Hornby Island 2016
July 6, 2016, I returned home to Canada from nearly a year abroad.
I can't quite describe what it feels like to come back to a city, a country that feels so comfortable yet so foreign at the very same time. It was truly great to see my friends and family that I missed once again, yet there was, and still is, a part of me that wished I could've just stayed in Taiwan. I spent a year developing a life of new homes, new families, new friends, new culture and new language. To give it up after a year felt almost unfair, as if I was leaving only as I started to truly be one with the country. But, that's how it goes. Within a week, I felt very at home back in Canada. It felt to me like I had paused my life for a year, dreamed up a crazy adventure, then awoken back to my real life. Only within the last few days has it truly hit me that my life in Taiwan, my life as an exchange student has ended for good. That was a tough one to take, not going to lie. However, I've done my best to stay busy and keep my mind from wandering too far. I spent 7 days on the coast of B.C. with my family on our yearly vacation to Hornby Island.
A week is never long enough to truly explore any area. Having gone to Hornby Island nearly every summer since I was a toddler, however, I've come to appreciate the time that I do get to spend in my favourite places. This past week I was lucky to travel once more to Hornby with my family. The moment I step off the ferry, I instantly feel at home. The island has an energy that's incredibly difficult to describe. The rustic, hippie community has become a second home to me. As I return, the memories of my childhood summers rush back. The bike races through the winding mountain trails, sandcastles built on the beaches, and countless times we've jumped off the cliffs into the warm water below all come to mind. Over the years, it's been interesting to see how Hornby has changed, but also how my own maturity has affected my perception of the island. The children we grew up with are now all young adults. While we meet once a year, the friendships always remain as if we had never left.
This year, I have really dedicated myself to improving my photography and working to better myself as an artist. I have focused especially on my portraiture, aiming to connect with the subject to create a charged image. With that in mind, I purchased a flash setup with the goal of learning how to incorporate artificial light into my photography on this trip. Below, I have shared some of my favourite shots from the trip.
On another sunrise shoot, the weather wasn't nearly as cooperative. However, it worked well with a moodier style of portraits. I had a lot of fun experimenting and learning how to best blend the artificial and natural light in unique ways.
Of course, what would a trip to the island be without some cliff jumping? The pastel colours of the sunset painted the sky so vividly.
I had an absolute blast over the past week. Seeing old friends, spending time with family, and working to develop my photography were all such satisfying parts of the experience. Each year my relationship with the island changes, but it's always nice to go back.
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Tough Goodbyes
I remember hearing a few key pieces of advice before I left for Taiwan. "Study the language as much as you can", "say yes to every opportunity" and "try the food before you ask what it is" to name a few. That being said, there's one I wish I had been told. "Make the most of the short time you have". Who would ever think that a full ten months could pass by so quickly? Time seemed endless. Yet, in the blink of an eye, I've come to the end of my time in taiwan. It's difficult not to look back on the time that has already passed and think about what could've been. An extra trip to the night markets, or maybe a different hike with a beautiful view of the ocean. It's a scary moment, one that I'm sure all exchange students have experienced at some point. It seemed like last week we arrived, and just yesterday reached the halfway point. Many friends have already gone home, returning to the comfort of friends, family, and food. In the final days, the goodbyes have reached a pace where it seems I'm at the airport more than I'm at home. The friends, those who we navigated the difficulties of exchange alongside, the ones we met such a short time ago, but know so well will all be separated. We will each be returned to our respective corner of this planet and our communication reduced to snapchats and skype calls.
I find it so difficult to put into words my thoughts and feelings as I write this. I would be lying if I said I am not scared to come home. I'm scared by the reality that I will no longer see my international friends on a daily basis. I'm scared by how my friends may have changed while I've been gone, also how I've changed while I've been gone. What scares me the most, however, is the thought that maybe I didn't make enough of this experience. Could I have done more to immerse myself?
I see photos of exchange students who have already gone home, and a strange sensation washes over me. I see myself in two months, reminiscing on the memories of exchange, wishing I could still hang out with my exchange brothers and sisters. Yet, I am still here in Taiwan. I already feel the sadness of going home even though I have not yet made the trip. This period of exchange, I have come to realize, is more about questions than answers. Questions that may take months or years after exchange to answer.
