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,
As you may know, the annual Dragon Boat Race is upon us in a couple of weeks. The competition is divided up into "Locals" and "Foreigners." In the foreigner teams, you must have at least 10 foreigners rowing; the rest can be Taiwanese. The grand prize is a golden dragon worth NT$60,000, or US$1,764.

Here we are with twelve people in our boat practicing. Notice the gaping hole in the middle =D

Goggles and a face mask! (Thank you Dani & Billy for demonstrating above)

Dear friends,
On Sunday, I went to Xiziwan with a friend and we went to Wan Shou Shan, which is near Cai Shan. We originally planned to go hiking up monkey mountain, but I was not wearing the appropriate shoes so we ended up going to Wan Shou Shan.

We stopped by a coffee shop on the way to Wan Shou Shan. The entire shop was nestled in the forest; you can see a picture of it to the left.

There were many scenic spots along the road going to Wan Shou Shan. For example, the picture to the right is a view from a road side stop.

Once we reached Wan Shou Shan, there was a great spot where I could take a picture overlooking all of Kaohsiung.

It was a great trip and we hope to go hiking up monkey mountain before I leave Taiwan in July.

Dear friends,
This past weekend, I went with my host family to Alishan Mountain in Central Taiwan. Last week and this week are special weeks that the cherry blossoms bloom, flowers given to Taiwan by Japan as a gift. We woke up at 6am and drove four and a half hours to Alishan National Forest Recreation Area. There were SO many people there! The blooming of the cherry blossoms is a very special event and it attracts lots of tourists from all over Taiwan.

At Alishan, we also saw lots of gigantic trees. The picture to the left is a red cypress about 2,000 years old! When we went to Alishan, the weather was fantastic, clear skies and very warm. We hiked the trails up the mountain and then came back down on the train. Most people took the train up, but the line was too long at the bottom of the mountain so we decided to just walk up.

Be sure to check out photos here! There are lots of jumping photos of me and my host family.

Dear friends,
I'm behind on my blogging because I've been so incredibly busy these past four weeks. On Sunday, December 21, the Bureau of Education organized a trip for all the ETAs (English Teaching Assistants), LETs (Local English Teachers), and host families of the ETAs to go to Ping Dong county (Sandimen) & Mei-Nung. If you remember, I have already been to both of those places so I showed my co-teachers and host family around.

From left, the family of my host mom's colleague (whose son also happens to be my student!), me, co-teacher Chia-Ling, and my host family

When we went to Sandimen, I rode a swing made by the aboriginals. Two people need to be in balance to pull the rope strings that swing the swing. It was pretty fun.

Here I am on the swing...

After we played with the swing, all of the ETAs, LETs, and host families went to make clay pottery. Last time I went to Meinung, I made a cup, remember? This time, I made a wall decoration (see picture below). I had my host family and co-teachers sign it. The top two holes are for stringing ribbon through so it will hang. The bottom hole is for me to hang a picture of my host family and co-teachers.

There are lots and lots of pictures of this trip here. Be sure to check it out!

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,
I was not able to update about my first trip to Kending last Sunday because everybody that went to Kending wanted to surprise our apartment mate, Billy, that we went to Kending that same weekend. However, I think it is appropriate to update now because any later and I'll forget what we did =D.

Last Sunday, I went with Joyce's family to Kending, the Southern peninsula of Taiwan. It was absolutely beautiful, although very windy. We began our trip at Hengchun, the town made famous by the movie Cape No. 7 (See earlier posts about this movie). Along the road, were various fruit, wine, egg, and other small stands (see below).

In the photos above (from left to right) you can see wax fruit (Lein Wu, my new favorite fruit), rice millet wine, and all sorts of duck/chicken eggs. Wax fruit tastes a bit like apple, except sweeter, juicer, and not as dense.

After we walked along the road with all these various stands, we went to the famous film spots of Cape No. 7 in Hengchun. If you've seen the movie, I will let you know that we went to Aga's house, the old postman's house, the elderly lady's house to whom the Cape No. 7 letters were directed, and the West gate. We also passed by a lot of the other film spots.

A map of all the film spots in Hengchun that was displayed outside of Aga's house

After visiting the film spots, we went to several scenic spots including Nanwan (pictured below).

We only spent one day in Kending, but I have over 200 pictures that you can view here. Just a warning, it's a long album...

