To my Golden Students

Before I more on to Honduras, there's one last post I need to write on Taiwan. This one is for my students.

As I assume most of you know, my occupation while living in Taipei was teaching English. Actually as a kindergarten teacher at Golden American School, I taught all subjects including math, art, science, etc. I have had the privilege of meeting my students as a substitute when they were mere babies in K1, then returning as their teacher from K2 to K3.

In Chinese, the word for 'children' is 小朋有which translates into "little friends". Every day when I walked into the classroom during their breakfast, my students (some still sleepy) would chirp "GOOD MORNING TEACHER KALONG I LOVE YOU" in unison and come running to give me a hug. Imagine starting every day with a siege of children wrapped around around your legs, asking if you've had coffee yet. Nothing is better. No matter how sad, tired, stressed or upset I was, being with my students made everything bearable. They were my little angels, always eager to tell me what they did over the weekend or give me stickers. They never gave me time to think too much-they just wanted to play and sing song and be silly...I would have gone into work every day for free just to see their faces!

Before I met my class, I wasn't sure if I even liked children. Maybe Taiwanese children are an elite group of children, but I wasn't expecting them to be so smart and head strong, so creative and optimistic even though some of them were still peeing their beds! It wasn't hard for my heart to melt and love each of my students for the individuals they were. If I had to describe their collaborative personality in one word, it would be HAPPY. I didn't know that they could make me so happy as well! It was easy to teach them, because they accepted and respected me as one of their own, only taller I guess.

After two years of singing competitions, messy cooking classes, new baby siblings, missing teeth, going from writing ABC's to full sentences, my students graduated last month. They are now attending elementary school as first graders, and must learn how to adjust themselves in a bigger world. As proud of them as I am, it was so hard to let them go. I couldn't believe how quickly they grew up, and I hope they'll be silly and happy forever.

I miss them terribly. Despite all the friends I have in Taipei, my 'little friends' were the ones I saw the most and I adored them. Now next week I get to meet a new class. Only these kids will be Honduran. I have no idea what to expect-I just hope that they are just as cool as my Golden kids. And so it continues...

 "We don't want to say goodbye, we want to stay and play. All we can say in Thank You on our Graduation Day!"

 Each job has it's perks ;)

 This was our poster in front of the school! They wanted to capture the awesomeness.

 My lunch buddies.

 Our outing to the farm! 

 On my last official day.

Good bye my darlings! Go follow your big dreams. 

Wrap up time!

That will come another day..."You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll also miss the person you are now at this time and place, because you'll never be this way ever again."

Strangs, that's all I feel. No sadness or excitement, not scared to leave but not happy to leave everyting behind. I know I can always come back to Taipei, but from experience I know it will not be the same if I do. I don't know what's in store for the future- I don't know where I will be living in four months and I'm not too worried about it. I think 25 is an awesome age. I can do whatever I want, and I do and it's wonderful.

I have been blessed with three wonderful years in Taipei. If I try to make a movie of the past three years, and then fast-forward through the whole clip it would just be a blurb of sunshine, my laughing students, packing my backpack for the weekends, afternoons in cafes, nights in sports bars and clubs, running to MRT's, hiking, friends, friends, more friends, you get the idea. 

I've played all over the island as well.

-I've run a half marathon through Taroko Gorge

-climbed the stairs up to the top of Taipei 101

-dragon boat competed for the Dragonboat Festival twice 

-loved up a weekend at Sun Moon Lake

-seen the sunset in Danshui

-set off sky lanterns with friends in Pingxi

-danced with aboriginals in Hualien

-biked around all of Ludao

-snorkeled in Penghu

-hiked over Yangmingshan and dined at the top 

-gorged at Keelung Night Market

-conquered Mt. Jade (the tallest mountain in SE Asia)

-cycled to Taidong

-picked strawberries in Maoli

-scootered around Kenting

-soaked in hot springs in Beitou 

-sipped tea in the mountains of Jiufen 

-explored forts in Kaohsiung

-ate squid balls in Taichung

-surfed in Yilan

-river traced in Jiaoxi and Nanao 

Its' like I've colonized Taiwan with my Kalong-ness and now it's time for me to take over somewhere new. Still, it's weird how the farewell lunches/ get togethers have begun alrealdy. Like Winnie the Pool once said, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

Here are some good memories I've had, all these are pictures that I've been tagged in by friends I've met in Taiwan-where a part of my heart will always be!!! Thank for you everything xx

Of course, I'm going to save my hardest post for Taipei as my last. The one for the students of K3, my precious short friends of whom I have had the privilege of teaching during my stay in Taipei. That will come another day...

