I’ve been missing for the longest time since I started blogging about my experiences and I apologize. I’ve experienced a lot and in doing so I didn’t want to detract from my travels and relationships with people by taking the time to write. Looking back it would’ve been nice to have a day to day description of everything that I’ve done, but c’est la vie.
To get you caught up I finished the semester on the 17th and even the “end” of my first semester was hard to get through. For one, it wasn’t the end of the semester for my students. They still had school the Monday after, but Fulbright scheduled our conference to overlap to still enable us to be able to travel during our winter break without any further hinderance. When I saw this at the beginning of the semester I was happy – one less lesson to plan. But actually, the day gave me a glimpse of how I am going to feel leaving for good. No one else was sentimental in saying have a good Chinese New Year because they were still seeing each other again. No one else was missing the harvesting of the white turnips I helped plant with the students because the entire school, students and faculty alike, were there to run around and dig them up. I realized just how short a time I have to create a lasting relationship with my students, to have just a small impact on their studies. I have one year, and after that I have no power over whether they remember to answer “how are you?” with “I am fine, thank you” and not by saying “My name is…” I have no way to continue having rock, paper, scissor competitions in English in the hallways. I am no constant and at some point I will be forgotten. The last day at school this semester had me seriously rethinking whether or not to apply to the second year ETA or Extension ETA positions just to stay another year. I have to remind myself that although this has been an unparalleled experience thus far, the more I stay, the more I lose film industry contacts. The farther detached I get from the future I want so desperately. So alas, I have to make sure I make the most out of my second and last semester coming up.
With all these emotions battling in my head I attended Fulbright’s Mid-Year Conference. A conference which gives us a chance to learn teaching techniques the other ETAs have created and utilized in the classroom. We attend countless speeches to both help us in the future (career panels and teaching about diversity), but also topics that address the culture now. My favorite part of the conference was the keynote speakers on our last day. The speakers were talking about not only the political history, but also the cultural conversation around Taiwan’s recent legalization of gay marriage. It was then followed up with an interesting talk on how Taiwan’s Department of Education has an office dedicated to decreasing the heteronormative roles present in textbooks in order to include a narrative focused on human rights and equality. And if you are wondering if I networked… of course I did. I had nothing to lose. I followed one of the speakers to lunch so I could sit and talk with her more about the topic of gay rights in Taiwan. When our coordinators were telling us to wrap up I passed her my business card. Now my friend Amanda was sitting next to me and kept calling that a power move, passing my card instead of asking for hers. Yes, I was being uber confident because literally what could she do.. the worst would be to say no. I also heard her speak earlier and tell people she hadn’t brought her business cards with her, so really I was just being smart in making sure she didn’t forget me.
Despite full-heartedly loving the keynote speakers ending the conference, the rest of the conference dragged on. I hadn’t realized how different my teaching experience in my rural town differed from other county experiences. The more developed, urban area ETAs had so much influence over what they do in class. They have whole classes with their students that don’t pertain to the textbook at all and are just there to encourage their curiosity. I became jealous of some of the activities that other ETAs could implement, knowing that with my students’ low English ability and textbook focused classes I would never be able to bring such activities into my schools.
Following teaching talks and poster presentations, each county had a poster and presentation to introduce their county’s culture to the other areas of Taiwan. I was a presenter for my county along with two other ETAs for a large portion of the event, given a small amount of time in future breaks to visit the other counties’ poster boards. I do love talking and sharing my experience as you can see in my blog, but I was disappointed. Originally in the beginning of the year my county’s second year ETA, an ETA that stays another year at their school and acts almost as a counselor and helping our transition, Peter said we should start brainstorming for our Mid-Year Conference video. Now the second I had heard video I perked up. It had felt like he was speaking directly to me all those months ago. In the past, the mid-year conference had each county make a 20-minute presentation which commonly became an introduction to the county and a video depicting their experiences. That all changed a month before the conference took place. No more did they want long videos, they wanted posters. It was like a knife to the heart. Ok maybe that was an exaggeration, but to put it in context I wrote in my calendar in August to keep my month leading up to this conference free because I thought I would be editing the video then. Yes, I had a lot more time on my hands because I didn’t need to make a video, but I would’ve loved the chance to show my expertise in the area with my fellow ETAs. Sometimes it’s hard because my area of study is so unlike theirs that I almost feel discounted. Like, oh you don’t know anything about international relations or this historical event that happened in some Asian country years ago. Peter, the second year ETA, did try to include a small use of my skills by asking me to make a photo slideshow of pictures of all the ETAs. It wasn’t quite what I wanted to do, but at least I got to help in some aspect as well as presenting.
