星期三：For lunch today we went to a rice roll and smoothie shop near Wenzao and, though I've been before a few times, this time we spent quite awhile talking to the owner and teaching him words in English. He was super nice and even gave us a bunch of coupons to get us to come back and talk with him. After class I decided to go out to the Kaohsiung Museum of History in the old downtown area. I had a nice time, though the museum turned out to be tiny and all in Chinese, which, while fine, was really hard to read, so I ended up just walking around the old downtown area for a while instead. On my way home I also saw some really beautiful cherry blossom trees, or what I thought were cherry blossoms. Ever since I heard Taiwan had cherry blossoms, I have been dying to see them, though so far haven't found a way, so I was super excited to find some minutes from my house. There was another lady hanging out and taking pictures there, so I asked her if they were actually cherry blossoms and it turns out they aren't, but since they were really lovely and pink I figure they're close enough, I was quite happy.
(all of the NLSIY girls with our dyed hair)
(the not cherry blossoms)
星期四：While eating lunch today with some of our classmates from our Chinese classes, and older man came over excited to meet all of us foreigners. It turns out he owned a shop just down the street where he makes traditional Chinese instruments by hand. He first came over to show us and erhu (a kind of traditional two-stringed violin) and this instrument made our of a saw that made scary sci-fi noises. Once he figured out we thought they were really cool, he taught us how to play them and let us play around for a bit while he told us about all the places he'd been with the army and how he'd lived in Kaohsiung forever. He then said he wanted to nap and left, only to come back three more times with more instruments, wood carvings he'd made, and some army hats. It was really fun to spend our lunch with him and get to sort of play traditional instruments.
(showing off how to play the saw)
(playing an interesting version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star")
星期五：Today my parents came to Taiwan! After class six of us ran over to their hotel to meet them. It was very much like an alternative universe having my parents here since so far I've had a Taiwan life and an American life that to this point haven't intersected, though regardless it was cool. We first all went to the old downtown area where we went to a little shop that sold traditional mochi, and then headed to a famous beef noodle place. From there we went to a famous shave ice shop where we met up with our other NSLIY classmates, Kripa, and her parents who also happened to be in Taiwan at the same time. We ate a ton of shave ice and my parents got to meet everyone. From there I took my parents to see the 85 Tower, the tallest in town, the famous library, and the port. We then rode the new light rail back to the mall by where they were staying and had Japanese curry for dinner.
(with my parents at the largest stained glass ceiling in the world)
(eating giant bowls of shave ice)
星期六：Today I met my parents and then took them to the Lotus Lake to see all the pagodas. We first visited the old city wall and gate, and then went into the three pagodas on the lake. I was also able to take them to a traditional Taiwanese temple and a Confucius temple to show the differences between the styles and religions. We then headed over to Cijin island where we met up with Becca and Mackenzie. We first had some baked pork buns and some rice, and then bought these famous peanut and cilantro ice cream rolls at the street market (they sound weird but are sooo good). From there we went up to the lighthouse and then to the old fort that I hadn't been to before. After exploring the fort for a bit, we sat on the top, chatted, and watched the sun set over the beach. Once it was dark we rode the ferry back and went to the Ruifeng night market where we had grilled corn, Hong Jong egg waffles, and some fun ice cream that was made using dry ice and smoked in your mouth. My parents and I then headed over to my host family's home to meet my host mom and sisters and see the house. We had a nice time and I was able to translate everything decently okay.
(the old city wall built in the 1600s)
(with the Kaohsiung City bear)
(at Lotus Lake where the lotus flowers were actually in bloom)
(visiting a Daoist/Buddhist temple on the lake)
(then visited the Confucius temple)
(snacking on insanely delicious ice cream rolls on Cijin island)
(view of CIjin and the city)
(at Cihou fort on Cijin island)
(old tree at the fort)
(Mackenzie and Becca joined us for Cijin)
(watching the sunset)
星期天：After getting to sleep in a little, I met my parents and we headed off to Foguangshan, a giant buddhist museum and monastery up in the mountains outside the city. We first went through the museum park and saw the giant seated buddha, then walked over to the real temple portion to see the giant standing buddha. We spent most of the morning and afternoon there, but we headed back to the city to eat. I first took them for a first dinner of pan friend soup dumplings at one of my very favorite restaurants and then we met my host family for some hot pot. My host dad had come home so everyone got to meet everyone. It was really fun to all be together, though my translation skills were deteriorating as the night went on, but I'm glad my real family got to meet who I've been living with for the past few months.
9visiting Foguangshan monastery)
(giant standing Buddha)
(seemingly endless lines of Buddhas)