"I'm sorry teacher, I forgot to do my homework"

All of those annoying tendencies from my high school years are coming back to me I fear, and I find myself thinking of a list of excuses as to why I haven’t written in weeks.  It isn’t for lack of excitement in my life, on the contrary, I have found myself too busy on Sunday nights, and for as much as I love writing about my adventures, living them is the preferable experience, and so my virtual diary was temporarily put on hold.  Bear with me over the next few months, for I worry that this pattern will continue as a sort of defensive mechanism, allowing me to remain in denial about limited number of weeks I have left here. 

Lets journey back in time to the not so distant past, three weeks ago, where the story left off.  It was a week like any other, there were classes to plan, students to teach, and papers to grade. That is, until Friday rolled around, and the normalcy of a standard week was thrown away to allow Taiwanese families time to pay respect to their relatives by cleaning out the family tombs.  Seizing the short work week, a group of 9 teachers rented cars and took to the roads for our first road trip in Taiwan.  The plan was to cut through the mountains using the central cross-island highway and to spend our weekend in Hualien and Taroko gorge (two locations which were new to the majority of the group, but that I have visited twice before).  We set off bright and early Friday morning with half of our group sharing a Honda Civic, and the other half sharing a Toyota Tercel, which means we were pretty close once bags and leg room were accounted for.  Several hours into the mountains we were proud of our progress, but as the altitude climbed, the weather worsened, and for hours on end we were in clouds, unable to see more than 10 feet in front of us (at many times I struggled to see more than 1 dotted line on the road) desperately following the twisting yellow lines on the side of the road. 

There are some very strange things about driving on Taiwanese roads.  The most noticeable is the lack of concern Taiwanese drivers show for their surroundings.  Using speeds far exceeding the limits, passing cars on curvy mountain roads (in ‘no passing’ zones), and not turning on their headlights in visually difficult situations are just a few that come to mind at the moment, but while I was driving they were the most terrifying factors imaginable. 

About half-way through the driving portion of our departure day (though no one realized we were still so far away from our destination), we found ourselves in an out-of-place line of traffic.  Considering we were on mountain roads with no lights or signs, we were confused, so we sent ‘scouts’ to find the source of the stop (as well as bathrooms, it had been a long drive at this point).  Reports came back, we were being held up by a rock-and-mud-slide which had completely coated the road and was continuing to rain down debris into our path, and the workers predicted a 3-hour wait for the roads to clear up.  So, was it better to wait it out, or turn back to take a different route?  Once we had emptied our bladders (in a cloud, behind a tarp, next to the side of a cliff…that was a unique bathroom experience), we had no more pressing issues to attend to, so we settled in for the long wait, and before we knew it (about an hour later), we were moving again.  The rock fall slowed and one-by-one the workers allowed cars to sneak through the ‘danger zone’ and carry on.  We drove, and drove, and drove, and eventually the sun set, but the road signs showed we were still hours from our destination.  We arrived in Hualien city at about 11:30, 14 hours after the journey began, which is an almost unfathomable amount of time considering the size of Taiwan.  We settled into our hostel (which, due to a booking error was about $400NT/$14US cheaper per person, and was only occupied by us on the 2^nd night), then went out for a ‘congratulations on the completion of an epic drive’ drink at the nearest bar (where the staff taunted us with English songs until we took over the stage and serenaded the practically non-existent audience for hours). 

Happily watching the falling mud and rocks

We woke up early the next morning to begin the hiking portion of our weekend.  As I’ve mentioned before, Taroko Gorge is the gorge formed between the marble cliff faces of the mountains along the fault lines cutting through Taiwan’s east coast.  The result of plate movement, as well as erosion, have chiseled out a gorgeous canyon filled with natural waterfalls and unnatural bridges/tunnels to reach them by.  There is a lot to explore in the gorge, but the last two times I visited, I didn’t venture further than the Eternal Springs Shrine, so when we drove past that temple and went on instead to the Baiyang Falls and Water Curtain trail, I couldn’t have been more excited.  The trail began with a long, dark tunnel, and from the onset we knew it was a mistake not to have flashlights (as we all clung to handrails in the following tunnels).   After a few kilometers we arrived at a suspension bridge and a beautiful view of the Baiyang waterfall, which runs about 50 feet high.  Continuing on from this we reached the sight I was most excited about this trip: the water curtain.  This is an unnatural waterfall, formed during the tunnel’s construction, which now leaks heavy streams of water into a lime coated corridor.  The result is an almost deafeningly loud, and constant stream of water which flows in the tunnel and has resulted in the closing of this portion of the trail.  Who am I to let signs stop me though, and I (along with many other people) ventured into the caves to see the spectacle for myself.  I must admit, I think the novelty was in the fact that people are advised not to visit the location, for there isn’t much to see, and the lighting ruins the opportunity for most pictures.

