Be Cool, Stay in School

So, finally to the big reason I came here. We started classes on Wednesday and I have to say, it's a piece of cake. The only thing that I'm a little worried about is that I have to learn BoPoMoFo, which is a pronounciation system designed for people who are already fluent in Chinese. My laoshi says that pinyin (English alphabet spelling out Chinese words) isn't Chinese so we shouldn't bother. The thing is, it's exactly the same only they use symbols instead of letters. My class is made up of two Koreans, a Japanese girl who looks like the Asian version of the wife in the Sixth Sense, a really pretty lady from Thailand and a Turk who sucks at Chinese. Laoshi (teacher) actually used my handwriting as an example of how pretty handwriting can be. Something about how you don't have to be Asian to do well. I laughed, thinking back to Chiu Laoshi saying that I'm pretty but my handwriting is very much not so. I finished my homework for this weekend but I'm not super confident about the dictation that we have tomorrow. Instead of just vocab words like I'm used to, she reads whole sentences. The only problem is that I don't know all of the words in the sentences because they have had different vocab in previous chapters. I've been studying by writing all of the example sentences in the chapter but I'll let you know how that goes.
I wasn't feeling very well today so I stayed in bed for longer than I should have. This resulted in me going out alone for dinner at 9:30. I'm completely fine with that. It's amazing how safe I feel walking by myself in Taipei. The mentality is so different than the American predisposition towards crime. Shoplifting would be so easy but there is a level of trust that is really neat to see. It makes you feel good about people. I was walking back from the restaurant with my delicious pork fried rice when a man struck up a conversation with me. That happens when you are white and in Asia. People want to practice their English. It turns out that the man was from Malaysia. We talked in Chinese for a while. It made me happy that my skills are growing. His mother is Chinese so that's why he's studying the language. He goes to the same school as me. He's here until December. Did I mention how friendly everyone is here? Sometimes people look kind of scowly but if you smile, just about everyone smiles back. Except the white people. The white people look perpetually unhappy. It's to be expected I guess. Anyway, I have to drop off laundry in the morning so I have to get up early. Therefore, I'm going to bed. Love to all!