Flowers at the Qingshui Cliff. (Seth L./Staff)
Most Vikings were getting much-needed rest to start their spring breaks but not those going on the Chinese Trip to Taiwan and Japan. With the first group of flights meeting at 4 a.m. before flying to Newark, the second group got a little luckier and was granted a few extra minutes of rest before meeting at five a.m. to fly into Chicago. Excitement buzzed through the planes as we knew in less than 24 hours we would land at our destination yet wary of the fourteen-hour plane ride ahead of us from San Francisco to Taipei City. United Airlines’s inflight movie selection along with on-demand TV shows helped everyone bear up against the boredom and lack of legroom. I was lucky enough to watch and finish the full Pitch Perfect Trilogy and a few episodes of The Office episodes in between to give myself a quick break. Other students decided to sleep or nap to pass the time. Finally, we landed in Taiwan and were ushered through Customs and to our busses before departing for our first of six hotels.
In Taiwan, we hopped on busses to visit An Le Senior High School, a nearby school, to meet and interact with some of its students before shadowing a student for the morning. After a short icebreaker in their gymnasium, we were ready to see how different our two schools were. Whether we were in classes working with Virtual Reality (VR), cooking, or practicing traditional character calligraphy was dependent on our students’ daily schedule. Each of us received a gift, some got Taiwanese teas, others had papers full of Chinese characters, and a lucky group left the school with a new VR headset. We presented them with CA merchandise in return.
Our next stop was the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, where we learned about coral restoration and sting rays. There were many photo opportunities, but the museum gave us some of the most interesting and eye-catching photos from the trip.
We ended the day by visiting two markets, Shifen Old Street and the Raohe St. Night Market. At Shifen Old Street, we decorated lanterns with wishes and aspirations before igniting them and watching them soar into the sky. At Raohe St. Night Market, we tried Taiwanese delicacies like soup dumplings, Tang Hulu, a traditional snack made of fruit coated in a sugary simple syrup, and Soy Sauce Braised Beef. The villages’ many shops had inexpensive merchandise and games, so many of us could buy souvenirs and not spend all our money on the first day.
We spent the next few days exploring ancient landmarks and mountainous areas in Hualien like the Qingshui Cliff, Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taiwan; the tunnel of nine turns, and the National Palace Museum, home to many ancient Taiwan artifacts like a cabbage carved out of jade and a large bronze buddha statue. We also went whale watching in Hualien, where we were unable to see any whales but instead had photo opportunities for the nearby dolphins. We were then honored to meet Taiwan’s former president, Ma Ying-Jeou, and ask him questions about his policies and moral role models. We learned his stance on the potential reunification with mainland China and some of his most proud achievements while in office.
Next, we flew two hours over Japan into Osaka. After a tea ceremony, where we learned how to properly make matcha. Then we changed into traditional Japanese Kimonos before going to the bamboo forest.
The following days were arguably the most fun. First, we went to Nara Park, a temple with its entire driveway and front lawn area surrounded with deer. For $1.45 you could buy treats to feed to them, but as soon as you brought it out, you were swarmed by the hungry nearby animals. We then took a bullet train that reached a top speed of 200 mph, into the city of Nagoya.
Once in Nagoya, we visited Ghibli Park, which was a massive theme park with a Disney World feeling. We could go into a big interactive warehouse designed with all of Studio Ghibli’s work like My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, and Spirited Away. We could then ice skate, tour the grounds, bike a 5km trail, and even play a quick pick-up basketball game with some locals.
In our final days, we went to a disaster, specifically an earthquake prevention facility in Japan. The information we learned has since become more personal with the recent news of the massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan, exactly where we were in Hualien. Seeing the photos of the wreckage and comparing our photos of the same places makes it all very surreal and I am very thankful to have gone on the trip at the time we did. We then went to the tallest building in Tokyo, the Tokyo Sky Tree, where we overlooked the entire city and its buildings.
We spent our last night touring Akihabara, which has many shops and tourist shops to finalize any souvenir cravings we might have had. On our final day before we boarded the plane, we visited one last place, the Meiji Shrine, a significant landmark home to traditional art and culture. Across the street were the stores around Shibuya Crossing, a popular pedestrian attraction filled with thousands of people per day with many different vendors.
We ended the trip how we started, with a twelve-hour plane ride back to the US.
Thank you to our teachers, Dr. Yan and Dr. Yang, for spending countless hours planning this outstanding trip. Also, thanks to our chaperones: Mr. Bolognese, Mr. Farrenkopf, and Mrs. Fireman, for making sure we all had a fun, safe trip!
