A new computer, Reese's cups, and my man!

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October 18th 2007

Published: October 20th 2007

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Alison Belle

Caleb's first night

Me with my jet-lagged man shortly before he needed to pass out :-)

Yes, it felt like Christmas when Caleb arrived in Tainan. Not only was I seeing my boyfriend for the first time in almost 3 months, but he came bearing gifts! Now, I have a computer, which will allow me to e-mail more often (hopefully😊) Plus, I got some exciting American goodies from Caleb & my parents. Needless to say, I was extremely happy on September 28th. But, the 2 1/2 weeks flew by faster than I had imagined, and Caleb is now back in New England 😞

During his time here, I had to work for the first week, so Caleb went exploring on his own. Luckily, he has a motorcycle at home, so he was able to venture out on my scooter (although perhaps a bit hesitantly.) As I only had my scooter for about a week before he arrived, Caleb probably knows the city better than I do now. He definitely knows his way to the beach, where he went for a swim almost every day. He also took a Mandarin lesson from my new Chinese teacher, so he was practicing Mandarin with all of the locals. After 2 1/2 weeks, no one wanted him to leave, especially

My good friends

Dan, Craig & Helena at our school barbeque.

me. Yes, Caleb seemed to fit right in with my fellow teachers and friends, and many of them told him to stay in Taiwan. He even made friends with the staff of the breakfast joint near my place where he went daily for coffee and "egg pies." Even they were sad to see him leave. For me, there is now a void in my life. Caleb is no longer here to drop me off at school, bring me a milk tea at lunch, or greet me at the end of the day. I guess I got used to having him around 😊

Luckily, I was able to have a 5-day weekend, so we had some time to relax & adventure together. For our first weekend, I had to work on Saturday, so we just hung out in Tainan. It was a good idea for us not to travel anyway because Caleb was tired. We enjoyed exploring Tainan a bit with my friends Tammy and Brent. We went to the Confucius Temple, and they were having an annual cultural festival there. We all got to make these cool ink prints for about a dollar each. The funniest thing happened when

Nicole & Faijaou

My roommate & her fiance at our barbecue.

we were all doing our prints. All of these people (official event photographers and other random Taiwanese people) began taking pictures of us like crazy! I felt like a movie star, standing there being overtaken by the papparazzi! Our pictures are probably posted on some random Taiwanese websites now 😊 Sometimes I forget how foreign I look to these people. Later that night, we went to the big Tainan night market with Tammy, Brent, Nicole & her fiance Faijou. It was quite an adventure for us women who were saddled on the back of scooters driven by crazy men. Brent had us flying around the city! At the night market, I saw an elderly woman eating food out of a trash can. I asked Tammy to ask her if I could buy her some food, but she only wanted money. The men there said that the woman comes from a good family and can get food whenever she wants it. The woman ended up hitting Tammy on the back because we wouldn't give her money! I felt so bad. We guess she was on drugs or alcohol, but it was quite disturbing.

On our second weekend, Caleb & I

Ink Painting

Making my ink painting with all of the Taiwanese people watching.

were planning to take a trip to the mountains. Unfortunately, a big typhoon was heading for Taiwan, so we had to stay put in Tainan. Caleb actually had been hoping that a typhoon would hit during his stay, so he was happy....I know, he's disturbed :-) I must admit that it was nice to have him with me during the typhoon. The wind & rain wasn't too bad in Tainan, so we were still able to venture out to hang out with Tammy & Brent. On our way back from the movies, we felt a little scared that the wind would blow over the scooter! I'm lucky that Caleb is such a good driver 😊 On Sunday night, we hosted a "typhoon party.". It was the first time that all of my friends in Tainan got together, so it was a lot of fun for me. Plus, I got to show off Caleb to everyone :-)

During our five day weekend, we headed down to Kenting, where I had been a couple of weeks before. It was great to get out of the city and head for cleaner air. My lungs needed a break from the pollution, and Caleb

Finished product

Brent showing off his finished painting.

was getting sick of the city. On the night before we left, he got in an accident on my scooter! A Taiwanese woman hit him while she was illegally passing him. Since he was also turning illegally (and couldn't really communicate with her,) he decided to pay for her damages (under $30 US.) Still, it left both of us a bit shaken up and ready to get away. As you can see from the pictures, Kenting is the perfect place to escape to.

