Four Months in Taiwan

We have officially been in Taiwan for four months. That alone sounds insane but to think that we still have, at least, eight months to go. That sounds even more insane. Especially because our apartment already feels like home so I can't imagine how it is going to feel when it is time to leave.

Ever since Shawn and Tarisha visited, we have both felt an invisible pressure to decide what comes next after Taiwan. I mean that invisible pressure is always there but I feel like its more pronounced since we had some visitors. So what next after Taiwan? I think for myself, teacher's college in September 2014. Hopefully I am accepted to Brock, but I don't have to apply for that until December. Life here feels like it's just on hold, like our life here in Taiwan isn't real life yet.

What I do know is that I have Chinese lessons tomorrow morning at 9:30 so I should head to bed. Goodnight blog readers. I leave you with this quote.

Busy and Busier

As time goes on, we just get busier and busier. We are both almost up to a full schedule (which means 20 hours of class). I was just given two more regular classes on Saturday so I am up to 14 hours. Rick was given more classes on Wednesday and Friday so he is at the same amount of hours. I am currently at three different schools while Rick is at two, with four out of his five days being all at the same school. His main school just happens to be down the street from where we live, I wouldn't be lying to say that I am jealous.

Some of my newer classes are definitely a struggle for me. Most of them are older, more advanced classes and I find these levels/ages a lot harder than the younger children. Most of them are so shy and/or don't want to be there, so they practically refuse to even try to speak  in English. It can be frustrating but it is definitely fun. If anyone has any tips for engaging an older age, I am all ears. 

My new classes on Saturday are at a downtown school which makes it almost impossible to park and insane traffic. I was told that if I wanted to find a parking space, I would have to move a bunch of other scooters over in order to fit my scooter. I wasn't looking forward to this as I have a lot of trouble moving my own little 50cc scooter. So I elected to get Rick to drive me there and it was only a half hour walk back home when I was finished. 

Today we went into Taipei to see Iron Man 3 in IMAX 3D, It was a very good movie but both of us were disappointed, it could have had something to do with our expectations but nonetheless. Decide for yourselves but it was no Ironman 1. We got home and I was having a craving for cookies so I looked up a recipe to try and make a few of them for myself. We recently acquired a toaster oven from a teacher who was moving and ended up owning two of them (Thank you Josh!). So I went to work, with lots of substitutions since we didn't have baking soda, vanilla extract, or applesauce. It ended up okay. Our toaster oven only has one setting so it was a challenge but I think they ended up pretty good for a first try.

Scooter Time

Rick and I are both officially scooter owners. My first day of scootering was scary but an experience. Its exciting and terrifying at the same time. Today I will be following Sam to Nan-Kan. Wish me luck.

Once I can get the pictures off my phone, I'll post some pictures here of my scooter and Rick's as well.

ALSO. On an unrelated topic, if you're reading this blog and you have ANY questions or comments at all. Feel free to post on the entries! I would love it if someone could benefit from this blog who is considering coming to Taiwan. Because I know that when I came here, I was reading every blog I could and I had so many questions for the writers but there often wasn't a way to get into contact with them. So please, leave a comment! Ask questions, we would be more than happy to answer any!

Back to Normal Life

And by that, I mean Melissa getting two more regular classes, a very busy week of working, oh and WINNING A TABLET. After a busy week of new regular classes, and lots of subbing, we decided to go to the movies on Saturday night.

We ended up going a lot later than planned because Rick had a test that went over. So we had to buy tickets for a later show and had two hours to spare. We decided to spend those two hours at the arcade. 10 minutes and 70NT (just over $3 CAD) later, Rick won a tablet. It was so exciting, I actually screamed in the arcade haha. It's not the best tablet in the world but you can only ask for so much when you pay practically nothing for it. 

Back to real life. No more vacation until June when my parents come to visit. Time to save our money until then.

Shawn and Tarisha: Goodbye

We spent Tarisha and Shawn's final days in Taiwan hanging out around Taoyuan, going to the movies, and just enjoying each other's company. It was the perfect ending to their time in Taiwan. Saying goodbye to them back in Canada was hard enough and saying goodbye to them in Taiwan was no different. Having them around felt so normal, hanging out with every day. Which is what makes it so hard to not see them until we go back home.

Their presence in Taiwan is definitely missed now that they're gone. 

We will miss them until we see them again. 

Goodbye friends.

Shawn and Tarisha: The South of Taiwan

The South of Taiwan was amazing. So beautiful. The beaches were beautiful. The people were so nice and Spring Scream was amazing. Instead of talking about our time in the South in chronological order, I am going to talk about all the different places separately.

Our hostel wasn't right in Kenting, it was actually on Nanwan Beach which was fine with us because we loved being a walk away from a beach. Our hostel had such a surfer/party atmosphere, it was really great. They made us breakfast there everyday and they had the cutest dogs who were always around. We didn't have a private room at this hostel so all that was left was the dorm option which was okay with us. We weren't expecting anything special but we were shocked to find out that three of us were expected to all share, really, one bed. And one person was supposed to sleep on the top bunk next to someone random. Lucky for us we were travelling in a group of four so the four of us just split the bottom bunk, it was more than big enough. But I couldn't imagine what it would have been like if I was travelling alone and was told I had to sleep with someone I didn't know.

The beach in Nanwan was beautiful. It was always packed, and there was so much to do on the beach. You could rent a jet ski, or pay to have a jet ski pull you around on a tube but we just enjoyed the water. For 300 NT ($10), we rented a beach umbrella for the whole day. On one of our days there, it had rained a lot the night before so by the time we had gotten to the beach, the waves were massive. We all had an amazing time that day, even Shawn who usually doesn't even like to touch the water.