Time is not just applicable to the life of an exchange student. We are more aware of time only because we are given a countdown from the very beginning. Everyone should still be mindful of our limited time. It's a simple message: make the most of the days you have, the relationships you have built, and the beautiful things that make life great. Within 24 hours, I'll be flying back across the pacific to my beloved home country, leaving behind my newfound home, Taiwan. Canada, I'll see you soon.
A Photo Tour of Taiwan's West Coast
My time in Taiwan has been filled with incredible memories and experiences. However, up to this point, my experiences had been largely limited to Taipei and the surrounding districts. During the four week winter holiday, I was given the chance to take two trips to the south-west portion of the Island. I saw vivid sunrises, beautiful architecture, and some of Taiwan's cutest inhabitants, the Formosa Macaque.
Our first stop was the central mountains. We ventured away from the urban cities to see a more cultural side of Taiwan. The number of Temples hidden in the foothills was incredibly high. Each of them represented their own god. Some temples represent the god of money, while others even represent doing well on tests. While in the mountains, we stopped by Sun Moon Lake 日月潭, said to be home to the spirit of Taiwan. The weather was less than agreeable, but we still got to experience the architecture of the visitor centre.
After the mountains, we ventured towards the cities that populate Taiwan's west coast. We spent one night in ChiaYi 嘉義 , a small city centrally located in Taiwan. It was there that I experienced one of the most incredible sunrises I've ever seen. We reached the roof of our hotel just as the first golden rays of light reached the buildings around us. I watched the sun rise over the mountains that we had just explored.
Tainan, 台南, was the next stop of our trip. Tainan is known for having a rich cultural heritage. It was at one point the main post of the Dutch explorers who rules Taiwan. They built Anping Fort, which we visited. A well known attraction in Tainan is the ChiMei museum. At first look, the surrounding architecture appears to be ancient greek design. The private museum is filled with countless artifacts and pieces of art. Also famous in Tainan is its main city park. One night, Lorenzo and I explored the beautiful park. The traditional Chinese design was an incredible area to photograph. Tainan was the city hit hardest by Taiwan's January earthquake. Multiple buildings collapsed resulting in over 100 deaths during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. Luckily, we were not in Tainan at the time.
Kaohsiung - 高雄 was the final stop on our trip. It is an incredibly beautiful city that houses Taiwan's largest port and a majority of Taiwan's industrial production. I was lucky enough to visit Kaohsiung twice during the holiday period. The second time, I travelled with my third family to celebrate Chinese New Year. During that period, the Taiwan earthquake took place. It startled me out of my sleep, but I had no idea that the damage was so severe until the next morning when my host dad told me that buildings had collapsed in Tainan, the city just north of where we were. In Kaohsiung, I saw a different side of Taiwan that I hadn't seen in Taipei. I saw a more laid-back way of living. There is a significant amount of nature from mountains to beaches within the city, which is found less in Taipei.
Above all else, my favourite part of my trips to Taiwan's south was the new friends that I made. Both in the central mountains and in Kaohsiung, I saw monkeys. It was the first time that I had seen wild monkeys. They were adorable, but not to be messed with. One monkey stole an orange from a hiker in Kaohsiung, while another stole our bus driver's bag of peanuts in the central mountains.
It's tough for me to put into words how grateful I feel to be where I am. The opportunities that I have been given will stay with me forever. This entire exchange has opened my eyes to the beautiful things that this world has to offer each and every person. Take a weekend for a road trip, call up an old friend, or go out and explore a new part of your city. Make the most of every day.
open heart, open mind
alex
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Taiwan: Past, Present, and Future
Written after Taiwan's January 16th election
Today marks a special day in the history of a young nation taking its first steps toward independence. Taiwan today held it's federal elections, and for the first time in history elected a woman as its president. However, even more special is the fact that this woman represents a party that supports Taiwanese independence from China, a taboo topic for many. To better understand the importance of this, an understanding of Taiwanese history must first be covered.
