zero distance

Today was just preparation for going home. I packed the rest of my belongings, thanked Joanna's grandma for letting me stay in her house, made sure I had everything with me... then we went off to get some food. We went to a Japanese place, again. No complaints, though, Japanese food is my favorite kind. We ordered quite a lot, but I only took a picture of the lamb katsudon I got, because I didn't want to get my camera out with so many people eating and sharing food together.

After eating until we were full, we finally stuffed our luggage into a few cars (we had a lot of stuff after two months of staying here) and made our way to the airport. I was silent most of the time, but Joanna, Joanna's uncle, and I did make good conversation. We talked about where I stayed, where I went, and some stuff I learned (chengyu/idioms being one of them. Thanks to C4, I could hold up that conversation!) 

We finally arrived. I took a few pictures of the airport (I'm sorry for the blurriness of them, we were in a rush and I didn't want to get in people's ways).

The blue lights on the sides actually change colors! All colors of the rainbow, and they are kind of like a light show.

There was an adorable EVA Air Hello Kitty collaboration. People could check in using a pink kiosk!

We went upstairs and looked around the stores before finally going through customs. A last glance at the airport... I don't know the next time I'll be back.

I picked up a bag at the duty-free shops, then we made our way to our gate... which happens to be...

The exact name of the class I was in for OCAC. Oh, fate!

Took a picture of my ticket just before boarding.

The flight back was uneventful (Joann and I mostly slept). We parted at the airport with our respective families (we see each other often, it's okay!) and went home.

Being back home was very surreal. Living in Taiwan, I always had shoes on. Yes, you are not supposed to wear your outdoors shoes inside -- people buy indoors slippers to wear. We don't typically go barefoot because the ground is (to be honest) not very clean. There can be a lot of insects, and at times, rodents (once I woke up because of the scuttling of a rat in my room in Nanshijiao. I was terrified). So, walking back home and feeling carpet on my bare feet was, for lack of a better word, freaky. Even showering at home was weird; the water pressure here is seriously strong. 

In a way, I could barely believe I was home. Or maybe it was that I could barely believe that I had returned from such an adventure. Strangely enough, I felt like a stranger sleeping in my own bed. Was I supposed to be somewhere else? I knew I wasn't, but the feeling is difficult to describe. Even now, shortly after my trip, it's honestly hard to believe I spent two months in Taiwan (without being accompanied by my parents!) and am going to start my senior year in high school/sophomore year in college in a matter of days. 

I am beyond thankful I got to have this experience. Living in Taiwan for two months didn't only give me the opportunity to learn Chinese; it helped me learn about me and my culture. Not only that, but being with people from all over the world (places as near as California or Illinois, or as far as France and Spain and Germany) gave me the opportunity to learn about their cultures, as well.

I don't know if there's any "correct" or "ideal" way to end this entry, and this blog. I'll let Jolin have the final word.

Jolin Tsai's "Heartbeat of Taiwan"

Since it's Joanna and my last few days here, her family treated us (and Steven!) to some ramen. It was pretty far from Nanshijiao, and we had to transfer lines to get there. We met up with Steven outside of the station and then... got lost.

None of us were familiar with the area (I forgot what the name was, I'm sorry!) and so we were pacing through a night market asking directions. I'm glad the people I was with are fluent. I know I would've had trouble asking for directions!

A random break in storytelling to just inject some culture. My Chinese isn't the best, but whenever I ask for help in my fragmented speech, people will earnestly try to help me. I've heard plenty of stories from family and friends alike where someone might be asking a driver at a red light how to get somewhere, and that driver will actually let you hop in the car and gt a ride for free. Me being a defenseless tourist, I wouldn't do that, personally, but it's a nice gesture all the same. I guess it's not the safest way to go about things, but I hear it as a favor more than as some mugging attempt or something of the sort. Whenever I was here with my parents and they asked for help, everyone will try to help and point us in the right direction. Funnily enough, a lot of the times, their directions will completely contradict each other's. I guess it's the thought that counts.

Anyways, by some miracle of other family members showing up and escorting us (we were pretty lost), we made it to the place. I do have to add I was a bit envious that everyone could speak Chinese fluently; mine was the worst of the group. I'm glad Joanna and Steven were both there to help me out.

I took a few places of the ramen place, but nothing else.

Looking into the restaurant.

