irismfrost - Tumblr blog

[irismfrost]

Taiwan Final Project Link:

https://youtu.be/pJSr6qnh6i0?si=8q23KMDtVQ7EynQs

@ufintaiwanyehlaoshi

[irismfrost]

August 13/14 - Last Day

Today, I unfortunately didn't really do much. I was going to go to one of the places some of the other travelers went but it was a 3 hour train trip to get there and I wasn't going to be ready for that. I also did not sleep well. The nasty train station bento box was not enough food for dinner - figures. So I woke up in the middle of the night with a hungry headache. So I tried to eat what little food I could find and drink some water and lay down until I felt good enough to sleep. And by the time morning came around, it was back so I made my way to hotel breakfast. Again, I'm so glad I bought that. Then I went back to sleep because I was still so tired after getting about 5 hours for the past 2 nights. Then I got lunch at this place that is supposed to be healthy and have good ingredients and the ions in the air are supposed to heal you. The vibe was in between a rock store and a whole foods but with more mid food. But I ate it all. And then went back to doing nothing.

Then I thought that I should at least try to explore. I've barely bought any trinkets here. So I went to try the ferris wheel that I've been staring at outside my hotel window for the last few days. It is located inside a mall, which I thought was strange but after further thought, it made sense. You could see the whole city which was nice and I spotted my hotel (I think). I got dinner at the mall and it was a sit down place. You order from the tablet and so I Google Translated each page and a lot of the time, the translations are a bit off, so I don't put a lot of stock in them; I mostly use it to get a general idea of what it is and make sure there is no meat. And looking back, boiled whitebait and cod roe may not have been the right choice for me, but that's the pasta I ended up deciding on. I felt like I was eating my guppies. This place had pasta with the toppings and you pour your choice of their "famous" broth over the top (comes in a little tea kettle). They also have a tofu bar with what I assume is their "famous" homemade tofu. It was also pretty good and I think the other vegetarian girl on our trip @thenotsosecretdiaryofbiyu would have loved it. I also got these rice cakes for dessert and it was okay. It was literally sweat rice and beans with a mochi-like topping with flavor. I had a feeling it wouldn't be my cup of tea when I ordered it, but I thought it would be good for me to try something that is supposed to be a traditional dessert. I am trying to like the foods here (and Taiwan), and I think that I may have gone too far outside my comfort zone this time, but I am so ready to just make my own food.

The weather here is nicer than what it will be in Florida when I get back. Taiwan was hotter and reminded me more of a hotter and more humid south Florida. Japan reminds me of north Florida/ Georgia. And they have similar latitudes so that makes sense.

The Osaka airport once again is a mess. I am having an issue checking into my flight with a different airline after I get to the states, but I got all 3 of my boarding passes when I checked my luggage. Everything about the airport makes me paranoid but I have made it past the multiple layers of security. After checking my bag, I went through security. They only check your boarding pass at this point, not your passport. My bag got flagged, but I was okay. Then I went through an additional layer of security. This was to check your passport and your picture scan and it was all through a machine. Then you are safe. There were less food places throughout - they were really only at the entrance of the gate. It's interesting to people watch at the airport. I saw this one guy with a haircut that looked like someone found a patch of grass and just plopped it on the top of a shaved head. A lot of the dudes here have what I think is a perm that's brushed out and looks scraggly but textured and I think it's just the "look". It's not a good one.

The South Korean Airport (ICN) had a layer of security even for transfers. I've never had an international layover before, so maybe this is normal. You went through the security checkpoint where they scanned your bags and they also scanned your passport here. They also have no vegetarian food at this airport. I found an egg sandwich - the bread was sweet and I didn't like it. I searched this entire airport for a meal and probably walked a mile with my duffel bag. I passed a Starbucks at one point and may have to go back before my flight and see if they have any food for me. Everything has pork in it. And I can't get vegetarian meals on my flight because I was supposed to do that 24 hours in advance but it wasn't a part of the online check in; I was supposed to call but can't make international calls without charges so I was doomed from the start. So, I'm hoping my protein bar and whatever food I can find in this airport before boarding starts will hold me over until Seattle. Unless they happen to have a vegetarian option on the flight anyways, which happened on the flight to Taiwan, so there's hope. I think the flight attendants will help me though, I'm not too worried.

As I was finishing my scrapbook and packing up my things, I am happy that I'm here but also happy to leave. I've had quite the time on this side of the world and so many unique experiences that will stay with me forever. I'm just so grateful for this opportunity. Our professor (Yeh laoshi) and Chief created a great program for the first time and went through a political nightmare to make this happen and Peter was the best tour guide I could've asked for. My experience wouldn't be possible without them, and my classmates of course. My participation on trip to Taiwan, and by extension Japan, was really due to a stroke of luck, some spontaneity, and having the necessary resources to go through with it. I definitely regret some of my purchases and wish I had spent my money elsewhere LOL, but at the end of the day it's the memories that matter more. Iris signing off ✌🏻

[irismfrost]

I've taken some mental notes of little differences between Taiwan/Japan (they have many similar customs) and the US. Just some little culture shocks that I had to get used to.

- Taiwan and Japan have cool toilet paper holders. Not all of them, but in some hotels and public bathrooms - I've never seen it before in the US.

- In Taiwan, sometimes, especially in public bathrooms, you cannot flush toilet paper. Also, sometimes the toilet paper is located outside the stalls and you have to remember to grab some before you go in or else.

- They don't have squatty potties in the US. In Japan, every toilet is also a bidet.

- There is no uncomfortably large gap between or under stalls in Taiwan/Japan.

- People on this side of the world don't use napkins like we do in the US. There are limited napkins and you usually don't get one with your food.

- In Taiwan they drink hot tea instead of water at restaurants. Sometimes they will give you normal cold water though.

- In Taiwan, many buildings (especially the hotels) will not have a 4th floor, it is bad luck as I mentioned in a previous blog.

- At the hotels in Taiwan, most of them served fries and chicken nuggets at breakfast, in addition to veggie noodles, congee, rice, etc. In the US, these are dinner items and never would be served for breakfast. I think the US has more of a separation between different types of foods for different types of meals.

- Space orientation is different here. People will walk right in front of you/ very close which would be a little rude in the US, but is totally normal over here.

- The driving has less rules. In the US, there isn't much room for interpretation, and in Taiwan, everyone pays attention and so people feel more comfortable getting super close to the people in front of them, and scooters (which are everywhere) don't really follow any rules.

- You get towelettes with every meal to clean your hands before you eat.

- Hand sanitizer stations are everywhere.

- There are prayer rooms in most large buildings.

- Unisex/ disabled bathrooms are more common.

- sugar syrup in addition to the granular (only saw this at the japan airport KIX)

- Heat protection: little battery operated fans (and other fans), and umbrellas are very common

- The vending machines usually just have drinks. I didn't see many food vending machines. There are some, but the drink ones are much more common.

- People dress nicer. I didn't see many people in leggings or sweatpants or loungewear. People are very put together.

- To wait in line at a restaurant, a lot of places there is a clipboard at the front and you just write your name and how many people and they will call out your name in order of when you wrote it- not sure how well this would work in the US - I feel like people would scratch out or erase other people's names.

- Most of the women's clothes have built in bras with a lot of padding.

- Wide pants are big here for women and baggy pants for guys.

- Foreign airlines are better (maybe it's just the international flights one but much nicer- more space, monitor thing, chargers, meals on every flight no matter the length).

- I'm not sure if they do this in other countries but the immigration cards that you are supposed to fill out on the plane were new to me and I had no idea they would do that.

- On Asiana Airlines, they have privacy screens on the airplane monitors.

- There are basically no trash cans on the street. You have to hold onto your trash for a while or just not create trash. There are also people who literally clean the streets in the early morning.

