Week 39: Chiayi and the Bittersweet

This week, I went to Chiayi for the first time. As much as I liked seeing different parks, restaurants, and museums I could visit next year, it was also a little saddening to think about visiting them with a different cohort.

On Monday, I didn't feel great, so I stayed home. I cut up a papaya, did laundry, vibed, etc. I felt a little better in the afternoon, so I scooted to Little K and went clam digging with my partner, his kindergartener, and her mom. It was a good time! The little girl's mom handed us some cream puffs, then showed us where to dig as well as both types of clams we could find.

We didn't get to dig for long since I had to go to Chinese class, but I liked doing it. Afterwards, while I was in class, my partner had to go on his own clam mission to put the clams back since we didn't end up eating them.

The next day, I went back to school and taught my kids. I missed seeing them, but boy was it a slog through the material. Although I was pretty wiped, the day wasn't bad. After school, I did some work, then went to Everrich to watch the latest Guardians of the Galaxy movie with some other ETAs. It was, uh, definitely a movie. I liked having an excuse to sit in a theater and hang out with friends, at least.

On Wednesday, I stayed at school in the afternoon to help teach Chinese folk dance. Classes weren't bad. Four girls in my 601 class, each of whom has a different Blackpink bias, asked me who my bias was, then handed me her photo card. I answered Lisa, of course.

During dance, the girls tried their costumes on, and they rehearsed in preparation for next week's school anniversary performance. They're doing a great job! They were also adorable, as always, in their costumes, especially with their pink beaded headbands and veiled hats.

As usual, I didn't have many classes on Thursday. Both my kindergarteners and my third graders did well, and I also got to spend some extra time outside of class coloring with my third graders. One of them handed me hers after she finished, which was sweet.

Lunch was fun. Shu Mei Elementary, from Jinsha, had a field trip to Little K, so they had lunch at our school. I liked being able to hang out with the ETA from Shu Mei, and we spent lunchtime chatting and watching her kids play basketball.

I spent the afternoon playing piano and dancing again, then did some work. Pretty chill. At home, I did more work, had skewers for dinner, then went for shaved ice with my boyfriend. The mango shaved ice is back at our favorite local place!

Friday was another EV day, and the first week of Jhong Jheng kids of the season. The kids were fun, sweet, and pretty good at English, as expected. One of them kept using his English to crack jokes, and he liked asking us, "Are you sure?"

That evening, my partner set out for Chiayi while the rest of us hung out in Jincheng. I went to shaved ice again with some other ETAs, then a handful of us walked around Mo Fan Street to browse the souvenir shops. We also happened to watch part of the city god procession, which is part of the month-long celebration to worship the deity responsible for protecting Jincheng. It was incredibly lively, and it included people dressed in ornate, oversized city god costumes and fan dancers in multicolored dresses and flowered headpieces.

Later, everyone went to Vent Bar in Houpu Plaza, and we just chatted, drank, and ate sunflower seeds. We also saw our friends, who run Mike's Quiches, and they bought us a round of shots. It was wonderfully kind of them!

The next day, five other ETAs and I headed out to Chiayi. We first flew to Kaohsiung, then took the HSR to Chiayi, where we rented scooters and drove into the city. Along the way, I saw a statue of a chimpanzee playing a saxophone. Typical Chiayi things.

After we reunited with the two other ETAs who'd flown to Taiwan the night before, we checked into our room, which was just a single huge room with four double beds (slumber party!). We then headed to Bless Teahouse, which was a little teahouse in between Chiayi City and Alishan. Although it was a little buggy out, it had a beautiful view of the mountains, and there was a friendly café dog named Kahlo (named after Frida Kahlo), who was quite intent on stealing our biscuits.

We spent an hour or so drinking tea, eating snacks, and chatting at the teahouse, then scooted to a barbecue place called Smokin' BBQ. Smokin' BBQ actually came to visit Kinmen at one point during the Juguang Music Festival back in the fall. They wooed the cohort with their unforgettable pastrami sandwiches, so of course we had to visit them. As expected, the food was delicious.

Afterwards, my partner and I headed over to the apartment of some Chiayi ETAs who kindly let us store our stuff for next year at their place, then met up with everyone else at a bar. The bar was, unfortunately, colonialism-themed, but hanging out was fun.

Sunday was full of tasty food and fun sightseeing. In the morning, we went to a restaurant called Oi Griddle Cakes, which served a variety of yummy pancake brunches. It was also quite quirky, and in the bathroom, the bathtub had been transformed into a fish pond (complete with fish and a small turtle). Afterwards, we walked over to the Museum of Old Taiwan Tiles, which housed hundreds of beautifully-glazed ceramic tiles. I liked learning about the tiles and their history as well as seeing all the different tile patterns. Some of my favorite tiles were probably the peacock-adorned ones.

Since we were in Chiayi, we absolutely had to try some of the turkey rice the county's known for. The other ETAs and I went to a restaurant called Democracy Turkey Rice for lunch, and it was delicious. I'm not usually a huge fan of turkey, but the turkey rice we tried was amazing, especially with the egg on top.

We then had to bid the two ETAs leaving early goodbye (including my partner), then everyone else went to Hinoki Village. The site is known as a Japanese cultural village, and there were lots of small shops, restaurants, and more we could see. I was a little sleep-deprived (and heat-exhausted), so I was fuzzyheaded the whole time we walked around, but I liked checking everything out. I ended up buying a postcard and some gifts at a shop, and another ETA bought a cute little embroidered pin with her preferred boba sugar level on it (微糖). There were lots of other embroidered pins with other sugar levels, but unfortunately none with my preferred sugar level (半糖).

Near the shop where we bought our souvenirs, there was an enormous camphor tree trunk and an area where people had hung up a bunch of ema (絵馬), or Japanese wooden plaques that people had written wishes on. The six of us ETAs decided to share one, and we each took turns writing our own wishes (as well as a group wish of our own). It was sweet! It also made me reflect on myself, my friends in the cohort and in Kinmen, and the end of the grant, and that made me a little sad. Not about myself: sad about the end of the grant and my cohortmates leaving, of course.

We headed back to the hotel for a nap, went shopping at Fifty Percent, then went to dinner at a wonderful sushi restaurant. Honestly, I think the sushi there was the best sushi I've ever had—the fish was marvelously fresh, cold, and delicious! We all ordered sashimi, nigiri, maki, hand rolls, etc., and it was all excellent. The salmon sashimi was especially thick and buttery. Apparently, Alishan is known for its wasabi, and rightfully so. The wasabi and ginger at the restaurant? Delicious.

For dessert, we headed to a shaved ice place and hung out, then on the scooter ride back, we sang a little scooter karaoke. I also got to call my mom for Mother's Day, which was fun. Even though I was sleep-deprived for a good chunk of the day, I had fun, and I'm glad I could spend the day with my fellow Kinmen ETAs.

This whole week, I've been in my bag about the end of the grant period. I'm glad I could go to Chiayi and check out all the cool things I can do next year, but it saddens me a little to think about spending it without my wonderful cohort. Admittedly, it also scares me a little to spend another year so far from home without my family or home friends. I'm also worried about going to a new school (or two, depending on my placement) and having to start all over with new LETs, staff, and students.

I'm still incredibly excited to live in Chiayi and meet new people next year, it's just a lot to think about while I'm still living in Kinmen. All I can do is just enjoy the time we have left, I guess. Here's to making the most of it by eating good food, visiting cool places, and hanging out with wonderful people.

Writer's Note: This post was originally written on Monday, May 22nd, 2023.