Day 92 -- August 24 (Prt 2)

Hello, from America!! I am writing this is my kitchen in Reno. So I made it home totally safe. I had the exit row flying back from Taiwan for 12 hours of leg room and the ability to get up without disturbing the passengers next to me. On that note I met a very nice gentleman named Mitch, he I chatted intermittently through the flight. He had a daughter about my age and he was telling me how she was starting University. It was fantastic we said good bye at the end of the flight. Who knows I may see him again some day.  So then I was in LA. Fun fact if the customs officer is a fan of the University you attend and you happen to be wearing a shirt that proclaims your University you get back into your own country very easily. It was good fun I chatted with the guy for a few minutes about football then went on my merry way.

Lax is a terribly designed airport and I managed to get lost a few times. Once I was finally where I needed to be I got a little snack and settled down. By this point I was exhausted and ready to be home. The flight was almost a half an hour late taking off but it worked out. I met up with Dad, who was tackled upon sight. We then all headed to my house. There was a small gathering of people who could make it o see me. We had breakfast for dinner because I hadn't had breakfast in a while. I gave out so many long hugs, my goodness it was so good seeing people. Thank you for everyone who supported me on this trip. I hope to see you soon!

Day 92 -- August 24 (Part 1)

My day began later than I had planned but I couldn’t bring myself to get out of the bed. It was to comfortable. But I eventually did pull myself out getting dressed and repacked my things. I was able to condense down one more bag so now I had to checked bags and two carry-ons. All was well. I got coffee and breakfast at two placed marked on the map. They both were very good, and also my last meal for Taiwan. I then got a text from Nathan and we met up. He helped me get my stuff into a taxi that took us to the bus terminal. The taxi driver really wanted to take us to the Aiprot offering us a flat rate of 800 NT but we turned it down because the bus ride is only 125 NT and it would take me to the same place. He was bummed, I think but it worked out for us. We pulled up right as the bus was leaving, I was the last passenger on. Then it was a 40 minute ride to the airport. I jumped the gun a little bit and popped off at Terminal one. This however worked in my favor as it is the less crowded terminal. So there was no line to deal with my overstay Visa.

    The ladies at the counter were very nice and when I said I had stayed over one day she smiled and said that it was easy to deal with. She wasn’t going to wave the fee but it was just a pleasant little transaction, they were very kind to me. I had to pay 2000 NT, equivalent of 60 USD, I have a nasty stamp in my passport that proclaims I can’t get into Taiwan without an official Visa for a year. No worries though I won’t be back anytime in the next year. Then it was off to terminal two. Unfortunately my stuff ways quite a bit so hauling it around is a pain in the rear end. (This is not the word I would normally use but my mom reads this). While waiting in line I was stopped by some children probably in the airport on a field trip, they spoke to me in English asked me some questions then snapped a picture. They gave me a little charm that is adorable. Then I checked in. One of my bags was over weight by 2 kilograms but she let it slide no charge of overweight bag. Which was super nice of her, she also gave me the window seat in the exit row. So booyah for space!! It's a long flight home.

    Getting through security was a breeze and poof here I am sitting and waiting in the airport Terminal officially on international territory. It actually just hit me that I am leaving Taiwan, it’s all been a little bit of a blur, in 24 hours I will be home, hopefully asleep in my bed. I will also get August 24th over again which explains the title of this. I will post my landing and return hopefully when I get back. If not thank you for staying with this blog, check it a few more times I probably will post my return.

Day 91 -- August 23

Last full day in Taiwan. Which began unspectacularly with a breakfast at the 7-11. Then I finished packing that last of my clothes and kinda sat around and waited. Nathan and I were going to meet up early afternoon and take a taxi cab over to my hotel. It is very close to the Ximen MRT Station which depending on the situation might make things very convenient. But when Nathan arrived is was dumping sheets of rain and we did not get out of there unscathed. We managed to get a taxi to the area right in front of the hotel but then had to walk the last 10 yards or so due to the hotel’s location in an ally way. As I opened the car door the loudest thunder I had ever experienced occurred. Scared the living crap out of all of us. Nathan and I managed to get to the hotel.

