No.3

I’M ON A HILL!!!

No but seriously, I live on a hill. The Zhengda University dorms are located on a mountain to the south-east of Taipei. When telling people I study at Zhengda, gasps of admiration rise from their throats. Did you really travel that far to get here?!
Nah, to be honest they mostly don’t know where Zhengda is. But when I mention Taipei Zoo, the nearest metro station, (20 minutes from my dorm including the walk/bus ride down-hill) reactions can be like that.
I still like it though, the view from up here is amazing and there is a nice and relaxed atmosphere all around campus.

I feel pretty much settled now, living together peacefully with Victor (a Dutch class mate) and Billy (from Hong Kong) in one room, recently joined by Sam who is actually from Taipei.
For breakfast I eat bread or a meal at the canteen, daily classes are from 12 – 3 and after that it’s some relaxing, doing my homework, running, going to frisbee, living in Taipei.
Last weekend I went to (albeit as a volunteer) my first Asian ultimate frisbee tournament: Turnup Taipei. It was awesome. I saw great ultimate, poured 20 kegs of beer, kept scores and lost my newly bought Whisby Nation disc. Then the team from Guam (Yes, that is indeed an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean) came along and Matt bought me a new one..! :D
I also met a guy with a scooter there (Eric!) who rides me from and to frisbee from time to time, which is so much more awesome than I thought. Being previously more annoyed than anything when watching the 30(000) scooters lining up before/around you at a traffic light, I now feel envy for not driving one myself. It is surprisingly comfortable and nice to see Taipei from this different perspective zigzagging through the traffic.
Eric also added Monday to the list of possible frisbee-days, he plays with a different group and I’ve joined them last week, definitely planning on coming out more often.

One mystery here that I still have to solve is the presence of so many old people on campus. This is supposed to be a place harboring 18-~30 year-olds, and during the day time maybe their professors and teachers. But when I came home from clubbing (isn’t that just the greatest verb?) some time ago at 5 am in the morning, all I saw were old people walking up and down the hill, playing tennis at the court and walking laps on the running track. There were literally (nvm) thousands of them. It felt weird being the only student walking home on a university campus surrounded by people who could all have been your grandparents. Where do they live, why are they here, what time is it?
I guess this is just a very nice place for old people to be walking around at sunrise with an umbrella(parasol) for reasons still unknown to my still so naïve and young mind.

Now I should definitely start working on my homework for tomorrow.
All that’s left are some random remarks.
- I’m in a relationship with the cafeteria-lady, she loves me every time I buy her food. I do suspect some promiscuity.
- I went to the League of Legends world championship group stages in Taipei, saw Sjokz and a Miss Fortune cosplay and got a skin-code for all 5 SKTT1-skins. #CTDM (Thanks Alex)
- One night I walked 30 minutes up and down the hill just to get a McFlurry at McDonald’s. Oreo-flavor ( :O ).
- All buses here are playing the most classical western music. From Vivaldi’s seasons to Celine’s My Heart Will Go On. Dramatic bus rides every day!
- Getting a haircut soon.


Thanks for reading!
(Will add some more photos later)