The countdown to America was becoming more real every day. Besides traveling to nearby countries, another major Taiwan bucket list item of mine was visiting my host family from the TUSA scholarship four years earlier. We had stayed in touch a little bit, but I couldn’t leave the country without seeing them for at least a weekend. Shortly after my epic five-country trip, I took a bullet train to the southern end of the Taiwan, near Kaohsiung. Fanny (my host mom) and Jeremy (her son) were waiting for me at the exit with smiles. They guided me to the parking lot, where Caleb (my host dad) picked us up in the car. Jessica (the daughter) was at her science class and would meet up with us later in the day. We picked up Jeremy’s classmate and then dropped them off at their science class. Mind you, this was a Saturday. In Taiwan, Saturdays are for science, apparently.

Once the kids were in school, Fanny and Caleb took me to the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, formerly called the Buddha Memorial Center. Tammy and I had visited there near the end of my first stay in Taiwan, so it was only fitting to return near the end of my second. Plus, Caleb is Buddhist, so he could provide some firsthand information about what the art on the walls was depicting. Fanny helped Caleb translate some of the Buddhist values he was explaining as we walked toward the museum, passing various Buddha-inspired scriptures and murals.

Immediately as you enter the museum, there’s an incredible carving out of a tree trunk. The piece was completely covered with little buddhas posing in different positions. It must have taken the artist months to complete, maybe even years. It’s a depiction of the “Shakyamuni Buddha teaching the Dharma at Vulture Peak to Five Hundred Arhats,” which is a famous story in Buddhism.

Next, we moved on to an exhibition hall of artifacts found in underground palaces. We listened in on the guides of tour groups, and Fanny translated what they were saying to me. After that, we went into the Jade Buddha Shrine, where a large, reclining Jade Buddha lay in front of a room full of cushions for Buddhists to kneel in prayer. We had to take our shoes off to enter the shrine. Caleb explained to me that when Buddha is lying down like that, he’s about to enter the afterlife, so it’s a very special and sacred position. The Buddha actually doesn’t attain nirvana at this time, but instead attains parinirvana, which is essentially “nirvana after death,” or a state for bodies who’ve already attained nirvana in their lifetimes.

We meandered up to the second floor where there was an art exhibition going on featuring paintings of jellyfish. The gallery had colorful paintings of jellyfish in all kinds of environments, from outer space to the Statue of Liberty. Again, Fanny translated what a guide was saying about the painter and his style. I really loved his paintings; jellyfish are a cool subject matter and the artist painted them so boldly. An art gallery of jellyfish paintings was definitely not what I was expecting from the Buddha museum, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Then, we happened to be exiting the gallery around the time that a short, 4-D, animated movie on the origins of Buddhism was starting back on the first floor, so we went into the theater. The movie had English subtitles, and it was a very memorable part of the museum. It brought to life a story that I knew very little about and made it accessible through animation and English, so that was greatly appreciated. The museum obviously makes efforts to educate tourists on their culture and religion too, so the animated short was an excellent way to reach them. Not to mention, I didn’t see that part of the museum last time I was there— not sure if it was new or Tammy and I just got there too late the first time.

It was about time for Caleb to go pick up the kids, so we headed back to the house. Soon, Jeremy was home and Jessica got back not long after. Both of them had grown up a lot in the last four years. They were taller of course, and more talkative. Jessica really likes music, both playing piano and listening to different artists. Jeremy had become quite the goofball, always making jokes, surprise-scaring you, and showing off funny pictures from his dad’s phone. Jessica’s at the age now where she’s competing to get into the best ranked high schools in the area, so she’s very busy with her studies. Now Jeremy goes to kendo (Japanese sword fighting) practice twice a week, including every Sunday. Each practice is two and a half hours. The next day, I’d be joining him at kendo and getting my own lesson from a family friend. I was really excited for that because I’d never done kendo, and I thought it would be cool to live a typical weekend in their life.

Soon it was time for dinner, and they took me to a very nice sit-down restaurant with several dishes, like pasta and paella. We shared, family-style, and over dinner I showed them where my house is on a map on my phone. I also told Jeremy about how long it took me to get to Taiwan, and how big the plane was. He wanted to see my car, so I showed him a picture of my orange Subaru Crosstrek, which he thought was super cool. After dinner, I was stuffed. We walked passed a crowded night market and decided not to join the throngs of people. Instead, we walked back toward the house. On the way, we passed a giant shopping mall with a stage set up outside. There was a teen, hip-hop dance competition going on with a big group of people watching. Kids, probably in middle school or high school, danced to K-pop and other rap-style music in baggy pants, jackets, and backwards hats. They were great! They had clearly practiced a lot. Some of the boy groups had dressed up in tuxes for their show. It was really fun to watch, and we caught several performances before it ended, including the finale with everyone. I was very impressed. Fanny told me that an extracurricular dance school had put on the show, and public performances like that were a good way of advertising their programs.

Once we got home, I broke out the gifts I brought. For the family, I got “Loot,” a pirate themed card game where you try to get the most coins by attacking your opponents’ ships and protecting your own. My family likes that game, so I thought they would too. For Jessica, I got a few Gudetama (the lazy egg cartoon) puzzles mixed up in the same box. And for Jeremy, I got a Spiderman book that was in both Chinese and English. Everyone really enjoyed the presents. I showed the family how to play Loot, and we played a few rounds before heading to bed. I slept in the same room as when I visited four years earlier, and it brought back memories of my TUSA scholarship.

