Mason's Top 10!

Holy moley guys do I have lots of blogging to catch you up on! In the past 14 days I had not only my dragon boat races and a long weekend, but also one of my longtime friends came to visit, I logged a good 35 miles of walking during a weekend at Taroko Gorge, and I took a quick hop, skip, & a jump and landed in Tokyo for a short trip!

I'll start with Mason and fill you in on the rest over the next couple days (ok, and maybe after a nap or 2 as well!)

Top 10 of Mason's visit {if you know me well at all you probably know of Mason as well lol. We started at St. Pat's in kindergarten together and were in the same class for 9 years though 8th grade and we've stayed close ever since!)

The top 10 of Mason's trip:

{10}

I finished Chinese class!

So this probably isn't on any of Mason's top 10 list for his 10 days here, but it was such a relief / sense of accomplishment / pat on the back / and stress off my back to finish my second class. Am I fluent, haha NOT EVEN CLOSE! Can I introduce myself, tell you a little about me, order food and give my taxi driver directions; heck yes I can!

{9}

Night markets galore

If you've been reading my blog for more than 5 minutes you know that I LOVE food and have fallen head over heals in love with the night markets here in Taiwan. So, naturally, when Mason came to visit, I had to give him the tour...I think we made it to night markets 4 different days while he was here...no shame, no shame!

{8}

Meeting my friends!

It worked out perfectly that Ruth's birthday was during dragon boat weekend and she decided to postpone celebrating until we were all back in town. So, lucky Mason {hmm I don't know if he considers this lucky or not lol} got to spend an evening hanging out with and meeting my little Taiwan family that has helped to make this first year abroad absolutely unforgettable!

{7}

We pigged out for 10 days.   

Haha, if I think I can put down food, Mason beats me, about 10 fold...so needless to say, between the 2 of us, we did some major eating while he was here! Lucky for both of us they only weigh your luggage when you leave and not the rest of you as well! ;) Mason had his list, and I'm not sure that we left any Taiwan dishes on his list un-touched.

{6}

Mason's birthday

Not that this was necessarily in the plans, but it worked out PERFECT! Mason got to spend his 27th birthday here in Taiwan {shout out to Josh for my 1st visitor also having their birthday over here!} Although I had to work Mason did not and decided to spend his day in Taipei. I met him in Taipei after work and we spent the evening climbing Elephant Mountain and stuffing ourselves full with dumplings from Din Tai Fung!

{5}

6th grade graduation (times 2)

My babies are gone. Both Xinfeng and Fu Long held 6th grade graduations while Mason was here. We graduated around 150 students at Xinfeng and 8 from FuLong and I'm not sure it will ever matter how many years you teach, telling your students goodbye at the end of every school year is always an emotional roller coaster.

{4}

Elephant mountain 

As mentioned above, Mason and I climbed Elephant Mountain for his birthday and as always, the views were BREATH-TAKING! They have to be hands down the best views you can get of Taipei and to make matters even better we were there around twilight time giving us an amazing lighting show as the sun slowly slipped behind the buildings.

{3}

Dragon boat races & Dragon boat after party

Due to some unforeseen circumstances I was unable to row on competition day for the dragon boat races, but it worked out for the better as I was able to pick Mason up, watch the races leisurely {aka go home when the temperatures reached 450 degrees!} and take quick naps before heading to the "after party". What a way to throw Mason into Taiwan on his first night here. 100 Taiwanese people in a small rented room eating, drinking, and celebrating to their hearts content and handing out awards to anyone with 2 legs that could blink an eye...needless to say I received an award!

{2}

Hiking Taroko

The way the days worked Mason was only actually here one weekend, BUT, I didn't have school Thursday & Friday prior so we had a 4 day weekend to explore! After the races Thursday we left to Hualian Friday morning and spent our day exploring the city of Hualian. Saturday we headed up to Taroko Gorge where we proceeded to walk 15+ miles through the gorgeous landscape! Sunday we took it easy and found a small Cathedral for mass and then headed to check out the ocean before calling it a day and catching dinner in Taipei at the Shillin Night Market. 

{1}

One of my longest time friends made it to Taiwan

I knew heading to Taiwan for a year that I was guaranteed one visitor; I knew Mason and his love for all things travel would make it out and he didn't prove me wrong. Our 21 years of friendship have literally taken us to the other side of the world and back now! Thanks so much for the visit and the memories Mason!!!