After being defeated by the Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War of 1949, Chiang Kai-Shek and his party fled mainland China with two million refugees to the nearby island, which had been ruled by the Japanese for the last 50 years until surrender at the end of World War II. That island is now known as Taiwan. Remaining that he and his party were still the true and original China, Chiang Kai-Shek established Taiwan as the "Republic of China (ROC)". Angered by Chiang's actions, the Communist Party called the mainland the "People's Republic of China (PRC)". After that point, both governments claimed to represent the legitimate China. The PROC, now in control of the much more powerful mainland nation, instated the "One China Policy" which stated that in any international relations, countries could only recognize one of the two Chinas. If any country recognized ROC as a country, the PRC would cease any relations with that nation. Unfortunately for Taiwan, this left the world with an easy decision. They could choose to interact with Taiwan (ROC), a young, small nation, or the industrial and economic giant of China (PRC).
There are only 22 nations around the world that have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. As a result of this, in most countries, you can not find a Taiwanese Embassy. You will instead find a "Taipei Economic and Cultural Office". Although it performs many of the same procedural tasks that would take place at an official embassy, the office can not be called an embassy, for Taiwan is not recognized as a nation. Despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations, Canada and Taiwan keep close economic ties. Canada exports large amounts of metal ore, mineral oil, asphalt, coal, wood, nickel, and more. Taiwan's major exports to Canada include mobile devices from companies like Acer, HTC and ASUS, recording equipment, steel products, and plastic products. Interestingly, Bombardier Inc., a Canadian brand, manufactures many of the trams used in the Taipei Metro System.
This election marked an important moment for Taiwan as a young emerging force. The largest topics of debate in election campaigns were Taiwan's relationship with China and the economy. After four years of leadership by the historically powerful Kuomintang Party (KMT) in which Taiwan China relations were brought somewhat closer, many Taiwanese citizens were keen to keep the status-quo. All Taiwanese understand the incredible impact that would take place if Taiwan were to declare its independence, but they also want to keep distance from the big brother China.
Tsai Ing-Wen, the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was expected to win by a landslide. The DPP opposes the One-China Policy and supports an independent Taiwanese indentity. Although she has given statements giving support to the status quo, the president elect has stated clearly her opinion on Taiwan China relations. "Our democratic system, national identity, and international space must be respected. Any forms of suppression will harm the stability of cross-strait relations."
Looking to the future, I am excited for Taiwan. I hope that this nation of beautiful culture, language, and people can be recognized for its individual identity. Relationships with China are vital, and finding the balance of power is our new president's responsibility. With care, I know that the world will hear about Taiwan, the true heart of Asia.
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-alex
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Taiwanese Holidays
The holiday season has come and gone here in Taiwan. Although I expected the Christmas season to feel different while on exchange, I didn't know nearly how unique this experience would be. Now that we are into January, I will share my Rotary Exchange experiences for Christmas, my birthday, and New Year's Eve.
Birthday
To celebrate my birthday, my extremely generous host parents took Lorenzo, my Italian brother, and I on a cruise from the north coast of Taiwan. We spent two days on the boat, eating, exploring, and studying chinese. I am so lucky to have such a great group of people to call my family! This year was the first time in my life that I had to attend school on my birthday. I have been so accustomed to being able to sleep in and enjoy my birthday with my family in Canada that it felt truly weird to hop on the MRT and go to school. However, that's not to say it was a negative experience. It was the first time I have been able to spend my birthday with schoolmates. The night before my birthday, many of my closest schoolmates surprised me after class. It is a Taiwanese tradition to spray the birthday person with shaving cream. After going to the gym with David, an American student, I was planning on eating dinner with a few close friends. I wasn't expecting so many amazing friends to surprise me with the shaving cream and gifts! Afterward, we went to a hotpot restaurant for a meal. Hotpot is another Taiwanese classic. You order your "pot" which consists of vegetables, meat, tofu, and a soup. Each table is equipped with hotplates which you use to cook your food. I would call it the Taiwanese fondue. On top of that, there is unlimited self-serve ice cream and drinks. It was a great way to celebrate with friends. On my actual birthday, my class surprised me with a few generous gifts and even a cake! They had the chemistry teacher surprise me and all sang happy birthday to me, in chinese and english. Later that night, I ate a special birthday dinner with my host family. We went to a delicious steakhouse. I am so glad to have been able to spend my 18th birthday surrounded by the best friends and family I could've asked for. Thank you to everyone for making it so special!