It was already pretty late (Joanna and I sleep a lot, so we didn't really get up until it was about dinner time...) and Steven just headed home. We went back and lounged around like we usually do!

Steven, Joanna, and I decided to go to an underground mall today at Taipei Main Station because there's a huge typhoon coming in soon (seriously, is my flight going to be delayed?).

We went to one (sorry, I don't know which one... there's several) that had a LOT of anime merchandise. (Anime is Japanese animation, and it has an enormous fanbase.) Luckily, I'm not a huge fan, so I didn't really get much but I did buy some gifts for friends. Yay!

Some merch~

We also saw some themed cafes! It was really cool and... very fitting of the anime vibe.

All of the employees are decked out in frilly mini-kimonos (I think they change themes every day) and one came out and asked me in a really adorable voice to take their business card... I kind of wanted to go in and eat lunch but Joanna and Steven seemed reluctant. These kind of shops cost a lot of money, after all.

I also saw a butler-themed one.

We settled for a random shop instead which served ramen, bibimbap, gratin, and pasta... I don't favor bibimbap and I didn't trust the place's Italian skills, so I went for an interesting butter ramen. It had a crown next to it, so I guess it's popular?

It was surprisingly good! The butter was a nice touch, but it didn't overpower the ramen. I like ramen with a more milky-looking soup (it's usually from boiled egg yolk) because they tend to be creamier and slightly sweeter as opposed to savory. There weren't enough noodles, though.

On our way to the platforms, we saw a wall covered completely with people's drawings!

  After walking around QSquare, we went to an international supermarket where I got this popsicle. I just felt like eating it.

It was really good! There was a milk part and a red bean part, both of which are really creamy. I prefer the milk part though, it has a different aroma than milk we drink in America. My family gets 2% which kind of tastes watery. Not my favorite.

Afterwards, we headed to Xindian (新店) to go to Bitan (碧潭) which is famous for its scenery along the river, and its suspension bridge.

Right when I saw the pedaling boats I knew I had to go on it. So, we did!

Funny story about this picture of the egret. As you can see, this is the border where we can't go any further since the boat workers don't want the boats going too far anywhere. We drifted off to the border and I took a picture of the egret, then I said "Okay guys, let's go back". Well, we couldn't. We thought we were caught on the wire, but we weren't. While trying to get back to the dock, there was a big spider by Steven and so we both started to freak out and rock the boat everywhere. (Steven killed the spider). Finally, after a lot of dangerous leaning off the boat and pushing us away from the boundary, we went back to the dock. We were stuck there because the current was pushing us there, and I think we had a faulty boat... the pedals were a bit broken. Well, as long as we make it back okay.

After our boat adventure, we decided to cross the suspension bridge.

Where all the boats are.

When we crossed the bridge, we went to Seven Eleven and ate some food... and all of us failed to notice we missed the sunset. Whoops.

We didn't do anything after we came home from that. 

I have been spending the past 8 weeks without any family and so you can probably imagine that I miss them pretty dearly... so I was really happy when Steven, my brother, finally arrived in Taiwan!

He's staying with my cousin in Taoyuan (about an hour and a half away) and he came down to Nanshijiao today so Joanna and I could hang out with him.

Because he was hungry, we went right away to a tonkatsu place in 忠孝復興/Zhongxiao Fuxing.

It was good, but pretty expensive (about 300 NT?). Of course, it's more expensive because this place has unlimited miso soup and rice! Too bad I don't like miso soup that much and I was so full that I ate barely half. Whoops.

Afterwards, we just walked around SOGO and then went to Ximending.

Nothing really exciting, but I did see a cat. Yay, cats!

We also got Starbucks. While looking at the menu, I saw the weirdest thing...

It was some... frappuccino. It was called Hojicha Earl Grey Tea Cream Jelly (or something of the sort). I was so intrigued that I got it just to try it. Starbucks describes it as...

A unique combination and an unexpected blend of east meets west. The toasty and creaminess of Hojicha (a gently roasted Japanese green tea) is well balanced with the addition of refreshing, floral and aromatic Earl Grey tea jelly.

I wish I could say the same, because I found it to be terrible. It was just not a good mix. Well, at least I tried it!

(It even looks unappealing.)

We decided to go to Shilin next, even though Joanna and Steven were quite tired... C'mon, guys! Back in camp, we had went out for 12 hours straight on 3 hours of sleep! Well, then again, that's not very healthy.

