This week, the dragon boat festival meant we had school off on Thursday and Friday (after starting classes on Monday), which meant that we had lots of extra time to explore the city. The first new place I became accustomed to was the ShiDa night market, as the ICLP apartment I’m living in is actually located right above the market. The market includes many different places to eat and shop for clothes, as well as a mandatory 7/11, which I’m now coming to believe is the national store of Taiwan. Beyond Shida, some of my housemates and I were able to take the train to the area around Taipei 101, which is even taller than it looks in pictures. The area surrounding the building is certainly one of the nicest parts of the city, with huge clothing stores reminiscent of those in New York, Chicago, or any major city in the world.