2 Days in Brussels

H.o.l.y cow! What a whirlwind of a spring break! 10 days, 6 cities, 2 countries, and a lifetime of memories to take home {but seriously, that all I’m taking home other than some crumpled train tickets at the bottom of all my pockets}.

Being a teacher definitely has its perks, one being spring break; and when my students go on vaca, this teacher isn’t going to leave hers behind either! Thanks to the website Scott’s Cheap Flights, I was able to score tickets to Belgium’s capital city Brussels for about half the price that they typically are, and from there the train tickets, hostel stays, and daily planning spun out of control! ;)

I traveled the week post Easter beginning on Good Friday, March 30 and home again on Sunday, April 8...10 glorious days exploring Belgium & France at my own leisurely pace!

Day 1: Brussels
Landed in Brussels airport EARLY Saturday morning and hung around a bit to catch up with my friend Justin and his dad and sister who were stopping in Belgium for a mere 40ish hours. Once we found each other we grabbed a train and headed downtown. They opted for nap time, but I wanted to start getting aquatinted with the city {and by aquainted I mean I needed to find some waffles}. I had booked us a free walking tour for early afternoon but it still left me with about 3 hours to walk around, check out some sights, and get my first waffle!

In 3 hours I managed to check out on foot the Grand Place, St Nicholas & St. Michales churches, GIRL PEE, the galleries of St. Hubert, and of course some taste testing! After their nap I met up with Justin & family for our free Sandeman's Walking Tour {highly recommended throughout Europe} in the Grand Place. Our nearly 3 hour walking tour checked out some of the same areas I had already seen along with the Town Hall, Manneken Pis, The Stock Exchange, The Royal Square, and the comic art scene, and explained exactly what all we were seeing as well as giving us time to sample our 1st Belgian beer....day 1 was shaping up to be pretty great!

Afterwards we grabbed dinner at a tavern our guide had recommended sampling Carbonade, a typical Belgian beef & beer stew. We finished our night off with several more beer tastings, including a trip to Delirium tavern (an overpopulated popular but must-see bar in Brussels) and a night visit to the Grand Place. Goodnight Belgium, I can’t wait to see what other adventures we have in store for each other!

Day 2: Brussels

Happy Easter!

2016 I spent Easter in Taiwan, 2017 I was in Brazil, 2018 I had to make great, so Belgium it was!

Before even leaving the US I had picked out St. Michaels Cathedral in downtown Brussels for Easter mass at 11am. I got there around 10:40 and was a little worried to see a previous mass going on with low attendance and only a few people waiting around for the 11am mass. I figured it just must not be an important part of Easter for the locals to go to mass. 11am hit though and instantly the Church was PACKED with standing room only (and I snagged a spot up front!) The mass was said in French, and in conjunction with the trumpet and organist, the mass was absolutely beautiful! 

After mass I ventured on the metro to go check out a couple of sights outside of the downtown area {truly most of this was doable in one day} including the Porte de Halle (remains of a city wall), Church of Notre-Dame Du Finistere, and the famous Atomium structure. Next up was Parc Elizabeth (this park is a good half a mile long!) along with the beautiful Koekelberg church in the park as well talking my time and walking leisurely soaking in all the sights and sounds Belgium had to offer me!

Around dinner time Justin, his family and I met back up, and with recommendations from a flight attendant, we headed to a local upscale restaurant where I sampled the Carbonade once more and excellent food was had by all!

After dinner we walked around enjoying the lights of the Grand Place with waffles in hand with a good, && very well deserved, night’s sleep just ahead :)

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Taiwan Public Transportation}

Oh transportation options in Taiwan...what a love hate relationship we have! I can never claim that I can't get somewhere on this tiny island (the amount of time it might take to get there...well that's another story!) We truly do have about every option of public transportation that you can imagine available here!

We will start with the most common/basic and work our way out from there!