There were some upsides to the conference. The biggest being that it took place at a mountain resort an hour and a half outside of Taipei. What did the resort have to offer you ask? A hot spring spa which we all had access too. Our activities for the day would end around 9:30 -10 o’clock and then everyone would be off in their swimsuits and swim caps to take a dip. We kept begging our coordinators to come with us, but they kept declining the offer. They described the hot spring as an “ETA hot pot.” Although their description was accurate it doesn’t quite describe the fun it was. It was taking a networking event to the next level. You could talk to all the other ETAs about their experiences while relaxing still. That other upside to the conference had to do with the all you can eat breakfast offering Asian and western cuisine. Nothing is better than starting the day piling your plate high of French fries and calling them hash browns to make yourself feel better about your choices.
We were also treated to a performance by the Taipei College of Performing Arts, which despite the name also has both a partial elementary school, middle school, and high school. The students performed pieces of traditional Chinese opera, ribbon twirling, and other traditional forms of performance. ETAs were then given a chance to volunteer so of course I did. I was able to try out the more complex version of ribbon twirling and I will be the first to say I have no skill in it.
Once the conference wrapped up it meant one thing, I had a couple hours to help Sean clean and get ready for Morgan’s visit the next morning. I helped take out the trash, make the bed (an extra mattress Sean finessed from a friend), and finish my scheduling of all of the attractions she had as options for what to do while she was here. After going to my first ever real Indian restaurant where we ordered in Chinese and definitely didn’t get what Sean thought he was ordering (it was amazing nonetheless) we went to bed early to wake up at 4:30 am the next morning. Why does Chicago insist on having I think one direct flight to Taiwan that gets in at 6am? We found out the hard way that you can’t even take the subway before 6am. So after already walking to the other side of Da’an Park to the subway station, maybe a mile from Sean’s apartment, we hailed a cab to take us the rest of what became a very expensive way to the airport. Having to take a cab worked to our advantage. Originally, our plan was to be in the grand hall right after customs ready with the GoPro set up to get a shot of Morgan officially in Taiwan. Nothing went to plan as when we got to the airport and I started to discuss sitting down to set up the GoPro, Morgan actually came up behind me and gave me a hug. What a way to ruin my perfect camera shot I had planned, but the surprise hug made up for it.
After the exchange of hugs and pancakes that I asked her to bring over from Egg Harbor (the best breakfast restaurant in all of Illinois) we attempted to buy her a pre-paid Sim card for her phone. This was Sean’s time to shine. He’s been taking Chinese lessons every day for the past 6 months and I wasn’t about to look up the technological words for Sim card, asking about internet usage, and options. There was some sort of misunderstanding when Sean clarified if she could go on the internet because instead of purchasing a sim card at first, they were giving us a wifi router contraption, yes I know you would think I could call things by their actual name. The wifi router was exceedingly more expensive and wasn’t a sim card, so we had to go through the process of returning what they had handed us and buying a sim card. To say I was glad to finally be leaving the airport was an understatement.
