From Sam (MSU student) - June 23

A Typical Monday

Today started off just like any other Monday- slow. Of course, no one felt like getting up and going through the usual morning routine of taking a shower, brushing our teeth, putting our clothes on, and catching the usual 802 bus to Fu Jen, but we all forced ourselves up out of bed and drug ourselves through half our morning routine.

After school, I decided to treat myself to some good ole American McDonald’s. It was not a good idea. Since I’ve been eating the healthy meals Taiwan has to offer, my stomach had adapted from the greasy, fatty, unhealthy food of America to the easy-going dishes native to this country. My stomach didn’t sit well with the McDonalds and I felt sick the rest of the day. Upon returning to my apartment, my body was telling me to sleep, but my mind was saying that I really need to wash some clothes before I wind up without any to wear. Well, it wound up being just me going. I caught a taxi and told him that I wanted to wash some clothes. He did not know where I wanted to go- which was what I wanted- and I got to use my new Chinese grammar I had learned the previous Friday.

After starting my load of laundry, I sat down with my Chinese textbook and started writing Chinese characters and preparing for our test we have tomorrow. At first, I was the only person in the Laundromat, but then I was joined by a lady and her two children; very curious children that is. When they entered, they noticed my book had Chinese characters on the front and they soon made their way over to where I was sitting. I could hear them talking amongst each other saying that how cool it was that I was a foreigner.

Well, to intrigue their imaginations a little more, I was so courteous to tell them the signature phrase in Taiwan- Ni Hao Ma- which means, “hello, how are you?” This excited these little kids and embarrassed them at the same time. They first laughed and turned away, but then turned back around to see if I had more. I put my pencil down and tested my elementary knowledge of Chinese. We had a very cool, short conversation about who I was and where exactly I was from. Their mom caught wind of our little conversation and did not like that her kids were talking to a complete foreign stranger and quickly called them back over to her side.

After gathering my clothes, I caught another taxi back home and put my things away. Since it is Monday, everyone was just laying around, not doing much. This did not go over well with me, so I gathered everyone and we made our way to get some supper. We didn’t walk far before we decided to eat at a Japanese restaurant called KoHiKan, meaning a coffee café. When we got back to the apartment, we all separated and went to our rooms to study. Our Monday started off just like any other Monday would and ended the same as it had begun… typical! --- Sam