The night we arrived (Tuesday at 1 AM), a bad storm was passing through Taipei. We were stuck on the tarmac for about an hour and a half before we had to rush out to try to get a taxi back to campus. After being 15th in line and waiting for approximately an hour, we finally got back to I-House at around 4 AM. The next day, I woke up to a text from my buddy saying that classes at NCCU were cancelled for the day because of the bad storm. (Lucky us because we were definitely planning on skipping our morning classes because we got back so late.) Anyway, we used that day to catch up on sleep and readings that we didn't do during our trip :].
Bottom: The same river the day of the big storm.
Friday, Makra and I finally went up Taipei 101. Even though it had been raining like crazy the past few days and a typhoon was supposedly coming our way, we decided to take the plunge and go up anyway. Miraculously, the rain held off and a bit of sunshine even peeked through the clouds.We did some souvenir shopping, walked around the coral museum up on the 87th floor, and had a yummy lunch before heading back to campus. It was a fun afternoon with Makra!
**I apologize for the bad quality of these pictures... I got a virus on one of my camera's memory cards so I had to screenshot and then save my pictures.**
The Taipei World Trade Center building
Saturday was Makra's last night, so a group of us went out to our favorite Japanese restaurant my campus to have his farewell dinner. The food was delicious, and the company even better. Later that night, Makra stopped by to say his goodbyes and it really made it sink in that this experience was coming to an end. So Melody, Kevin and I stayed up until 4 AM just talking, eating candy, and reminiscing about everything. It was a good night :]
Salmon pizzaaaa... sooo good.
Ami (from Japan)
Everyone who came out for Makra's farewell dinner
Monday was an absolutely beautiful day. Melody, Thibaut, and I got some snacks from 7-11 and a local bakery and went on a picnic by the river at sunset. The weather was nice and cool and we had a clear view of Taipei 101.
I promise the following story will be relevant later on:
Monday afternoon, Melody, Thibaut, Albert and I were going around campus running an errand when we passed the fountain on campus. There was a girl filling up a water gun. Thibaut then went up to her and asked to borrow it, at which point, Melody and I started to run. Needless to say, he ended up shooting both of us with water. Not wanting to lose, Melody and I went to a local store where they sold toys, scrapbooking and crafting supplies, among other things. So after spending about 45 minutes picking out cards and stickers to decorate for each other, we both bought some small water guns to ambush Thibaut with. But more about that later on...
Tuesday, I had a presentation and a final, thereby ending 2 of my 5 classes. Because of the storm the last week, my oral exam for my Geoinformatics class was cancelled (oh so disappointing) and my Art in Taiwan final was shortened. That night, Melody called me at 2 AM to go for our so-called "Last late night 7-11 run", which it kind of was. We then went to Thibaut and Albert's room and listened to music before I went back up to finish my paper due the next morning. Yeah, I pulled my 2nd almost all-nighter that night.
Wednesday, my Elections and Democratization of Taiwan professor treated our class for breakfast at Mos Burger. We talked about our future traveling plans and he also encouraged us to take advantage of any opportunity to travel and see the world, especially while we're young. It was a nice chat.
For lunch, Melody and I tried the House Restaurant located in I-House where we had brunch :]
After lunch, Melody and I went for one last girly excursion at Gongguan. We went to go get manicures and pedicures (cost $3 USD for each!!!!) and then to our favorite cheap shoe store and clothes market. i'm really going to miss our girly afternoons.
Later that evening, we went out for one last Ladies' Night at Luxy. A big group of us got all dressed up and started out at the pool hall near the club. We stayed there for a few hours and then headed downstairs to dance the night away. It really was a night to remember; just dancing with good friends and laughing about the creepers we would send each other's way.
With Kevin and Melody
My other half in Taiwan <3
Oh, Thibaut...
Thursday, I finished up my final two classes: Land Use and Urban Development and American Sports History. After I submitted that last final, a huge weight was just lifted off of my shoulders.
