A Week of ICL Trips | ICL 旅行

January 7, 2023

The morning after I returned from Hualien, I was back on the road for an ICL trip to Chiayi, a city in western central Taiwan. Our first stop was at Xikou elementary school (溪口國小). We were greeted with an amazing taiko drum performance by the students. Afterward, we visited different stations to learn about different activities and clubs the kids do at school. There were stations for bamboo weaving, calligraphy, shuttlecock (essentially a Chinese hackie sack), and spinning top. While we were touring the stations, I was interviewed by a local reporter (in Chinese). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find an article or video clip, but it was really cool!

The village of Xikou has repurposed one of its oldest roads as a walking route for kids to come to school. It was really neat to walk along the road and see how the whole community has come together to prioritize the elementary schoolers and their education. The narrow road is lined with old houses and murals painted in the theme of Alice and Wonderland. After a brief lunch, it was time to say goodbye and head to our next school.

The road to Xikou Elementary Shcool

Learning shuttlecock from a student

A sign along the road reading "love Xikou"

Our next stop was at FuLe elementary school (嘉義福樂國小). After enjoying another taiko drum performance, we were split into groups with the students and worked together to make tangyuan (湯圓) or sweet dumplings. They are made with glutinous rice flour and formed into balls, then cooked in a sweet soup (essentially sugar water) before being eaten. After finishing our tangyuan, we took some photos and said goodbye to the students.

A tanguan inspird by Caspian my cat

Another pet-inspired tangyuan

After arriving at our hostel, it was time to get out and explore Chiayi! There is a famous shop in the night market called Smart Fish (林聰明沙鍋魚頭), which was featured on Netflix’s show “Street Food in Asia.” They are famous for their fish head soup, and I wanted to give it a try. The soup was delicious…the base was a flavorful pork broth. Aside from the fish head, there was tofu skin and mushrooms, as well as cabbage and black fungus. My friend and I struggled to pull the flesh off the fish head, but ultimately it was a very memorable and tasty experience. I also tried a few bites of chicken rice (雞肉飯), a Chiayi specialty. After dinner, some of the other ICL students and I went to a bar called Cocktails of Pioneers (recommended in my travel guide book). They’re famous for integrating tea into their cocktails, so I tried the Swinging London, an earl grey and gin based drink. It was good, but had too many flavors happening at once. After finishing our cocktails, it was time to head to bed to make sure we got enough sleep!

Fish head soup

In a cute loft at Cokctails of Pioneers

The swinging london

The next morning, we enjoyed a brief breakfast and then went to our final stop at ChiaPei elementary school (嘉義縣嘉北國小). We were welcomed with a brief concert by the school’s band. The band was amazing, and I learned from one of the students that she’d only been playing the clarinet for two years! The students sounded better than my high school band ever did, which was impressive.

After the performance, we joined the kids in playing “dodgebee” a combination between frisbee and dodgeball. We were divided into two teams, and we had to throw a padded frisbee across the court and try to hit people on the other side. It was a really fun game, and it took me back to my elementary school PE class days. The kids also really enjoyed playing with us. After running around, we ate lunch and then got back on the bus to Taipei.

With one of the band students

Snack time!

ICL plus all the students

Believe it or not, that was only my first trip of the week! On Friday, I left for a trip to the school I serve in Pingdong (屏東). Our first stop was at Da Cheng Art Experimental Primary School (大成藝術實驗小學). I had been looking forward to this trip as it was an opportunity to meet the students I’d been Skyping with all semester. When we arrived, the students led us on a brief campus tour (their school was quite small) and we also heard some remarks from the principal.

Next, we went to the town’s Mazu temple to do a traditional Hakka craft. First, we toured the temple which is undergoing extensive renovations. The figures on the roof were in desperate need of repair, however, after an inspection, it was decided that they would need to be completely removed and restored or rebuilt. This temple is unique because the figures are created using the “cut and paste” (剪黏) traditional Hakka handicraft. If you’re interested in reading more about the craft, check out this article here and use google translate! Essentially, craftsmen first design a figure with iron wire, then surround it with concrete to mold it into a clearer shape. Finally, hand cut pieces of pottery are painstakingly pasted onto the figure using concrete.

DaCheng Mazu temple

Figures withoug colored tile

A newly restored phoenix figure

The roof under restoration

At the temple, a master craftsman taught us how to make small figures of our own. I opted to design a small flower, which was more difficult than it seems. Thankfully, the pottery was pre-cut for us, otherwise, I think my flower would have been hideous. I enjoyed working alongside one of my students, who really opened up and seemed to enjoy our time together.

Soon enough, it was time to say goodbye. The school left us with pastries from a local bakery and some winter melon tea. I also gave my ICL students a small Christmas gift, which they were very excited about!

Me with my student, Janet, with our finished crafts

My students, Janet and Sky

Our hostels were in Chaozhou (潮州), a small town in Pingdong county that, frankly, is not all that exciting. For dinner, I took a short 20 minute train ride into Pingdong city with Kathleen (one of my ICL partners) and some other international students. There, we explored the night market and ended up seeing the Pingdong Christmas Festival! There were so many lights in the park— I truly did not expect such a large display in southern Taiwan. I got some fun photos in shorts and a t-shirt, certainly a memorable experience for someone who has mostly celebrated Christmas in Chicago. After seeing Pingdong city, we went back to Chaozhou where their night market was in full swing! Unfortunately, I was absolutely exhausted from the day, so I went to bed early to rest up for the next day.

