阿里山 - Ali Mountain
On Monday, I met with Sister Fidelis after class. Then I went home, went for a run and did homework. On my way home, I passed these really neat flowers!
Flowers on My Walk
On Tuesday, we had our NSLI-Y midterm meeting. We talked about what we’ve achieved so far and what we are hoping to accomplish the next four months. It’s hard for me to believe my time in Taiwan is already over half way over, there is still so much I hope to do!
After the meeting, I went out to a coffee shop with Kripa, Jenny and Katie to celebrate Katie and my birthdays. The coffee shop was up in the mountains and overlooked the ocean!
Birthday Coffee
On Wednesday it was Katie’s birthday! After class, I met up with my host sister at Donutes, a coffee shop near our house. I ordered fruit tea which was delicious! I am working on reading The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis in Chinese. I’m still not through the second chapter and I spend over 15 minutes on each page but I’m learning a lot!
Donutes
On Thursday, it was my birthday! I ate lunch with my host siblings at a fried rice place near our house. Then I went bowling with my NSLI-Y classmates.
Bowling
After bowling, I went home for dinner with my host family. They took me out to a super nice restaurant right around the block. I ordered pasta and mango smoothie. The food was delicious! My host parents gave me a pair of earrings. They are absolutely beautiful and match with pretty much anything! My host sister got me a copy of The Little Prince which contains the original French as well as both the English and Chinese translations. Their gifts were so thoughtful and generous! I am so grateful for them!
On Friday, I left for 阿里山 (Ali Mountain) right after class. It took just over two hours to get there. We stopped on the way to take pictures.
The Overlook
We stayed at a hotel up in the mountains. This was certainly the most beautiful place I have been in Taiwan. After arriving, my host sister and I helped cooked dinner and then walked around taking pictures.
Pictures at the Hotel
That evening, we had hot put for dinner. Then, we sat outside playing board games and star gazing. This was the first time in my memory that I have seen stars in Taiwan!
The next morning, we woke up at 3:30am to go see the sunrise. We drove about an hour to the train station and then took a train up to the top of a mountain. This is the highest altitude train in Taiwan and the 19th highest in the world.
Traveling to See the Sunrise
Sadly, it was super cloudy so we couldn’t actually see the sunrise. We walked down the mountain. The hike took a few hours and the scenery was beautiful!
Hiking Down the Mountain
In the afternoon, I took a really long nap. Then, I played more board games and read a bit more of my book. The mountains looked super cool that evening because of all the mist.
More Mountain Pictures
The next day, we went on a hike in the mountain behind our hotel. We walked up stairs in the woods for literally 45 minutes (I’m not exaggerating). However, the view was 100% worth it!
Hike on Sunday
After the hike, we packed up at left Kaohsiung. My host family then drove to Tainan to see friends from when they lived in Pingdong. While my host sister and I were walking around the city, we ran into a construction site. I found out that in Taiwan, instead of having a person hold up a “drive slow” sign, they use a dummy. The results are quite terrifying! Here is a picture of one of these “construction workers.” The Chinese character she is holding translates to "stop."
Drive Slow!
In the evening, I went to Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Church. This was the first time I had been to the church. The inside was beautiful! I discovered I now have all the responses up to the Nicene creed memorized in Chinese!
This week was certainly full of unforgettable experiences! I have now completed half of my year abroad. I can't wait to see what the second half holds for me!