Say It Ain't So

20 hours in the air, 2 weddings, and numerous hours in the car later… I cannot believe that I am back in Athens already. I consider the past 3 weeks in Taiwan to be the best trip I have ever been on. Now that I am home and have the time to reflect on this past month, words still cannot describe the impact this trip has had on my life. I feel like I am still growing from all that I experienced, and I pray that I continue to grow in this way for the remainder of the summer, regardless of the fact that my day-to-day has slowed down exponentially. I owe all of my gratitude to each NTSU student and faculty member who took the time to impact us and our trip. They not only created a trip that will remain with me for a lifetime, but they enabled all of us to become closer together as a group and truly learn to appreciate such a unique and amazing culture and country. It took only a day for our group to drop our identity as guests and be embraced as close friends, although we were always treated with the utmost respect and kindness. Thank you thank you thank you!! 

Kaohsiung and Kenting

Our beach weekend finally arrived!! But it came and went faster than we’d hoped. We spent over 4 hours of time traveling in the morning; including a 1 and half hour ride on the Taiwan High Speed Rail. We spent time at the scenic Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, where the colors and intricate designs of the temples in this country were finally at our fingertips. I was especially excited to get a tour of our next destination though: the 2009 World games stadium facility in Kaohsiung! This stadium, described as being shaped like a giant question mark, houses an 8,844 solar panel roof that generates 1.4 million kWh of electricity per year! It was unreal. The facility is in the final stages of its construction so it can be ready for the games in July.

I hope the events of the World Games this year will be on TV this coming July, because the facilities they are using are incredible. Some events that are scheduled for the World games that I would love to see in action are (but definitely not limited to) orienteering, fin swimming, and rhythmic gymnastics.

After our tour, we spent the following 2 hour bus ride with a karaoke party on the way to the beach. Aya stole all of our hearts with her solo of Suriyaki, one of the best Japanese tunes I have ever heard. It topped our versions of Hey! Jude and Jingle Bells by a long shot. 

When we finally arrived at the beach in Kenting, we embraced the Pacific Ocean with wetsuits, lifejackets, and snorkel gear. Our adventures of water activities for the following 3 hours included banana boating, a high speed boat ride, and snorkeling along the coral reefs. I absolutely loved it! We made some new friends with the snorkeling instructors, and even ran into one later that night in town! :) He was having quite the good time when we ran into him!

Dinner that night was delicious; no surprises there! And then we went out to hit the town for the first time without supervision or any NTSU students. I know, we are all growing up so fast! But it was quite the adventure to say the least from that moment on. I would say we experienced more than we would have imagined experiencing in one night! Needless to say, a great and probably once-in-a-lifetime night was had by all! Back near the hotel we were staying in, we found a nook beneath the rocks that lined an amazing cove along the shore. We spent the rest of the night beneath the stars and cool night getting to know one another and just enjoying what little time we had left on this trip together.

The following morning came early, as we wanted to get the most out of our morning at the beach. This time, we went to a more commercialized area than the previous day and spent a couple hours of some serious R&R on the sand. The weather was perfect, and I finally got to catch up on my reading. We left the beach around noon, showered, packed our things, and headed to the National Sport Training center, where the majority of the athletes competing in the World Games train and get treatment. Seeing their facilities and how the athletic training facilities work here was such a great experience for all of us. I think we all saw the difference this job does and how much of an impact it can make in the real world.

Lotus Pond

Kenting beach

National Training Facility

2009 World Games Stadium

Taipei and Keelung

Each day this weekend has begun with sunshine, a boxed lunch, a half hour bus ride, and a museum at a new destination. On Friday, we spent the day touring Jioufen and Keelung beginning our day in the Gold Ecological Park located in the beautiful, mountainous town of Jinguashih. With plenty of historical and natural heritage, this park was the first ecology museum in all Taiwan! 

This park definitively lived up to its reputation, overlooking the ocean between breathtaking mountains that dipped and rose with an untouchable grace. For lunch, we took a bus halfway down the mountain, only to climb hundreds of narrow stairs leading to the streets of Jioufen Old Street, a quaint town tucked away in the mountains. So far, this town has officially become my favorite place visited in Taiwan. Each street sits above the next as if the town was laid out lining up and down tall rice terraces. If you looked carefully while battling the crowded streets of the markets, between the cracks of buildings was a breathtaking view of the entire valley leading to the ocean. We shopped through the crowded streets of town, and I actually found plenty of souvenirs to bring home to friends! As I sat on a bench with my new friends here eating one of the most divine strawberry icecream cones I have ever eaten, I just took in such a great afternoon.

Our next destination was the Bisha Fishing Port, complete with an intense walkthrough fishing market filled with more live fish and seafood than I could ever want to see or smell again! I think Hanah said it best at dinner: “Best dinner ever.. and not because of the food!” J  More shopping and eating followed at the night market in Keelung. Our group split up somewhere along the way, and let’s just say that my group took about a about half mile detour down the river on the way back to our meeting point at the end of the night.