Now, because I know most people reading this won’t want every single painstaking detail of Morgan’s visit like how every morning I had to go to 7/11 to get a morning coffee or how we walked a combined 67.7 miles over the course of Morgan’s visit, I will give a shorter overview (or attempt to) of Morgan’s week-long visit to Taiwan. This was Morgan’s first real time out of the country, as it was mine if you don’t include a trip to the UK we had our freshmen year because really there isn’t much difference between the US and the UK. Morgan had taken Chinese with me in high school, but had since forgotten all of it. It was funny because I found myself acting not only as her tour guide while she was here, but also as her life line. I was the person that was speaking for her- ordering food, getting tickets- it was probably the first time she has been dependent on me and not the other way around. The first day she was here I didn’t have much planned because I didn’t know what mood or how much energy she would have after a 15 hr flight in which Morgan is notorious for her ability not to fall asleep on planes.
When she got here, she was bounding off the walls and all smiles. It was a departure of the Morgan I have known while in school or even before I left who was anxious and stressed with scheduling at work and applications. After dropping our bags at Sean’s apartment and his departure for morning classes I walked with Morgan all around Da’an park, a large park with a New York Central Park feel to it. The entire park has wifi thanks to Pokemon Go. The grounds are covered with a variety of trees, grass, a playground, small lakes, and even a roller rink. No matter the time of day there are always families in the park and older people performing Taichi. It is one of the more peaceful escapes in Taipei. Once 9 o’clock rolled around I took her to a brunch restaurant known as The Diner, a western style establishment. I’ll admit it was more for me than her because I really wanted an omelet, but I was also thinking about the quality of food on the plane and wanted Morgan to have a somewhat filling meal of something definitely not gluten filled before we began to try all the foods. By the time we left we didn’t have much time before Sean got out of classes so we stopped and chatted a while some more in the park before heading to campus and got into an interesting discussion with a man who appeared sane in the beginning. He taught English to adults in the county next to Taipei, but then delved into some talk about a 5th dimension which completely confused the both of us. Just like in New York, anything seems to go in Taipei sometimes. Morgan had a chance to meet two of the friends I met through Sean, Rory and Casey, and we all went to a Korean restaurant for lunch. The rest of the day was filled with more walking as I took her to the Chiang hai shek memorial (well first I accidentally mapped to memorial hall a building 2 miles away from the location I wanted to take her to). After the memorial we headed back up to Casey’s apartment for drinks on her balcony overlooking Taipei 101 and a visit to Morgan’s first night market. I don’t think I ever bought that much food on a whim. I kept seeing a new food and wanting to get it for Morgan to try. I got her a bubble milk tea, some dumplings, and countless other snacks. Morgan was ready to crash the second we got back to Sean’s apartment.
Day 2, 3, and 4 of Morgan’s visit was spent on a train in my region of Taiwan. I learned the magic of downloaded Netflix on your phone so the 4-hour train ride wasn’t too bad. Spending 2 and a half days staying at my apartment was a decision that took me a month to come to. There isn’t much to do where I am that doesn’t involve either long drives or being outside. On sunny days the southern region is the prettiest place to be on the island, but on rainy days you are stuck inside with no real options. Lucky for us we were gifted with 3 gorgeous days. I took her to my favorite restaurants in town, we visited one of my schools were I heard one of my directors speak English for the first time to tell Morgan how great a teacher I am, we rode bikes through rice fields, and finished the time in Taitung with a tiring hike on Walami Trail.
Morgan definitely got a taste of what it is like to be foreign in southern Taiwan. The amount of people who yelled from their passing electric bikes “Hello” and “How are you?” was enough for Morgan to understand what its liked to always be watched while I’m here. Although it was probably a lot to get used to, Morgan came out of her comfort zone, talking with multiple people we met in the famous rice fields. I even met a teacher in Pingtung, the county next to mine that offered me her contact information to answer any and all questions I had to visit her county. I think I filled an entire memory card with the number of pictures we took on the bikes that day.
