Goodbye for Now....

Dear readers,

Taiwan :)

I can't believe that I am writing this last blog. (Unless I feel motivated to write about my travels after I return home). Can you believe that the time has already come and that I have already been in Asia for a year?! Don't you feel like it was yesterday, when I first started explain to you, through these wonderful blogs ;) the crazy experiences I had been having in Taiwan? It just feels like yesterday, when I was sitting at home with my parents debating whether or not I should take the offered teaching position here in Taiwan and come pursue my goal of studying Chinese. I feel very fortunate that I have the strength and courage as well as amazing motivating parents which all helped me take that leap of faith and fly halfway across the world to a country I barely knew anything about! Although, this past year has been one filled up great highs and low lows, I wouldn't change anything, because I have grown so much as a person, mentally and spiritually.

I thought that I would just write about some of the things that I am going to miss after being back in the United States. I can't say that I would want to live here any longer than a year, but there are some things that you just will not find anywhere back home.

For example, I will miss how there is ALWAYS something, somewhere happening in Taipei. You can go to any street, ally, any MRT station and find a bustling market, street performances, art fairs, food fairs and just people selling things everywhere. You can never be bored here. Along with these, I will miss the night markets, which are so crazy and filled with anything you could possibly think of, but are so convenient and very interesting to just go and people watch. If you are sick of all of the people, you can just head to a nearby park and enjoy the wonderful outdoors and sit in the shade or take a walk. This along with running by the river nearby my house was probably my favorite thing to do in Taiwan (well, after I found the park a couple months ago). Spending time outdoors, when it isn't scorching hot, is so wonderful and Taiwan has beautiful parks that are very well maintained. When I would need time to myself to just think and get away from everything, the park near my housing and running by the river made me feel like I wasn't in Taiwan anymore without all noisy cars and scooters and with all of the open space. I will miss that.  

In addition to this, I will miss being able to speak Chinese to just about anyone and YES, I think I may even miss the random people always staring at me and saying random things to me like, "can I be your friend," or "wow, you're really tall," or "pretty woman, walking down the street," (yes a man really sang that to me) or "can I have a picture with you?" At first its very strange and you don't know what to do, but after a while you just smile and laugh and they end up laughing along with you. I definitely won't get that back home as I will just blend right in, of course. I won't be, that tall, yellow haired girl, amongst all of the jet black haired, short Taiwanese people anymore.

Furthermore, I am really really going to miss the sense of safety and security here in Asia. Not because I am bigger than most people, haha, but because everyone is so truthful and wouldn't dare to cause any harm or damage to another person or their things. It didn't matter where I went, at what time or who I was with, I always felt safe, even if I was taking a cab home at 3 am, after a while I always knew I would make it home with any difficulty. The Taiwanese truly are honest, nice people.

Finally, I will miss all of the wonderful people that I had the chance to meet and become friends with. Thats the thing about traveling, there are always going to be "goodbyes." But, these people have made a great impact on me and my adventure here in Taiwan and am thankful that I met everyone who I worked with, went to school with and just hung out with on the weekends.

Well thats all I can really think of for now, but I am sure there is a lot more that I will realize I miss once I am back at home. But, let the countdown begin as I leave Taiwan in about 2 weeks and head off to Southeast Asia to do some more traveling. I am very excited as I will be heading to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand! There are going to be so many more awesome experiences and this is definitely not the last time I will be in Asia.

I hope you all have thoroughly enjoyed my life/blog throughout this past year and thank you all SO very much for reading and sharing my stories with others. I hope that you have all learned a lot about Taiwan and Asia and that you one day will come see what it is really like here! You'll be in for a great surprise.

Goodbye for now,  Olivia xx

Minnesota takes on Taiwan!

Hello everyone, I am back and here with more interesting stories coming from Taiwan (and with a cool new blog layout)!!! Can you believe that I had ANOTHER visitor here in Taiwan!? This will be my third visitor! I am one lucky girl! Also, can you believe that I only have a little over 2 months left here in Taiwan!? Don't you just remember reading my first blog about me arriving in Taiwan like it was yesterday? Well....I do. I will never forget how nerve-racking my arrival was and how it look the sketchy cab driver hours to find my hostel! Yikes!

But never mind that, lets get to the good stuff!! My dad just was here visiting me and Taiwan!!! It was his first time ever to Taiwan and Asia! I was very curious to see what he would think of this side of the world, especially after hearing the thousands of stories I would tell him over the phone!! So when he finally arrived, it was time for the Bergers and Minnesota to 'take on Taiwan.' "You betcha!" 

As I anxiously awaited my dad's arrival, I could help myself from getting so excited and thinking about all the wonderful places we would go together and all of the "father/daughter" time we would have (even though there may have been too much of it at some points, ha)! Finally, my dad walked through the doors and we were finally reunited and headed straight out of the airport to get something to eat.....at 7/11. WHAT? Did you say 7/11? Yes, since it was late at night, we went to the 7/11 in the airport and my dad's first meal in Taiwan was noodles from 7/11. It was so perfect and very Taiwanese. Don't worry, he enjoyed every last bite. As my dad says, "he doesn't remember a time when he didn't like something he ate." hah. So then we finally headed back to my house and hit the hay for our big day tomorrow. 

