Happy Year of the Snake, people!

新年快樂!

Guess what? The Lunar New Year also marked the beginning of my third month in Taipei! Time is officially flying.

Chinese New Year was on Sunday, February 10 + Taipei has all but shut down as people take much deserved vacations. Chinese New Year is sort of like our winter holiday season in the States: there is a hum of energy in the air, a lot of hustle + bustle, family + food. The main difference is that in Taiwan on Chinese New Year, everything shuts down for a week.

This afternoon, instead of my normal jogging route around Da’an Park, I took a run around the neighborhood to scope out what was open today. The answer was: not much. Luckily one of my favorite cafes was open for business!

So, taking a hint from the Taiwanese, who are taking it easy this week, I am using my week off from school, most restaurants + shops to read (see picture below), rest + recoup before mid-terms next week.

albee + shepard + smith, oh my!/the crib, taipei/feb 2013

Here are some shots from my program’s Chinese New Year celebration on Thursday. After a lunch feast with everyone from the program, I enjoyed a couple hours of arts + crafts! (Kirigami, paper cutting, is my new favorite thing!)

announcements at program feast/iclp, taipei/feb 7, 2013

one of my teachers (far left!) leading kirigami workshop/iclp, taipei/feb 7, 2013

i chose to make a snake/iclp, taipei/feb 7, 2013

finished!/iclp, taipei/feb 7, 2013

o, hey, kirigami: my new favorite thing!/iclp, taipei/feb 7, 2013

gold embossed envelope making station/iclp, taipei/feb 7, 2013

using heat gun to melt glitter to envelope/iclp, taipei/feb 7, 2013

I spent New Year’s weekend in the Tianmu area of Taipei. My roommate, Disha, was going to spend the week at her boyfriend’s mountain pad since he would be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras (lucky duck!). She invited me + our friend Marina, promising beautiful views + a home-y place to have a ladies weekend in the mountains.

Every night over the last week, rogue fireworks have been set off all around the city. From our Tianmu roof on New Year’s Eve, we could see them going off all over the skyline! Super cool. I wasn’t able to capture any, but here was our view (you can see Taipei 101 above the mountains to the left!):

taipei from tianmu on new years eve/tianmu, taipei/feb 7, 2013

This was the last song to play during my neighborhood-scope run today: a classic that definitely fits the vibe around town right now.

Till next time, 新年快樂! May your Year of the Snake be healthy + prosperous!