How I managed to cycle 160+km without dying.

Last weekend, I did something very out of character. Not only did I get on a bicycle, I cycled for two sweltering hot days along the east coast of Taiwan on it. There was only one reason for my irrational behavior-I couldn't resist another adventure with my best friend. And you know what? It will forever be   one of our fondest memories together.
The bike route down Eastern Taiwan is boasted to have the most beautiful views of sea and mountains in Taiwan. From Hualien to Taidong, there are two popular routes: Highway 11 and Highway 9. On most blogs I read, cyclists took three days to make the trip, but all commented that it was quite possible to do in two if we were fit enough. Highway 11 hugs the border between the coast and mountains, passes by fishing villages and beaches and goes through tunnels and bridges. Highway 9 goes through the valleys and along the railroad tracks, with majestic views of mountains looming over. Boyfriend and I chose to do Highway 11, in two days. We left Taipei on Friday night to Hualien, where our journey started.
We rented our bikes from the Giant Store there the following morning. (**I had made reservations a week beforehand, recommended) They have a great program where you can rent a bike from one location and drop it off at another Giant store. This is SO convenient, and it only costs 1,200NT to have for 3 days, and you can drop it off anywhere there is a Giant store (which is most cities in Taiwan). They prep you with all the tools you need: helmet, repair kit, spare tires, lights, and the best part-bags for your stuff! We emptied out our bags and easily fit our stuff into the provided saddle bags that hooked on to the back of the bikes. The helpful guy pointed us the way to Highway 11 and by 9am we were on our way! I won't go over every detail of our route, we just stayed on Highway 11 the whole way through! For a good description of roads and stuff we passed, here's a blog of a guy who did a similar trip.

On Day One, we went from Hualien to Chenggong, which was over 100 km and about 10 hours of biking. The first few hours were expectedly hilly, and my enthusiasm drained quickly. As soon as the sun started beating down and pedaling got hard, I got pretty grumpy as well and wondered why I had decided to punish myself this way. But we kept on going. 

 At least the views didn't disappoint. 

 While I cursed and fought my way up hills, the boyfriend effortlessly rolled up the hills and took selfies as he patiently waited for me to catch up. Lovely. 

 I had never sweated so much for so long. If it weren't for all the water I kept on drinking, I would have just dried up like a raisin. 

 I used to be terrified of big vehicles passing by while I'm biking. Now I know it's even scarier when you're both in a tunnel!! WTH! Esp when the tunnels never end!

The going got easier after lunch time, and we cycled along in peace after I allowed boyfriend to teach me how to use my gears properly. This made SUCH a huge difference. He went ahead sometimes, but always came back to make sure I was alive and didn't hitchhike my way back. I got better and better at going up hills. But by dusk, our bums were burning..so we found a hotel off the road to stay in Chenggong, ate, giggled at our tan lines and crashed for the night. The worst was over, and we were so proud of each other for biking longer and harder than either of us ever had before! 

On Day Two, we dragged each other out of bed early to get on the road before it got too hot. When we left at 8am, it was already seething hot. We only had about 60 km (4-5 hours) of biking to get to Taidong, so we planned to go at a more leisurely pace and stop more along the way. My butt could not have possibly hurt more. We moaned and groaned but stopped at the sight of San Xia Tai. It was just as marvelous as I had seen in pictures before. Just arches of bridges, but to me it looked like a Chinese dragon! I just loved how it spread over the ocean, not just another river. 

 Sanxiatai 

 On top of the bridge, breath taking.

 My handsome boyfriend conquering rocks!

 We passed by fields that reminded me of Bali, so many rows of green and mountains in the back! 

By lunchtime we reached Dulan, a place I've always wanted to check out. It's known for their expat artist scene and parties at this old sugar refinery factory. Unfortunately we had missed out on the celebrations from the night before so the grounds were empty, and just a few cafes were open where we stopped for lunch. Further down the road, we found a beach behind a half-finished hotel resort. It was pretty, and we finally got to change into our swimsuits to cool off. I left Dulan feeling like it was a bit overrated and deserted, but oh well. 

The Old Dulan Sugar Factory

Feeling refreshed after a mango smoothie and ice coffee at the cafe in their parking lot! 