- Everyone here smokes cigarettes. That's the only trash on the streets, but like there are people who clean up the streets every morning, so it doesn't get too bad. However, it smells like smoke everywhere. Even in the airports and some large buildings, there are designated smoking areas.

[irismfrost]

August 12 - additions

Inari's foxes are messengers so that's why you see them at the entrance of every shrine. Also, as you can see the pictures of the thousands and torii that you are walking through to get to the top of the mountain are niceee pictures especially when it's just you. It was pretty deserted at the top. It was also cool to just be silent. I tried to walk lightly and just listen. 1. because it's a sacred space but 2. because if all the sounds. In the beginning, I heard a ton of cicadas then there were these other sounds I didn't recognize and it was a little eerie as it got darker outside, especially in the more wooded areas.

More: I bruised my foot today from walking. I don't even know how that happens but I was doing stuff from 10:30a-7:30p minus 30 minutes to eat a d not including travel to/from Osaka and when I was dehydrated and hungry at the end.

[irismfrost]

August 12 - Kyoto Guided Tour and Fushimi Inari Shrine

Today I booked a guided tour for 10:30am. This means I had an early day because it takes an hour to get to Kyoto from Osaka, not including the time to buy a ticket or for me to get ready and eat breakfast (I am so glad I pre-bought hotel breakfast). By the end of my journey, I figured out how to use the self serve electronic ticket machine. In my tour, there was a family from New York and their son actually had the same name as my dad and brother, and is the first person I've ever met with his same name. There was also a mother-son duo from Zürich, Switzerland. And our tour guide was Kareem who is from Quebec and has been living in Japan for 5 years. His wife is Japanese and they have a one year old daughter that they're bringing to Canada in November for the first time. It was nice to make friends with everyone and honestly to just have human interaction in a language I know. We started in the bamboo forest and went to the nearby Shinto shrine. Then we went to the former home and garden of a famous Japanese movie star, Denjirō Ōkōchi, called Ōkōchi Sansō. This was his second home and he died one year after building it. It has themes of zen Buddhism, a popular sect of Buddhism here. Here, we stopped for a little break; there was a rest area with tea and some cold drinks. I hadn't tried Calpis yet (they had it in Taiwan) because the name threw my off but they had some here and it was actually delicious. We left the bamboo forest and walked to a zen Buddhist garden called Sogenchi Teien. It was a beautiful Japanese zen garden and is a classic example of a zen garden. These places intentionally make the steps a little rockier to make you walk slower and appreciate the nature around you, which I thought was a cool design technique. Before we broke for lunch, we tried some foods: we had this rice patty thing (which was basically what the outside of mochi is) and I bought some and will need to eat it right when I fly back to Florida because it expires on 8/20. We also tried this sesame chili spice topping (with rice) and I bought some of that too. We broke for lunch and our guide helped me find some vegetarian food and he joined me because by the time I ordered food we only had like 30 mins left for lunch and I told him about Taiwan. It's on his bucket list. We also took a brief stop by this Kimono park thing which had a bunch of poles with the Kimono fabric. Our last stop was a mountain with monkeys. It does not compare to monkey mountain in Taiwan, definitely more commercialized and a fraction of the hike, but it was pretty cool. You get to feed the monkeys through the wire cage and their hands feel like human hands which is a little unsettling but makes sense. There was also this cute little baby monkey and later I saw his mom carrying him around and back to the safety of the mountains away from the people. And that was the end of our tour.

Our guide and some of the other people in our group suggested I should visit Fushimi Inari Shrine - so I did. This is a very famous Shinto shrine and is known for its thousands of torii gates that lead to Mount Inari. The gates are basically sponsors and are an avenue for Kami (the god-like spirits) to enter through (that's why you are supposed to walk on the sides- to give spirits room to walk through the middle). Inari is the Shinto goddess of rice (perceived gender has changed over time, but in ancient times Inari is depicted as female). Today, Inari's domain is more than rice; over time rice was generalized to agriculture which is now just business. You pray to Inari for success in business. I prayed at a few different shrines along the way and I prayed at the top of Mount Inari. I will say taking pictures at religious monuments makes me a little uncomfortable and feels a little wrong. It supposed to be a sacred site and there you are making sure you take a picture of yourself to post - just seems a little disrespectful to the faith I guess is what I'm saying. And honestly, I took some pictures of my experience too and they will probably end up on Instagram so I'm being hypocritical. But I will say, some of these people are taking pictures of themselves with professional cameras in the middle of crowds holding everyone up, some are leaning on the torii, some people wait in the middle of the path for other people to pass them to get a picture. It just feels like the reason they're there is for a picture and not to immerse themselves in a culture. As you got closer to the top, there were less people because there are many opportunities to cut the loop short- it is a long and mountainous loop. And by the time I got back down, all of the tourist shops were closed so I didn't get any trinkets or charms.

This was a HIKE. I was basically doing stairmaster for an hour and a half. I was very dehydrated and even ate my emergency snack and laid down for a second. I had some protein (20g) chocolate milk from the convenience store before and after my visit to the temple and was very hungry so I picked up this bento box at the train station so that I wouldn't have to leave the hotel after I got there. It was so nasty. They didn't have anything vegetarian so I settled for fish and I didn't even eat it. The egg loaf saved me on the protein side. And I had the probiotic drink for dessert. yum. Those probiotic drinks are very popular on this side of the world.

When I flipped on the TV in the hotel today, I found myself on a news channel that was in English, but was for China. Consumers are spending more on services than goods. Consumption is also growing in China overall. Consumption is also less quantity and more quality oriented. I think these are trends that the rest of the world will see as well (at least for large first world countries like the US). When the weather turned on, I noticed that Taiwan was considered a part of China and it just hit me how even though Taiwan is so independent and has so much of its own identity, it still has a conflicting political stance. When I was there, I was in Taiwan, not the Republic of China (imo, for legal reasons).

more pictures in next post

[irismfrost]

August 11 - Osaka Castle Park, St Mary's, and exploration

I didn't end up going to sleep until around 4am which was totally my fault but that's okay. I miss being a part of normal life, but I also want to avoid the real world for as long as possible. But alone time makes me think harder so that's a double edged sword.

Today I did stuff! My plan was to go to Osaka Castle Park and let myself explore along the way. On the way there I crossed the river again and there were some stairs down so I went and took some pictures and realized that i'm the other side there was a park. There were these people looking all sweaty like they were playing some sort of sport and I realized they were doing what I can only describe as professional flag dancing. I walked further and noticed there was another (more recreational) group, followed by a flower garden. If I never went down the bridge to check out the river, I never would've discovered it. I felt like a local just hanging out at the park. I continued my journey which quickly transformed from finding the castle to finding the restaurant in the castle as my appetite grew from walking around for an hour. The castle itself was cool and there were two huge moats around it. The landscape was awesome too. The line to tour the actual castle was ridiculously long and there was no way I was standing in the Florida-like heat in the middle of the day to look at a castle and you had to pay for that which was not my speed. I went to this other building (Miraiza Osaka-Jo) that had restaurants and gift shops. I got a quinoa salad (flavorless) and Ginger Ale which has so much ice i think there was 5 oz of actual liquid at best. I visited this museum downstairs which I payed 1000 yen for which was literally a museum of figurines. I did not read the sign before I went in because I assumed it was something about the building. Figurines are not my speed. I went upstairs to check out the rooftop. There was a wedding happening on the third floor and I ran into the bride 3 different times during my adventure at this park. She was getting ready on the stairs then taking pictures with her new husband around the park when I was exploring. I wandered to this little church nearby which was interesting. It is St. Mary's Cathedral, Osaka, called Catholic Tamatsukuri Church. Like Taiwan, there are many Christians here due to missionaries. In Japan, mostly Portuguese missionaries in the 17th century, and in Taiwan mostly Dutch in the 17th century.

