Taiwan

This Saturday, I along with the rest of my abroad program returned from a week long trip in Taipei, Taiwan. I expected to be spending a week in an island with similar living styles to what I am used to in Shanghai. My expectations were wrong. Taipei, a city of 2 million people (1/10th the size of Shanghai), made me feel like I was back in the Western Hemisphere. It was strange actually having to abide by traffic rules and crosswalks, having forks and knives at most meals, and having people around me that, for the most part, all spoke English. Every day we had a different lecture on Taiwanese culture, religion, finance, and got to go on several very interesting tours around Taipei. We even got to take a tour of the Legislative Yuan and meet with representatives of the two main governing parties in Taiwan (KMT and DPP). We took a trip to Hualien, a county on the East coast of Taiwan, where we were able to see the pacific ocean, beaches, and Taiwanese aboriginal lifestyle. We even got the chance to experience the famous Taiwanese night markets in Taipei which is, as the name implies, a night market filled with cheap clothes, toys, and famous Taiwanese snacks such as "stinky tofu" (thats actually its name). Wonderful trip all around. Pictures to come.