Dear friends,
These past few weeks have been extraordinarily busy. I went to Taipei two weekends ago for the Fulbright Farewell party for Dr. Wu and all of us Fulbrighters. Dr. Wu Jing-Jyi has been with the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange for nearly 20 years. He has contributed a lot to Taiwan's art and culture scene. Without his advancements for the arts in Taiwan, there would be no Cloud Gate Dance Troupe in Taiwan. When he retires, he will be directing a creative research center in his name.

Dear friends,
To celebrate the new year, I went to Taipei (again). I was just there the weekend before to see Lang Lang play piano. I went with Kate and a friend from college, Chao-Wei.

When we got to Taipei, we walked around a lot because we got there super early. The outdoor concert started at 7pm; we got there at 6pm. It was also lightly raining in Taipei and it was much colder than Kaohsiung. The wind chill is not as awful as Iowa winter weather, but it was colder than the 70 degree weather in Kaohsiung. I borrowed Chia-Ling's coat because I didn't bring any real winter clothes because I thought this tiny little island wouldn't be cold. Well, I sure was proven wrong when I got a cold last month during the weather change. Anyway, thank you Chia-Ling for letting me borrow your coat; it kept me very warm =D.

When the concert started at 7pm, it was pretty cool because Kate, Chao-Wei, and I got pretty good spots considering we were so early. There were many famous singers at the concert, but I don't really remember their names. However, I did see S.H.E. sing several songs, this guy from Tainan who wore cool glasses (see pictures below), and I really wanted to see MayDay (Wu Yue Tian) sing, but they were last. We left our good spot in front of the concert early because we wanted to be near the MRT to beat the mad rush home after the fireworks. I was really grateful that did that because we got to where we were staying at 1:30am and not 2 or 3 am.

The Famous Singers at the Outdoor Concert (at least up until we left for a closer location near the MRT)...

Click to enlarge the pictures

The next day, I was very tired, but I had an excellent breakfast to start the New Year. Check it out:

We met up with some of Chao-Wei's friends in Taipei and we had lunch at Din Tai Feng. After lunch, we headed to the biggest night market in Taipei, Shi Lin Yie Shi. Lots of fun! You can see lots of photos in Taiwan Photo Set 27.

Dear friends,
On the same day that my students had the Christmas performance, I left for Taipei with my host family to see Lang Lang play piano. For those of you who do not know, Lang Lang was the piano player at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. You can read stories about him here from the New York Times.

When I saw him in concert the day after Christmas (December 26), I was amazed. He plays with such vigor and always with a smile! He moves his whole body to the music and always closes his eyes. It was very impressive. I played piano when I was growing up so I can appreciate his music as a fellow pianist, and boy, was I astounded. I kinda fell asleep during the slow movements, but I would quickly wake back up. I was very tired after weeks of not that much rest.

At the end of the concert, Lang Lang did TWO encores!! The audience was so surprised and we couldn't stop clapping. During the second encore, Scarlet and my host dad left to stand in line to get Lang Lang's signature. So, when Tai-Shia (my host mom) and I came out of the concert, Scarlet was already in line and I just took the place of my host dad. When we were waiting to get the signature, I realized I had nothing but a scrappy piece of paper for Lang Lang to sign.  When I approached the signing table, Lang Lang looked at me funny and asked me what this was in Chinese and I told him I didn't have anything else. He looked at me funny again and signed it. When I got out of line with Scarlet, we were some of the first people he signed, I snapped a few pictures of Lang Lang, then got back in line. Why you ask? Because my host mom bought me a program booklet for Lang Lang to sign properly. This time, though, I was at the very end and I had to kindly ask the security guards to even let me back in line. So, I got Lang Lang's signature TWICE! The picture above is Lang Lang's signature in the program booklet. The scrappy piece of paper just didn't make the cut =D.

When we got back to the Evergreen Hotel after the Lang Lang concert, Scarlet decided that we would visit the Evergreen Maritime Museum the next day. What a good decision that was because when we went to the museum we learned so much about ships, their history, and their operation. The museum director even gave us a personal tour of the museum! (See picture below).

