Vacation . . . What Vacation?

Strange how my time off from school has become busier than my days with school! But it’s great. I’ve been exploring more of this “beautiful island”. Here we go on giving you a slice of my life pie.

MONDAY
I spent the morning catching up with my peeps back home. That was fabulous. Then I headed to the MRT to meet one of my students-Betty. We went shopping. Yeah! I purchased a few clothes and some earrings. I nearly bought a pair of skater shoes. My tennies are getting worn out. The brand was black sheep and that made me laugh. Then I had to explain it to my student. We laughed about it again at dinner when I ate some sheep meat :)

We headed to her grandfather’s house for dinner. The whole family was there (minus college kids). It was about 17 people. I decided they couldn’t have a bigger family because they wouldn’t fit! The food was tasty. And her family was very kind and anxious to treat me well. Only her parents and an aunt and uncle spoke English. The adults forced the cousins and her brother to practice their English with me. They were very timid.

We ended the night with a visit to Love River and the Kaohsiung Cultural Center. It was great! They finally had lights along the river. They show that in pictures but it is only that way during the New Year. I was happy to finally see it. And I had the Cultural Center on my “places to explore” list. Betty and I did the trampoline jumping. She was pretty scared and I was proud she did it. I still have bruises from the harness! But, I’m happy to report that I did 3 back flips. They were hard! I still have slightly sore muscles, too.

TUESDAY
I headed out with the YSA in my stake. We went to the middle of Taiwan to Lukang Historical District. A very old temple and old houses. It was neat. The driving was long and that wasn’t so fun. I slept a little and stared out the window. Again, everyone was treating me like a special visiting dignitary. It made me laugh. I tried cow’s tongue and dragon eye treats. (Named for resemblance, although at first I was nervous.) And I got popcorn. I don’t know why that treat makes me so happy, but it surely does.

And I ate some good food. The area is famous for seafood. It was tasty. I had noodles for lunch. In the afternoon, we stopped (somewhere) and looked at lots of flower shops in a neighborhood. One guy and I rented bikes and rode around. That was cool. Better than being on foot. After that, we headed back to Kaohsiung.

Dinner was a long time in coming and I was getting impatient. It was worth the wait! The guy (no idea on his English name, sorry) took me to a steak house. Oh yum. Salad, corn soup, rolls, chicken, veggies, and noodles. Delicious! I couldn’t finish all of the main meal. I tried really hard. Then they brought out ice cream! I discovered a small portion of my stomach reserved for desserts :) [And I’ve decided I might like vanilla ice cream when I get home. I always thought it was boring before. The “plain” ice cream here is milk flavor and it is even less interesting than vanilla. Didn’t know that was possible!]

WEDNESDAY
I must say this was the best day, probably. I went with Emily to Monkey Mountain. And I finally saw monkeys. Hurray!!! [Gracie, I thought of you. Enjoy the pictures, k?]

We went hiking. Emily surprised me. When I asked her why she was so gung-ho, her reply was that she can do it with me. Other people won’t go with her. So I’m the reason she is crazy. :) *sigh* We had fun. It was pretty intense in some parts – rocky and steep. We diverged from the area with lots of people. (And there were lots since everyone is on vacation now.) We ended up making a big loop. Emily wanted to keep going, but I was tired. And we were unprepared in the water dept. I really hate that since hiking Timp and running out of water = terrible thing/good lesson.

On the way down we found monkeys who were very willing models. They even do it for free! They aren’t bothered by people. They just go about their business. I finally saw monkeys grooming each other. It was fascinating! I remember learning that and pretending to do it when I was little. Now I’ve finally seen it. (They really do eat what they find.) Emily wasn’t too excited about the monkeys. She took food there on a hike years ago. Bad move. The monkeys kept grabbing her bag. But she was a good photographer, like usual.

We worked up a good appetite and went to a sushi place for lunch. Emily was nervous I wouldn’t like it. All wasted worry. It was delicious. Yum! We stuffed ourselves (ugh) and couldn’t finish the last 3 sushi rolls. Then we were both ready for a rest. But we didn’t call it quits. We went shopping!

And I did took a nice haul home. Emily and I eventually decided I had to stop. :( There were some cute things after that time. Emily was good and wouldn’t let me buy them. Except for one pair of earrings ;) It was good since I was out of money. I got some cute shirts. And warm underclothing for my Beijing trip. [Ah! I don’t want to be cold, but it is what it is.]

Dinner was eaten at an elusive beef noodle soup store. It took Emily a long time to find it, but I didn’t mind. And then she asked me what size I wanted. Small was my response. Then I looked over and saw a huge bowl on the table. Definitely small, I said as I thought “wow, that’s a big large.” I was wrong. That was the small! Oh my. I couldn’t finish it. I just don’t like that full feeling where your stomach is bulging. So unpleasant! I like being just under full.

I ended the night at Emily’s house. Her mom tried to give me more food. Ah! I politely refused since I was still busting my buttons from dinner. And I got to see Emily’s room. She is funny, and a total pack rat. Wow. It reminded me of my mom’s forced yearly closet clean-outs. Good times! Then we decided to go hiking again the next day. But it would be a long drive – 2 ½ hours. My bum will be sore from the scooter, but it’s ok. Emily is very excited.