Two "waterfalls", the Baiyang falls (left) and Water Curtain (right)

We went to the trail head for Swallows Grotto, but seeing our daylight hours were already growing short, we went back towards the Eternal Springs Shrine, because I was the only one who had seen it before.  To our surprise, the roads were blocked, and no one could access the shrine, but I remembered the hiking trail from a nearby Buddhist temple, so we reconvened in that parking lot and worked our way to the temple in reverse.  At the top of the walking trail we realized access to the shrine had been blocked in this direction as well (due to what appears to have been minor rock fall problems), so most people abandoned interest in visiting the shrine (while a few of us covered the bright articles of our clothing, snuck past the barriers, and descended the staircase). 

Upon return to the cars, we spotted a Buddhist monk carrying a heavy load of food.  She called us over, offered us countless pieces of fruit, and gestured a request for help, so we helped her move the load to a food elevator on the opposite side of the temple.  In return she showered us with even more foods, including fruits, breads, and a colorful paste, which we never successfully identified. 

That night I kidnapped one of my co-workers and we wandered Hualien city for hours.  It began as a disinterest in getting chicken from a street vendor, and resulted in us eating a sit down chicken dinner (so we didn’t get too far really), but was filled with several hours of being so lost we couldn’t find the car. 

The Road Trip Crew, out of the cars and loving nature.

The next morning, after deciding to take the southern route around the island rather than cutting through the mountains again, we jumped back in the cars and began driving again.  The first stop of the allowed me to complete my minor goal of seeing all three tropic of cancer markers in Taiwan, and while here we also watched some aboriginal dancing.  It was a short lived break from the road though and we were all getting anxious to return to Changhua.  We drove all day with very few breaks, and somehow the journey still took us 10 hours.

The third installment of my Tropic of Cancer collection: Hualien.

With the aboriginal dancers (who called me "mother").  

So, what do five people in their mid 20’s do when stuck in a car together for 24 hours?  For as much as my car-mates would have appreciated the quiet time, I need to keep my mind busy when I am driving, so we were constantly playing various games, or having interesting conversations, or singing.  Some of the highlights in terms of games were Mad Libs, word association, a song chain (where you need to sing a new song based on a word in the previous song), and my favorite, Fantasy Lasagna (where you simply design the perfect lasagna).  The trip was all about being on the road, and to have survived three days, in confined vehicles, with no accidents and no tension is an obvious sign of a successful trip.

On Monday evening, as I was helping to gas up the cars and prepare for their return the following day I spotted a large number of people waiting outside.  If I hadn’t been here last year I wouldn’t have understood what was happening, but the fireworks, and the flags, and the people, triggered the memory of last year’s Matsu parade and I was certain she was on her pilgrimage from Dajia again.  Sure enough, within a few minutes of searching, I was able to find her carriage, and her crowd of faithful followers.  So many people in Taiwan thing so highly of Matsu that it is hard not to do the same, and so I got into the spirit of the march (even more so than last year).  First I joined the line of people who, in the middle of the marching crowds had found space to crouch down in front of the carriage so she would pass over them and bring them luck.  After enduring a few comments about being foreign, I was invited to crouch down, and was pushed very low to the ground so she could be carried by.  I followed closely for some time, made sure to touch the carriage (also intended to bring good luck), watched her bless the temple nearest my apartment, and was about to go home when one of the carriers caught my eye.  He motioned for me to come closer to the carriage, then asked me (through gesture and Chinese) to carry one of the two large, red fans that accompanies the procession (fans of this size can only be used for deities in Taiwan, they are not intended for fanning people).  It felt amazing to be a central part of the procession.

The carriage of Matsu, walking the crowded streets of Changhua.

