Mar II, Weeks 33, 34, + 35: March Madness

Happy spring, everyone! Although I didn't make a bracket this year, March has been full of madness. It's been three weeks packed with adventuring, games, goodbyes, and yummy food with friends. Among other things, I hung out with my partner's parents, baked chocolate chip cookies and said goodbye to a cohort member, had remote service camp in Tainan, picked tea on Alishan, and went back to Kinmen.

On Monday, March 11th, I taught at Budai. The classes went well enough, and they loved playing Kahoot (even if it was middle school-themed). I ran some errands after school, then my roommate and I tried our first ballet class at the dance school nearby.

Spoiler alert: it was brutal. The four children who regularly attended the class were much more in shape than we were; they were doing oversplits and backbend stretches while my roommate and I were struggling to reach our toes. Ouch. At least it felt good to dance and exercise again.

Tuesday classes went ok. I tutored the same student for the speech competition again, then did some work after school and had Mandarin tutoring. Pretty chill day.

Then on Wednesday, I went back to Guogou. Teaching was okay, and a student gave me a mini Oreo. The real highlight of the day, however, was seeing my ninth graders' turtle terrarium. There were three turtles sunbathing in the hallway (two larger ones and a baby snapping turtle), and a tank of seaweed for them nearby. The turtles were all there when I went to teach one of my eighth grade classes, but when I came back, one of the large turtles was missing. On the bright side, at least it wasn't the snapping turtle.

Aside from the grand turtle escape, the day wasn't terribly eventful. I chatted with some of my kids, then went to pottery club. Then, I ran errands in Puzi with my roommate, running into all of the neighbors and local friends that we knew along the way. It was nice to chat with my students and neighbors, especially since this year I feel like I haven't always had the time to do so.

The next day, I went back to Guogou, where apparently the turtle had been found! It hadn't traveled far, and was caught roaming the crevices of the ninth graders' classroom. Overall, classes were good. My other ninth grade class (the one without the turtles) is getting pretty good at English, so they breezed through the Kahoot, and my seventh graders weren't doing too poorly either. I had rollerblading club after class, but I had a bit of time beforehand to pass a soccer ball around with some of my kids. They're definitely much better than I am—I accidentally kicked the ball into some of their waterbottles—but they were very sweet.

For dinner, I went to a restaurant in Puzi with a county ETA, her partner, and our language exchange partners. It was nice to see our language partners again! We hung out after dinner too, and went to a claw machine arcade. Typically, I'd be skeptical of the arcades, but our language partners' roommate works there, so her coworkers helped us "manufacture luck", so to speak. I won two stuffed whales on my own merit, though! And the county ETA won a little pint of Häagen-Dazs ice cream and some drinks by herself too. We definitely received some assistance getting some capybara slap bracelets/stuffed animals and tissues, though.

Friday classes were a bit hectic due to students getting flu shots and going in and out of class (as well as general seventh grade chaos), but they sure did happen. I headed to Taipei after school to meet up with my partner and his parents, who were visiting for his program's spring break. Throughout the evening, we got dinner at a nearby soy milk restaurant and saw a visiting friend as well as one of my partners' roommates. It was nice to see his parents again, plus hang out with some other friends!

On Saturday, my partner, his parents, and I had Malaysian food for lunch, then headed to a theater to watch Dune 2 in IMAX. We took the MRT to the new Yes!Life Mall in Xindian, which houses the new eslite flagship store as well as Muji, Poya, and Vieshow Cinemas. My partner was incredibly excited to watch Dune 2—I had just watched Dune during the school week so that I could watch it with him and his family. I won't post any spoilers, but it was certainly a visually-stunning film.

Afterwards, the four of us went to a Korean barbecue place for dinner, and it was delicious. We received lots of different meats, some seafood, jjigaes, bibimbap, salads, and a fruit vinegar slushy. Although I was stuffed by the end of the meal, I'd definitely go back for more.

The next day, we caught the HSR to Kaohsiung. It was my partner's parents' first time on the HSR! I spent my time napping, then when we got in, I ended up napping again. Oh well. It was a lovely, leisurely day, and to top it all off, we had some of the best hotpot I've ever had. The place we went to is called 饗麻饗辣精品火鍋 (Xiangmaxiangla Quality Hotpot), and apparently, it's famous in Kaohsiung among locals.

