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Trip to Taiwan...
Going to Taiwan was a great idea!! But, going with a group of six girls with different ideas and expectations of what a trip to a foreign country should be was not...
It is cold and rainy when we arrive in Taipei. Our friends, Chen and Doudou are there to greet me and my five friends. Each of us is from a different country; each of us has totally different personalities. Miyuki-from Holland; Taeko-Germany; Huey Khey-Singapore; Masako-Italy; Heidi-Denmark; and me- the US. Our two friends greeting us at the airport are Taiwanese. We decided to come to Taiwan as a sort of graduation trip. We have all finished a rigid ten-month Japanese course at Soka University (in Hachioji, Japan), where we met, and became friends. We planned this trip, wanting to create lasting memories, before we graduated in March. Little did we know that on this trip our friendship would be tested over and over again.
Chen and Doudou have planned a grand ten-day trip! During the trip, we go around Taipei, visit the national museum, spend the night at a hot spring, visit a traditional tea house overlooking Taipei city and eat lots of amazing food! We fly to Pong-hu Island, the "Hawaii" of Taiwan, and spend a few days there. We tour the resort island, learn a little culture and history, eat good food, go to the fish market and meet the nicest people. We also travel to Taichu to visit Chen's cousin who runs a chicken farm, eat delicious stewed eggs and see an exhibit of beautiful Chinese lanterns. Sound exciting and fun-filled??
Well, for the most part, I really enjoy myself. I am sure that the others do, too. But, during the trip, sometimes,the tension is high...some of the group does not want to go to all the places our friends plan for us to go. They want to stay in one place, get to know it and relax. Some cannot handle the foreign tasting food, and suffer from allergic reactions, diarrhea or something else. Some just cannot get along sometimes. (What can I say...we were together for over 240 hours!!) Some get annoyed at not being able to understand the language. All of us at one point or another are annoyed for some reason! There are some harsh words exchanged during parts of the trip. There are feelings that are hurt. The thing that saves us is having to use two or three cars to travel around most of the places. It give us opportunities to take breaks if we don't get along.
Our poor friends, Chen and Doudou...What stress we have caused them!! Chen who is always worried about gaining too much weight, gains about 10 kilograms in ten days.She eats what we cannot, at restaraunts and at houses of people who invite us for dinners. Doudou has many headaches.She really wants us to see as much of Taiwan as possible. Both are trying so hard to help us have a great time. But they both have to listen to our complaints and our tiredness. It must be torture for them! They must have been relieved to see our plane take us back to Japan.
At the end of the trip, we are all worn out... in Japan, at Narita airport, we don't care that people are staring at us for sitting on the floor being surrounded by all of our luggage. For the most part, we just sit in silence...
As time passes, though, we remember the good times. Laughing together, playing games and learning how to pour tea the traditional way in the teahouse...admiring the gorgeous view of Taipei from atop that mountain...playing with the many kids of that generous family in Pong-hu Island...bearing the cold, strong winds of that island together...walking the beach together...getting kicks out of watching six young boys riding one little moped...walking along the streets of the night market and eating exotic foods, buying gifts...going to the stinky hot springs and feeling frightened by the spooky looks of the hotel we stayed in...the excitement of catching a bus or riding a taxi in the city of Taipei...thinking of it all, we DID have a marvelous trip!!