Getting back into the swing of things after the drive was difficult, however.  I find extended amount of time behind the wheel really wears me out, and I spend the next few days wanting constant sleep and knowing I needed to work.  We welcomed three new teachers to the schools this week (one for each of the following: Changhua, Homei, Lukang), and it wasn’t long until the weekend was upon us again.  I fought my exhaustion on Friday to stay out all night singing karaoke and playing darts.  The thing about Taiwan is, when you say ‘all night’ you mean it.  We were out so late that the sun had risen and we went to get breakfast before going home, which is not a pattern most people are used to when they aren’t heavy drinkers. 

Before even going to bed I had made plans to have a friend from Taipei come visit, so I snuck in a few hours of sleep and played hostess for the weekend.  I adore Changhua, but it is really difficult to find things in Changhua that are impressive to people from other areas of Taiwan.  I had basically exhausted the list of attractions after the Buddha statue and had to resort to a scooter trip to Nantou to occupy Sunday’s time. 

Some weeks the classes drag on, and as a teacher I worry I’m not making any process.  Other weeks, this one included, everything seems to be going perfectly.  My classes were great this week and I had so many time where they reminded me of how thankful I am to be here.  One of my students was recently in the Philippines, and she brought me back a bracelet, which melted my heart.  I also had a weird moment where one of my classes wanted to ‘decorate’ my arm, so they wrote their names all over me as a sort-of tattoo.  The classes which are learning mother’s day songs were really projecting their lyrics this week, and the ones doing reader theater were enunciated almost perfectly.  A comical addition to my daily teaching routine, is my new usage of ‘punishment kisses’ for my younger classes.  Inspired by one of my TAs, I have begun to purse my lips and make kissing noises at students who won’t speak or behave properly, and it is a great incentive for them to get to work, because they would do anything to avoid teacher kisses.  Adding to the cuteness factor of this week, when introducing this to my second-youngest class, one of the students actually told me he wanted a kiss when I pecked one of his classmates on the top of the head, so it appears he will be functioning on a reward system while his classmates are on a punishment one.  The main benefit to this system is that it is a light-hearted approach to behavior issues, and anything that can help teachers avoid loud voices and physical punishments is to be sought after.

The start to my weekend was not as relaxing as normal weekends should be.  I woke up early (by my standards) so do a promotional event at one of the local elementary schools.  This is the intake season for new students to enroll in the fall terms at all of the cram schools, so representatives from buxibans near and far gather around and harass parents into enrolling their children into the school.  Each school has an ‘attention grabber’, such as fliers, tables, inflatable toys, or in the case of my school: foreigners.  To be honest, I had fun at the promo, I got to hang out with my TAs and give notebooks to adorable children, but it was hard not to feel like a zoo animal each time the sentence, “This is one of our foreign teachers,” was said to a passerby. 

Saturday was relatively uneventful after the promotional event, thankfully Sunday made up for it.  Along with quite a few other teachers, I made my way to People’s Park in Taichung for an Easter potluck picnic.  We brought some snack foods and wandered off to drink stalls several times during the day, while we hung out in a park playing games and talking.  We even decorated Easter eggs (though we couldn’t find any dye, so we drew on them with crayons instead). 

A collection of eggs to celebrate the holiday (Mine is the tie-dye one on the left)

May you enjoy the rest of this beautiful spring day with your families or friends, making the most of the increasing temperatures and watching for a certain bunny.  Happy Easter!

The Third-Year Question

It was pointed out to me today (though not for the first time) that you can always tell if I have considered a week to be exciting based on the number of words I manage to jot down about it.  That is true, but this week is deceptive, I see so many words below these, but I don't like them.  If It weren't for the sake of this project, I would delete them all.  Not because they are meaningless, not because they are negative, but because they are failing to express the thoughts running through my mind right now.  

I underwent my second year appraisal and was asked to stay on for a third year, which has left me spending most of the week weighing through the pro's and con's of a renewed contract.  Here is a short summary of the key points:

The PRO's

*I love my students, there isn't a single class that I don't enjoy, so the idea of giving them up is heartbreaking. 

*I have a system that works for me, with a lot of freedom to plan my own lessons and implement new ideas to the classroom.  It is a great way to allow teachers to not only find their teaching identity but also to keep improving upon it.  