I wandered about an hour away from my hotel. I was very hungry and walked by this Mexican place so I decided to get lunch there. They were very busy and it was just these two people doing everything. I got the avocado quesadilla set (which came with salsa and a salad) and a vegan burrito to go (for dinner later - I knew I wouldn't want to leave the hotel after I got back). It was delicious and I ate that so fast. The burrito was pretty good too, but it had mushrooms in it. While I was eating, all the other people in the restaurant left so I thought they closed and I apologized when I paid and she said they were still open and just all left at the same time. I guess I was just eating a late lunch. By the time I got back to the hotel, I had been walking around for 6 hours straight with the exception of a bench at one point and a quick lunch. My maps took me a slightly different route back and I walked through this park with a cool overgrown building and a lot of open space. It was interesting because you could tell something used to be there and when I got to the light, I realized it was called the Naniwa Palace Site which was active when Osaka was Japan's capitol in the 7th and 8th centuries. I am so tired but glad that I explored and I found some rare gems that most people don't look for. When I was walking around, I felt like I was in some quiet, local places at times just because there were either no sidewalks or no people. I also saw some pretty cool buildings that I think my dad would like. I will definitely be going to bed early tonight especially because I got 5 hours last night.

[irismfrost]

August 10 - Success?

Things may be turning around. I went to a specialized doctor this morning and told them I did not have insurance and they were okay with that. I think that they just charged me way more than they would if I didn't have insurance. Or maybe because they are probably a private practice. It was a strange and new experience, but Google Translate did me right. When I did the intake paperwork, I could not really understand much, but I tried to write some characters to help them understand what I was saying. The doctor spoke a little bit of English, but only medical words. I definitely still have a few questions, but at least now I have a plan of action, and some hope.

I was only gone for a little bit, so the very nice cleaning lady was still in my room so while I am waiting for her to finish, I decided to try for someone lunch. When I was going to the doctors office, I came across this little strip with lots of food, shops, and different things. I decided to go the other direction to explore and walked into this place with cool food pictures. As I am only one person, I got seated very quickly. I was not sure exactly what to expect because all I knew about this place was from the pictures, but I was pleasantly surprised. They serve something called "yaki" which is sort of a mix between a pancake, omelet, and scallion pancake. I got the cuttlefish version. They mix all of the ingredients right in front of you and then put it on the grill that's at the table. It reminded me a bit of hot pot in Taiwan; cuddle fish is also popular in Taiwan so I think it might be a regional thing. The guy poured the mix on my stove and told me to wait then came back and flipped it and told me to wait again. He eventually came back and put what I think was Japanese BBQ sauce and a yellowish mystery sauce on top. He of course asked me if I wanted them first; I just said yes because I'm trying to get the authentic experience. I ended up adding more mystery sauce at the end because it sort of disappeared towards the end after it was sitting in the grill for a while. It took me about an hour to eat it. I was satisfied at about halfway, I was full at about 2/3 of the way, and by the time I got to the end, I was so stuffed that eating more was a challenge. But, after my recent experience at the Buddhist temple, I have decided to try to eat all of the food in front of me. I try to do this at home too. My mom always scrapes her plate, like her plate looks clean. Almost like you took a plate out of the dishwasher but it didn't get cleaned all the way and there's still some grease on it type of clean. So, I am trying to get back to my roots. I also noticed about halfway through that everyone had these paper bibs on and realized I also got one and was just using it as a napkin. I'm honestly not sure why they have them out in the first place because it is not a messy meal, but I totally outed myself as a confused foreigner (as if I don't already look like one). It is a little strange to get so many stares. Even the waiters were watching me. They probably don't get a lot of young girls with light hair and blue eyes eating lunch by themselves. It's also a little uncomfortable to be in a big city by myself; I am always on my toes and a little paranoid. Japan is supposed to be one of the safest places, definitely safer than the US, but I am still skeptical and don't want to take any chances.

On my way back to the hotel, I accidentally went the wrong way and came across this cute little park place. It was all decorated in hearts and had little archway tunnel things. There were some statues and fountains. I think it may have some sort of religious significance because when I left, these two people in front of me turned around and bowed at the exit, so I also turned around and did a little head nod when I left too. That's when I realized I was going the wrong way so I turned around there.

I think the medication made me a little delirious and drowsy so I needed to take some time at the hotel before doing anything else. I won't be able to drink or eat certain foods on the medication so that sorta sucks, but at least I'll be fixed.

When I was revived, it was getting late so I decided to find a park. Even though I was relying heavily on Google Maps, everything was on one level and mostly straight lines. The walk itself was nice. It was about 30 minutes and I walked over 2 rivers (Dojima and Tosabori - they are the same river but just split where the bridge is) and the architecture was great. I saw a guy riding a bike with one hand and his roller suitcase and back in the other: skillzz. This walk made up for my negative experiences with city life yesterday. The park itself was nice too and I was proud of myself for making it there (and back) without too many mistakes. The park was big and there was a lot going on, but my favorite spot was the main area that I sat and overlooked. It was very peaceful. I wrote a short story about it when I was there (see below). And my new rule about finishing my food went out the window so I've decided to make an edit. It only applies to food that is good. I got some 7/11 food that I had planned to eat at the park and got this nasty egg and sesame rice triangle. I ate as much as I could but it was so gross I could not finish that.

Next, I got dinner. I went down that same strip that I found the yaki at. This time I got sushi. It was more expensive than I thought it would be. I got the tuna sashimi mix: lean (1), medium (2), fatty (1). I also got the medium tuna role (4 pieces) and a mini miso soup. I also asked for tea and it was really just hot water with matcha powder - not my favorite. The sashimi wasn't as cold as I wished it was, but the tuna itself was good. I don't think I've had fatty tuna like that before - it really melts in your mouth. The roll was huge and I'm not sure how other people eat it. Are you supposed to cut it in half and if so, how? I was trying to eat it whole because I didn't want to spill everything by ripping it in two pieces, but that was tough and I don't think that's how you're supposed to eat it. I was surprised that it didn't come with ginger and wasabi, but there was wasabi already in the rolls and sashimi.

I got back to my hotel and did some journaling and got ready for bed. I have been putting on the Olympics for background sound and they only have 10 channels here so I've been watching breakdancing. I think it's the first year that it's a part of the Olympics but I never really thought of it as a sport until I saw these people do it.

Being alone here is very eye opening. I can't talk to anyone; I've probably said 10 words out loud today, with the exception of me talking to myself (sometimes I voice type parts of these blogs in the moment). So instead of talking to other people, I've had to just think with myself. This is a thought that came across my mind today: It's only in silence that we're able to listen to our hearts and evaluate what matters to us. Hopefully I can find what matters most to me while I'm spending all this time alone with only my thoughts.

Utsubo Park excerpt:

As I walk forward, the greenery begins to unfold before me. I sit at the highest point, overlooking the park. I can feel the slight breeze dancing across my skin. I can smell the freshness of the plants and even though most of the flowers aren't in bloom, I can still smell a sweetness in the air. I can hear the sounds of the wind, of the cicadas, couples laughing, athletes running, children playing, people walking, dogs panting, bikers biking. The variety here is something I've never seen. Not only are there people of all ages, doing all different things, but there are smooth rocks, short grass and tall plants, flowers and greenery, walkways made of stone, concrete, and gravel. There is no direction - every path seems random but I lime to think of is as spontaneous. Some paths have archways, some are lined with stones. The tall lights along certain pathways look like little fireflies from where I sit. I overlook as a silent observer, watching these people live their private lives together.

[irismfrost]

August 9 - Trying to survive

Today made me debate leaving this country. I cannot find anything here. I look for a pharmacy and it takes me an hour because all the buildings are so big that nothing is on the first floor and I can't read enough Japanese to figure out where I should go. The amount of escalators is ridiculous. I also cannot get medication that would be OTC in the US without a prescription. But the people at the counter said I need special paperwork for Japanese hospital/doctors. I am beginning to like seafood less and less the more I eat it. What is up with people putting "mixed seafood" in everything possible?

