Life is slowly finding a routine here, which is nice. I wake up most mornings at 6:30 am, though if I’ve gone to bed later or slept poorly, I let the maid in and go back to sleep. I hop on the bus whenever I get up and out the door, usually at 7:05, and reach my building by 7:40. Then it’s sit at my desk and write and work and read and research until 5:05, when I clock out to come home. My evening activities involve thrilling things like surfing the internet, watching TV, and cooking dinner for myself. My landlord is, I believe, very amused at my self-reliance in the culinary department. Then bed by 11:30 at the latest, rinse, recycle, and repeat.

I can honestly say, I never imagined myself doing this – if you’d told me a month ago I’d be waking up at 6:30 am most mornings, I’d have laughed at you. Still, this is my routine, and it seems to be working fairly well.

I really love my apartment, which is nice. It already feels like home, even if I haven’t decorated. There’s something very satisfying about cleaning up and tidying and making sure everything is put away – I’m excited about silly things like buying new curtains. There’s a sense of ownership over this apartment that was missing in Taiwan, maybe because I was sharing with other people. That was nice because there was always someone outside (or at least, usually), but my solitude is nice too.

I’ve begun working on speeches for Murthy, and sent off my first fully written piece to him this week, and am anxiously awaiting feedback on that. I ventured out on Wednesday night to the weekly CouchSurfing meet and met some interesting people, including a really nice girl who picked me up. Hopefully we’ll make good on her offer to introduce me to a local brunch hotspot! Other plans include joining a book club and finding out about a local choir.

So, that’s about it, really. Nothing terribly interesting, photos will come soon, I promise, as will more details about work and what I do, but until then, my potato is nearly done.

I had the good fortune to have several friends swing through Kaohsiung while I was there – Mel came, Alissa came, and one sunny afternoon, so did Cedric and Annalisa. Annalisa was teaching English for the year in Taejong through Princeton in Asia, and Cedric was on the Taiwanese leg of his around the world tour. They called me out of the blue one day to tell me they were coming to Kaohsiung for the afternoon, so we made plans to meet and head over to Cijin Island.

On the way, we saw the most ridiculous hats ever. These things were solar powered, so they had a solar panel, a fan (that was powered by said solar panel), and shades that slipped down from the brim. Cedric was very tempted to buy one, Annalisa was not in favor of this idea.

We then proceeded to have a thoroughly excellent seafood lunch followed by some leisurely hanging out at the beach. We were getting ready to leave when suddenly the familiar cacophony of a temple procession reached my ears. Sure enough, I wound up having the good fortune to once again find myself smack dab in the middle of a really fascinating temple celebration.

The pictures that follow are really similar to the ones I took in Tainan, but hopefully they’ll give you a sense of just how massive the statue puppets are. Along the way, each time the procession stopped, an aide would rush to the person inside the costume and lift it off of them to give them a few moments respite. These things look like they weigh quite a bit, and in the sweltering Kaohsiung heat, it cannot have been the most pleasant experience.

What I loved about this procession was that we got to actually be in it, walking alongside the participants. My hearing may have suffered a bit as a result, but it was one of the most unique experiences of my time in Taiwan.

I know I promised I’d keep updating, and I do have a heap of stories left to share from my time in Taiwan. But I’ve been lazy. A part of me hasn’t been ready to go back and address all the stories, the feelings, the problems I encountered (and grew from!) because it was all so fresh in my mind, and another part of me has just been lazy. To be fair, I’ve also had computer troubles, so updating and uploading my remaining photos has been difficult at best.

I’ve been spending time reading the blogs of the new crop of ETAs, which has been a lovely experience. Having come through the other side of the experience, I can relate to their first impressions, their confusions, and the things that catch their attention. It’s like getting to observe my experience from a distance, as an interested observer. I definitely feel a sense of being connected to these people whom I’ve never met because there are so many little things that only another Kaohsiung ETA will ever really “get,” but at the same time, I’m glad to be done with that part of my adventures in life. It was a phenomenal experience, it changed me in innumerable ways, and I will forever be grateful that I was given the chance to go, but I’m glad to be on to a new phase of my life.

So, when I get my act together, I will have more stories for you. I’m a bit awed at the fact that this blog has been viewed some 3000 times, and the fact that people out there are still reading is a great motivation to keep writing. Until next time then.

