The NTU Dumplings

I've moved onto campus!

Cathy took me to get my cell phone fixed on Tuesday and we went into Chinatown. It is very different from Chinatown in New York -- it is like one massive market. There are red and gold decorations everywhere because Chinese New Year is happening February 2nd. We visited a Buddhism temple right in the middle of Chinatown which was unlike anything I've ever seen before. They even made me wear a scarf around my shoulders.

There are thousands of these buddhas all over the temple walls.

Cathy and me

On Wednesday morning, I moved onto campus. I am on the seventh floor of Hall 3A. My room mate's name is Leah and she is great! She's from Connecticut and goes to Clemson. We get along really well. After I moved in, Leah and I explored the campus. We walked all over and tried to get a feel of the campus. It is SO huge! There is a hair salon, 7-11 and multiple restaurants on campus. (Our favorite - Sakae Sushi, a convertible-belt-sushi-bar where you sit on bean bags.) We found a small grocery store on campus where we bought some room supplies. . Cafeterias are called Canteens here and there is a Canteen right next to our dorm. The food is really cheap too. Lunch yesterday (noodles and dumplings) only cost me $2.50. Although, I'm already getting sick of noodles and chicken/dumplings and its only been a few days. They don't have knives in any of the eateries which has been a real pain.

My bed

Hall 3! The metal rods hanging from each window are used to dry wet clothes. Hopefully my clothes don't fall down...

Our room! We have a porch right across from the door. It is customary to leave your shoes outside the room in the two cabinets next to the door.

Yesterday we got breakfast at this eatery called The Palette which serves Western food. I had french toast and yogurt which was actually pretty good. We headed over to the pool around 10 am and planted ourselves on two lounge chairs. It was heaven. We met three exchange students at the pool - our first friends! We were so excited.

There are three pools in the area - a main pool, a diving pool and a kiddie pool. The main pool was being occupied by the NTU "Canoe-Waterpolo" team. Leah and I were cracking up watching all the Asians yelling in Chinese and paddling around a pool in canoes. We also realized that the NTU team don't have a mascot. So we decided to name them. Our choice? The NTU Dumplings!

The NTU Dumplings' Canoe-waterpolo team! My life is not real... 

We ended up staying at the pool for the afternoon (where I achieved a nasty sunburn) and ventured to the mall in the evening. I had to go get my cell phone fixed (again) because I haven't been able to make/receive calls or access the internet. I went to customer service and after working with them for nearly two hours, they told me they couldn't fix it. Leah and I were tired, hungry and cranky by that point so we grabbed some Pizza Hut for dinner and called it a night. Unfortunately, this means I won't have a Blackberry anymore, so no more bbm-ing :(

Today we had international student orientation. We met a bunch of new friends from the US, Canada, Germany and all over. We were so excited to finally meet people and we all made plans to go party downtown tonight. I have my first class on Tuesday so I'm definitely enjoying myself before reality sets in.

I miss everyone a lot but minus the sun burn and cell phone issues, everything has been great!