*I have established such a strong group of friends who get me through every week.

*Every week feels like an adventure, even when there is nothing 'new' to write about, each day is a new day, and even the repeated locations hold new adventures.  I constantly add to the list of things I want to do in Taiwan, and my list of things I want to do in Asia has barely been skimmed.

*My transportation, housing, and employment are all established here (there will be a lot of work involved in re-establishing myself in the US).  

The CON's

*My eventual post-Taiwan plan is to continue my education in the form of a Master's Degree.  In doing so, I will need to be settled in the location of my future school prior to the start of the fall semester (which could be in any given year, but at the current time I am aiming to start in the fall of 2015).  Another year's contract will leave me finishing in Taiwan in the fall and finding a creative way to spend the rest of the year waiting for a new school year to start.

*I have several big commitments in the fall, spanning from August-November.  I could return for a partial-year contract and following this time, but I would be spending a lot of that time working towards the cost of the flight.

*There is no financial incentive to remain with the school past the second year.  Pay is capped at $620NT per hour (about $20US), leaving the school with very little to motivate their teachers with, except a continuation of what they already have.

*I'm not a 'life-r'.  Some people have settled in Taiwan, and intend to be here the rest of their lives.  After five years in the country you can apply for permanent residency, but I still feel like there are aspects of my life which are 'on hold' while I am here, and permanent residency won't solve that.  

If I'm being honest with myself, this is the 'after-the-fact' list, because I know I am going home.  It is almost like I am assessing the pro's and con's incase I find myself miserable a year down the road (which is not unheard of among the foreign teacher population here).  I am excited for the weddings, I'm excited to spend time with my family, I'm excited to do some of the traveling in the US that I've been neglecting, but most importantly, I am so excited to see what I come up with to occupy my time.  That slight tinge of fear about not having a job, a house, a car, gives me endless possibilities (and the knowledge that I have people who will save me if I start drowning in those possibilities gives me courage).  Should I find that the polar vortexes are too cold to handle, or the constant presence of English to convenient, I always have the option to leave again, I hold two years of teaching experience and the ability to resume this Taiwanese adventure or pick a new country.  With my mind made up, I know I will only be strengthening the unwanted 'countdown' until August, but I hope it won't be overwhelmingly present in my writing.

On a note of things that are far more positive, the weather has been gorgeous this week, which allowed for our first outdoor weekend of spring.  Abandoning my jacket, holding social events on roofs, outdoor meals, and parades, I have barely been inside for two days.  The most exciting thing though, was the first scooter trip of the year.  While the destinations were not new to me, it was nice to play 'tour guide' and show off two enjoyable places in Nantou County: Sunny Hills (a pineapple farm/ pineapple cake distributer) and the Skybridge (a 204 meter long suspension bridge across a canyon).  I look forward to more weekends like this one.

Satisfied by our pineapple cakes and smoothies, it was time to leave the farm, but not before we got our group picture taken.

On the Skybridge over the mountains of Nantou.

Spring has Sprung!

What a beautiful week! The weather is finally warming up, the sky is brighter, the animals are happier, and driving around on my scooter is once again one of my favorite activities (it is far less pleasant when the air was cold).  I know I’ll want to complain before long when I find myself sweating bullets and uninspired to step outside of my apartment, but for now I get to enjoy the gentle breeze wafting through my open window. 

To celebrate the emergence of spring I spent the majority of my weekend outdoors.  Taichung is known for hosting a wide variety of fundraisers and concerts, this weekend’s event was a book exchange.  Hundreds of books, written in Chinese and English, had been donated, and were each sold for $50NT (just less that $2US).  The unfortunate thing is that most of the available books lacked love in their past lives and were in rough shape, which didn’t inspire me to purchase any, but it was still a great idea.  Visitors also came to enjoy the 10 hours of entertainment planned for the park’s stage, including musicians and clowns.  As far as I’m concerned the event was a success, and the proceeds were donated to a children’s charity, giving it all a purpose.

The charity book sale in Taichung.

