臺東 - Taidong

On Monday, I went to see 幸福路上 (On Happiness Road), a new Taiwanese movie, with Tyler, Brandon and one of our teachers. Before seeing the movie, we went to a three story McDonald's for lunch. It was the largest McDonald's I've seen (although I am sure there are larger ones). The movie was good; it was a animated film about the life of a Taiwanese woman. Even though I haven't lived here long, parts of the film were incredibly relatable like the sound of the school bells or some of the recurring themes.

On Tuesday, I went to a trampoline park with Katie, Kate, Alisa, Brandon and Scotty to celebrate Katie's birthday. Brandon and Lina's friend from Wenzao also came along. We had so much fun! Afterwards, we bought tea at 50嵐, a famous tea chain here in Taiwan.

50嵐

On Wednesday, I met up with Melissa at 等一個人咖啡, a coffee shop named after a famous Taiwanese movie. We ordered waffles and I got orange juice. Well, it tasted like orange juice but was green! After we finished eating, Katie showed up. Melissa helped us edit and practice the script for the Friday talent show we had been asked to MC.

Waffles!

That evening we tried to see the lunar eclipse but it was super cloudy so we weren't able to see anything. But we watched the NASA live stream!

On Thursday, my NSLI-Y classmates and I took a calligraphy class in the afternoon. We wrote traditional sayings hung up on doors doors during Chinese New Year. My characters were exceedingly ugly but I learned a lot and enjoyed the class!

On Friday, Katie, Alisa and I were the announcers at the Chinese Language Center's New Years Talent show. Kate also performed Kung fu! The show was a lot of fun and there was a dessert buffet afterwards!

New Year Gala

On Saturday, my host family and I left early in the morning for Taidong, a city on the East coast of Taiwan. After checking in at the hotel, we went to the hot springs near by. The scenery was beautiful and I enjoyed swimming outside in February!

The Hot Springs

After this, we went back to the hotel for dinner. We had all-you-can-eat hotpot!

Dinner

Our Hotel

That evening, we played board games. Then Jim, Melissa and I sat outside on the balcony reading our books. C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Ronald Dahl were all represented!

Reading Books

On Sunday morning, we drove up the mountain to see the flowers at the top. The scenery was beautiful and reminded me a lot of the mountains I went to last week.

The Flowers