大家好！Yesterday we started our Social Study trip, and thus far it has been an absolute blast. For social study trips there are 三个选择 that focus on different aspects of Taiwan, and I chose to go to Hualien to learn more about Indigenous Culture in Taiwan (台湾的原住民). This past week we only had 2 days of class, and then we had a mini exam on Wednesday, before walking up at FIVE THIRTY AM on Thursday to head out on the train to Hualien. Side note, but writing this I realize that one thing I really miss when writing in Chinese is the ability to capitalize letters, like there’s no such thing as a capitol character! but anyway, I digress.
After a long train ride, we immediately hopped onto a 公车 to go paddle boarding. I had do much fun swimming and paddle boarding and learning about 鲤鱼潭, 真的是非常好玩儿. We then went and had an absolute feast for lunch, before heading to a jade (玉) jewelry making class. One thing that I found crazy throughout all of this is that I was actually starting to really understand the conversations I was having, and not need help from our teachers. Like when our guide was describing where we were going and why, I understood what she was saying! I think its easy being in Taiwan to not realize how your Chinese is improving, or if it even is at all, but I’m fairly certain at the beginning of the summer I would have been struggling a lot more.
We then went back into the city of Hualien to go explore Dongdamen 夜市, which was this absolutely HUGE night market, which is also right next to the ocean, so we took a stroll along the beach while having lots of tasty snacks and fruit. And that was the end of day 1!
Day 2 started with heading to a banana fiber weaving shop, where we learned about 噶玛兰文化 and got to practice making little keychains with the banana fiber. We then peeled banana fibers before heading out to our main activity for the day, the 布农猎人活动. After arriving, they treated us to a huge meal of traditional foods, before we hiked up a small hill, learning about how to use various leaves or plants as remedies, bowls, poisons, whistles, umbrellas, and basically anything you could need along the way. At the top of the hill, they taught us how to shoot a bow and arrow, had a competition (which my team proudly won) and then helped us practice navigating to an outpost using every sense except sight, which was quite an experience. We then headed back to Hualien where, at the night market, I used my newly acquired 猎人 skills to win 一个射箭游戏.
After all that, I really can’t wait for all the fun to come in the next 3 days, so I’ll keep you all updated. 一会儿见！