Wow how time flies! I can’t believe there’s only two weeks left! [Due to the length of this post I have highlighted the main parts of some paragraphs haha 0__0)
This past week as I mentioned earlier we had our final exams. Don’t ask me why the exams took place all on the same day and were over two weeks before the end of the program. At least I was grateful to only have to study 5 chapters from our main textbook instead of the full 9 chapters we’re going through! The exam consisted of an oral portion and a written portion, and I was definitely most concerned about the oral exam. I was incredibly nervous but afterwards I felt that I had done quite decently, and both having used a lot of vocab and some grammar from class, and also having expressed my own opinion. However, I was shocked a few days later listening to the recording (一種苦刑）how slowly I spoke and how little it seemed I actually said! Recently I’ve been feeling like I speak extremely fast in English, but I think that might just be because currently my speaking is contrasted so heavily with the way I speak in Mandarin. Anyway, the 口試 was really fine and despite being a special kind of torture, listening to the recording was very enlightening.
Once that was over with, it was time to plan yet another trip for the weekend, this time to Tainan (台南)!! A good friend of my connected me with her friend and roommate who is from Tainan, and grew up in Taipei, so I’d previously received a lot of suggestions and recommendations from her in regards to food to eat, temples to see, historic sites and buildings, and even a museum exhibit. Between Alison’s research and some of these recommendations, as well as some general exploring, we managed to hit a lot in less than 24 hours!
We took the gaotie/HSR/高鐵/high speed rail Saturday morning to Shalun station. It was so exciting! That was my first time on a bullet train and I was about as impressed as I expected to be! (Which is to say very impressed). I hope the poor passenger who had a window seat next to me didn’t suffer to much from my attempts to constantly stare out the window.
We started what was going to be a fully day of activities with bowls of turkey rice/火雞飯 (delicious) before dropping off our luggage at the hostel. The hostel was especially wonderful because it was in a building built in the old 三合院 style, that is three sides of the building plus an inner courtyard. It was also located amongst the network of alleyways that make up much of the West Central District (中西區). Next we made our way through several important historical/cultural sites including Chikan Tower, Tainan’s Grand Mazu Temple, and Anping Old Fort. The first and third were originally built by the Dutch and later reclaimed by the Taiwanese, generally going through many stages of use before becoming historic sites. Mazu (媽祖) is a sea goddess important to Taiwan in particular due to her original importance to Fujianese settlers in Taiwan, which in turn is because of her role in watching over seafarers and fisherpeople.
Next we turned our attention to food, which Tainan is also widely known for. Some highlights from Anping Old Street (安平老街) and the Garden Night Market (花園夜市) include 棺材板 (coffin toast) Taiwanese fried chicken (I think it was 鹽酥雞 but don’t quote me on that) and oyster and shrimp omelettes （蚵仔煎/蝦仁煎）. I personally was excited to try night market 鹿肉 (venison) skewers and compare it to what I usually eat at home. I was again not disappointed whatsoever.
Despite being thoroughly exhausted, I woke up at 8 the next day and with a friend took the opportunity to walk some of the alleyways before being outside in the afternoon sun became 好像地獄。I had originally wanted to get up even earlier for a chance to get some fresh 牛肉湯 (beef soup) and had nearly given up on that dream when we stumbled on a bustling street with lots of open market stalls and restaurants. One of the beef soup restaurants there seemed particularly popular so we made our way there and enjoyed steaming bowls of thinly sliced meat boiled in a fragrant broth with white rice on the side. We dipped the beef slices in jiang you gao (醬油膏) (a thick sauce which in Tainan is particularly sweet) mixed with ginger. Between a bowl of 牛肉湯 and a cup of 擂茶 in the morning, I think anyone would be pretty unstoppable!
三合院, three sided courtyard in our hostel!
After the rest of our traveling companions finally 醒來了 got out of bed, we went to check out the currently extremely popular exhibit at the 臺南市美術館 (Tainan Art Museum), 亞洲的地獄與幽魂展覽 (Ghosts and Hells: The Underworld in Asian Art). It was phenomenal! It included both historical and contemporary art primarily from Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan, and all kinds of media from drawings and sculptures to short films and movie posters. After originally being exhibited in Paris, the Taiwanese version of the exhibit especially included aspects and artists related to Taiwan and Tainan.
Before heading home we fit in a few more bites of Tainanese cuisine including 蝦仁肉圓 (Shrimp meatballs) and 刨冰 from the rather famous 莉莉水果店/Lily Fruit.
Welp that’s about it! (如果有人想聽關於那個週末可能發生了可能沒發生很有意思的事情的故事，需要直接問我 v__v）
I forgot to mention the arrival of 波洛西！