Finally here!

It's day 3 here in Taiwan and I am with my cousin, Tien-Hsin, visiting relatives and just hanging out before I have to go to Zheng Da University on the 20th. I arrived here Sunday night, August 10, after an 18-hour flight (and the lady sitting next to me had a dog in a duffel bag) with my cousin Po-Hsi and there were 7 people waiting for us at the airport. I love having so much family here! Tien-Hsin and I stayed at a relative's house for the night and then the next day we rode the bus 2 hours south to 台中 (Taichung), to stay in her dorm room for a few days, and then tomorrow we will go to the southern end of Taiwan to 枋寮 (Fangliao), my mother's hometown. I've met a few of Tien-Hsin's friends and we went to the night market, where you can find tons of cheap clothes, bags, shoes, random things, and best of all, awesome food. Then yesterday we went out to a restaurant for lunch with a few of her classmates. The weather here is SOOOOO hot and humid, just walking around during the day is like sitting in a sauna with a turtleneck and jeans. And the sun here is so strong, you have to cover yourself up or you will get extremely sunburned within just a few minutes, and many of the girls carry umbrellas and wear long sleeves. I still have to get used to the heat! Well, this is it for now, we'll be travelling around for the next week or so but I'll try to update when I can!