As a snack, Melody and Albert invited us to have cheese and baguettes with them (so French, I know). The cheese was sooo good and now I'm not as afraid of the deli aisle in the grocery store haha. Well anyway, as soon as we finished eating, Melody and I ran upstairs to go get our aforementioned water guns :]. We turned the corner... and struck Thibaut. And boy, those were some of the most fun 10 minutes that I've had in a long time. He retaliated by throwing a cupful of water at us and we kept it going with water bottles and more cups of water. But not to worry, we cleaned up our mess as best we could. :D (And the story's not over yet)
After our water fight, we got dried up and got ready to go to KTV (karaoke). It was just a small group; Melody, Thibaut, Kevin, Iris, Madi, Joanna and me. What's fun about KTV is that we are all in a our own private room with a big TV, two microphones and a books with our music selections. Unfortunately, the English song selection at this particular KTV was not very extensive, but in the end, we had a perfect number of songs to sing during a 3 hour period. We sang everything from Disney classics to some good 'ole Backstreet Boys, from French songs to a few Chinese songs we learned in class, Lady Gaga to Celine Dion. It was a great, musically filled night. :]
On Friday, I woke up early to say goodbye to Albert (from France). Two hours later, we met up for a goodbye breakfast for Sarah before she left for Hong Kong. We said our goodbyes and see you laters to Sarah and Shirley (from the Netherlands). I hope to see Sarah again if she comes up to Chicago this Winter Break or next year over summer vacation :]. And I hope to see Shirley when (not if) I go to Paris to visit Melody and Thibaut. :] Anyway, the rest of that Friday was pretty much spent writing postcards to friends that I had made and a card for Melody and packing up my room, which definitely took a much longer time than I had anticipated.
Later that night, we had Thibaut's last dinner in Taipei, and our last meal together as a group. We all went out on our own to get food from our favorite local places and then ate together in the 2nd floor kitchen area. It was a nice and peaceful meal until...
We decided to continue our war from the night before. Knowing that Thibaut was going to retaliate, Melody and I also bought cans of silly string to fight back with. So after dinner, the battle began again. After being slightly sprayed by silly string, Thibaut ran away. We thought that he had run downstairs into the lobby, so we waited in front of his room on the 2nd floor. What he didn't know was that he was actually in the 2nd floor laundry room filling up a plastic bag with water. Next thing we knew, he was running down the hallway with that bag and Melody and I ran like the wind. I was halfway up the spiral staircase in the kitchen when he threw the bag at me. Wow, was my dress wet. So then I ran back down the stairs and he ran into his room. So we decided to decorate his door with silly string, and he came out with some manly smelling shaving cream. And boy, he got me. Good. And I smelled like a boy, even after my much-needed shower. So sadly, the Frenchman won the war, although the memories of the battles were totally worth it.
After cleaning and getting cleaned up, the four of us went out to go play pool for one last time. Kevin still kicked our butts, although technicalities gave each team (France vs. USA) a default win. We laughed, trash talked, and I couldn't help but think how lucky we were to have met and gotten to know each other. But I'll talk about this on a later post. Anyway, after a few hours of pool, we headed back to I-House.
French team :]
Girls Team!
Boys Team :]
Saturday was a day that I was dreading; not only would it be my last day in Taipei, but it was also the day that Thibaut was leaving. Melody and I went with him to grab lunch at Subway and then we waited in the lobby for him to get his room checked out. And then, it happened. We all said our goodbyes, although I sincerely hoped that it was just a "see you later". We hope to all reunite within the next 3 to 5 years, hopefully in Paris :]. After a kind of sad lunch with Melody and Kevin, I pretty much spent the rest of the day packing. I didn't want to go to sleep in fear that I won't wake up on time, so I vowed to stay up all night. In between bursts of packing, I would go over to Melody's to hang out for a bit. For about an hour or so while we all exchanged pictures that were on our hard drives, Melody and I used an application on her computer to take some goofy pictures. It was hilarious and we had some great laughs. At around midnight, the three of us went into the movie room to watch Captain America, which I pretty much slept through. After the movie, we said goodbye to Kevin, but I hope that since he lives just a few hours away, I'll be seeing him again.
With Melody and Jennifer at House Restaurant... our last dinner together! :[
Melody, Jennifer, Huy, Vicki, Harry and me
Group picture!
It's supposed to be a TW for Taiwan :]
My other half :]
With Vicki and Melody
Madi and Melody
And the craziness begins...
We were trying to point to Taiwan lol
The flight to Narita was short and sweet and the 3 hours in Narita airport were alright. They had a lot of stores to browse through :]. The 12 hour flight back to Chicago were soo long, and I'm pretty sure I only slept for 2 or 3 of those 12 hours, but it's alright. Still trying to catch up now :]. In the end though, my parents were there to pick me up from the airport and we went to eat Lou Malnati's pizza... mmmm how I've missed 'American' food.
Since this is a long post already, I'll have another one dedicated to my reflections about the past 5 months. I still need some time to really process all that's happened and how I feel about it all.
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