Back in Keelung

Hey everyone!

Well, I'm back home safe and sound! I had a lot of fun on my trip. We drove down the East coast, stopping wherever looked pretty. It took us 4 days to drive the East coast. Very windy (as in turning not blowing! long 'i'! haha) and hilly roads. There was a lot of traffic in some spots but all in all it was good driving. The coast is very beautiful. We spent the 4th and 5th nights in Kenting on the very southern tip of Taiwan. This is a very popular tourist destination in Taiwan. It's very warm and has nice beaches. It was so crowded there! My American friend said it was like spring break in the South in the US. A lot of people we knew from training were in Kenting so it was really cool to catch up with everyone. After Kenting, we headed North. In normal traffic we could probably have gotten back in one day but the traffic was so crazy that we had to stop in Taichung because it was getting late.

Most of the time we stayed in dodgy hotels and hostels haha. On the East coast we always spent 300NT ($10) each per night. The first night was at a sleazy hotel in Ilan that had paintings of naked women on the walls and mirrors on the walls and ceiling. The next two nights we stayed in hostels. The first one was in Tarako Gorge and was a big room with 8 bunkbeds that we shared with other people. The second one was in a cool little fishing town just below the Tropic of Cancer where the people were incredibly friendly. We couldn't find a hotel so we stopped at a pharmacy to ask. It was a family run business, and, being Chinese New Year, the whole family was there. One of the daughters is 23 years old and she could speak English. Her father took his scooter and drove around the town looking for a place for us while her mom called around on the phone. When they found one, the two daughters got on the scooter and led us there and then stayed to make sure it was okay and we got settled. The place was pretty nice but the style of the sleeping was that you get this huge room with mats and blankets and pillows and you sleep on the floor. We had the room to ourselves and it was actually pretty comfortable to sleep. The first night in Kenting was so busy that we camped with our friends from training. The next day a few of us found a hotel room. It was more expensive (1100NT each or about $33) but it wasn't as dodgy as the others. In Taichung we spent 400NT (about $13) on another dodgy hotel.

Driving was okay. I did most of it. The drivers here are pretty crazy but once you get used to it you start to drive like them haha. We got lost a few times (once in Taipei!) but we always found our way again. We had a bit of car trouble at one point. We heard this strange noise and smelled some burning so we pulled over. Within minutes there was a medium sized group of locals around us trying to help. They must have called a mechanic friend of theirs or something because a few minutes later a guy pulled up in a van with a toolbox. He jacked our car up and checked all the tires until he found the one that was giving us trouble. He had to rotate the brake pads and remove a little piece of metal that we didn't need but must have been causing the brake pads to rub against something. I clearly don't know much about cars but it did the trick.

I think that's about it. I had a lot of fun and am glad that I got to see so much of the country and experience even more of the hospitality of the people here.

I added more than 250 pictures to my photobucket page. There are pictures from my trip, a few of some kids in one of my classes, and a few from a party i went to before chinese new year. the link again is http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q87/lauraohearn/

Hsin nien kuai le!

Happy Year of the Pig! (I know it's early but I probably won't be posting for a while.)

I know it's been a while; I'm sorry. Time is just flying by here! I made a countdown on my calendar; my contract is up in 293 days :P

I booked my ticket to Australia in April. I'm leaving Taiwan on April 4th and returning on April 16th. I'm really looking forward to it.

Chinese New Year is quickly approaching. We have the car booked, and four of us are going. We're not really sure exactly where we're going or where we'll be sleeping but we're going to buy a tent just in case we get stuck. It will be an adventure!!

On Sunday my company had a big year end banquet to celebrate the new year. It was in Taipei. Some parts were pretty boring (speeches, awards) but there were some performances that were pretty cool. There was this cool drum performance and some of the Chinese Dragons performed during it, too. Very cool. There was also a singer/guitarist who is blind and very talented. There was also a traditional Chinese orchestra. After the ceremony, we went to the dining rooms for dinner. That was interesting, too. I tried many new foods like shark fin soup, jellyfish, eel, amologna (probably spelled wrong but sounds like bologna so I spelled it similarly - it's a type of large clam) and lots of other interesting foods. most of it was yummy. There was also lots of free wine which made for an interesting night :) They ran out of wine just before dessert but after it was over, people cleared out pretty quickly and we went around collecting the half finished bottles from other tables. Waste not, want not. :) We were feeling pretty good after that! haha. Then we went to a little outdoor bar to grab some beer. There wasn't a washroom but there was one in a parkade not too far away. Problem was, there was only a men's washroom!! Someone had taken a pen and drawn a skirt on the sign as well, though haha. There were two urinals and a stall with a regular, western toilet. So, it was my first time using a men's washroom. Hey, that much wine has to come out one way or another!! We didn't stay out too late and shared cabs home. I was in bed by 1 and woke up around 7:30. All in all it was a great night haha. I have pictures on http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q87/lauraohearn/

Here's a creepy story:
When we were at the bus station in Keelung waiting for everyone, this woman came up to me. She had a baby strapped to her front and was smoking (practically in the baby's face) and chewing betelnut. She said "Hello" and then proceeded to talk in Chinese. Now, I'm taking Chinese lessons but I can't understand a whole lot yet. Luckily everyone else there spoke Chinese and English so they could translate. She asked me how old I am and kept saying that I'm very beautiful and how beautiful foreigners are. She asked me if I'm married or have children. Then she made me hold her baby's hand. It was almost as if I were a celebrity or something and she wanted to be able to tell her baby later on that she had met me when she was very young. It was pretty creepy.

Well, that's all that's new on this end. I probably won't write again until after Chinese New Year. So, Happy Year of the Pig! and, Happy Valentine's Day!!

play safe and have fun!