Taxi: Who doesn't love a good taxi ride?! You get to get into a car with a strange man and give him directions in the dice-est Chinese he's probably ever heard all the while patting yourself on the back knowing I couldn't have done much more than point 6 months ago lol. We have 2 types of taxis here, the typical yellow guys and then the private cars (think along the lines of Uber). Most taxis here start their meters at 100NT ($ 3.22 USD) and then add to that depending on  the distance you travel.
Convenience: 10  /  Price Point: Not so hot! (ok maybe a 4)

Train: How I love the trains in Taiwan! Where I live (maybe 8 minutes from the station) I never have to wait more than 15 or 20 minutes for the next train in either direction and more often than not they are good about being on time (although a 3 or 4 minute delay is sometimes expected!) They might not be the fastest route for traveling across the island, but within my county they can take me just about anywhere. We have both local trains (they stop at every train stop possible) and express trains (skipping the littlest of the stops and shaving off precious time) but there's almost always also a seat available! One learning experience about the trains (and other public transit systems here) is the use of 2 colors of seats to signal who can sit where. Typically the blue seats are open for anyone while the purple seats are reserved for the elderly, pregnant, or handicapped. The train can be packed with people standing and they still honor those seats, it's heartwarming to see!
Convenience: 8 /  Price Point: 8

Bus: Ugh, the buses! We've got a tough love hate relationship with each other! When the buses are on time (Tory's quote "never on time, always late!") and their stop is CLEARLY marked they work like a breeze and are as cheap as you can get. BUT, I've had buses running 30 minutes late before, others refusing to stop and pick people up, and often times the stops are only located after consulting google maps and 17 random pedestrians! In their defense though...the buses truly do run just about everywhere!
Convenience: 3  /  Price Point: 10

HSR (High Speed Rail): The HSR is a bullet train of sorts that at top speed runs about 180mph (yeah that's my top speed to!) but alas is also the most expensive method of travel in this teeny island. There is currently 1 stop per county in each of the western counties and nothing along the east coast. Three more stops were recently added in December 2015, so I'm not positive is further expansion is in their future or not. The HSR is fast, obviously, but for some (myself included) it's not always the most convenient of transportation due to its location in my county. For some price comparison here, I can get from my house to Taipei in 1 hr & 20 min on the train and pay 80NT ($2.58 USD) or take the HSR and in 37 min (plus 25 min driving to the HSR station) pay 290 NT ($9.35 USD) and really only save me 15 minutes in the long run. It's honestly a toss up for  me to preference!
Convenience: 10/5 (speed/location)  /  Price Point: 1

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 

Although these are the forms of public transportation available in my town...Taiwan isn't finished dazzling you yet! Throughout Taipei and other counties we also have available:

- Subway

- Cable Cars

- Ferries

- Speed Boats

- Planes

- Taxi Scooters

-U-bike (bike rental)

So take your pick...what do you think you'd want to try out here?!

What Year Is It?

Happy New Year my friends!

I hope you rung in the new year with your friends and family and that your year is off to a good start! Let's see about this resolution deal...this year I resolve to travel more (I'm living in Taiwan...check!), eat more (check, check & check), and live each day to it's fullest (always...check!)  Well looks like those are all taken care of! ;)

Ok, but really, on a more serious note (or as serious as I can be) new year's eve this year was a blast! You might have read my previous post about the funky feeling some of these holidays have here in Taiwan {if not you can read it here} but you get enough crazies together and  you can't help but to have fun!

I had to work New Year's Eve day, but my director let me out of work early (score!) and so I ran home, finished packing, and jumped on the next train to Taipei. To my dismay though, that was the last time I was able to move for the next hour and a half...holy crammed buses! I made it to Taipei and headed to Tina's grandparents place to get ready and wait for the other girls. We had dinner reservations for 7 at a "hardcore Taiwanese restaurant" but man was it delicious!

After dinner we began combing the streets for THE perfect spot to watch the fireworks; no building, correct wind direction, places to sit...this was serious! We finally found a spot and settled in amongt the crowds of locals....and then the countdown began!

The firework show was fantastic, we popped our party poppers, sang Auld Lang Syne in the middle of the street, gave the best new year's hugs to each other, and partied our hineys off until 4am....I'd call it a successful night to remember! I'm still confused though...is it 2016 or 105 now?!

The next morning we didn't have school (hallelujah! only our 4th day off since August!) so a group of  us headed out in search of food & adventure. We found both, in the form of a Pizza Hut buffet & climbing Elephant Mountain. Oh the food {and the views!!}

By Sunday we were down from 5 girls to 2 (and then there were none!?!) so Tina and I, having covered most of the super touristy things IN Tapei, rode the metro to the end & boarded  a bus to the very northern tip of Taiwan with not much of a plan to speak of. Only in Taiwan though can you have "not much of a plan" and still see the ocean, walk through a rock bridge, accept a ride from a strange man in a van, & visit a 10 story tall dog  in a single afternoon!

