I decided to participate in the hike to Mt.Jade since I thought that it would be a now or never opportunity. I’m glad that I made the right decision. The sceneries were so beautiful up on the mountain, especially the sunrise at the main peak, so it was really worth it. I’ve never really hiked before, so the never-ending hiking to the main peak and the equally tiring way back to the national park entrance were quite shocking to me. Especially, the way to the main peak from the cabin located in the middle of the mountain on the third day of our trip was extremely physically demanding. Even though we had a hard time hiking to the cabin the day before, we woke up at 130 in the morning anyway to see the sunrise at the peak. There was no light when we hiked to the peak, so we used a headlamp. On the way back to the cabin, I realized that the way we hiked were all slippery scree slopes. I wouldn’t have been able to go all the way up if I could clearly see the paths because I’m afraid of height. I would recommend hiking Mt. Jade once in a lifetime, but not twice because the hike was so physically tiring.
I cannot believe that the summer program at ICLP is almost over. I had to write my draft for the final presentation this week. While writing my draft, I could feel the improvement in my Chinese. It was much easier to think in Chinese unlike at the beginning of the semester when I needed to first think in English and then translate in my mind in order to write something. Even though taking 4 classes daily has been demanding, I would miss the time in Taiwan in the future.