On the way out I saw that Taiwan has a Chili's! I've never been to Chili's, but cool!

Of course, we went for the handrolls. Again.

They're only 60 NT each and so good! Quite filling with the protein as well. The owner really is generous with the salmon!

Since we're basically done with shopping, we really didn't do that much at Shilin and just walked around. Overall, it was a fun day though!

We headed home early where I planned to rest... until Joanna's uncles convinced me to go up to a nearby mountain to look at the nighttime scenery. Well, I guess I can ride a moped one more time before I leave...

WELL, I forgot I haven't ridden one for years. Not going to lie, I was pretty scared on that moped and was grabbing on for dear life. Last time I was on one, I was probably some fearless 7-year-old, but now, I'm pretty scared. I got used to it after about 5 minutes but wow, I'm not sure how people ride those around every day. I kind of forgot that you just sit on it, and that's literally it. (No buckles, no backrest, nothing.)

Once we got to the mountain too, I was totally duped. We had to practically hike up the mountain to get to the temple near the top where a lot of other people were sightseeing. It was really airy and nice up there, but because of the walk, sweat was coming down my face and my back... it was not comfortable, especially considering my calves hurt easily when walking uphill and I was already tired to begin with.

Worth it, though.

The artwork in temples is just astounding. These are little statues carved out of the stone on the stairs:

The thing is, there's a LOT of these... maybe a hundred or two. There's so much detail to take in at every corner it's impossible to take in all at once. For this reason, I like visiting temples. While other may find it boring, I find it really beautiful. Just let me wander for a while and let me soak in the architecture and sheer talent in the place, and I'll be good.

FINALLY I went to get my hair dyed. YAY!

I wanted an ombre, but I got more of a brownish color and a light milk-tea color on the tips. I'm okay with it, I quite like it actually. Reminds me a lot of flan, and I like flan. The people at the salon were quite confused with my request, but I think they did a decent job. In total it took about 3 hours and I paid 2100 NT... worth it, I think. I was afraid my hair would pull orange and look brassy, but it actually looks ashy and not bad. This is starting to sound like a personal post.

In the salon, getting my hair processed...

I might go and get it touched up because I want the color to be even more obvious... but I like it!

(Ignore the drawn-on faces. I don't know how to pose for pictures!)

Afterwards, the starving Joanna and I went to 幾分甜 (How Sweet), a chain bakery. I got some savory stuff because... I don't know, I felt like it?

I brought it home and ate it~ It wasn't bad, actually. A bit sweet (Asia tends to like sweet bread, even if it's covered in supposed-to-be-savory toppings) but good nonetheless.

Anyways, the more exciting part (and less picture-filled, whoops) was when Joanna and I went to Wufenpu. Yeah, I still didn't get pictures. I seriously don't know how I forget every time. Next time, next time.

I bought a lot of stuff................ like, a lot. (8 pieces of clothing?) Whoops. Hopefully, I won't spend any more, but to be honest I'm not trying to hold myself back that much because I don't know the next time I'll be in Taiwan.

Oh yeah, today when we were in Wufenpu, Joanna had a friendly conversation with a store employee. He was pretty funny and we kind of talked like we were friends. I noticed that I'm still remarkably awkward with Chinese (I guess I forgot that when I was talking with Michelle in camp or something?) and he noticed. He said something quickly in Chinese and I wasn't paying attention, so I got confused and he asked me if I was better at speaking than listening/understanding. I don't know if anyone is better at speaking than listening, but I'm definitely not. I didn't know how to respond, so I just didn't say anything.

That reminds me! Mini rant. There are some questions that people ask me in Chinese that I understand one hundred percent, but just need time to answer, whether it be for grammar/sentence structure purposes, or simply not knowing the answer. When I take time to answer, they automatically assume that I can't speak Chinese... I can! A bit! Just give me time! The guy that Joanna and I were talking to today talked to us about a lot of stuff, like if we could bargain in America, what grades we were in, our families, how we knew Chinese, our education... Then, he asked me what my favorite food in Taiwan was. I really don't know (bubble tea? oyster omelet? chicken egg cake?) so I took a while to answer... and he automatically assumed that I didn't understand his question. Like, what? I understood everything else we just talked about, so isn't it obvious I would understand a simple sentence like that? Sigh.

