The sight of the large Taiwanese flag painted on the side of Taoyuan International Airport gave me an overpowering sense of calm. I love everything about this country. I love the look of the currency, the sound of Mandarin, how polite people are on public transport, and even the smell of stinky tofu. This island nation was the best place for me to recharge before my journey across the Pacific.
I was quickly on the metro heading to San Chong to stay with one of my best friends, Andrew. I can’t easily sum up how important Andrew and his family are to me, nor how special staying with them was. During the day Andrew and I would share food. He agreeably accompanied me to our favorite Indian restaurant four times.
Me: “Andrew, you know what is in Ximen and a close bus ride away?”
Andrew: “Let me guess Indian food.”
Me: “You got it!”
We watched a couple movies, played some board games, and had a nice trip to Jiufen with his awesome wife, Jenny, and their son, Ethan. Staying with them felt like home and I am eternally grateful for all they did.
I made two trips to my old school to visit my younger students. I was very touched by the fact that my boss had told the parents I was coming back and many of my students who had already graduated came back just to see me. My boss made a strong argument for my return to Taiwan and to be honest it sounds like a tempting offer. I saw many of my SAT and adult students. Two of the most significant of these students were, Tzuli and Jamie. Before arriving in Taipei, I contacted Tzuli’s fiancé and asked him to help me surprise the two sisters. He lied and told Tzuli to meet him for dinner at 6:30 outside exit two of the Sun Yat-sen metro stop. As I saw her approaching, I stepped out with my GoPro in hand and waited for her to recognize me. Her mouth opened, her jaw dropped, and she was almost in tears. For about 30 seconds she slapped her face in disbelief. We proceeded to her sister’s house and took her by surprise as well. Out of all my Taiwanese friends these two are the ones I connect with the most. They are funny, intelligent, open-minded, quirky, and extremely fun. They even invited me into their parents’ home to stay for a night. Thank you ladies for sharing your family with me. They like their daughters, are wonderful.
Since I have gone on about Taiwan so much in previous posts, I won’t bore you with a long list of why it is my favorite country. I will also abstain from listing the absurd amount of food I ate. All I will say is you haven’t lived until you have eaten in Taiwan.
Sadly, my time in Taiwan came to an end. I flew back to Japan to then fly to Australia where I joined a Royal Caribbean ship. Thanks for being patient with my short updates. I am almost caught up to the good stuff… my life at sea.
I was quickly on the metro heading to San Chong to stay with one of my best friends, Andrew. I can’t easily sum up how important Andrew and his family are to me, nor how special staying with them was. During the day Andrew and I would share food. He agreeably accompanied me to our favorite Indian restaurant four times.
Me: “Andrew, you know what is in Ximen and a close bus ride away?”
Andrew: “Let me guess Indian food.”
Me: “You got it!”
We watched a couple movies, played some board games, and had a nice trip to Jiufen with his awesome wife, Jenny, and their son, Ethan. Staying with them felt like home and I am eternally grateful for all they did.
I made two trips to my old school to visit my younger students. I was very touched by the fact that my boss had told the parents I was coming back and many of my students who had already graduated came back just to see me. My boss made a strong argument for my return to Taiwan and to be honest it sounds like a tempting offer. I saw many of my SAT and adult students. Two of the most significant of these students were, Tzuli and Jamie. Before arriving in Taipei, I contacted Tzuli’s fiancé and asked him to help me surprise the two sisters. He lied and told Tzuli to meet him for dinner at 6:30 outside exit two of the Sun Yat-sen metro stop. As I saw her approaching, I stepped out with my GoPro in hand and waited for her to recognize me. Her mouth opened, her jaw dropped, and she was almost in tears. For about 30 seconds she slapped her face in disbelief. We proceeded to her sister’s house and took her by surprise as well. Out of all my Taiwanese friends these two are the ones I connect with the most. They are funny, intelligent, open-minded, quirky, and extremely fun. They even invited me into their parents’ home to stay for a night. Thank you ladies for sharing your family with me. They like their daughters, are wonderful.
Since I have gone on about Taiwan so much in previous posts, I won’t bore you with a long list of why it is my favorite country. I will also abstain from listing the absurd amount of food I ate. All I will say is you haven’t lived until you have eaten in Taiwan.
Sadly, my time in Taiwan came to an end. I flew back to Japan to then fly to Australia where I joined a Royal Caribbean ship. Thanks for being patient with my short updates. I am almost caught up to the good stuff… my life at sea.
