臺北 Taiwanderland 臺灣

好久沒po~! [Long time no post!]

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:12:43 GMT

Posted by: hejinglan

My sincerest apologies for the super-massive lack of updates. As it turns out, returning and adjusting to life back in the US has proven to be more troublesome than we imagined, surprise. Not to mention a consecutive barrage of busy-ness coupled with a few unfortunate events, which caused us to take a much-needed hiatus from blogging so we could manage everything. jingning and I have been busy with upcoming graduation and a more-than-fulltime course load respectively, as well as managing new translation jobs, moving to a new house, finishing scholarship projects, arranging language exchanges, exams, starting up a small side-business, and somehow finding time to sleep in between all of that.

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The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program: Building Bridges for Student Travelers

Tue, 31 May 2011 10:15:18 GMT

Posted by: hejinglan

好久不見，ye olde Taiwanderland! My apologies for the long hiatus - things have been unexpectedly busy on the island for these past few months, but in good ways for the most part. In any case, I'm glad that my time is being taken up by exploring Taiwan (and beyond!) so I can excuse not having an abundance of time to focus on blog posts. That being said, more posts and pictures should be coming this way in the coming weeks as our semester (and exchange period as a whole) begins to wind down here. 時間過得很快！ Time sure does fly.

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烏來與北投：溫泉仙境 -- Wulai & Beitou: Hot Spring Haven

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:29:05 GMT

Posted by: jingning

Taiwan has a very distinct spring-soaking culture; people from all over Taiwan will dedicate entire vacations to enjoy soaking in the blue-green pools of scalding-hot mineral water. Soaking in these hot springs claim to bring many health benefits, so Lara and I had to check out these pools for ourselves.

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Japan Hit By Huge Earthquake and Tsunami -- 在日本有大地震和海嘯

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 07:54:09 GMT

Posted by: jingning

Just wanted to leave a quick update in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. The images from this disaster have really shocked us, especially since memories from our trip to Japan just two weeks ago are very fresh in our minds. While we weren't traveling in the areas that suffered the most damage from the quakes and tsunami, we cannot help but imagine the country in turmoil over its losses. Our hearts go out to Japan and all those affected by this tragedy.

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救救我們的地球吧 -- Please Save Our Earth

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 04:45:06 GMT

Posted by: jingning

About a month ago, after weeks of intense research, meticulous planning, and tense negotiation, I finally entered the world of apartment life in Taipei. My new place is a mere two blocks from my previous residence and a bit more expensive, but the privacy, convenience, and comfort of living in an apartment more than makes up for these slight drawbacks. As I would eventually come to discover, however, finding out how to pay the bills and work the quirky-shaped keys would be the least of my worries. It wasn't until two weeks later that I fully realized the significance of previously neglected facet of my daily life: taking out the trash.

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臺灣的COSPLAY - 可以拍個照嗎？-- Cosplay in Taiwan - Can I Have a Picture?

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:59:38 GMT

Posted by: hejinglan

If you haven't guessed by now, you should know that Sara and I are both total 宅女 (also known as "otaku"). One of the geeky activities we like to participate in is Cosplay, in which one spends a ridiculous and unjustifiable amount of time and money dressing up as fictional characters from anime, manga, movies, and/or video games, all in the name of good fun. So when we heard that a comic exposition, dubbed Fancy Frontier, was being held at our doorstep, we couldn't help but check it out and catch a glimpse of the cosplay scene in Taiwan.
So, does Taiwan know cosplay?

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中秋節有緣的朋友見面（後篇）　－　Fated Friends Meet on the Moon Festival (Part Two)

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:31:34 GMT

Posted by: jingning

The late afternoon sun broke out from between the clouds as Lara and I approached Joyce sitting on a bench outside of the main entrance to NTU, one day before the Moon Festival (中秋節: literally, Mid-Autumn Festival). The streets were very busy, as many people return to their homes and families during this time to celebrate the fullness of the moon as a representation of the wholeness of the family. We were lucky to get a glimpse into the life of a traditional Taiwanese family that night as well as have Joyce and her older sister guide us through the famous areas around Sansia （三峽）.

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中秋節有緣的朋友見面（前篇）　－　Fated Friends Meet on the Moon Festival (Part One)

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 13:05:52 GMT

Posted by: jingning

The Moon Festival （中秋節） is a very important holiday in Chinese culture that signifies the reunion of good friends and family, in which people make their way back home to spend an evening eating delicious food and Moon Cakes （月餅）, while enjoying the beauty of the full moon. The holiday is held every year on August 15 of the Lunar calendar, which usually ends up being near the end of September and the beginning of October. This year, the festival was on September 22. First, however, there was a need for some spontaneous exploration of downtown Taipei, graciously hosted by a Taiwanese friend of ours that we had met in the States.
Enter Joyce.

