The Stinky Tofu Adventure

After many many months of hearing about it, seeing it, and smelling it, I finally tried chòu dòufu, or stinky tofu, today.  The explanation is here, but it's bean curd, fermented in a variety of liquids.  The first time I smelled it, I thought I had stepped in something...bad.  One of my co-teachers told me I should try the deep-fried kind, at a stand around the corner that was "famous."  At first, it didn't smell all that bad, maybe the stand had just opened.  By the time I got back to my apartment, the smell had worked it's way out of the box, and I was starting to gag.  I didn't mean to get this much, apparently this is what you get if you point to the tofu and hold up 1 finger.
    

It doesn't taste as bad as it smells, but I could only eat a little bit.  I'm not a big tofu fan, and the smell combined with the texture was too much.  I had to get rid of it fast, even sprayed a little  the rest of the roach spray in the trash can, because the smell is unbearable.  You don't even know.  But I tried it, that's what counts.  Just don't ask me to eat it again.

updates

It's been an eventful couple of weeks, where do I start?  I came back from Hualien on June 2, and had two job interviews, one on the 3rd, and one on the 4th.  I also performed, with my fellow FET's, in the Miaoli County RT performance day.  On June 8, I got a roommate, who was promptly evicted.  

It's a huntsman spider, just a baby one.  The adults are about the size of a dinner plate (not an exaggeration).  I managed to wrap the bucket in a sheet, and get it up to the roof, after that, it was gone.  They move fast.  Since it was late, I didn't want to do  laundry, so I threw the sheet over the clothesline and went to bed.  I can only imagine though, after throwing the sheet on the dirty, wet bathroom floor, what my neighbors thought when they saw it.   

 Wednesday, we had a meeting in Pantau that went very well, except that Vanessa almost passed out.  On an average day, It's 80 degrees with 75% humidity, my guess is that she was dehydrated.  We have a two-day summer English camp to prepare for, so I came back late Wednesday, after shopping and dinner, to a message: We'd like to talk to you about employment. So, I have a job for next year, in London.  That's London, Ohio, just south of Columbus.  I'm sad to leave Taiwan, but it will be nice to be back in familiar territory again, teaching French.  Of course, my list of things to do has multiplied, in addition to camp, I need to find an apartment, etc.  I got some good advice from a friend: "After all, you've conquered the pretty major hurdle of getting another job, and this one is not only in America, but in Ohio. Bask in your victory." I think I'll do that :)

Today I went to Peggy's, had pancakes, and worked on summer camp stuff.  I also learned how to ride Peggy's scooter, so did Thomas and Van.

After brunch, Van, Thomas, and I met Linda in Hsinchu, we went to see Maleficent, very good movie.  We also did a little shopping at the market, before heading back to our respective homes.

Hualien

Today is Dragon Boat Festival, so I had the day off today.  Linda and I went to Hualien for the weekend, I really wanted to see that side of the island before I'm done here (less than six weeks to go!).

Day 1- Took a bus to Liyu Lake to see the Dragon Boat Races.  We ended up getting a paddle boat for an hour, and watched the races on the lake.

 We walked around for a little while, then caught the bus back to Hualien

Traditional rice dumplings

Pine Garden

By dinner time, it was pouring down rain.  We got a little lost, and it took extra time to walk back to the hotel.  Not a bad day, though.

Day 2- Got on a tour bus early in the morning and toured Taroko National Park.

The Pacific Ocean, from Cingshuei Cliff

Shrine of the Eternal Spring.

I guess they're worried about falling rocks, so everybody had to don an oh-so-flattering construction helmet.

Linda was sooooo kind to let me have the window seat on the bus.  It was either this or a straight drop down the entire tour!

Chihsingtan Beach

After the tour, we had dinner at Subway, then just hung out at the hotel for awhile.  Today (Monday) was two train rides and a very long journey home.