Walking through the park

The next day, of course, we had to do the typical touristy things, so I took him to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and we walked around the museum inside and saw the changing of the guards and we also walked through a kids carnival that was being held right outside! The sun was shining and it was the most beautiful weather Taiwan has had in weeks (it is the rainy season right now)! My dad spotted a lovely bench and we sat outside on that bench watching the kids play and relaxing and enjoying the day! We then headed over to get lunch before we walked around the 101. We ended up going to this wonderful Italian restaurants that looks right out at the 101 and we sat outside under the sun eating our freshly made balsamic salad! YUM! We then headed into the 101 mall and checked out all of the shops that my dad and I go to all the time back home. Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Dior, Michael Kors....just the usual inexpensive places!!! haha. My dad really enjoyed it all and was very pleasantly surprised with how modern and westernized Taiwan is.  After we were done site seeing, I decided since it was such a lovely day outside, I would bring my dad to this amazing park near my house (which I just discovered recently, 9 months later!) This park is enormous, it goes on for miles and has many wonderful trees, flowers and areas to take a break and sit and a little cafe nestled in the middle of it surrounded by botanical gardens! This honestly is one of my favorite places in Taiwan! We spent nearly 2 hours just relaxing there! 

Part of the flower gardens!

Dad at Longshan Temple

The next day, we were off to the zoo!! We headed to the zoo, because Taipei's zoo is so large and it is located just slightly out of Taipei City in a beautiful area! We saw all of the animals and rode the free trolly that went from one side of the zoo to the other, because frankly it was really dang hot, so we didn't wanna walk all the way back to the entrance!! hah! It was so nice to just spend the day with my dad, drinking iced coffee, looking at the animals and especially not having to go to WORK!  We then left the zoo and headed to the famous Longshan Temple! I thought this was very important for my dad to see, because this is the oldest, still running, Temple in Taiwan. This was one of my dad's favorite places out of everywhere that we went. Longshan Temple has so much history and active prayer ceremonies taking place that there is always something to look at and watch. My dad even had to take a closer look at take part in all of the action! hah...Don't turn Buddhist on me now dad!!!  By the end of today, we had checked almost half of the things off our "to do" list. Not kidding, my dad and I kept a "to do" list, just so we wouldn't forget what to do....haha. We then went to bed early, because the next day I was bringing my dad to my Chinese school to take his own lessons. 

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

I'm kidding....but the next day I did bring my dad to my school where I take Chinese classes every morning. I showed him around the campus and he walked around the area as I was in class. After school was over we headed to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. If you didn't already know this is a very important memorial in Taiwan, if not the most important. Chiang Kai Shek was the leader of the revolutionary movement who lead people from mainland China to Taiwan. This memorial is possibly the largest that my dad and or I have ever seen before. It stretches on for miles and has 3 different buildings dedicated to him as well as 4-5 small gardens or parks surrounding the monument. It is really incredible and a wonderful place to visit! Once again we were blessed with amazing weather and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and we were able to enjoy the wonderful beauty of this place! But, we had to get going because we had a HUGE night ahead of us....I couldn't wait!!! Can you think of what we would be doing....any ideas....No?? Well, we were headed to eat dinner on top of the world!!! 

Dinner on the 85th floor of the 101

Well, not really on top of the world, because The Burj in Dubai is taller, but we were headed to eat dinner on the 85th floor of the Taipei 101! YAY! Finally I get to wear that fancy dress I bought a while ago, hah. So we got dressed and headed out early to catch the sun setting while on the 85th floor. This was possibly my favorite thing that my dad and I did together while in Taiwan. Sipping on the bottle of red wine we ordered and slowly....I MEAN SLOWLY, making our way through the 5 course meal, it could not have got any better, and like my dad liked to say, "the company couldn't have got any better." Ah, thanks dad! We first were served complimentary garlic bread with a cream dipping sauce and then it was on to our 2 appetizers, soup and salad then a small entree and finally our main dish. (I had the fillet and my dad had the pork wrapped in bacon)!! YUM! Can I go back every weekend?? Then we were served complimentary tiramisu and coffee. It honestly was incredible, I never wanted it to end! So as the night came to a close we would be headed out of Taipei City the next day to visit another town 40 minutes away. 

In the town of Yingge

The next day, I took my dad to a town that is know for its pottery and ceramics called Yingge. Yingge has hundreds of small shops selling beautiful ceramic items and pottery along a very modernly designed street and is very quaint and quiet. We spent the day walking around this town and through these shops and we really enjoyed it, then we headed over to the Ceramic Museum which provided all of the history of ceramic making and what things are making out of ceramics.  I think my mom would have thought that I was crazy bringing my dad to this town, because she always says that he is a "bull in a china shop," haha. But, I made sure he was careful! That evening went out to dinner and my roommate Brittney came along! We decided we wanted to go out and try really strange food and be very daring, so we got PIZZA!!! hah. Oh well, better be safe than sorry....right? It was great though, having my dad meet my friends over here in Taiwan and be able to see the life that I have been living for the past 9 months! I really makes people understand what living in Asia is like, if they have never been here before! 

