Typhoon

Hello,

So maybe you know maybe you dont know but there is a typhoon here. It is raining a lot and its really windy. i was riding the scooter in the rain and stuff and it was so windy that it would push the scooter around. it was pretty scary. and theres so much rain that people would splash the water up on me. it sucks. i also have to wear this huge ran coat that drops all the way to past my knees. but anyways i just thought i would share that with you guys.

now i want to talk about something else....COSTCO!!!
It is crazy here, i mean with the people in costco. its just sams club right?? ok well i want you guys to picture this...the day after thanksgiving sale. you know how its just way too crowded to enjoy yourself? and there are so many people its just not fun. that was costco! i mean it was just a thursday night around 7. there werent any holidays. no sales. just a normal day i promise you. it was so crazy there. i wouldnt be surprised if there were clost to 10,000 people in there. i wish i had my camera to show you guys. there is also a food court in there...IT WAS PACKED!!! i mean i just couldnt believe my eyes. it really was like the day after thanksgiving sale. and i mean its just food....bulk food. theres nothing else in there.

i noticed the people buying stuff really werent buying too much...i mean one couple just bought a huge jar of jam! so then i just came to the conclusion that everyone in there is just going there to go there. they really dont have a purpose being there because they only buy like 7 things tops. its not really a lot for costco i dont think. but i just thought i would share my costco experience with you guys.

ok thats it. talk to you guys later.

This video is probably going to take a good while to upload. This is me riding the scooter around town, and its a pretty calm day. Usually when people are riding around and stuff I will a lot of crazy stuff I really didnt see it this time. So with driving here, I consider it like the Wild Wild West. I really dont know what the rules are because no one follows them. Scooter and motorcycles drive in the cars lane. Sometimes cars and scooters will even drive towards you or on the sidewalk. People drive on the sidewalk its crazy. Also, I guess its like this everywhere, but people run the redlights all the time. People will also drive up infront of you but then they will turn left or something. Its pretty frustrating. I think its weird how the people drive here because I think the people here are really nice. When it comes to driving, they are angry it seems like. Once they get out of the car its like they are back to their normal personality again.

Ok well I hope you guys enjoy the video.

Basketball

So whats going on guys? I just thought I should give you guys an update of what Im doing. Well, Taichung is still pretty cool. I really do enjoy it here.

Lately at night, I have been going to play basketball at this one university. Theres maybe like 20 courts there. Pretty cool. It has lights there to play at night. Not many people play there in the afternoon because it is soooooooo humid here. Its like 100x more humid here than in Knoxville. So anyways, I'm not going to lie...I am pretty rusty at basketball. I'm going to say I'm awesome and all this stuff, but I would like to say I am so so. I really just enjoy to play it and hang out with my friends and stuff even though they are better than me. Ok so, knowing that...imagine me playing basketball here. I am serious though, there are a lot of players here. A lot are quick, have a jump shot, and can drive the ball. So what can I do? Well, sometimes I have kind of a shot and I can make a jump shot. I think I can pass decently too.

Ok now let me tell you guys about some games. I still dont know exactly how basketball is here, I mean with the pick up games. I think it goes like this though...there are hardly any 5 on 5, and its like 99% of the time 3 on 3. People dont play to 15 or something like that because I think they play to maybe 10. The games go by fairly quickly. So that is pretty good for people waiting for the next game. Ok so really, I guess maybe because I am a foreigner or something, but I can join any game. You have to just tell the guys I want to play and they say ok cool. They are really nice here, and I haven't been turned down for a game yet.

Ok so the games...you guys know that I get nervous when I play basketball right? I mean when I play with people I don't know. When I play with you guys I just like to have fun and stuff. So ok, imagine me walking on this 40 court cement place that is humid as crap and I am the only foreigner here. I am pretty nervous. I scope out the place looking for some guys that aren't terrible but that aren't ballers either. So anyways I find people to play with pretty quick and we are playing and they give me the ball......and I airball it. Im not going to lie but yesterday I played maybe like 3 or 4 games and I shot maybe 10 shots total and I airballed maybe 4 of them. I felt pretty but it was fun.

I just really enjoy the game even though I suck sometimes. I played again today and I was a lot better and I wasnt as nervous. Ok well thats it. Bye

What's Up?