Christmas
Christmas came quickly after the excitement of my birthday. While going to school on my birthday may have felt foreign, Christmas at school was a whole other feeling altogether. I was able to share the odd feeling of Christmas in a foreign country with my exchange friends. Our home countries each have unique holiday traditions, but we all experienced the same Taiwanese Christmas of 2015 together. Leading up to the holiday season, the idea of Christmas felt so far away from reality. The weather was warm and there was little to no decoration or celebration throughout the city; I felt no Christmas spirit in the Taiwanese people. It was one of the first experiences here in Taiwan that has opened my eyes to the true difference in culture. That being said, Christmas Day itself was extremely enjoyable. After opening a few presents with my host mom at breakfast, I headed to school. I spent the morning with my classmates. We had a small party with music, snacks, and a gift exchange. After school, I ate dinner with a few exchange students. Some were inbounds to Taiwan this year, and others were those from Taiwan who have returned from exchange. Funny enough, we actually weren't celebrating Christmas. Rather, we celebrated mine, and my friend Belle's birthdays, which both fall on the 23rd. We had a meal full of laughter and good conversation, and then did another small gift exchange. I should've expected it, but I was surprised when the shaving cream attack came once again. Finally, we rode bikes home, seeing the last bit of the Taiwanese Christmas. In Taiwan, I found that December 25th is just another day, but it can be made into much more with the right people.
New Year
The New Year's Eve that I spent in Taiwan is hands down the best New Year's I have ever experienced. The entire day was full of incredible places and people. The excitement started at 4:30PM, when the exchange students arrived at Taipei's Grand Hotel. We had been preparing two dances for this event for almost two months. One hip-hop dance, and another traditional Lion Dance. We did two hours of final practice before our performance. Among the audience were many important Rotarians, as well as the mayor of Taipei City, Ko Wen-Je. It was such an honour to perform in such an incredible venue.
After the Grand Hotel performance, the exchange students were set free for the night, allowed to explore the beautiful nightlife until 2am. Many exchange students from all of Taiwan visited Taipei to experience the New Year's fireworks display at Taipei 101. I met many at a party at the Songshan Riverside Park. The atmosphere was absolutely incredible. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people there. There was a DJ, dance battles, an art area, and an incredible view. I even found a place to practice the Diablo (chinese yoyo) that I had learned in culture class. However, my close friends and I had decided previously that we would watch the fireworks from a mountain in the city. It was somewhat isolated and required a 30 minute hike to reach the view, so we hoped that it would be more quiet than the middle of the city. We arrived at the top at 11:30 to see a crowd almost as big as the one we had experienced in the city. I realized that my goal to capture awesome photos of the fireworks wouldn't be possible like I had hoped. Since we had been to the area before, I knew of a tree that we could sit on to watch the fireworks.I had climbed it numerous times before. I climbed it, but the people below didn't appreciate it much. 50 people yelling in Chinese is pretty good motivation to climb down quickly. After the embarrassment and disappointment subsides, I was able to focus on enjoying the moment of New Year's with my best friends in taiwan. As the seconds counted down to midnight, I could feel the collective excitment hanging in the air. Taipei 101 was completely dark. Then there was fire. The entire building was lit up, from top to bottom by colourful fireworks. The crowds cheers for the new year were quickly silenced in awe. Everybody stood together, taking in the spectacle. It was an incredible feeling to know that millions more around the city were experiencing the same from a different vantage point. After the show finished, we all embraced. High fives and greetings, in both English and Chinese, were exchanged with Taiwanese people. The exchange students there all gathered in hugs and cheers to celebrate one of the most unique, and exciting New Year's of our entire lives. The next morning, I met friends at 5am at the nearest MRT station to the mountain. Once again, we climbed. We watched the sunrise from the exact same spot that the excitement had taken place less than 6 hours previously. My Taiwanese New Year is an experience I will never forget.