After that, all of us  (Chia-Ling and my host family) went to Yang Ming Shan (Yang Ming Mountain) to hike. It was breathtaking and you can find pictures here in Taiwan Photo Set 26.

You'll find in the same photo album that I like to jump and take pictures a lot, especially if there's a bridge. Check out Scarlet and I jumping, teehee. Click to enlarge the photos.

All the teachers on the graduation field trip

Dear friends,
Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I went with all the 150 sixth graders from my school on their graduation field trip around the Western and Northern part of Taiwan. We went from Kaohsiung to Taichung, then Xin-zhu, then Taipei, Taoyuan, and finally returned to Kaohsiung. I took over 500+ photos, which I have split up into two albums--Taiwan Photo Set 22.A and Taiwan Photo Set 22.B. I hope you have time to take a look at the pictures because they are pretty good, especialy because Chia-Ling took some artistic shots of our trip.

Day 1
We set off from Hua Shan Elementary School at about 7:30am on Wednesday morning and on 4 tour buses carrying 150 students, 9 teachers, and 5 tour guides, we set off for our first destination: bike riding in Taichung (I don't know the exact name of the place we went to ride our bikes because it's in Chinese). The bike route was pretty level and somewhat short, but we the scenery was pretty cool because we crossed a huge bridge and rode through tunnels that used to be for railcars. You can see pictures of the bike ride in this album. After our bike ride, we hopped back on the bus and headed to an amusement park in Xin-zhu.

The amusement park was awesome! There were so many spectacular, and scary, rides. I rode the ride pictured to the right, whose horizontal track turns vertical 180 degrees and then drops you straight down into lots of upside down turns. Chia-Ling and I rode it twice! You would think I would be scared, but I wasn't because of the following story I'm going to tell you:

So, the teachers were all excited to ride the amusement park rides, but they were especially excited to ride the water park ride (pictured below). We put all our stuff down in the storage area and then got into the boat. Look at how happy we are =D.

The ride was so much fun. I'm sitting in the very front with Watson and we both have our hands up. It was exhilarating and we all got very wet.  After the ride, we got out to get our stuff, but when I looked around, my backpack was missing!

First off, let me tell you the backpack wasn't even mine. I borrowed it from Billy, my apartment mate. Secondly, I had everything in that backpack--Alien Resident Certificate Card, Health Insurance Card, ATM card, NT$4,500 dollars, MP3 player, Fulbright business cards, two jackets, an umbrella, and tissue. So, it was pretty valuable. Luckily, I gave my camera to one of the teachers who didn't ride the water ride so I still had my camera. But, I LOST THE BACKPACK that wasn't even mine and all my valuables! I was freaking out!

All the teachers immediately called the theme park managers, all tour guides, and told fellow students to look in bathrooms and trash cans for my backpack. When the teachers asked me to describe the backpack, I told them it was all black. That was only my guess because I couldn't quite remember what it looked like since I only had it in my possession for that morning (I borrowed the backpack only for the three day trip).

We searched for about an hour, students, teachers, and all tour guides (including some tour guides that weren't even part of our tour group!). Finally, Watson, one of the teachers I was with, receives a call from one of the other teachers, "We've found it." "Is there anything inside?" I ask.

"I don't know," says the teacher.

I run over to where they are and see the backpack. Wow. Everything is there.

"How did you find it?" I ask.

"Well, Tsui-Zhu [another teacher] and I thought the backpack must be nearby the water ride so we went around the little souvenir shops. Then, we saw a backpack laying on the floor in one of the shops. But, we didn't know if it was yours because the backpack was GRAY and BLACK. But, I recognized your umbrella sticking out of the side, Shiela, and knew it was yours!" exclaimed Chia-Ling.

Wow. I was SO incredibly lucky. Lots of students lost their items that day, but I was so lucky to have found my backpack with EVERYTHING inside. Apparently, somebody--probably a student--just grabbed the wrong bag and when they discovered it wasn't theirs, they probably just left it where they were. I'm SO surprised they did not steal anything. I thank my lucky stars for that.