At the sulfur spring in Xinbeitou

The next day, we decided that since we had been having such a strenuous, hard week, we needed to get massages and treat ourselves, hah! So we headed up north to the infamous area of Xinbeitou Pronounced: SHIN-BAY-TOE). This is also one of my favorite places in Taiwan, because it is filled with so much nature! It has hot springs and the air all around the town smells like sulfur. We walked to the naturally created sulfur hot spring and it was so beautiful because, the air was slightly cooler this day and the heat from the sulfur spring and the air outside created a massive amount of steam in the air and it was truly beautiful to see. While we were up in Xinbeitou, I had my dad try and traditional Milk Bubble Tea (you have to try one when you're in Taiwan!) He LOVED it! But, come on...who wouldn't love sugar, milk, cream and tea mixed together? We then headed up to get our massages. After a 60 minute massage and 30 minute private hot spring, let me just say, we were more than relaxed, practically falling asleep on the train ride home, hah. I know I sound repetitive, but yet again it was such a wonderful day, although it was raining that day! My dad and I had done so many things together and our time together was coming to a close and I couldn't have asked for anything more! 

I meant so much to me that not only my dad, but my sister and cousin and Courtney have taken the time to come visit me here in Taiwan. It has really broken up my time here and made the time gone much faster. It also allows the people who I care the most about the ability to understand my life here in Taiwan and be able to understand what I talk about when I tell stories of Taiwan. It makes "relating" to my life a little bit more understandable and easier. So, the next day, my dad was off and I was very sad to see him go. It just feels like yesterday that we were talking about him coming and his time here came and went too fast! :( But, on the bright side I only have a couple more months here and then I will finally be back in the good ole' USA!!! 

Once again, thanks for all of your support and thank you for continuing to read my blog!! I can't believe how many readers I have!! Stay tuned for more in the coming months! 

Olivia!!! 

East vs. West

Hello everyone!!

So since I haven't had anything major happening in my life lately, like visitors to Taiwan and/or traveling around Asia, I thought that I would write something simple and jot down all of the many wonderful and interesting things that I have noticed about Taiwan that are different from America. This is somewhat like a comparison blog where West meets East! Over the past couple months, I have been writing down little things that I have noticed in my phone when I am out and walking around! I believe these are things that many people may not notice right at first and some things you will only know after being here for a while. I think that many people who have not been to Asia, will find this blog to be very interesting, because let me just say, you will never fully understand Asia, until you come here personally! So.....let dive in!

The first thing that I think is different about Taiwan, is the fashion. Like the US, many more people are starting to develop their own personal "style" and create an identity for themselves. Taiwan is a rapidly growing and advancing country and many of the young generation wear the wildest things. For example, "short shorts" are DEFINITELY a trend here with many younger girls. I mean, lets be honest, if you can pull it off why not wear them. These girls have no body fat and are stick thin, so they can wear it! ha. Also, like I said in a previous blog, accessories are worn/put on EVERYTHING. Not kidding. Girls wear accessories not only in their hair, but on the glasses, colored contacts, fake eyelashes, Hello Kitty emblems, chains and diamonds dangling from everything possible....purses, phone, nails, shoes, etc. They really love to be "flashy" here.  In addition to the things that they wear, men also carry purses. These are not just leather "over the shoulder/cross body bags" they are legitimate purses with designs and embellishments on them and they not only carry one for themselves, but their girlfriends ALWAYS make them carry theirs as well. It is very interesting to see, because first of all a guy in the US would NEVER carry and purse and secondly, their girlfriend would never want them to carry their purse. Its definitely something to get used to, because it is very unusual. But, aside from that sort of fashion, many other people here in Taiwan dress differently, like the US and it nice to see that you don't have to wear one certain thing in order to fit in.

Moving on from fashion, I think another very interesting thing about Taiwan is that there is a HUGE divide between the people who "go out" on the weekends. I say this, because most Taiwanese people (majority are girls) don't go out on the weekends. They will maybe stay out or are "allowed" to be out until 11:00pm or 12:00am but they don't go out any later than that.  But then on the other hand, there are those other Taiwanese people who are wild partiers and stay out until the early morning hours. But, when these Taiwanese people do go out, since they never really have had the opportunity before, they go "too hard" and many times can't handle themselves while drinking. Additionally, since most Taiwanese people don't ever really go out much and don't have a lot of opportunities to dress up, when there is an organized event for them to go to or somewhere special to go, they GO ALL OUT! The dress up from head to toe and wear their nicest clothing, because they don't get to do this all that often. The girls where the most outrageous dresses, even if the event isn't that fancy, ha. It is very funny to see all of them come dressed up like Cinderella. This is one thing that I still don't understand, because I think that many of the girls are still allowed, even at an older age of like 26-27, to go out past a certain time, because their family doesn't permit it. I think that will change soon enough though, with this newer generation getting older.

Another note that is jotted down in my phone, was about "meal time" or eating. I wanted to write about this, because the way that Taiwanese people eat is completely different to the way Americans eat. This also may explain why Asians are thinner than most Americans. So, every time I have been out to dinner, I have observed and noticed how friends, family and couples eat together. First, at most traditional Taiwanese restaurants, they don't serve any beverages. So, ultimately they don't drink while eating. Secondly, nobody orders their "own meal." Someone orders a bunch of different dishes for the while table and then after that everyone shares and picks at what food they want. Therefore, there are a lot of small dishes in comparison to one person each having their own large dish. Furthermore, they don't have any "eating order" like we do. There is no order of having, soup or salad first and then an appetizer, main dish and dessert. They definitely don't do that and typically they don't have dessert. Its definitely a new experience to eat this way, but it also helps with portion control. hah. Maybe the US should try this!

