Let's end with a recap, Vol. II
The date is December 31st, 2023, and once again, it is time for a recap.
Early January
The first meal of the year, at my favourite brunch restaurant in Hualien.
Story time at the Ji-An Library, featuring a surprise appearance by the county chief.
The Fulbright mid-year conference. It was held at a spa resort with lots of large dinosaurs. I still have its sticker on the back of my phone.
My co-teacher Alex invited me to a Chinese New Year celebration at his parent's house. His wife, sister, and niece prepared a great vegetarian feast for me.
The lantern festival in Hualien. I visited with my housemates on the second day of Chinese New Year.
A Trip to the South (Late January)
The Fun Red Bridge at Donghe, Taitung.
Taitung on the first night. I met my housemate Nick at a teahouse overlooking the city.
The Zhiben Forest, a peaceful stop on the way out of Taitung.
The tourist market at Duoliang Station.
My hostel at Kenting was located in a hamlet along the sea.
The coral woods at Kenting National Forest.
The view from the observatory tower at Kenting National Forest.
Eluanbi Park, near the southernmost point of Taiwan. It had a white lighthouse and some odd sculptures.
The Lover's Rock at Eluanbi Park.
Maobitou peninsula. The rock really does look like a cat!
The Life of Pi beach, which I hung out at for like five minutes.
Coastal highlands near Jialeshui Park.
My phone died and I got lost in the fields of Meinong. Some friendly farmers helped point me in the right direction. That evening, at the inn, I had some strange dreams.
The Southern Cross-Island Highway. An angry driver cursed at me for stopping in the middle of the road to take this photo.
The sea of clouds at Yakou Pass, the apex of the Southern Cross-Island Highway.
The fog-shrouded bearded moss trees as I descended the highway into Chishang.
Lovely Dapo Pond at Chishang.
Sixty Stones Mountain. The road there is treacherous, and there aren't any daylillies in winter.
A Trip with an American Friend (February)
It was raining in the Houtong Cat Village, but we still saw many cats.
The Shifen waterfall was much bigger than I thought it would be.
I visited Da'An Park on my own. The metro station is the nicest in all of Taipei.
We went to Beitou, but didn't get to soak in any of the hot springs.
The International Book Expo happened to be taking place in Taipei, so of course we paid a visit.
The Pinxi Sky Lantern Festival. Hundreds of orange lanterns floating up into the air at once made for a magical sight. The large rabbit-shaped lantern got stuck in a tree and burst into flames.
We visited the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas in Kaohsuing, but sadly they were both closed.
I climbed down the steps of the embassy to the ruins of an old fort by the sea and watched the ships enter and leave the port. This was the moment when Kaohsuing became one of my favourite cities in Taiwan.
We rented scooters and rode to the Fo Guang Shan Monastery on the outskirts of town. The founder of the monastery had died a few days before, so there were a lot of people mourning there.
The view of Kaohsuing from the lighthouse. The colorful houses remind me a bit of San Francisco.
The Magical Months (February - April)
The first week of the new semester, a little gift for the teachers from the principal.
On almost every Thursday night, I had dinner at the small Tai Chang Night Market. Many of my students, who lived in the area, would come with their parents to eat.
Aunt Ming and her husband took me to the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Xinyi District, Taipei.
Spending an afternoon with Uncle Winston and some Yilan ETA friends at Taichung Park during 2/28 break was the GOAT.
Later, still during 2/28 break, I visited my good friend Anna in Keelung for one day, and fulfilled my cinephile dream of walking on the Zhongshan Bridge from Milennium Mambo.
Keelung is such a cute little city. Spending time there with a good friend made me happy.
Heping Geopark in Keelung, with many interesting rock formations.
The view from Jiufen, which we visited for around thirty minutes. I really can't overstate how magical that day in Keelung was. The weather was sunny and bright, the sky and ocean bright blue.
I went on some smaller solo adventures around Hualien in March. First up was Fuyuan National Forest, located in the south of the county.
The view from the suspension bridge at Fuyuan National Forest.
Driving along the Suhua Highway to Nan'an. The weather was perfect, the sea sparkling, and almost no one else was on the road.
My first visit to the Mugu Muyu, only thirty minutes from Tai Chang Elementary School. I spent a good thirty minutes perched atop a boulder, watching the water glide past.
Little treats in the teacher's office from Teacher Su Qiong. She and the other teachers at the school were so good to me.