My cultural thought of the week focuses on part of the “seedy underbelly” of Taiwan, specifically an aspect most appreciated by single males.  As you probably know by now, I love KTV, and could probably go to one of these karaoke establishments every week if a group were interested in it.  Since arriving in Taiwan, I had known about the ‘yellow KTVs’ as well, but I had been blessed by never encountering one, until this weekend.  What is a ‘yellow KTV’? Essentially it is a combination of singing, bar culture, and a strip club (though for enough money, that strip club quickly evolves into prostitution).  Patrons will go, order a room, receive their alcohol, then have a line of girls paraded through (so they can select the ones they wish to accompany them for the rest of the evening).  The girls are initially bartenders, there to keep your drinks topped up, then they begin drinking, singing, dancing, chatting with, and making out with the male patrons.  For the right amount of money, these harmless interactions can progress to any level of indecency the patron is searching for as well.  My experience in one of these KTVs was short-lived to say the least.  Unaware of what we had gotten ourselves into, when four different staff members came into our room to explain the ‘club rules’ and set our price at $8,000NT (just over $250US) regardless of if we wanted girls or not, we politely excused ourselves and laughed about the situation for quite a while afterwards. 

It would be impossible not to acknowledge Taiwan’s presence in international news this week, as hundreds of students are still occupying the main chamber of parliament in Taipei.  On Monday, a pact, known as the “Cross-Straight Services Trade Agreement”, intended to open trades in service between China and Taiwan after a 65-year break, passed its first stage in parliament.  Outraged by the unconstitutional means by which the pact was passed (bypassing a committee review and sending it straight to legislative vote), and consumed with the fear that it will result not only in an increase of Beijing’s economic power but the production of an unnecessary reliance on China, students of the capital took action.  They stormed the parliament building on Tuesday and barricaded themselves inside with chairs so they could not be removed.  Despite the initial illegality associated with the seizure of the main chamber, the protesters have conducted themselves in a non-violent fashion and have called themselves the Sunflower Movement.  Outside the building, the streets are filled with thousands more protesters, as well as their supporters who have been supplying food, drink, blankets, and encouragement.  Requests of the president to allow regular operation of parliament to resume were met with the students’ vow to continue their occupation, however no direct dialogue has taken place between the president and the protesting party.   Escalating the movement, this evening the executive offices were seized as well, but they have been met with police orders for eviction and only time will tell the success of this movement. International responses to the controversy primarily support the continued implementation of the trade agreement, which is a disappointing display of how Taiwan and China are perceived by the rest of the world. 

Beers, Bowling, and a Bunch of Languages.

To all of those with Irish blood running through their veins, or just those looking for a reason to celebrate, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.  With the holiday falling on a Monday this year, the trend around the world appears to have been to pre-emptively celebrate this weekend, which was the case here as well.  It shouldn’t come as a surprise to say that St. Patrick’s Day is not widely celebrate here in Taiwan, it exists almost solely in the expat community, which left us the task of explaining it to the bar staff when they were curious about our complicated drink order (the individual ingredients of Irish Car Bombs and the shakers, shot glasses, and pint glasses for me to assemble them like the bartender I once was).  We sported our green apparel, consumed our green drinks, toasted with our poorly pronounced Gaelic phrases, and had an amazing night. 

Sometimes we have western weekends, and the follow-up to our St. Patrick’s Day Saturday was certainly that.  My Subway lunch, visiting the local swimming pool, bowling a few lanes; if I had been in my car instead of on my scooter I think I could have forgotten which country I live in.
I've been taking a break from cultural notes recently, but I think it is time for a cultural extension for last week.  As I mentioned, Taiwan has 14 recognized aboriginal tribes which make up about 2% of the island's current population: Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Seediq, Tao, Thao, Tsou, and Truku.  The tribes can be found in most counties (except for a small area in the northwest corner), but tend to stay in the mountainous regions.  The thing I find most interesting is the linguistic history of the aboriginal languages of Taiwan.  The Formosan Languages (those spoken by the aboriginal tribes) are members of the Austronesian language family which spreads to more than 250 million people the areas between Madagascar (to the west), Easter Island (to the east),  and New Zealand (to the south).  Looking back 4-5 thousand years ago, linguists believe the Austronesian languages had their origin in Taiwan, and we could map the migration of the language from this knowledge.  Unfortunately, the number of Formosan languages in dwindling, and the former 26 languages have reduced to around 14, with fear of a continued reduction due to the increasing popularity of Mandarin in aboriginal families.  While I believe it would be hard to get anyone to claim their native language as unnecessary or irrelevant, linguists are finding that the decreasing usage of the Formosan languages (as with many endangered language) is an irreversible trend.  As more media options are being provided in certain languages (like English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, etc.) the motivation to learn those languages increases, and eventually reduces the amount of household time spent speaking the native, endangered language.  The problem, at least to linguists and anthropologists, is that the languages we are losing are costing us access to vital cultural information.  Is there a way to make it stop though? The functionality of languages is not easily revived, so it appears either efforts to promote the Formosan languages need to increase or we accept the impending loss of this language tree's roots. 

