It's been almost one month since I wrote a blog so get ready! It's been a pretty crazy month. I think the last time I blogged, it was a few days after I got back from Australia. Since then, my sister and friend Dylan came and visited me for one week. It was awesome! I am so glad they came and got to see what it's actually like out here. For me, one of the hardest things about being out here has been trying to convey to people with words what it's like in Taiwan so it was great that they came and got to see it for themselves. They had a lot of fun and will potentially visit again in the future. The first day they arrived, we did some sight-seeing around Linkou which was fun. Although it is really dirty here, it's pretty interesting too and having them see it all for the first time sort of made me realize how unique it is here. After cruising around town, we met up with my cook from school and she took us on a hike in Yang Ming Shan national park. Unfortunately, it rained pretty hard so our plans were changed slightly. We ended up running/hiking on a road in the pouring rain. We did see a ton of little frogs and a green snake, which my friend thought was probably a pit viper. Apparently, they bite a lot but they're not poisonous. We also went out to eat after with a group of about 10 Taiwanese and that was a pretty cool experience.
The second day they were here, we went to Wanli to a Hash run. This was the usual for me, a crazy Sunday. But for Emily and Dylan, I think it was the highlight of their trip. I remember my first hash, and it completely blew my mind. The hash run was actually a little disappointing compared to some of the other ones, but it was still fun and the bash afterwards was awesome! The whole group was in a good spirits because Emily and Dylan were there and the Hash always likes when new people are there. And we convinced Dylan to eat part of a chicken's foot. Afterwards, we went and sampled betel nut where Dylan proceeded to pass out for about a minute. Drama ensued when one of the hashers broke a light by accident on a storefront and the shopkeeper came out and demanded we pay him 7000 NT (about $230 US) to replace the light. After a lot of arguing, we gave him 1500 NT and then he called us his brothers and said we could come back anytime. Yeah right! It was crazy but...only in Taiwan.
The next 5 days they were here, I had to teach so they did a lot of sight-seeing on their own. They saw a lot of temples and other touristy things like that. We did check out the Shilin night market which was very cool, for the second time. We also had the privilege of going to the top of Taipei 101. It's a very striking building and it had a great view at the top. One thing that was a little strange was feeling the building move occasionally. It was a little unnerving. There was a cool informational video talking about the construction of the building that played in the observation area. We did go at night though so all we really saw was the glow of the city. Going up there during the day would be more interesting, but unfortunately the air is hazy here often so it's tough to go up on a clear day. We were lucky enough to have the cook from my school host us that night as well. We really lucked out!
Dylan and Emily also came and observed me at school. That was a lot of fun and the kids really liked them. The highlight of the day was probably when they helped me make clay airplanes for the kids in two of my classes. It was adorable, ha ha. So I'm not sure exactly what they thought of Taiwan in general, but I can safely say that I am SO glad that they came and I had a great time with them.
On to more current stuff...today was my first day tutoring Brian from my K3B class. I am going to tutor him once a week for the rest of my time here in Taiwan. He's the cutest kid in my K3B class and he's really funny too. We read books for about an hour today, and then his family took me out on an adventure for the day. We went to Keelung on the northeast tip of Taiwan. This was a gorgeous area and I'll post pictures soon to better describe everything. We ate at a restaurant first, where I made sure to crack open a prawn and have the inner juices explode all over my arm and shirt. Then we went on an hour long-ish hike along the coast. This was very scenic! I felt like I was in Hawaii! Unfortunately, it did sort of drizzle the whole time, but it wasn't that hot as a result so that was good. (At this point in the blog, carpal tunnel is setting in, ha ha). Then we went to Jiufen, a small town on a hillside close to Keelung. This was a very unique town with narrow streets and shops stuffed in every imaginable crevice of the city. This was very cool and a very authentic experience. I ate a Taiwanese dessert that consisted of ice cubes floating in a soup, accompanied by sweet chunks of vegetables and beans. It was pretty good, but kind of odd at the same time. Apparently, it's a very popular dish though...when in Rome. We did see a fair amount of tourists though, but not white people. They looked Chinese but they were speaking English, so they were probably ABCs (American-born Chinese) on vacation. Come to think of it, I think I only saw two white people today total, and we were in some very touristy places. Oh well. There were a lot of cool shops and scents and scenery so that was great to see! Afterwards, we headed to the Keelung night market....crazy! I thought Shilin was crazy but this was crazier for sure! There were so many people. It was ridiculous. You could barely walk. Again, I'll add pictures to better describe it. I did eat two more dishes that Keelung is famous for...when in Rome. I had "pow pow bin" or something like that, which is basically Italian water ice. I also had some fried sandwich filled with mayonnaise, tomatoes, cucumbers, sausage, and eggs. It was pretty good at the time but I felt sick after (and me typing about it now is not bringing back fond memories). I got home at about 10 PM. So yeah, that was the first day of tutoring...11 hours with Brian's whole family, 3 popular authentic Taiwanese dishes, 2 popular tourist destinations, and a partridge in a pear tree. Also, Brian's sister is 3 I think and she was so adorable. She kept calling me "Mister Ryan" all day, but that's practically the only English she knows. It was quite a day, to say the least. And the plan is to do something like this every week, but more on that later. I'm tired now and not sure what else to ramble on about. I hope this makes up for the last few weeks of time off, but hey, it's been busy. Yeah yeah, we're all busy.
Last thing, in the running world...Galen Rupp is amazing and Dathan Ritzenhein is back in the game. Perhaps Alan Webb too. It's very exciting stuff! I did attempt to sign up for my first race in Taiwan, but unfortunately registration is closed because they gave out all the entries already. Now the next race in Taiwan isn't until October. Oh well. Now I'm actually going. Goodbye!
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