Ok, I'll elaborate a bit! We decided to venture outside of Taipei and see what the northern countryside had to offer when we discovered a natural "rock bridge" on a map and decided to check it out. The bridge was really pretty and unique, but let's face it, you can only spend so much time looking at a rock bridge! We checked our maps again and found a temple boasting a 10 story dog statue about a mile up the road; we walked it. Upon getting to the spot on the map we can't see the dog anywhere (this is when we start thinking we are crazy! How does one lose a 10 story dog?!) We stopped at an electric plant and asked a guard who told us it was about another mile...up the mountain...ugh. We asked if he'd call a taxi and he insisted it would only take us 8 minutes (a mile up a mountain...I think not!) we decided to give it a shot  though. We made it about 6 feet from the guard when he called us back and told us to wait. Next thing we know, another worker pulls up in a company van and chauffeurs us to the front door of the temple, wishes us happiness, and leaves....only in Taiwan!

Breathtaking views walking down the mountain from dog temple

Quick stop && Kung Fu time in front of Chaing Kai-shek Memorial

Temple Trotting and Some R&R

Tuesday, February 9th

Sadly our trip is winding down, we've got 2 days left, and although my heart was happy, the rest of my body was starting to feel the affects of constant traveling (both walking as well as my lovely fall down the mountain!) and Tina and I dubbed our last 2 days in Thailand as ones of relaxation and taking it slow...perfect! {PS - if you need to catch up any or missed yesterday's post, you can check out Cambodian posts HERE and Thailand HERE!}

We slept in Tuesday morning for a bit and by this time we had hit all the must haves in Bangkok so it was a little easier to relax a bit and just pick up smaller adventures here and there as the opportunity presented itself. With that being said, our first stop of the morning was walking to a smaller temple called Wat Indra Viharn. The temple is believed to be almost 600 years old and one of it's main attractions (sadly not 600 years old!) is a Buddha statue that stands 105 feet tall and shadows many of the surrounding temple buildings at the site. This temple was a little odd, and sadly since it is not such a "big name temple" there were no English descriptions for anything. Off to the back was a green Buddha looking much like a giant gummy bear, near him was an area set up for people to receive hair cuts, and off to the side in another building was a deceased monk in what looked to be a glass coffin case. Again, like I said, I was really hoping for some descriptions to some of the things I saw here!

Leaving the temple we hopped on a river boat taxi for one last ride down the canals and headed back to our hotel...we had relaxation in mind! The night before Tina and I had decided that for our last night in Thailand we would splurge on a hotel room (splurging after spending no more than $10 a night on a room for the previous 2 weeks still doesn't equal a very expensive room though!). We had 2 must haves for our room and when we looked online for a room that was all we were concerned about; Tina wanted a comfy bed and I wanted an outdoor pool. Done and done, we booked our room and we couldn't be happier. Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon after leaving the temple, we went back to our hostels, ate a quick lunch, grabbed our luggage, checked out and headed for Dang Derm Hotel.

I would like to say check in was a breeze, but of course what fun is travel if you don’t have a couple hiccups in the way. We go to check in and have everything ready and the guy asks us to pay. I hand him my credit card and he says the hotel doesn’t take cards {how they accept an online booking fee is then beyond me!} Tina and I regroup, we start looking for another hotel in the area (it’s our last day and physical cash is running low) meanwhile, the guy is persistent that we have to pay in cash. After 10 minutes or so we tell him we’d like to cancel our reservation…suddenly everything changes “well, umm, I can try the credit card machine I guess but it doesn’t always work…” (funny how moments earlier he was claiming they had NO way of taking a card!) Well long story short they took the card and we got our room. We got to our room and in less than 15 minutes we had both assumed our positions; Tina in bed and me pool side…and life was good!

This was like a castle after 2 weeks of staying on bunkbeds in rooms with up to 10 other people!