The next morning, they had a box of noodles already waiting for me for breakfast. I ripped open the packet of spicy sauce and poured it over the top. Fanny told me about the plans for the day: we’d go to Jeremy’s kendo class in the afternoon, where Alexys, a family friend, would teach me about different moves with the sword. Then, after that, all the girls (Fanny, Jessica, Alexys, and me) would go to a bakery and make desserts! I felt so lucky to have gotten such a cool host family four years ago. They always made me feel welcome and included me into their family’s activities, no matter what was happening.

After I got ready for the day, the whole family went out for lunch at a Chinese-style restaurant. I made it a point to try all of the dishes, even the ones I didn’t recognize. It was served family-style. Soon we were all in the car on the way to kendo. Jeremy lugged in a bag with all of his kendo equipment, which included a helmet with a facemask, and a Japanese-style robe. The rest of the family talked with other parents and siblings on the side as the students had practice. The students all knelt when the teacher was talking. Fanny introduced me to Alexys, a high school student attending the top girls school in the area. She was so friendly! I loved talking with her. She knew a lot about English music, movies, and TV shows, so we had a lot to talk about. She lent me her old kendo robe and told me about the quick approach footsteps you need to take, as well as the motion of the sword. You hold the sword handle with both hands over your head, and quickly whack the tire directly in front of you. Obviously, the tire was a stand-in for practice. We had a lot of fun; she was a great teacher.

It was then that the girls left for the bakery, and Caleb stayed at kendo practice with the other parents. When we got there, we got to pick what to make from a list of desserts. I went with the custom waffles, Fanny and Jessica made small cakes, and Alexys made cookies. All of the equipment and ingredients that we needed were in cabinets at the “DIY” station. We found butter, flour, and all kinds of toppings to decorate the final product in different spots around the kitchen. I made the waffle batter and then squeezed the batter from a piping bag into molds in the irons: one circular, and two more with gingerbread people cutouts. I stood the waffle people against the waffle and dotted their eyes and buttons with chocolate syrup. Then I topped it with everything I liked: diced fruit, coconut, chocolate chips, and raspberry sauce. When the waffle masterpiece was finished, it looked like a total mess, but it was delicious.

We all got drinks and ate our desserts in the restaurant area. Fanny told me she wanted to send me off with a mango roll cake to take home. As you probably know by this point in the blog, I love mango. We brought the boxed-up cake in the car and drove back to the gym to meet Caleb and Jeremy. Kendo practice was just wrapping up. It was a long practice — as I mentioned before, two and a half hours! Before leaving the gym, I got to say hi to the kendo teacher, who was very nice. He gave me a head wrap printed with a cool design that you wear under your helmet in kendo (see below).

Then the whole family went back to the house, mango cake in hand. I hungout with Jessica and Jeremy for a while, and they showed me their piano skills. I was super impressed. They were really good! Jessica even knew some English songs I was familiar with. They were both so talented.

We hungout at the house a while, and as it got darker they took me to a very popular beef noodle restaurant. Jeremy and the family pointed out landmarks to me along the way, like a lit pagoda in the center of a lake. The line was out the door at the restaurant. We picked up small plates with okra as we went through the line to pay. We were seated upstairs and all shared huge bowls of beef noodle soup. The restaurant had a homey feel, with long tables of big families slurping out of their steaming bowls.

On the drive to the train station, Jessica and I talked about the bands she likes. They all came in to help me get a ticket for Tainan, and send me off. It was really hard saying goodbye. I waved after I passed through the ticket gates and stepped onto the escalator to the platform. I was so, so thankful to have gotten to spend a weekend with them before heading back to the United States. They were extremely kind, and the time I spent with them meant a lot to me.

I only had to go a few stops on the train… I decided to take a slight detour on the way home. Stopping in Tainan wasn’t the plan, but my TUSA friend Mark had messaged me that he was in town on break from University of Maryland! I thought, “It’s only a few stops away; I could definitely get a cheap place to stay and visit him and Tony for a day.” Mark booked me a place nearby the train station in advance. Then he walked right past me (a white girl in a bright, yellow shirt) as I was standing outside waiting for him. I thought that was him, but since he passed me I wasn’t so sure. My phone started ringing and the person I thought was Mark was looking around confusedly on his cellphone. Now I was sure that was him.

We caught up on the walk to my hotel, I dropped off my stuff, and then we went to meet Tony, our other TUSA friend. We all got tea to go and talked in the lounge at the hotel. It was really fun talking to them again in the city we all met in four years ago. The entire time in Tainan brought back fond memories of the TUSA scholarship because these were the exact streets I spent my time in for two months that summer. It looked so familiar to me. Little did I know then that I’d be walking here on a summer night four years later with the same people, about to return home for the second time.

It was late, so I made plans to meet up with them in the morning before heading back to Taipei. Tony wasn’t able to come to breakfast, so Mark and I went to brunch near the NCKU campus before I needed to leave. We split some of the mango cake at the train station while we waited for Tony to meet up with us there for one final goodbye.

Since Tony lived close to the train station, he was able to come by for a little bit. I said goodbye to them again, in the same exact place where I parted with Tammy at the end of TUSA. Then I boarded the train to Taipei.

It was really nearing the end in the country I had lived in for the past year.