This morning kicked off with another museum: the Taipei County Hakka Museum. We learned the history of the Hakka culture and attempted our best at the games the people of this culture traditionally played. The skies were clear again today, and the sun brought both shine and smiles to our day! We had Italian for lunch and played at the Yingge Ceramics Museum for a couple hours. The museum itself was very interactive and just fun to walk through with its inside and outside exhibits.

The absolute highlight of our day, and probably one for this entire trip, was our mini-ceramics class in the late afternoon. We painted coffee mugs and learned the technique of making pottery pieces with a spinning wheel. Most of us hadn’t played with clay that is fired in a kiln since elementary school! It was great getting our hands dirty and molding some pretty impressive pieces from slabs of clay. I could sit for hours doing crafts like this! Dinner tonight was just a great time all around: great company with great laughs and great food. I am very much looking forward to another overnight trip tomorrow to the beach with everyone!

Espcially last night, I’d like to say a huge thank you to Jesus for Skype and chocolate bars.

View from Gold Ecological Park

Bisha Fishing Port

Ceramics museum

Spinning wheel skills

 

Happy Dragonboat Holiday

To summarize the past 3 days, I can only use one simple phrase: Ah, life is wonderful. Every minute of this trip brings its own entertainment, and I love how the best way our team connects is with laughing and humor. Not only is there no fear or even shyness between us anymore, but I can tell we are all completely being ourselves here. It is both freeing and inspiring doing life together and just taking in all that Taiwan has to offer us!

We finished class on Thursday afternoon and headed straight to Taipei city to work the Judo Tournament at the Taipei gymnasium. We will happily be out of a classroom until Tuesday, as our next couple of days focusing mainly on the cultural side of the trip. We had a delightful dinner in the city, one of the many favorite dishes of the night being Peking duck wraps.

After dinner, we headed to Taipei 101, 2 blocks away from the hotel where my parents were staying in. It was quite the landmark to have them meet up with us! Standing firmly at 1,670 feet, Taipei 101 is currently the largest building in the world! At least until the Burj Dubai opens in September. The elevator of this building got us up to the 89^th floor in 37 seconds. My ear popped about 4 times on the way up and back down! It was amazing!

The following morning came a little sooner than comfortable, and we arrived at the National Palace Museum in Taipei in time for a 90 minute tour at 9:20am. Although my preference would be to wander aimlessly and make my own way around a museum, our guide spoke great English and shared so much history with us throughout our tour. The Palace Museum’s claim to fame is its collection of eclectic, imperial treasures from the Sung, Yuan, Ming, and Ch’ing dynasties. The attention to minute detail in each piece of china wear (now I know where that phrase originated) is absolutely amazing. My favorite pieces, however, were the intricate designs in all of the ivory carvings! This culture knew all too well how patience in artwork yields great beauty and majesty.

We spent the afternoon celebrating the national holiday at the International Dragon Boat Festival! Dragon boat races went on throughout the day along the river, while thousands of people watched from the stands. Traditionally, the festival is a time for protection from evil and disease for the rest of the year, but we just enjoyed every sight, sound, and smell around us! Well… most of the smells. J We walked around the festival for most of the afternoon, tasting some of Taiwan’s finest market food and dancing (yesssss finally some dancing!) while avoiding stinky tofu the best we could. 

Did I mention my parents got this VIP Taipei treatment and got to spend this amazing day with us? Again, the hospitality and genuine care that our hosts showed to my parents all day truly amazed me! If anyone is travel savvy in Asia it is definitely the two of them, but Alice and Joyce (two NTSU students) were so key in making sure my parents made the most of their two-day stay in Taipei with us. With everything that each day brings during this trip, we are all realizing how much time these students put into planning and facilitating each day.

Before dinner, we visited the Longshan Temple, built in 1738 by Fujianese immigrants. We have seen plenty of these majestic temples from afar as they tower over every building and stand out with the boldest colors and dragon decorations around the roofs. It was great to finally go inside one of these temples, and one of this size! Dinner was at a restaurant in Ximenting, one of the biggest business and entertainment cities in the country. 

After enjoying some mango juice with my creamed rice and hamburger meal at dinner, I said farewell to my parents! They were off the following morning to Kuala Lampur for the remainder of the month. The past two days with them could not have worked out any more perfectly, and I owe all my gratitude to the students at NTSU. In these past days of tours and site-seeing, we have had the best weather here yet! My hope is that it carries on into our weekend in Kenting at the beach!

at the Judo tournament

Taipei night life

National Palace Museum

Cristina, me, Becca, and Katelynn

Mikhail and Aya

... we didn't know these children. :)

we see many funny things

Dragon Boat races