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Kaliméra!

If someone asked me what my favourite colour is, I would say the colour of the Parthenon stone at sunset.   patriciaizquierdomaldonado

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Amazing Travel

Amazing Taiwan

by Julia McCoy

I touched down in Taipei at 8PM, a little worse for wear from a nearly 14-hour flight. In my travels thus far, both for school and for fun, I had yet to visit Asia, and the first two hours did nothing to impress me. It was dark, it was rainy, and I was thoroughly car sick by the time I arrived at the hostel where we were to spend the next week-and-a-half. Maybe it’s just another city, I thought, as the front desk assistant explained the nuances of key cards, maybe it’ll just be another class location. It wasn’t until I arrived at my room on the fifteenth floor and opened my curtains that I understood: the view was spectacular. People can identify major cities worldwide from night photographs of their skyline, and though my view was from inside the city itself, it may well have been a postcard photo for the impression it made upon me. A lazy river, elegant suspension bridge, and a steady stream of tail and headlights on the right, an industrial district with only a smattering of lights like fireflies, and, in the far distance, a Ferris wheel. No two nighttime cityscapes are the same, and I fell asleep excited to see the city in the daylight.

            Three days later, with everyone settled in, Taipei begins to feel like an education, rather than vacation. New faces come together as students from two differentLIU Global Centers, plus a few stragglers, meet and begin to compare notes. Have you had this professor before? Where did you spend your Winter break? Do you speak enough Mandarin to order me a bubble tea? What’s the best subway system you’ve been on? That last question is popular; in my personal opinion, Taipei is currently tied with Berlin, since they are equally spotless. We are all thrilled for the two classes we will be beginning here: Ethnic Minorities in China, taught by Professor Liu Wei, and Topics in Chinese Society and Change, taught by Dale Albanese. Most of our daily events are focused on Dale’s class, though we receive lectures in both. I find myself waking early again, a change from my habit at home, simply because I am so thrilled to begin my day. I also rise early to catch the free breakfast, complete with fresh juice. That’s something many students miss when they return to the States from the Global Centers, how much fresher the food tastes.

            Though the food in Taipei is no exception, it is often the least exciting part of our busy days. Each day we are introduced to truly amazing people and visit impressive sites. One day we have lunch in the Legislative Yuan with KMT Legislator Jason Hsu, a charming man who tells us of his fight for marriage equality in Taiwan. The next afternoon, we are having a lively discussion on activism and politics with Brian Hioe, the editor of Taiwan’s independently published English-language magazine New Bloom. At night we are visiting the theater to view the subversive, emotional animated film On Happiness Road; later, I enjoy hot pot for the first time with my class as we compare how many times the movie made us cry. Left to our own devices, we wander through the exhilaratingly busy night market and eat every iteration of street food we can find. To my knowledge, no one had the courage to try the stinky tofu, though Dale promised us it tastes better than it smells. We rode the subway all the way out to the zoo and eschewed the animal attractions for the scenic gondola, riding it to the top of a lush mountain and rewarding ourselves with afternoon tea. Some nights, we stayed in and read, passing out at 9PM from sheer exhaustion. Every day was an adventure, but one, in particular, stands out.

            In preparation for writing this, I consulted with many of my classmates. I wanted to know their fondest memories, and their takeaways, and even their frustrations. I found that all anyone wanted to talk about was Yilan; if I’m being honest, it’s all I wanted to talk about either. So much happened that day, it took three of us to piece it together. Yilan is a county in Northeastern Taiwan. That morning, Dale woke us up at a rather unpleasant hour, herded us onto a bus, and acted as our hype man all the way to the Lanyang Museum. There, we were free to wander as we learned about the flora, fauna, tribes, history, and industry of the area. From the interactive displays to the lovely pier where we discussed our impressions and ate cherry tomatoes from a nearby stand, the hours flew by. Before we knew it, we were whisked away to a beautiful temple filled with rather intimidating carvings. Dale entreated us to dry a favorite local treat of his, a small crepe filled with vanilla ice cream, shaved peanut brittle, and cilantro for the brave. We meandered over a hill and down to the beach as we waited for dinner. I have found in my years here that, for many Global students, learning is most effective when punctuated by breaks in nature; as we tugged off our shoes and ran onto the beach, I thought I heard a collective sigh. I certainly heard one when it was time to leave, but dinner turned out to be well worth it. Now, when I think of a seafood restaurant in the U.S., I imagine that they have sides and alternatives to go with the main fare. This endless family-style meal had absolutely nothing but seafood, seafood, seafood. At this point, I was regretting my personal pledge at the start of the trip to try everything, but I am not a quitter. That night, I ate at least one bite of every dish on the table: fish intestines, whole squid, cuttlefish sausage, and so much more. As we all loosened our belts, I think we assumed there was no way to top the day we had just had.

            Every single person I asked said, unequivocally, that the after-dinner entertainment was the best part of the entire Taipei segment. It was the epitome of the Global experience, in that we learned more from this incredible experience, and generated more critical thought, than a three-hour lecture in a traditional classroom setting could ever replicate. That night, we attended a performance of the Paper Windmill Theatre. Founded in 1992, their many troupes travel the length of Taiwan, and sometimes further, bringing free theater to the children of small towns. They are funded by corporate donors and sponsorships and strive to bring artistic engagement to kids and their families who would otherwise not access is. The performance was engaging, innovative, and downright thrilling. Children from babies to preteens filled the audience with their parents; the director informed us later that 500 children were present that night, over half of the youth population in the entire town. They had acrobats, clowns, and a multilingual witch. There were funny skits, moral skits, and an entire five minutes of the audience throwing giant pool toy animals around. Though none of it was in English, I had only to look over my shoulder to see my classmates faces and know that they were enthralled. The grand finale involved the innovative use of pool noodles and a blacklight; incredibly low budget, but it will stick with me for the rest my life.

            The reflection conversation the class had that night was Global College in its purest form. We spoke with passion, we asked a thousand questions, and each of us left with a burning desire to keep learning. It was all of these experiences that made our Taiwan trip distinct, an exhausting but perfect start to a semester in China. As the plane took off to ferry us to Hong Kong, I knew that, although we were all sad to go, those two weeks were only the beginning to our next Global adventure.