I figure a quick update is better than no update whatsoever. I have some time right now. I'm waiting until 7 when I'm going to start my journey to the airport to meet my friend Will, who's coming from Minnesota for almost two weeks.
My last semester at Shida is reminding me a lot of my senior year of high school. I'm making a lot of friendships with my classmates and making more of an effort to enjoy the time I have here.
I've done a few pretty fun things in the past few weeks. One was a volleyball tournament for the Mandarin Training Center students. I cobbled together a team with a couple of people I knew and we practiced pretty hard. I think all in all we had about ten practices. We improved a lot; our lesson for our first practice was "Don't catch the ball" and by the time the competition rolled around we were able to set up spikes and keep some long volleys in play. In the end, we got third place (the only team we lost to ended up winning the tournament). That came with a 2000 NT (about $60 US) which we brought to the bars. Quite the fun time.
This past Sunday Shida organized a trip to Turtle Island. Turtle Island is a small island not far offest coast of Taiwan. Up until 2000 it was exclusively a military base, so there are still bunkers and tunnels on the island. It was a gloomier day and we didn't see too much wildlife, but it was fun getting out on the ocean. Afterwards we went to Longdongwan (stop giggling, it means "Dragon Cave Bay") and saw some of the impressive geological formations of Taiwan. Not too crazy or off the wall, but a fun little trip nonetheless.
I recently had to make a really tough decision. A week ago Friday I got news that my grandmother had passed away. I was asked whether or not I was coming home, but in the end I decided that it wouldn't be possible. There were many factors that went into my decision, but in the end I decided that it would have created some complicated issues with my visa and my scholarship that would have possibly resulted in me losing a lot of money. Being in a society in Taiwan that places a high emphasis on family and respect for your elders put a lot of weight on my perspective, and I've had many friends over here able to offer me support. I'm going to miss my Grandma and I'm really anxious to see my friends and family again when I return home.
I'll probably be back in Xindian with Will sometime before midnight tonight. Depending on how his jet lag I might show him a little bit around my area or we might just have a relaxing night here. Tomorrow I'll show him some of my familiar haunts and how life in Taipei usually is for me. Saturday we're headed on a trip to Kenting (the beach town I went to earlier in the month) and Taroko Gorge (from what I've heard one of the most beautiful spots to visit in Taiwan). We should have a fun time!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Seeing the rest of Taiwan!
One of the only things I have been lacking since arriving in Taiwan is seeing the island outside of the confines of Taipei and its surrounding area. These past two weekends I have made some strides in correcting that.
The weekend before this one I went with my kickboxing friends to Fulong Beach. It's not too far from Taipei (about 1.5 hours on train) on the northeastern coast of Taiwan. We hung out at the beach and camped at a campground not too far away. The weather on Saturday was just about perfect for a day at the beach (the sun went away during part of it).
Us at the beach, having a relaxing time. Technically we couldn't go swimming (I guess by Taiwanese standards the waves were too big), but we'd go swim in ten minute stints while the guy with the whistle wasn't around.
That night after setting up the tents and eating dinner we walked down to the beach to have a campfire. On the way there was a wedding party. They invited us to come along and dance. They played "It's my life" so I started singing along to it.
Us at the campfire. I am talking to someone behind Anders. Note that Anders, yet again, has a guitar in his hands.
The next morning it started raining. We were originally planning on going to the beach to hang out for a little bit but those plans got scratched and we just went back to Taipei.
The next week was pretty busy for me, but luckily it was only a three-day week (I got Thursday and Friday off for Tomb Sweeping Day). On Thursday I headed down to Kaohsiung with Kyle, Jennie, and Stephan (all students at Shida with me). On Thursday night we stayed at Kyle's aunt's extra place (her aunt bought a place for her mother but she hasn't wanted to move in, so that's where we stayed). That night we met some British classmates of ours at the Love River, one of the main tourist attractions of Kaohsiung.
That's the bar we drank at. I approve of the colors, but I disapprove of the lack of Packers-related memorabilia.
The next day Kyle and I went to see what touristy stuff Kaohsiung had to offer. We went to the British consulate and Kyle snapped some photos.
More proof that I am not Asian-sized.
Coast near Sun Yat-Sen University.
Afterwards we hopped a bus to Kenting. It was an especially busy weekend in Kenting because there were at least three separate music festivals going on. We hung out a lot by the beach and ended up meeting up with a lot of friends in the city. It would be nice to go down to Kenting for a little bit more relaxing weekend when it isn't as crowded, but I still had a great time. Most of the hotels there were booked, but there was a small campground that we stayed at when we were there (about 15 minute walk from Kenting called Stonybrook farm (石牛溪農場)), which ended up working out really well.
The second day we were there (Saturday) we spent 5-6 hours at the beach. Kyle and I rented a jetski and got to hit some of the waves. We met up with some more friends, threw around the frisbee, went swimming, and all in all had a great time. I only got a little sunburned.
