New Friends| 新朋友

October 3, 2022

Between my classes and sightseeing in Taipei, I haven’t had much time to write recently. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen some beautiful scenery, eaten delicious food, and made a few new friends!

Last week (9/23), I went with Hannah and Alex, another CSAT student, to Maokong, an area outside of Taipei famous for growing tea. After a short train ride, we arrived at a gondola at the base of some mountains on the outskirts of Taipei. After swiping our train cards (the Maokong gondola is simply an extension of the MRT), we boarded the gondola and began our ascent up the mountain. On the way up, we had beautiful views of the surrounding forests and could see Taipei 101 in the distance. When we got to the top, we briefly stopped in the visitor’s center to check out some trails in the area. After about 40 minutes of uphill hiking (and lots of stairs) we reached a beautiful spot to look out over the mountains and Taipei.

After walking back down the trail, we decided to stop in a teahouse and try some of the locally grown tea, as well as tea fried rice, a local specialty. The tea was refreshing, and I learned how to properly brew and serve the tea which was unique. The fried rice was good, although I couldn’t really taste the tea.

Around 5:00, we got back on the gondola just in time to watch the sunset as we descended the mountain. The views were absolutely stunning. Our gondola car also had a clear bottom, so we were able to see the treetops as we rode down the mountain.

Looking over Taipei during our hike at Maokong

Sunset from the gondola over Taipei

Another sunset

Alex, Hannah and I in our gondola car heading back to Taipei

Hannah and I parted ways with Alex and made our way to Shilin night market, one of the most famous night markets in Taipei. While it was fun, Shilin is certainly overhyped. I talked to Wendy’s husband, Allen, about this and he said that Shilin was the best night market awhile ago, but post-covid it hasn’t bounced back very well. Nonetheless, Hannah and I had a great time. We walked around and saw a lot of pretty lights and unique shops. I got cold sesame noodles and papaya milk, a very famous night market drink in Taiwan.

Over the weekend, Hannah and I attempted to go to an art museum but found out it was closed for construction. Although it was disappointing, we were able to walk around a clothing market and explore a new area of Taipei together. We went over to Wendy’s for dinner and ended up getting hotpot near the night market.

Lights at Shilin night market

Shilin 士林

Hotpot with Wendy and Allen

One of the great joys since I last wrote has been the opportunity to make music with a new friend. I posted in the international student facebook group that I would like to meet up with anyone interested in playing music together. One of the people who responded was a pianist (every violinist’s dream friend) from Germany named Jacob. After briefly chatting, we scheduled some time to play together. I hadn’t really played my violin since coming to Taiwan, and it felt so good to play again. We sight read some different pieces and ended up playing for two hours. I met a couple of Jacob’s friends at dinner and introduced him to one of my friends, and we made plans to do something together the following week.

On Monday (9/26) we went to find some pineapple cakes (鳳梨酥) at a very famous shop called Sunny Hills. This shop gives everyone who walks into their store a free pineapple cake and a cup of tea. They also have a chocolate banana stroopwafel-type-thing which was also quite tasty. Although there is no obligation to buy anything, I ended up buying a few pineapple cakes because they were very tasty.

After that, we briefly went shopping. Jacob’s friends had to leave, but the two of us wanted to explore a little more in the area, so we went to the botanical gardens and saw all the different plants there. The highlight was the lotus pond. It was so pretty, but sadly none of the lotus were blooming. I can only imagine what it looks like when the lotus are all in full bloom.

We also walked back to the Liberal Democracy Square where Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall and the national concert hall are. We made it just in time to see the sunset which was really beautiful. At this point, it was time for dinner, so we got dinner at Chun Shui-Tang, a restaurant that claims to be the founder of bubble tea. For such a lofty claim, their bubble tea was a bit disappointing but still not bad. We got to try a lot of different dishes which was really fun!

Lotus pond at the Taipei botanical garden

My new friend, Jacob, and our food

Liberal Democracy Square at sunset

I had my first session with my ICL students this week! I was assigned to two schools, one in Hsinchu and one in Pingtung. My students are really cute, they’re all in 3rd or 4th grade. Despite some technical issues, we were able to make it through the sessions successfully. Most of the students don’t know any English which makes me really grateful for my two ICL partners who can help me translate when I get stuck. For my school in Pingtung, I’m partnered with Emily, a Taiwanese student from Kaohsiung. For my school in Hsinchu, I’m partnered with Kathleen, a local student from Taipei. Both of them are great to work with, and I’m excited to collaborate with them for the semester with our elementary school students.

On Saturday, I went to the symphony with Jacob, Hannah, and a couple other new friends to hear Rachmaninov's second piano concerto. I’m very picky about this piece…there’s one recording by Russian pianist, Sviatoslav Richter that I really like. In the past, I’ve heard interpretations of the piece that I didn’t enjoy, so I was a bit skeptical. However, the soloist, Dmitry Masleev, delivered an incredible performance with a fantastic interpretation which I really enjoyed.

Jacob, Lauren, Emelia, Hannah & I

National Concert Hall at dusk

National Symphony Orchestra

On Sunday, I went on an incredible hike in Sandiaoling (三貂嶺) with a completely different group of new friends. Two of the girls live in my dorm and are international students from Belgium, and the other two are Taiwanese students. The Sandiaoling trail has three waterfalls and incredible scenery. We left Taipei around 9:30 in the morning and arrived at the Sandiaoling train station about an hour later. Although it was hot, we quickly got into the shade along the trail and started our climb.

We made quite a few stops along the way to rest, eat snacks, and take lots of pictures. A highlight was a series of rope bridges across small creeks which were very picturesque. The water was incredibly clear, and we could see small fish swimming along.

Me and two friends at the bottom

Temple in the distance on a hill

Local train near Sandiaoling

Violetta, Anna, Yvette, Kelly, and I at the first waterfall

Crossing the rope bridge

View as we started walking down the mountain

The highlight of the hike was swimming at the top of a waterfall! After passing the third waterfall on the trail, there is a small trail that leads to a temple. Along this trail, we found a pool (~4-5 feet deep) with the water that supplied the waterfall we had just seen below! The ledge at the very edge of the cliff contained the water, so the current for the cascading water was not strong. This made for a beautiful place to swim with clear water and a stunning view. I can easily say this hike is among my favorite things I’ve done in Taiwan so far.

Sitting on the ledge

The pool where we swam with the view

Refreshing water after a long hike

A few other recent highlights include: eating a boba cream puff, seeing some blooming lotus flowers, swimming with a new friend, buying an NTU teddy bear (supposedly a tradition here), and buying a reusable boba cup. I can take this whenever I get boba and they’ll fill it up and usually give a discount! It’s also spill-proof which makes it convenient to carry around in a bag. I also randomly met a guy who grew up in Northfield on the street today…I was wearing my St. Olaf t-shirt and he came up to me and made the connection. Even though I’m so far away from home, it’s crazy how small the world feels sometimes.

My NTU bear

Boba in my reusable cup

Bubble tea cream puffs

Blooming lotus

While I still miss a lot of my people, I feel that I’ve settled deeper into life here in Taiwan. I’ve finally made some new friends and have settled into a routine. Every week gets easier which is reassuring. As always, feel free to check out food and boba updates on their respective pages, and feel free to reach out!