After leaving the IIR I walked a couple blocks to the front gate of NCCU where I met Professor Li, and expert on the PRC and China-Taiwan relations, for my second interview. He treated me to my first authentic Taiwanese dish: a thick melange of beef noodles with boiled vegetables in a delicious sauce. I should've taken a picture of that manna from heaven.
The fears I harbored for my digestive system when the bowl was placed before me quickly disappeared as it was both delicious and filling. The conversation during our meal was fantastic - it turns out Professor Li is also an avid movie-buff and we expounded on The Godfather, Silence of the Lambs, Ed Wood (he even heard of the original movie Plan 9 from Outer Space **shivers**). He really had me a-snickering when he went into a 10 minute rant on how bad Michael Bay's movies are. At the mention of 'Armageddon' he pursed his lips downward and made a wincing face that I could really identify with when it comes to bad movie reactions.
After lunch we went to a common room of one of the NCCU buildings that overlooked the river. The next hour was filled with discussion on the Chinese revolution and the difficult relationship between Taiwan and the PRC. The rain began at about 3:30pm and boy when it rains it pours here. I thanked Professor Li for a wonderful time and set off towards NCCU again.
I got soaked but it was worth it to see the clouds so low to the hills. Maybe if I can jerry-rig something I'll take pictures when it rains again - I couldn't risk taking the camera out with it raining that much. The storms form off in the distance and as they descend on the city the clouds hug the hillsides and roll down until all the rain has left their fat bellies. Immediately I thumbed my wiley ipod touch to The Doors, Riders on the Storm; if you think it sounds corny then please remember to kick yourself for not joining me there: one of the most beautiful movements of nature I've ever seen, the landscape's inevitable consumption by the encroaching cumulonimbus.
All that walking turned out to be the perfect cure for jetlag as sleep followed only seconds after i returned to the International House.