A New Take on Cultural Villages

It is rare for me to say that a week passed slowly, but this one certainly did.  If I had to guess why, I would say it comes down to patterns.  I live a fairly predictable life, my class schedule is essentially the same each week (with my weekends providing new experiences as often as possible), even my meals don't vary much.  This week, I wasn't allowed to immerse myself into my pattern because I was covering classes for several other teachers on 4 out of 5 of the days, which required additional planning time and commute time.  Fortunately, a longer week makes for a more rewarding weekend I feel.

There exists, in the mountains of Nantou county, near Sun Moon Lake, an attraction called the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village.  When you hear this name, what do you picture? Houses that depict ancient taiwan? Food that represents the culture? Roller coasters and log flumes? Don't laugh, while the latter probably didn't come to mind, it is certainly present in the village.

Gathered together at the front gate of the Formosan Cultural Aboriginal Village.

On Saturday the franchise organized an outing for teachers and TA's from all five of the schools to visit an amusement part for the day.  We met at the school at 8 in the morning and carpooled to Nantou (which took just over an hour).  From the parking lot you find yourself in a European-style garden, the opposite of what you expect to find in the middle of Taiwan.  It boasts the title of 'largest European Garden in Taiwan' but this part of the park is barely notable.  I have to assume it is more appealing when the weather is warmer so a larger selection of flowers can be in bloom, but the recreations of European-style statues, bell towers, and fountains didn't impress me much.  

A view across the European Garden

Thankfully the park area inside the main gate, containing both the cultural village and amusement isle, was significantly more exciting.  As a child I was terrified of most amusement park rides, especially roller coasters.  My little brother would jump in line and try everything, while I sat around feeling too scared of being upside-down or experiencing sudden drops.  I am so glad I got over that fear, because now I really like amusement parks, and I like to think there is no ride I can't endure (though I still tend to avoid water rides, not out of fear of water, but out of the distaste for being soaked all day).  The amusement park itself was not very big, and the small crowds gathered this weekend, meant that we could ride anything we wanted, as many times as we wanted, without waiting.  The best rides for me were the UFO Adventure, which is an 280ft drop tower, and Mayan Adventure which is a suspended roller coaster that with g-force of 4.5g.  There were also a variety of children's rides (which we weren't ashamed to ride) in the indoor zone called Aladdin Square.

The first 'ride' you see when entering Amusement Isle: A 'One Piece' 3-D Theater

The third section of the park, providing the name for the entire attraction was the cultural village.  Here, nine of the fourteen recognized aboriginal tribes of Taiwan are represented through recreations of their ancient homes, demonstrations of their handicrafts, and descriptions of their lifestyles.  The employees are all aboriginals from the tribes represented who dress in traditional clothing and provide live demonstrations of various skills including dancing, weaving, carving, and games throughout the day.  

Target-shooting with blowguns in the cultural village.

The rest of our weekend was spent in Taichung.  Saturday evening was spent celebrating the 1-year anniversary of a couple of our co-teachers.  The 'Taiwanniversary', as we have taken to calling it, may not seem to be very important from an outside perspective, but it is a major achievement for a first year teacher.  We see expats come-and-go, some so quickly they never make it past training week, others get fired, still others are too free-spirited to stay through a whole contract, but to make it through a year shows dedication.  Then this afternoon we were at it again, first with some dancing at the Filipino disco, then a much over-due Greek dinner, a perfect ending to the week.