Shanyuan beach front 

When we got back on Highway 11, we decided not to stop anymore til Taidong. There wasn't too much left to go away, about 30 km. We were both very sun burnt, and ready to go straight home. I had been to Taidong before, and if we had more energy I would have suggested exploring but, seriously. Not at that point. Thankfully the way to the train station in Taidong was paved out for us on a nice bike path lined with trees. The Giant Store is practically attached to the train station on the left, and we dropped off our bikes and changed out of our sweaty outfits in relief by 3pm on Sunday afternoon. 

So, about 16 hours of cycling broken down between two days, 160+ km traveled and still alive. In case you haven't caught on by now, I despise cycling. I don't even OWN a bike! So this was huge for me, and it was more challenging then all the sports I've engaged in before simply because cycling requires ENDURANCE, something I am not familiar with on such an extreme level. I probably won't ever go on a long bike ride again. Ever. But I am so glad we did it! 

I would never have made it without the encouragement and support of my boyfriend, my inspiration and hero. Thank you for not letting me give up, so that now we can reminisce on this one time we biked down half of Taiwan together x

 VICTORY!!!! WE MADE IT!!! 

Watching the sunset in the train, on our way home back to Taipei. YAY! 

Don't go chasing waterfalls...in the summer time in Taiwan.

Despite the heat, summer time is one of my favorite seasons in Taipei because friends come back to play! Last week my friends Joanna & Spencer from Hawaii, Poy, Julie and Chin from London, Max from Germany, Hiro from Japan, Curtis from Portland and Cormac from Ireland and I went on a waterfall hike on the outskirts of town, starting from a little train station village called Sandaoling. I love having so many friends from different parts of the world! I love awkwardly introducing them before going on a random hikes even more. I had read about how awesome this hike was from various blogs like this one, so we went in our swimsuit-all so excited to jump into the water!! 

We got there and started walking down these railroad tracks til we reached a cluster of buildings where the entrance of the hike was. After unsuccessfully finding a place to grab lunch from, we settled down on this local older woman's front porch after she offered to make us ramen if we paid her. It was SO. RANDOM. 

The hiking trail was exciting and scenic, with suspension ladders, ropes, and wobbly stones. We were meant to pass by four waterfalls, and everyone was anticipating a refreshing dip in the river. When we finally got to one, there was just a little drip. No waterfall. Same with the next one, and the one after that! Of course, I was disappointed and felt really bad. Everyone moaned and groaned, but there was nothing we could do...but admire the rocks where there WOULD have been waterfalls! 

According to the blogs, we were meant to keep on hiking til we got to Shifen. The trail we were on ended on a pavement road, so we hesitantly walked along for about an hour or so til we realized I had no idea where we were going HAHA. We asked villagers and after getting pointed to different directions and sweating our asses off, we found another paved road to follow. After a ton of cabs passed us with tourists, we reached Shifen. Half my troops were staggering along cause we had hiked/walked over 5 hours by then! 

Shifen is a mining town where Taiwanese and locals alike come to light off sky lanterns. It's one of my favorite sights in the world-the way those lights just float up into the air with everyone wishes written on them. We let ours off, and then jumped on the train to go back to the city for FOOD. 

Moral of the story is: adventures like these, although considered a fail, make the most memorable and fondest memories. I'll never forget the waterfall hike with dried up waterfalls, and all the old and new friends that were made along the way! 

Sunny days in Taipei..

have been non-existent. Unless you count random hours of blazing hot heat followed by lightning and downpours that flood up to your ankles. It's officially summertime here as of June 21st...was that the date back in the States as well? I don't even know anymore, the seasons just come and pass and blend...

Since it's my last summer in Taipei, I've been feeling Taiwan in a different light. Showing newbies around is fun-but it gives me a weird bittersweet feeling to watch someone experience everything new again. I don't care to marvel at the base of Taipei 101 anymore and I don't care for night market food and I can't stand the humidity. I want to feel excited about living here still-and there are still lots of fun things to do and stuff to discover but my heart just isn't into it anymore. (*Cheesy note: My heart is in San Francisco!)