Same happened with Joanna's cousin. I laughed when everyone else laughed at jokes (because I understood them, not because people were laughing, okay), responded to people's questions, and asked questions of my own in Chinese. Later, he pointed to me and asked Joanna if I understood Chinese. I don't think they realize how much Chinese they unconsciously experience, because I was well-aware of how much I needed to understand to comfortably communicate with them. It was a strange experience. (By the way, of course I understand Chinese. Some, at least.)

Another thing, people here tend to think I'm not Taiwanese. They think I'm Japanese or Korean (mostly Korean though). The thing is, I'm 100% Taiwanese. I don't have any Japanese or Korean accent, and I can't speak either language... so why do people always think I'm Japanese or Korean? It amazes me. It's a long-running joke in America that all Asians look the same, but I guess even some Taiwanese can't tell that I'm of their kind. Weird.

Okay this was more of a rambly post! Hope you don't mind, but I hope it makes up for the mainly-picture posts this blog tends to have, seeing as I typically upload it during the early morning hours.

I really didn't do much until about 6:30 PM (oh jeez) when Joanna and I went out with some relatives to a cultural performance in Nangang (南港).

A little visit from the temple~?

The place served food as well! They gave us some dried dates and apricots (both not my thing) and some pineapple cake (yay). They also added water to our personal teapots which had a green tea leaves in it. Very nice!

I didn't get all the performances, but it was honestly a really cool show. I was ready to be bored when I heard we were going to go to a cultural performance (interesting to a certain extent), but I was impressed with all the modern culture mixed into it. There was a nice mix of traditional drum-playing, dancing, acting, makeup, acrobatics, and the such, but also beat boxing, breakdancing, and b-boying. I really liked it!

I got some shots of it, of course~

Drum players. Really passionate, I liked it a lot.

Woah~ 妳是我的花朵~

It's over!

Afterwards, we went to Yangmingshan/陽明山 for some nice scenery. It was quite the car ride but we all got there in one piece, and the view was great! If only my phone camera could've captured it......

  Where the sightseeing occurred...:

haha! Less than glamorous.

The drive home also took a while, and we picked up McDonalds for dinner (and by dinner I mean a midnight snack........) before heading home and relaxing. And writing this journal entry.

Today, Joanna and I went to eat sushi at Sushi Express. Same old there, though the one we went to had a noticeably small selection and wasn't...... well, it wasn't the best I've had. Still good though, and I didn't feel the need to complain. We ate 5 dishes each and then left.

Afterwards, we decided to go to Shilin night market. During camp, I would go to Shilin night market very early, like around 3... well, the thing is, Joanna and I left the house much later than that. We've kind of been sleeping. A lot. Camp really exhausted me, alright? Don't blame me.

Once there, I kind of... went crazy. I've been wanting Converse for a while (black and white pairs) and I know they're cheaper in Taiwan, so... I bought them. I got some socks as well, since I didn't bring any to Taiwan. I'm smart like that.

I also bought lots of shorts at some boutiques in Shilin and O-Ma. 

I actually didn't buy any food while I was at Shilin. I was full from the sushi and just... not bothered to try to eat food while trying to hold all the things I bought. Oh, vain first world problems.

(Don't worry, I usually don't spend this much money... I've been saving money to buy those shoes. Yay shoes!)

We were kind of cutting it close with the train station today... and by kind of, I mean really. It was 11:45 or so when we were at Jiantan station, and we needed to go to Nanshijiao. To do so, you normally don't have to transfer, but because it was so late, we had to go to Taipei Main Station. By the time we got there, it was 12:06 AM. I started panicking a bit because we didn't know where our train was, and we've heard from multiple sources that the trains all close at 12. Luckily, our train came and it was literally the last one. We arrived in Nanshijiao at around 12:30. Once we walked home, I just ate some ramen and we lounged around doing nothing like we normally do at night. The joys of having no curfew!

And, well, that's all. Now, it's 4:30 AM, when I should be sleeping, but I'm up updating journal entries instead. This is what procrastination does...!

Sorry these posts lately have been lackluster and picture-less. I'll work on it in the days to come. Please cheer me on!

I felt much better today and finally, Joanna and I decided to go out and do something fun and productive. Her little brother wanted us to get some pens for him, so we went to find some stationary store a few stops away from Nanshijiao. Of course, this wasn't before we saw a pig... walking on the road.

...huh?

