So I went on a mini day trip a little while ago and while I was going through the pictures I decided that I should write another post! (And everyone reminded me that it's been a while since I've posted...heh...details) I decided to go to a place called Jiu-fen. Rumor has it that Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" used this town as inspiration for the town in the movie. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but it was fun going and seeing all the lanterns anyways. This place is on a mountain side Northeast of Taipei. It was pretty fun. There was a lot of little shops and a bunch of food stands. I had something called yu yuan. They are these little taro balls served with ice, red beans, mung beans and fruit. They were pretty good. See the picture...it doesn't look that weird! Then I did a lot of walking and checking out all the shops. Because this town is on a mountainside, there were soooooo many stairs! It was like I was tricked into exercising! At least the view was nice and the food was good. Couldn't ask for too much more. If I stayed in the shade, then the weather wasn't too bad, but it's summer, so there isn't much I can do about that. Well, that's all for now. I have a bunch of pictures to post...so I'll be back...soon!

This is just a random post. Right now, this is my favorite commercial...check it out!

I normally work on Saturdays, but I got the day off yesterday. Last week students and workers all got Thursday "off"...but in reality, they really just changed days. Instead of having a real day off, they had to make it up on Saturday. This meant that all the kids that I normally teach had to go to regular class yesterday, so I got the day off! I was going to waste the day at home and just do nothing...but I changed my mind. I went on a day trip instead! I went to a place called Ye-Liu in North East Taiwan. It is famous for its crazy rock formations. I took a bus from Taipei with two of my friends and we headed up to this place to check out the rocks and the beach. It was such a nice day. We spent all day there. I got to see a bunch of rocks that had been eroded by the salt. It was pretty fun. There was a lot more than just these rocks too. We were surrounded by tide pools and hills. The tide pools were filled with crabs, small fish, and brittle stars. I tried to catch a brittle star, but they kept going into the crevices! Then after we had our fill of the rocks and the ocean, we all decided to climb the hills. It was a pretty steep hike, but it was fun. I didn't realize that there were a bunch of butterflies and insects here as well. So then we spent time checking them out. I've seen a lot of them before, but my German friend hadn't seen them before so it was fun for him. Then only thing they didn't like was that they all got mosquito bites...I didn't. They just don't like me as much as the other foreigners (which is totally awesome! Their bites are so itchy!) so I'm not complaining. After 8 hours out and about in the sun, it was time to go home and chill. I was so glad I had the day off. I finally went out of Taipei and did something I have been wanting to do. My goal is to try and go somewhere new at least once a month. I'll have to wait and see what I pick next!!!

May 24-26 I went to Hua Lien. I finally had a week off from class...only because the term ended, but time off is time off. So my Aunts and Uncles decided to take my cousin and I to Hua Lien and Tai Dong. We went to Hua Lien, the middle-ish part of Taiwan, to check out a place called butterfly valley (just for me!). But just as my luck would have it, the moment we got there, it began to rain. And it rained the whole time. So I didn't really see that many. I was a bit bummed. I did get to see a few, and got some nice pictures. Then we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast that night. It was so nice. It had wooden floors and awesome beds. Plus there was air conditioning. It was a big plus! The B&B was out in the country side. It was extremely homey. I loved it. When i woke up in the morning and looked out my window, I saw a meadow of flowers and in the background a bunch of mountains. So peaceful! Then the next day we went to Tai Dong, which is the in the South East part of Taiwan along the coast. It was also really pretty. It made me miss San Diego. There were a bunch of Palm trees along this beautiful coast line. The water was so blue and the sky was nice and clear...well at least until night time (it rained again...tropical islands do that a lot). We drove up the coast for a few hours and enjoyed the scenery. Then we stopped at a coffee shop that had such a nice view of the water and the landscape. I of course took a million pictures, but there just isn't room for them here! So after we did all of this, we went back to Hua lien to stay in a hotel. It was the same hotel I stayed in about 10 years ago when I went with my family to Hua Lien the first time. It was kinda weird. It was something like deja vu. I was like...I know this place. I think i've been here before. And then I found out it was...hehe. We stayed here because the next day we went to the Taroko Gorge National Park. It was really nice here too. The whole trip was a very naturey trip. I got a bunch of pictures of this too. I'll just give you one! Overall, it was a cool trip. I got to see a lot of eastern Taiwan and a national park. There were also a lot of other butterflies and insects that kept me busy when the scenery wasn't enough. I'm glad that my cousin got to experience it too. It's always nice to do something different. The trip was just too short. As soon as I got back, I had to go back to work to grade some papers (I know...it sounds weird!) and had to do other work that I had put off. And then before I knew it, I started class again. I just finished my first week of class. It was ok...but that is a whole other blog that just might have to be written at another time.

I decided to leave you with one more picture. This was on the drive back home to Taipei. My Uncle thought it was so nice that he decided to stop so that we could take a picture. Looking at it now makes me think of how different Taiwan really is. The city and the countryside are leagues apart. It's great to get out of the city once in a while and experience something beautiful like this!

