Went down for breakfast-- ate the nice bread, porridge, eggs and pork shreds. Also returned the apron from the slave auction to the kitchen staff. (The only reason I went down for breakfast is to make sure the brain had its sugars for the upcoming exam!)
The language class exam was a little nerve-racking. I hate going to write a test when I'm not 100% ready (I didn't stay up last night; I got up early and did a quick review). After I filled in all the answers, I figured I did well. I had to run back to my room and pick up my exercise books to hand in. I was willing to go to sword class, but I bailed and laid in bed until lunch time (I got a sick leave pass so I was excused-- no demerits for this lad.) I ate lunch with the 418 boys, including Mike and Alan. We almost ate the entire thing.
I had a schedule-free afternoon. I wasted it in my room-- Morgan, Henry, Danny and Grace were there the whole time. (Also caught up on much needed sleep) They were helping Henry write a letter to his girlfriend ENTIRELY in Chinese.
Feeling better, I decided to head off
campus to the bakery. Since my "masters" haven't asked for any chores,
etc. for Del and I to do, I wanted to get them something nice. Henry tagged
along to get his girlfriend a birthday cake. We went to the 2 bakeries
close to campus. Henry chose a nice cake-- has to pick it up before the
shuttle back to Taipei tomorrow.
When Henry and I returned to the dorm,
Lily and her boyfriend, Wil, Keli'i, and Belinda were about to head out
for dinner; I tagged along. Our first stop was the arcades. We had to get
a few games of Daytona in! After the arcades I had dinner, consisting
of "tseow-tse", with Most people were lining up to bus seating assignments
for the trip down south; I went up to my room to shakedown my gear. Went
to take another shower (thank goodness the water was running)
(l to r)Mike, Del, me, and Henry
at the Martyr Shrine.
Got out of the shower and noticed the lights on in room 418, next door. I checked it out and saw that Del was still in his room-apparently, he went to shoot hoops during the afternoon and sprained his ankle. Luckily, he didn't do something stupid like break a bone, like I did in grade 10. I helped him to the clinic, but the approaching typhoon kept the doctor in Taipei.
Instead, the medical advisor counselor went up to see Del in his room. She took her time in doing so. We had enough time to back upstairs and play quite a few hands of Euchre with Charles (pumped-up- guy-from-Hawaii), Mike, Tina and Judy. (Charles is a really nice guy. It wasn't until I spoke to him that I noticed that he resembled Del.) Euchre teams were Tina and I versus Mike and Judy (with Charles helping Judy). We had a big wager on this game: 2 bao-tse from the store. Mike did most of the trash talking but we saw no evidence of his euchre abilities. Tina and I won 10-2, which meant that we both got two tasty bao-tses.
We gave our "masters", (Amy@UCSD, Christine@UCDavis and Johanna@Williams), a call to see what they were up to. All they wanted in services was that Del and I pose for a picture with them. They are definitely the BEST masters anyone could have had. I heard some horror stories from other slaves: (Henry had to do his master's laundry, wake up call, get take-out meals, drop film off for developing in town.) I also saw what Elaine told his slave, the one-man Stomp show, to do. He had to do absolute shit.
Since Del saw what I was bringing up for the ladies, he gave each master a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, stuff he brought as presents from Hawaii. (Del is one generous guy.) We went up to their room and we hung out. We discussed the usual stuff: talk about our schooling, where we live, etc. I also found out it would be Amy's birthday on Aug 11 and she was having a party before we all left-- that was disheartening. Why? It hit me: I was leaving tomorrow... I probably wasn't going to see any of these people ever again. It also dawned upon me that the best part of the tour was around the corner and I would be back in Windsor studying for the MCAT. I was also feeling kind of relieved at the same time. I would be returning HOME. No more living out of a suitcase; finally sleeping in MY bed. Honestly was feeling homesick.
We stayed around until bed check. Said our good-byes-- I told them about me taking off; they sounded a little saddened (sob, sob)... Del and I elevatored it back to the 4th floor. There was a mantis practice in the hallway, starring Wil, Lawrence & co. I'm impressed with the stuff they learned in the short period of time here.
