No more school and an EPIC vacation

It's official.  James and I have completed our teaching contracts at Shane English school.  As one of James' students says, "It's good and bad together."  Teaching was a tough gig, but we have gotten attached to some of our students.  Our good-byes were sad but the future looks bright! By the way, even through enforcing discipline, dealing with crying children, regularly finding dry erase marker on my face and arms, and who knows what else, my school manager told me she still thinks I am "elegant."  I guess wearing my Southern pearls helps me maintain an elegant status in Taiwan ;-)

Two of my classes surprised me by writing notes on the whiteboard between classes! James last day of school pictures will be in the next blog...

No rest for the weary!  Travel agent James planned an epic trip for us and some friends two days after our teaching contract ended.  We have never been overnight hiking, but there was one "must-do" hike in Taiwan that required carrying a sleeping bag up the mountain.  Of course if we were hiking one mountain, why not do a couple of others?!

After literally a full Saturday of buying, borrowing and packing for the trip, we were ready!  James rented a car for the week.  We managed to pack six people as well as their hiking gear into the car. We left at 4 AM on Sunday morning.  

Packed in like sardines, we drove and drove and drove some more into the BIG mountains.  We finally arrived at the trail-head around 10 AM.  The first hike started at Hehuan Mountain.  We have been here a couple of times before but have never done this hike.  The Qilai trail requires government permits just as many of the hikes do in Taiwan.  

Hehuan Mountain - The start of the Qilai Trail

Great weather for the start of the hike

Well, we hiked and hiked and hiked until we reached the cabins around mid-afternoon.  By cabins, I am referring to two small elevated one room buildings.  There are numbers on the wall to show which space to sleep-in.  It's nice and snug.  To our surprise, the cabin was full of people.  Somehow, the English permit system did not work correctly and we had no space to sleep.  This was a serious issue because there are only eight sleeping spots and there were six of us! Of course to make matters worse, it started raining.  Well, hiking back down to the car was not a good option as the sun sets in Taiwan by 7 PM and we would not make it off the trail before dark. Thankfully, the Taiwanese hikers were extremely nice and generous.  Once again the Taiwanese have a good compression ratio, so we all crammed into one of the cabins.  After a quick dinner we were all asleep by 7:30 PM.  

We awoke to a gorgeous and clear sunrise! Now I understand the point of overnight hikes: to wake up to the clean fresh air and a sunrise.  We made breakfast, packed up, and headed to the summit.  After a grueling and tough climb, we reached the summit of Qilai Mountain.  WOW!!!!!!!!

Qilai Trail Sunrise and Cabins

Qilai Summit

Celebratory coconut water!

The hike back to the car was quite long and difficult.  Somehow, we did not notice that the first 4 kilometers of the trail were actually downhill.  We definitely noticed this on the way back though.  Four kilometers uphill is not a happy ending. We all made it though by mid-afternoon!

We dropped off two of our friends at a bus stop to head back to Hsinchu.  The rest of us enjoyed an early dinner that was not previously dried food! We reached the hostel (the same favorite one we stayed at on a different mountain trip).  We took a much much much needed shower and once again crashed before 8 PM!

The alarm went off at 4 AM.  Yuck.  We were driving by sunrise.  (Sunrise in Taiwan is before 5 AM.) We drove and drove and drove until we reached Sheipa National Park.  James and I can see the mountains of Sheipa National Park from the coastline in Hsinchu.  We have been wanting to go here and do this one specific hike since we first moved to Taiwan.  

The hike is Snow Mountain.  It's an extremely popular hike in Taiwan as well as the second highest summit. It's even more popular to hike than the highest summit because it's more scenic.  It is nearly impossible to get permits for this hike on a weekend.  

We started the hike mid-morning.  James and I were starting to feel a bit worn out at this point.  However, the college-aged exchange student from the Czech Republic that was part of our group was feeling great.  He quickly hiked ahead.  Europeans have some incredible athletic ability when it comes to climbing mountains. 

The hike up was slow.  When the clouds parted, the views were gorgeous!  We stopped the hike at the cabin.  We were saving the main peak for the morning.  The cabin was fantastic.  It holds 140 people!  It had outhouses, a kitchen, picnic tables, a changing room and running water.  This is hiking in style!!!!!!  We enjoyed some rest time at the cabin and had a leisurely ramen noodle and dried vegetable dinner.  The other large group staying in the cabin (from a Catholic University in Taipei) paid extra money to have the cabin manager cook them dinner.  We were pretty jealous of their dinner. 

A summit along the trail 

The cabin. 