Wow has this been a busy month so far! My parents were here for 2 weeks so I tried my best to spend as much time as I could with them. I went out to eat with them a few times a week and I also went to Hukou for the whole weekend just so I could spend more time with them. Aren't I a good daughter...haha. So one of the highlight of their trip here was going to a restaurant called Jurassic (aka the Indian...don't know how this nickname came about). It was a pretty cool place. The decor was quite fun. It was set up with a bunch of dinosaur bones. The best part of this restaurant was that I got to have a beer to go with my fired crickets, yum! I figured I'd be daring and give it a go. It tastes just like soft shell crab! Then there was someone singing and playing music. Overall it was a fun place!

Then I got a job. So while my parents were here, I was also training for my new job. I'm going to teach English to kids. It'll be interesting. I have already taught one class...I think it went ok. Good thing this is my level! Hahaha...The only bummer about teaching is that I have to do it on a Saturday. It just means that I can't go out of Taipei. I guess I can't complain. I need some money. So...you gotta do what you gotta do!

My parent's are in Taiwan...YAY!!! I miss my family. So whenever I get the chance, I hang out with them. They got here on May 1st. Since then, i've been so busy. Because my Dad reads my blogs, he saw that restaurant, KGB, I had mentioned a few months ago. So the first day they were here in Taipei, I took them to get some hamburgers. It was my Mom and Dad, my Aunt and Uncle, my cousin and me. We all went to KGB and had ourselves some burgers and beers. Mmmm! We ordered some funky stuff too. My Aunt, Mom and I had a "normal" avocado burger while my Dad got a satay burger. It was a burger with peanut sauce and other fun stuff on it. He said it was delicious. Then my cousin ordered a "Kiwi burger". This is really what all those "kiwi's" love. It was a burger with beets, eggs and pineapples. Weird...but it wasn't that bad. Then my Uncle ordered a lamb burger with feta cheese. Looked interesting, I didn't get a chance to try that one. Then to go with the burgers, we had to get beer of course! This was also fun. I had a Taiwan microbrew, my Dad got a lychee beer (yummy!) and then a New Zealand beer, and then my mom got a different kind of Taiwan microbrew. Overall, I'd have to say I had a really good time hanging out. It's so nice to be joking around with my family in English again.

I'm also happy to say that I finally can speak to my Mom in Chinese. That is such a nice feeling. It's a feeling of accomplishment. I came out here to learn Chinese, and now I can actually communicate not only with my mom, but with random strangers as well. Last week I was so busy trying to get my ARC (Alien Resident Certificate). I had to use all the Chinese I had learned within the last 5 months all in one week. It was such a hassle, but I did it. I got my stupid ARC and now I can stay here with a resident visa versus a visitor's visa. I could have bothered my Aunt to help me, but I figured I might as well give it a shot. And all was good. Well, it's way past my bedtime. I'll leave you with a fun picture of my Dad!

Last Friday I went on a field trip with the Tai-Da language center. I wasn't sure how it was gonna turn out, but it was actually a lot more fun than I had expected. We went to Tao Yuan. Before going there, the only thing I knew about in Tao Yuan was the airport. Now I know there is at least one other thing...hehe. The itinerary for the trip was to first barbecue Aborigine style, go to a flower field and then go to a big park and ride bikes...or something like that. So when I got to Tao Yuan, I was curious to see what we had to do to. We were broken up into teams...I was put in a team of 9, my 3 classmates that went plus two English students, two German students, and one Norwegian student. As a team, we had to build a chimney sort of thing with a bunch of dirt rocks (if that makes sense) on a pre-made oven looking thing. I think if you just look at the picture, you'll get the point. Then after the building process, we set a fire in the oven and wait until the chimney is charred. After that happens, we can cook our food...sweet potatoes and eggs....yum...not really...hehe. After doing that, we grilled up some lunch. I had some delicious rice with chicken blood cakes and some fish balls. Normal food for folks in Taiwan. I am glad I tried the blood cakes because this means I don't have to ever eat it again. While we were grilling, we also made a gelatinous drink from a special fruit seed. By rubbing the seeds together in water, the natural stickiness comes out and makes gelatin after it's been refrigerated. It's kind of weird. An hour later, we were able to eat our sweet potatoes and eggs. It was pretty much a baked potato and a boiled egg with an "earthy" taste.

After all the food stuff, we were suppose to head to a flower field, but it was raining. So instead, we went to Ying Ge. This place is really famous for it's ceramics. Unfortunately, I didn't really get any good pictures. We didn't spend too much time there. We were there to look around and do shopping if we wanted. I wanted to buy a bunch of stuff...but i didn't bring that much money! And I didn't really have a place to put these things. So I went home empty handed. Overall, it was a pretty fun trip because of the people. It's always nice to meet new people. I see these students all the time now. So I am glad I went. Without it, I wouldn't have had the chance to meet them. I kinda hope we do another field trip next term!