I skipped breakfast today to catch up on sleep, and since I went on my pharmacy adventure before I ate (I figured it would be better to eat with peace of mind). However, I was too stressed to eat when I got my meals. I just picked up the prepackaged mixed seafood pasta and seafood rice paper rolls at the 13-floor mall, not including basement where the pharmacy was. So I didn't eat anything until about 5pm. Tomorrow I am going to eat hotel breakfast. I'm hoping it's good because there is a fancy restaurant downstairs. I also cannot access certain websites here. I have been trying to get my parking permit for Gainesville done and I can't access part of the website. I tried it using cellular instead of hotel wifi too. So that is annoying, but tonight I did get a couple other things done that I had been avoiding for a couple days.

After talking to my mom and weighing the options, I've decided to thug it out and just try to make it to the end of the week. Hopefully, I can keep my medical issue at bay until I get back to the states. I think I am gonna put forth one last effort to just try to go to a Japanese doctor's office tomorrow and see what happens. Maybe there was something lost in translation at the pharmacy.

And maybe tomorrow I'll try to explore outside of these city towers, assuming I can get out - I'm hoping I'll have a better experience being in an open space.

Overall, I am breaking down and losing all motivation to make experiences. There is a large part of me that would rather stay in my room the entire trip. As much as I want to stay within my comfort zone and do nothing, I know I will regret it later. So even though I will end up being disappointed and I will definitely cry more than one more time on this trip, at least I can say I am trying. My motivation is like a used tube of toothpaste and I am currently choosing to cut up the tube and scrape the insides out so that I can finish this trip. It is so much easier to just throw out the tube.

On a slightly more positive note, my successes today include going to 7/11 to pick up supplies, filling up my water bottle and tea kettle, and getting a few housekeeping tasks done. I tried the matcha flavored Kit Kat at 7/11 and they aren't bad, they taste exactly how you would expect, but they have chocolate in the middle which I didn't realize. I don't really like matcha but they are interesting and I'm glad I tried it. I'll be bringing most of them home.

Pictured is my view from the hotel. I have not seen that wheel move once since I've been here.

[irismfrost]

August 8 - Travel to Osaka, Japan

Today has been a travel day. I spent a long time in the airport because I took the free shuttle that some of the other kids took and so I got here a little earlier than I needed to. My flight wasn't too bad. I flew China Airlines and they give you a meal! It was only a three hour flight. However, I did not indicate that I wanted a vegetarian meal so I didn't eat anything, but I wasn't hungry because I ate before the flight (I was not expecting a meal). However, they even offered me some of the sides after J declined the main meal which was nice of them.

Customs in Japan is a nightmare, especially compared to Taiwan. When we went to Taiwan, we did the online version of the immigration application so we didn't even need it when they gave it out on the plane, and I did not do that for Japan. I also did not have the piece of paper, so I had to fill that out last minute at the airport. But before I even got to that part, I had to go through an initial security checkpoint with passport, fingerprints, and a picture. The actual passport and immigration paper check was easy though. I thought I was pretty much done after that. I was wrong. I picked up my bag from baggage claim, and there was an additional customs screening. I got in the line that everyone else was in and realized I was in the digital section. So I got in the other line, but when I got there, I realized that everyone had another piece of paper that looked like the same one I got from immigration application. I asked these people behind me who did not speak English, where they got their paper from and they directed me to another area which I filled out a form that basically said I am not carrying illegal things in my checked bag. By the time I filled out the form, the line had significantly decreased (I think most of the people in line were on my flight). The guy literally just took my paper and waved me through. And this is where everything takes a steeper turn. I am finally through customs and my first order of business is currency. I wait in line at the exchange and get to the front - I give her my card says cash only. She tries to direct me to the ATM which I cannot find and I eventually find it very very very far away. I take out some money and my next mission is get to the hotel.

I am trying to find a rail ticket, I am very confused and ask a guy who works there where the rail even is - he said to take the second floor. In between these two tasks, I decide to go to the bathroom. This is when a random man approached me. He has a camera and no luggage and asked me if I need help carrying my bag. I say no and walk faster. He then asked me where I am going. I only respond, "excuse me" and run very fast and make a sharp turn between a crowd and into a smaller hallway area that I discovered when I was looking for the ATM earlier. I run past the currency exchange into the bathroom I noticed earlier and I hid in there for a few minutes. I finally make it into the second floor, which is even more of a mess. There are so many different railways that I could possibly take and it is very overwhelming. I get in line for a self-serve option that seems that it might take me to where I need to go. I can not, for the life of me, figure out how to use the machine or where I am going. The map is very confusing and I did not want to pay a bunch of money if I didn't know where I was going or how to get there or what line to take. So I found a different area to the left that had real people. And they even had a designated English speaking area. This was made for people like me. At this point, I am freaking out. I am hungry, tired, frustrated and I'm so exhausted from carrying my bags around the entire airport. I told this man working the line where I want to go and he calms me down. When I get to the front of the line this other guy (desk guy) gives me a ticket and tells me exactly where to go and what line to get on. In Taiwan, we were not allowed to eat or drink on the metro, so I asked him if it was the same here and he said yes. But he also said there is food at the airport that I can eat beforehand. I am already concerned about not making it to my hotel on time, because I don't know when they stop checking people in. I also cannot make international calls to let them know I'll be late. However, I decided to take the L for the sake of my mental health. I find this random restaurant, a little farther away from the railway and got a creamy risotto thing, some sort of bruschetta with pickled carrots and a glass of wine. They had these cool robots that brought you your food and you just order on the tablet at the table - interesting set up. Then I made it to the high speed rail 🙌. Thankfully, my time in Taipei helped me learn how to navigate the station... and also there were only two options because the airport exit is just the airports. But it is a straight line so I can just stay in the same spot which is amazing. Navigating to the exit was another mission. I was supposed to go to the south gate. I thought I'd arrived but was faced with a bunch of other potential directions. I ended up just pulling up my maps and trying to figure out which direction I was facing and going from there. I took the skyway people bridge and eventually figured it out. I got to the hotel at 10:50pm, and I'm pretty sure they close at 11, so I was very happy I made it.

I unpacked a little, checked out some pamphlets I picked up along the way, and added to my scrapbook. I've been keeping little papers and stamps and stuff that we've been doing so I just filled some of that in. I also organized all my receipts from Taiwan. They do this lottery thing every 2 months. So on every receipt there's 2 letters as 8 numbers, and every 2 months, they draw a number and you could win millions of dollars. So, I've been supporting the economy and playing the lottery throughout my time in Taiwan. And now that I've finished playing, I organized them first alphabetically then numerically and put them in the back of my scrapbook. So when I win, it's easier to find, and if I don't win then I can still look back on my 86 receipts. I will also say that there are some special places that don't give receipts like night markets because they are sort of an underground economy.

[irismfrost]

August 7 - Last Day

Today is our last day in Taiwan. We left our hotel in Tainan at 9:30am this morning and arrived at our first stop at 3pm. I finished the independent excursion post on the bus and also did karaoke. Peter serenaded us with a famous Chinese song and then sang us a Billy Joel classic "Just the Way You Are". Peter is the main character.