The next morning, we drove to Donggang High School (屏東縣東港高中). The main activities we did with the students were fishprinting and t-shirt decorating. Fish printing dates back to the Japanese era where fishermen would print images of the types of fish they caught to keep track of what was in season. Today, it is a beautiful art form that is popular in Donggang. The prints are made by painting the ink onto a clean fish, using the darker colors on more detailed sections of the fish. Then, you press the paper onto the fish, and it yields a beautiful print (but sadly, the paper smells quite fishy). Then, you fill in extra details (ie. fins, eyes) after the fact with dark ink.

Step 1: paint the fish

Step 2: press the paper

Step 3: lift the paper

Step 4: add detail and sign

Our t-shirt decorations were inspired by fish printing—we used cutouts of different fish and acrylic paint to make beautiful images on the shirts. Later, we all wore our finished shirts to take a group photo! Before lunch, we went for a quick spin around the Donggang fish market which was amazing! There were so many different kinds of seafood, I couldn’t keep track of it all. My ICL partner bought some swordfish and egg fish cakes for us to try and they were so tasty!

We enjoyed lunch in a covered area near the water before saying our goodbyes with the students. Instead of going back to Taipei, I caught a bus to Kaohsiung where I stayed for two days before joining my final ICL trip of the semester.

A stall at the fish market

The fish market

With some students in our finished shirts

There was one other girl in the group (Emilia) who was also on the next ICL trip and had the same idea to stay in Kaohsiung instead of going back to Taipei, so we traveled together. After getting to Kaohsiong, we dropped our luggage in lockers at the train station and hopped on some bikes to bike around the Lotus pond. Here, there are several pagodas and temples, and we saw them all! To me, the most distinct ones were the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. They are a strikingly colored pair of pagodas sitting over a beautiful background of a small pond and open sky.

After our bike ride, we went to Shihzuwan beach (四子灣海灘) to watch the sunset. Shortly after, we took a rest at our respective hostels and then met up again to tour the Liuhe night market (六合夜市). After finding some tasty things to eat, we ended up going to bed early.

The sunset at Shiziwan beach

I spent the next morning on FaceTime with Ethan to celebrate our 1 year anniversary! Although we were apart, it was good to spend time together, even if only virtually. In the afternoon, Emilia and I attended a performance by The King’s Singers, a popular British group with members from the King’s College choir, at Wewuying, Kaohsiung’s incredible performance venue. The massive complex is complete with several performance spaces including a concert hall, opera house, playhouse, and recital hall. The concert hall is round, so I was really interested to check it out. The concert was very enjoyable—they sang a lot of Christmas music which got me in the holiday spirit. Taiwanese audiences are some of the most enthusiastic I’ve seen…all the concerts I’ve attended have had two encores!

Weiwuying

Ampitheater space formed by the downward sloping roof

Cross section of the concert hall

The King's singers

Outdoor shared piano

We spent our evening walking around the piers near the ocean. I enjoyed walking through a park made of a repurposed railway yard. The atmosphere was very cheerful with lots of families and kids running around. After it got dark, we saw the famous light show at the Kaohsiong Music Center before finding some dinner. Of course, no trip would be complete without a bubble tea run…we checked out a shop recommended by my ICL partner from Kaohsiung, and it did not disappoint!

The park

Light show at the Kaohsiung Music Center

Boba shop!

The next morning, we made our way to the first school on our final ICL trip: Jinshan elementary school (金山國小). The students welcomed us with an impressive Diablo (Chinese yo-yo) performance and a welcome song. We made tangyuan with the students and finished off the day with a fun (and very chaotic) game of soccer.

Diablo performance

Black sesame tangyuan

A fun game of soccer

That evening, we spent the night in Tainan. Unfortunately, the night market near our hostel was closed, so instead I went out with a few others to find some food. After trying a small bowl of Danzi mian (a type of noodles), we went to the supposed birthplace of bubble tea. It was honestly quite underwhelming, but now I can say I’ve been to both shops who lay claim to the first ever bubble tea. We also briefly stopped in at Chikan Tower (赤崁樓), a former Dutch military fort.

Chikan tower

The supposed origin of bubble tea

Some pretty lights

The next day, we went to Songlin Elementary School (松林國小) for our final stop on the trip. The students arranged a “morning market” full of different activities for us to try including a ring toss, archery, campus tour, Taiwan trivia, and K-pop/C-pop listening. It was a nice icebreaker for our next activity which was cooking together! We made two different dishes. The first was a black sesame marshmallow cookie (similar to a rice crispy treat) and the second was a dish made for women to help them recover from pregnancy and giving birth. Both incorporate different sesame ingredients, a staple of the specific region of Tainan we were visiting. After lunch and many group photos, we said our goodbyes and made our way back to Taipei.

A cooking adventure with our students

Black sesame marshmallow sandwich cookies

With the students at their campus treehouse

Although it was a busy week of traveling, I really enjoyed my time in ICL. I learned so much from the kids and enjoyed sharing American culture with them as well. It was also an interesting way to see a more local side of Taiwan and learn about the education system here. ICL had a final ceremony on December 23rd where we were given certificates from the ministry of education recognizing our service. I was also invited to share a bit of my experience from the semester, which was fun too!

My travels let me try lots of new food, so be sure to check out the updated food page!

Presenting about my experiences at the final ceremony

With my ICl partner, Kathleen

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