Some of the fifth grade students, visiting the English classroom during lunch period. Getting to teach the fun, bright, and curious students at Tai Chang was the highlight of my time in Taiwan, and the greatest honour of my life so far.
Craggly Hehuanshan East Peak, towering over 3,000 meters tall. I visited during the Tomb Sweeping Day break in early April. The winding road through the mountains was completely covered in fog when I first got there; needless to say, driving through was a terrifying yet thrilling experience. On later days, like this one, the weather cleared up, revealing crisp and stunning views of central Taiwan.
Over the spring, I helped out (along with Teacher Su Qiong, Teacher Clare, and Teacher Alex) in preparing the students for the Hualien English Singing Competition. They worked very hard and were awarded an 'A' grade for their performance of "A Little Love" by Fiona Fung.
Shakadang Valley, especially lush in the spring. It became a familiar favourite for me during the year I spent in Hualien.
One day after school, I spontaneously attempted to river trace the Shapodang River. A little bit dangerous in retrospect, but a small adventure that I still treasure. Afterwards I ate rice noodles at a newly-opened Vietnamese restaurant by my apartment.
The School Year Winds Down (May - June)
A view from the school in early May.
Going to a baseball exhibition game in Hualien with some other Hualien ETAs. Most of the crowd seemed more interested in the cheerleaders than the game.
I often ate dinner at the vegetarian restaurant five minutes away from my apartment. Simple comfort food.
I got to see my students perform at the Hualien Indigenous Auditorium in a Friday night show with several other elementary schools.
The Zhuilu Old Trail redux, this time with some good Hualien ETA friends -- Amelia, Isabel, and Chloe. The weather was foggy, lending the cliffs a mysterious splendour. Special thank you to Amelia, Isabel, and Chloe for pointing out that this used to be a picture of pasta rather than Taroko.
Jade Mountain National Park, by Yuli.
I finally made it to Yangmingshan National Park in late May.
On the same Yangmingshan trip, I also explored a few areas in New Taipei City, including the Bitan Bridge.
A baby bird that Teacher Su Qiong helped to rescue.
Tim, Nick, and I went to Taichung to see Nick's old family friend Winston, a professor at the medical school. Such a good time.
In June, the weather became very humid. Inspired by my housemate Alyssa, I would sometimes go to the Shapodang River to take an after-school dip.
I was unbearably sad to say goodbye to my sixth graders, so I drowned my sorrows by scootering all the way to Yilan. The natural marvels there, like Tofu Cape, helped to soothe my troubled heart.
The feel-good Italian restaurant in Hualien, where I went many-a-time over the spring and summer. They had free black tea and creamy corn soup with unlimited refills.
The Papaya River, Tongmen Village, and Mount Qilai as seen from the bridge on highway 9C. It is a view that I will never forget.
Leaving school, for the last time. A place with so many great memories. If I go back, the building may be the same, but the students will be different -- the older ones will have graduated, the younger ones will have quickly grown up. There will never be another year like the one where I taught at Tai Chang.
July
Back in Macau for the first time since the pandemic. My aunt hosted me and took me around town.
A walk with my eldest uncle in the Portugese gardens.
I ate some simple yet happy vegetarian lunches with my aunt in Macau.
I then went to Chengdu to see my good friend Jazz. One of the places we went to was Chunxi Street, a busy shopping area.
An old bridge by the Chengdu river.
The pandas looked so happy in their natural habitat.
We joined a tour group to Jiuzhaigou National Park. One of the first places we saw Bamboo Arrow Lake.
A waterfall at Jiuzhaigou National Park.
Five Flower Lake at Jiuzhaigou National Park.
No shortage of waterfalls in Jiuzhaigou.
The magnificent pools at Huanglong scenic area.
Spicy skewers in Leshan. We also saw the big buddha very briefly.
Dujiangyan dam, which I ventured to on a solo trip. One of the most memorable places I saw all year.
A five-course vegetarian meal on my final night in Sichuan. Big thank you to Jazz for putting up with my antics for ten days and for showing me around.
Back in Taiwan, I took a few farewell trips to Taroko National Park.
Maokong, during my final trip to Taipei of 2023. I went there to see Aunt Ming and her husband before leaving Taiwan.
The most magnificent sunset at Tamsui.
Final lunch with Aunt Ming and her husband at the Eslite super-bookstore in Xinyi. It closed down last week.