We did another traditional Taiwanese tea ceremony. This one was slightly different from the previous one we did in the mountains, but the main ideas were the same. It is a long ritualistic process that focuses on the qualities of the tea. You have to keep everything hot and the smells matter. These are the instructions (which are just my observations from when the lady did it the first time): First, place everything out. Let everyone smell the tea leaves. Pour the tea into the tea spoon and organize it with the tea pick. Remove any stems. Next, warm the cups: pour hot water into the tea pot then pour that water into the tea serving pot. Pour the hot water from the serving pot into all of the personal cups (the fragrance cups and the tea cups). Next, pour the tea into tea pot. Use the tea pick to slowly push it into the pot from the spoon, holding the spoon at around a 45 degree angle to the tea pot. The tea pick pushes the tea vertically with the grain of the tea spoon (tea spoon and pick are usually wooden). Tap the bottom of the tea pot (now with the tea in it) on the towel to open the smells. Now let everyone smell it. The smell should be stronger now. Now pour hot water in tea pot. Wait 45 seconds. While you're waiting, use the pinchers to dump out the hot water from the personal cups. These cups are very hot so this is why they use pinchers (they are basically tongs). The tea cups have a rounder edge so when you empty them, you can tap them on the towel to keep the sides dry. Once tea is ready, pour it into the serving pot. Keep a steady pour and don't cover the air hole. I also noticed that they tilted the top of the pot a little bit at the end. Now pour the tea into the fragrance cups and cover them with the tea cup (upside down). Place your thumbs on top on the tea cup and pointer fingers on bottom of the fragrance cup and flip fast. Now the tea is in the tea cup and your fragrance cup is empty - smell the empty fragrance cup. Turn the fragrance cup in your hands (in the motion of if you were cold and rubbing your hands together, except there's a cup between them) and smell again. These cups are very hot because there was just hot tea in them and you warmed them up with boiling water prior to that, so be careful. The lady said that the smell can change between when you first smell it and after you rub it between your hands. Then you drink the tea from the tea cups. Before you pour another pot (you reuse the same tea many times), you use the tea pick to make sure there aren't any leaves sticking to the top, but don't press the tea down or stir it or disturb the tea leaves in the pot in any way. Before you refill the pot with hot water to make more tea, you pour hot water over the closed pot to warm it up, then you can open it and pour the water into the pot. After the first time you should let the tea steep for 50 seconds and after the 3rd time, you should let it steep between 55-60. I wasn't counting. You only need to use the fragrance cup the first time unless you want to keep smelling the same tea over and over again. At the other place, they didn't drink the first pot which I found interesting. They also only warmed up the tea pot and not the personal cups at the other place. There seems to be multiple variations to the ritual, but like I said earlier, the main idea is still about taking time out of your day to simply focus on tea. We also had some pineapple cake and these date-walnut stick things.

We had a cool dinner which was similar to the Din Tai Fung. I thought this place had better vegetarian food, but that's just me. The other place had more refined service and nicer rooms but I still liked this place more. The "veggie friends" unite once again. My favorite thing was the rice. They came out with these mushrooms with this good sauce; I'm not really sure what it was though. This is the dish pictured that has the red stuff on top and the sauce looks like sesame or pesto. I'm not really a mushroom girlie but they were pretty good, especially for being served cold. They had flavor. The tofu was tofu but it was very silky and Yeh Laoshi said that's because it has egg in it to make it smoother. We had cabbage which was just cabbage - I've been eating a lot of that so nothing much to report there. There was this other tofu dish that was pretty good - it was like tofu noodles and had edamame. This was one of Yeh Laoshi's favorite dishes. We also had dumplings of course, they reminded me of other vegetarian dumplings I've had. Places like this and Din Taj Dung are family style so everyone has their own plate and you just take what you want from the middle and usually someone serves when something new comes out so everyone tries a little bit of everything. They serve tea with the meals too unless you ask for cold water. It was here that we gave Peter our Gators flag that we all signed and his card and the photo album we made for him. He loved it (I hope). We were his longest tour group ever: 28 days, and I think both him and us will remember each other for a long time.

And what a great 28 days I've had. The people I've met in this trip have made it even better, and though I doubt I'll see much of them back at school, it would be cool if we stayed in touch. Peter has been a great tour guide, teaching us so much and also letting us get to know him too. Our professor and Chief have given us great feedback and put so much work into creating this program. Even our bus driver Terri has some amazing driving skills and let us use his bus karaoke. I'm glad I got to be on the first iteration of UF in Taiwan and hope it continues in the future - I know I'd recommend it.

Flying to Japan tomorrow morning. I'll keep updating my blog while I'm there because why not?

[irismfrost]

August 6 - Boat Ride, Tree House, Confucian Temple, Hayashi Department Store

We had some free time in the morning so after breakfast I went to a coffee shop and started working on my independent excursion project (see previous post). I had a caramel macchiato and it looked good and tasted good. However, there were no outlets near my seat, and there weren't many at the place in general. It was a cute shop though.

We had some awesome karaoke on the bus and it felt like we got to our first destination in no time. We did a fun boat ride through the mangroves. There were some mosquitoes out and there were some very low branches. We had to duck at certain spots and this one girl in our group who was getting seasick wasn't looking and got hit right in the head by a branch. It looked pretty painful. There were some graves and it was near a war zone back in the day. There was a Buddhist temple built on top after the fact. The lady doing to boat tour was speaking in Chinese but our amazing tour guide Peter translated some parts. We saw some mangrove crabs, an egret, and another bird that I didn't know. They gave us cool hats too but I was already wearing one so I did not participate in that part.

Next, we went to the Anping Tree House that used to be a warehouse for Tait and Co (a British company), but then it was abandoned and overgrown with fig trees. It was pretty and I got a cute post card. I also got a cinnamon roll because I was hungry and unfortunately, it took a long time to come out and was also burnt on the top. Another girl got the sundae which was soooo awesome and she donated some ice cream to make my cinnamon roll less dry and burnt. It helped tremendously.

Next, we went to a Confucius temple established in 1665 by the Qing Dynasty. It served as the first school of Taiwan. There is a "Dismount Monument" at the front of the temple that states you have to dismount your horse before you enter. This also applies to cars and scooters. It is meant to show respect. There were posts to honor all the 72 disciples of Confucian on the sides, a main hall in the middle, and more relic type things in the back.

Next we visited the Hayashi Department Store. It opened in 1932 in the business district and was an icon for modernization (Japanese origins, hence the name) - it had 5 floors and one of the first elevators in the city. To this day, the same elevator exists. It was very small and slow and could only hold up to 5 people at a time, but it was cool that it still worked. We walked through all the floors and on the roof (technically 6th floor), there was a shrine and apparently you could see damage from the US when we attacked Taiwan, but I could not figure out what the said damage was. Everything there was a little too expensive for me, but they had a lot of interesting things from hand made bags to pottery to jewelry to snacks.

Reflection

The climate and wildlife here is very similar to Florida, especially south Florida. Riding through the mangroves reminded me of all the times I've ridden through mangroves back home, especially at different summer camps or kayaking with my family. Even the weather here is similar, except it's a little more humid here (which is why Supau is so awesome). We've also gotten a bit lucky that it hasn't rained as much as I expected. In Florida, we have the daily afternoon showers and we haven't really gotten that here but maybe the Typhoon threw a wrench in that after we got to the south part of Taiwan. The plants are also eerily similar. I know that most of the palm trees in Florida are non natives, but they are native here and it looks the same. The ferns look the same. The only difference is that the trees are a little bit bigger and there are mountains. I've realized that there are also a lot of banyan trees/ fig trees here. Everything is very green. Florida has pine trees and oak trees which Taiwan doesn't have but most of the other stuff is the same. I even saw some Melaleuca trees, aka paper trees, at the Chen Chiang Shen house. When we first moved into our house in South Florida, there were so many and we had to take all of them out because they were non native and causing issues. According to Google, they disturb native wildlife, disrupt water flow, and alter soil conditions because they don't belong in Florida, and they technically don't belong in Taiwan either. They were brought into the island during the Japanese colonial era.

Another interesting finding is the power of the Confucian family. Throughout the rise and fall of different dynasties in China, the Confucian family has always remained in power and been protected because of the importance of Confucianism as a state religion. There are probably so many decendents at this point but I'm sure that those who really go into the faith have a lot of respect. Confucianism really was the backbone of the power structure of China for a long time because it taught the importance of respecting your leaders and built a very stable and rule following society. The fact that it was a state ordinated faith is no coincidence- they work together.