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Images of Taiwan - Taoyuan, Da-An, Shilin, and a Trip to Danshui

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 10:36:44 GMT

Posted by: hejinglan

These past couple of weeks have been plagued by a passing sickness, general busyness (we are here for academic purposes after all... ~~supposedly~~), as well as every video editing program out there trying to assassinate my patience, so my apologies for the long hiatus. Nevertheless, I present to you... Images of Taiwan*! (Again, lots of pictures and videos; modems beware.)

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上台大 - Taking Classes at NTU

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:37:38 GMT

Posted by: jingning

Sorry for the hiatus! I have been sick for the past couple of weeks, the first of which consisted of me lying in bed with a fever during my first typhoon in Taiwan. I am entering my third week of school here and my Chinese classes just started on Monday (September 26th), so I thought this would be a good time to sum up my class experiences.

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If You Meet The Buddha, Kill Him

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 14:48:54 GMT

Posted by: jingning

Delphine, Lara, and I walked among the many booths of over 100 NTU clubs during the clubs exhibition day. I was in a sea of sound, the only language being Chinese -- students shouting from all directions, advertising their clubs and their pamphlets. Dancers and martial artists filled the streets, calligraphers and musicians demonstrated their talents from within their tents. Every once in a while, a life raft carried by several shirtless men would parade through the crowd; there were two girls wearing swimsuits standing in the boat and holding signs advertising the NTU Lifeguard Club. Every single activity and hobby that one could hope to do was lined up and down the main street of 台大 (NTU), enthusiastically competing for new members and it was glorious.

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在台北的生活 - Life in Taipei

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:04:34 GMT

Posted by: jingning

I think I will put my personal cultural/living notes in bold from now on. If I am mistaken about these notes, please feel free to leave a comment below with corrections/additions. 謝謝~！

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我的第一天 ﹕ 文化衝擊!! - My First Days: Culture Shock!!

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:43:43 GMT

Posted by: hejinglan

[Warning: This post contains a whole mess of photos. If you're still living in the Stone Age with a 56k modem, take heed.]

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第一天 Day One: 我永遠不會忘記的一段經歷 An Experience I Will Never Forget

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:21:19 GMT

Posted by: jingning

I will not bore you with details of the 2-hour flight from Portland to Los Angeles, nor with the sleeping that was had on the 13.5 hour flight from Los Angeles to Taipei.

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Lara's Introduction: I Want to See the Outside World - 何靜嵐的介紹: 我想看看外面的世界

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:40:12 GMT

Posted by: hejinglan

你好﹐ 輪到我介紹了。
Hello. I guess it's my turn now.

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自我介紹: Sara (何靜寧)

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:51:37 GMT

Posted by: jingning

大家好！我是大四的學生，在美國西岸學習漢語和商學。除了這些科目之外，我還學過韓國話和東亞研究，然後我用日本動畫與漫畫學習日文。其他的愛好還包括寫作、素描、烹飪、縫紉、COSPLAY（用道具以及化妝來扮演ACG〔動畫，漫畫，電子遊戲〕中的角色或是一些日本視覺音樂及電影中的一些人物）、玩電子遊戲、打網球、攀岩、學習外語。 Hello Everyone! I am an undergraduate student in my 4th year studying Mandarin Chinese and business at a university on the West Coast of the U.S. In addition to these focuses, I have taken courses in Korean and East Asian Studies, and "studied" Japanese in my spare time via anime and manga. Some of my other hobbies include: writing, drawing, cooking, sewing, cosplay (dressing up as characters from visual music, movies, animation, comics, and/or video games using makeup, costumes, and/or props), playing video games, playing tennis, rock climbing, and learning foreign languages.

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歡迎大家! -- Welcome Everyone!

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:55:25 GMT

Posted by: jingning

~Welcome to our blog!~
~歡迎來到我們的博客!~

This is a community for us to post about our experiences while studying abroad in Taipei, Taiwan and for you to give us feedback. For more information about us and what we do, please visit our profile page and our self-introductions:
Sara (何靜寧) "jingning"
Lara (何靜嵐) "hejinglan"
We will also tag all of our entries with either "Sara" or "Lara," depending on who wrote it, so if you want to only read entries by one of us, please click on the appropriate tag to the right.

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