It Bit Me

August 12, 2010
10:20 PM
Luodong—Apartment H

Alright, so I’m guilty. I haven’t updated in a while—almost a week. I’ve been posting statuses on Facebook but haven’t made my way to the blog. Since I last updated I informed Facebook that I most triumphantly conquered my age old enemy—the dreaded bicycle. I’m still working on it, but I can ride, which I honestly hadn’t thought possible. Stuart let me ride her bike and being on a bike that was actually the right size for me helped a whole lot—previous attempts on bikes too tall had gone miserably. I actually seemed to be able to pick it up. A couple of days working on my balance on the bicycle and I wanted to hit the scooter again. It didn’t go great, but it went better than it had the first time around.

Erin O'Brien officially conquered the bicycle today. Total bonus points on her coordination.
Monday at 9:02pm

Erin O'Brien rode the bicycle again today and had better luck than last time with the scooter.
Tuesday at 6:33pm

Erin O'Brien is done with this whole sweating thing...can bodily fluids be put on suspension in a plane of non-existence?
Yesterday at 3:54pm

Okay, so there are the missing Facebook updates since I last wrote in the blog. Now everyone is caught up. Saturday night we went to the Luodong Monkey Carnival and watched the group of European performers there. There was a guy who did contact juggling with the crystal balls—made me want to go watch Labyrinth. There was an aerialist, a guy who balanced things on his face, another guy with fire batons, and a contortionist. All in all it was a really spectacular show—no complaints. And there was a vehicle of some sort made to look like a glowing dragon parked up the street with instruments hanging off it that anyone could play—inside the wire mesh was a full on drum kit where a kid was banging away and having the time of his life.



Sunday we had a big group gathering at the apartment, about 12 of us eating Brittni’s awesome Japanese style curry and then hanging out on the rooftop for a while. It was really a great night. I wish I could elaborate more but today has left me pretty drained.



Yesterday we went down to Nanao and saw several aboriginal schools down there. The area is gorgeous and unpolluted. The schools are small, so it will be a really intimate learning environment for whatever ETAs end up there. We make our list of school choices tomorrow I think after we see the last of the schools. At the train station on our way back, Kelly broke out the birthday cake and surprised Harry and we all sang Happy Birthday to him. After we got back from Nanao we all went out to Shabu-Shabu for hot pot to celebrate the birthday boy, then back to Zhongshan to hang out together for the rest of the night. 16 ETAs…one apartment. Fight the damp, y’all.
Today we had a former ETA and the former director of the Fulbright program come talk to us about culture and education in Taiwan. At the end of the day, it was time for scooter practice again, getting us ready for the driving test coming up. I was feeling pretty good, as though maybe today I’d actually be able to make the loop around the lot the way most of the other people had been able to do last time. My balance was improving and I was getting a better feel for the throttle. I have to tell you…no such luck. I started off okay, and then felt like I was going a little fast and hit the break. I was still okay, I’d try and go around the curve. I started up the scooter again but hit the throttle too hard and couldn’t stop soon enough. I went over sideways, hitting the curb and my sandal got caught on the steering handle, maybe in the hand break—I’m really not sure. I hit the ground and my foot was between the bike and the curb and caught on something. Long story short, I’m bruised, sore, and suffering a bit of a damaged ego, but no permanent damage. My foot is several interesting shades of blue and purple at the moment and I’m hobbling around with help. After the fall we had an FSE dinner with Dr. Chen and Wu Laoshi and the Director-General of Education for Yilan County. We had really good traditional Taiwanese food (mostly seafood) in Yilan. Now I’m glad to be home, elevating my foot and finally updating the blog.