[irismfrost]

Independant Excursion 2: Soaring Dragon Fish Statue: Transforming Love River and Ports

My independent excursion surrounds the Soaring Dragon Fish statue at the Love River. This river has gone by many different names throughout Kaohsiung’s history and has been a central cultural icon for Kaohsiung citizens throughout the years. The bottom of the statue is a fish and the top is a dragon. It glows at night and changes colors, representing the changes that both Kaohsiung and its waters have gone through. 

I walked the river bank at night, admiring all of the glowing buildings, the bridges, and the beautifully clean and calm water. The slight breeze and clean streets only added to the peaceful, scenic, and vacant atmosphere. All I can do is take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. A couple river boats pass by and I smile as I watch the city’s culture unfold in front of me. For second, I feel as if I’ve become a part of the city - it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. As I approach the Soaring Dragon Fish statue, all I can see is a towering, glowing structure. I cross the street to get a better view and I am immersed in the statue’s changing rainbow colors. The statue represents the positive change Kaohsiung and Love River have gone through, and it only continues to improve. It inspires me to do the same.

Reflection

For this section, I’d like to focus on how the Soaring Dragon Fish statue represents the history of Kaohsiung, the second largest city in Taiwan, known as the “birthplace of democracy” due to Kaohsiung’s resilient culture and role in establishing Taiwan’s democracy. Dragons represent prosperity and were usually reserved for royalty back in the day. 

The Soaring Dragon Fish statue was constructed to celebrate Kaohiung’s maritime strength and represents the change of the Love River (1). Over the last 5 years, the past 5 mayors of Kaohsiung have successfully implemented the first stage of the strategic plan (started in 1978)  made to revive the Love River (2). These mayors were a part of the “Special municipality era” of Kaohsiung politics (focused on consolidating the city) are: Chen Chi-mai, Yang Ming-jou, Han Kuo-yu, Hsu Li-ming, Hsu Li-ming. The river went from a public sewer used by both the public and industries to a beautiful attraction for tourists and locals alike, returning the river to its past. This transformation is exemplified in the statue and showcases Kaohsiung’s ability to overcome all odds. 

Kaohsiung has also gone through economic change. The port in Kaohsiung is a crucial part of the economy and has undergone significant changes. During its initial growth, it became a prime spot for shipping and industrial factories (2). Now the port is a place for minds to gather all across Asia, known for its cultural and business richness, with more diverse industries. In 2013, Kaohsiung hosted the Asian Pacific Cities Summit, with leaders from 104 cities across the world (3). The changes in Kaohsiung’s economic development are also represented by the Soaring Dragon Fish statue. 

As Taiwan went through different occupations, its occupiers forcefully changed the cultures of the people and geography. One example of this is the Love River. During the Qing Dynasty’s reign, the Love River went by “Dagou River” (4). This was later changed to “Takao River” by the Japanese, a name that originated from the Makatao indigenous tribe that lived in the area prior to the Qing (5). In 1948, when Chen Chiang-shen came into power, he renamed the iconic river, “Love River Cruise”. A typhoon ripped off the “Cruise” part and a reporter writing about it, mistook the name for “Love River” and it became a popular spot for lovers. It is also rumored (mostly by our amazing tour guide, Peter) that the article also included the story of two lovers whose families wouldn’t let them be together committed suicide in the river. It is debated whether one survived and had to live on without the other. But even now, lovers still sit by its shores, maybe in an attempt to honor their love. Nonetheless, the river went by many names and has now transformed into a place of love. The Soaring Dragon Fish statue also represents the changes in the cultures of these occupations by name changes. 

The statue represents Kaohsiung’s transformative culture centered around the Love River and its ports. 

https://khh.travel/en/attractions/detail/499 

https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?post=23903&unit=14,29,34,45 

https://urban-web.kcg.gov.tw/KDB/web_page/KDB010100.jsp 

https://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002121&id=625#:~:text=Love%20River%2C%20known%20as%20Dagou,pillars%20chained%20with%20iron%20rope. 

https://www.taiwangazette.org/news/2021/7/20/a-new-city-on-an-old-port-the-100-year-transformation-of-kaohsiungs-love-river 

[irismfrost]

August 5 - Tainan: Calligraphy class and Ten Drum

As I suspected, I am still feeling the effects of Saturday night - I can never drink that much again/ stay out as late as I did. I do not need a 24+ hour hangover. I also barely slept last night because it was 10 pm by the time I got back from dinner and then I spent 2.5 hours packing for our transition to Tainan this morning and updating my scrapbook. I also just kept waking up in the middle of the night. I was dreaming and at one point, I dreamt that I got shanked and kidnapped - but not like a stab, more like a really hard finger punch in the gut. It broke some ribs and took the wind out of my lungs, like in my dream I was withering in pain which is how I was able to be kidnapped. It was in a parking lot and I wasn't even standing close to the sides - I was right in the middle so that I could see if anyone was coming. I think I was already on edge for some reason, maybe I knew I was a target - I can't remember that part.

Today, we are traveling from Kaohsiung to Tainan. One interesting thing about Taiwan is the naming conventions of the cities. In Chinese nan means west, pei means north, ting means east and so on. To the cities Tainan, Taipei, and Taitung are really just names. asked on location which is pretty cool.

Our first stop today was the National University of Tainan. There, we met the director of the literature department and got a class on calligraphy. Unlike the buddhist museum Saturday, these were real brushes which made it so much harder. We painted on these fans called 團扇 tuanshan (round fan). I chose to write the word for "eternity" 永恆, but I really only chose it because it seemed the easiest to write. I practiced so much and was still disappointed with my fan. It is tough. I also cannot write my name well for the life of me. There are so many details and it always comes out un proportional. My name is hard to say and hard to say, but it's all worth it because it's a nice name. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun.

Next, we went to the Ten Drum cultural village - it used to be an old sugar refinery. It was sort of like a mini amusement park. We wandered around for a bit then saw a concert with the famous Taiwanese drums. The band that played is called Cross Metal. These guys were so energetic and really brought the stage presence. They were so coordinated and definitely knew what they were doing. They might become a part of my workout playlist. And we even got to take a picture with them at the end. It was pretty cool. I unfortunately did not get their Line LOL, but did tag them in my IG story. They were definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Reflection

I'm excited to see more of Tainan tomorrow. Tainan is Taiwan's oldest city, first established by the Dutch in 1624 and was the capital of Taiwan for 200 years. This year is Tainan's 400 year anniversary, so there is even more energy here than there would be otherwise. I'm 1885 the capital was moved to Taipei and Tainan is the 6th largest city in Taiwan. Tainan has so much historical significance and you can see how old the buildings are here. As I mentioned in a different blog a while ago, the Dutch brought brick and cement to Taiwan, and there are so many old-looking brick buildings here. At the university, you can see bullets from the US when they were fighting in Taiwan embedded in the bricks in some of the buildings.

Calligraphy has been a very interesting activity. One thing that Dr. Yeh (the calligraphy professor has the same last name as our professor) said about the calligraphy was the way you hold your body. It wasn't just the way you hold your fingers on the brush or the orientation of the brush to the paper, though we talked about that too. He mentioned that you have to relax your body and focus on your breathing and it felt like calligraphy was closer to meditating than writing. It takes a lot of coordination, steady hands, and concentration - it also takes a lot of practice. Calligraphy in Taiwan came from China, and became a writing standard during the Han Dynasty in China (206 B.C.–220 A.D.). Calligraphy traveled from China to Japan in the 6th century, as Japan didn't have a formal writing system at that time. Learning to write must've been a huge privilege back in the day because it is so challenging to paint your letters (pre-pencil) and required good education and patience.