Blurry picture, but I'm serious. There was a pig wandering Taipei's night streets.

Am I right? Here's an accurate drawing for comparison.

Anyways, besides that (it was bizarre, I've never seen pigs wandering Taipei before)... Right, the stationary store.

I saw a card that utilized the best English I've ever seen (in Taiwan).

On our way back, we went to a nearby night market and I bought some totally unnecessary phone cases. I saw a cool iPhone 4s one!

Feeling significantly better compared to yesterday, Joanna and I attempted to go to Taipei and check out a few places. We both got up quite late, and finally made our way out of the house at around 5:30 or 6ish. Of course, the exhibition we were planning to go was closed...

This proved to be almost a good thing though, because after Joanna collected her stamps (a lot of historical/tourist attractions have stamps and ink, so you can bring a book around and stamp it to record your being there) she suggested we go home. I still felt lackluster, so I stayed home while Joanna went to eat out with her relatives.

No pictures today, and for good reason...

I woke up in a stupor, feeling uncomfortably fatigued. Despite everyone else in my room awake and packing their mattresses and things away (last day of camp!), I was still rolling around in bed. It was hot and stuffy, maybe not more than usual, but I usually didn't feel so... bad in the mornings. Well, I got up and dizzily started to get ready for the cleaning up of the day.

Counselors kept coming in to check on the students' progress of how cleaning was going. They told me to hurry up, and I tried, but I felt so weak that that proved to be a difficult task. I hurried down the lobby when Micki, one of my closest friends (hopefully that's evident in my posts, haha) was finally called downstairs to leave.

I felt absolutely terrible. I was shivering, but I felt cold sweat running down my back, neck, and face. I sweat more than I had on our hottest field trips on the hottest days. Finally, nausea hit me. I couldn't even stand up to hug Micki goodbye in fear I would vomit all over her (this sounds absolutely hilarious when I'm not in the situation anymore). I watched her drive off, then rushed off to the bathroom (Michelle: "你還好嗎?" "You okay?") before I threw up in one of the toilets.

Not the best way to end the last day of camp. I halfheartedly said goodbye to my friends, and felt like all of my energy was drained. I think it was some of the food (probably fruit) that made me sick. If you can recall, I have a phobia of vomiting as well, so that didn't help this sick spell either.

Anyways, I was the last in C4 to leave and Colbie called a cab for me to go to the Danshui MRT station. I told her goodbye, lacking my usual luster, and she burst out in tears. I felt terrible, but I was extremely sad as well. That was it. Camp's over. Colbie and I hugged, and then I went to the MRT station, where I met up with my friend Joanna.

Since Danshui is at the very top of the station line, and Nanshijiao (where Joanna and I are staying) was at the very end, the train ride was long and arduous. I still felt horrible and nauseous. Just on mark, when we got off the train at Nanshijiao, I rushed off to the bathroom... but I couldn't find it, so I settled for a potted plant. Pardon me being a bit informal, but THAT ABSOLUTELY SUCKED.

Whatever was irritating my stomach was finally out of my system, but I still felt extremely tired. We made it to Joanna's house (we had to call a cab, I feel so bad) and I immediately went to bed.

That day (as you can tell, I had no energy to write about the events, so I'm writing this quite a bit after it happened) was absolutely terrible; I could barely sleep and was slightly hallucinating because of the heat. A good day of rest was completely worth it though; I felt much better the next day, and managed to stomach some food.

The dorms are slowly thinning out of people, and so Micki, Yuehning (next-door neighbor of Micki and me), and I went to the Taipei Underground Mall. We visited the anime-esque part of the mall, yet again. Seeing as we were all running low on luggage space, we didn't get much.

We did stop by a Hi-Mart to pick up some snacks, though! We also messed with the freezer a bit. Credit to Yuehning.

We went to another underground mall, where we got some fruit and coffee bread. This is where the "did I eat poison today?" thing comes in... but more on that in the next post. 

We still had so much time that on our way back, we went to Shilin night market. Again. I love this place.

This time, though, we went to the food court, which is underground now. I was surprised that it was relatively airy; I was expecting it to be stuffy and overwhelming. Though the air conditioners were on full blast, because of all of the people in close proximity, it was still pretty hot. The skillets were blazing, as well. I could barely move, but I got a few pictures in. We ordered some oyster pancake and stinky tofu (I had the oyster omelette, Micki and Yuehning ate the stinky tofu. I hate stinky tofu).

