They would often play with and touch my hair. Once, in a large shopping mall, I had an assistant take me by the arm and taking me around her entire floor, showing me to all the other shop assistants, calling me her �little blond china doll�� I found this nicely ironic�
My mum came down with the �Taiwanese flu�. Some kind of flu that tourists are quite susceptible to. We went for a day trip up into the mountains when she got it, and they were massaging her and stuff to try and make her feel better. She doesn�t remember much of it unfortunately. It was really beautiful up there. I found all sorts of interesting creatures. Ranging from acid spitting caterpillars to toads that would give you a nasty rash if you touched them (we found two, and because they were pest and we didn�t have the heart to kill them, we threw them out on to the lily pads in the middle of the pond�). I also found a lovely (and friendly to the touch) tree frog. I was the only person fast enough to catch one! I carried it around most of the day, amazing everyone I showed it to. It actually became reasonably tame in the end. One of the adults also saw a lizard up in one of the trees. It was so cool, I went and got one of the other students who was there, to show him. We got back to the tree and I was pointing it out when it jumped on to my head and ran down my back and disappeared in to the grass. I was so shocked I just stood there for several moments absolutely dumb-struck. I must admit, the suddenness of it had given me a slight fright. (Check under �Vanuatu� for a recount of another incident with a lizard.) the lizard would have been about the length of most of my arm, and then it�s tail was the length of my entire arm.
We saw and did many things while we were over there, from theme parks to local markets and even a carp farm, and then there were the shops! We also spent a couple of nights up in the capital. On the way up there, we were in a tourist style bus. Really flash. It even had a karaoke machine! We stopped off at a stall too and got shown how to eat raw sugarcane (yum!) then at the lunch stop we were at a little shop that had the cutest little chihuahua sitting on the counter. Most of us never realised it was real till it moved!
Three things I will never forget: the little jellies we used to eat almost constantly, the chocolate and strawberry bread, and the wild rooster dish I practically lived on while over there (I wasn�t sure what all the other dishes were!).
At the hotel we stayed in, the guys found a cockroach in their room. The room I was staying in with some of the other girls was next to theirs, and they came running in to our room, wanting me to get rid of it. Okay, so just because I love animals and I�m not afraid of bugs except for spiders, does NOT mean I�m going to touch a cockroach! In the end we squashed it with something and only I was brave enough to pick it up in a paper towel and dispose of it. I did cause a huge uproar though when I said I saw another one behind the tv stand� a couple of girls rushed over to have a look, but it wasn�t there anymore� then again, it never had been, but I�d had my fun� most of the girls had screamed, and the guys hadn�t been brave enough to go near it, although they were willing to tell me to do something about it� so sue me, I can�t help being a little bit evil! : D
On the bus trip to the airport they�d started showing scream� then they stopped because we were mostly too young. What gets me is that they stopped it after it got to the part where the parents came home and found their daughter hanging from a tree and her uhh� disembowelled� boyfriend on the back porch. (for those who haven�t seen it, the beginning is quite gruesome). And that�s about as bad as the entire thing gets. And so what do they do? (such logic) they put a movie on about a plane hi-jacking�! I will never forget that. Then we duly arrive at the airport and check all our stuff in, then on the way up to the gate we find out our plane has been delayed because the have to clear the runway after a plane crash that has just happened!! If anyone was a little nervous about getting on the plane� I can�t blame them. From memory though it wasn�t too bad a crash, some problem with the lading gear. No deaths I don�t think, only 7 people injured. It was a small plane, intercity flight or something�
Anyway, that�s all I can think of about Taiwan at the moment. Later on when I have things better organised, maybe it will be categorised into specific events and stuff, and eventually there will be some photos. I will have to consult my diary of the trip when I get back to NZ.
