Rainy Season in Taipei

March was lovely and then April came with its gray afternoons and longer rains.  It was nice sleeping to the sound of the downpour but it made waking harder.  It also made running harder.  But despite the inconvenience I know I will miss rainy season when the heat wave of summer roles in.  So, here's to enjoying the rain.

Birthday Weekend @ Wulai + Da'an Park

Friday night was my 27th Birthday and I was blessed to celebrate that night in Taiwan!  The entire week was good weather, warm and not rainy.   Friday night two of my classmates from Taiwan University Language Chinese were also celebrating their birthdays.  I received a FB invite and realized it was my birthday too!  So we all had a big party together in the park with friends. I didn't know most of the people but it was a good, chill time to talk and laugh and share our Taiwan time together.

Giorgio (b-day boy), Merliu (b-day girl), Beth, Tina, Anna and Me(b-day girl)! 

Beth and Tina gave me a beautiful purple orchid that I will cherish and care for as I would a baby until my time here is done.  

Beth and Tina brought a cute cake! 

Some Cat's Teachers stopped by to wish me Happy Birthday and it was great seeing them outside of school! 

Jessica came into Taipei that night and surprised me with a wonderful gift!  A collage of photos from our year in Taiwan (thus far).  They were laminated with captions in Chinese. : )  She's the best. 

The next morning, I taught my Saturday class and afterwards we headed to Wulai for some hiking and hot springs.  Wulai is a beautiful place about an hour by bus from Taipei where you can hike, enjoy food that is a bit more aboriginal and go to free, 24 hour hot springs.  These springs are the coolest, and better than Beitou (in my opinion) because and only because they connect right with the river and you can actually jump into the river itself in between hot deeps in the concrete pools to cool off.  After the hike and dinner it was night time which only added to the tranquility.  The white steam could be seen coming off the water and the air smelled of sulfur.  

A make shift shake housed the "steam room" which was splashing the scalding water unto a rock quickly and repetitively to make steam.  I tried my best but ended up scalding my friends' feet.  

Wulai Bridge

We encountered some obstacles on the trail from the landslide last summer.  

But it was too late to turn around so we triumphantly overcame. 

and enjoyed the sneak attack adventure. 

In fact, we smiled in the face of danger. 

Until we reached the end of the hike and arrived at the beautiful waters of Wulai.

Then to dinner...

Type of candy

Great fish, vegetables,bamboo shoots, sticky rice, soup, greens and mushrooms on the lazy susan! 

mochi balls...hum!  

Sunday night was hot pot dinner with just Nathaniel and Jess.  It was great to spend some time with just them and enjoy the all you can eat vegetables and meat for 2 hrs!  We got our moneys worth and saved lots of room for the chocolate fountain and all you can eat Hagen Daz ice cream at the end. 2 hrs hot pot buffet is about $15 USD, totally worth it! 

Buffet of fish, vegetables, tofu and mochi!

Jess and Nathaniel reading their congrats card signed by the entire family. 

Puppetville

Semester one with my little babies is complete.  I've seen progress and learned more about myself.  That's one of the things I truly love about teaching as a profession.  To make it work, to really be effective you must reflect.  The reflextive partitioner is the successful one.  What went well?  What didn't?  Why did I really get angry?  How could I have presented the material in a clearer way?  When did I facilitate learning and when did I try to just control everybody and get it done quickly?

Every year I more clearly see my need for patience and calmness.  I learn from my students, from my self and the other teachers around me.   I am grateful that I am not the same teacher I was my first year.  I am grateful that I am still learning how do my job better.

Anyways, there is a three week break between first and second semester filled with winter camp. This years winter camp theme was "Puppetville."  We made mini me puppets, learned about puppet history, wrote our own play, performed and just tried to have fun and become more confidence speakers.  The kids were great, very funny and gave puppets a try!


Side note: Trying to teach Taiwanese students about the art of ventriloquism with no experience or knowledge outside of youtube videos was one of the most awkward moments of my life. 

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, Year of the Snake 

新年快樂！ Happy New Year!
恭喜發財！ Congratulations and Be prosperous！
恭喜發財， 紅包拿來！ Congratulations and Be prosperous, now give me a red envelope!
Taiwan Lantern Festival Celebrations (See Pingxi post)

Everyone eats well at Chinese New Year feast! 

An amazing meal! 

Chou chou love <3 

Taro, vegetables, fish, tofu, sweet sausage, pork

More Chou Chou love <3 

Jessica's Mom preparing our meal.  She cooked all day long and prepared it all by herself! 

Love, love, love this hotpot

Leftovers are an expectation for this meal and will be eaten for the next several days and offered in hospitality to family and friends that stop by for the Chinese New Year visits.  

Nathaniel, Jessica's dad, Jessica's Mom, Jessica's brother

Candy dish: Jellies, werthers (oh yeah), pistachios, almond taffy 

Pingxi

Pingxi is an amazing place to hike and can be easily reached on the train from Taipei. It takes a couple of hours to arrive at this small, mountain town and see the numerous red paper lantern fly off into the sky.

Pingxi is the home of the world famous Lantern Festival that occurs at the end of each Chinese New Year, usually February or March, each year is different.

Any other time of the year, Pingxi is great for hiking.  I would recommend allowing yourself at least 2-3 hours to explore as there are many dead end trails that hike up steep peaks with great views but you must turn around and go back the way you came, continue on and find another look out peak.


If you walk through the small town, take a left and follow the road for 5-10 minutes.  There will be a small waterfall on your right and a steep staircase.  This is the entrance for the hike.  Keep climbing, use the ropes and don't let the steepness or heights scare you away from the beautiful views and experiences that await at the top!

Upon your return into town, stop at one of the street vendors and enjoy an amazing sweet sausage in a rice bun stuffed with garlic and parsley!  My favorite! :)

Lantern shops greet you after leaving the train station.  Set one off before or after your hike!  You can paint and customize your own at the shop.  

Bro at the edge of Pingxi about to make our way up the road and find the trailhead.  

Taking a moment to reflect on the day's hike and decide if I should buy another sweet sausage or this ice cream peanut sandwich thing. 

Pingxi main street 

Beginning of the trail, making our climb up. 

Steep climb up, feeling a little shaky in the legs. 

On the Trail 

Made it to the top of the first peak!

Lantern Festival Photo (courtesy of  Eileen Wu)

Pingxi, February 2013