You Will All Be Missed - OCAC 2010

Time is so short! It feels like it was yesterday when I was packing my luggage, and now I am unpacking. Sieving through the photos with endless smiley faces and weird poses/positions really made me realise what a great time we had. And of course, where would we be without our leaders. To Even - thanks for ALL the wonderful stories as well as keeping us in line and on track for the trip. And of course, the bubbly personality that brought laughter to the group with the most fun we could ever have. To Yin-Hsieh - for the lame jokes, sharing Taiwanese experiences, and becoming the subject of many silly things that K/Cristine were able to come up with. To Nancy - for being so cool the whole trip while adding inserts/commentaries from time to time trying get us to appreciate TW just that little bit more ^^. To Hedy - for introducing to some of us your interesting tastes of drinks and foods in TW, some of which were truly bizarre! To The Boss - for the calm and cool attitude that you managed to put up until the very last few days. And your lovely little daughter, how cute ^^. Last and definitely NOT the least - to my group's very own Fritz who started out quiet and shy but gradually got resurrected to become the centre of attention (actually more like the laughing stock, but it was all love~). What can I say about Fritz ... well let the following noises be my voice :

1. Gwee Gwee
2. Ooh no ~ (the "no" is pronounced with a high pitch)
3. Oh my god ~ (the "god" is pronounced with another high pitch, best said off-pitch)
4. Lots of hand-waving, with a sexy stare over the glasses (not looking through them)

THANKS TO ALL THE LEADERS for making the OCAC camp so memorable! Miss u all already!!

With the trip itself, from the exhilarating drumming to arts & crafts, or the water activities to nights markets, and even from the very sweaty martial arts to the relaxing tea tastings, Taiwan has, once more, become alive inside me. It made me proud to be a Taiwanese, to speak its language and be proud of its culture and people. And I'm fairly sure that everyone on this trip would all feel the same. But the thing I miss most now (after only leaving TW for one day) is all of you who made me laugh, who beared with me from learning your names a week into the trip and still getting countless times wrong, who tolerated my lame jokes and the need for attention and participation in group hugs and photos, who pointed with disgust when I do stupid things. All of you will be missed. Love u all! ^^

This is the URL of the video played at the end of Fritz's group's final presentation.

I'm missing you all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKYidglA3gE

To our very own Fritz

1. Gwee Gwee

2. Ooh no ~ (the "no" is pronounced with a high pitch)

3. Oh my god ~ (the "god" pronounced with a high pitch)

4. lots of hand-waving, with a sexy stare over the glasses

THESE ARE ALL THE THINGS WE MISS FROM OUR VERY OWN FRITZ !!!! miss u already and thanks to everyone for making the OCAC camp so memorable!

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

Today I woke up in my warm bed in Penghu to the pitter patter of Taiwan’s infamous drenching rains. I should have known right then that the day would be off to a shaky start. The rain forced us to abandon our original plans as we made our way to the main island of MaGu from JiBei, the island where we were staying. On the larger island, we visited the PengHu Living Museum where we learned more about the people and past of PengHu. Incredibly modern, the Museum greeted visitors with pictures of the various faces of PengHu both young and old. Also included in the Museum was a small replica of an older PengHu village where it was great to see the older architecture of the time as well as its layout. It was also great to see a model replica of PengHu’s famous rock/coral fishing traps where fish are herded into enclosed areas near the shore where they can’t escape and fisherman can catch them with nets. Soon after, we boarded a plane for Taipei City where we saw some spectacular views of Taiwan at night from the sky in the company of some amazing people.
Daniel Chu

Motorycycling

Today, after group performance practice, some of us went to Gong Guan and then Le Hua Night Market when we realized all the Gong Guan was closed by eleven.  The highlight of this night market trip would be riding on the back of Lev's motorcycle!!  I was really sad when riding motorcycles didn't work out back at Penghu even though I was scared out of my wits to try it with a poor bicycle riding background.

Anyway, riding was really fun even though Lev got lost on the way for what he claims was the first time in his life.

The great part happened, however, on the way back.  We pulled up to a stop light after I had just declared myself a motorcycle riding pro when a guy on another motorcycle pulls up next to us & taps Lev on the shoulder and asks "這是你的嗎? (Is this yours?)"  Lev had just lost his phone and he was like uhhhh no BUT IT WAS MIIINE!  I was in mini-shock and was like "Wahhh 真的是我的 (It's really mine)" and after quickly handing off the phone, he rode off to the left leaving Lev & me in the darkness silenced...  YES IT WAS THAT COOL.

Also, motorcycles aren't allowed to turn left in Taiwan.  HE TURNED LEFT SO GOOD.  HAO SUAI.

I didn't even know I'd dropped my phone though I remember hearing something hit the floor and then seeing something fly back but I checked for my wristlet & in finding it in place, thought nothing of it.  Lev also heard it & thought even less of it.  But this dude ust pulled up, dropped a line, returned a phone, and drove off without a token of our gratitude.  Dude I didnt know I was missing my phone, I have the luckiest life everrrr.

I'm not supposed to blog today BUT Lev came into my room a little bit ago and brought a baby chocolate cake and I happened to be on the blog and so he said I should blog and the least I can do when people bring me food is return a blog post.

So Taiwan culture has been intensifying in the area of mosquitoes.  At last count, I had eighteen new mosquito bites today and I know I wasn't alone.  However, we got some swords made out of popcorn stalks.  I think.

The Hakka dinner we had tonight reminded me of the typical dinner I usually have when I come to Taiwan since my dad is Hakkanese.  What I had thought was typical Taiwanese food turns out to be Hakkanese food.  Fascinating.

Okay, I'm sorry I have nothing of interest to post.  But I am surprised our trip is coming up so quickly to the end.  I'm really tired and full of chocolate cake and will peace out for now.