VISITORS!

Phil and I were lucky enough to recently have some visitors! My family and some family friends, the Abrahamsons, arrived on March 28^th. My family was able to stay until April 9^th. The Abrahmsons flew out earlier that week. Our schools were very understanding of our situation and allowed us to take almost two weeks off of work so we could travel around the island with them.

It was really great to see them all and fun to get the opportunity to show them around! It was funny to listen to all their comments regarding Taiwan’s culture. They were many of the same comments we made when we first arrived...many of the same things we found interesting or strange...but their comments were often about things that seem “normal” to us now. So, it was great to be reminded of all those things again. :)

Throughout the time that they were here, Phil and I traveled to places we had been before and also went to new places and did a lot of new things (even in the places we had been to prior). The eight of us pretty much utilized every form of public transportation you can imagine. We were very busy. Our itinerary looked like this:

Day One - Wulai (northern Taiwan)

Day Two - Taipei City (northern Taiwan)

Day Three - Sun Moon Lake (central Taiwan)

Day Four - Douliu and Huwei (west-central Taiwan)

Day Five - Little Liuchiu Island (southwestern Taiwan)

Days Six and Seven - Kenting (southern Taiwan)

Days Eight, Nine and Ten - Taroko Gorge (east-central Taiwan)

Day Eleven - Northeast Scenic Area (in..you guessed it...northeastern Taiwan :)

Day Twelve - Jiufen and Beitou Hot Springs (northern Taiwan)

Day Thirteen - Taipei City (northern Taiwan)

Although our time with them was really just one highlight after another, here’s a few things we thought were particularly memorable:

-- Singing KTV (karaoke) at our hotel in Wulai.

-- Having my family and the Abrahamsons experience Taiwanese food and smells. :)

-- Strangers wanting to take random pictures with us (especially the younger boys, Grant and Brett).

-- Getting foot massages at a night market that were extremely painful, tickly and pleasant all at the same time.

-- Having my family and the Abrahamsons visit our schools. As you may have guessed, Brett and Grant were pretty much rock stars with Phil’s junior high girls. :) Phil still has students ask him when “his family” will be back to visit. And, apparently, quite a few of his students created all English Facebook pages so they could be "friends" with the boys. Now they’ll all be up to date on all the gossip happening in the Dassel-Cokato area! :)

-- The minor bus accident on the way to Phil's school.

-- Being serenaded by a Taiwanese restaurant owner while eating lunch in Douliu.

-- Renting scooters from the old woman on Little Liuchiu Island.

-- Watching people light these lanterns (in the video below) and release them into the air.

-- Snorkeling on Little Liuchiu and in Kenting.

-- Staying at Achi’s place in Kenting. Achi is a surfer and renaissance man. He never failed to surprise us by all the things he had done/is doing in his life. He spoke great English and because of this (and his personality) he acted like our concierge while we were in Kenting...helping us set up all our activities. :)

-- Surfing lessons. Most of us just did a lot of exhausting paddling vs. actually “riding the waves”, but it was a great experience!

-- Going to the hot springs near Kenting.

-- Abrahamsons having to leave Taroko Gorge earlier than they had planned because all the trains back to Taipei City (where they needed to get to catch a taxi to the airport) were booked due to the Tomb Sweeping holiday that took place on Monday, April 5^th...bummer.

-- My mom and dad having a relatively large falling rock go right over their heads at Taroko Gorge. This was a bit rattling for us all. To top it off, about 15 minutes after the rock incident, we went on a crazy taxi ride. Needless to say we were thankful when we got back to our hotel safe and sound that night.

-- Seeing wild monkeys at Taroko. I was the only one who saw them, but I swear I’m not lying! There’s a video of them below. You can’t see them in the video, though, you can only hear them.

-- Going to a cute little tea destination (Jiufen).

-- Staying at a hot springs hotel in Beitou (where the men and women facilities were separate because you’re required to go nude...that was an experience :).

-- Going to Taipei City’s flower market.

-- Going to a driving range in Taipei City.

-- Finishing our time with my family by eating an American style meal at TGIFridays! :)