I've been throwing a lot of BF's (Bitch Fits) around over random taiwanese customer service disputes. ONE example. I sat down at Sushi Express (Taiwanese chain) and tried to order, and got handed a sign that said in English-"Due to the majority of customer complaints, we no longer take individual orders." It's a conveyer belt sushi place, and they have ALWAYS taken orders...so I refuse to go there anymore. Sometimes I go to a place and order food, but they serve something else instead and insist that I eat it because they are out of what I ordered. Unacceptable. Even IKEA here didn't have a popular drawer in stock and I had to go back 3 times before just getting something else. My boyfriend put it best-they follow a 'computer says no' rule. No creativity to make the situation better for the customer, just apologies..or explanations that don't make sense. Maybe it's just the language barrier, maybe it's cultural, maybe it's just happening a lot in my life lately.

But today I went into a mexican joint called Juanita's, and asked for a steak quesadilla. I had just finished 2 hours of intense Spanish grammar classes, and I was hungry. The guy was about to point out that they didn't have it on their menu before I noticed, until a different guy behind him popped up and offered to make one for me anyway, since they had all the ingredients already. I cannot express how grateful and happy I was for such a simple burst of thoughtful customer service. It totally made my day. However, the guy behind the counter spoke had a Californian accent and I'm pretty sure he was an ABC.
Actually, the last foreign service I used, Steven's Movers (moving service), I was also extremely impressed and satisfied with the whole procedure. Two friendly matching guys arrived exactly on time with a nice moving truck, came up and expertly flipped the couch at an angle and cruised out the door within minutes. About a minute later I got a call from Steven himself to check that the job got done and that it was done well. Steven had a clear foreign accent himself, and I was so thrilled to get a follow-up call. I highly recommend them for moving anything!

The rants and raves above are bias from my point of view, so I hope I didn't offend anyone. The point is, everyone appreciates and deserves good customer service. There are tons of exceptions, like my cool Taiwanese dentist (check up texts to make sure painkillers are doing their job!) and local men fighting to open up the washer at the laundromat this morning when something was stuck in the door.  Eh.

Checking out now! xx

UPDATE 6/16/2013

For the past month, I've been happily busy strolling my busy life around in Taipei. Or should I say, rowing by? After taking 4th place for the Taipei City Dragon Boat Festival last weekend, our season finale put Team Max at 3rd place for the New Taipei City Competition. We lost by .05 seconds to our rival team and that was that. It was hard not to be a bit sad since we had trained SO intensely and had won 1st place at the same race last year!
But the friendships and team spirit that were cultivated became stronger than ever as we partied anyway! A crazy blend of 20-30 something year old expats from all over the world: India, Japan, Hungary, USA, Guatemala, Latvia, Germany, England, Australia, Mexico, Taiwan...I love Team Max and I love everyone on my team. It's weird now, we still hang out almost every day but we're wearing normal clothes (not sweats or lifejackets) and it's not 6:30 am anymore when we see each other. It's amazing how ONE passion can bring so many individuals together despite language, culture, personalities, religion or background. We all love to row, and I am very proud to say that this season we all bled orange. Joining a dragon boat team has been one of the best things I've ever chosen to do.

Semi-Final at New Taipei City (I was drumming this one!)

Day trip together!

Taipei City Speaker Cup

Speaking of seasons, this upcoming September will mark my 3rd year in Taipei. Taiwan is like a time warp-an actual Neverever Land. People come here, fall in love with the people and culture-and time 

flies. I can't explain it-you just have to experience it. So many people come and go, but just as many people buy a scooter, sign cellular data plans, furnish their apartments, and stay. Life here is good, there is no denying it. But for me, I've been here long enough to have friends leave and come back, and I don't really have any updates for them. Call it chronic dissatisfaction. Or wanderlust. So ready for my big news?

**OKAY HERE'S MY BIG NEWS!!!**
I'm leaving Taiwan in September. I'm going to back up all my things again and fly to HONDURAS. Tickets have been purchased-it's official!
I'm going to volunteer teach beautiful little children, and play at the beaches after school, and sleep in a bunk bed with a fan and eat lots of fruit, learn Spanish, and fall in love with a new place. I am going to backpack around Central America and build bathrooms on weekends, and I will be happy. I've always wanted to do this, ever since university days it has been a dream of mine. I graduated with a BA in Public Health, you know! I want to experience a simple and happy life with people that have so few materialistic things but are so full of joy and fun. I want to learn how we can help where there aren't enough resources for people to help themselves.  Honduras is the poorest country in all of Central America. I am so beyond excited for this next adventure. Basically, I am checking out of this modern, crowded city life and going to live in a small countryside village because I want to. I need to. More updates on this later on, time for touch ruby!