    After I checked in and played around on the bed (A BED and real bed!!) I wanted to treat Nathan to dinner. He’ll be helping me get to the bus stop for the airport tomorrow as well. We ended up having Korean which was actually really good. The area I am staying in is really nice, I just wish it was raining so hard. We wandered around for a little bit and picked up some green tea on the way back which was quite lovely. Then I said my good byes for now. I curled up in my real bed and have kinda stayed here ever since. It’s still absolutely raining outside so it’s a no go. I do have some very interesting news to report however. Today was my 90th day in Taiwan, which means tomorrow when I got to the airport I have to go to the immigration office and pay an one day over stay fine (Internet sources say it’s about 1000 NT or 30 bucks, that is what I am hoping). Something got calculated very wrong along the way, so oops. I had a minor panic attack over this issue, but after research I will not be arrested just fined. Apparently it is a really common thing in Taiwan, people overstaying for one or two days the fee isn't bad just a hassle for when I am actually at the airprot. All I want to do it go home, hopefully everything will run smoothly tomorrow. Keep me in your thoughts!

And to explain the days and how they are numbered on this blog Day 1 started on the evening of the 23rd of May so the numbers are off by a day. So yes it is only a one day overstay do not fear!

Day 90 -- August 22

Today was Johnny and James’ last day in country, their flight takes them home starting at 11:40pm. So we all met up for breakfast/lunch at noon. They decided that going to Magic Bagel was a good idea. So we all hopped a bus around 11:30 and went to the Shida area. It took a while for everyone to get there but we all managed to get our food. Then we just stayed and chatted for a little bit. It was nice to have everyone together one last time. The boys got into a heated discussion about the American legal system which was fantastic. It wound down after Nathan had to leave to get his Visa renewed. I then headed over to the OIA office one more time and was able to get my dorms refund check, it was for 828 NT which is roughly about 25 dollars. Nice little boost for my last couple days.

    After that I went and did some wandering with Jillian and Nick. It was raining pretty hard, which is to be expected on the other side of a typhoon. We needed to get some last minute things, specifically I needed new headphones and a second luggage tag. After these items were purchased, we headed over to GongGuan. I was in need of a book, specifically The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I keep getting recommendations to read it and I knew I had seen it at the bookstore we were off to so we went. After all was said and done I gave Nick and Jillian goodbye hugs. I will probably see Nick back in the States but Jillian is staying for a whole year. By this point it had started raining pretty good I hitched the bus back to the dorms. I spent a little time packing what I could. Right now I have a bunch of clothes drying so I am waiting on that. Otherwise I am all packed and ready to leave for the hotel tomorrow.

    I spent the rest of the afternoon reading The Fault in Our Stars, which is only 300 page book at a fairly easy reading level. I finished it in about an hour and half. Excellent book I really recommend it for anyone looking for a fast but moving read. After that I really started backing and began to get the trow away pile together. My shelves are now clear and I just need to fold up clothes and head out. Excited to be leaving the dorms but not as excited to move all of it by myself. But such is life here. I will make it work.

    I got a hold of Johnny and James, we all decided to go see our GongGuan Ayi one last time. I got me some potstickers we toasted to the restaurant that we had given much of our dinner money to. We chatted for a bit and then it was time for them to go. I gave them both big hugs and wished them a safe flight. I’m gonna miss them, but good news I will see them again when we are all back on our home turf. And so begins the last 48 hours of my stay in Taiwan. Tomorrow is going to be fun hopefully moving my way to the hotel will be done with minimal effort. Wish me luck!

Day 89 -- August 21

Well short entry today, mostly because Typhoon Trami landed earlier this morning. The winds are as bad as the last typhoon but there is more rain so it was  just a wet day. I”ll be perfectly honest and say I did not go anywhere. The city was pretty much shut down in any usable way so I curled up with youtube and watched documentaries. Not my most interesting day here but mother nature dictated how I would start my last days in Taiwan. So there it is, I’ll see you all tomorrow.

Day 88 -- August 20

Well today was my last day seeing my classmates. We met up at Shilin station around 1. We were going to do an MTC event of going out and making pineapple cakes. We all got together and it was good times and stupid laughs for all. We walked over to a rather non-descript building and wander up to the fourth floor. From there were we given all the supplies necessary to attempt to make pineapple cakes. It was just a good time for all us. We were laughing and harassing each other, to be honest at one point I thought that Shun and Chinatsu were going to stat a food fight. But we managed to get everything made and then the spirited us away to a different floor while our cakes cooked.

    On the next floor up we learned about traditional weddings and Reid was elected to act out a particular part of the wedding that essentially involves a lot of puns. It’s lucky to give the Bride and Groom gifts that have similar sounds to the Mandarin words “bride” and “groom”. Mandarin in a language of many homonyms, so pretty much weddings are play on words. After that we were given the opportunity to dress up in bright wedding garbs which was fantastic. It was good fun and I think Laoshi had way too much fun trying to get me into the clothes and making sure they were correct. The hat was really heavy but totally worth it. Then we headed back to get our cakes.

