Classes ended yesterday with a disappointingly boring class. We had class, even though our final exam was on Thursday. So even with the teacher's improvements over the last month, this semester counts as another bad semester in this supposed attempt to learn the language. It was more bearable because I liked her personally, and I recognize the effort she put in to teach us.
She focused too much on grading. When teaching a language, grades don't matter.
visa:
Having the exam on Thursday allowed me to go extend my visa on Friday morning. I decided since I was officially moving out of Taipei, I should go for the extension at the county seat in Banqiao, instead of at the Taipei Police Station, even though I still "officially" have my apartment in Taipei.
My school's information on where the office is was wrong, and the police station there could do no better than give me a slip of paper with an address on it. This came close to qualifying for the final straw that will send me back to the U.S., but I eventually found the place using my available resources, and I attribute my success only to what I consider my better than average sense of direction.
So now I'm good until April when I will have to extend my visa one last time before being able to qualify for an "alien residence".
moving:
After class, I found out that there is someone who wants to move into my apartment, so I decided to move out right away. I had already moved several small loads, so the bulk of the move was filling the two larger pieces of luggage I brought from the U.S. and taking a taxi. I still have to make one more bus trip to get the last bits out, and then clean the place, but I'm officially moved.
I'm liking my new neighborhood. I love that I'm right across the Jingmei River from Taipei and that I cross this small river every day. I like that the Jingmei night market is just a block down from crossing the river. It feels more like a Taiwan night market than the Shida night market, which caters more to students and foreigners. The advantage of Shida is still that it stays open pretty late.
I love the rooftop area of my building where I can check the weather since the window of my apartment faces another building. I'm looking forward to see what kind of routine I form here.
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| Ugly intersection closest to my building. My building is just around the corner to the right. Turning around 180 degrees I go to the bridge crossing the Jingmei River: |
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| Jingmei St. day market. |
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| 1:01 p.m. |
