Austin's Pensieve: September 2010

Today, August 5th, marks the last full day of Love Boat, where we spent four weeks learning about Taiwanese culture and touring the beautiful island with other overseas youth. Officially known as the Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour - our camp would officially end with our closing ceremonies, which would feature many of the skills that we have learned in the past month. As the program is government sponsored, we were promised speeches from the heads of the organizing committees. Along with a few cameras and journalists, and the presence of a few SIPs (somewhat important persons), several rehearsal slots over the past few days, as well as today, were set up so we would have a smooth (and hopefully impressive) performance.

With a late morning flute rehearsal and a run-through of the closing ceremonies in the afternoon, the day passed by without much activity. Free time was spent trading contact information and packing our luggages. Even dinner was simple - we had our average cafeteria-style Asian food. Honestly, I was somewhat disappointed. Other summer programs that I had participated in, like Shad, ended with a bang! Eating rice with some type of chicken in the basement of a youth centre seemed a little anti-climatic, especially with the great food (and seafood!) that Taiwan has to offer...

After dinner, we were given some time to change before the closing ceremonies. Wearing our semi-formal / formal attire, my friends and I took the opportunity to take some pictures on the roof of the Activity Centre. The rooftop provided some of the most beautiful views of Taipei - and I've been to the top of Taipei 101 before.

The Sunset over the Keelung River. (by inference, this is the view towards the West =P)

To the East.

Kevin and I. Longtime friends from Toronto. Taipei 101's in the background.

Heading back downstairs for the closing ceremonies, we passed by tables, displaying many of the crafts that we've been working on in the past four weeks.

The closing ceremonies featured our performing talents, including Kung Fu, Traditional Dance, Speech Arts, the Chinese yo-yo, and the dizi, aka the Chinese flute. The night went well, and with the official finish out of the way, we spent the rest of our scheduled time playing group games, and taking pictures for our final farewells.

Of course, being the last night, our activities were far from over. We did have our last bed check at 11pm to clear our the last administrative technicalities - making sure the room was still in order and that no one stole any clothes-hangers. Soon, we were outside, walking around Shilin night market, before arriving at Holiday KTV to Karaoke with a group of 14 (my second time).

We sang until four in the morning, with songs mostly either in Mandarin or in English, leaving before the sunrise, and with enough time for those who were leaving on the early six o'clock shuttle bus. 4:30 a.m. is perhaps the time with the least activity in Taipei. The night market stands begin closing after midnight, but there is always activity until two to three. By five thirty, (as we noted from our last time at KTV), the morning rush is just beginning.

The sunrise for Aug 6 was around 5:20, and we made sure we were on the rooftop to see the sun's arrival on our final love boat morning. Clouds kept us from seeing a distinct shape, but the sky gradually became brighter and brighter. Lots of pictures were taken, before departing from the great scenery, and saying goodbye to those leaving on the early bus. Returning to my room at six-thirty, I finished some notes/gifts for the counselors, and was able to nap at seven.

View towards the South, just before sunrise. That's Taipei's second tallest building.
I love the mountains in the back. Almost like a powerpoint background =P.