TPE: October

Annnnd, another two month stint in Taiwan, with late November as an exit date due to L’s wedding back in San Diego. I started off with a trip to the night market to stuff my face and then spent a couple of days settling in until I headed out to Kaoshiung to help out for a friend’s event company.

“C-Team” got in a car and road tripped all the way down to the bottom tip of Taiwan, blasting music all the way. Once there, we were tasked with helping out for Mr. Gay Taiwan and mostly did the flower arranging and setup day-of. It was super fun, mainly because I love teamwork and people pulling together. Plus it’s just fun to get out of your usual space with some friends. More road trips!

The next couple of days included stopping by a Twitter friend’s art show, a Taipei friend’s music show, and then sort of hanging out and catching up with people. Apparently when people leave Taiwan they don’t normally make it back so some people were surprised. “Oh, you really did come back!” Little do they know, that I always come back (eventually), like a bad rash or something. I was already entering slight hibernation mode before I left for the summer and this time back I was in total hibernation mode. I wasn’t really trying to go out anywhere, I didn’t go dancing or anything anymore, and mainly I just wanted to sit at home and watch Netflix and lie around.

Technically I had nothing to do in Taiwan so I tasked myself with trying to finish the book proposal for something, but you can guess how that worked out. Whoops. Near mid-October, V&A came through Taiwan to visit, so I hung out with them during the week they were here. Mostly by day though, as they were jet lagged and passing out early (by my standards). V and I got to hit some Ubikes the last day or two he was here, and that was quite fun.

Other events to round out October: a trivia night where we played Sporcle and Buzz Quiz World (!), my friend’s Chinese burrito making night, and attending the last bit of Story Slam, which led to much talk about podcasting. Actually, the main thing I’ve been thinking about while out here is what sort of podcast to do, and how to get my podcast game better. One of A’s friends that I met last year is a radio/TV person out here and so I’m gonna have him teach me how to make a proper podcast.

It’s been just over a year since I moved to Taiwan and looking back it’s been jam packed with people, things, and experiences. Last time F and I came out to visit Taipei, my inaugural visit, was September 2014, and by a month later I had moved out here. I went karaoking with those friends I met back then, and they said that the last time they had gone was with us — over thirteen months ago!

I wouldn’t say time flies or anything like that but it sure seems like I’ve spent so much of my life in Taipei already, and gone through so many sets of people and groups. Currently I basically hang out on a constant rotation with three friends, none of whom I knew until December of last year.

And then, in late October, L came over for a visit too, almost exactly a year after she came out here last year. Last time she was here we had a super great time biking and exploring Taipei and now I’m good friends with the friend she introduced me to. She came last time for her cousin’s wedding and (sadly) this time for her grandmother’s passing ceremonies. We took a little side trip to Yilan to visit C, who is housesitting there for two months. I’d been to Yilan before, on a road trip with D&I last May or so. This time Yilan was straight pouring but we had one wonderful day that allowed us to drive around and visit the local Taiwanese opera museum.

Oh yeah, my mom came back to Taiwan around the end of October and within three days had had enough of my late night antics and well, there’s more to be said there but the short story is: “get out.”