Going into Kenting was definitely an experience. The traffic was crazy and horrible all at the same time. The restaurants were so expensive and so were the shops. And yet I still had an amazing time. The atmosphere in Kenting is so carefree, it really just felt like I was on an all inclusive resort. While the food was expensive, it was also very good. We ate at Amy's Cucina and their hawaiian pizza was amazing. There were also so many food stalls. I was shocked to see deep fried Oreos in Taipei but in Kenting, there is at least 10 different stalls selling deep fried Oreos.

The final part of our trip was Spring Scream. Where they held the music festival was beautiful. And it was so much fun being there. Even though I didn't understand any of the music, it was such an awesome experience. So many young Taiwanese people and foreigners all in one place. The food stalls there were also amazing. We went for the make your own frozen yogurt every single day haha. I am so glad we decided to get the tickets and go to Spring Scream, it was definitely worth the money.

So ends our time in the South of Taiwan. We headed back to Taoyuan via bus and then the HSR and spent our last couple days with Shawn and Tarisha here.

Shawn and Tarisha: Hualien

Woke up early and flew off to Hualien. Literally. We could've taken a train but it would've taken 5 times as long and it wasn't that expensive to fly. So off we went. A half hour later, we had arrived in Hualien and headed to our hostel. Since we arrived at around 2PM, we decided to save Taroko Gorge for the next day and explore the city of Hualien. We grabbed a taxi, got dropped off in downtown Hualien and went walking. We ran into a beautiful Buddhist temple that was holding a ceremony right after we arrived and we stayed to watch for a bit at their request. It was very interesting to see.

As we continued on our way, we did a little shopping and then found the seaside. There were beautiful views of Hualien so we stayed there for awhile to admire the view and of course take a bunch of pictures. Looking at the pictures now, it still doesn't feel real how beautiful everything was.

Our first night in Hualien ended with a visit to the night market. The food was great, Rick and I finally got to try coffin bread (toast that is filled with your choice of filling), and we were definitely pleased with how amazing it was. While Tarisha and Shawn ventured far past what they are used to eating back home in Canada and got... pizza!

Our second day in Hualien was devoted to Taroko Gorge. The pictures speak for themselves. So beautiful and I can't wait to return with my parents, WHEN THEY COME IN JUNE!

After our long and amazing day in Taroko Gorge, we were headed to Kenting the very next day. My mistake was not booking a train beforehand. So when I went to book one that night, there were no more seats. There was standing room but an eight hour train ride standing was not what any of us had in mind. We ended up flying back to Taipei, and taking the High Speed Rail (HSR) to Kaohsiung and from there a two hour bus to Kenting. Finally, we had arrived in the South.

Shawn and Tarisha; Part Two, Taipei Zoo and Maokong Gondola

We woke up bright and early (well some of us did), and headed off to the zoo! It was a rainy day so it wasn't too busy which is exactly what we wanted. It also gave Tarisha and I an excuse to buy matching umbrellas from the zoo.

Again, the zoo did not disappoint. Every animal was so active, it was amazing. I think the highlight for all of us was the tiger. He was right up against the glass and jumping on top of the glass, I have never seen anything like it before.

After the zoo, we decided to go to the Maokong Gondola ride. For only 100NT there and back, you get to ride all the way up to the Maokong teahouses. It was definitely worth the $3 CAD that we paid. The views were amazing and I would love to go back to see them again. Finally we get to the top and we visit a teahouse. Which also had an amazing view of the mountains right beside our table. This day was definitely an amazing day. We finished it off with visiting mine and Rick's favourite night market in Taipei; the Raohe Street Night Market. We tried to have a somewhat early night as the next day we were headed to Hualien for two days and from there, straight to Kenting for the next four.

Shawn and Tarisha; Part One

They have arrived! And I don't think my days have ever been so full of adventures before they got here! Normally on a day where we teach, we don't do much. We hang out at the apartment, maybe eat some lunch, and that's about it. But Shawn and Tarisha are here so we kept them busy! Hiking before class, and then finally we had our days off!

Saturday was our first full day with Shawn and Tarisha so off to Taipei we went. Our first stop was the National Palace Museum (a first for all of us), the grounds were beautiful, and the museum was also really interesting. There was so much stuff there, it was a lot to take in and we had a full day planned so we didn't visit every exhibit. There is always next time.

Next we were off to the Ximending area of Taipei to eat some food, and do some shopping. I really wanted to try out the Modern Toilet restaurant (they serve all your food in a mini toilet haha) but Shawn felt that his stomach couldn't handle the idea of that. So we went to Chili's. This was the first time that Rick and I went to a Western-style restaurant (other than fast food) so we felt pretty boring haha. Thus we compensated by buying some very Taiwanese clothing!

Off to Taipei 101. It was so beautiful. Rick and I had already been once during the day but when it was darker, it was even more beautiful. The view is extraordinary. After Taipei 101, we went off to try some shaved ice for the first time. My friend Darren had told me about this restaurant called Ice Monster in Taipei that is apparently pretty well known for their shaved ice and he raved about how amazing it was. They did not disappoint. Tarisha and I shared the Strawberry Avalanche and good thing we did share because there is no way we could have finished it alone, we didn't even finish it together. Rick and Shawn shared the Fresh Strawberry Sensation. Safe to say, I'll be back to Ice Monster many more times.

Fresh Strawberry Sensation

Strawberry Avalanche

Tomorrow we are headed to Hualien pretty early so I will have to update about our second day in Taipei later. I'll say this, it involved tigers, gondolas, and tea.