I thought there wouldn’t be much to talk about this week, but there’s nothing like the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years to keep a lid on the ennui of life! All in all, it didn’t seem too bad—mostly strong winds and a little rain—though I suspect other parts of Taiwan were more severely affected. Because of the typhoon, work and classes were cancelled: unfortunately, that meant we had class online, which was a little tough. To cap off the week, for our last Saturday excursion we went to Jiufen and Shifen. In Shifen, we released sky lanterns and admired Shifen Waterfall, aka “Taiwan’s Niagara Falls.” Afterwards, in Jiufen, a mountain town, I walked down Jiufen Old Street and ate some traditional meat dumplings, with taro balls for dessert.
The end is fast approaching! There are still some places around Taipei I want to see (including two of the biggest attractions, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Taipei 101!) so I’m hoping I’ll have time to squeeze them in before I leave.
-Jonathan