Already So Much But Not Close To Enough

Where do I start??? I have only been in Taiwan for 3 days and I have already experienced and learned so much. Classes haven't even started although we did have our orientation for the program today. It seems like we are always outside, always walking and always eating. I'm so glad that I have my Keens. I would have died without them. The first day I walked around with my roommates and the guys from across the hall for two hours. It turns out Taipei has a furniture/ appliance retail section of town. Office chairs, anyone? I did learn the word for bubble tea and have been making full use of it. It's kind of nice because it's a local thing but it also reminds me of home. Best of both worlds. Today, after orientation, we took a bus to the mountains on the north side of the Taipei basin. It was so beautiful. Words cannot do it justice and neither can the pictures that I took. We ate lunch at a restaurant in the village there. I highly recommend the wild boar if you ever go there. We met with Professor Smith's friend after lunch. He had a small pack of dogs around him that seemed to grow throughout the trip up the mountain. The view was absolutely spectacular. His house was in this secluded little nook that had a spa resort right down the road. After climbing a rather precarious set of steps, we reached the gate to his house. It was locked so he had to run up to get the key so he could open the gate. First of all, the house was set back so far that no one would go up there to commit any crime and second, what's the point of locking the gate when you can just go around and still get to the house. Did I mention he was slightly eccentric? The house was beautiful but the view put it to shame. We sat and ate bananas, dragonfruit and rose apples while drinking tea made from an herb that grew right there on the mountain. Afterwards, we joked around but a silence came over our group when we looked out onto the landscape and saw exactly what people mean when they call a mountain majestic. The lighting made it perfect. The sun was starting to set, defining every ridge and peak in the distance. I, unfortunately, was so exhausted on the bus ride back that I fell asleep and missed the view. Today has been amazing. Now, I'm going to take a cold shower to wake myself up. I still have a dinner to find!