Among the three holidays, I found the largest difference between Canada and Taiwan's traditions in Christmas. The Asian culture puts far less emphasis on celebration of Christmas. However, I still felt a sense of belonging. It was just another day, but I was able to spend the day with those important to me who made it so much more. It was a unique holiday experience for me, but I am so glad to have seen the customs and traditions from around the world. In the coming weeks, the Chinese New Year will also take place. I am sure that celebration and culture will be everywhere! We are also given four weeks winter vacation, so I will have more time to explore Taiwan with my friends. I can't wait to update you on more of this incredible life I am so fortunate to live.
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Alex
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School in Taiwan
Despite your expectations, my year in Taiwan is not a vacation. I am blessed to explore Taipei and the island of Taiwan, but there is also a far less glamorous side of the exchange that many forget. 8 hours per day, 5 days a week. School is where I spend a majority of my time. It is a significant part of my daily life, so I wanted to share my stories with you.
A typical school day for me starts at 6:15AM, when I get out of bed. (我每天6:15早上起床）I have enough time to wake up, shower, and possibly review a bit of chinese homework before going down to my mom's apartment on the fourth floor for breakfast. She always makes a delicious meal for me. Some days, it's a sandwich with a fried egg. Other days, an egg/corn fried tortilla, a chinese quesadilla. I have just a few minutes after breakfast to prepare my school bag before heading out for the day.
At 7:25, I walk approximately five minutes through the narrow Taipei alleys and markets to Dongmen, the nearest metro (MRT) station. I hop onto the Tamsui-Xiangshan line, headed in the Xiangshan direction. This MRT line is underground, so I miss out on the beautiful morning views of the city. However, two stops later, at Daan, I transfer to the #1 line. This line is elevated, giving panoramic views of the city. I take the Taipei Zoo direction to Wanfang Hospital Station. (Side note - The Taipei Zoo is absolutely amazing! For one canadian dollar, you have access to a vast array of the world's beautiful animals. The best part? My school is only three MRT stations away!) If my precisely timed MRT expedition goes to plan, I arrive at school at 8:00. I stop into the Research and Development office, where my counsellors work. I say 早安(zao an), meaning good morning, sign my chinese name, 孫力楷(Sun Li Kai), in my attendance book, and head off to class with the three other exchange students in my school. I am grateful to share the joy and difficulty of exchange life with my three school buddies. I rely on them to keep me sane, and I hope that I can provide the same to them. Ben, David, Valentina, thank you.
WanFang Senior High School, 萬芳高中, has a beautiful campus. In contrast to Canadian schools, it has relatively few indoor hallways. Rather, they are open air, allowing a more natural scenery within the school life. From my seat, I can look out one side of the classroom to the basketball courts below. Out the other side of the class, I can look out to the mountains that surround Taipei City. Within the first few hours after rain, the sky is so crystal clear, allowing me to see far and wide. Other days however, the smog closes in, sometimes even hiding the mountains from view. The one downside I have found in the open classrooms is the sweltering heat. Even in November, the average day here easily reaches 25 degrees. 30 degrees is not uncommon. Coming from the dry climate of interior BC, the humidity is what kills me. The second I step outside, I already feel drenched in sweat, and it only gets worse throughout the day.
My class schedule differs slightly from that of the other Taiwanese students. For one, I don't attend English classes. After a week of attending class to help the other students, we were notified that we were going to be reassigned to other classes. The teacher didn't appreciate our suggestions for her English, despite her explicit request for exactly that. Instead of the daily English class, I join PE with other classes. This has given me numerous benefits for my exchange. For one, the exercise to burn off my Bubble Tea addiction. It also gives me a chance to meet other students in my school and develop friendships. I have also significantly improved my basketball skills. For many of these kids, ball is life. I can't wait to see how far I can go in the next few months. During other classes, I try my best to stay engaged. I still don't understand the majority of spoken or written chinese, so I fill my time with other learning. I study my chinese lessons, read books, or write. These activities progress my day much more quickly. Other times, I am allowed to spend an hour in the library. I can listen to music, work on my blog, edit photos on my computer, or study chinese. I enjoy an hour's escape from the classroom to enjoy peace and seclusion. I find that life gets chaotic at times, and the time allows me to gather my thoughts.
At 4:00PM, I am dismissed from class. If I don’t find myself at a nearby gym with classmates or exploring the streetfood culture, I return home again via MRT . I occasionally take the bus instead, or use YouBike, a genius bike rental system that allows you to pay a small fee of approximately 20 cents to have a bike for 30 minutes, returning it at any of the numerous kiosks.