I suddenly realized that today marks the opening ceremony of the much-awaited 2009 World Games being hosted by Kaohsiung City. So much attention and publicity has been devoted to the Games all year both on an official level and in our schools (like teaching all the kids in English Village the colors of the Hungarian flag, or Gered having to teach first graders the word “volcano” and Katie picking up Polish accessories for Fu Xing) that I’m kind of sad that I’m not around to see it. I may not have heard of several of the sports that are offered during the World Games (Korfball and Tchoukball, I’m looking at you), but it would have been fun to stay for the festivities.

So to Kaohsiung, I say “good luck.” Knock ‘em dead. And don’t forget to talk about the Love River .

After going by 貝小梅 all year, my Chinese teacher bestowed upon me a new name this afternoon, one that is more sophisticated and appropriate for a young woman (xiao, meaning small, is associated with things that are cute, young, and small, not really so great for being taken seriously). From now on, my new Chinese name shall be 貝梅雅. The “mei hua” is the Taiwanese national flower, and in traditional Chinese thinking, is held up as a symbol of beauty and strength. The flowers are delicate and lovely to behold, but they are strong because they will only bloom in the coldest winter weather. “Ya” means elegant, graceful, or refined, so I make this announcement now that the next time I find myself in need of a Chinese name, I shall be Bei Mei-Ya.

So, I have all of three days left in Taiwan. Thursday afternoon, I depart Taiwan, my return date unknown, but hopefully I will be back sooner than later. I’ve had a truly wonderful time here, and there are many stories, adventures, and photos left to post, which I’m sure I will have ample time to do when I get home.

For the time being though, I am packing, saying my goodbyes, and losing my internet connection tomorrow afternoon, so until the next time I post, 再見

This weekend has been a glorious, four day long extravaganza of doing absolutely nothing. Granted, Friday was one of those fake holidays that the Taiwanese government tantalizes us with (I have to go in next Saturday to make it up), but while it lasted, it was great.

While I have been generally lazy, the majority of the other Fulbrighters decided to be ambitious and put together a Dragon Boat team to race in the annual Dragon Boat Festival at the Love River. After a mad scramble to assemble the requisite number of foreigners, a concerted recruitment effort of half a dozen Taiwanese people (not all known to us at the beginning of this process), and several intense practices on the Love River, our team, Hamburger Breakfast, was ready to make their big debut.

Tuesday night marked the first night of the time trials, and Team Hamburger Breakfast was up against three other groups: a team of burly Germans from 中山大學, a group of Europeans from Wenzao, and a motley crew from some kind of drinking club. On Wednesday night came the second round of time trials, and unfortunately, they did not make it to the semi-finals, but a good time was had by all:

Lining up to start (Our team is the furthest from the camera):

And they’re off!

Chris talking strategy after night 1:

Rowing on night 2 (the further boat):

And to give you an idea of just how strenuous the rowing was:

A very long time ago, I wrote about the trip I took to Alishan with a group of other Fulbrighters.  Now, at long last, here is part 2 of our weekend full of 特色.

When the rest of us non-morning hikers awoke the next morning, we headed downstairs to a breakfast full of 特色, including rice gruel, the requisite vegetables covered in some kind of mayonnaise, and a pickled dish that none of us found to be to our liking, though our hotel owner assured us it was a delicious 特色 of Rueili, even if it wasn’t a “美國的漢堡“ which is of course, what all Americans eat for breakfast. Every day.

Nevertheless, off we set for the hugely popular mountain town of Alishan. Full of so much 特色, even the mist is a 特色.

The sea of clouds:

A really cool, giant butterfly that landed in front of the clouds:

Then we set off to see the famed cherry trees of Alishan, only they were no longer really in bloom. Not that this mattered to the hordes of people we encountered there, but still. At the start of our journey to the path that followed the giant, ancient trees, we were informed as to the ambiguous nature of the fire risk that day:

The Three-Generation Tree, another feature unique to Alishan. The oldest part of the tree is several centuries old, and the tree has grown back three separate times, causing the unique formation:

Some of the trees were upto 900 years old, and walking around really reminded me of visiting the redwoods last spring with Becky and Mel:

Beautiful mountain rhododendron in bloom (potentially mistaken by the Taiwanese for the cherry blossoms):

After lunch we headed over to the train station to take the famed Alishan Toy Train back to Fengchihu, but not before getting to witness a semi-exploitative and entirely tourist-oriented Aboriginal performance:

Finally, it was onto the train (here Rebekah shows just why waking up at the crack of dawn was not the best plan ever):

with some beautiful scenery on the ride down the mountain:

We spent the night in Fengchihu and then headed back to Kaohsiung the next morning. All in all, it was a lovely weekend filled with nature, trees, and 很多的特色.