A Little Island Get-Away

For the first time since the start of this writing project, I have just not found the motivation to write about this past week.  I sat down to my computer as usual on Sunday night, keyboard on my lap, millions of thoughts running through my mind, and nothing came to the screen.  There is nothing particularly taxing about this blog, it takes me a few hours to condense each week into a few paragraphs, and the more weeks that pass, the easier it is to weed out the unimportant events.  The things I write are more for me than for anyone else, though I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me smile to see the 'view count' increase each week, or to receive messages (or occasionally meet) the people who have stumbled upon my stories, so if I enjoy the writing, and I enjoy its results, why have I lost my motivation to continue?  I had a great week, and I have a lot to say about it, but sleep and other projects have been winning the battle for my time, well that ends now.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Taiwanese holidays, this past week was the anniversary of the 2/28 incident (also referred to as the '2/28 massacre' and simply '228').  On this day, in 1947, a political uprising against the Taiwanese government led to the deaths of over 10,000 people.  The incident is said to have begun with the confiscation of contraband cigarettes off of a female vendor who begged not to have her supplies taken away.  The exchange between the woman and police drew a large crowd, and when an officer hit the woman over the head with his gun, the pent-up anger of the crowd erupted.  People surrounded the officers, and eventually a gun was fired into the crowd, killing one its members.  The incident was a trigger for a period of martial law in the country which lasted for almost 40 years but eventually led to the "Taiwan Independence Movement".  Today it is a declared holiday, and is commemorated with peace parks and monuments in several cities around Taiwan.
The history is grim, but for most residents, particularly the younger generations who I interact with on a regular basis, the holiday is not covered in a dark shroud.  Most students enjoy the break from their studies, while most foreign employees take advantage of the extra day of travel or leisure it provides them.  I, for example, used my long weekend to travel south with several of my friends, so we could visit the large city of Kaohsiung and the small island of Xiao Liu Qiu.  We set out on Friday morning on one of the busier train rides I have had to endure, and with no seats for a two-hour train ride, the time could have dragged on.  Fortunately, few Taiwanese people seem to fight to sit in the door-wells, so we made ourselves at home (though we had to stand at each of the stops along the way to allow people to enter or exit).  My coffee must have perked me up because I found the ride quite pleasant, and before long we were sweating in our sub-tropical destination.  We began in the art district of pier two, hoping to get some food and see some of the interesting works of art housed there (though we did pass through without thorough exploration of each of the pieces). From what we were able to see, there were various forms of art including a large number sculptures made from recycled shipping containers.  This is an area I feel I would like to explore more if given a future chance, there is a lot to see and it provides a great location for an scenic walk.  We made our way to the hostel, deciding to bypass the subway (because it would have only been needed for one stop), but managed to get lost along the way (which wouldn't have been the case if it weren't for the ambitious yet unhelpful police officers who pointed us in the wrong direction).  Once settled the group parted ways, with the majority off to explore the British Consulate and Sizhiwan beach, and the others (myself included) off to take a 25 minute boat cruise along the Love River.  The cruise was relaxing, and the weather was perfect, but it felt like no sooner had we left the dock and we were already turning around.  The route followed takes riders to the right for about 7 minutes, then past the starting point and to the left for about 10 minutes, before turning around and returning to the dock, meaning that the majority of your view is of the same patch of skyline.  We reconvened for a western dinner and a night market dessert before getting an early night's sleep.

These "construction workers" have been decorated with many different paint motifs throughout pier two.

We "struggled to catch our train" as we made our way from pier two to our hostel.

Remember how much I hate mornings, and try not to be surprised when I say, we were all up and ready to go at 6:30 the following morning.  Knowing we were in for almost two hours of travel before reaching Xiao Liu Qiu, we wanted to be mobile as early as possible.  We caught a bus near the train station which took us to Donggang, where we boarded our ferry to the island.  Once on shore we rented bicycles, which might not have been the smartest choice.  Unaware that the majority of the island is an uphill climb (with a few quick spurts of downhill coasting), we made our way around the perimeter slower than anticipated, and due to an unfortunate chain malfunction, I scraped up my elbow and knee early on.  None of that stopped us from enjoying a relaxing day of swimming (surrounded by sea urchins), spelunking (through the shortest, yet most tourist-packed cave I have ever experienced), and general sight seeing.  Most of the group had pre-decided not to spend the night on the island, due to its size no more than a day-trip is really required to explore it, so we took one of the last ferries of the evening, and watched the sun set over the island as we departed.  That evening, back in Kaohsiung we painted the town red with one of my favorite night club specials in Taiwan - all you can drink (which, for women only cost an entry fee of $100NT (about $3.00US).  The music was surprisingly familiar to me, which likely means that music back in the states has likely not changed much in two years.

