The Great Move

A couple days ago I had to say goodbye to the best hostel in the world and move to my school. As much as I am going to love my school here I will miss Homey Hostel. Up until this point my life in Taiwan has been much like a vacation, and who can complain with that. Honestly, I never want this vacation to end. When I got to the dorm I was first lost but after finding someone who could direct me to the International House (I-House) I came into a quiet place.

The dorm I am in (pictures will be posted soon), is a great size. There are two beds, a refrigerator, three closets, a bathroom with a shower, and a balcony. The first day was a very quiet one, I registered for classes and went to dinner with Hsien after he showed me around campus. I came back to my room to find a little infestation, ants (which isn't too surprising living near a mountain and out of the city)!

This made the first night interesting. I began just by killing the ants and then more and more cam. I had no clue where they were coming from. Eventually I get fed up and found there were too many so I went out and got bug spray. I sprayed my whole room and have not seen any since. Besides this, the dorm is very clean and so is the common area that has chairs, a sink, microwave, and a refrigerator.

The only problem right now is it is very quiet! There are about four people on my floor and I have yet to see them. The reason for this is that school does not start until the 20th of February.

The next day I got way too bored here, because there is still no one, so I went back to the city and went to what might be my last lantern festival of the Dragon Year.

Float at the Taipei Lantern Festival

This was so cool. Words can barely describe how cool this was. There were a ton of floats that were created and lite up Sun Yet-sen Memorial Park near Taipei 101. The lights just looked amazing. While walking along, JoJo and myself heard that there was a show that was going to happen. We headed up the memorial stairs and waited to see what it was. In the middle of a fountain was a huge dragon that looked like a float, but then it's lights turned off. All of the sudden fire sprang from the fountain and water shot in the air. The water sprayed about and created something like a screen. On this screen of water there was a light show that was projected onto it. The lights flashed about and a story was told about the dragon. This was something I don't think I will ever see again in my lifetime.

The dragon coming alive on the screen of water

That is an understatement

[Side note: Taiwan manufactures a lot of LED lights so there are lights everywhere. I have yet to go to Tokyo but for a small country there sure are a lot of LEDs, get ready for some cool light festivals]