The last thing that I thought I should compare and mention, was about the schooling system here and the extra-curricular activities children participate in. First off, I want to talk to you about the schooling system here. So, most children start school at age 2 or 3.....WAIT, WHAT? Did you say 2 or 3? Yes, I said that. They start school so young here in Taiwan that Taiwan had to make it "illegal" for children to attend actual school, where they learn and have homework (its not like preschool) for kids this age. Although, every school still admits children to come and go to school, they just keep it well hidden. Also, these children can be at school (not learning the whole time, maybe just playing) for up to 9-10 hours a day. Some of these young children have to be at school at 9:00 am and don't leave until I do which is around 7 pm. I can't believe it honestly. If they aren't learning/playing/singing/dancing or doing some sort of activity, they are attending their extra curricular activity. This brings me to another comparison that I have been between the US and Taiwan. Taiwanese children DO NOT often take up "sports" as an extra curricular activity, like the US. They either go to Violin practice, piano lessons, writing/speech class and or something else educational. Until they are in high school, these children do something that is very educational/stimulating for the mind for an extra curricular activity. I am not saying that this is a bad thing, but I feel as though they never get a break to just "have fun."

So I hope that you all find this blog interesting and that is has broadened your horizon and outlook and understanding about Asia. I know that there aren't any AMAZING pictures with this blog, like the last, but I promise you I will have another good blog coming soon.....as I believe my dad will be making his way over to Asia!!! yay!!!!

Keep reading and sharing your thoughts with me!!

Olivia

East meets west when family visits Asia (Part 2 of2)

I'm back with the second part of this Thailand adventure!!! Now lets complete this second portion of this blog with the adventures of the Berger family in Thailand!!

So, like I said before, Maria, Natalie and myself were all on a quick, jump hop and a skip 1 hour plane ride to the island of Phuket.

Our beautiful room

As we arrived in Phuket we immediately hopped in a cab and took a "quick" hour cab ride to our resort. As we finally arrived at the Avista Resort & Spa in Kata Beach, we were all greeted with not only a flower necklace, but a cool glass of fruit punch and a cold tower to wash our faces and hands with. WOW! What a greeting, I wish I could get that at my own apartment. Maybe I can conn my roommates into it!? Thank you Natalie for booking this!!! :) So we were then showed to our room by one of the sweetest Philipino men I have ever met and he gave us a guided tour of our room and the hotel. We all stepped into our room and I couldn't believe my eyes. The room was gorgeous, it was decorated incredibly and we had a fabulous view of the pool down below. As you walked further in there was a glass wall that connected the beautiful bedroom area with the bathroom, just in case you wanted to take a shower and have others be able to see you!! hah!! Don't worry we all thought that was only for couples/a little strange, so we put down the shade!! hah.

After getting settled in, we headed down to the hotel restaurant to eat some, once again, great food. Thai food never gets old! At dinner, we enjoyed the wonderful weather, sounds of the waterfalls in our resort and decompressed from all that traveling by shoving our faces with food!!! YUM!

At "The Beach" Island

The next day, we had to get up bright and early as we were going on a boat cruise around all of the Thai Islands. Thanks again to Natalie, she had not only booked a Thai boat cruise, but the #1 rated boat cruise on Travel Advisor!! Only high class for us! :) The next morning we arrived at the marina and boarded the beautiful speed boat we would be spending the day on. Our tour guides were a wonderful Aussie woman and English couple who have been doing these tours for the past 7 years! We were on our way to one of the most famous & beaches in the world, while the sun was rising and the wind was blowing through our hair and the smell of salt was in the area all around us. Pretty magical. The first island we stopped at was the island in which the movie "The Beach" was filmed with Leonardo Dicaprio. It was pretty spectacular. Since these islands near Thailand are a little different from other normal sandy islands, because they are large jutting rock islands that stick out from the ocean, the minerals in the rock, erode and drip into the ocean, which in turn, turns the color of the water a greenish-blue, instead a turquoise blue. It is pretty cool to say that I have now been to two islands in which 2 famous movies have been filmed. "Cast Away Island" in Fiji and now "The Beach Island" in Thailand. We finally pulled into the bay and walked around the beach squishing the sand in between our toes and taking more pictures that you could believe! It was then time to leave and head to another island. This area was somewhat like a "swimming-hole" like area that was surround by mountain-like rocks hundreds of meters high. This is where we were told we would get out and be able to jump off the boat and swim....so OF COURSE, I am going to get out and swim. Once we all dove off the boat, it was like we were barely swimming. The water was so salty, we barely even needed to kick our legs to stay afloat! It really was an incredible experience, swimming in the greenish-blue water with the tree covered mountains surrounding us.