It. was. incredible. The hotpot broths (mala and Shaoxing chicken) were rich and flavorful, the dipping sauce station was well-stocked with aromatics, sauces, spices, and raw eggs, and the drink station had a ton of options, including strawberry smoothies, milk tea, coffee, sodas, and starfruit juice.

In addition to the wide array of meats we could choose from, the restaurant had massive spreads of fresh vegetables, tofu, noodles, fish balls and meatballs, and seafood (which included fish, squid, crabs, clams, and even a tank full of live shrimp). Other parts of the buffet included pizza, fried foods, pastries, sliced fruit, and ice cream. 10/10, would absolutely come back.

Monday, March 18th, was less yummy. Lunch wasn't bad, but overall, the food was far less delicious. I taught classes in Budai, then had dinner and douhua with my roommate and another Chiayi ETF.

Tuesday was a bit better. Classes weren't bad, and they seemed to like their middle school lesson on school dances and yearbook signing. I also helped tutor the same student for her English competition, then after school, I headed to a café called IN COFFEE in the city. I did some writing with some other Chiayi city folks, plus got to pet a bunch of cats! They were adorable, friendly, and quirky—one of them camped out in the bathroom so it could drink the tap water every time someone washed their hands.

After writing, hot cocoa, and desserts, the three of us met up with one of the city people's language exchange partners for dinner, then went to Wenhua Park to pet the dogs. Much like the cats, they were adorable! Very energetic, very distinct personalities. Ah, I miss having dogs. Or pets at all, really.

I went back to Guogou on Wednesday, saw the turtles, and played a modified version of "What Time is It, Mr. Fox?" as a review game. It was a good time. Then, I went to workshop, then went to Mituo Night Market with some cohort members. I didn't get to stay long, but the food was yum, and I liked seeing everyone! It was also a final group dinner(ish) with the city ETA who was leaving Taiwan. Some of us also went to the Wenhua Night Market and played some arcade machines afterwards (uh-oh, claw machine addiction).

Thursday was mostly last minute planning for remote service camp, but it was also lots of hanging out. After school, my roommate, the ETA who was leaving, and I had dinner together. We also baked a bunch of chocolate chip cookies in the air fryer, watched some Kpop MVs and random play dances, and then the city ETA slept over. I liked hanging out! I didn't get to see her often, but I was glad we could spend some time together before she left.

The next day, I only had a half day of school (thanks to service camp). I didn't do much, but I did get a free Guogou shirt! I look a bit like an assistant coach, but at least it's an interesting shirt. I then came home and had lunch with the city ETA, then headed to Tainan.

There was another Chiayi County ETA assigned to the same service camp, so we spent the day wandering the city together. We started at an ice cream place right by the hostel, then visited Blueprint Culture & Creative Park. The park was mostly just little shops clustered together, but there were also some art installations and murals too.

One of my favorite parts of the area was the reptile café nearby (爬寵咖啡). The other ETA and I spent over an hour sipping some sparkling drinks and holding various reptiles. There were leopard geckos, snakes, chameleons, blue-tongued skinks, and some sort of soft green lizard that unfortunately defecated on the other ETA's hand. I think our favorite reptile was the chameleon! It had fun little Y-shaped feet that gripped our hands and fingers like tree branches.

After washing our hands thoroughly, the two of us went to dinner at a place famous for its clear thick soup (known as gēng, or 羹) with milkfish. We also wandered around some clothing and souvenir shops, then ended up getting more ice cream. Very tasty.

Around 8pm, we headed to a game café near the hostel and met up with some other service camp Fulbrighters. I played a game called Illusion with two other camp teachers, then we all played Set and Take 6 together. It was a fun time, and I liked getting to know/see other Fulbrighters from other sites.

Saturday was service camp day! And boy, was it hot out. I got some of Tainan's famous crystal dumplings (dumplings with a clear skin) for breakfast with some others, then we had some group meetings and got ready for the camp. We pulled up to Jiaba Elementary around noon to set up our classrooms. There were three classroom themes: the Purple Crow Butterfly, the Formosan Black Bear, and the Green Sea Turtle.

My classroom was the sea turtle one, so we drew some sea creatures on the board while we got our materials ready. Then, a bunch of us went on a bubble tea run, got some chocolate chip cookies, scarfed down some onigiri tubes for lunch, then started camp. We only had fifty-five kids, but they ranged in age from six to twelve, and were quite wiggly. They liked the Rock Paper Scissors Evolution game, I think.