In my time here, I have also participated in a number of extracurricular activities. For one, I am a part of the school guitar club. We practice together each Friday from 4-5PM. Improving my guitar skills is a goal of mine for the time that I am here. As a result of the homeroom system here, class competitions also become much more accessible. My class participated in a school-wide basketball tournament and track and field tournament. In the basketball tournament, we finished fourth. It was a heartbreaking loss in the bronze medal game, but I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to play. My class finished first overall in the track and field tournament, from over thirty classes in the entire school. I participated in numerous races: 100m, 4x100m, 4x400m, and an extremely fun race, the 20x100. In all relays, I ran as anchor. It was an incredible feeling running into the finish line with the entire crowd cheering. I was chosen to accept our class' third place award for the 20x100 relay. What a crazy experience. Our school celebrated its birthday with a large school carnival. Each class was responsible to decorate their classroom and sell various food and drinks to raise money for the school. The girls in my class had the idea that if anyone bought the ice cream we were selling, they could have a picture with the wai guo ren (foreigner). The ice cream sold quickly to put it lightly.
One day, the counsellors from our school took Ben, Valentina, David, and I to Maokong, a beautiful mountain village accessible to the public via gondola. The trip to the top was just as amazing as our adventure once we got there. The floor of the gondola is completely made from glass! At the top, Ben led us to a secluded temple in the jungle. His host mom had showed him the trail, and very few people knew about it. I was blown away by the natural beauty. The temple is carved into a vertical cliff face, with a waterfall pouring overtop. From there, we continued on the trail, finally finding ourselves on a road in the middle of nowhere. We had actually walked into a new city, from Taipei City to New Taipei City. It was an incredible adventure!
I have truly enjoyed my first 2.5 months of school here at WanFang. I have developed close friendships with numerous students, found myself engaged in many school events, and learned significant information about myself, the chinese language, and the culture of Taiwan as a whole.
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One Month in Taipei
It's been one month since I arrived to this beautiful country I now call home. 31 days of adventure, exploration, chaos, and joy. Each day has presented a new opportunity for growth and learning. Here's to many more.
I clearly remember the moment I woke up on my first day in my new home. 9:00AM, with not a single clue as to where I was. It took a few seconds for everything in my mind to settle on the idea that I was, in fact, waking up in a new country with a new culture, language, and lifestyle, rather than my first thought of "wow, what a vivid dream". After the initial wave of confusion had settled, a new feeling began to creep in. It was the "I have no idea where I am, how to contact anyone, and no idea where my host family lives" feeling. You see, I live in quite a unique situation. I live on the fifth floor of an apartment building. Also on the fifth floor is a random woman who lives in the room beside mine. Our communications have not exceeded a simple "ni hao" (1) in passing. My host mom lives on the fourth floor, and my host grandparents live on the second floor. That first morning, I vaguely remembered the instructions from the night before. "Go to YeYe and NaiNai's (2) house at 10 for breakfast" I remembered hearing. However, in my sleep deprived state, I completely blanked on which floor the grandparents lived on. Additionally, I had no memory of any way to contact my host mom, who was at work, or my host sister. I didn't feel like banging on every door in the building to find my grandparents on the first morning was something I was so excited about, so I decided to wait. It was about 11:00 when an old man knocked on my door. A quick introduction in my almost non-existent chinese managed to break the ice. YeYe and I are close now. We have short conversations, but I always appreciate his assistance in finding new places, like 學校 (3), or the location of my 中文課 (4).
The first week comprised of simple explorations of Taipei, with Joanna, the daughter of my second host mother, who is the sister of my current host mom, and Lorenzo, an exchanger from Italy who currently lives with Sun Yu, my second mom. We visited numerous landmarks that define Taipei as a city. One of the first days, we made the arduous journey (walk across the street) to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, a well known landmark in Taipei. It was erected to remember the country's first leader. I found it to be absolutely incredible. I also climbed elephant mountain with a few other exchange students. It gave us a stunning view of the entire Taipei City. It was only 15 minutes to the top, so I am planning to return to take more photos.