We headed back upstairs (it was completely packed underground and there was actually a queue for the tables) and ate our food on a bench. The oyster omelette was good, though incredibly oily (the oil seeped through a wax-coated paper box and got all over my shopping bags. It was unpleasant, to say the least) and starchy. Once we were full, we went to wander the smaller streets in Shilin night market. I didn't get much, considering I'm still going to be here for another two weeks, but it was fun (though bittersweet) spending limited time with my remaining friends. They got some ice cream at a place called 老地方 (Old Place; I thought this name was incredibly cheesy, but I felt foolish afterwards when I noticed a lot of them everywhere throughout Taipei).

We also saw a parrot. We wanted to try to touch it, but were scared that it would bite us. I don't know, are parrots aggressive? Their beaks look like they can do some serious harm.

At this point, we were just trying to kill time. There weren't many more places we could go, so we took our time to make our ways back to the dorm. 

When we finally made it back, I realized that the huge drawings/posters of superheros were taken down. A counselor, Kiling, drew them and I never got a chance to take pictures while they were still up on the wall. So here they are on the ground.

Since rooms were relatively empty, the counselors moved students to one hallway (so all the rooms that had students in them were full). I can't say I like my new dorm room, but I don't have to deal with it for much longer. Micki and I are miraculously in the same room. We stuggled to finish her fruit (mangoes in passionfruit juice) before heading off to bed.

Today was a bittersweet day. Already said goodbye to some people, and said goodbye to even more this afternoon before heading out to Old Street again. Lucia and Nelly are leaving tomorrow, the last of my roommates. I'm going to miss them a lot; seeing as they're from Spain and France respectively, it's going to be hard seeing them again. We finally took off the sign on our door (that we all decorated! My side got a little bit messed up because my lovely roommate got her wet hair on it [honestly I find it really funny, but as long as the alpaca is okay I'm totally fine with it]. Still flawless, though.).

Nelly, Micki, Carmela, Lucia, and I went to Old Street to get some gifts.

Not before stopping for some cuabing, of course.

(Speaking of cuabing, which I didn't know how to romanize earlier, turns out that "cuabing" is in fact Taiwanese and the Chinese way to say it is "cuobing/剉冰". Thanks to Colbie for telling me when I asked~) 

Remember how last time I got that rice necklace? Nelly and I got one for Colbie! We got her name "Colbie" on one side, and "C4 愛妳" on the other. Hopefully she'll like it. I also got one for my friend. Micki got ones for all of her friends, and Nelly got some for her family and close friends. We mostly hung out at Old Street since the wait for the necklaces was so long.

I decided to use the time to get some food.

I was really intrigued by the goat meat, since I actually really like goat meat, but....... it was overly seasoned and kind of tough. Not worth my money, really.

At least we saw the Turkish ice cream guy! He travels all over Taiwan (I think) and he comes to Old Street pretty often. Being a jokester as always. Some kid is very amused (as is the crowd). I wasn't hungry for ice cream or humiliation, so I didn't get any.

We took our time going back home since... well, the counselors can't do much if we're late. Even if they deduct points, the trip is over and so their only form of blackmail is now void. Even so, we got home early because we didn't have time to go anywhere else, and Old Street isn't far from home.

The dorms are getting emptier and emptier. It's sad seeing everyone go. I almost regret choosing the last day to leave because I'm going to be one of the last. One of the sad things about leaving last is that you try to hold in your tears when people are leaving, since you're still staying... but in actuality, when you actually leave, there's not many people left to cry with. I guess that's why I'm a bit regretful.

Today was the last day of our trip. This entire day was dedicated to being at an amusement park...

which, I wasn't thrilled about because, well... I don't really like rollercoasters that much. Truthfully, I am pretty scared, but I don't find the adrenaline or the "freaking out" factor really that fun. Because I don't find it that fun and most of the time, I'm somewhat scared, riding rollercoasters is just a mix of "I'm scared, now I'm screaming, oh it's over, that wasn't even fun?" for me. Of course, I wasn't going to stand around all day, so Michelle and I still went to ride some rides anyways. And I took pictures of the rides. (Without me on them, mind you.)

The main attraction at this park was pretty... intense. It was a rollercoaster that abruptly stopped, and then teetered at an 90 degree edge until it finally fell vertical and dropped the cart downwards onto the new track. How do I explain this...?

