Still here, Still Alive

Well, its been over two months since I last blogged. Since the last time, several things have happened. First, I returned to the U.S. It was my mothers birthday, and we got to throw a surprise party for her. She didn't know I was coming. It was very cool. I stayed home for about 2 weeks. It was great to be back.

Since then, I have come back and have been working. My classes have been good overall. In late June, I had a few days of and was able to travel a bit in Taiwan. I went to Tarako and to Green Island, both of which were wonderful.

Tarako is a national park on the east coast of Taiwan, and it has a canyon with marble cliffs that is breathtaking to drive through. I also got to do a little hiking through it. I hiked into a cave/tunnel with waterfalls coming out of the ceiling. It was pretty neat. And the weather was about perfect.

Green island is an island 30 or 40 Km off the east coast of Taiwan. It is sort of a vacation spot, with one of the only 3 salt water hot springs in the world. I took the ferry there and then rented a scooter and explored the island. It takes about half an hour to drive around if your going fast and there is no traffic.

The island is beautiful, and offers(or so i have heard) excellent snorkeling. However, I didn't get the chance to snorkel because a typhoon was suppose to come and I had to leave early. However, I did get to explore and go to the hot springs, which were fun.

Both are places I would like to come back to again if I ever have time. :)