The next weekend after arriving, the Inbound Orientation took place. It was the first time that I met the other 60 exchange students that are here in Taipei City. There are even more in the surrounding region, as New Taipei City, which surrounds Taipei City, is an entirely separate Rotary District with students of its own. The 60 of us from district 3480 were sent to Yilan, a small city on the east coast, just over one hour from Taipei. We spent the two days combining fun activites with lectures. Capture the flag, BBQing, and visiting the coast were a few of the highlights from the weekend. I met so many amazing people. I can't wait to spend the next year hearing the stories and wisdom from each of them.
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to visit Jiufen, an ancient mining town perched upon a delicate hillside. I was stunned by the view from the town down onto the roaring Pacific Ocean below. We explored numerous shops, restaurants, and museums. I enjoyed seeing the history of the town in the architecture and especially the old tea and pottery shops. Once again, I truly hope that I will be able to return for a Taiwanese sunset.
In my next blog entry, I will discuss my experiences so far with the school and education here in Taipei. It is a unique system, with many differences to what I have been accustomed to back home. For now, however. I have written enough. Until next time!
Alex
- Ni Hao - Hello
- YeYe and NaiNai - Grandpa and Grandma
- 學校 - Xue Xiao - School
- 中文課 - Zhong Wen Ke - Chinese Class
Taiwan - The Adventure Begins
It hasn't quite sunk in yet; the feeling is less than real. Maybe it's the lack of sleep, a result of 3 days of frantic packing and a head full of crazy thoughts about what this year has in store. Or maybe it's the altitude. 10 hours in a flying metal canister 30 000 feet above the ground can sure do something. Either way, I am sure the feeling of this exciting adventure will soon sink in. In less than twelve hours, I will be welcomed into my new home, 台北, Taipei, Taiwan by my first host family as well as numerous other Rotary members. I am so lucky to be a part of such a program. I find it tough to put into words how I feel because I know that my entire life is being flipped upside down, and I can't wait. I am so excited to be completely and utterly lost, in culture, in language, in food, and in the beautiful city that I now get to call home. Since I am still very much in the dark, I will take you through a little bit about where I am going and what I will be doing for these next 10 months.
Here is my first host family. My two host parents are Yu Sun and Chien-Jung Lu. I will have two host sisters, who are also participating in the Rotary Exchange. Joanna is heading off to Romania, and Jenny is already in Germany. I am so excited for them! My two host parents both work in Taipei as neurologists. I am very lucky, for my host parents speak english. This will be helpful to me as I work on developing my mandarin. I am extremely excited to be living in the capital city of 台灣 (Taiwan) for this year. Coming from a modest city 90 000, I am eager to explore the life of a city of 5 000 000. I'm sure the change will be massive. Night markets, subways, and skyscrapers are a few of the first to come to mind.
During the year, I am required to attend high school. While many would think of going back to secondary education after graduation as a prison sentence, I look at it a little bit differently. I understand that I will get terrible grades. For once, I won't hate myself for it. I will give my best efforts, don't get me wrong, but I believe that I will learn to accept and embrace my mistakes as a way to learn and understand. I have learned in the past that the best way to learn, especially when it comes to languages, is to put yourself in a position where you are likely and comfortable to make mistakes. Without that, it is easy to hide in a shell where no mistakes are made, but no learning takes place either. I will attend WanFang Senior High School here in Taipei. Each day, I will commute via subway, called MRT here, to my school on the outskirts of town. On the same MRT line that takes me to school, I can continue even further right to the Taipei Zoo! If I'm ever missing from school, you'll know where to find me ;)
Thanks for taking a moment to read my blog. I will be doing my absolute best to keep you all updated with my new Taiwanese life.
謝謝! 再見！ － Thank you! Goodbye!
Alex
An Island Vacation
For the past two weeks, I was lucky enough to visit Hornby Island. Located between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia, the island is undiscovered for many. Hornby is three ferry trips, and a 12 hour trip from my hometown of Kamloops, but I believe fully that the trip is worth it. Some of my favourite memories of my childhood were formed at the beaches, markets, and bike trails of my favourite isle. Here are a few of my favourite photos from my all-too-short trip to the coast.