Whats up everyone? I guess I figured out how to upload videos! I can do that now too along with pictures too. I guess let me give you a little idea of what is going on.

You guys know I have a friend here who is in a rap group right? He is a pretty cool guy, and he knows a lot of people here that own clubs/in rap groups/hip hop stuff. So whenever him and his group go out or when he is going to a club he invites me and I go. He really get the VIP treatment in the clubs its pretty cool. I'm serious though he really does. So when I go with him I'm included in it, so we get to sit in the VIP lounge and that stuff. I like it.

Ok anyways, this video is just at a little club that is pretty cool. In the video, its only him and one other group member. Its just a quick video, but its taking forever to install.

Its funny sometimes when I go out with Tom or just around with Cherry I will see foreigners. It seems like a lot of them are...I don't know how to explain. That can be a different post. Anyways, like my friend Chris said, you will see loser/not attractive guys with beautiful girls here. Its so true though. Anyways, I always see them at the clubs and stuff trying to pick up the chicks.

I am just blabbing now I think. Ok talk to you guys later.

Gambling

whats up? im not doing too much today. in taichung, there are two museums here. one if for science and the other is for art. well, the staff at the science museum wants to meet me today and i guess show me around and go out to eat with me. seems pretty cool i guess.

anyways, i think there are so many topics i can talk about in taiwan that is different from the u.s. i thought today i would talk a little bit about gambling. just recently, taiwan is letting the people here bet on american sports like basketball and stuff. its pretty cool i guess, i dont know how to do it or anything but it seems cool. so that is one way you can gamble. if you really want to gamble in a casino like with what we are use to. i am pretty sure there isnt a place like that here, you would have to go to macao. its like 2 hours away. pretty cool, lots of people here go there for the weekend and stuff. kind of like las vegas if you lived in california or something.

what they have here from what i can tell is three things...one is....everytime you buy something. no matter what it is, you get a receipt right? well on every single receipt there is lottery numbers, and i think every other month they pick a winner. pretty cool i guess. although, i have heard that no one hardly wins.

the second way of gambling here is there is a lottery that you can buy. like with the powerpall and stuff in tennessee. but there is a catch....its 6 number i think. well, its 1 more than what we have and i think we have 5. there are a lot of people that live in the u.s. and not as much as in taiwan, i dont really know why they need to have 6 numbers. it seems like that is impossible to win.

ok and the last thing is there are video gambling things here. theres actuall a lot of places where people can do this. i have never been though. from what everyone has told me. these places are for "bad guys". so i think only these guys go there. and i heard that there are lots of girls there too that arent really there to serve you drinks. so yea i guess its kind of a sketchy place.

ok well maybe this gambling stuff isnt that interesting but i guess its different from what we are use to. ok i will post again soon.

More Pictures

A place called FAG.

There are a lot of markets here, and i know exactly where i can buy this popcorn at. its really really good too, trust me, i know popcorn. its sweet kind of like kettle corn from the county fair and its fresh too. it costs $0.60 for it.

A gas station.

Just riding the scooter.

me on the scooter.

Im on a scooter here riding down a street. its raining too. right before this picture i stop at an intersection and this scooter infront of me crashes and the two people on it are bleeding and stuff.

This is also around 6:30 AM. I guess its hard to tell but there are a ton of basketball courts, and there are also i think quite a few people playing basketball. since its early there are more older people, but there were courts that had one people on it. i'll bust them up later.

People exercising early morning around 6:30 AM. This is at the university where I will take my Chinese class at. I didnt take a lot of pictures here yet, but this place is huge. theres a lot of going on here too. Older people come here early morning and do exercise. There were maybe like 2,000 people here exercise throughout campus. every exercise group does their own kind of exercise to different types of music too.

There is a stream or something that runs throughout Taichung. I wouldn't go near it though because I am sure its pretty dirty.

This is the way people park the cars. The entrance to the store is right there.

Online TV

whats up? i forgot about the UT football game until Brent sent me an email saying he is watching it. so then i was like oh man i forgot about it i wonder if i can watch it even though i am here, so i just searched online and i found it. its pretty cool...i am watching right now live. its on the website channelsurfing.net and its pretty clear and stuff. i get the commercials and all of that too. its cool because i get to watch american tv and stuff. ok thats it. bye.