skies unclouded, sweet the water runs my friend

...or at least when you boil it for 2 minutes. I miss being able to come home, and just pour cool, clean water out of the tap. It would be especially nice since the taifeng is over and daiy temperatures range from 27-34 degrees.

Went hiking with Scott (American exchange student), his didi Kevin, and my host father yesterday. It was pretty hot and muggy. The first part of the hike was flights of stairs straight up the side of a mountain. There must have been around 1,000 steps (in a non-hyperbolic way). At the top, one could see--through the smog--all of Taipei City. There was a Daoist/Buddhist shrine and a humongous statue:

Then we climbed over the top, along a forest path. We found an exercise area and Scott & I did Marine-style chinups; I could only do 3, but 6 regular ones, yay. We talked to some old man at the top of another one, and he gave us hot tea (he brought a teapot)--Apparently, it's good to drink hot things when you're hot. I consumed several litres of ice water and cold plum tea as well.

Later that day, baba, mama & I went to a park. I got to ride on the back of a scooter. It's not all that remarkable, except traffic can be really scary. I always expect death when I cross the street, because people's stopping/going logic is different here. They don't slow down when you expect it. The park was sweet: a huge track, soccer field, tennis courts, basketball court, playground & rock climbing wall (à la mode "romper room"). I jogged and then played badminton with my host father, who is pretty good. My backhand sucks.

The night before we went downtown, and had dinner at a shopping mall. A ridiculously tall shopping mall/department store. Look at all the floors!

Went to see my high school, which is very big... next to a very nice elementary school. It has many buildings, and they all have many stories. Didn't take any pictures. I will need a haircut, and school starts in one week. So these next few days will be my last with long hair for a while.

Watched a pirated DVD/VCD of Troy today. It was pretty good and I practised reading the Chinese subtitles. Was going to play badminton in an alley with Scott today, but everyone was burning money & praying for 'Ghost Month,' so we didn't. I thought a while ago that I pissed off my host sister because I am dense at learning Chinese and our parents make her teach me; however, it turns out she was just stressed. She is going to cram school 15 hours a day 6 days a week, because she didn't get a high enough score on University entrance exams. She will cram/study for a year then try again. hardcore is all I can say.

If you know where the title quote is from, post a comment. Wild guesses are welcome. (hint: it's from a song)