The End is Near!

This is going to be short and sweet. I don't know why I have had such a block to writing my blog recently. I can't find the energy to describe my day, and that makes me kind of sad. I hope I can remember all the good things that have happened.

As ICLP draws to a close, I find myself freaking out much more about this good bye than the many other good byes I have had to say in the past. I feel like I have made some solid friends, and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself while I have been here. I have totally connected to Taibei, and I feel like it is really a city I could live in for a long time. And the friends I have here are amazing. It is such an awesome dynamic, and I am terrified, and so sad to let it go. I have one full day left ehre, and honestly, I don't know what to do with myself. How should I spend my last day in Taiwan? If you have any tips, feel free to share with the class.

Well, I had been planning on going to the beach with Claire again today after class. Both of us brought our beach stuff to school, in preparation. And then we got to class, looked at each other, had a quick conversation, and very quickly came to the conclusion that the beach just wasn't going to happen. In hindsight, this may have been a very bad idea. What are you going to do? I had thought that the beach was just far enough away that leaving at noon, and wanting to be back before 9, was just not possible. Silly me.

But we still wanted to spend some time together. So we finished class (which was rather difficult actually. It was one of those days where it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I ended up answering most of the questions because in my mind, if we could just get through the questions faster, then class would be over faster. Don't ask) and then headed off to get some lunch. I finally got dumplings! I have had a massive craving for those for a long time. The lady forgot that I ordered them, and I ended up having to wait an obscenely long time before she finally decided to actually LISTEN to the fact that I had indeed ordered dumplings, before finally getting her act together. If I was going to be here longer, the fact that I am declaring I will never go there again would have more of an effect.

After that, Claire and I walked around the streets for an hour, before it became glaringly obvious that we were about to be furiously rained on, and we raced back to ICLP just in time. It was then that she had the brilliant idea of going to see Transformers 3: a great way to spend the afternoon. It's fun, it's easy to understand, and it makes you laugh every time. At the movie of course, not with it.

The subway was not quite as fast as I thought it was going to be, so it took me a while to get there, because I had actually left ICLP by the time we decided to see the movie. We arrived at the theater halfway through the previews, switched seats (seats are assigned in movie theaters in Taiwan, but I didn't like the seats they assigned us) and then spent the next two and a half hours having the time of our lives. We were cackling like two people on crack for the whole movie. It was completely over the top, with explosions, cheesy lines, and of course, the quite obvious "This is America, hear me roar!" Yikes. It was fantastic.

I have a confession to make. I was defeated by a money adding machine this afternoon. On our way back home, we decided to take the subway, and I was completely out of money on my card so I went up to one of the fast add machines. I put my card in (I think it was the right way) but nothing came up on the screen. I pressed all the buttons, turned my card upside down and backwards, and even tried physically forcing the money into the machine, but it all didn't work. So I just gave up, and walked over to one of the people that works there, and had him help me add money. I had to add twice as much (which is still only about 4 dollars US) but I felt like quite the idiot.

And that was my night. What I can't describe is the sight of all the buildings around me as I went about my day, and the feel of the city. It is undescribable. But. Taibei is one of the best cities in the world, in my opinion. I absolutely cannot wait to come back. This is "Good bye for now", not "Good bye forever."