After getting thoroughly pruney in the pool and sun kissed on the lounge chairs we headed out for dinner and stumbled upon a small shop that had an amazing green curry dish that I quickly scarfed down. After dinner we spent the evening getting Thai massages, eating scorpions (hey when the opportunity presents itself!) going for yet another swim around midnight and then as Tina called it a night I went for one last stroll through Kaosan Road before heading to bed relaxed, happy, and with a scorpion dancing in my belly!

Temple Procession - No Shame!

My time in Taiwan is complete, if you'd pull me out tomorrow I'd be happy...ok, I'm not REALLY ready to go home for the summer yet, but yesterday was something I've been looking forward to since I got here! I have a confession to make...I was creeping yesterday...hardcore...and I have no shame in what I've done!

This is what I began following

Ok I'll back up a bit, but please be prepared to be blown away! Yesterday, Sunday here, was a beautiful day and I chose to go check out the harbor in Hsinchu only about 15 minutes drive from my house, as I had yet to visit the area and wanted to see what all it held (side tangent, it was beautiful and I can' t wait to go back, rent bikes, and drive up and down the coast!) I left the harbor heading for church and planned to grab a quick dinner and then head across the street for mass at 6. I wasn't too far from church though when a man appeared in the middle of the road signaling to traffic to stop. I pulled off to the side of the road and tried to look ahead through traffic to see what was the hold up. To be honest I heard the drums and trumpets before I saw them and decided to shut off my scooter and sit and watch them pass by. Just a few feet before the procession should have passed me they turned right down a narrow road obstructing any view I once had.

I sat for a second and then thought...what the heck! I hopped off my scooter and began to follow the processional  {I mean I've got to figure out what's going on right?!!?} I walk with them a couple minutes down the road before they come to a standstill. There's a group of middle aged men all standing around (by this point they had put the god they were carrying down) chewing beetle nuts {think a grosser form of chewing tobacco} and drinking beer and were all quite intreagued by the lone foreign girl and were instant I have a drink with them...no thanks buddies!

We walked a bit further, with the guys picking up and carrying the bouncing god statue every time they moved, until I realized I was a decent ways away from my scooter...so I did what any good curious person would do; I walked back to my scooter and then drove it back to the processional parking only when the traffic got too bad to drive any further and then continued walking with them. I moved and parked my bike a good 3 or 4 times amounting to a solid hour of following these people and almost 3/4 of a mile covered by their processional.

[starting top left: 1. 10-12 foot god costumes 2. local men eager for a picture 3. a young boy dressed as a god 4. part of the area of the procession {look in the back, it keeps going!} 5. elderly woman & god 6.  firecrackers lining the road 7. myself and a large god 8. trumpets used during ritual dance 8. the "bouncing" gods]

Now on to the REALLY interesting stuff though! Guys, after an hour I still have no idea what I was seeing but I couldn't stop watching! There were so many local gods there. Some were on small bouncing platforms being carried by groups of 10-12 men, others were men dressed and painted to resemble warrior looking gods, and still others yet wearing costumes of 10-12 foot tall over sized gods. The entire time I walked there was a string of connecting firecrackers lining both sides of the street that they would lite with little to no warning, colored smoke being shot into the air, and 4-wheelers pulling drums and their drummers providing music for the whole ceremony.

[LOVE how these 3 pictures turned out! 1. god costumes waiting to be worn, the scenery was gorgeous!, and the sunset behind a dancing god]

Meanwhile, the "gods" were suiting up for the next leg of their procession while club music was ringing out from the group of drunk men behind me still carrying their bouncing god statues. I continued following them hoping to figure out where they were going {this puzzle was missing too many pieces lol} and saw they were heading to a small temple. Bingo! that had to be the end...or not! Each portion of the processional stopped in front of the temple, did a short dance or bowed, and then continued on down the road. I followed them for a while down a winding road taking pictures, having my picture taken, and responding to everyone hellos and where are you from's {of course all in Chinese lol} but still never found the end.

Next thing I knew it was 5:40 and my phone/gps was quickly dying. I said my goodbyes to my new found "friends" and headed on my way to church; laughing the whole way thinking off all the situations I find myself in. Until next time bouncy gods...keep on bouncing!

Exploring Kaohsiung, What a Place of Beauty!

