Week 41: The Last Taipei Trip

There's a last time for everything, and this weekend, we had our last cohort-wide Taipei trip. For me, it was the last time I'll fly from Kinmen to Taipei and back: next time, I won't be coming back to Kinmen. The week itself was fun, but thinking about this weekend being the last group trip was saddening.

This week, I had my third Monday in a row off. I spent the day just hanging out and doing little tasks. Among said tasks, I worked on the lineart an upcoming tee shirt design. For Dragonboat Festival, Kinmen's holding a dragonboat race, and us Fulbrighters signed up in two teams: the Kinanigans, and the Fulboaters. As a member of the latter team, I'm helping some other team members design the shirt (spoiler alert: ours includes dragons).

Tuesday was a little tiring. I went to school, and I got to see my kids, then came home and vibed. As much as I love the kids, I think I'm getting a little burnt out from how much teaching we do; it's forty hours per week, the same as a full time job. I liked being able to doodle ghosts with them on the board and check out their new weather doll, though. I also appreciated the bag of Jhuo Huan 60th anniversary memorabilia on my desk later, which included a boba holder, a folder, a mug, a keychain, and a tote bag.

Later that evening, I went to Super Sad Spicy Noodles for dinner with three other ETAs. I missed having their mala soup. Chatting with everyone else was nice, and it was pretty chill. The least chill part? The part when my partner paid for the meal in all coins (which stressed out one of the other ETAs a bit). We ended up getting some desserts from 85° Café, then hanging out at the Hong House apartment and watching a dating show called The One That Got Away (which reintroduces contestants to people from their past who've had crushes on them). It was fun!

Wednesday wasn't bad. Classes went well, and I got to play catch with some of my students between classes. One of them also showed me her album of Jisoo (from Blackpink) photocards. After school, I went to workshop, then went to play badminton with everyone else. I hadn't played in a while, but I had fun. Then, I went to class, then went home. Pretty usual day.

On Thursday, I taught the kindergarteners the letters "D", "E", and "F", then spent the twenty minute break between classes playing tag with other students. It was incredibly fun, but so, so hot outside. Despite me sweating profusely, my next class went well! I spent the rest of the day cooling off, lesson planning, and playing piano.

I went to dinner later with my partner, then we went to movie night with everyone else. We first watched a fifteen minute documentary about migrant workers from Southeast Asian coming to Taiwan, then watched a very different documentary: the new Bama Rush documentary, which followed several girls as they rushed a sorority at the University of Alabama. Unfortunately, the documentary wasn't quite what we expected, and we were all incredibly disappointed, including one ETA, who's a Bama alumna.

The next day would've been EV, but there were no kids! Apparently, they had some sort of national exam that day instead. The four of us Friday EV people instead spent the day doing work, hanging out, etc. Then that evening, most of the cohort headed to Taipei for the last cohort trip ever.

We started by getting dinner at Tako, which is a Mexican restaurant, and had some excellent tacos, then walked to Dadaocheng Wharf for drinks and vibing. The views of the rest of the city in the distance were beautiful. The views of the giant rats scurrying across the rocks nearby, perhaps not so much.

Since there were twelve or so of us, it was hard to find a bar that fit everyone, so we headed to a place called the Red House afterwards. We had a good time just sitting and chatting, then eventually headed home late, late afterwards.

Saturday was spent just hanging out. A bunch of us went to a panini restaurant for lunch, then went rock climbing. Honestly, the climbing paths the gym had that day were much tougher than the ones they had last time. We had fun climbing, but boy was it difficult. I accompanied a couple other ETAs to get their ears pierced afterwards, then we went back to the hostel to get ready for dinner.

We went to a Mediterranean restaurant for dinner that we'd been to during the birthday bender, and it was every bit as delicious as we remembered. I ordered the lamb shakshuka again, but we also ordered tuna tartare, hummus, octopus pasta, sparkling mixed berry drinks, and more. Our server was very friendly, and he brought us two rounds of wine shots. During the second round, he brought those of us who didn't drink what looked like a tasty watermelon slush shot. It was crushed tomato, which was devastating, especially for the other ETA who doesn't drink (and hates tomatoes).

Afterwards, everyone walked around a bit, and we talked to a local Taiwanese man (who let us pet his dogs). Eventually, the cohort headed to a park near the hostel to chill, and we drank and played some games. It wasn't the crazy club-hopping night out you might expect of a "last weekend in Taipei ever", but it was sweet, and I think it was the kind of quality time we'll miss most next year.

Sunday was terribly, terribly hot. I misjudged my ability to tolerate heat, and had to sit down in the bagel place we went for lunch. A couple other ETAs went to eat in a park, then hike Elephant Mountain, but I decided to head to a café instead. It was nice to take it easy before we caught our flight out.

I was in my bag on the plane because I think there was a lot to process, especially with this being our last group trip. Eventually, I felt a little better, but still not great.

Hotpot was nice though. Only myself and a handful of other ETAs were there, but I liked chatting to the Xiao Liuqiu girlies. We all went to shaved ice afterwards, and we were besieged by flying water ants. Gross! At least the shaved ice was tasty when we weren't focused on swatting the bugs off of us.

We all chanced upon the city god procession that evening, which was moving slowly throughout Jincheng, and eventually up Mofan Street. It was beautiful, scary, and wonderful. When the procession first arrived, it stood still in the middle of the street as someone struck a gong. One by one or two by two, a stream of costumed gods with black faces and intricate headpieces and costumes made their way past us, twirling and dancing to the music.

I loved seeing the different gods, dancers, palanquin bearers, and fire-shooting floats as they passed by. However, as fun as it was to watch the procession, I'm glad I keep earplugs on me 'cause the firecrackers were a little overwhelming. They were also a little closer than I'm used to, and some flying pieces hit myself and another ETA. We were alright, though!

I think it's been a good week even if I've been a little sad. As usual, I've had fun hanging out with other ETAs, playing games and teaching my kids, and just doing new things. I loved the city god procession! And I love my school and my cohort.

It's been difficult, sometimes, trying to make the most of the time we have left. I think I try a little too hard to do things a certain way so I can say I'll remember them "right". Or that I did them "right". Even if I don't do everything I want to the way I want to, there'll always be something beautiful to remember. Like the way my students give me finger hearts in the hall, or the way my cohort and I like to say "shaved ice".

I can't wait to make more memories with everyone in the last month of the grant period. Until next time!

Writer's Note: This post was originally written on Saturday, June 3rd, 2023.