Happy Thanksgiving!

My weekend was filled with Thanksgiving. Since we’ll all be working in the evening of actual Thanksgiving I celebrated with friends this weekend. It began with a trip to…where else? Costco. I was tasked with pie and wine given my very limited culinary abilities. So thank goodness for Costco Pumpkin Pie! It was my first trip there since I’ve been here (there are three in Taipei, and one not too far from my apartment). It’s just like home, from the one hour photo, to the free samples, to the made to order birthday cakes. For Thanksgiving dinner #1 on Saturday night dinner we had a group of about 10 of us at a friend’s apartment. We were actually able to order a pre-cooked turkey, and had pretty much everything you could ask for in a Thanksgiving dinner (stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc). And of course, pumpkin pie! We actually sat around a real table and ate. It was so much fun! I even have some leftovers which I will look forward to later in the week. Thanksgiving dinner #2 was Sunday night with some other friends and was also a lot of fun! So it was a whole weekend of good food and Thanksgiving.

In an effort to improve my Chinese a bit, I am starting a language exchange with a girl this week. She is a friend’s co-worker. She’s known English for about 15 years, so it’s pretty good, but she just wants to practice everyday conversation. I told her that I would like to learn some basics: how to ask for what I want in a store/restaurant, and be able to make some polite conversation with people. So we’ll meet one night a week for dinner and practice both languages. Language exchanges are very common here and I’ve been thinking about doing one for a while, but was always hesitant to just find someone online. So I am glad I found someone through a friend. I will definitely write later about how it goes and what I’m learning.

Last weekend I went to a friend’s going away party at KTV (karaoke). It was so much fun! There are several places throughout the city where you can go to do it. They’re all basically set up like hotels, so your group gets their own party room with room service, and your own karaoke setup. The Taiwanese are obsessed with karaoke, and it’s often how they spend their Friday and Saturday nights. It’s only $30US (total for the entire group) for the room for however long you want it!

Photos from Thanksgiving and KTV are on my photo site in my “Around Taipei” album. Happy Thanksgiving!