Hey everybody!  It’s been a little while.  In Taiwan I’d say, “hao jiu bu jian,” or “long time no see.”  Technically I guess I still haven’t seen any of you, but I’ve talked to lots of you on the phone since being here, and it’s been so good to hear your voices!  I do miss you.

I have been extremely busy adjusting to my teaching job– lots of grading and lesson planning has left me little time to blog, but today is a special day.  I type this as the heavy metal ladder on the balcony gets thrown around by the wind, and outside my window the heavy rain sounds like the sloshing ocean.  It’s the equivalent of a “snow day” in the US… you guessed it: it’s a typhoon day!  An unplanned day off means lots of time to blog!  Hooray!  I actually love storms, they’re fun to watch.  I admit to spending part of today just staring out the window, watching water fall from the sky, things fly from balconies, and people get dragged around by their umbrellas.

Between now and the last post, lots of things have happened, mostly work, but also a few highlightable moments: attempting to pet cats at the Houtong Cat Village, pointing at pandas at the Taipei Zoo, riding a gondola car dangling high over the city of Taipei, spitting mad raps at the Hess Talent Show, and visiting Tammy’s grandmother’s house in Hsinchu, the “windy city” for a classic Moon Festival barbecue with her relatives.

And on that note, let me elaborate…

Houtong Cat Village

You might be thinking, what is a cat village?  Is it a retirement community for cats?  Well, sort of.  It’s a very scenic area where there’s a historic train station, railroad, and small mining museum.  There also happens to be a lot of cats in the area, so all the shops sell cat themed items, and the staircases and walkways are all decorated with cat art.  I went with Tammy, Sean, and Howard, all friends from the TUSA scholarship, and between spotting cats and licking my mango ice-cream cone, I took lots of photos.

After the Cat Village, we went to another train station, the starting point for a hike to a big waterfall.  It was a close call trying to race the sun and get down the mountain before it got dark, but we made it to the waterfall and back just in time for daylight to disappear.

On the way to the waterfall

We made it!

Taipei Zoo and Gondola

According to Tammy, the Taipei Zoo was “koala everything” until… they got a panda.  Now it’s “panda everything.”  Pandas are “in” at the Taipei Zoo.  In fact, upon entering the zoo, you get a special ticket with a time you’re supposed to go see the pandas.  We walked into the panda house and answered some panda trivia, then stood in line to see the real, live bears themselves.  It was almost like the cops at the airport moving you along for idling… there were guards standing in front of the glass telling everyone to keep walking as people with long-lensed cameras tried to sneak one last picture.  The pandas WERE cool, I don’t really remember the last time I saw one, I think I was really little.

Then, of course, there was a shop completely dedicated to pandas, so we went inside and tried on panda hats.  It was then and there that I decided to be a panda for Halloween.  We meandered around the zoo and saw hippos, bison, raccoons, gila monsters.  Eventually we met up with Susan, a friend from training (and from the birthday post).

After the zoo we rode the glass-bottom gondola cars that scale steep mountains and hang suspended over Taipei, completely surrounded by beautiful landscapes.  We went around sunset, so on the way up the sun was just going down, and on the way down, the scenery had completely changed to the moon overhead and Taipei’s city lights below.  It was one of my favorite things we’ve done so far.

Rapping at the Talent Show

A Taiwanese teacher at my school really wanted to do a song called “Can’t wait” in the talent show, but she said the English part was too fast for her, so she wanted to sing the mandarin chorus and have me do the English rap.  At first I was apprehensive, but I agreed to do it.  We organized several practices all leading up to this one big show.  It was pretty nerve-racking going up on stage in front of a large group of strangers in a big auditorium, but thrilling at the same time.  I had a moment of self realization in the middle of the rap: the words were coming out of my mouth without thinking and I simultaneously thought to myself, “This is actually happening, this is the moment we’ve been practicing for!”  We got some applause and it was over.  I’m still so proud of myself for going on stage and performing, it’s not something I would typically do at a formally judged event like this.  The other groups were incredibly talented and we didn’t win, but I didn’t really care about winning.  It was great to see their performances too.

Moon Festival in Hsinchu

We had a four-day weekend in September for Moon Festival, also called Mid-Autumn Festival, a time where Taiwanese families usually get together and barbecue meats, seafood, and vegetables outside under the moonlight with their friends and families.  At work we read a fable about a man named Hou Yi who shot down nine out of the ten suns with his bow and arrow, became famous, and was offered a pill to live forever.  His wife, Chang O, didn’t want him to live forever, so she took the pill.  Except she only needed half, so when she took the whole thing, she floated into the sky, stopped on the moon, and became immortal.  Hou Yi was sad to hear his wife was gone, so he put food on a table under the moonlight in hopes that she might come back.  And that is the story of Moon Festival.

So, on the second day of the Moon Festival holiday, Tammy, her sister, her mom, and I went to Hsinchu to visit her grandmother and meet the rest of her family for a Moon Festival barbecue.  When we got to Hsinchu, Tammy, her sister, and I went to a giant shopping mall called Big City to shoe shop for me.  I’ve already ruined three pairs of shoes since being here, so it was very necessary!  I found some nice blue sneakers, Pony brand, that are very comfy.

Then Tammy’s cousin and his wife picked us up to go back to her grandma’s.  It was nice to see her relatives gather at her grandmother’s for the holiday– it was clear that she is very respected within the family.  We all went on the roof and Tammy’s cousin grilled marinated pork, beef, shrimp, and a variety of other things that I didn’t recognize.  It was much like any American holiday, where relatives continuously offer you food and come ask you about your life.  Tammy’s relatives were so kind, and they spoke to me in the English they knew.  It was very nice to be included in the family celebration.  I can’t wait for Tammy and her sister to visit the US so I can take them to my family’s holiday get togethers.  They have shared so much with me, I really hope I can return the favor at home one day.

And that is the update!  I’ll keep you posted as we go on more adventures.  My high school friend Brian is coming in a couple of months and a group of us will go to Hong Kong for New Years, which I’m really excited about.  I’ll leave you with one last photo.  Talk to you soon!

Meeting up with Kristina, our TUSA friend, for dinner one night at Taipei Main Station