After 4 hours of traveling via train & bus, we arrived in Kenting and ate some of my favorite Thai curry. Then, Caleb was itching to get to the ocean and surf some waves. So, we rented a scooter and drove (on the much calmer roads) to the surfers' beach on the east coast. A one-eyed man named Winson rented Caleb his own (apparently very nice & expensive) surfboard for about $15 for an hour. So, Caleb finally was able to surf in Taiwan. He was very happy. After that we walked over this cool rope bridge then went back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. We were both quite tired that night from

Confucius' student

Caleb studying the ancient texts.

traveling, so we didn't do much else. The next day we woke up bright and early and ate at a restaurant that has an American-style breakfast. During breakfast, we met two Canadian women and chatted for a bit. One of them lives in Tainan and knows my friends Craig & Helena! It really is a small world for foreigners here.

Unfortunately, it started raining after breakfast, but we used that time to visit the Kenting National Park visitor's center. The kind woman there was able to make reservations for us to visit the ecological preserve on the following day. So, we explored another trail, which was extremely well-manicured and maintained. The park had an aquatic garden, thousands of trees (that I know nothing about,) beautiful views of the mountains and ocean, cool caves, and to my great surprise - a monkey! We hiked until the sun went down, then we went to nourish our famished bodies at Amy's Cucina, where I enjoyed a yummy Mai Tai 😊 After that we walked down the street to see the night market (games, food, fish tanks, sharks, and various things for sale.) We ended up at the oldest bar in Kenting, having

A Taiwanese Palm Reader

Near the Confucius Temple in Tainan.

a drink and chatting with the owners.

On day three we ate breakfast at another place and found a new (much cheaper) hotel. Of course, it began raining again after breakfast, but we decided to rent a scooter and head to the ecological preserve. Actually, Caleb decided to rent a real motorcycle, which he felt more comfortable on. After an hour trip to the preserve, I, on the other hand, did not feel comfortable on the motorcycle! My back was killing me, and we got lost on the beautiful Taiwan roads. We ended up in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, where Taiwanese people rent dirt bikes and jeeps to race over the sand dunes. The area was beautiful though, so we were happy to sit by the ocean for a rest. Then I reluctantly got back on the motorcycle, and we were able to find the ecological preserve (Lake Nanren.) Apparently, the preserve has hundreds of species of trees, birds, butterflies, and a few mammals. I'll let Caleb give you more details about that though 😊 The park was also beautiful, and we were able to hike 3km up the trail and 3 back down before

Tainan Tourists

Caleb & I taking a break to drink some fresh-made juice.

we had to leave (5:00.) My favorite part of the preserve was the butterflies that seemed to swarm around my face. They were so colorful! I wish I could have captured their beauty. Another highlight was that we saw more monkeys! This time we saw a few - maybe a family in a tree. Only one of them was brave enough to come close to us & make noises that sounded like a pig. But, I also saw what looked like a mommy monkey swoop up her baby and carry him over the tree branches. Other than my back hurting, it was a great day. We finished it with dinner at sunset near the ocean.

On the fourth day, we met a guy named Peter who offered Caleb his extra surf board and some companionship. So, we rented another scooter and drove to Jialeshuei (the surfers' beach) again. Unfortunately, we looked everywhere and never found Peter and his fiance. (If anyone knows his whereabouts, please let me know so that I can kick his booty for disappointing my boyfriend!) Since Caleb couldn't surf, we decided to go snorkeling after exploring the island a bit more. It was my first

Tainan Traffic

This is how scooters line up at stoplights in Tainan - yep, it's a little crazy driving here.

time snorkeling, so it was quite an adventure for me. Caleb said the water wasn't very clear, but I was still able to see some beautiful fish. After what seemed like a few hours, I felt very nauseous and had to get out of the water. Apparently I had my mask on a little too tight :-) We finished our adventure for the day by visiting the southern-most tip of Taiwan and a nice park on the ocean (called Erluanbi.) Then we had dinner at Amy's again, and I enjoyed a mango margarita and the yummy appetizer we ate before (calamari, mozzarella sticks, and samosas.) And we had another night at the bar to say goodbye to Kenting.

Before we left on Sunday, Caleb was able to rent some snorkel gear and go for another swim. I finally had my chance to relax and read on the beach. Then we begrudgingly boarded the bus that would take us back to Tainan. After about 6 hours this time (because we took the bus,) we arrived back at my apartment. Sadly, I had to go back to work on Monday, but the trip to Kenting was the perfect way for Caleb