Driving Morgan on my scooter was definitely a activity of trust
Walami Trail was a different thing altogether. Morgan mapped us the 1 and a half it took to get there. She marveled at the mountains and even saw monkeys on the side of the road. Did she mention any of this to me while I drove… of course not she didn’t want to distract me. So no, I still haven’t seen a monkey in the wild yet. I’m not bitter or anything. The hike was gorgeous and did make up for the monkey-less drive. There were suspension bridges with details still dating back to Japanese occupation, signs warning for bears, and the rush of water from multiple waterfalls along the path. It was peaceful to spend this time with Morgan. Being with her on her first “real” hike outside the flat plains of the Midwest.
After turning around on the trail (we couldn’t finish the whole trail because it is a multiple day hike with cabins and permits), the plan was to pack my bag for Taipei switching out the business clothes for casual clothes, and to then get dinner at 7/11 (the only food place open on New Year’s Eve). Morgan had other plans. Come 6pm, Morgan was already asleep on the bed as we watched the Netflix series “The Circle” surrounded by my folded clothes. After all that Morgan didn’t get to try to 7/11 curry. I know when you hear that your mind goes to gas station curry and the stories that people have told about that, but 7/11 is different. It’s actually pretty good and the other ETAs in Guanshan and I make it a habit to get it whenever we wait too long to grab dinner after the restaurants have closed.
On our return to Taipei we were greeted with cloudy, muggy weather the rest of Morgan’s visit. We made the most of it, making sure we never left the apartment without our raincoats. I took her to the Taipei City zoo to see the Formosan Black Bear, the Clouded Leopard, and the Pangolin. 2 out of the 3 animals were a bust. The Clouded Leopard was hiding somewhere in the foliage while the Pangolin was fast asleep in the little hole it had. You could just make out the outline of its shape in the darkness. Despite still not seeing a Pangolin in real life, it was my first trip to the zoo too, I’m pretty sure they are going to make my top favorite animals just because how weird they are. Picture an armored armadillo, aardvark animal that lives in the mountain and you have a Pangolin. It was still fun to see the animals that are found only in Taiwan and Asia that aren’t present in the Brookfield or Lincoln Park zoo back home. We even were able to see Elephants. I think my favorite part of the zoo was knowing that our regular grey squirrels are an exhibit. People actually want to go see our squirrels despite having a kind of squirrel of their own that is black and so much fluffier than ours. It’s like wanting to see an out of date iPod when you have the new iPhone.
Going to the zoo on the day of Chinese New Year was supposed to be one of my best plans for the rest of her trip. It was supposed to be a way to avoid any crowds which I know Morgan hates. In actuality, it seemed everyone wanted to join us on the trek through the zoo. There were crowds of people walking around, in lines, and sitting on benches. The amount of languages that weren’t Chinese surprised me as it seems these families traveled from the surrounding Asian countries to visit Taiwan during Chinese New Year. My understanding of Chinese New Year was really lacking. I was under the understanding that it was a time to spend time with family, that restaurants would have different hours, but it wouldn’t be hard to find food, that it was a good time to travel to Taiwan. What I ended up facing was a lot of crowds, walking around for an hour anytime you wished to find an open restaurant (especially as I tried to cross all the foods Morgan wanted to try off her list), and the beginning of the Corona outbreak.
We wore masks as we visited the National Palace Museum as a way to get out of the rain. Getting our temperatures taken as soon as we stepped foot in the museum was a surprise. I had never seen so many people wearing surgical masks as Morgan and I viewed every exhibit in that wing of the museum. Sadly enough, one of the main exhibits in the museum was moved to a different wing that wasn’t open during Chinese New Year which prevented Morgan from seeing the famous jade Cabbage. She did see enough mock-ups of the piece though walking through the gift shop after. For those who haven’t heard of the National Palace Museum, picture a museum of some of China’s best artifacts that the rich stole when the communists took over and brought to Taiwan. China still denies that Taipei’s museum holds their artifacts dating back multiple dynasties, and yet they still ask all pieces to be returned. Just as China claims all Pandas to be owned by China and has repeatedly told Taiwan to return the one in their zoo.
