Apple Bottom Jeans, A Reprisal

It’s raining, it’s pouring. There’s a typhoon skirting past Taiwan and we’ve been experiencing its effects since yesterday. I really hope it lets up for our last weekend.

 

Umbrellas are a fashion statement here. Taiwanese women carry umbrellas in every color and pattern. Thank goodness I brought a hot pink one.  When it rains almost every day I guess it makes life a little more fun to avoid boring black

 

Last weekend began with a night out at a club called Primo, a pretty swank place with terrible music and a large American attendance. We ran into some students from Berkeley outside and of course whipped out the SoCal Spellout and our victory signs to assert USC’s superiority. The Trojan Spirit (and competitiveness) is something that lives on all over the world.

 

That night brought a painful encounter with a stiletto heel for me, and an even more painful encounter with my boss. Yep, there he was, a 35-year-old American professional in a room full of Asian teens and twenty-somethings. He was easy to spot, standing out like a sore thumb with his iridescent skin on the side of the dance floor. We felt his eyes on us dancing interns and decided the least awkward move to make would be to go up and talk to him. I can only describe what ensued as mortifyingly hilarious.

 

Saturday offered me the chance to get some much-needed rest, and I ventured out alone in the early afternoon on a souvenir hunt. Now that my time is winding down in Taiwan, I’m feeling the pressure to get people back home mementos from my trip. Luckily I was able to make some progress at a market near our hotel. Haggling is one of my favorite sports in the U.S., and I’m still able to do it here, despite the fact that I don’t speak the language. Woo hoo for good deals on old-looking Taiwanese stuff!

 

That evening a group of us took a highly-anticipated ride on the Maokong Gondola. Questionable weather foiled earlier plans, but Saturday evening was perfect. We sailed into the sky on the gondola just as the sun was setting over Taipei. It carried us into tea country, and we had a relaxing tea service at a delightful place with a great view of the surrounding mountains. An obligatory Asian experience, I think.

 

Sunday brought a very early wake up for three of us. Getting up at 5 a.m. wasn’t fun, but our experiences that day more than made up for the sleep deprivation we brought upon ourselves. The Lonely Planet has a beautiful picture of Sun Moon Lake in its photo pages, and I wanted to see it. After a four and a half hour bus ride we arrived next to the lake, Taiwan’s top tourist destination. It’s stunningly beautiful, especially from the top of a temple and a pagoda.

 

Waking up Monday morning was quite a hard thing indeed, but I knew I had a great week ahead of me.  I was 19 when I arrived in Taiwan, and now I’m 20. That’s right, this week included MY BIRTHDAY! We celebrated July 15 in typical Taipei Fellows fashion at a karaoke place with some of my favorite songs. I had a great time and am excited to enter my twenties. Shout out to everyone who helped me to have such a wonderful day!

 

The party continued Wednesday night featuring Flo Rida (who is “unsurprisingly” from Florida, can you guess why?) aka rapper of “Apple Bottom Jeans.” Why Flo Rida was performing at a relatively small venue in Taipei when he has the “number one song in the world” is beyond me. But we rolled into the club around 11 (yes, on a work night) and waited two hours for the dude to come on and perform that one song.

 

Worth it! Although I was practically sick with exhaustion the next day and covered with scuff marks from overly excited Taiwanese people, being able to get on stage and dance while Flo Rida  performed “Apple Bottom Jeans” made up for it. Those of you who read my blog religiously may remember that song was the first I heard upon my arrival in Taipei, so the night was really coming full circle for me. Covered in sweat and the champagne with which Flo Rida’s side kick had doused the audience, I left the club exhilarated and just a little bit nostalgic.

 

Thursday brought rest, and today, Friday, will bring a night out on the town with those I”ve shared this wonderful experience with for the past seven weeks. It’s gone by quickly and has been full of adventures I won’t soon forget. But I’ll leave the sappiness for next time. One more week to go!