New Computer!

Well, we now have a computer! We decided to check out the local computer stores before buying one online, and we got a pretty good deal on one here. The guy at the computer store spoke pretty good English, and he found us a computer that already had English software…no need to pay for illegal reinstallment here…and he added Nero and a few other programs…mostly ones that prevent problems with watching DVDs from different regions. AAAnnndd…I was even able to haggle him way down in price. Thanks to weeks at the open market…I have acquired excellent bargaining skills that now enable me to talk down any price. Okay, so not any price…but I am getting better, and I did get us a good deal. So we went ahead and bought it here instead of online. It has ended up costing us less because of shipping and taxes to send a computer here…and because it already has English software, we don’t have to worry about getting the software from home, or paying an exorbitant amount to have a pirated copy installed.
Right now Madison and I are watching Taiwanese television. Hmmm…not very impressive. We get four channels…and about every three weeks or so we get one or two American programs…but since we don’t speak or read Chinese…we never know when they are coming on. Right now we are watching the Taiwanese version of a soap opera. It is about some Samurai and other people living in feudal China. The acting is superb…and the story line is, well, interesting…and the dialogue is engaging. Right now we are watching some guys smoking opium and discussing something while walking through what looks like a market. Which brings us to an interesting side note…you can still use opium out in the open here….it is in the form of beetlenut…okay so I can’t spell it, but that is it phonetically. It is some kind of large seed wrapped in a leaf that is smeared in opium paste. It is disgusting…you can tell who uses it because their teeth rot and turn red…and they walk around spitting it onto the ground, similar to chewing tobacco, but grosser.