And Now We're Back Stateside!

My last few days in Taiwan were been spent in my mom's hometown, Lo-Tung. It's about 1.5 hours south of Taipei. It used to be a much smaller, provincial town, but it's been booming the past 20 years. My mom was born and raised here and my grandparents' house/clinic has been torn down since they passed away and is now a shopping arcade (somehow this seems fitting). According to my mom, the town is the #1 consumer city in Taiwan. Apparently, this shopping sickness of mine is genetic also.

There is still a lot of small-town flavor here though. There's no need for a car--everything you need is walking distance. My mom is a regular at the fruit stand next door, the little eatery across the street (it's faster and cheaper to go there to buy rice than make your own) and the beauty salon two doors down. They notice when my mom is coming and going, or if she has a suitcase with her, orout strolling with grandkids they've never seen before. It's nice, but on the other hand, if we buy fruit from a different vendor we have to hide it as we walk by, and sometimes we go the other way around so no one sees us.

It was the Tomb Sweeping holiday on April 5th, a federal holiday and long weekend for most people so the town was bustling! Tomb Sweeping is a holiday to honor and remember your ancestors, clean their tombs (obviously), make offerings, etc.

We did two touristy things: went to this National Traditional Arts Center and the beach. The arts center was huge, kind of like a folk arts village. They had really nice lawns for people to run around or picnic, a river for boat rides, a cute shopping "avenue", a bamboo arts exhibition and a bamboo maze.

We also went to the beach. This beach was nothing like the Thai beaches we visited. No clear, blue water, no fine white sand. There are extremely strong--and dangerous--undertows and a small temple was erected right on the beach by the Taiwanese government after several children had drowned and the people petitioned for the temple. There hasn't been a drowning since.

And so, after a rather uneventful flight back (15 hours total--bless that tailwind), a chat or two with U.S. Customs agents in Seattle (they love to talk to me, but luckily they never ask to inspect my luggage), the slowest plane ride EVER to Newark (those 5 hours seriously felt longer than the 10 hours from Taipei to Seattle), an hour-long wait for our luggage, and then a mishap with the car service, we made it safely home. Thankfully my apartment building was still intact when I pulled up. Whew.

I am very happy to be home.