Taiwan: July 16, 2016

One of the best parts about this trip to Taiwan is the students from Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU). They are so sweet and are always taking us around and translating for us. I rarely translate for international students at Pittsburg State, mostly because my Chinese is not very good and because many of the students are very proficient in their English skills. It's a definite role reversal, though, usually I am the one picking up international students and taking them to Walmart or to get Lotus because they miss their home and that is the closest I can get them to the food they want. Right now I am the international student; I miss my home's food sometimes and I miss my family and Josh. I am in constant need of a local student to find transportation and get food. It just reminds me how human all people are, we need each other to navigate new cultures. In some ways I think I struggle with having American pride, believing I am more intelligent than people in other countries but living as an international student in Taiwan gives me a dose of humility. I think I'll return to school in the fall, rejuvenated to provide the international students at Pitt State with the same experience in America that the students here at CYCU have given me. 

Saturday

On Saturday, the CYCU students planned a cultural trip for us at Sun Moon Lake, Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, and Fengjia Night Market. These three places were around three hours from Taoyuan and close to the city I spent a lot of time in last summer, Taichung! This created a lot of excitement for me because I knew I might be able to see a few friends from Taiwan! We left quite early in the morning and traveled south. Already there were many cultural differences on this road trip. I tend to only stop on a two or three-hour drive when I'm traveling with Josh because his bladder can only handle so much (sorry babe). But we stopped on this short drive at the biggest rest stop I have ever seen, yeah Dad, bigger than that one in Iowa. And there were so many tour buses and people arriving at the same time we were, it was a little crazy. I really should've taken a picture. 

The first destination on the list was the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, an amusement park with little elements of Taiwanese aboriginal history. When we first arrived we got to see an all-girl school's band perform in front of the entrance to the park. They played some classic band music that I even played when I was in the marching band!

The amusement park is connected to Sun Moon Lake by cable car which was so so fun to ride! It was suggested that we go to the lake first because in the mountains thunderstorms usually happen in the afternoon and the cable car will shut down and then we would be stuck at the lake. So we headed to the cable car first. I had never been on a cable car so at first it was a little scary because I don't really know how they work but we made it out alive. Here are some of the views: 

When we made it to Sun Moon Lake we looked at the lake for a while and took some pictures, this was the best one of me, haha! This is my friend Janet, she's pretty funny! :) 

Located around Sun Moon Lake there are some small shops that sell some aboriginal souvenirs and foods. We stopped at a tea shop for a while and got to participate in a tea ceremony which was very interesting and she even gave us some tea samples for free and tea bags to take home. 

After we walked around a bit we headed back to the amusement park on the cable car to look at some aboriginal history, get some food and ride some rides! A lot of the aboriginal decor reminded me of Native American history and decor.  

 

Finally, we were headed to Taichung and I was very excited to see some friends and spend time in an area I am familiar with! I had plans to meet friends at Fengjia Night Market and I knew where to get the good food! First I had some really delicious pineapple and some fried sweet potato balls. I love the fruit in Taiwan because it is so sweet and fresh. Island life is good! Then I waited for my friend Lili to arrive at the night market, it was so fun when she finally found me. She had cut her hair since I last saw her and she brought her boyfriend, James, to meet me! She wanted to hear about the wedding plans and she took me all around the night market and bought her favorite foods for me to try. 

Thank you Lili and James for taking me around your night market and giving me a good time! 

Before I forget I also got to meet up with some of my friends from last summer, but only for a short time! It was really great to see you Vincent and Wendy, I hope to see you again soon! 

I will keep updating the blog and try to catch up this weekend on all of my posts! :) I've been so busy!