecast, which I consciously ignored and went out without an umbrella, as absolutely no rain was in sight. Big mistake! In Taiwan, particularly during typhoon season, rain starts very, very suddenly. Very heavy rain often only lasts for a couple of minutes, then slows down, possibly … Continue reading
On Wednesday, I was invited by Jessie (淑燕) and her friends for dinner at her place. The date of mid-autumn festival adheres to the moon calender and usually falls into September or October on a full moon. It is to thank the gods for the harvest (similarly to thanksgiving). On … Continue reading
At the east exit of the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall I ran into very nice scenes of Taiwanese people spending their free time. In particular, there were some groups of teenagers practicing breakdance, each group dancing facing the wall of the building to their own music coming from a small … Continue reading
Last Sunday, after spending quite some time in the bookstore, I went to the nearby National Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. Sun Yat-Sen studied medicine but then devoted his life to politics. He was significantly involved in removing the Qing dynasty in mainland China at the beginning of the … Continue reading
There are plenty of bookstores in Taipei. Particularly around Gongguan I have seen them in abundance. Most of them are quite small. Also second-hand book shops can be found. My Chinese is still way too bad to read a real book, but nevertheless, I enjoy looking at them and … Continue reading
I started to learn Chinese a year ago because I felt like learning a new language. I expected it to be challenging, but I also expected to advance faster than I ended up doing. I am still not able to make myself understood not even in the most simple situations. … Continue reading
After a very nice China Airlines flight on which I could stretch over four economy seats, I arrived at Taipei Taoyuan airport on Monday. Immigration was extremely easy and fast, taking less than ten minutes. Transport into town also was very easy. There’s a bus (number 1819) leaving frequently. You … Continue reading