Pronounced "GOW" (like cow with a g) "shung"
"GOW shung" {and they say Chinese isn't difficult! haha}

This past weekend we had a holiday (yes! I know, we just had one, BUT, I'm not complaining!) This time we had Friday off for 10/10, also know as Double 10 Day.  I didn't have any concrete plans in the books, so I thought what better weekend to check something off my bucket  list (I've always wanted to do this and when I found it was a possibility in Tawain...let's just say I'm shocked I had the willpower to wait 2 months!) I stated  to ask around and Kristin and Brody were fair game for a weekend full of "winging-it" in Kaohsiung.

Kaohsiung is near the south of Taiwan and takes about and hour and a half to reach by the High Speed Rail that runs along the western coast of the country. My weekend was off to a soggy start with having  a scooter as transportation during a nasty rainstorm, but a quick stop for a helmet shield, and I was on my soggy way!

  

When I met up with Kristin and Brody in Kaohsiung we had little planned other than a contact with a hostel owner that was willing to give us a couple bunks for $490 a night (hello $15.80 USD!!!) We found our hostel, (OK, no really...our hostel driver began driving his bike towards the station and found us and led us back to the hostel) settled in, and asked Jason, the hostel owner the easiest way to get the the nearby mountain. He pulled out a map and began giving us directions and then said never mind, I'll just take you {umm again....exactly why Taiwan is amazing haha}

So Jason drove us up the back side of the mountain and stopped at a little rest area on the side of the road. And guess what?!?! We got out of the car and saw.....MONKEYS. They were behind glass, or in a cage, or behind bars...they were real live monkeys, out in the wild, and SOooo close to me!! Kristin had a little scare when she got out of the car and a little guy came a little too close for comfort when he noticed she had food lol, but she quickly put here belongings back in the car and we began to get to know our new acquaintances 

I mean please, look at THIS!!!

Iceland's Golden Circle - Self Guided Tour

Oh Iceland, what have you done to me?! Who in their right mind leaves sunny 85º Ohio and heads to “summer” in Iceland with highs of 55º on a good day? I’m still not sure, but it only took 1 text from my Taiwan travel buddy Tina and a few hours in Iceland to convince me that I had most definitely made the right decision; this country is beyond captivating!!

Tina flew from Jersey and I from Ohio and we met bright and early around 8:30am at the Reykjavik airport in Iceland without a clue in the world what would come next! We grabbed our WiFi hotspot for the week from TraWire, headed to Sixt for our rental car, ran quickly into Bonus ( a local grocery chain) and we were on our way! Iceland Golden Circle, here we come!

The Golden Circle Iceland is a circular stretch of road around 3 hours long that is a popular tourist destination due to all the “Icelandic” things that lie along this loop including waterfalls, a geyser, continental faults, and much more. It is a common day trip for tourists who have only several hours as a layover in Iceland or whom don’t quite want to drive around the entire island (we defiantly had more than a couple of hours AND did drive the entire island...but still went for the Golden Circle as well!)

We were hardly 30 minutes outside of the city before we made our first impromptu, side of the road stop (1st of about 5,000 of these stops!) to see some Icelandic horses...little did we realize at the time that we wouldn’t be able to drive more than 20 minutes for the remainder of the trip without seeing more horses!

Horses aside, we made our way to Pingvellier National Park where we were greeted by large lava formations and an impressive continental divide that has created a small canyon through the middle of the rocks. We also checked out our first waterfall {Oxarafoss} of the trip (little did we know that this was only the first of 86 such falls that we would encounter over the next 10 days!). 

Our next stop around the circle was hiking to Brurfoss Waterfalls, I’m not sure if this is a common stop along the Golden Circle Route or not seeing as most other things were convenient “side of the road” type of stops and this was more of a “2.5 hour hike to the falls” type of stop. But, h.o.l.y m.o.l.y was it worth it {{I may have ended up with my boot in the mud up past my ankle, a sopping wet sock, and a Nikon camera lens face first in the mud…but lordy was it a fun time!}} On our hike back to the car we stopped by yet another field of horses for more pictures and imagine our surprise when 2 walked right up to us and let us pet them!!!

