This past week was a very long one. I visited two public schools in Taipei. On Monday I went to an elementary public school that was within walking distance of TAS called Tianmu Elementary School. The school has a very large students body of 2200 students. We got to meet the principal and also observed an English class. These students actually reading a picture book by an author who is a Spokane native.

On Tuesday we travel across town to Zhong-Zheng Senior High School. The school focuses on sports and martial arts, but they also take English classes. We observed three different levels of their English classes. This school was also very large.

This past weekend we traveled by train to Hualian, Taiwan. This town is southeast of Taipei and on the coast. There are less people who speak English in this town and the language barrier was a struggle at times. On Friday we wandered around the town. Courtney, Peter, Kamian and I walked to the ocean to ride bikes on the waterfront. We were unable to find a bike rental place on the water and ended up having a nice walk on a beautiful sunny day. On Saturday the whole group took a bus to Taroko National Park. The park was gorgeous. I've always been a fan of mountains and larger than live scenery.

On Sunday we traveled back into Taipei. I also saw many things this day around Taipei. These things included Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, Longshan Temple, Huasi Tourist Night Market (Snake Alley) (Yes mom, there were very large snakes), and the Grand Hotel. It was a lot of walking, but a wonderful afternoon and night.

Today I went to the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. There was a lot of modern art, which I was not expecting, but the exhibit was great. The exhibit was artwork by an artists who uses gunpowder to create pictures on the canvases. Very different and very beautiful.

I can't believe it is already my last week in Taipei. I never thought I would fall in love with this city. It will be hard to leave on Sunday.