Normally I'm good about not procrastinating... But we all have our moments. About 5 weeks ago I arrived in Taiwan, it seems so much longer, and yet it flew by. It's now time to catch up.
1. "Detention"
I spent my last night in Malaysia sleeping in a renovated shipping container. I can add that to my list of interesting sleeping arrangements. It was quite tight, but it was decent as a hostel and I had a good few hours before hopping on board my flight. Though uneventful, the real fun began once I got off the plane. This entire trip I've been dreading the possibility of being detained... not that I have reason to be detained, except when I'm stupidly honest. Upon arrival I made two mistakes-- 1. not knowing my address in Taiwan and 2. Telling the truth that I didn't know my address in Taiwan. The woman next to me offered to have me write down her address, but she only knew it in Chinese and thought that might be suspicious.
I was detained. It was the third time in my life in detention. My first detention was due to wearing long earrings in 8th grade and my second was in high school because I parked in the teacher's lot. I spent my third with a Taiwanese customs official. Much to my surprise he spent it quizzing me on current events. I was doing well in this strange version of jeopardy until he asked me the result of the Scottish independence (it had been decided midflight.) He went to get his cell phone to look up the result. He asked quite a few questions about details surrounding the vote and once we discussed it a bit more he stamped my passport.
Credit: Zark An
2. "Angie"
It was soon after I met Angie who would spend countless hours showing me around. Not only that, but she is also one of the most lovely people I have ever met. When people ask me my favorite thing about Taiwan I have to give the cliche response, "the people." I met so many outstanding people who were so welcoming and generous. The Chen family, who I stayed with during my time in Taiwan, were perfect examples of this.
3. "珍珠奶茶"
Not only is it one of the only things I can say in Chinese, but bubble tea it is also amazing. I had quite a bit of it. I also seem to have an alarming number of pictures of Angie, myself, and bubble tea.
Some examples:
4. "The Subway"
An honorable mention needs to go to the subway. Imagine an incredibly clean, efficient metro system. All the people stand on the right and walk on the left on the escalators, and wait in the "waiting lines" for the train. Overhead play little love stories of people falling in love due to the "kindness she demonstrated while being a good citizen on the Taipei Metro."
Source: blog.myfatpocket.com
5. "My Weekends"
Having just been to New Zealand I thought few places could rival it in beauty. The east coast of Taiwan does. I went there during one of my weekends that I joined a group, VOIS for trips around Taiwan. My trips need an entire post for themselves!
I'll admit, when I was asked if I wanted to go fishing I first thought of a river, when they said it was indoors I envisioned a few probably older men around a small kiddie pool. No, this was serious. There were three ponds, and probably about 50 people, a majority of them around my age. My favorites brought their own poles and bait (and were much more successful.)
Now, I've never been fishing, though I was once taught the basics of fly fishing on a rugby field (thanks Colyer.) If I'm bad at this, where they literally dump gigantic amounts of shrimp the the pool as you sit there, I feel like fishing might not be my thing. But hey, it was fun.