Diving into the salty water

Maria,  myself & Nat taking a swim

Finally, we headed to another area/island, where we would have yet another chance to swim and this time also snorkel. We arrived at the area and all jumped in the water to check out all cool underwater life that was beneath us! But, before we could do that, we were told by Jenny, our Aussie guide, that we MUST bring in a piece of banana with us, because the fish would eat it. WELL.....little did I know, that once you brought the piece of banana in with you, hundreds of fish would swarm you and eat off the banana. While the banana was in my hand, I could feel the little nibbles of them bitting off of it (just like when Maria and Natalie got a fish pedicure.....YES, they got a fish pedicure.....YIKES!) AHH it was so crazy and creepy at the same time!!
Finally we arrived at our last island and it was time to eat lunch and relax on the beach. The tour served us wonderful food and all of us on the boat chilled either in the or the shade eating our food. Everyone also split up and walked around the island. The day was finally over, but I never wanted to leave these islands, they were too beautiful to leave. BUT, my skin was screaming "get me out of this sun." Yes, I got extremely burnt and for the next couple days were were in Phuket, I couldn't even tan my upper half of my body!! Ugh, and I used sunscreen. I guess the sun is just so intense! The day was finally over and we all headed back to the hotel and that evening we headed into town and ate dinner.

Bamboo Island-Where we ate lunch & relaxed

Our Boat!

The next day rolled around and it was a day to be lazy and lay by the beach. As we arrived on the beach we rented out 3 chairs to relax in the shade and drink tropical drinks. But it was very strange, when we arrived, there were all of the men and women in the skimpiest bathing suits that were so tan some of them literally looked African-American. I was wondering why there were so many foreigners especially those who don't care to be naked on the beach as well as wearing too tight of speedos, haha. Well, I was then told later that day that as of lately Russians have completely dominated and "taken over" the island of Phuket and now come down here for their vacations all of the time!!! I guess Phuket/Thailand is like America's Mexico for Russians. It was really hilarious though, because literally every single person we saw was Russian, no joke. After spending the day on the beach, we needed to head up to the hotel to get prepared for the Thai Cooking Class we had all signed up for!!

Getting ready to "cook" 

We were so excited to see how to actually make and prepare Thai food, so we could then try to do it at home! As we arrived, we realized this wasn't actually a "cooking" class, it was a "everything is already in a bowl for you and all you need to do is put it in the pan class." So we really didn't know what was actually in any of the sauces or soup dishes, we just pretty much were told to dump things in and that is what we did!! haha! Oh well at least we got some funny pictures and made & ate our own Thai food. It was a cool experience and the chef was really great.



So the day finally ended and of course, we had to go out and eat some more great Thai food and walk around the Phuket area and buy "real" purses that were being sold on the street, haha. But I was very excited for the next day, because I was going to meet up with one of my friends, Brock, who I went to high school with at Mahtomedi, who is now currently teaching in Phuket. WHAT ARE THE ODDS? The two of us grow up together on one side of the world and meet up again on the other....in Asia of all places. The day before my big adventure with Brock, I had to get a traditional Thai massage. This was one of the best massages I have ever got in my entire life and it was not only amazing, but it was 2 HOURS....it was soo long that I almost got bored, haha. I definitely am going to get another when I return to Thailand. Then I got ready and met Brock at my hotel and hopped on his scooter and he showed me around the other parts of Phuket Island. We first headed to the "Big Buddha" which resides at the top of this large mountain. As we were scootering up, we saw a bunch of elephants on the side of the road and HAD to stop to feed them bananas and take pictures with them!! (Man, I fed a bunch of different animals bananas on this trip)! I felt bad though, because some of these elephants were chained up and of course you know they are just being help captive, because all of the tourists (like me, unfortunately) want to see them, pet them and feed them! Hopefully they aren't beaten. But as we left there, we soon arrived at the Big Buddha. This Buddha is the largest in Phuket and is totally made out of what looks like granite or some sort stone. It was very beautiful and you could see all of Phuket while standing at the top. The view was breathtaking and you could see all the way to some of the islands. Brock and I then spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening with each other, catching up and getting dinner. I still could not believe how cool it was to meet up with someone all the way over in Asia who I had grown up with all my life!!!

Me & an elephant!! 

Well the day and our time in Phuket had come to a close that next day and it was our time to say goodbye to Thailand. It really was an incredible trip and all 3 of us really enjoyed ourselves. I highly recommend that if anyone is going to travel to Asia, they should go to Thailand. What a beautiful place with so much color and culture. I can't wait to go back when I am done here in Taiwan and explore more of what that country has to offer.

In the mean time, please look out for more blog posts....although I don't have any trips planned anytime soon or any visitors coming, there is always something to write about....maybe about my birthday that is happening in 3 days!!!

Keep reading and thank you for doing so. I really appreciate the support!!!

Olivia

Brock and I

East meets west when family visits Asia (1 of 2)

Sawatdee Kaa! (Hello in Thai) 

Well.... February was a whirlwind of a month, and over these past two weeks, many amazing things have happened!! My sister and cousin came to Taiwan; we explored Taiwan and then headed off to Southeast Asia to explore Thailand. When my cousin and sister first arrived, we saw all of the "touristy" sites one needs to see when they come to Taiwan. While site seeing, we decided to go up the Taipei 101, which was a first for everyone, including myself. (I have been here for 6 months and had yet to go up).