Our next pit stop included a late dinner in Haukadalur at the famous Stokkur Geyser along with of course watching the geyser shoot off several times, what a fun experience to watch! After a bit more driving our last stop was a 2-for-1 deal with checking out the Keio Crater along with experiencing our first night of Midnight Sun. The crater is a ginormous hole made from a magma chamber that collapsed and then filled with the bluest water I have ever seen! Midnight sun on the other had takes place in Iceland during the peak of summer when the sun doesn't set until 11pm and rises around 3am and leaves 4ish hours of dusk outside, never truly getting dark {{I didn't see it dark outside once during my 10 days in Iceland!}}. On this day we stopped at Keio Crater at 10:45pm and had no issues getting around or seeing anything!

A bit more driving for the night and we made it to our first VERY well deserved bed for the evening in Selfoss booked through AirBnB {click this link to save on your first stay with AirBnB}.

Day one in Iceland is officially in the books! Tired, sore, and ready for bed, but only with the happiest of minds!

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Class Schedules}

Class Schedules

 Class schedules here are a funky thing that I haven’t quite figured out! One thing that I am for certain though, is that even though the students in many ways are leaps and bounds ahead of their American counterparts, they are much less strict with the child’s school day schedule and *gasp* let the kids, BE KIDS!

START: 7:45am

CLASS: 7 - 40 minute periods a day

BREAKS: 10 minutes between each class {with 1 break being 20 minutes!}

LUNCH: 1 hour & 20 minutes {serving, eating, cleaning from lunch/nap time/recess}

SPECIALS: music, art, English, gym, computer, 1 local language {Taiwanese or Hakanese}

TUESDAYS: there are no ‘formal’ classes Tuesday afternoon for any grade, but field trips, speakers, & special events happen during this time

END: 3:45 pm {grades 3-6} & 1:10 pm {grades 1-2}

**Cleaning – the kids are assigned sections of the school to clean daily once in the morning before school starts, and again between 6^th & 7^th periods before they go home for the day

**Rest time – All the students K-6 {and many of the teachers as well!} have an afternoon rest time after they finish lunch (and people ask if I want to go back and teach in America! Haha)

I love, Love, LOVE that the kids are allowed to be kids here! They know and respect the fact that kids need to move, play, and giggle with their friends in order to be productive little learners, while cleaning the school teaches them about responsibility and to have respect for their school, their belongings and the general world around them.

Kudos to you Taiwan!

One Day in Antwerp, Belgium

Day 3: Antwerp

Easter Monday morning, after I left Brussels, I began my hostel hopping through Belgium trip with my first stop to Antwerp. Because I've been asked a lot I will say I did book all my train tickets & hostels ahead of time, it was not really necessarily as most didn't have assigned seats, but it did save me the hassle of having to figure out train schedules while I was there. Unfortunately the weather in Antwerp was the least cooperative of any of my days in Belgium and it was chilly with a drizzly rain all day, so my time in Antwerp wasn't quite what I was hoping it might be, but non-the-less, I checked out the cute little town. 

I arrived by train just before 10am and departed shortly before 7pm so this was the only town I visited as well that I didn't spend the night in. One great surprise was getting off the train in Antwerp and realizing how insanely gorgeous the train station itself was {talk about an unexpected perk!} Not having gotten a SIM card in Europe on this trip I didn't have any internet so I walked out of the station and just started following people hoping they were heading towards something interesting!

Lucky me I quickly found myself downtown {ok I can't lie I did stop for a bagel break on the way!} in the cutest little town square capped off by the Cathedral of Our Lady towering overhead. I did a couple laps of the square and the surrounding streets and headed off in search of museum I had been told about and low and behold ran into a castle {don't you just hate when that happens ;) } so of course I had to make a quick detour!

Once I finished checking out my newly purchased castle I headed out again in the direction of the Museum aan de Stroom; now to be honest I still have NO idea what's inside this museum, I think it's art, but that wasn't my goal. This museum is 10 stories tall and features glass windows and panoramic views of the city on all 10 floors that are open to the public {{hello free & beautiful...my kind of attraction!}} And let me tell you, the views didn't disappoint!

On my stroll back to the train station  I noticed a sign that said "peep show" and before I knew it I was in the middle of a street full of large windowed shops "advertising" barely dressed women...talk about uncomfortably running from there! haha But none the less I made it to the station and was excited and giddy headed for Ghent!

Let's Fly!

