Second #100days

Kaohsiung City

I can't believe it's already been 100 days. On one hand, it feels like we just got here. On the other hand, it feels like it's been forever since we were in New York City. I can't even believe that was just earlier this year. Craziness!

We finally got up to Monkey Mountain this month, for a nice hike and to see our new city. Happily, the monkeys weren't as scary as last time but we weren't carrying anything to entice them this time either. Because we learn from past mistakes.

Of course, it did take Mike's school organizing a day out to entice us across town for an 8am start time, necessary to avoid the heat. We had to get up at 5am to catch an early bus. Fortunately, it was well worth it. Of course, we promptly took a 3 hour nap upon returning home that afternoon. Because that's how we roll.

Monkey Mountain namesake

We also finally got out to Fengshan Night Market, our closest one. It was really fun and super cheap. Among other amazing deals were eight oysters for $100NT and pancake sandwiches, filled with red bean or something similar to creamed corn (but I'm pretty sure wasn't), for $5NT each. Plus, being located on a lovely canal, it was very scenic.

Fengshan Night Market

We also finally made it out to Lotus Pond. It's even lovelier than we remembered and we're so happy that we happened to time our visit for sunset. The place is gorgeous at any time of day but sunset was particularly magical.

In other news, yoga here is really expensive. Actually, most things ex-pat are really expensive. So, I asked Mike to ask his Chinese co-teacher where she goes for yoga, since locals wouldn't pay these inflated ex-pat prices. Turns out her studio is right next to my house and is less than half what the whiteys are paying. Who cares if the entire class is given in Chinese? I usually have to follow the teacher anyway, since I'm not sure what Warrior 2, etc. is without a little visual assistance. Also, I'm learning a lot of new Chinese words and phrases. For instance, my teacher usually says 'fu bu' while signaling for me to use my stomach muscles. "Fu bu! Fu bu!" I think it means "suck in your belly!" I love yoga here!

Lotus Pond

As to my goals, my book is now over 26,000 words and I have just enrolled in National Novel Writing Month, a motivational competition to get you to write at least 1600 words per day, or 50,000 words total, in November. If I complete this challenge, my 75-100K word book will be complete and I can use the month of December for editing before submitting by the end of year deadline. Right now, that's my main goal for my second #100days. And to continue my 中文 studies.

I'm really enjoying learning a new language in this immersive environment. I'm disappointed with how long it's taking me to pick up on certain things but, hopefully, by the end of my second #100days, I'm able to order easily from McDonald's and understand what the person at the grocery store checkout says to me. Little wins.