Teaching itself was so, so difficult. We didn't have any LETs (local English teachers that speak Mandarin), so it was just six of us Fulbrighters versus a classroom full of kids we had never met before in a context that none of us had been in before. Building rapport was tricky, but it went ok in some classes.

Aside from the teaching itself, we also had to combat the weather. For some reason, none of us had AC on in our classrooms (although the classrooms seemingly had it?), so the ninty-some degree heat and high humidity really got to all of us. It felt like being in the trenches staving off dehydration and heat exhaustion, but in the end, we made it! We also taught the kids a modified version of the Sid Shuffle from Ice Age.

As chaotic as the entire experience was, I felt proud of myself and my leadership skills. When I was first chosen as one of the camp's ETF leaders, I wasn't sure how well I'd do leading the ETAs in the classroom, especially since I hadn't been to a service camp last year. By the end of the camp, though, I felt much more confident in leading and collaborating with my team. I had a wonderful group of ETAs to work with, and I think we were good at being flexible, collaborative, and trusting as the classroom environment changed. Yay, sea turtle group!

For dinner, the Chiayi ETA and I led contingent of eleven people to a delicious barbecue place called 老厝1933. While we waited, we also got some cubed ice cream, which was recommended to us by one of our language partners, and I tried the passionfruit, pineapple, and taro flavors. They were all pretty good, but the taro was especially rich and creamy.

My partner met up with us while we waited for a spot in the restaurant, and when we finally sat down, we feasted on delicious skewers of different meat and veggies, fried fish, sliced sausage, raw egg yolk over rice, and more. Very yum. Then, we finished off the night at a bar together. Despite the exhaustion and the heat, it was a wonderful day, and I had a good time hanging out with people from different cohorts!

The next day, I had to wake up at 8:30am to head to the famed Sicao Green Tunnel with one of my LETs, who lives in Tainan. As our boat floated through the mangrove forest, we saw lots of different fiddler crabs, mudskippers, fish, and even a black-crowned night heron hiding along the shores and beneath the branches. Yay, animal spotting.

We visited the nearby temple afterwards, then I had lunch with my partner at a recommended milkfish restaurant and walked around Tainan. Sadly, the heat proved to be a little too much for me, and I ended up taking an hour-long nap on a bench. Oops. Once I woke up, we went to a café called Paripari Apt. for some snacks and AC, then finally visited the famous Chikan Tower. It was a little small, but it was pretty, and I liked seeing the fish ponds and the architecture with my partner.

Back in Chiayi, I headed over to one of the city apartments for one final goodbye party for the ETA who's leaving. We played a bunch of games like Most Likely To, Shake and Pop, and Mafia, then watched a teary goodbye video we prepared. Honestly, it was pretty hard leaving the party knowing that we might not see the dearly departing ETA again, but hopefully, we'll see each other back in the states.

Monday, March 25th, was a super sleepy day of classes. I also didn't do much after school, just chores and errands and whatnot. The next day, I lesson planned and tutored the same student for her English competition. The more fun part was going home for more cookie baking with the other county Fulbrighters. We played games like Mahjong, Phase 10, and Hanabi while we waited for the cookies to be ready.

Wednesday was the start of oral exams at Guogou. I spent the morning giving said exams, then in the afternoon, I caught the bus to Alishan with some other cohort members for a field trip. We went to a place called Linyuan Tea Farm, where we picked and roasted our own tea, and it was fun! After we picked tea, we sifted it in a heated pan, then rolled it out in big baskets before drying it. Our group also got to decorate our own tea bags and sample some Alishan tea, fried tea leaves, and fantuan.

The carsickness going down the mountain wasn't great, but we managed to distract ourselves with some KTV (which included "Country Roads", "Love Story", and "I Will Survive", among others). Overall, it was a pretty good trip.

Back in Taibao, we headed to a stir-fry restaurant for a cohort birthday dinner. We were joined by two Kaohsiung ETFs, whom it was nice to see again, and had a tasty dinner followed by a delicious honeydew and crème brûlée birthday cake. Although the celebration was brief, it was nice, and I think people had fun.

The next day, school was pretty chill. Just oral exams and lesson planning. I had dinner with some other cohort members at the tasty Vietnamese place in Taibao, then we went to the Caihong Night Market. We didn't get much food, but one ETA played ringtoss and won a whole bag of assorted soft drinks.

