Week 8: National Day Weekend in Taipei

Happy National Day! Here in Kinmen, our week was spent preparing for National Day (October 10th), also called Double Ten Day. October 10th is a significant date for Taiwan since it commemorates an uprising that led to the country's establishment.

On Monday, Jhou Huan kicked off the National Day festivities with a flag raising ceremony featuring a balloon recreation of the flag of Taiwan. The rest of the day was pretty typical. I went to check out a bird sanctuary area with the other Little K ETAs during lunch break. It was a bit too hot and bright out to stay for long, but we walked around the lake and chatted. The rest of the day passed without event, as did most of Tuesday.

Since I planned to take the scooter test on Friday, I spent Tuesday evening practicing on another ETA's scooter. The scooter test consists of two parts: written and physical (driving). I started studying more intensely for the written and physical exams this week, and I felt fine about the written part, but not the physical part. After practicing for an hour in the community college parking lot, I went into the college and hung out with the other ETA while he had an ink painting class, then chatted afterwards with other ETAs who were taking other classes.

I think Wednesday was a chore day for me. Once school ended, I just did productive things like making a worksheet and reading a passage for Chinese class. For dinner, some other ETAs and I went to hotpot with our LETs, which was nice. Pretty uneventful day otherwise.

Thursday was also fairly straightforward. I went to school, came back, then got dinner and went to Chinese class. We spent the class period playing a werewolf version of Mafia (the card game) in Chinese. Although I had close to zero idea what was happening most of the time, I managed to help win one of the rounds as a werewolf. Back at the apartment, I hung out with some other ETAs and LETs before heading to bed early.

I'm glad I spent the week being pretty chill. Since almost all of us traveled to Taiwan (the non-Kinmen part, anyway) for the three day weekend, I think having a calmer week was a good idea. Personally, I also needed the calmer week to catch up on sleep and get ready for the scooter test.

Unfortunately, I didn't get my scooter license on Friday. I woke up nice and late, got breakfast, and showed up on time, but I just couldn't nail the physical portion of the exam. At the very least, since I passed the written portion, I don't have to take it next time.

I was definitely upset about not passing though because it meant I had another week ahead of me of having to rely on other people for rides and not being able to do anything on my own. It's been close to two months, and I haven't been able to do anything independently. Even though we have a bike, it's not terribly operational, and I can't go much further than a mile or two from the apartment.

Apart from being reminded of my total lack of freedom without a scooter, Friday was okay. I finally got my bank account, which included a little name stamp! I got dinner with several other ETAs, then we went to another apartment in Jinning to watch Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away.

The next day, most of our cohort headed to Taipei for National Day weekend! Several of us formed a scooter caravan to get to the airport, then caught our 11am flight to Taipei. It was a little tricky, but we managed to get everyone to the hostel, then to a place for lunch. We later caught a bus to Jiufen, which is a beautiful town in the mountains filled with teahouses and lanterns. Even with the encroaching fog and worsening rain, the streets were enchanting. Allegedly, Jiufen may have inspired part of the film Spirited Away.

Throughout the evening, the group that went to Jiufen split in half, and the half I was in ended up sprinting in the pouring rain to catch the last bus back to Songshan. We felt very much like Chihiro trying to run back to the real world, but we made it in the end.

Before going to bed, we also hit up the Raohe Night Market, which apparently has multiple Michelin-starred food stands. We sampled several different foods, but the best was the matcha soufflé we tried.

The next day was a bit of a blur. I didn't sleep or eat well, so I kind of sleepwalked through the day. I hung out with some other ETAs, bought some dance shoes for my Mongolian Folk Dance class, had Indian food for dinner, etc. I also think being stuck in the rain the night before had taken a toll on my physical health. At the very least, we saw a Hello Kitty-themed 7-Eleven, which was cute.

Monday, Double Ten Day itself, was pretty lowkey. Apart from a presidential parade, there didn't seem to be many Double Ten Day events in Taipei. Some of us went for dimsum then went shopping while others hiked Elephant Mountain (象山). As with the rest of the weekend, it was gloomy and gray all day. Once we caught our 5:50pm flight back, some of us went to a Double Ten Day music festival back on Kinmen. It was nice, but I almost fell asleep coming back from the festival (and therefore almost fell off another scooter). I think that makes 2.5 times I've fallen off a scooter now.

I wish I'd been a bit more mentally present during the Taipei trip. I felt like I spent the entire trip zoned out and exhausted. Even when I was hanging out with other people, it didn't feel like I was particularly present in any conversations I had, and it just feels like my social battery's been drained. I'm looking forward to recovering from the weekend throughout next week at least.

Writer's Note: This post was originally written Thursday, October 13th, 2022.