So you can see why after two hours of frantic panicking, that incident made me fearless! I rode everything after that. I rode the ride that vertically drops off, the boat ride that swings back and forth, bumper cars, roller coasters, etc. You name it, I rode it. Let me tell you, I had the courage of a lion.

After the amusement park, we went to a hotel in the mountains of some place in-between Xin-zhu and Taipei (I don't know the name, sorry to disappoint. I'll try to find out later). Now, I felt okay after all the rides, a little dizzy, but still okay. Once I got in the car and we headed up the windy mountain roads and, oh dear, I threw up! Terrible, just terrible. A teacher throwing up before her students! Ha! So much for the courage of a lion, eh?

Anyway, the hotel in the mountains was pretty cool. The teachers, later that night, all got together and karaoked. I was terrible at singing, but I still sang because it was fun. We hit the sack at about 1am.

DAY 2
The next day, I woke up rather cold. There was no heater in the hotel and Chia-Ling (my co-teacher) and I suspected that we left one of the windows open. But, to this day, we will never know. Chia-Ling even wore gloves to go to bed!

Anyway, the next morning we got up at 7am and headed to Taipei at 7:30am. We went to the Taipei Zoo. I kept my bag very close to me throughout this excursion...

We saw all sorts of creatures, but the white rhinosaurus was everywhere! The picture to the right is a pretty good shot of the white rhino. We had a lot of fun at the zoo and the class I toured with was pretty photogenic so we took lots of photos. So many photos in fact, that we were late in meeting back up with the rest of the school. Oh well. When the other classes were waiting for us, they enjoyed McFlurries from McDonald's while we took pictures =D

See how photogenic this class I toured with is?

And then, I played with some of our students. My student is killing me with a blow-up sword...

After we spent about an hour and a half at the zoo, we went to the harbor. On the way to the harbor, we visited the house of Dr. Mackey, a Canadian minister who was famous for establishing a hospital in Taiwan. He was also famous for something else...Chia-Ling will have to fill me in on the story again. In the photo to the left is a picture of me and a teacher in front of a Dr. Mackey statue head.

The harbor was absolutely beautiful. But, I can't put anymore pictures of it on this blog because  there's already too many pictures. You'll just have to see the pictures yourself in this album.

When we went to the harbor in Taipei, which is called Danshui, we headed to "Old Street." There they sold lots of "Pi-Dan," or what literally translates into "leather eggs." The eggs are black, small, and the outer layer is very thick and leathery, hence the name. It tasted, different. Anyway, those eggs were very popular amongst the students and teachers; everybody bought a bag. After visiting old street and eating some dessert, we took a a boat to a nearby island (again, the name is in Chinese and my Chinese isn't that advanced).

Check out one of my students enjoying the boat ride to the left. The boat was pretty neat and we all got sprayed by the water (See pictures here). When we got to the harbor, there was an amazing bridge called "Lover's Bridge" that was for pedestrians only. It was huge and beautiful! Check out the architecture in the picture below.

The 6th graders in the picture above is the class I toured with the entire three days. Chia-Ling, Tsui-Zhu (another teacher), and I walked the bridge. It curved so beautifully. Since coming to Taiwan, every single bridge I've been on (two in total so far, hehe), I've jumped on. So, here's a shot of me jumping (see below). The other bridge I jumped on was in Sandimen's aboriginal park. You'll have to look for that picture in one of the photo albums.

Ta da! Me jumping on the bridge. There was also one more bridge on this island that I jumped on. I was jumping against the sunset. You'll have to find it yourself in this album =D.

After walking the bridge and boardwalk, we headed to a five-star hotel in Taoyuan, the Howard Hotel. It was amazing. They had a swimming pool, game room, sauna/jacuzzi, beautiful view above a reservoir, workout room, game room complete with a mini golf course for children, ping pong tables, pool tables, a nice restaurant and lots of other stuff. I was so exhausted from the day that I headed straight to bed at 10:30pm. Once my head hit the table, I fell asleep.

