Claire's Gone

Well, Claire left this morning. We both got up really early to be ready when our driver came. Thus, we both got the sick 'airport feeling' - Claire moreso because she's actually travelling. It's funny, in pretty much the same proportion to how much I love the process of travelling, Claire hates it. So she was anxious about the trip home, but really excited to see her husband. Actually, today is their 10 month anniversary, so Claire will be back in Indiana in time to celebrate with John. (=

We were at the airport way too early, and checked in over two hours before the flight. So we had lots of time to sit at the Au Bon Pain cafe and talk. We were both sad that our visit was over, but not in the same way we were sad to say goodbye at Ruth St. last spring. See, it's not the end of something, it's the marker of passing that transistional point between college roommates and life friends. And we have more great memories from the last 10 days than I could have ever imagined. And we have great plans to improve our student's pen pal program for next year. And as I rode home on the bus, I shed a little tear, but was overall just happy to have such a wonderful friend, and to know that she will always be part of my life.

Now, I have to turn my attentions to getting ready to leave Taiwan in a few days. I am THRILLED. I have reached my limit, I must leave this country before I start screaming at people in the street. Seriously. Actually, right now, our Taiwanese roommates daughter and her boyfriend are in my apartment, and it's making me very grouchy. I'm so tired of Taiwan, I feel tempted to say "I'm leaving and never coming back!" But I think all I need is a summer of quiet and, more importantly, personal space. If you are a stranger - DO NOT TOUCH ME OR STARE AT ME! Thank you very much for your consideration.

THe "Carole and Claire's Taiwan Adventure PhotoBlog" is in the works, and shall be available to the public likely later today. I know you're on the edge of your seat.

Try #1 - We wanted a 'portrait' to capture the moment. I tried it first, holding the camera at arms length. But, as usual, my head looks huge. 

Try #2 - Maybe if Claire takes it, it will be the right size. Nope, I guess Claire's arms aren't quite long enough, 

Try # 3 - Just right! Well, we still look like we're sweating in 35C heat, but at least our heads are in proportion. 

Sidenote

I was just walking home, and as usual, found my back soaked upon arrival. Which made me want to check the temperature. This week the daily highs have varied between 35 and 36 C, not counting all the humidity which makes it feel worse. Then I thought about my summer, and decided to check Halifax. No kidding - the high one day last week was 17C! And the monthly average for July is 23C! Now, this sounds lovely for living in long term, but after acclimatizing to Taipei, I'm going to freeze in Nova Scotia!

Travel Lesson for the Day: Mango Ice is for sharing. We learned this valuable truth when we made the mistake of ordering three mango ices and got these three boat fulls. The consequences of ignorance of this important rule? Well, everyone who passed us got a good chuckle out of the three foreign pigs, and we felt sick the whole evening. Still, it was delicious, and it was a great deal, there must have been two whole mangos cut up in each bowl.  

We're back

Claire and I aren't going to cut it as adventure travelers. We tried to have the Green Island experience, but ended up coming back to Taipei two days early. The whole story will follow, with LOTS of pictures. But for now, we are back in the land of civilization, hapily on our way for breakfast at Starbucks.

A Series of Flowers

{This is Kathleen} Happy Canada Day to everyone! Carole is away at a mountain hotspring resort with Claire and asked me to fill up the blog. So these are some pictures she took of day lillies. Great aren't they? She didn't change any of the colour or do special effects- they're just that pretty!

This is a bit of a dreary picture of the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial. It really is brilliantly white in the sunshine, but we went at dusk.

Claire and I leave for Taichung in an hour or two, so I likely won't be posting for a week. I've given Kathy the crash course in Blogger, so she may post some things if she feels so inclined.

Well, I taught my last class this morning, and was quite happy to say goodbye. Ten months of teaching with only one week off means I'm allowed to be excited to leave. If I wasn't coming back, I would be horribly sad, but this situation just makes me excited. After I finished at school, Kathleen, Claire and I went to Apple Cobo for a little girly lunch, then off for our last day in Taipei.  

Our afternoon was spent at the National Palace Musuem. It's the largest collection of Chinese artificats in the world, and it was smuggled out of China. It's being renovated, so you can't take pictures. Instead, they do this 3D fake photo of you superimposed in front of what the renovated musuem will look like. I had to get one. Anyway, this is Claire playing along with my idea of trying to get one of those silly shots where it looks like someone is interacting with an inanimate object. Never works. But we still tried.  

Kathleen's favorite flower, the Frangipani. There was a big tree of them outside the Musuem. 

The beginning of the night market - dinner at Ikari. Claire and I had tortillas and chips, and they gave us plastic gloves to use for eating. Isn't that considerate. No messy fingers for us. The night market is something of a must-see in Taipei, although I didn't think Claire would especially enjoy it. 

The end of the night market. Yup - time to go home. I don't like the night market, all the people get to me. It was the smells that got to Claire. Who knew stinky tofu was that stinky?! 

This is Claire and I at the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial. It's my favorite part of Taipei, and Claire thought it as pretty as I do. We wandered around the gardens while the sun set, and then went into the National Concert Hall for a performance of the TMU orchestra. They did all movie overtures, including Star Wars, so it was highly enjoyable. However, jet lag hit Claire half way through, and she had that unpleasant sensation of being so sleepy it is painful to keep your eyes open.