Alex and Nouria at a temple
I strut down to the 85 Café, order my usual ‘hi caf-ay’ which means black coffee in Chinese, and buy a rice burger at the 7/11 for lunch. On the way back I dodge a high speed scooter or two, it’s a country where making it to work on time is more important than running over a foreigner, so you have to be alert at all times. My Slovakian roommate Sisa is waiting for me as I get back in then we walk to the street to catch our taxi to take us to the Taichung Catholic School for the Disabled, where we’ll be doing some volunteering with the kids for the day. Its just another morning in Taiwan.
We leave tomorrow and honestly a month ago I assumed I would be ready to leave but now this tiny island feels so much like home its really hard to imagine not waking up and eating breakfast with my non-English speaking family, saying “Nie Hau” instead of “Hello”, and going to the kitchen for dinner not having any clue what the food sitting in front of me is. Of course the challenges were hard, getting lost in the subway station in Taipei, not being able to call my parents, and eating pigs brain weren’t exactly the greatest moments in my life but each experience taught me something new about myself. However, the rewards are countless. That three hour hike and finally reaching the hot springs, seeing my host sister cry after our show in Taipei because of how touched she was by our songs, and seeing the smiles on the kids faces at the disabled school after we painted murals in all the dorm rooms are experiences I will remember my entire life. I am leaving Taiwan with a new family, a totally different perspective of Asain culture, and new knowledge about who I am and what I’m capable of. “Zia-Chen Pang-yao” or See you later, Friend!
Alex's mural for the disabled school
-by Alex Lippert, USA
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