Like this.

Anyways, more random amusement park shots.

Where we ate lunch. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the badly-translated English.

This is what I had:

Not bad, actually! Expensive, but enjoyable.

Got some ice cream as well.

And more funny English! Hoorah.

Finally, we left at around 4. It was the last time we were going to board these tour busses. Say goodbye to our three-day trip~

(Actually we got off the busses to have dinner, so our last time getting on the bus was after dinner... but you get the idea.)

When we got home, our counselors gave us our graduation certificates, along with our yearbooks and CDs. Bittersweet.

Me and my fabulous class! Go C4!

Abrupt end of post.

We went a really big temple with a lot of statues and historical paintings. It was very Buddhist; people passing by us would say "Ami Tofu" (Buddha's Chinese name) and I felt a bit awkward in the temple since I'm not religious. We went on a boring tour through the temple (which felt more like a museum), but at least I got a lot of pretty pictures~

There were little mini-maps of the area!

Back to real-scale.

Afterwards, we went to Sun Moon Lake. Again, pretty, but it was cloudy and we didn't get to see all of its brilliance today. It's okay; I've been to Sun Moon Lake a few times already and I already have pictures of it. 

\

Me with classmates and my counselor in the red pants~ Love Colbie!

Also got this huge egg tart for... quite expensive. It was good, though! It had raisins in it, which I normally wouldn't like, but it was alright in this.

We then got lunch, which was much better than the lunch yesterday. I had a few stomach pains today, but none as bad as yesterday's, and I didn't have any major digestion problems. 

After lunch, we went to a tea factory... which was extremely boring. I got some pictures of the beautiful scenery though, and of the signs... though I wasn't supposed to.

CAT

I wouldn't recommend going there at all.

We went to a nearby temple that overlooked Sun Moon Lake and took some pictures. The architecture was stunning.

My friend photobombed...

People hang their wishes on the walls.

365 stairs, each one with a birthday and a little saying.

More Sun Moon.

Finally, we arrived at the hotel. Turns out by pure coincidence that I am staying in the same hotel that my friend is as well (the one that was at OCAC with me two years ago). We met up and hung out with Micki to get some food at 7-eleven after I had a trip to the sauna and sweated like I were in hot yoga. It was really refreshing~

Today, we got on the bus at around 6:30 AM (sigh) and drove about 2 hours to Taoyuan.

There, we went to look at some of Chiang Kai Shek's statues. It was interesting, but way too unbearably hot to actually enjoy. It was only around 9 AM and I could feel the sweat rolling down my back. Ugh.

Military-bred swans... I found it interesting. They were really pretty, though.

The plaza outside Chiang Kai Shek's coffin.

We actually got to see his coffin, which was... interesting. I didn't know that we were even going to see his coffin, so I didn't know what I was in line for until I actually saw it. The walk and the glance was so short that I just shrugged it off and moved on.

(Chiang Kai Shek moved to Taiwan from China and helped form the Republic of China [A.K.A Taiwan]).

Afterwards, we took about another hour to go to a LaoJie (Old Street), but not the one in Danshui. This one was closer to Nantou, which is located in the middle of Taiwan, whereas Danshui is near the very top of Taiwan.

The walk was brutal.

There was a lot of cool architecture, especially by the temples.

There were birds, as well.

Peace Old Street.

Sadly, I couldn't fully enjoy today because I had a lot of problems. I got another mosquito bite on the back of my leg (the other one this time) and it's swelling up. I went to the doctor yesterday to get medicine and so I hope I'll be okay for this trip, but I'm still uncertain about my condition. I also had some... Mother Nature problems visiting me today, so I had stomach and back pains all day, accompanied with some digestion problems. If I wasn't sitting on the bus and sleeping, I was in pain. So, I couldn't take in too much of the scenery because all I wanted to do was get over it and get on the bus to sleep.

(Despite the pain, I got ice cream. It was too hot, I couldn't help myself.)

(It was 40 NT and melting as I was taking the picture, but worth it!)

Afterwards was lunch! As you can imagine, I didn't eat much. The food that was mass-produced for over 200 students wasn't the best, and was covered in oil and was just unappetizing. The pain kept hitting me and going away, so every time I felt better, it was only a matter of time before I was hurting again.

