Tasha's Study Abroad Adventures: Taiwan 101

Let me first start off by saying that China Airlines is the best! Every seat had a personal TV with tons of movies, TV shows, destination guides, and tons of music play lists. There was also a cool coat hook and mirror on each seat. Our flight was only an hour and a half and we got a meal! It was by far the best flying experience I have ever had. The ride was smooth and at one point I even thought we might have landed. The only thing that sucked was that every time they made an announcement, they made it in three different languages so it took forever if they wanted to tell us something.

We arrived on Thursday night in Taipei and didn’t have time to do anything, so we headed to the hostel and went to bed early. On Friday, we woke up early and toured the city. It was clear in the morning so we started our day at Taipei 101 – which used to be the tallest building in the world until last year when the Burj in Dubai stole the title. Taipei 101, however, still has the worlds fastest elevator which reaches the speed of 1,010 meters per minute. Next, we went to Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and had lunch at Din Tai Fung (which originated in Taiwan and is famous for their xiao long bao). After lunch it was off to the National Palace Museum where I got in trouble for taking pictures, and then the Shilin Night Market. Taiwan has some of the most amazing street food I have ever eaten in my life! They are famous for their bubble tea and sausages which I tried them both and they were, in fact, incredibly delicious. When we were at the night market we saw a man getting a massage with butcher knives, and when I took a picture, the woman asked me if I wanted to try…so I did. It was kind of scary and felt weird. Also in the market, we saw tons of cute dogs and cute kids, which became a common theme for the weekend.

Taipei 101.

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall.

Din Tai Fung - Xiao Long Bao Head.

Outside the National Palace Museum.

Yummy bubble tea.

A street right by the Shilin Night Market.

Knife Massage. I look a little scared.

Like I said, cute kids and cute dogs.

The next day we headed to Beitou to experience the hot springs. After seeing the public hot spring, we were not interested in going in because it was quite small and crowded. Instead, we walked around Beitou and found the Hot Spring Valley which had hot springs that were over 100 degrees Celsius and steaming. After that, we went to Yangmingshan National Park where we heard there was some more hot springs you could go in. When we finally found them we realized they were the nude ones and separated males and females. Since I was the only girl traveling with three boys, I had to go it alone. When I first walked in, it was apparent that the only people using the hot spring were Chinese women all over the age of 50. I had never been to a naked hot spring before so I didn’t know what to do, and I could not ask anyone because no one spoke any English. So I kind of had to figure things out by looking around. It was not long before I found out what I was doing wrong when some women were speaking Chinese to me and pointing to things. Apparently, there is a certain place for shoes and before going in you have to put on a shower cap and wash yourself by crouching and using a bucket to scoop water from the spring. When I finished doing that, I went in. Then, the oldest woman in the hot spring walked over to me and made me get out. I was vulnerable and naked, and she was scolding me in Chinese! I was scared and didn't know what to do, but then once I got out, she turned me around and started washing my backside. Apparently I didn’t do it good enough, and even though it was one of the most awkward moments of my life, I couldn't help but laugh a little. When she was finished, I went back in. Everyone was staring at me because I was the only white girl which made me feel especially weird since I was naked and all. I think the worst part was that since I was alone and had no one to talk to, I didn’t know what to do with my eyes...so I just kind of looked at the ceiling. Then a woman got in who spoke a little bit of English and stared talking to me. It was really hot and I decided to get out when I started sweating. There were no towels, so to dry off, you had to go to this outside area and air dry. Some women were out there kind of dancing around and swinging their arms from side to side, but I just stood there. When I was dry, I got dressed and left. That was definitely one of the most intense cultural experiences of my life. After we left the park, we went to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, National Concert Hall, and National Theater which were all in the same square and close to our hostel. When we were done taking pictures we went back to shower and then hit up another night market and went out for drinks.

Sticking my toes in the natural hot spring.

Hot Spring Valley.

Yangmingshan National Park.

Entrance to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial.

Chaing Kai Shek Memorial...it was huge!

National Theater. The National Concert Hall looked exactly the same and right across from it.

A cool bug I got to hold.

On our last day, we went to the coast. We visited a small fishing village which is home to the famous Yeliou Geopark. This park is filled with rocks that almost look like heads and are formed by decades of sea erosion and earth movement. The most famous rock, Queen’s Head, had a long line to take pictures with. I didn’t want to wait so I just took pictures of other people taking pictures. Mid afternoon we set off on a bus to another fishing town called Danshui. We walked through another night market and had some more amazing food. Since it was our last night and I really wanted to go to this jazz club, I made Robert and Erik go with me (Trevor instead went back to the hostel and figured out how we were getting to the airport in the morning). The jazz club had a great live band and we met these two fashion designers who were very entertaining. Janis was a British lady who had just turned 69 and Nicholas was a gay guy from Australian. They were hilarious. We didn’t get home until after midnight and had to wake up at 4:00 am to catch our flight. I was really tired that day, but I somehow managed to make it to all of my classes.