Enjoy the beautiful scenery of Taiwan! Thanks, Joyce for taking me and Kate =D

Dear friends,
I went to Sandimen Village, an aboriginal town in Pingdong County (Southern Taiwan) on Sunday. The aboriginals are famous for their artistic talent--singing, dancing, painting, and making crafts. They are characterized by darker skin and larger eyes. Up until this point, I thought there were only Han Chinese living in Taiwan. However, after seeing more and more aboriginals at my school and during this trip, I can begin to tell the difference between the two sets of people.

I went to Sandimen with Joyce, a co-worker from Ling Zhou Elementary School, her family, Kate, and Billy. We began the day by first heading to the Dragonfly Beads Art Studio, a particularly famous location in Taiwan because of its handmade beads. There are only a handful of these studios in all of Taiwan. The aboriginals use heat to melt the glass beads, which when cooled, are used to make jewelry. Each bead has a special meaning attached to it. One of their necklaces (pictured below) was used in the famous Taiwanese movie Cape No. 7. 

Above: The Pearl of Eternal Love (August)

There is a pearl for every single month. When we were at the Dragonfly Beads Art Studio, I decided to make the pearls pictured below for my family. I did not choose the pearls based on my family members' birth month, but instead chose the pearls based on aesthetics and meaning.

Top: The Pearl of Delicate Happiness (December)

Middle: The Pearl of Green Rich Harvest (March)

Bottom: The Pearl of Industrious Mind (November)

One of the artists helped me make the beads. She was part of the tribe, Paiwan, that specializes in making these glass beads. The population of the Paiwan is somewhat above 82,000. According to a brochure from the Bureau of Cultural, Park, Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Paiwan are the best at handicrafts. Apparently their expertise in handicrafts is a result of their heirarchical social structure; the nobles have a lot of time to refine their artistic skills because they do not participate in the daily-life productions. The Paiwan make a variety of objects, ranging from tools to architectural parts (i.e. wooden beams, pillars, etc.).

After making our beads, which took about 8 minutes to make and 40 minutes to cool, we headed to the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Culture Park. There, we saw the tribe members of Paiwan dance and light firecrackers. The costumes they wore were very beautiful and brightly colored. We took a bus to the indoor Naluwan Theater within the park and on the way, saw many beautiful scenic spots.

For more pictures of this cultural experience, please see this album: Taiwan Photo Set 19: Sandimen Village.

A few of us outside the arena stadium (see inflatable teletubby-look-alike behind us?)

Dear friends,
Yesterday I went to the opening ceremony of the Taiwan National Athletic Event. It was very interesting because the mascots for the Athletic Event look like teletubbies. These inflatable teletubbies were hilarious. They bounced around, bumped into each other, and if they fell on the floor, they flailed their arms and couldn't get back up. Although the dancers during the ceremony were pretty cool, I  think the highlight of the event was just watching these little teletubbies bounce around. Some couldn't get through the arena doors and some even deflated! And of course, the event wouldn't be complete without flying teletubbies...

Yep...flying teletubbies that seemed to only be held by their costumes

The National Athletic Event was a little bit like the Olympics because these teletubby-like things escorted the athletes into the stadium and then they all lined up in the middle like so:

And then, there were fireworks:

The Kaohsiung Arena Stadium

You can find more pictures in this album here. After the opening ceremony ended, all of us went to eat and dance at a Mexican restaurant in Taiwan.

By the way, I got my hair cut. You'll notice in the pictures that my hair is much shorter. I will say more about my hair cut in another post =D.

Dear friends,
My host family took me, Dan, and Dani to make dumplings at their house today. We boiled the dumplings and they were delicious. Afterwards, we tossed/kicked around a ball before heading out to Kaohsiung Seaport. The seaport reminded me a lot of New York's Pier 21. Kaohsiung's seaport is an industrial cargo port, though, whereas New York's pier is mainly a fish pier if I remember correctly. The area we went to had many factories and coal firing plants. My host mom told me that the villagers that used to live there were paid to leave by the government because it was not healthy to live near the large factories. The pier was still pretty and peaceful, despite the pollutants in the air.

All of us making dumplings

At the seaport, the control tower is shaped as the Chinese character "Gao" for Kaohsiung. After we visited the seaport, we went to a special place where you can watch the airplanes land & take-off while drinking beverages. I thought it was a bit strange at first, but once I saw what this special place was, I liked it very much. The special place is basically an outdoor cafe right beside an airplane landing strip.

It's very cool because they played music from the movie Cape No. 7 (see previous blog) while you were sitting outside sipping your mango sherbert drink or cafe latte. I never thought I'd be excited watching an airplane land & take-off, but it was pretty amazing. You can see pictures of the outdoor cafe in this album.