Since being in Taiwan, I’ve realized a few things about myself. My language skills, and my desire to not always be in a city. The excursions these past few weeks have really opened my eyes to what Taiwan has to offer, even as a small island.
I’m lucky to have visited Taiwan before in the past, but most of my time was spent in the city, in Taipei, exploring pretty much what the city has to offer. However, in the past few weeks, the TMT group has visited a few places outside of the city, which has only opened my eyes to what Taiwan has, and how “close to home” the outside can be.
For a weekend, we did an excursion to an aboriginal village in southern Taiwan. A 4-5 hour bus ride away, up and down hills and valleys and eventually up a mountain, allowed us to not only experience a different way of life, but understand that our world, that we have known in in Taiwan, has been limited to what we can access in a short amount of time. Over the course of these two days in a village, there were points that were interesting on an educational level, yet the parts that were the most enjoyable had to do with our surroundings. Instead of being bogged down by pollution (although a really clean country), you’re surrounded by nature and by clean air that hasn’t necessarily been touched by city cars and modern technology.
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A photo from the bus going up the mountain near the aboriginal village[/caption]
From this trip, I rediscovered my love for being outside in nature. I have always been one to love hiking and to be outdoors, but I have been confined to what’s close to me in Upstate New York (which, if you’ve ever been there, isn’t filled with much). Even when traveling or visiting a new place, there isn’t necessarily a ton of time to do personal excursions to hike or see something unique. I started to feel this rediscovery about a week before the weekend excursion when visited Jiu Fen (九分), an area that used to only hold nine families, and now is a tourist area with many small shops and food vendors. However, a little bit away from Jiu Fen is the Gold Museum, which, while another tourist destination, contains plenty of views to feel like you’re surrounded by nature.
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From the top of the Gold Museum gift shop[/caption]
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Me! Outside the Museum[/caption]
Between these two locations, I felt like I had seen enough to understand that even though filled with tourists, that being in the city is not all that Taiwan has to offer. Taipei does not necessarily hold all of Taiwan’s culture, just like certain areas in the U.S. (LA, New York City, Philadelphia, etc.) do not contain all of America’s culture. It was interesting to see how aboriginal areas have developed to not necessarily become entirely modern, and still hold their traditional roots, just like Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Alaskans have done in their own ways. But, I also found a love for not being in the city entirely.
Just this past week, our Resident Director, Regina, offered an optional excursion to Elephant Mountain（象山）. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere at the end of the Red Line on the MRT. However, my family had told me that when my youngest great aunt was raising my uncles, they used to live near there. However, it wasn’t as much of a tourist spot as it is now. In fact, the road that contains the entrance to the mountain used to have a huge ditch next to it, and often people would fall into the ditches at night. Now, the area is lit up at night and the ditches are covered. The hike itself was the first time I had climbed stairs that aggressively and given how in Taipei everything is accessible by public transportation, we really had to put some muscle into it. But, just like the aboriginal village and Jiu Fen, the sights at the end of the day were well worth it, even if it was only going a third of the way up.
I think what makes these excursions so great is that some of them are actually super accessible by bus or car. It’s made me realize that even if I love the city, there are ways to get out of it easily. It’s why I love where I live, because a hiking spot can be anywhere from 10 minutes away to an hour and a half and the views are still great. Getting the best of both worlds in a different country makes the trip worth it, even if your legs hate you after.
Program: Tradition and Modernity in Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
Term: Summer 2019