Kitchen and picnic tables

Me enjoying the rest time and reading a book. 

Kitchen

Once again, we were asleep by sundown.  We woke up at 4 AM again to see the sunrise.  We were told the climb to the main peak would take close to three hours.  Well, we powered up the mountain.  It took us a little more than one hour to reach the summit.  WOW!!!!!!!!!  It was phenomenal.  The pictures probably don't give it justice. 

Sunrise from the cabin

Part of the trail to the summit was in the woods

Snow Mountain Summit!  Another celebratory coconut water.

That's James!

Pretty flowers

WOW!!!!!  We are so small...

The trek back down was almost all downhill.  I personally found this quite enjoyable but not everyone in our party felt the same.  The other friend from our church was having some knee pain. The pain became worse as he hiked back down.  By the end of the hike, he could hardly walk. 

We reserved a cabin in Sheipa National Park for that evening.  Our third and final hike was also in this park. We were unpleasantly surprised when we saw our miniature cabin.  The cabin supposedly sleeps four people but the whole cabin was about the size of a double bed.  So, we went to the bathhouse for a shower and then went in search of food.  

We stopped by the police station to get a map for the next hike.  We discovered there was no water at the cabins along the trail.  This meant we had to carry every drop of liquid we would need for the full hike.  We were also shocked by the long time estimates to reach the four summits along the trail. This would be the most difficult of the hikes.  

After a serious discussion about our friend's knee, our level of exhaustion, and our lack of enthusiasm to stay in the small cabin and pack our backpacks again, we made a wise decision to cancel the cabin reservation and start driving back to Hsinchu.  Although the long four hour drive was rough on all of us, James and I were appreciative to be back home.  We enjoyed the trip but I couldn't imagine doing another harder hike!  I think we bit off more than we could chew.  All I know is that James and I were pretty rough the next morning.  It felt like we had just completed some four day adventure race in another time zone!  

Thank you Taiwan for another awesome trip!  Let the summer begin!!!

Birthday Bash!

So, I am officially thirty years old.  Does  that make me a real adult now?  Is it ironic that I will rewind and be a college student again at the age of thirty???

Of course, James and I had to celebrate my birthday in style.  Due to the never-ending rainy season, we decided it was best to stay out of the mountains and off the slippery trails.  A nearby amusement park, Window on China, has a half-price special for the month of June ($13 USD/person).  We decided to take advantage of this deal for a birthday celebration! Coincidentally, my brother Greg visited this same amusement park when he traveled to Taiwan 14 years ago.

The park is famous for its collection of miniature model buildings from around the world.  The park included a Mini America, Mini Europe, Mini China, Mini Asia and of course, Mini Taiwan.  The models are 1:25 scale. We also enjoyed some fun and somewhat thrilling rides as well as an African acrobatic show. The crowds were low so we literally walked straight on almost every ride!

The awkwardly weird amusement park mascot.  I don't know what it is supposed to be but I am glad we did not see a person in this costume walking around the park! I might have cried like a three year does at Disney World. 

Jumbo Wave Ride - This is a serious wave!  It's supposedly a 60 feet wave!!!!

Everyone wore ponchos on the ride, including James and I.  We are turning Taiwanese! 

Mini America!  My first time seeing Mount Rushmore was in Taiwan. 

James shed a few tears over this display since he never got to see a shuttle launch :-(

Checking out Obama's house.

James has been working out a lot. 

Why did they put these next to Mini America?  Is this how they think Americans dress? 

The Statue of Liberty

This show was incredible!  We were quite impressed by this acrobatic/gymnastics group.  

The Paris Opera House.  You can see the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the background. 

We were a bit worn out when we walked through Mini Asia, Mini China and Mini Taiwan.  I guess when camera man James gets tired he stops taking photos :) 

On Sunday we celebrated with a dinner party after church.  We went to the same wood-fired pizza place at the Hsinchu coast that we went to on Christmas Day.  We ate outside on the patio this time though. It's too hot by the oven inside! I had six friends come to the get-together.  James and I left the dinner feeling quite grateful and blessed.  We came to Taiwan knowing absolutely no one.  Now, we have some quality friends. We have met some truly great people over the past year! Ohh, and our vegan pizza was delicious! 

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes, cards and emails.  Although I am far away from home, I still feel loved thanks to all of my wonderful family and friends!    

One Year Taiwan Anniversary!

On May 23rd, we celebrated our one year in Taiwan Anniversary!  Our learning curve in Taiwan has been quite steep.  I am thankful to have adjusted to this diamond-in-the-rough country.

  

Do we look any different? 

