(5/23) Family trip and more Spring.

        I have not posted in a long while, maybe this is the new record for longest time without posting. The exchange is really going by quickly, and I am a little sad knowing that my exchange is approaching its end, even though I still have over a month left. This past month especially has been a complete blur. I can't believe it's may already! Anyways, I have enough to write about since I should have posted a month or so ago but didn't. 

    My host family and I went to Taiwan to visit my host sister while she was on exchange (She's back now!). There was a large earthquake only a couple of days before we left so there were some concerns, but it turned out fine. We didn't see any damages, though we did not visit close to the epicenter, and when we asked people in Taipei what it is like now, they said everything is fine apart from like 6 buildings, which is hardly anything for a city of that size.

    We spent the first few days near Sun Moon Lake, which is almost in the center of the island. The weather was very nice, and it was very busy because of school holidays. We biked around the whole lake and saw a bunch of different attractions like temples. I was amazed by the jungle plants and animals everywhere (there were monkeys!) and also by how hot it was. Fortunately, it would cool down for the rest of our trip.

    We spent the rest of our time in the Taipei area, which is really big. There were many things to see, such as the markets and temples, as well as some nice parks (I enjoyed the birdwatching) and also many bubble tea stores for refreshment. The food there tastes delicious and is also surprisingly cheap. The cuisine is unsurprisingly very different from that of the Czech Republic, and it was always exciting to eat out somewhere different every night with my host family.

    After the trip I returned to school and normal life, though I can't really call it normal, because it isn't much like my life back in Anchorage. I guess it's just what I am used to now. We have spent every weekend travelling for orienteering races or visiting family. Though I am not certain if my orienteering skills have improved, my confidence in running through the woods definitely has, which usually leads me to either confidently finding the finish line or being confident that I am completely lost. It's a bunch of fun either way, though.

    I think I will finish this post by writing about Rotary and the events. I usually have a monthly meeting with only my host club, but last weekend I went to Bratislava for the District Conference, where I got to meet up with the other inbounds from around the world for the first time in a while. We mostly spent time practicing our performances for the conference, but also spent some time touring Bratislava. I had a blast wandering around the old city center with my fellow exchange students. On the day of the conference, we all went to the nice hotel where it was being hosted. We had our performances there, and after that we went on a brief trip to the Bratislava Castle before returning to the hotel for dinner, where I had the fanciest, best tasting chlebíček ever. We all stayed up late at the conference dinner dancing and having a good time. I was exhausted at the end, as each day was always packed with things to do.

    Anyways, this will probably be my second to last post before the end of my exchange (I will probably make a last post looking back on my time after I return). Once again, it is very weird to think that all of this is coming to an end, but I am also looking forward to meeting up with my friends and family back on the other side of the planet to hear about all of the things that have happened during the months I've spent here. Thanks for reading these posts, by the way. I don't remember if I've already said this in a previous post, but it's nice to know that some people are interested in my stories and adventures. It's also motivated me to put more effort into these posts, even though it doesn't look like it based on how infrequent the posts have been. I'll try to post more. :)

Posing in front of one of the temples we visited.

The whole family with our massive breakfast. Usually there would be a buffet in the hotel, but the staff made us a special meal because we were the only guests that day. If I remember correctly, we tried our best but could only eat maybe 80%. It was so good though. My favorite was the chicken feet.

Trying out snorkeling for the first time in a lagoon after one of our hikes. We had the whole area to ourselves due to it being the off season for tourists, and I got to see a bunch of tropical fish and corals.

Visiting Pernštejn Castle on a weekend trip with my host family. You can't tell from the photo but we are in a closed bridge between two different parts of the castle. This was probably my favorite castle so far.

On a climbing/hiking trail near Pernštejn with Alan. It was really cool and was surprisingly accessible. I would definitely recommend this and would also probably go again if given the opportunity.