Friday was also pretty chill. I had oral exams, then went to pop dance with some of my kids. My biggest regret, however, was demonstrating how to do a standing handstand against a pillar to one of my ninth graders. Although I did it successfully in the moment, my body certainly let me know how much it hated being upside down afterwards; I got dizzy and saw some stars.

I caught the HSR to Kaohsiung after school, then headed to a friend's house to hang out. It was nice to see him again and catch up! This year, I feel like I don't see ETFs from other sites very often, so I'm always glad too see them when I can. Another Kaohsiung ETF plus a New Taipei ETA and her visiting friend came too, and we made some mug cakes together. Very yum and chocolate-y, if a bit rich.

The next morning, I woke up around 6:45am and headed to the Kaohsiung Airport. I met up with another Chiayi cohort member, then we flew to Kinmen together! He didn't know how to scoot, so we rented him one of the electric scooters that doesn't exceed 25-30 kph, but he did a pretty good job practicing in the parking lot. We first scooted to one of the taro shaved ice places/restaurant on Little K to meet up with my partner and his Mandarin study friends. Our group went around the northern part of Little K to look out at Lion Islet and Xiamen, but it was so hazy that we could barely even see the outline of the latter. At least the weather was beautiful otherwise.

We also took the group to Bada Tower, then donned some helmets and visited Jiugong Tunnel (which I've never been to before). It was a cool series of waterside tunnels, and it even had some museum exhibits inside the caves. Once we crossed back over the Kinmen Bridge (my beloved!), we got some peanut candy in Jincheng, then scooted to Yangzhai for late lunch at Zhang Ayi's. As usual, the Indonesian food was impeccable, and we miss ayi. Judging from the postcards on her door, she seems to miss us too.

Then, our group scooted back across the island to Isola Pizza. As usual, we had delicious Italian food from Mike and Allen, then we walked around Jincheng. I've missed it dearly, and as weird as it's been to visit occasionally, visiting Kinmen feels a little like visiting your old high school (assuming you liked high school). It feels a little haunted by all the memories from last year.

On Sunday, Ari and his friends had to fly back to Taipei for Monday classes. Just kidding, they couldn't make it off the island due to the fog. Unlike last year, apparently it's been extremely foggy and wet this spring, so flights have been getting grounded. On the up side, we got to spend another couple of nights in the cool traditional Fujianese homestay (which included a secret bunker??) together. On the down side, the homestay wasn't particularly conducive to a dry, wifi-filled environment.

We got fantuan for breakfast, then went with our friends to Maestro Wu's to watch the knife making demonstrations. I split off with the Chiayi ETA and we went to Oucuo Beach to see the tank at low tide. The beach was hauntingly beautiful in the mist; the air was thick with salt-tinged sea fog that spread as far as the eye could see. We walked along the beach chasing ghost crabs and chatting, and I found that the water was surprisingly warm.

I also showed him the traditional swallowtail houses at Oucuo Village, then we went to Beishan Broadcasting Wall before driving back to the homestay. The drive was absolutely miserable. Rain poured down in sheets, and due to the fact that the ETA's scooter couldn't go faster than 30 km/h (18.6 mph), it was a much longer drive than it needed to be. Aiya.

The rain didn't let up much, not even after we got back to our homestay. and the thunder and lightning got pretty intense throughout the evening. Even so, some of our group managed to walk around Jincheng and get some Vietnamese food, xiaolongbao, and Korean fried chicken. Sloshing around in the rain was damp, sure, but I've missed Jincheng's charm. And I still miss Kinmen.

It's been a crazy busy few weeks bouncing between Taipei, Kaohsiung, Kinmen, and everywhere in between. I've liked spending time with people I don't always get to see, and even school itself's felt a little fun with events like casual soccer, outdoor games, and turtle escapes. I've also liked trying new things, like tea picking and leading the Tainan service camp.

However, as happy and fun as the end of March has been, it feels weird having a cohort member leave so early this year. It's really reminded me how brief our time in Taiwan is, and more importantly, what it means to spend time with the friends we make here. Hopefully, I get to see some cohort members from this year once we're back in the US. I already miss my friends from last year, and I can't wait to see them on the other side of the Pacific.

Until next time!

Writer's Note: This blog post was originally written on Tuesday, April 16th, 2024.