This past weekend was the Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan.  Since we went to the dragon boat races along the coast of Hsinchu last year, we decided to enjoy the long weekend away from the crowds this year.  We went to an area northeast of Hsinchu in the low mountains (of course in the mountains...) called Daxi.  We enjoyed a weekend of friends and very little rain compared to the last few weeks.  

The first day we did a hike called Wuliaojian.  This hike is rated "Strenuous" in our book.  We knew we were in for a serious day of hiking.  Our friend Joel from Honduras joined us for the adventure.  Please notice that I am wearing gloves.  It's definitely NOT because my hands are cold.  It's because of all the ropes we had to use on the hike.  I feel like a rappelling pro now.  I think I can officially say I have traded in my marathons, triathlons and cycling for extreme hiking now... This stuff is crazy and a true adrenaline rush at times.  

Ridge Line Walk - "Watch your step" has a whole new meaning.  James kept scaring Joel because he wasn't holding onto the rope at all times.  I suppose I am used to it by now and I am too busy minding my own steps.

Rappelling - Do you see why I was wearing gloves?! My tender soft hands can't handle gripping onto ropes for dear life. 

Joel waited for us to climb this rocky outcrop and snapped some really cool (and romantic) photos. 

Wow! Look at those mountains.  

James is such a gentleman.  He goes down before me to break my fall in case of emergency.  

After the thrilling hike, we went to the town of Daxi to meet up with two other friends.  James has made good friends with Rob from New Zealand over the past year.  I refer to him as James' long lost brother.  They have a lot of similarities.  His Taiwanese girlfriend, Sammie, also joined us for the weekend.  I enjoyed getting to know her.  She is very patient with translating menus and I am very appreciative of it! She's a city girl but she was brave enough to go on a hike with us on Sunday.  She's 100% Taiwanese so she has the hiking genes. She rocked it!  

The Beatles walking across Abbey Road or a bridge in Taiwan

We tried to be nice to Sammie but it's nearly impossible to find a hike here that doesn't involve climbing a mountain and ropes. 

This random rock marked the summit of White Rock Mountain. 

Old Street in Daxi - Please look at the non-Taiwanese style architecture

A delicious treat after the hike on the Old Street

We spent the rest of the afternoon and the next day at the Shimen Reservior.  It's a huge reservior (16.5k long and 245 meters deep).  The pictures do not give the reservior justice.  It was "enchanting" as one book describes it.  It was a quiet place and simply gorgeous.  We enjoyed it more than Sun Moon Lake, one of the top Taiwan tourist attractions.  For some reason it sort of reminded me of Stone Mountain in Atlanta.  A lot of families enjoy the parks that line the reservoir. Unfortunately, there isn't a laser show! Also, the entrance fee into the park is much cheaper for the Shimen Reservoir - $1USD/Scooter and $2.67/USD for a car vs. $10USD for Stone Mountain.  

James is acting like the duck!

Monday's Hike - Shimen Mountain.  Sammie decided not to join us for this one :)

James was taking artistic pictures from the boat ride across the reservoir. 

This one is my favorite. Good job James!

Water is so powerful!  Here is some water being released into the after-bay reservoir.  

You can't see it well in the picture, but we saw an eight foot snake (James' estimate) at one of the parks next to the reservoir!!!!!! As soon as it noticed us taking pictures of it, it slithered away as fast as possible in the opposite direction.  It was more scared than we were!

Believe it or not, Sammie managed to talk James into trying some stinky tofu at a night market on Sunday night.  She couldn't get me to try it though. James said it tasted fine but you smell the atrocious scent as you're taking a bite.  Bleh! My natural instincts tell me not to eat things that smell repulsive.  

We have somewhat made our decisions for the future FINALLY!!!!!!  We are waiting to hear back about a scholarship from one of the univeristies in Hsinchu.  However, we were already offered a scholarship from the other university in Hsinchu so the major decision has been determined.  We will be staying in Hsinchu and earning MBA's over the next two years.  This summer a friend offered to let us live in her apartment while she travels home to America for two months.  So, we will live in her apartment while we take intensive Chinese classes at one of the universities.  " Intensive" is an appropriate title for these classes.  We will be in class for three hours every day (weekdays only) for 5 weeks straight!!!! Ahh! That's 75 hours of Chinese. We have to pass a Level 2 Chinese proficiency test before we graduate.  We figured the earlier we learn some Chinese and pass the test, the better for many many reasons.  

We have been led in a crazy and unexpected path over the past year, and we have so many blessings to count for our past and what appears to be our future.  

Happy Dragon Boat Festival Day and Happy last week of being in my twenties to me!!!!