Lax on the updates

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!