DAY 3
The next day, we went to yet another amusement park. This time, it was in Taoyuan. This amusement park is very special. It's called LeoFoo Village Theme Park and it is equivalent to the Disneyland of California. I think it's even better than the Disneyland in California, though. Granted, I haven't been to Disneyland in over 15 years, but this theme park was AMAZING!

There are four villages in this theme park--a safarii park, an arabic-like-Taj-Mahal theme park, a water park, and a Western cowboy and indians themed park. It was awesome. The teachers and I went to the safarri park first.

We rode a bicycle trolly above some of the animal cages and we also rode a small train.

The train ride took us very close to the tame animals. Look at how artistic this photo of Coach Pao is to the right. Chia-Ling took this picture. The animals came very close...

See Ms. Liu, my dean of student affairs, to the left and the ostrich running after us? We were very close to the animals. We later took a carnivorous bus ride to see the lions and tigers. It was a great safarii ride.

Later, I also rode a camel with a fellow teacher who was just as daring as me! See picture below.

In the photo above, we were just about to head into the Western Cowboy and Indian themed park. There, Chia-Ling and I rode a roller coaster ride called the Screaming Condor. It was pretty crazy because the ride was very very high and it twisted. We also rode something like the Tower of Doom back in Denver, a normal vertical drop with no twists and spirals. Lots of fun, but only some of the teachers joined us because the others were too scared =D.

At the end of the amusement park trip, about 1pm in the afternoon, we headed back to Kaohsiung. The four and a half hour ride back to Kaohsiung was very long. Our tour bus passed the time by singing KTV, all four and a half hours. Amazing, eh? The kids, teachers, and I sang for four hours straight, no sleeping!

When we got back we were all exhausted. We got back early, though. It was only 5:30pm!

The trip was so much fun. Thank you Hua Shan Elementary School and Principal Liu for inviting me to go. I got to know my 6th graders better and saw lots of Taiwan.

Below, you can see some artistic shots that Chia-Ling took on our trip. She's quite the photographer.

What a fun three days. But, the next day, I had to wake up at 8:30 to go to Kending with my host family! It was non-stop fun. I was jumping from one place to the next. I visited the North part of Taiwan and the next day, I visited the South part. Keep reading for my exciting adventures...

Dear friends,
The Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited all the Fulbrighters to Taipei to celebrate the national holiday, Double Ten (October 10). We had to look all spiffy for this event so if you check out this album, you will find all of us in cocktail dresses and suits. A special guest was at this event, President Ma Ying-Jeou! It was such a surprise because all of us didn't know the President was going to be there. A few of us shook hands with him; I only got a few good pictures of him.

The reception was outdoors and the food was laid out buffet style. Many different restaurants came to exhibit their dishes including Din Tai Feng. The food was very good. At the reception a few us got silhouette portraits done for free. I've never had a silhouette picture of myself before and our whole apartment is going to hang them above our television for decoration =D.

The day after 10/10, a few of us went to the National Palace Museum and the National Taiwan University campus. I've already been to the National Palace Museum, but the last time I went I only had an hour or two in the museum. This time around, I spent more time in the exhibitions.

Given I only had two days in Taipei, this trip was pretty packed with fun activities.

Dear friends,
Last weekend, I went to Taipei with all twelve Fulbright English Teaching Assistants. We went on the High Speed Railway (HSR) that was just built a few years ago.

The HSR only takes about an hour and a half to get from Kaohsiung to Taipei. When I arrived, I checked into a hotel and later toured the Chang Kai Shek Memorial. You can find pictures here. The conference was a lot of fun and I met a lot of  different researchers. Some were doing research on identity, China-Taiwan politics, mental illness, Buddhism and Chinese medicine. My hope is that when I travel around Taiwan, I can visit all the researchers and the researchers will visit me in Kaohsiung.

After the conference, I visited the National Palace Museum with Shana & Billy,  fellow Fulbright ETAs. We also visited Taipei 101 (we didn't have enough time to go up, though). I did a lot in those short 3 days. The photo album is just a snapshot of Taipei. I am sure I am going to go back there soon.