For the good bye party, the CIEE students had to prepare a talent to present to the student ambassadors, tutors, advisors, etc. Thinking about what I was going to present as my talent was such a pain but in the end I ended up writing a poem that included the talked about my time in Taiwan and the impression each classmate had on me. It was hastily written so wasn’t a great masterpiece but I was greatly relieved when I was finally done presenting it because it signified that the academic end of my school semester in Taiwan. I received some good bye presents.

My aunt and uncle took my cousins and me to go watch the dragon boat racing. It was my first time seeing it live. It was an interesting experience to see it live but the interest is quickly lost after the initial 5 minutes of watching. There were teams from all over the world, even some from Europe! In addition to the boat racing, there was also a small fair next to the river with little rides for kids, games, and lots and lots of food. I had my last stinky tofu this time around there.

I also took time to go visit Taipei 101 by myself. It was quite an adventure. Some people believe the trip up the world’s second tallest skyscraper is worth the time and money (400NT) but I felt strongly about making the visit. I feel like Taipei 101 is the pride and joy and a definition of Taipei and therefore a definition of Taiwan. And though Taiwan is such a small country, to have had held the world record for some time and for displaying such a masterpiece of engineering, this small country clearly shouts that size doesn’t matter in fierce competition and that they have a lot of heart.