"Be the most Brilliant COLOR in the box!"

Last weekend I took a sporadic trip to Kaohsiung with another teacher, Michelle. It was completely a last minute decision, however it was another incredible experience. Earlier in the day I was at a Rock Music Festival at one of the larger parks in Taichung, Wexin Park. They had two stages of music and another amphitheater with the bigger bands. 

Taiwan lady rockin' it- holding a rainbow flag!

I spent most of my time looking at all the art, jewelry, and random assortment of knick knacks all throughout the park. I bought a pair Taiwan flag earrings, a necklace with Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc, two scrunchies (oh yes, I'm bringing those back), and some postcards. 
 
When I finally stopped to enjoy the music with the others, that is when Michelle presented me with the opportunity to go to a ColorPlay concert in Kaohsiung. 

We took the HSR, High Speed Rail, to Kaohsiung. By bus the trip takes 3 hours, by HSR it takes 50 minutes. Then we took the MRT, a subway, to Dream Mall. Dream Mall is the largest mall in Taiwan, it has a miniature amusement park on top of it which includes a Ferris wheel!  Of course we took the time to ride the Ferris wheel. 

View from the top of Ferris wheel at Dream Mall.

Afterwards we met Michelle's childhood friend, Tessa, as well as her roommate Ria. (It is quite amazing to me that four of the new teacher's know someone who lives in Taiwan. Crazy considering how most people in the U.S. don't even know Taiwan is an island.) We went to a local spot called Brickyard. Brickyard had some great live Latin and reggae music combined with an assortment of people I have never seen before in one place. We met people from Japan, El Salvador, South Africa, China, and Russia- and I'm positive there were many other ethnicities mixed in. I danced with some real Latin men and women and met quite a few other colorful people who had me smiling ear to ear. I really enjoyed my time there.

One of the many harbors surrounding Kaohsiung.

We left early to prepare for the fun-filled festivities of the next day. Sunday morning we met some of Tessa's friends outside of the University where the Color Play would take place. Tessa has been living in Taiwan for two years. I was in shock and awe at how well she could speak Chinese. She communicated very well with the taxi drivers, restaurant owners, scooter shop people, and even the locals at the concert! We were with a group of about 6-9 people. YouMing and his sister Ria (2nd Ria), Show, and James all spoke very good English and just as predicted, beyond nice and welcoming to Michelle and I. 


Upon arriving at Color Play, which took place on a beach, you receive 3 bags of powdered color, two tattoos, eye glasses, and a mask for protection.  They also greeted you by tossing color on you as you walked through the main entrance.  We arrived JUST before the first "color-off." We ran up into the main action where we reciprocated throwing color at everyone, balloons full of color exploded, they shot color off the stage, had people in the crowd with color guns shooting people all over the place. Complete colorful madness. 


D.J.'s took control of the music throughout the day while the fun continued. They had a "bubble party," also known as a foam pit, going on for awhile. Half way through the day we went for a swim in the ocean, which led to us getting clean. I decided to venture off on my own to get colorful again, take some pictures with locals, and dance next to the stage. I wore my glasses the entire time, unfortunately not my mask which I'd later regret. 

Relaxing; Top: Tessa, Show, Ria. Bottom: Me, YouMing, James, Ria

The group of us relaxed for a bit on the beach, watched the sunset, ate, and had a conversation about the war in Syria. It was during this time that Michelle's bag was hijacked by a very...let's say.. whacked out individual. Luckily, I put the pieces together and realized who took the bag about ten minutes later and retrieved it. (This comes into play later.) 

All those boxes full of Color!!

Michelle and I had not left with much money and by Sunday night we were both out. We were relying on her credit card to get us HSR tickets back home to Taichung. Since the HSR ran until 11 P.M. We decided to stay for at least one hour of the live music, 8-9. 

The last hour was by far the best hour of the whole day. New arrivals had shown up in white clothing, however they had no color yet. I suggested we go 'attack' them with color and it was on after that. Five of us ran around throwing color on anyone who looked too clean, then we ran across the front line throwing color. The reactions were what made it so thrilling. Everyone had just been waiting for the color tossing to start again. We got everyone riled up, throwing and attacking with color all over again! 

About to get hit with some yellow.

Michelle and I sadly said our goodbyes just after 9 o'clock and headed to the MRT to take to the HSR. The walk would have taken 30-40 minutes to the MRT, but by some guardian miracle, or just the dumbfounding consideration of the Taiwanese, two young men who spoke zero English offered us to scoot us. It was after that we realized that her entire wallet, with the credit card, was missing. We had just enough NT to get to the HSR. Arrived at 10:55, as the last train for Taichung left at 11:00. We considered ourselves stranded. Luckily, we were saved by the Taiwanese friend I made a few weeks back, Sam. He had a friend in Kaohsiung who gave us enough to get to the bus station that ran all night. At 12:45 we boarded the bus, arriving home at 3:50 A.M. QUITE the experience back home.  School on Monday was a bit rough. 

Evening Stars

Speaking of school, my schedule changed slightly. I now only have my 3rd graders, split into two classes, Stars and Evening Stars. Then I also teach a Grad class twice a week. The Grad class is 13 year old boys, getting them to crack a smile or share anything is a challenge in itself. Baby steps. 

Stars

I really enjoy my 3rd graders. We work on a lot of spelling, vocabulary, listening, reading, writing, and comprehension. We had a birthday this past week. Birthday's are a big deal. A triple layered cake is always provided for the entire class, denying the cake is not acceptable. 


I now have a Visa Card for Taiwan, as well as a Taiwan cell phone! 

Michelle and YouMing wearing their masks!

Sadly, I have not felt 100% and have had quite a bad cough since not wearing the mask at the Color Play party. I assume my lungs were coated with powder and the lack of sleep led to my sickness. Almost 3 months living here and still no health insurance, even though going to the doctor here takes 15-20 minutes tops and even without insurance is so inexpensive, it makes me a little sick to think what we pay in America for a doctor to tell us to take some Ibuprofen. 


I have been scooting on my own, finding my way across town and not getting lost! So proud ^_^  However, one evening the scooter I am borrowing died and I had to walk it home. (Just a few blocks.)

This weekend was the Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the Moon Festival. Mooncakes are a big deal! Huge tents were set up outside of our apartment for the surrounding community to enjoy a supper together on Saturday night. The festival is to celebrate gathering, thanksgiving, and praying. 

Supper for Moon festival, RIGHT outside of our apartment.

Random fact that makes me happy: Here, Buddha is considered a God and his big belly represents all of our sins he takes and how he is full of forgiveness. Buddha reminds you to BE TRUE TO YOU!

Kelly, Brittany, Stephanie, Amy, and I leave for the Philippines in 3 days!!!!

--Thanks for reading ^_^ K