One of Xiao Liu Qiu's best-known attractions is Vase Rock.

Started a little later than our previous morning, we got ourselves up and checked out of our hostel so we could do some Kaohsiung-based sightseeing.  The first stop of the day was the monastery on Fo Guang Shan which is one of the largest buddhist organizations.  The grounds are filled with hundreds of buddha statues, including a stating buddha which measures 120 ft, and a sitting buddha which measures 108 meters tall.  Both buddhas are painted in gold and are an impressive sight to see.  Before we knew it the day was more than half over, and by the time we made it back into the main city, the sun had set.  Fortunately sunlight isn't required to ride the tallest ferris wheel in Kaohsiung, so we went to Dream Mall to take in the scenic views before embarking on our train ride home.

The monastery's golden standing buddha statue.

The buddha memorial center's golden sitting buddha statue.

There we have it, another great week.  There were some rough patches (mainly that patch of road that 'ate my arm'), and I've made more than my fair share of jokes about how I need to stop planning group vacations so I can stop getting injured, but I would gladly do it all again.

Jubilation

I have learned something very important about myself and my relationship with Taiwan this week.  I love this country, and while there may be days that I want to slam my head against a wall because I've been bombarded by another crazy custom, or held up by another language barrier, there are more days that I just catch myself thanking my lucky stars that this is my life.  I have officially passed the six month marker in my second year's contract, which means, whether I like it or not, the count has switched from up to down.  Before I know it, I'll be packing up and moving on.  I can't make my predictions, I don't know where my mindset will be in six months, hopefully I'll be excited for my future prospects (which tentatively includes education and travel), but I can't help but imagine that I won't feel ready to go.  This is one of the major complications with being sentimental and a traveler, I want to go everywhere, I want to meet everyone, and but I don't want those relationships (both with the people and the places) to end, ever.
It isn't a sentence I say every week, but my students made me so happy this week.  It appears the adage holds true yet again, "absence makes the heart grow fonder", and this vacation allowed me to distance myself and then re-submerge myself in the aspects of my job that are positive.  The number of times I had students stop by to say "hi" outside of class, and the number of times I heard "I love you" from them (even my older classes told me they love me), the unexpected hugs, those are things I will never grow tired of (though there is a chance when my bribes of Japanese candies start do decrease, so too will their affection).
When I wasn't at the school, I was busy spending too much time in stores and markets, spending all of that money that I so carefully refrained from spending in Japan.  I'm not a shopper, I contemplate purchases for too long and often talk myself out of them in the end, but that wasn't the case this week.  I can't see anyone caring about the shoes or bag I've searched through (they were your standard Taiwanese market-type purchases), but can I just take a minute to celebrate my re-entry into the 21st century with my re-acquisition of a smart phone?  Technology isn't everything (says the girl who can barely use it), but even a few days of the increased international communication has been a huge change.  I should treat myself to presents more often.
As the spending spree continued, I made my way to Taipei to celebrate the birthday of one of my good friends in Taiwan.  The irony in our dinner choice is that it was an izakaya restaurant, which made me feel like I was still checking things off of my Japanese 'to do' list.  We ordered a combination of dishes, including noodles, sushi, steaks, and skewers, and shared them family style amongst the whole table.  This is easily my favorite way of eating because it allows you to experience all of the different flavors of the table, and often introduces you to a food you wouldn't have ordered for yourself.  The other 'traditional' aspect of the restaurant was the taiko drum show that took place twice in our three-hour stay.  Each show was performed by two drummers and a flutist, and as with any other taiko show I have seen, involves enough energy that the audience can literally feel the song.  I was amazed to watch the coordination of such large, powerful movements, as each strike of the drum was done with perfect timing, and I guess my reaction is proof that I was never meant to be a percussionist.  I did get a chance to see one drum show while I was in Japan, but the spacing was very limited because it took place in a store, the setting and acoustics of this performance were far more impressive to me.
The celebrations continued all evening, with the restaurant being just one of the many stops along the way.

As they say, it isn't a party if there isn't a beer tower.