After coming back from Taipei, I went to Tainan with Teacher Clare, the music teacher. We saw the big collection of violins at the Chimei Museum and ate some delicious ramen.
Last dinner at my favorite restaurant in Hualien.
There was a typhoon in Hualien during the last week of July. On Thursday, the storm began to break, and I paid a visit to Beibin.
Goodbye (for now) to the friendly vegetarian breakfast cafe down the road.
Teacher Alex and his wife Grace prepared a grand vegetarian feast on my last full day in Taiwan.
Back to the U.S.
I came back to mom's house in Sacramento, and we took a family trip along the California coast. It reminded me a little bit of Hualien...
The Warner Brothers studio tour in Burbank. Great idea, mom!
A quick trip to Yosemite with dad and brother.
My new neighbourhood in L.A. Relatively peaceful and out-of-the-way, just the way I like it.
Mom and I went to Eagle Falls on my birthday. We had a conversation with a wise man named Bill, who was 89 years old.
The view from my new office in downtown is better than I could have imagined.
I saw Dudamel conduct Shostakovich's cello symphony at the beautiful Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The malls in the valley get so crowded during the weekend.
My first time visiting Griffith Park.
Dinner with family at a lobbyist restaurant in downtown Sacramento for Thanksgiving eve.
One reason I'm glad to be back in the U.S. is because I can go on drives with my brother. We went to this mountain stream over Thanksgiving break.
I went back to Claremont for a haircut in December and saw the sunset atop Sunset Peak.
The week after, I walked on a path through the San Simeon Hills. The Santa Ana winds were brutal that day, but the rock formations and views at the top were incredible.
Mom cooked pad thai on the last day of Christmas break.
In the Final Analysis
Well, what more is there really to say? It was a year that took me to many new and exciting places. I went all over Taiwan during the Chinese New Year's break in January and February, and then settled into Hualien for the second semester of school. In late February, March, April, I really hit my stride both as a teacher and as a foreigner living in Taiwan. I introduced more games, new types of homework assignments, and interactive speaking activities to the classroom, and the students (as well as my co-teacher and teaching advisor) responded positively. Speckled in there in April was an all-time great scooter trip to Hehuanshan. May and June, I will admit, my teaching was less successful; I got a little bit complacent, some of my new ideas flopped, and the sixth graders (eager for their graduation) became harder to motivate. Yet as far as the school year goes, the best was really saved for last. My students showed great improvement on the final exams. I was (and still am, even now) delighted and proud at the strides that they made, both in terms of shyer students becoming outstanding participants in class as well as students who were struggling at the beginning of the year working hard to push their exam scores into the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
July and August were bridge months. July was a strange feeling, because I was still in Taiwan yet not a teacher anymore. In the beginning of the month, I did a flurry of traveling beyond Taiwan, going to Macau and then Sichuan. It feels proper that I went to Taiwan, so that I could see my family and visit the grave of my grandmother. And while in Sichuan, I always had the feeling that I was among one of the world's most influential and storied cultures. In the latter part of the month, I returned to cute little Taiwan, and said farewell to various places and people. Yet there were still new surprises and experiences there as well. It was really a storybook ending to a year that will always have a most special place in my heart. In August, I had to adjust to being back in the U.S. again, which was much harder than I expected. I went on a few nice trips with family, but to be honest my heart wasn't entirely in it; it was still in Taiwan. It was really great to see my family after so long, though; Taiwan sometimes felt a little bit lonely in this regard. At the end of the month I drove down south and set up shop in a cozy corner of the San Fernando Valley.
The launch into my new job in September and October was a bit underwhelming. First, because I was still clearly feeling the wake of the excitement in Taiwan (and I still am). Second, because the office was a new, unfamiliar environment; it was humbling to be the new, inexperienced kid on the block, especially after commanding classrooms full of children in my previous stop. November, work picked up considerably, and in December I feel like I have gained my bearings a bit more. Some of the projects at work have been very interesting. So ultimately, the end of 2023 leaves me five months removed from a year of adventures abroad. It would be a lie to say that I'm ending the year at a peak; on some days I really wish that I was still in Taiwan. However, I think that in the past month or so I have begun to arrive at a place of quiet optimism for what lies ahead. The journey continues, and there are some exciting things in the works for 2024. And there are probably many more exciting things I can't yet foresee.