    The people served us some awesome lavender tea and we at small samples of cakes. The lights were off and they had some more traditional sounds playing for us. It was very nice a relaxing. Reid unfortunately has Cilliac’s disease so he was unable to eat anything. He still laughed with all f us and he really liked the tea. We then had to go package our freshly baked cakes. After that everyone exchanged hugs and it was our last good bye. I really loved the group of people I was with for this semester, We all laughed and were frustrated together. I don’t think I laughed more than when I was in Class. It was a great experience to start my Mandarin learning.

    Chinatsu and I decided that we should go out to dinner one last time. Her and Shun came home with me to GongGuan and I gave them a tour of my city jungle. We stopped at one of my local eateries that I can get shredded turkey. We also wandered and got ice cream of sorts. Then I had to say my final good bye. I will miss everyone, but I don’t think it’s a permanent goodbye. I will see them again some at least I really hope so. Thus my journey at MTC comes to an end in terms of class. I still have to run some paperwork over there tomorrow unless the typhoon floods out the MRT hopefully not and everything should work out ok. Four more days and counting!

Day 87 -- August 19

Today will be quick. It started out an interesting morning, the Taiwan Ayi and Nai Nai (Aunties and Gannies) were looking out for me. One insisted I sit with her on the bus which was fun and then one came an handed me homework which I managed to leave in the breakfast place. Then it was off to class for some final presentations. We spent most of the day doing that, it was actually a lot fun. Pretty much Chinatsu, Shadia and myself sat in the corner and harassed all the men of our classroom, it was fantastic. Even Laoshi joined in and we had a bunch of inside jokes going, the other class was slightly confused. Also because our class doesn’t have a common language we used Mandarin a heck of lot more than the other class. We also got to answer questions and get prizes for it. Today was  Shadia’s last day which makes me a little sad, she was a fun classmate. We took quite a few picture for her. Tomorrow we have our school outing to go make pineapple cakes and that will be the show for me. I’ll have a few days off to just goof around Taipei. I may go on one more excursion out to the countryside, probably on Wednesday if it happens. We shall see. That’s what I have for today, good night!

Day 86 -- August 18

Today was a slow day. I really just sat around a goofed off until I went out to go meet Jillian. We decided that instead of heading out of Taipei we would go the the National Palace Museum. It’s one of the largest tourist attractions in Taipei. But not for Western people but Chinese people. Here is where all the historical artifacts taken by the Nationalist on their escape to Taiwan. which turned out to be a smart move as the Cultural Revolution would have destroyed many of these things. So people from China go to Taiwan to see their national treasures. It’s a very complicated system on that Jillian and I continued to marvel at. We had a little bit of trouble because the tour groups moving through the museum were very good at blocking our way. We managed our way through the madness, we actually saw some really interesting things on the not crowded floors. A little piece of me always wonders if I couldn’t work at a museum, I think getting to deal with physical history everyday would be awesome.

    The grounds around the museum were also quite beautiful. There was a garden section, not quite as crowded as the rest of the grounds. We think there was an entry fee of some kind but no ever stopped us from going anywhere so who knows. I really liked the area it was quite peaceful. After running around the gardens we decided we were done for now and headed back to the MRT station. We swung into a little shop and got dinner. It was another skillet meal tat was fantastic and quite filling. The ride home I ended up on the train that was terminal the stop before where I needed to be so I took the bus the rest of the way home. It was actually amusing to me because I realize I now know all the buses I can take to get home. I have become one with the public bus system and now understand why they are a good convenient thing. Tomorrow I will have class for three days though I think Loashi is going to call it quits a day early. So possibly only two days for me, then I will sleep for a whole day probably. Alright Bed time, enjoy the picture of the grounds around the National Palace Museum!

Day 85 -- August 17

Morning started with me rolling out of bed to realize our floor was a mess. Meiling was trying to get everything packed up for her flight. I had to dance around the mess but in the end she got it together. I then gave her several hugs as I had to leave to go meet the boys. I promised to see her again some day, then we went our separate ways. Again I will miss her in my final week.

