Lantern Festival + March Update

The lantern festival begins in the first lunar month after the Chinese New Year. Kisten and I had been looking forward to the lantern festival for awhile and both really wanted to see it. Luckily, the last weekend of the festival was our first weekend back from vacation!  Kristen had found on the Internet they were giving away 2,000 lanterns to the public on a first come first serve basis starting at 12 p.m. that Sunday. We both agreed it would be cool to be apart of the celebration, so we took the early train in hopes of getting a lantern. The trains were filled with people and Pingxi, still early in the day was already very crowded. We arrived an hour later than we anticipated, but we were lucky and received one of the last lanterns. Had we gotten Pingxi any later we wouldn't of gotten one.  Once we got our lantern ticket, we had the entire afternoon free until our sky lantern release time. There were 10 release times, in which every 30 minutes, a group of 200 lanterns would be set free into the sky.  We walked around for awhile and enjoyed the afternoon in Pingxi district. During the day and evening, groups of friends and family would write their wishes on a lantern and send it free into the sky,  in hopes their wishes come true. Many groups released lanterns on their own and were not apart of the 2,000 lanterns distributed that day. When it was our time to send off our lantern, we gathered with the other 199 lantern groups and followed the many volunteers to the releasing spot. As we were in line, we watched the beautiful sky light up as the other groups release their lanterns collectively. The volunteers handed us a pen to write our wishes and within moments all lanterns were let go into the sky.  It all happened very quickly. But, those few minutes were truly magical.  It took Kristen and I a bit of time afterwards to take everything in. We both couldn't believe how incredible it was looking up at 2,000 lanterns fly to the sky.  It was very special to be apart of the lantern celebration, a moment neither of us will forget.    

About two weeks into the new semester, we had a day off for 228 memorial day. I woke up around 7 a.m., earlier than I do if I had to work, and went on a hike in Yangmingshan with around twenty CSers. There I met two guys (John and Zach) teaching in South Korea who were on vacation in Taiwan. The three of us clicked right away and almost talked the entire time. They were so pleasant to be around. It was pretty foggy in Yangmingshan, so we couldn’t really see a whole lot, but it was still nice to get out and hike in the fresh air. We hiked for a few hours then, went back into the city. About half of the group left and the other CSers went to hot pot for lunch. After we ate, it was still pretty early in the day. I didn’t have any plans, so I decided to join the two guys and go sight seeing for the day. The guy that organized the CS event also came with his brother. I first showed them the touristy area of Beitou, however, most of it was closed because of the holiday. Luckily, my favorite place in Beitou was opened, Thermal valley : ) They all really loved it! Afterwards, we went into the public hot springs. It was my second time in these hot springs and I liked it better this time. The first time I went in the afternoon and this time it was evening. The hot springs are so much more enjoyable in the evening I feel. Earlier during the hike we met the CS Ben; he is studying music in Taipei. He told us about all you can eat hot pot and beer. I’ve never been before and Ben said it is a must in Taiwan. So, John, Zach and I met Ben and a few of his friends for dinner in Taipei city. Before dinner, we stopped and checked out Shilin night market. We stayed at the hot pot restaurant for four hours even though the time limit at the table was only two hours! We all enjoyed each others company while drinking beer; I enjoyed eating four bowls of ice cream too ;) After, we found another restaurant were we could order more drinks and we all played drinking games. I crashed at Ben’s apartment where the two guys were staying before their afternoon flight back to South Korea. I took the MRT in the morning, grabbed some things from my apartment and went straight to work. Lets just say with only an hour or two of sleep, I was a little out of it at work that day ;) I never expected when I woke up that morning that a few hour hike would turn into a 24 hour day! The two guys I met were so much fun. It’s not very often you met people you feel so comfortable with and gel so quickly. I felt like I knew them way longer than a day. It’s too bad when you meet great people and you have to say goodbye because you must go your separate ways. This day was so memorable and provided my heart with warmth and fresh air to my spirit.

The first Saturday of March, Reach to Teach had a KTV event. This was my first Reach to Teach event and KTV experience. KTV is huge in Taiwan and people say you haven’t experienced Taiwan if you haven’t done KTV. I was a bit apprehensive about KTV, but I’m glad I went; it was a fun night! It was also nice to finally met Carrie, she helped me come to Taiwan; and other Reach to Teach teachers in Taipei. Most of the teachers at KTV went out to the club afterwards, which made it another late night out in the city. Just two nights before I was out drinking with the CSers from the hike in Yangmingshan. It was fun night downtown Taipei. Half of the group were new teachers and the others had been working for awhile here and knew the Reach to Teach community fairly well.

This semester at school we got a new foreign teacher; her name is Samantha. Dino unfortunately was fired from Principal school and had to leave after his contract. Samantha has been a nice addition to our school and the three foreign teachers have been doing a variety of things together outside of Principal. One night, we went shopping in Ximen, which we all had a fun time.  Another night, we went with Sam to get her 'world' tattoo. Kristin introduced her to Ting, a popular tattoo artist to many foreigners in Taipei. We went to dinner afterwards at a restaurant Kristin likes, Grandma nity’s. For the first two months, Sam stayed at Taipei fun house before she moved into her apartment. Mid March, on a Sunday evening, Taipei fun house had their spring pot luck. When Kristin and I arrived in Taiwan, we both slept at a separate place, not the fun house which was recommended by Reach to Teach. It was nice to finally met Romona, fun house owner.  The food was all delicious home cooked meals. There was delicious soups, freshly baked cookies and garlic bread to name a few. It was so soothing eating home cooked meals, which I never get in Taiwan. There were a lot of people there. Some were Reach to Teach teachers and others were friends of Romona’s. 

The day before the pot luck, I went on another hike with two CSers that were travelers in Taiwan. We went on a hike south of Sanxia, Wuliaojian mountain. The hike was a bit crazier than we all expected. Right from the start the trail gets pretty steep and eventually levels out a bit as you follow the ridge. The trail was filled with ropes. It felt like every few steps there was another rope; I couldn't even estimate how many there were. There was a point that we had to use a rope to go vertically down the cliff. We were all a bit scared at first since none of us had done something like it before. It took about five hours to reach the top. By the time we got there it was almost dark, so we took a short trail back. We were all exhausted after the 6.5 hour hike; but we all concluded it was one of the most awesome hikes we’ve ever done. :)  Highly recommend for a great day hike within easy reach of Taipei.