[irismfrost]

August 4 - Free Day - Kyomo Pasta

Today was a free day, however I was very hungover from the night before despite my initial intentions to not drink as much as I did. I finished the quiz that was due (and will need to do the others tomorrow). Then a few of us had dinner at Kyomo Pasta. We have been trying to eat here for the entirety of our time in Kaohsiung. The first night we went, they said it would be an hour long wait. We tried to make a reservation. for the next day, but they were closed the next two days. We tried again for one of the girls on the trips birthday (see previous blogs), and we waited the hour that they told us it would take, then when we went they said it would be an additional 45 minutes so we found a different place. And today, we were finally successful. One of the girls in our group went early and put our name in for 8pm, so they called us around 8 and we have 10 minutes to get over there before our reservation was given up - thankfully the hotel is only a 5 minute walk away. They serve pasta here and most of it has seafood, so I got the cod miso risotto. I was not sure exactly what I was getting because the English translations were a bit vague, but it was delicious. It has cod fish, and shrimp, and some veggies (tomato, baby corn, okra, potato). And I was a bit nauseous from the night before and still ate it. The other 3 girls ALL got the bacon and egg pasta. I will forever not let them live that down. I mean they all got the same thing at this fancy restaurant with so many great options and great reviews. At last it was good. They served all of our food one at a time; I think the chef was just adding the finishing garnishes one by one - so you knew it was fresh. The chef came out and served it himself which was cool. I think he was judging us a little bit for getting the same dish. All of the dishes were pretty. We got the panna cotta for dessert and it was good too, though once again, none of the desserts are sweet here except the fake ice cream.

After dinner, we took a walk to visit the statue I wanted to base my independent excursion project on. Doing a walk after dinner is actually so nice. It makes me feel like I'm actually digesting my food. We made a 7/11 stop on the way back. There are just sooo many 7/11s here it's crazy. And they are like 200 feet apart - I have no idea how they stay in business. I've been collecting new little snacks too. The chocolate cream puffs are my favorite Taiwanese snack. When it comes to favorite drinks, Taiwanese beer and Supau are tied.

[irismfrost]

August 3 - Fo Guang Shan Monastery and Museum

Today, I got non-hotel breakfast! It was an egg salad type of breakfast sandwich and had veggies on it too. The mocha was mid and I definitely should've gotten the regular coffee that it came with. I refilled up my coffee with the hotel mocha before we got on the bus too.

When it comes to my dehydration, it's still there, but I bought 2 Supaus today - one for today and one for tonight. I have also been drinking water in the middle of the night. My roommate revealed that she has been waking up to the sound of me chugging it at night. That's proof that I'm trying to stay hydrated.

We had an hour long bus ride to the Buddhist Monastery. Yeh Lahosi's mom has been volunteering at the monastery for a long time and we met her there! She gave us all these cute bracelets when we first arrived too. This is one of the 4 big monasteries in Taiwan. People go here for retreats (our amazing tour guide Peter went once too), they have a college there, and monks and basically a whole community. We got a behind-the-scenes tour from a monk who works with the international students and so he speaks English. We started with the main worship hall. We took off our shoes and made an offering (they had little flowers in a case at the front so you just take one and make a wish and offer it). We weren't allowed to take pictures in there but there are 3 buddha statues in the middle. They represent different versions but they are all the buddhas. The one on the left holding the lotus flower is all about the enlightened state, the one in the middle is the first buddha, and the one on the right is the medicine buddha. I thought of it as future, past, and present. There are also little shelves in the wall with little buddha statues. When Fo Guang Shan designed the temple, he wanted you to be able to face the buddhas from any direction you stand so that's why there are 14800 statues in the room.

Next, we participated in a traditional Buddhist lunch. This was a very unique experience. There are specific directions and you have to be silent the whole time. We got a briefing before hand. Before you sit down, you have to bow (and you're technically supposed to do it in a specific way), then you have the prayer. You are supposed to lift your chair when you sit down as to not make any noise. They gave me and the other foreign-looking people a paper with words for the prayer song, but I lost track of where we were so I could not participate, only had my hands in the prayer position. The prayer is to thank for the food. The monastery is funded by donations, so they are basically being thankful for the food they are about to eat. All of the food here is vegetarian because all traditional Buddhists are vegetarian, which was good for me. People come around and put food in the two bowls in the upper left and right hand corners, and a variety of 3 vegetable things on the plate. To accept the food, you bring the rice (upper left) to the bottom right and you bring the soup (upper right) to the bottom left, and you pull the plate of vegetables forward. There was also some guava and this package of peanut butter sesame dessert thing. If you bring it forward, that means you are going to eat it. If you say you're going to eat it, you HAVE to eat all of it. If you leave it at the front then they take it back. Once they remove it, you take the empty dish towards you until you are entirely finished - if you leave the empty dish at the front they will refill it then you have to eat it. Then you stack your cups and put your chopsticks between your bowls and the plate. I had a huge breakfast on the bus so I only ate the soup, but I got 2 soups and ate the peanut butter thing. You only have 20 minutes to eat. Then they say another prayer which is basically about using the energy from the meal to do good and give back to the community. If you aren't finished eating, you continue eating while everyone is praying and if you still aren't done by then, you sit until you finish. You finish by bowing again. Everything is very specific. I took too long to take my second soup from the upper right to the lower left to signal that I was going to eat it and someone came up to me and gestured that I needed to move it. The reason they don't talk is so that they can appreciate the food - the people here are very thankful and gracious.

Next, we visited the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Museum. This was built by the same guy (who died last year) and also had tons of statues and Buddhist teachings, but was more like a HUGE museums with different things to do. We had a tour guide who brought us through the museum and told us stuff along the way. There is a 108 meter high statue which is the largest in Taiwan; it sits in the middle of the museum. At the museum, they also had a Confucius statue which I thought was interesting. We also visited the Reclining Buddha which sits in the Jade Buddha Shrine which is carved out of white jade and embedded with thousands of diamonds. Here, we also did a fun interactive activity... calligraphy! I have never written Chinese characters and don't even know how to write my name. I know your brush strokes should go top to bottom and left to right, but you read it right to left (which I didn't really understand until after). I finished pretty quickly and shared with the class and our tour guide lady said it was pretty and took a picture (apparently she had to write a report every day, so she was taking pictures throughout). It reminded me of painting, which I haven't gotten to do much of here. I bought some calligraphy paint brushes and ink the other day, so now I have to practice my calligraphy so I get my moneys worth. And I wrote my name at the top - I took a picture of the characters before I left LOL. We rolled up our scrolls and went on our way. I got a few trinkets at the gift shop, bought another egg tart thing, and Yeh Laoshi's mom bought us all these cake things filled with either chocolate or cream. I had the chocolate one.

Reflection

Today, I learned a lot about Buddhism and all of the traditional practices. The main teachings (at least the ones from Fo Guang Shan, are: do good deeds, speak good words, and have good intention (think good thoughts). And I think those are pretty good rules to live by. I am not so sure how I feel about the Fo Guang Shan idol man who built everything - a little too much fame in my opinion. He became a monk during the Sino-Japanese war and decided that it was his duty to spread Buddhism in Taiwan. Later in life he got diabetes and couldn't see well and struggled writing all the characters because there are so many lines. So he created "one stroke calligraphy" which is just how it sounds and is like cursive for Chinese characters.

I don't think I could ever be a monk - seems like a lot of work to dedicate yourself to a cause based in faith, but maybe I'm just seeing from a glass half empty perspective. I like the main idea of being kind to everyone though - but that is something I think most religions share. I also found it interesting that in this sect as least, there were also women buddhas. According to one of the exhibits, the first buddha, Siddhartha, was raised by his aunt and after he became enlightened she was the first woman to attain enlightenment and become a buddha. I also found it interesting that all the sculptures at the monastery don't reflect what the buddhas actually looked like in real life. They just look like how the sculptors want them to look because the buddhas have transcended physical form and what they look like doesn't matter. I think it depends on the sect of buddhism and location. So buddhas in Taiwan may look different from buddhas in China.

