Taiwan has been awesome, Kaohsiung is the city where Kalie lives and where we've been spending most of our time. I've been busy hanging out with Kalie and getting to do some fun things. I got comfortable using the scoot after a few times out and its awesome. A couple times that Kalie had to work, i went with her and took the scoot out on adventures! It was so fun roaming about. Life here is very different from Korea. I think it's easier to live here because things are more normal to us. For instance, people aren't all about image here, they dress very causally and they all ride scoots which leaves no ones hair looking fantastic. They eat a lot healthier, don't put spicy red pepper paste on everything like Korea, and they drink a ton of tea rather than coffee, you see a lot more people out exercising. It's also more English friendly, more people speak English including older people.
It's a pretty fun spot that Kalie's living in here. She's super happy about life here and even just acquired a cat named shou-me from one of her students (the brother was allergic). It's very nervous right now but I think she'll come around soon. Kalie's boyfriend Kris cooks for her all the time which is awesome. He loves to cook, she loves to eat! I'm getting fat hanging out with those two... Haha.
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| The National Science Museum - it's next to Kalie's school. |
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| Kalie's school for Halloween |
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| Yoyo - this kid gives Kalie a headache! |
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| Best costume! |
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| Camera Street |
A few cool things that we have done around town is go to a festival at lotus pond, a very traditional area. We hung out there, walked around the lake, ate some street food and drank some yummy iced tea. We went to an island where we took the scoot on the ferry and looked around the island. It was small but cool. We also went to monkey mountain right by the ocean, it was fun to see the monkeys in the trees hanging out in their own habitat. I had such a great time in Taiwan with Kalie and want to go back already!
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| The scoot lane! |
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| Iced Tea Shop! |
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| Lotus Pond |
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Crazy little monkey - while we were driving, one flew across the street and landed on a unsteady branch and almost hit Kalie's head. It was quite comical!
The drive through monkey mountain - very pretty!
Scooting around!
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Kalie and I spent our Saturday together going to the Alishan National Forest located in the middle of the country. It took a while to get there. A little less than 2 hours of a train ride then a two our bus ride through the mountain. The bus ride claimed to be scenic and pleasant but it was rough. It was very scenic going through the mountains and seeing all the lovely oolong tea fields but we got the worse bus driver who I swear almost threw us off the cliff. He was very jerky and aggressive. Both Kalie and I were dying, it wasn't just us ever. Two Taiwanese people threw up. Once we got to the forest it was good though. It was very pretty and smelled amazing. It was a very fun trip, and although it was long to get there it was every entertaining because we just chatted the whole time.
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| Tea fields on the drive up the mountain! |
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At Alishan National Forest
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| Teppanyaki! |
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| Shou-mi - Kalie's new cat |
I'm now off to my next adventure. Next on the list is Australia. I just got word that I'll be working at a hotel/pub in the middle of nowhere outback! It's the last stop on the railway line. It's a very small town called Cunnamulla - should be quite the adventure. I'll be there by Wednesday next week, there are a lot of events going on there and they are in need of help! Before I go, I will be spending time in Brisbane and a weekend in Rainbow Beach. I'll post when I can!