**Quick fact: Did you know that the Taipei 101 is the second tallest building in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai? **

On the 88th floor in the 101

When we went up the 101, there was a whole show that happened inside the elevator. The lights dimmed and a video screen appeared showing the people inside the elevator, how fast we were going and how many seconds it took to get to the top. If you would like to know, it took 34 seconds to get to the 89 floor. pretty incredible. So as we arrived at the top, you could see all of Taipei. There was a audio tour that told you what you were looking at as you stood on each side of the building, well not so much an "audio tour" but a promotional tour of Taiwan and all of the many ways people can spend their money doing touristy things around Taiwan. Great, thanks, like we really need to spend more money! 

The next day, we headed off to the most famous museum in Taiwan. The National Palace Museum. The National Palace Museum holds some of Taiwan's most prized items. It holds a lot of the artifacts that were taken from the Taiwanese who fled from Mainland China and that were never taken back. We ended up taking a long, I mean long, free-guided tour and I am pretty sure I learned enough about bronze artifacts to last a lifetime! I tried to take an interest in it! The only bronze I am interested in, is when your skin gets it from the sun, hah! But as the day progressed we headed out and explored the city a little more. 

On our way to Toroko Gorge

The following I had taken off work and we all decided it would be a perfect day to head down to Hualien where the famous Toroko Gorge is. Although, I have already visited this place, you can't come to Taiwan and not see the beautiful landscapes, mountains and rivers it has to offer. So as we arrived in the town of Hualien, we all rented our own scooters and took off. I think it was really enjoyable for the girls to ride them and to see a different part of Taiwan, other than the hustle and bustle of the city. After a good 3 hours of exploring the gorge, we decided it was time to head back into the town because it looked like rain.... oh and we were right. As we headed back into town, it started to sprinkle, and then drizzle and finally it was pouring. Me, being the smarty that I am, decided to stop in 7/11 and get a poncho, but poor Natalie and Maria, they didn't get one and ended up getting soaked. Let me just say, it wasn't a pleasant train 3 hour train ride back to the city!! 

But we couldn't get too down, because the next day we were leaving for.... Thailand!!!!! 

**BANGKOK**

I was so excited; this would be my first trip outside of Taiwan since I have been here. (Can you believe its already been 6 months? wow).  So that morning, we packed up our things and boarded our flight to Bangkok. As we arrived in Bangkok, I could immediately tell the weather was going to be hot. It was 7:00 pm at night when we arrived and we were already sweating as we waited for our cab. 

**Quick fact #2** Taipei city has 7 million people (and I thought that was a lot). Bangkok city has 12 million people and I believe it is about the size or a little larger than Taipei, so you can imagine how much more crazy and frustrating it can be at times. 

I am telling you this fact, because as we arrived in Bangkok, we not only had to stand in line sweating, while waiting for a cab, but we had to wait for about a good 40 minutes while just to get one. So I knew could get very frustrating and complicated at times. But nevertheless, we were in Thailand! As we rode into town, and as we looked out the window driving into Bangkok, we could easily tell that this city, although extremely large, was definitely not as advanced as Taipei. Thailand is definitely still a developing country, but I believe it is moving and advancing quite fast. That night we headed to our fancy hotel and just crashed, as we were all so tired from traveling. 

Temple along the river

The Big Budda

The next morning, we headed down to the all you can eat buffet at the Marriott hotel and shoved our faces with food. YUM! (Well, there go my plans to eat healthy!!) So we headed out down to the Chap Phraya River. This river is the main river that runs throughout the city of Bangkok. This river is the main waterway and transportation way for many boats and touring companies. It is a great way to see the sights of Thailand while enjoying time outside on the water. So that is exactly what Natalie, Maria and myself did. We headed onto a long boat and enjoyed a cruise down the river, looking at all of the other boats passing us by, temples along the river and cool architecture of the city. As we arrived at our next destination, we were disappointed that it wasn't open for another hour, so what did we do!? Well, we did what any other normal foreign tourist would do, we were convinced to take a ride in one of the FAMOUS TUK TUKS in Thailand to see the other surrounding sights. If you don't know what a Tuk Tuk is, well let me just tell you it is pretty much a tricycle on wheels and it is definitely not made for 3 people to sit it, definitely not 3 American people!!! hah. So after being on the Tuk Tuk, we found out it was some sort of "National Tuk Tuk day" and there was a special deal going on (which we didn't know about until we had agreed to take a ride) that if you paid ONLY 40 BAHT (which is like 1 US dollar) you could get driven around to all the sights you wanted to see. So as we were driving to the "Big Budda Temple" and all of the other fascinating sights, out Tuk Tuk driver made us stop at many of the government owned shops to promote Thailand and get the tourists in Thailand to try and buy things. So the first stop we made, was to a Travel agency, he had us go in and we instantly left! We were so confused, hah, why were we being brought to all of these weird places?? Well.....I will tell you. If the Tuk Tuk driver brought us these shops, we would be reimbursed for the money he spent on gas!!! OF COURSE he is going to do it then! So then after that stop he brought us to a place where they tailor and make "beautiful silk" suits, when we were in there, we saw other foreigners who had been conned into this process...we instantly left again and told him, NO MORE STOPS, otherwise we are leaving. It is quite hilarious to think about it now, but at the time we just wanted to get the heck out of that Tuk Tuk. Just think about it, 3 fairly tall American girls squished in the back on this Tuk Tuk when it was 95 degrees outside....yuck! 