Monday, February 1

Monday was Tina's birthday and we decided we were bound and determined that we were going to make it one to remember {as if being in Cambodia for your birthday isn't amazing enough! lol}

Sadly breakfast for her birthday wasn't really an option as we were up and out the door, waiting on our ride from Flight of the Gibbon at 7:00am. We piled into a van along with several other groggy eyed tourists and headed for...well we weren't exactly sure where yet.  We arrived to "I don't know where" (ok base camp!) maybe 40 minutes later and spilled out of the van. We were quickly given wavers to sign {you know, we wouldn't sue them if we lost an arm, both eyes, and my favorite pinkie toe type of thing} harnessed up, given our hard hat helmets and sent to our first briefing...ready or not, ZIP LINING HERE WE COME! We had 10 or 15 minutes of quick directions, don't do anything stupid type of deal, loaded back in the van, and we were ready to go!!

To say that the next 2 hours hours were exhilarating would be a lie; they were beyond exhilarating! Throughout the course of the next 2 hours we zipped {not sure what verb would be appropriate here lol} over 10 separate zip lines; with the longest totaling 310 meters (340ish yards), walked across 3 suspension bridges, 21 different platforms (most way above the tree tops!) and rappelled down the last one  to finally meet the ground again...talk about amazing! To make matters even better, our 2 guides were amazing, corny jokes & all! ;)

As zip lining grudgingly came to an end we were informed that our ticket for the day also included lunch at a local restaurant....umm can you say score?!?! We sat down and enjoyed lunch with our new group of Australian friends before climbing back in the car to the hotel {ok I can't lie here...we all passed out hardcore in the van, we were exhausted!}. We got back to the hotel a little after 1 and we all agreed as the birthday girl declared it nap time!!

Rebecca and  Tory apparently required a little more R&R than Tina and I, so when the 2 of us were ready we snuck out to treat ourselves to some birthday mani/pedis and fruit smoothies. When the bears woke up...oh I mean Rebecca & Tory! :P...we met up in town and Tina and I had booked dinner for the 4 of us at a local restaurant serving traditional Cambodia food {delicious!} as well as offering traditional Cambodian dance performances while you ate...umm amazing! Needless to say dinner was delicious & the dances were beyond mesmerizing to watch!

After dinner we walked around the markets for a while, indulged in yet another foot massage (who can seriously say no to 30 minute foot massages on the side of the street)  and slowly {but oh so happily} made our way back to our hostel.

Cambodia...you truly are amazing!

Didn't have a chance to read about our previous day in Cambodia? Check it out here!

Roadblock

Thursday, January 28

Travel never goes as planned, NEVER! Sometimes things go better than planned, but unfortunately things are typically worse...but that's ironically half the fun and excitement about traveling. 

Tina and I left Taipei today (Thursday, January 28) on a 2 plane hop scotch game for Bangkok. First leg of the trip was Taipei to Macau followed by Macau to Bangkok. When we got to Macau though, we still had to get our second boarding pass (not 100% sure why lol) we are then notified that we don't actually have seats on our plane. They have overbooked the plan and the 20 of so of us grumpy people at the counter won't fly out until 10:30pm...4 hours later than normal. 

We quickly befriended the couple next to us while David, the husband, and I exchanged some lovely words with the people who continued to tell us "please wait" (umm please wait our plane leaves in 10 minutes!)

LONG story short, they ended up delaying our flight and there were magically seats now available for us...in first class...imagine that!

We landed in Bangkok around 11pm Thailand time, found out hostel, and passed out. 

New adventures await around the corner!

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Convenience Stores}

We've all heard of, and most likely been in a convenient store in the U.S., but I was not aware of what a convenient store REALLY was until stepping into my first 7-11 in Taiwan! Convenient stores here are literally everywhere. Just in my teeny town we have not only 2 7-11's, but also 2 OK-Mart's  and a Family Mart. Each of these stores is open 24 hours and they can do just about anything for you! {but really!}

For instance, 10 things you can do in  your local convenient store:

1. buy food
2. pay your bills
3. buy a bus/train/concert tickets
4. use  the free wifi
5. pick up packages that have been  mailed to you
6. use a {clean} bathroom
7. cash in  your lottery receipts
8. collect stickers for prizes
9. play odd games for drink discounts
10. (and most importantly!) pop your popcorn and warm up other meals

*** DISCLAIMER: the one thing you cannot do at a Taiwanese convenient store….get gas!!***

Here's a fun link about convenience stores in Taiwan from Taiwan Today!