After bed check, we had a committee meeting-- we had to collect $$ for the t-shirts. I helped Keli'i, Jade, and Jenn. In fact, I stayed up until 2am making sure the books were balanced. I also got to hang out with Christine, the counselor from Cornell. It was raining so hard that night that the gang couldn't treat me to one last night in Taiwan with them. The typhoon was coming! Instead, I went to our floor's lobby and watched people play this game, Mafia. It looks like a really fun game of who can bullshit. (Gotta teach all the friends back home!)
Went to bed at 2:30am. Grace and Danny
were still in bed. I walking into a roommates-in-their-bunks conversation
about drug usage. It's really shocking to see how close to home drugs are
in this world. Was able to make it to sleep by 3.
I returned to my room to do the final preparations. I had to strip my bed and return all the other accessories. That was a royal pain-in-the-@$$. The hardest part was saying good-bye to all the good friends I made on the trip.
Of course, I had to do some stupid thing before I left. I went up to Lily's room to give her my address, etc. Belinda came up and we exchanged addresses. This is the stupid part: May said to quiet down... I shouted back, "F___ you!" I assumed she said it, but it was Grace, one of Lily's roommates who was trying to sleep. I felt SO bad. Of course I apologized, but still...
Before I went to the shuttle, Del gave me one of those delish boxes of macadamias; Keli'i a hug; Wil a warm handshake. The walk to the shuttle was one of the hardest walks I've ever done- carrying heavy bags on a very humid day. I was sweating bullets. Since Christine the counselor, was right behind me, I had to be macho and flex the arm muscles- I majorly felt the burn in the delts. I was going to look for my bed check counselor, Paul, for my shuttle ticket, but Henry had it and gave it to me (otherwise I'd be screwed).
I boarded the bus and sat with Henry. He picked up the cake from the bakery beforehand; the only problem: the huge rains from the previous night killed the power so Henry had to pick up a substitute cake.
When I got back to Chien Tan, I went straight to the gate and got a taxi. I waited at great-uncle's apartment for one of my "cousins" to pick me up. My great-uncle and wife are headed to the States so I had to find other accommodations. My cousin, Ah Hwee, picked me up.
We went out for dinner, an extravagant dinner indeed. The seafood served was so fresh; this was real Taiwanese cuisine. After dinner my cousin made a special trip to the night market; parking was a real pain so we headed back home. That night I sat around with the family and watched soaps and the variety show with the big-haired host.
My other cousin, Bryan, came back from
work at around 9. He took me over to a computer shop to buy some software.
Of course, it wasn't the stuff I was looking for (pirated English stuff),
however, I was able to purchase a couple of interesting CD-ROMs. We returned
by bus. When we got back, we heard about the explosion at Centennial Park
over in Atlanta. What is going on over there?!
We headed out the door at around 11 to the town, Tan-Swei. Another magnificent meal. I think my aunt Sochiko wants me to put on a couple pounds before I go back; she doesn't want people to think I was undernourished during my stay here. Highlights of the meal: mini- octopus, fried fish, fried oysters.
After lunch, we headed to another shop to meet more relatives. There was a scruffy little dog named Pipi- reminded me of my dog, Rex, back at home. We made our exit just before the rains started falling. During the ride back, it rained like a bitch! I thought the typhoon had arrived. It was short-lived; it stopped as we arrived at a Japanese department, Takashimaya. The Nike/Guess clothes were really expensive; more expensive than at home. I manage to spend 2000NT for Ralph Lauren stuff. It was getting late so we all got some fast-food, McD's. My cousin, Bryan, took me out again but this time to the shopping district. Success!! I got 5 button-down Tommy long sleeves. I also purchased a pullover for wintertime; a really thick Tommy t-shirt for 490NT.
Bryan took me to a place called Sizzler, a Ponderosa wannabe. Food was pretty good, compared to what I was eating the past couple weeks. Got back to the apartment at around 9. I tried on all my stuff before packing them away and taking a shower- DAMN, do I miss the Western showers!