Weekend Fun!

Well I wasn't sure what to expect of the weekend, but boy oh boy was it an amazing weekend! On Friday, I was at my breaking point; I was ready to pack my bags and go home( I mean I know I couldn't, but I wanted to). After getting back from Hong Kong, arriving at 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning, getting at total of about 1 hour of sleep, I was exhausted! In addition, having to go to class on Friday made the day even worse. Not only was I grumpy, but I felt that my teacher was upset at me for missing class, which I really couldn't do anything about( I had planned to go to Hong Kong way before I even started the summer semester). Anyways on Friday, I kind of lost all my rational thinking and just collapsed. I ended up going to bed very early Friday night, after talking to my parents for a while, which helped me feel much better! I also received an amazing package from my mom, which made the day all the more better. Inside the package were some beautiful dresses she picked out for me from Garnet Hill, airborne( which is always needed), gum, and some other little accessories.

After a long night's sleep, I felt soooooo much better. I was in general in a much better mood, and realized it was the lack of sleep that made me in such a vulnerable and emotional mood. After waking up at about 9:45, I went to use the internet at the BK. Sent some e-mails, checked my Facebook, and skyped some family and friends. Later in the day, I met up with my friend Susan and her husband at a cafe. We enjoyed just talking and chatting for a while. They treated me to coffee, which was much appreciated. She also helped me to understand more of what I missed in class while I was gone in Hong Kong.

After meeting up with Susan, my friend Erica invited me to go to a modern dance performance in the park! The dance company that was performing was called the Cloud Gate Dance Company. We also met up with some other friends of Erica, who were both very sweet as well! It is always so much fun to get to meet new people, and everyone that I have met has been so kind and welcoming. The dance performance was divided into three sections, there was one famous dance called the snake dance, then another separate dance by the company, and my all time favorite was the last piece which was called the Flower Dance or as they say in Chinese 花语。 I was so thrilled to see such an amazing performance, and was also pleased that the weather was so comfortable and not too humid.

On Sunday, I went to mass in the morning. I could tell it was going to be a hot day, because when I woke up it already felt hot inside the apartment. After mass, I went to the coffee hour and ended up talking with a young woman from Guatemala who is also studying at the same university that I am here in Taiwan. It was really nice to meet her and talk to her a bit about her experiences in Taiwan.

After mass, I met Annie, Karen, Rainy, and Hank at the MRT station. From the MRT we got on a train and went to Ping Xing. It was so amazing to get outside of Taipei and see some older little towns that haven't been touched or modernized. We went to several surrounding little towns of the area. Pingxing used to be a coal mining town and it still has a lot of the materials that were once used for the coal mining. We got some delicious ice cream in the afternoon to cool ourselves down. We continued walking around the town and just enjoying each other's company. They spoke in Chinese with me the entire time, so it was a great way for me to practice my use of the language. They are all so sweet and encouraging of my slow speaking and little mistakes that I make when speaking the language.

I also got to try some little snacks in the afternoon, which I enjoyed, since it is always amazing to try the different types of food they have here in Asia.

When it was finally getting dark, we went to the lantern lighting areas of Ping Xing. We bought one big paper lantern, and we all got to write down our wishes, hopes, and dreams. Ping Xing is specifically known for being the town where you light a lantern and send your wishes to the sky so that they can be granted! I really think that it is such a neat tradition and it was so much fun to participate in. We ended up sending our lantern to the sky which was really beautiful to watch. I got to know Annie and Karen because they are Mei's student's and it was so much fun to spend time with Annie, Karen, Rainy, and Hank. They are all so enthusiastic and want to show me around all of the wonderful sights of Taiwan. We ended up leaving Ping Xing later than I expected, and didn't get on the train until about 8:15 to go back to Taipei. We ended up arriving back in Taipei at about 9:15 and we were all hungry, also a bit tired. I'm always amazed at how much the heat can really make me so exhausted. Hank has a friend who owns a Japanese Hot Pot restaurant, and so we headed to the restaurant after we arrived. I was expecting we would have to wait for the food do all of the ordering, however I was pleasantly surprised to find a huge table filled with tons of different types of food. It looked like a feast and was so beautifully presented. I was so glad that I decided to join them even though it was getting late, and I did have school the next day! It was so great to have such a wonderful feast with such great people. I was definitely exhausted after the long day, but it was such a fun filled day. I'm realizing how quickly time is going by and how much I'm going to miss all of the amazing people and friends that I have made here.

Well I hope everyone had a great weekend as well!