That night a group of us went to one of the music festivals in Kenting, Spring Scream. Although it had a wide variety of music, it was more rock-based (other festivals were more hip-hop or more electronic). There were a lot of Taiwanese bands and a few bands composed of foreigners from Taiwan or Hong Kong. The music was good and we had a fun time.
After the concert I hung out with some other friends who went to a different concert (apparently, Fat Joe was supposed to be at the hip-hop concert they went to but he canceled at the last minute). My friends had all left the campsite already, so I finished packing up and took the overnight bus from Kenting to Kaohsiung then the morning bus from Kaohsiung to Taipei.
I did get the opportunity to catch some shut-eye on the bus, but it apparently wasn't enough: I ended up falling asleep at 7 PM and waking up at 2 AM the next morning (hence the odd time for the journal post). I think I'll use this time I have right now to do my laundry for the weekend and do all the homework I was supposed to do.
As for comings-up, I do foresee some more traveling in my future. While I recently lost the tent I've been using (a hole got burnt in it), I have a trip to Yilan (surfing) in the planning and some more trips (probably Kenting again and Hualien/Taroko Gorge) when Will comes at the end of April. Stay tuned!
The weekend before this one I went with my kickboxing friends to Fulong Beach. It's not too far from Taipei (about 1.5 hours on train) on the northeastern coast of Taiwan. We hung out at the beach and camped at a campground not too far away. The weather on Saturday was just about perfect for a day at the beach (the sun went away during part of it).
Us at the beach, having a relaxing time. Technically we couldn't go swimming (I guess by Taiwanese standards the waves were too big), but we'd go swim in ten minute stints while the guy with the whistle wasn't around.
That night after setting up the tents and eating dinner we walked down to the beach to have a campfire. On the way there was a wedding party. They invited us to come along and dance. They played "It's my life" so I started singing along to it.
Us at the campfire. I am talking to someone behind Anders. Note that Anders, yet again, has a guitar in his hands.
The next morning it started raining. We were originally planning on going to the beach to hang out for a little bit but those plans got scratched and we just went back to Taipei.
The next week was pretty busy for me, but luckily it was only a three-day week (I got Thursday and Friday off for Tomb Sweeping Day). On Thursday I headed down to Kaohsiung with Kyle, Jennie, and Stephan (all students at Shida with me). On Thursday night we stayed at Kyle's aunt's extra place (her aunt bought a place for her mother but she hasn't wanted to move in, so that's where we stayed). That night we met some British classmates of ours at the Love River, one of the main tourist attractions of Kaohsiung.
That's the bar we drank at. I approve of the colors, but I disapprove of the lack of Packers-related memorabilia.
The next day Kyle and I went to see what touristy stuff Kaohsiung had to offer. We went to the British consulate and Kyle snapped some photos.
More proof that I am not Asian-sized.
Coast near Sun Yat-Sen University.
Afterwards we hopped a bus to Kenting. It was an especially busy weekend in Kenting because there were at least three separate music festivals going on. We hung out a lot by the beach and ended up meeting up with a lot of friends in the city. It would be nice to go down to Kenting for a little bit more relaxing weekend when it isn't as crowded, but I still had a great time. Most of the hotels there were booked, but there was a small campground that we stayed at when we were there (about 15 minute walk from Kenting called Stonybrook farm (石牛溪農場)), which ended up working out really well.
The second day we were there (Saturday) we spent 5-6 hours at the beach. Kyle and I rented a jetski and got to hit some of the waves. We met up with some more friends, threw around the frisbee, went swimming, and all in all had a great time. I only got a little sunburned.
That night a group of us went to one of the music festivals in Kenting, Spring Scream. Although it had a wide variety of music, it was more rock-based (other festivals were more hip-hop or more electronic). There were a lot of Taiwanese bands and a few bands composed of foreigners from Taiwan or Hong Kong. The music was good and we had a fun time.
After the concert I hung out with some other friends who went to a different concert (apparently, Fat Joe was supposed to be at the hip-hop concert they went to but he canceled at the last minute). My friends had all left the campsite already, so I finished packing up and took the overnight bus from Kenting to Kaohsiung then the morning bus from Kaohsiung to Taipei.
I did get the opportunity to catch some shut-eye on the bus, but it apparently wasn't enough: I ended up falling asleep at 7 PM and waking up at 2 AM the next morning (hence the odd time for the journal post). I think I'll use this time I have right now to do my laundry for the weekend and do all the homework I was supposed to do.
As for comings-up, I do foresee some more traveling in my future. While I recently lost the tent I've been using (a hole got burnt in it), I have a trip to Yilan (surfing) in the planning and some more trips (probably Kenting again and Hualien/Taroko Gorge) when Will comes at the end of April. Stay tuned!
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