Anyways, after dinner, we went to go paint some wooden masks. I made my own design and didn't have much time to pain it, so it looks a bit plain because I didn't add much detail. I'm prouder of it than my other mask that I painted a few weeks ago, though! That counts for something.

After the painting, we went to a place well known for its wood carvings. It's a cute little town with tourist attraction shops, but nothing special. I had some good ice cream, but that didn't cooperate with my stomach, so I just kind of... stood there in pain. Oh yeah, my skin reacted to something as well and I got hives on my face. Not a pretty look.

Got pictures, though!

After that, we went to a really popular and big night market in Taichung/Taizhong. I think it's called 豐原廟東夜市? It was pretty fun, Nelly and I got some earrings and I got a denim jacket that has to do with mustaches (I have a thing for novelty moustaches) and some long pants (finally.. though they're not jeans). I wish we could go back; I'm almost used to how Shilin looks so this new night market was pretty fun. We weren't giving much time, either... next time, I want to make a stop at Taizhong!

Then, we went to our hotel called 正豪大飯店. It's not the best hotel room ever, but alright. I'm staying with Michelle and two other girls from A1. I'm not used to giving translations, I'm more used to receiving them, but I could get used to the change.

Haha, ignore my sleeping roommates.

Today we finally had the closing ceremony.

We did random other stuff in the morning. Today was a blur, really.

The closing ceremony was very formal in the beginning with the higher-ups visiting and giving speeches, but afterwards, we put on our final performances.

I made a playlist of the videos I uploaded.

At the end, all the counselors lined up in their dresses and suits and gave speeches.

This happened in the 2010 camp as well, and I definitely cried during that one... (and by cried, I mean full out sobbing.) This time, I started crying before the counselors even began giving speeches.

It was just so... surreal. I couldn't believe I'm really back at this camp, I'm really back at Danshui, in Taiwan, the place I consider my second home... I can't believe that in this six weeks, we have become a family. It seems (no, it is) like such a short time... I remember the first week going by slower than I could ever imagine, and the past 5 weeks have just flashed past me. I've grown so close with my classmates, roommates, and friends that I met here... Back in 2010, I mostly hung out with friends from Seattle, so I didn't feel that bad to separate because we had a likely chance of meeting each other again. This time, my best friends are from Spain, France, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California...

I don't know how to express the feeling. Before this camp, I didn't know what it meant to truly miss something or someone. When I left, I was depressed for weeks. It felt like I had left my home.

And that's what's really... heart-burdening. No matter where I am, in Seattle or in Taiwan, I'm always homesick. I'm always heartbroken. I love both places for their own reasons. I know that I wouldn't be so fond of Taiwan if I didn't meet all the people I know now, and I know I wouldn't be so fond of Seattle if it weren't for the fact that it's close to everything I know.

I don't really know what I'm trying to say. I just was overwhelmed by emotions... emotions I had hidden away from two years ago, and emotions that had unknowingly built up from the past 5 weeks. As I sat there sobbing (again), I thought to myself, "Why did I come back? I knew I would be in pain, so why?" but when I looked around and saw everyone else shedding tears like I was, I (once again) understood that we're a family... we go through the happiness and the pain together. 

I remember a counselor from 2010 telling us, "OCAC, 我們是家人。你一定要快點回來台灣跟我們輔導員再在一起。" (OCAC, we are family. You have to come back to Taiwan soon so us counselors can be with you again.)

Every time I think about this camp, I'm filled with a bittersweet feeling. I know it better than any other place in Taiwan. I have grown to know it better than some of my neighboring cities at home. But no matter how many times I come back here, camp or not, it will never be the same. 

I can't decide if I am the same as I was two years ago, or if I've changed. I feel the same as I did two years ago, but I know I am different. I know for a fact I have mentally and emotionally grown, as a product of this camp and many other experiences. 

I have no answers to the questions I brought up in this entry, nor do I have any underlying moral. I just wrote what's on my mind. Sorry for the picture-less entry and the disorganization. The past few entries, I've been letting my pictures speak for myself and not my own voice. So, here it is.

No matter what, I'm still going to love this camp and Taiwan. Both 2010 and 2012 were amazing years. They changed me. I may not know how right now, but I know for a fact that when I go back, my friends will look at me and say, "You've changed." And whether for the better or worse, I don't know. What I do know, though, is that I had an unforgettable time here, and I wouldn't trade a moment of it back.

OCAC... we're together forever.