Saturday, June 17, 2009
All good things must one day come to an end, and tomorrow, that day will come for this unforgettable journey. A two-week period that will never leave me; I have made life-long friends of both my fellow delegates and countless students in Taiwan, but we’ll save the sappy stuff for tomorrow.
Today was the first time since last Tuesday that I actually got to sleep in; by sleeping in, I mean 9:00. I woke up four times before finally getting out of bed, feeling relaxed and ready for the day, it was a lovely feeling. After finally rolling out of bed, I began packing all of my clothes and gifts into my suitcases. In less than half an hour, my disaster of a room was utterly and completely spotless, I felt nothing short of accomplished!
At 11 everybody (excluding those whom chose to study for exams next week) met up at SOGO to go shopping. Once the gang arrived, we walked around SOGO to see if there was anything we needed to buy, nothing struck my eye, so we progressed forward into downtown. We hit up a couple of shops to no avail and delegated to find lunch instead; this was the first time I’d actually been starving the entire trip. We all knew exactly where to go, not McDonald’s or Burger King, but Mos Burger, the rice burger shop we all loved and will miss greatly! I downed two Asian Sprites (called Xuebi: White Snow). They have sooo much more flavor than those in America, and therefore are that much better.
After lunch we walked around downtown for another couple of hours; after many failed attempts at finding something to buy, I got what I wanted. We walked into a little shop that sold jeans and t-shirts not expecting all too much, only to see a sign saying (in Chinese of course) “All Jeans – nT300” which converts to about $10, amazing, right? After not finding anything I truly liked; Eleanor asked me to try on a pair that she wanted to get her boyfriend, after putting them on, I knew I had to get them, so I did, what a deal! The rest of the afternoon was somewhat mundane, other than the fact that I met up with one of my new friends, Peggy, Vanessa and Nancy’s friend; she’s pretty cool.
Tonight we went to Lawliet’s house for our true going away party. It was a good time, we played cards, Wii, pool, and various other games to pass the time; just a night to sit back, relax and enjoy the moment, forgetting that it was our last night.
Leaving his house, we headed to Vanessa’s grandfather’s house in Hsinchu (her father’s father) so that I could meet him. We walked into a very pretty house that reminded me greatly of theirs, it looked very similar. Her grandpa is a very nice old man, 75 years old, and speaks a little English. When I got there, he bestowed me with a gift for my father, because he will read this I will not say what it is, but it’s really nice, and exceptionally generous. He also showed me some of his artwork; he has made some magnificent things that I couldn’t begin to explain. Later, her cousins showed up and I had a nice English conversation with the youngest, Lulu, in front of the family where she could show off her skills.
Around 11:00 (twelve hours after we had initially met at SOGO) we arrived home. We finished packing all of my bags (including my new gift) and came downstairs to relax as our last night together dwindles away.
But now, as it is past 1:00am and I must be up at 6:00, I will go to sleep, good night.
Song Description: “Don’t Dream It’s Over” – Crowded House
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