Our Tuk Tuk driver!

At the Wat Phra Kaew Temple

Wat Phra Kaew Temple 

So, we FINALLY arrived at the Wat Phra Kaew. This temple is the MOST important temple in all of Bangkok, maybe even all of Thailand. This temple is very strict, so any person cannot wear anything that shows their legs, any tight pants or short sleeves. So Natalie, Maria and I all had to rent out sarongs and shirts just to enter the temple. The Wat Phra Kaew is famous for its Emerald Budda, which was carved out of just one piece of jade stone. The temples in Thailand are nothing like the ones in Taiwan. The statues and structures are dripping with gold and different shining colors. This temple is exceptionally beautiful as it has many different areas to walk around in and it so large. It really was one of the greatest sights that I have seen while being in Asia. One I recommend seeing. After spending a few hours there, we decided to head out and do some more exploring. We headed to KhaoSan Road, where it is famous for having "knock-off" things and great food to eat. So, of course we had to try some famous Pad Thai that was being cooked on the street. I was a little hesitant to eat it, but once I did, there was no turning back. It was delicious!!! So the day was coming to a close and we headed back to the hotel to get ready before dinner. We hailed a cab and let me just say, this is where the thing about too many people living in Bangkok comes in, we could have walked fast home. I think we sat in that cab in the same spot for 20 minutes and after that we couldn't take it anymore and decided to walk. I am telling you....too many people!!! 

Eating at the traditional Thai restaurant After arriving at the hotel and taking some much need R&R by the pool with a pina colada in hand, it was time to get ready and head out for a authentic Thai meal....sorry 'Ha Long Bay', it put you to shame! (inside joke). The restaurant we ate at that night was honestly incredible. Not only for its food, but for its service, and authenticity. All of the servers were wearing traditional Thai clothing and the food was served in very creative, festive ways. Then in the latter part of the meal a traditional Thai dancer came out to perform for all of the people eating. It really was magical and made me really start to love the Thai culture. But, it was time to see other parts of Thailand....The wolf pack was headed out of Bangkok and down to the beautiful island of Phuket.  YUM! Pad Thai STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 of 2!!! KUP KUN KA (Thank you in Thai)

Wishes in the Sky

Hao Jiu bu jian (好久不見) Long time no see!

Hello everyone! So it really has been a while since I have last written a blog. But, that is because within these past couple weeks, it has been Chinese New Year and I have been busy traveling around the world. Literally, I went home over this past CNY to see my family and friends. It was a very spur of the moment decision and I am so glad that I did! It was amazing to catch up with my family and friends and enjoy the beautiful MN snowy winter. It was nice while it lasted, but now I am back in Taiwan and getting back into the swing of things....like work and studying!

Since it is the start of a new year and the most important year here in Taiwan, The Year of the Dragon, I there has been a lot happening here and many things to write about. Like I said, this year is the year of the Dragon. The dragon is seen to be the most special year. Dragons symbolize power and excellence, valiancy and boldness, heroism and perseverance, nobility and divinity. A dragon overcomes obstacles until success is his. People born in the year of the dragon are considered to be energetic, decisive, optimistic, intelligent and ambitious. As I stated before, this is a very special year, so many, many women are pregnant here is Taiwan. They are intentionally pregnant, because they want their child to be born "in the year of the dragon." As I found out about this, I started to notice pregnant women everywhere! It is actually quite funny! Taiwanese people are very superstitious.

In the town of Pingxi

Also, since this is such a great year, many celebrations happen and go until the middle of this month (15th). People are celebrating constantly. For example, the largest celebration that happens here in Taiwan every year is called The Lantern Festival.  The Lantern Festival is held in a different town every year and each year, thousands of people flock and congregate in this one town to light and "send off" their lantern into the night sky. There are many different beliefs about the origin of the Lantern Festival, however, it is thought to have had something to do with celebrating ad cultivating positive relationships between people, families, nature and the higher beings that were believed to be responsible for bringing or returning the light each year!

So of course my friends and I had to go to the largest celebration in Taiwan. So we headed down to the town of Pingsi, where it was held. As we arrived at the bus station pick up to head to Pingsi, there was a line of people waiting for the buses, that went down the road and wrapped around the corner. The buses left every 5 minutes and were running constantly for the next 6-7 hours, picking up and dropping off people in a town about and hour and a half away from Taipei City. Let me just say, I had no idea what I was in for!!!





















As we arrived into the town around dusk, people were already lighting off lanterns and sending them off into the sky! I think the whole island of Taiwan was in this one town, I have never seen so many people in one area before! Well here goes nothing.... so we all headed in and walked through the town, eating local street food and making our way to find the perfect spot to "light off our lantern." As I stood there in amazement and awe of this beautiful celebration, I couldn't believe that I was going to be able to take part in this as well. But, before that, I just just stood there, starring up into the sky, watching families light off their own lanterns and make wishes for their future. It is a tradition to write "wishes" on your lantern in hopes that it will come true after letting it go. It really was magical and so beautiful. It looked like there were little twinkle lights all over the night sky. Pictures don't do it justice.