If you ever make a trip to Taiwan, the National Palace Museum is a must. Every few months the exhibits change because they have so many pieces to display. There are pieces of jewelry, jade work, iron engravings, and porcelain. Each exhibit has details in both Chinese and English making it a very tourist friendly museum. My favorite is the jade hall as it not only shows you pieces that were made throughout history, but it shows the techniques utilized to cut the jade. No matter how long I looked at the pieces they seemed perfect, and yet the techniques utilized to create them seemed to leave a lot up to chance with the precision needed in every cut.
The rest of Morgan’s trip went too fast. We traveled for 3 hours to “hike”, which turned more into a leisurely walk with a lot of other people, to Shifen Waterfall. A waterfall whose pictures looked spectacular. They made it look like a smaller version of the Niagara Falls. It was a pretty waterfall, but definitely not worth the three pack trains you have to take to get there. Going with Morgan made it better because we not only had the goPro to play around with, but we had so much to catch up on anyways I would’ve been happy just spending the last couple days in a coffee shop talking. To get to the waterfall you walk through a small town that is based around the train tracks. People literally will just walk across the train tracks at any point just to go to a different store. Anytime a train was approaching a train employee would blow a whistle and people would scamper off to the sides. It was a safety nightmare.
I did get a taste of the Pingxi Lantern Festival I was interested in going to. It seemed that the Shifen Waterfall and the close proximity to the Pingxi Lantern Festival was the only source of income for the town. The crowds were treated to Lanterns in which you could write your hopes for the new year and then let them rise up. If it hadn’t been so gloomy the sky might’ve looked beautiful, dotted with colorful lanterns. With the grey background, the lanterns looked more like the pollution they are. Leaving trails of smoke and charred remains in their wake, most of the lanterns wouldn’t even make it to the mountains nearby and would instead land amongst the town on the other side of the river. Not the romantic event I had envisioned after originally learning about the lantern festival.
Even after the long day of traveling, Morgan’s love of food led us to take a taxi to Shilin Night Market, Taiwan’s biggest night market. There was a lot of discussion before if it was a safe idea to still go. Sean was completely against going seeing as it’s a cramped area with lots of people and steam in the air. However, last minute we chose to continue to go because when else would Morgan possibly be coming back here. Wearing filtration masks, a step up from regular surgical masks thanks to Sean’s preparedness, we set Morgan loose in Shinlin Night Market. It was so much fun watching her and getting to share all the stories of my night market woos with bad food or trips with my friends. We didn’t even get that much food, but chose to observe all the people and stands. What had been on Morgan’s food list was crossed off thanks to the amount of options at the market. I think my favorite part was the fact that to be part of a night market you must have a permit to be there. Any stand that is in the middle of the market, typically stands making small foods like sweet potato balls or selling t-shirts, are not supposed to be there. The night we went just happened to have a small police raid which sent the stands running in opposite directions going as fast as they could. Now when I say a raid don’t picture cops coming in with their weapons drawn, yelling for everyone to get down. It was just two police officers walking down and questioning the stands that led to the rampage. We were smart enough to follow the carts as they separated the crowds, allowing us to move more freely down the small alleyways like illegally following an ambulance on the road. Going to the night market was the best way to spend Morgan’s last night. I am so glad we made the decision to still how far it was and the newfound need to wear masks.
The following morning was the hardest of Morgan’s trip. It was a more low-key day spent walking to the top of Elephant Mountain, a small mountain overlooking the city of Taipei. We saw Taipei 101 and then made a detour to get some pineapple cakes, a Taiwan dessert, for her to bring home. We spent maybe an hour and a half trying to find a open restaurant for bao or dumplings (the last thing Morgan had wanted before returning home), only end up going to the grocery store instead. We made two different really spicy ramen noodles, had some of my Roselle Jam made by moi, and finished it off with some Uber Eats dumplings delivered to our door.
I can’t pretend that I didn’t need Morgan’s visit. It meant so much to me to get to share my experiences with her, let alone get to talk with her not when she is rushing to work or getting home after a long day. I missed doing everything together with her. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to have spent my first week of break. Thank you Morgan
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