I don't have much time, I should be sleeping it'll be midnight in 1 minute, and I have my first test tomorrow. But today, this morning, I saw my first full size cockroach laying upside down right outside our apartment door on the landing (Which is a small enclosed "inside" place where cockroaches don't belong. I had to put my sandaled foot no more than 10 inches from it!) I always thought it was funny when people said cockroaches were so horrible and gross. I always thought they were just silly harmless little bugs... until I saw it's legs move! It was about 3 inches long and upside down on it's back. The first one I've seen over 1/4 inch long, ever, in my life (outside of zoos and exhibits). I jumped when it's legs moved, even though it was helpless on it's back, I thought it was dead when I first saw it. Wearing skin exposing sandals I choose to believe increased my chickeness. It could have touched my foot! I also believe too the size got to me. 3 inches doesn't seem big, but it sure seems excessive for a six legged bug in person. It's probably the biggest bug I've ever seen, that I remember. I was surprised at how much it gave me the creeps, the night before a smaller version crawled from the back of my laptop computer onto my shirt and I flicked it off, not creeped out hardly at all. But a giant bug helpless on the floor, with it's huge legs trying to walk upside down, that's just creepy. A bug that big must have a bigger brain, and feelings, and thoughts, and a personality and stuff, and a little bug face. I think he saw me.
Also as a mundane side note, hot water heaters here run on D Cell batteries. I assume they also use propane or natural gas for something, but they sure do need those D Cell batteries. I know this because our D Cell batteries died this morning, before I took a shower, and then during the shower. My room-mate crawled outside his window, behind the big Chinese sign to change the battery. The cold water may also have contributed to my edginess towards that D Cell sized cockroach.
Also as a side side note, a little less mundane, I stuffed myself with Sushi tonight, for about $10 US. No tax, no tip, which brings it down to about $8.50 or so I think, about 1/3 the cost back home. So I figure a really cheap plane ticket to Taipei is about $700, so if you ate Sushi every night for a week here, the savings would cover the cost of the plane ticket. I don't know if they have Sake though. But for Taipei even $10 is pretty steep. Last night I stuffed myself at a dumpling house for $3.20. Taiwan has no sales tax or tipping, so everything is priced actually as what you end up paying, that's kind of trippy for me, having grown up in a $9.99 plus 8.5% tax plus 15%-20% tip world. It's like a whole country with a 23.5-28.5% Off Sale. (edit 288) Permalink