欢迎（Welcome!)
On today’s blog, we’ll be detailing the first three days of our IL trip to China. After arriving to school at 5:45 p.m., we all shoved our luggage into our bus before saying goodbye to our loved ones for the next 10 days.
The bus was filled with fun conversations and liveliness, with even some cupcakes being passed around for a snack. It was a two-hour bus ride to JFK International Airport, where we would take our 17-hour flight to Taipei, Taiwan. Waiting in line to check bags and get through TSA, it would be another two hours until we finally settled at our gate at around 10:30 p.m. before being released to explore the airport to get extra snacks and food before the flight. Some of us filled up on McDonald’s while others grabbed snacks.
Soon, we boarded the plane at 12 a.m. and prepared to embark on a long, long flight. Some of us decided to sleep during those 17 hours, some decided to play on their Oculus, some of us lost our phones by accident, and some of us chatted on the in-plane chat rooms. We had about two formal meals on the plane, usually being some sort of seafood option or some sort of pasta option served with bread and fruit. We landed in Taipei at around 5 a.m., where we went through customs.
After landing and getting our luggage, we met our tour guide, Robbie, who will be with us for our time in Taiwan. We had a chance to eat breakfast at the airport (pork noodles, rice, or ribeye soup noodles). We also took a bathroom break to get ourselves together before heading out onto our bus to Yehliu Geopark (a 50-minute bus ride). On the bus ride, our tour guide gave us more information about Taiwan and the sights we saw along the way, like Shijia Temple, Daqiu Mountain, Taipei 101 (the tallest building in Taipei), one of the fanciest hotels in Taiwan, and the Sun Yat-sen Airport. Soon enough, we had arrived at Yehliu Geopark, and we got to take in many beautiful sights. We took many photos, saw the Queen’s Head Rock ( a landmark which is akin to seeing the Eiffel Tower in France), shopped in the market nearby, and had ice cream, tea, and mangoes at 7/11!
After our trip to Yehliu Geopark, we went to Shifen Waterfall, which is basically the “Taiwanese Niagara Falls” for some awesome views and an easy hike. We were able to explore the gift shop and small snack stores where we got to try tanghulu (fruit covered in a crunchy sugar shell) or ice cream. Then we made our way on the bus to Shifen where we all got a chance to write our names and wishes onto lanterns that we sent off into the sky. Some wished for good health for family, happiness, or wealth, and some asked for a good SAT score. Soon enough, we were on our way back to our hotel to have a quick break. On our way back, we did some karaoke on the bus singing Peng You, Re Ai 105 de Ni, Gangnam Style, Yi Jian Mei, Mamma Mia, and Hotel California. For dinner, we had a Chinese family turntable-style dinner with braised pork and other amazing dishes. Exhausted, we made our way to Raohe Night Market, which was extremely packed, but overall we had a fun time getting lost. The night market had foods ranging from bubble tea, which originated in Taiwan, to stinky tofu. It also had loads of arcades. Whatever one could want, they could find there. Afterwards, we went back to our hotel to prepare for an early start tomorrow and end off a great first day for our IL.
By: Skyla and Alicia