I can understand why Buddhism spread so easily, especially when it was first created in India. The caste system in India at the time must've been hard for the people at the bottom. And here comes this guy saying that everyone is equal and that anyone can attain enlightenment. That sounds like a pretty great opportunity for the general public, especially because the guy telling you this is a former price with tons of credibility. And he takes offerings of any kind - you could offer tons of gold or something as simple as a lamp. It gives power and hope to the poor people in India, which I'm assuming was the majority of his followers in the beginning. With his political influence as a former king, he could even get some of the other nobles involved. Those are great conditions for a religion to form.

[irismfrost]

August 2 - National Science and Technology Museum and Meinong District (Hakka)

I think I need to find a new breakfast spot. The hotel breakfast just isn't doing it for me. I just cannot eat another serving of rice and I cannot keep eating fries and ketchup. These hotels think that Americans eat fries and onion rings for breakfast and it's a little strange but alsooooo I have been eating them so it's understandable. I ate a banana and dry cereal today and I don't even like bananas. Tomorrow I am planning on waking up early so that I can venture out and find somewhere local.

Our first stop today was the National Science and Technology Museum (NSTM). It was pretty cool to see all the different innovations that Taiwan is involved with. There were a lot of interactive pieces and it was fun to click all the buttons. There was a health section with a chess board and you were supposed to step on different tiles and it would prompt you to explore your feelings. I don't think all of the sensors worked but it was still fun to jump around. The cafe on the second floor was huge and had more relics, mostly radio and showed the progression of music stuff. I bought some little trinkets at the gift shop and i spent over 600NTD (but one item was buy 2 get 1 free so I had to participate in that promotion) so I got to pick two random squares. You push through the paper on the square and there are little tiles with some words on them. The words say little items so I got a free mask and Lego batman. That was a nice surprise.

I saw a COSTCO!!!

Out next stop was Din Tai Fung, a very famous restaurant in Taiwan known for its service. There is actually one in New York. They came out with a bunch of appetizers and some dumplings and soup and fried rice and finished off with these little dumplings filled with chocolate sauce. It's all good I've never had before and it was pretty good. The dumplings were different flavors, but I didn't taste much difference. They were so small and they only give you one :(

Our last stop was the town of Meinong in the Cishan District. Most of this town is inhabited by Hakka people. The Hakka are originally from the northern part of China and invaded the southern part of China a couple times and eventually came to Taiwan and settled in the mountainous regions. They are known for their traditional oil-paper umbrellas, rice cakes, tobacco production. They have preserved their culture very well and most of the population still speaks Hakka. There are also many different accents across the entire country. We stopped by these little shops in the middle of nowhere where and I bought an umbrella. It was only the small version because I forgot most of my cash at the hotel but it is still super cute and the calligraphy roughly translates to the saying "April flowers bring May showers". Then we went to the museum about the Hakka people.

Reflection

I didn't realize how involved Taiwan was in global innovation. It's interesting that they just sort of choose an industry and don't give up on it no matter how profitable it is in the beginning. They have been producing things like bikes, motor vehicles, textiles, petrochemicals and associated goods, computers, microchips, semiconductors, food additives, food production (especially rice and fruits) and really just a little bit of everything. Apple brought a lot of business to Taiwan when they moved most of their manufacturing over here. The semiconductor and AI industries are also huge here and only continue to get bigger as they become more important.

Learning about the Hakka people was also interesting. I didn't realize how many different groups live in Taiwan. So many different types of people have immigrated here over the years. The name "Hakka" means "guest families" and they are called this because they don't really have a dedicated home. They are historically nomadic (from the northern part of today's China) and consider themselves guests both along the Yangtze river in China (the southern parts they ended up inhabiting) and Taiwan and I think that's why they've done such a great job preserving their culture. Another interesting thing about the Hakka is the difference in the women's roles. In traditional Chinese culture, high status women used to bind their feet. This practice involved breaking bones in the feet from a very young age and showed that the women were of such high status that they didn't need to work. The Hakka people on the other hand, value education and work; Hakka women would be working in the fields, doing chores, and raising the children, among other things. It's impressive that they were able to maintain their widely different culture and language in a country that became dominated by colonial influences.

[irismfrost]

August 1 - Lotus Pond and surrounding temples, Qishan Train Station

Last night and this morning, I forgot to drink water which was a huge mistake. I only had a few sips in the morning and was left with a raging headache that only got worse as time went on. Before we left the hotel, I bought my old reliable savior, Supau. This one had a little sticker on it - I can't read it but Google Translate said something about the Olympics. Our first stop today was the Lotus Pond. I forgot to bring my water bottle - another mistake which led to my headache worsening and I was literally peeing Gatorade. It was so hot out and we just went to the surrounding temples. There are 12 temples surrounding the pond, especially many Confucianist and Daoist temples. One of the biggest ones is currently under construction and we were able to walk through it but couldn't go upstairs.

When we were walking back to the bus, some random man started giving us free stuff and we got a pamphlet and a little charm thing. I'm pretty sure it is a cult-type religion thing. On one side of the pamphlet it talks about how they are persecuted and on the other side it references this one book and says it's about 5 simple exercises and meditation - a little strange. I am definitely not scanning the QR code in fear of downloading a virus to my phone. The pamphlet was also all in English which signals to me that this guy was specifically targeting gullible Americans which is also suspicious.

Our next stop was another Confucianist temple, but it was closed.

We had some hot pot next which is always great. This time I had some noodles which were very filling. The metal chopsticks are harder to use than the wooden/ plastic ones. I also had some mango ice cream. The ice cream here is strangely sweet. It is the only food here that is overly sweet - reminds me of home sweet home 🦅🇺🇸.

Our last stop was the Qishan Train Station. It used to be important for transporting bananas and sugar cane. It took us an hour to get to the station and there wasn't much to do. It took us another hour to get back. But at least I got to work on this blog and get some sleep on the bus ride back to the hotel. I also got a cute postcard and some stamps. There was this cool stamp that indented the paper which was cool too.

Today is one of the girls on the trip's 21st birthday! We are going to try to watch the sunset at one of the restaurants here. We're still looking for a place but I think we'll all have a good time and it will be nice to just hang out with all the girls.

Reflection

In both Confucianist and Daoist ideologies, especially in Chinese culture (and Taiwanese), the dragon is a powerful figure. In the temple that was under construction, you enter through the dragon side on the left and exit through the tiger side on the right. The walkway to get to the temple was also a zigzag line. Apparently, this is because evil spirits can only travel in straight lines so this construction prevents those spirits from entering the temple. Not all of the temples were like this though which I found interesting. There were so many turtles in this little section of the pond. It is a good deed to buy a turtle and set it free, even though they let them go in this segregated area of the lake - definitely overpopulated with turtles. But it will supposedly help you get into heaven so people do it. All of the entrances also has these metal bars which I think might be to prevent scooters but you have to be relatively thin to get through them, and most people here are but I found that interesting as well.

Back in the day, many East Asian countries practiced Confucianism (government ordained) and were very successful countries because of it. The reason leaders chose Confucianism is because of the hierarchical structure it preached. Children should obey parents, women should obey men, young should obey old, people should obey leaders. There are many stories that were taught in schools about this. In the temples, the tunnel entrances are lined with sculptures with these stories. One is about how to be a good child. In this story, the family is too poor to have mosquito nets and so the son takes off his shirt and goes into his father's room. He lets the mosquitoes bite him so that they are full and don't bite his father. And that's how to be a good son. I don't think these extreme measures are practiced much today but there are still remnants of these ideals in many Asian cultures. Parents have a lot of say in their children's life and it is expected for children to obey. In the US, there is definitely a clash between Gen X and Gen Z/ Millennial cultures of changing mindsets with that idea, particularly within families with Asian descent.