Getting ready to let our lantern go

So then it was our time to shine!! We bought a lantern and got to work, painting on our wishes with a traditional Chinese calligraphy brush. It was so fun and many of the local people were taking pictures of us painting our wishes onto the lantern, hah, maybe because they thought it was so strange that a foreigner was taking part in this traditional Chinese celebration! When we were finally done, our lantern was then lit and 1....2....3.....we sent it off into the night sky!! Brittany and I's lantern was the best one in the sky!!

Well it was finally time to head out and catch one of the many buses back home, but.....before you could get onto one of the buses you had to stand in a line of thousands of people also wanting to get back to Taipei. GREAT! My friends and I saw the line and it went on for what seemed to be miles. We stood in line for a good hour and a half and by the time I got onto the bus, my feet were numb and my back hurt from standing for so long. I never want to do that again. But, all in all, it was an amazing experience and I will never forget how beautiful it was and what a great experience it was.

Decorating the lanterns

I hope that everyone is having a "lucky" and good start to the new year so far and don't worry, there will be more blogs on the way. I have many things planned around Taiwan and will have many stories  to write about as my sister and cousin are coming to Taiwan and we then "jet off" to Thailand next week!!!

Stay tuned.

Olivia

Lanterns in the sky 

Its a New Day, Its a New Dawn...Its a New Year

大家好， 新年快樂 (Hello everyone and Happy New Year)!

I hope you all had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year. Can you believe it is 2012? Many people that I know rang in the New Year in style this year as some people jetted off to New York and experienced NYE in Times Square. Well I never thought that I would be able to say this, but I was in Taipei Taiwan to celebrate the beginning of 2012. It will definitely be a NYE to remember, as I will probably never has this experience again (unless I stay in Taiwan)!

Taipei 101

Fireworks!

So as the New Year approached, my friends and I were trying to figure out what to do, when we were told by one of our Taiwanese friends, that she had rented out a restaurant near the Taipei 101 building for everyone to come and enjoy dinner and drinks all night long. All of my closest friends that I have made here along with many other people I had never met before all arrived to celebrate the ending of 2011 and the coming of 2012. It was great, all of us girls got dressed up and headed downtown. Of course all of us girls got fancied up, because thats just what girls do on NYE, wear their nicest clothing and head out on the town. Of course I wore my stiletto high heels and was towering over all of the Taiwanese men and women...but that is not a surprise as I do anyway without heels on, ha!

Mary and I

The evening was great and by the time 11:30 pm rolled around we knew it was time to head out to "try" and get a decent standing place to watch the fireworks. As we all headed to watch the fireworks, people had already filled the streets and there was almost no room to watch the fireworks. But, I weaseled my way in and out of the crowed and found a perfect place to stand with my scottish buddies! The 101 was so beautiful that night, because it was lit up like a rainbow, every floor a different color. So we waited and the time finally arrived, and it sounded like all of Taipei counted down...3....2....1....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Then the fireworks went off.....blasting from all sides of the Taipei 101 building. It was fabulous....although I have seen fireworks many, many times before, this was different, because they weren't just shot into the sky. They were actually coming off of the building and it looked great!

So as the fireworks ended, everyone cleared the streets and it was time to head back to all of the parties going on! My friends and I ended up staying out dancing and having fun until early morning, but I guess that is expected on NYE!

Just some of the HESS teachers

In addition to NYE, just this past weekend I had a HESS school event at the Taipei International Convention Center for ALL of the Chinese Teachers and English teachers from Northern Taiwan. Just to give you a little idea about HESS, which is the school that I work for here, it is like the "McDonalds" of English schools. HESS is a very large corporate English language school company and there are many schools run through the head office or privately owned as a franchise (I work at a franchise). Every year HESS hold its Annual End of the year banquet for all of its employees. I honestly don't even know how I can describe this event to you. I felt as though I was walking into some sort of "rally" or "event that was trying to brainwash people" into liking HESS. GO HESS. HESS IS THE BEST. I am not saying that it was a bad thing, but there were so many people there dressed in HESS uniforms and cheering for Hess, that I was very overwhelmed and couldn't believe how large this event was. OH, and remember this was ONLY just the teachers from Northern Taiwan...tomorrow was the event for Southern Taiwan. WOW!

Me, Joe & Rachel (My co-workers)
At the HESS Banquet

Also it was very funny to see all of the Taiwanese teachers so incredibly dressed up in their finest dresses and their hair all done. When Taiwanese girls have the chance to get dressed up and go out, they go ALL OUT! Since many Taiwanese woman do not go out on the weekends/stay out late and many of them don't drink, they really take any opportunity they get to dress up. It is very funny to see how dressed up they really get! I believe it is just a cultural thing here, where many young Taiwanese girls can't stay out late, because they are either living with their families and they need to be home at a certain time, or they need to get back to their boyfriends because they are "waiting for them." It is really hard for me to understand this, because many of these girls, or should I say women, don't ever have the chance of personal growth or fulfillment, because they have never been "alone" their entire life. If it is not living with their families or doing something for their grandparents or parents, they immediately get into a serious relationship where they are always with their boyfriends. But, I guess that is just the way some things work around here. It definitely is not like that for everyone though!

Anyway, it was a great experience and I had a great time with my co-workers as well. But, that is all for me now! Once again, I hope you all had a great NYE and I hope 2012 has been good to you so far.

Sincerely,

Olivia