Last week was probably the worst experience of my year here in Taiwan, which, aside from the occasional run in with shrimp and a hefty dose of TEH CRAZY has been rather lovely.   I’d gone out to buy lunch before heading back to meet with some students who needed help with their letters, and when we got inside the classroom, I left my wallet out on the desk to act as a paperweight on my lunch leftovers. 

The rest of the day passed in a blur and I left feeling really frazzled.  I took a taxi home because I was in a rush to get home in time to regroup before Chinese class.  I paid, got out, and remembered to check the back seat because I had multiple bags with me and felt so frazzled.  About an hour later, I woke up and left for Chinese class in a minor panic because I couldn’t find my wallet.  No worries, I thought, I must have left it in class.  Only it turned out that I hadn’t.   A niggling feeling told me that I had not left it in the taxi, but it seemed improbable that a student could have stolen it.  

Only it wasn’t.  It came out last week that one of my sixth graders, a very quiet girl who I barely noticed had stolen it in the middle of class.  Yes, with me, Lucy, and her classmates around her, she had slipped unnoticed to my desk and pocketed the wallet.  She has a history of mental problems and theft, which made me feel a little better (as in providing a rationale for her theft).  I returned from our Fulbright rafting trip to Ruei Sui to Lucy telling me that she had discovered who was responsible, and that we would be meeting with the girl and her mother on Monday during cleaning time.  

The meeting was alright, but watching how much anguish the girl’s mother was in was awful.  By the end of the meeting, her mother was sobbing and when she bowed to me to apologize (something which I get is a cultural thing but makes me SO uncomfortable), she was crying so much her tears were spilling out onto the ground.  It sucked.  I wanted to dissolve into tears on the spot myself, but figured that wouldn’t be the best course of action.  It was also deeply uncomfortable reciting off how much I had paid to replace my cards and how much money was in the wallet.  Not that I didn’t feel I wasn’t owed compensation, it’s just never a place I wanted to go in the first place.   

The student in question has started to get professional help, and has to do work for the school as part of her punishment.  All in all, I think the situation was handled quite well – the school took pains to make sure the student in question was not found out to be a thief by her classmates, and the meeting was non-confrontational even if it was an unpleasant experience to endure.  

There’s still the fact that I am not convinced she threw out my wallet as she says she did because her story doesn’t add up on a number of different points, but it looks like I am not getting my cards back, which is annoying and sad (my WesID was in there and I loved the picture on it, vain, I know).  Still, in the grand scheme of things, it’s better that it was a student than some random stranger who might well have used my credit card and gone to town.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for ages, given that my first trip to Tainan was in November and my second was in January, but oh well. Life and all that jazz. Let me start by saying that I loved Tainan. It feels (and is) much smaller than Kaohsiung and has a completely different vibe to it despite being only 50 km away from Kaohsiung. My favorite parts of the city were the multitude of temples, but I found it quite interesting to learn what a varied and extensive history with the Europeans Tainan once had. The temples are also lovely, and I only wish I knew more about the details (like Mel telling me that the darker the statue of the god, the holier it is – I saw some extremely sacred statues in that case).

So, pictures!

There was a massive temple celebration happening in Tainan the first time I went, so I got the opportunity to see some fairly amazing sights:

Our next stop was the famed Confucius Temple which, while not spectacular, was still rather lovely to wander about: 

From there we went to a monument celebrating Koxinga, the Chinese warrior who forced the Dutch to surrender their control of Tainan:

And from there to the other forts that remain as a testament to the European presence in Tainan: 

The second time I returned to Tainan was with my parents and Akhil when they visited in late December.  I had a Monday off due to Sports Day, and so we hopped on the train and spent the morning exploring Tainan.  In addition to revisiting the Confucius Temple and the memorial to Konxinga, we also took time to wander into some of the temples Tainan is so famous for, including the Matsu Temple and the God of War Temple:

All in all, I am very glad to have had the chance to go to Tainan twice this year.  It’s such a lovely gem of a city, and a definite must-see for anyone planning a trip to Taiwan.    That’s it for now, but stay tuned for more posts from the past!