    I headed out to meet the boys. Our main goal was to go to the zoo. It was actually a lot of fun. We just kinda ran around like little children getting to see all the animals. Also I was somehow elected group leader. Which essentially meant I had to make all the decisions. It was actually quite interesting because the boys were just joshing but I really did get to make all decisions. We wandered around and saw a lot of really cool animals. The only issue was that it was really hot a humid today so many of the animals were asleep as a way o deal with the heat. But it was still a tone of fun, we were in the zoo for almost 4 hours. Then it was time to head back.

    The MRT ride was actually quite interesting due t it being rush hour and the fact we needed to make three line transfers. It think this was probably the most stressful point of the day, people can act very strange when they get hyper focused on getting onto the train and can often cause unnecessary blocks in the cars. But we made it through all right. Then we went for food at the little fake American food place. It’s strange eating food that kind looks like it should be American but instead tastes like Chinese food. We were all extremely tired after that point and we headed back. I came home and half the room is totally cleared out, it makes me a little sad. One more week to go!

Day 84 -- August 16

So woke up this morning when the air conditioning switched off. As it turned out there was no power throughout the GongGuan campus. Which is why yesterday’s blog was uploaded so late. Even the 7/11 was closed. So I couldn’t take a shower or anything. I caught Shilan on the way out and gave her a big hug good bye. Then I was off to school. As it turns out Laoshi brought us cake and then proceeded to give us huge slices. I ended up sharing mine with Jillian because it was so big. Then we reviewed for the final test. The test itself wasn’t that hard, except there was a speaking portion that was done really poorly. imagine if yo will 40 international students in a room speaking into microphones all trying to say the same thing but at their own pace. It was a mess. If I fail any portion it’ll be that one.

    After that I headed home. I really didn’t do much other than go get food and work on my final presentation. Tomorrow I think I am going with Johnny and James to the Taipei Zoo. It should be a lot of fun. We will hopefully get to see a baby panda. The zoo is supposedly fairly big so it should be good. No rain tomorrow, hopefully. Alright first step is sleep then face tomorrow.

Day 83 -- August 15

I was and out by 9 am today because I wanted to catch the early bird special at Magic Bagel before going to conversation class. I would be able to get a coffee and an egg sandwich for 70 Nt which is deal! I was a little disappointed in the coffee but that because I think it was instant and I am used to fresh brew espresso from the Shida cafe. But I survived and was off to class. Our last conversation class mostly consisted of games and making friends, which was a little sad because it was our last time meeting. We played a game that involved us running around and switching spots. I asked Laoshi to get pictures for it I really like them. I made a lot of friends in this class.

    After that we had class which was interesting, tomorrow is the big test which is nice. I am ready to be done with school, I’m not even that worried about how I will do I just want to be done. I really want to go travel and have good time for my last week. I think the first part of next week will be stressful but after that we’ll be free to frolic without the worry of school. So after class I headed back to the dorm. It was decided that as Shilan last night and Meiling’s second to last we would go out to hot pot. It was a lot fun and absolutely delicious. I had beef cuts and kelp soup, we also had fun taking pictures. The steam kept getting in the way which is why Shilan’s hand is in the way of the soup.

Attempt one at a picture

    After that Shilan and I took off for Dongmen, she wanted to get some last minute souvenirs. But on our way their we got lost going to Shida. A place that we have lived for 3 months, it was so funny because right before we realized we were lost Shilan said she was a north star (meaning she has a really good sense of direction). So we got back on track and ended up a second hand book store where I was able to get a book for the flight back. I am actually looking forward to reading it. Then we headed over to Dongmen via bus which was good as we were the only ones on the bus. It was fun for us, just being obnoxious young adults, the bus driver was laughing so I figured it was good. So After getting the treats from Dongmen we caught the bus back, except after a few stops I didn’t recognize where we were. Then we realized we were heading East and not South. So we hopped off at the next stop, which was conveniently a MRT station. Shilan and I kept laughing about how lost we had manage to get ourselves, we were half way to Taipei 101 a good 20 minute MRT ride.

    We finally made it into GongGuan where we slowly made our way back. We were kinda browsing around, I am forever on the look out for souvenirs for people. I am very sad to see my roommates go. They made life here so much fun, I really hope we will stay in contact and maybe, just maybe be able to visit one another some day. I think for now that’s all I have, it was an absolutely awesome day. Many laughs for everyone. Meiling gave me some peanut butter for a snack, I asked if she had a spoon. She looked around and found a bundle of chopsticks hands them to me and says “Have chopstick, new way to eat.” I laughed way harder than I probably should, the accent and her sort of candid expression was fantastic. Good memories to end the day on.

Bye Shilan, I will miss you <3