Yuanzuei Mountain

Shrouded in a sea of gray. At over 2000 meters, the summit of the mountain thrusts obstinately into the low-lying clouds. But, the obscured view is hardly a concern right now. My attention is wholly diverted to the sheer rock face I am desperately clinging to... fingers shaking... feet slipping... cue the Mission Impossible music...

The day began on a much milder note. After wrapping up Saturday morning classes, Trevor, Kathryn and I strapped on the gear and mounted up. Nothing better than a refreshing scooter cruise and a quick weekend overnighter. It took us a blissful hour and a half to reach the base of Yuanzuei mountain, northeast of Dongshih. First item of business, get away from the crowds and set up camp. Check. Next on the list, the object of our excursion - a leisurely afternoon hike to the mountain summit.

Stage one of the trek held little drama. A direct ascent, not more than a kilometer long, up the wooded mountainside along a well-groomed trail. The tranquility of the forest was breathtaking. Or maybe that was the merciless stretch of uninterrupted stairs. Either way, the first half of the hike proved a pleasant experience, despite a little bit of burn in our legs. Before long, we reached the top of a low ridge, still canopied by the surrounding wood, where we were greeted by a fork in the road. Right. Another 1.5 km to our destination.

Stage two is marked by a perceptible change in the landscape. The mature giants of the forest disappear. The mountain granite protrudes more prevalently through the soft soil. And the ascent steepens. Ropes appear on the trail to help the novice hiker, and soon ladders. We are no longer hiking, just climbing. Our seasoned party, of course, unanimously agrees - hands off the ropes! Let the real adventure begin. As we press on, the trail steadily grows rockier.

And then, a short distance ahead, it suddenly appears. The barren summit of Yuanzuei, a wedge of solid granite cutting into the sky like a giant stone knife. On one side, it's bordered by a sheer precipice, completely unapproachable. The other side is formidable as well, but offers just enough of an incline to not fully dissuade one from attempting to scale it. Like a siren she calls to me...

...My grip is weakening now. I'm stuck. I won't last much longer, not without a better foothold. But there aren't any. The tread on my shoes is practically worn off. Time to make a move. Brazenly push up, hoping to land an invisible handhold just out of reach, or go down, don't know exactly how from my current position... where's that theme music already?

Adrenaline flowing, I make my decision. Carefully, I flatten myself against the rock. Then I spread eagle and begin inching my way down, sliding against the sandpaper surface of the stone to help control my speed. OK, so it's not Hollywood, not today. Trevor kindly comes over to brace me from the bottom of the face. In a moment I'm down, no harm done. With that adventure behind us, what do we do next? Why move further up the face of the summit and begin climbing again of course! Only this time, footholds are plentiful.

Alarm Parade

It was a late night. No alarm clock. I'm just gonna wake up when I wake up...

The rude awakening came at about 9 AM. (That is not sleeping in, ok? That's much much earlier than I had intended to get up!) Forget the usual suspects. The wretched blare of my alarm clock had been silenced, intentionally, the night before. It wasn't the mosquitoes patiently draining the life out of my feet. And no, it wasn't the routine wave of screaming Chinese pages coming over the school intercom system. Couldn't be, Trevor and I unplugged our room phone months ago. Today's culprit was fresh and completely unforeseen - a random Taiwanese parade! The discordant blend of live percussion, ear-splitting fireworks, and karaoke-style techno would have been enough probably to rouse us all the way from downtown. Fortunately for us, this parade moseyed right down our street.

Actually, I jumped at this most convenient photo op. Since I don't really understand anything about the parade (occasion, symbolism, purpose, etc), I'll let the images do most of the talking.

The paraders taking a short break during their rain-soaked march. That's Trevor cruising down the middle of the street, getting the up close and personal.


Left. Two percussionists contributing to the cacophony.
Right. One of the parade vehicles banking my direction.


And then there's this guy, casually launching roman candles from palm of his hand.


Two enthused officers, busily engaged in directing traffic.


More of the participants, helping guide one of the parade displays.

Berhan Fright Night

The ghosts and goblins crept out of their holes a little earlier in Taiwan than they did in America... and not just because of the time difference! Spanning two days, our Halloween festivities came the week prior to the 31st. By administrative decision, this year's celebrations were to be scaled down compared to years past. Regardless, staff and students alike shared in eager anticipation of a party!

And so they began to arrive... a Spiderman here, a Spiderman there, a ladybug, pirates, princesses, even a Tootsie roll. Without question though, witches and vampires ruled the day! Fangs apparently come a dime a dozen, and pointy hats don't cost much more. For a country about as familiar with Halloween as Americans are Boxing Day, the number of students who actually came in costume was impressive.

Preparing for the holiday proved anything but relaxing. The plan - 1) Combine classes, each teacher responsible for a different activity. 2) Rotate the kids through. 3) Have fun. 4) Pass out ridiculous amounts of candy. As if coordinating wasn't fun enough, the matter of my costume still lingered, unresolved. For two weeks, my kids inquired impatiently. "Just you wait and see!" was the smug, yet obvious bluff. In my head, the response sounded more like, "Um... yeah costume... oh crap."

Day of the party. Enter Stori into the story. (One of my coworkers... I know, that's terrible). Combining makeup and talent, she magically transformed me into a 40-something-ish, blood-thirsty lunatic. Then, she went a step further and lent me her scrubs, capping it all off. What emerged... the psychotic, insane, mentally deranged, and occasionally cannibalistic Dr. Weber... along with a vault of fresh vocab! For emphasis, I played the part all day long. The kids loved it! Certainly a Halloween to remember.