Taipei

This weekend (later today, in fact), I'm heading to Taipei, Taiwan for a weekend trip with my friend from Osaka. In preparation for this trip, I've been writing a few messages via Couchsurfing.org to some people who live in Taipei, just to see if they've got some time to hang explore the city or just have a cup of coffee or grab a bite. The response has been pretty amazing.

The biggest development from all these emails was getting an invitation to participate in National Taiwan Normal University's trip to the PingXi Lantern Festival this Saturday. It looks amazing (I'll have to keep myself in check with my camera and work to find the balance between enjoying the festival and capturing some nice photographs). The Couchsurfer who invited me to that event also extended an invitation for later in the evening to hang out with a group of friends in Taipei.

Sunday seems to be a more chill affair. There are a few Couchsurfers who have offered to meet up, though I will likely try to get in touch with the awesome couple that hosted me last year during my Golden Week trip (in an email I got last night, one of them said they were going to the same festival, so there is a chance we may just run into each other).

All of this hospitality and welcome has got me thinking. Last year when I visited Taiwan (two times) I felt so comfortable and welcome there that it planted in my head the idea of moving there after my JET appointment is over (currently contracted for a fourth year, which ends July 27, 2011; might do a fifth?). Traveling around the island also gave me a chance to see the diversity of the place - fog-shrouded mountains of the west, ancient gorges and rivers of the southeast, and beaches surrounding the island (surfing, anyone?). Not to mention the lively night markets of Taipei, the food (!), and the couple of friends that I have made there.

While there are no definite plans at the moment, I'll give you a basic outline of what's going through my head right now:

• stay in Okinawa and complete 5 years on JET, which will allow me to continue to improve my Japanese ability and (most likely) obtain my black belt in Shuri Shorin-ryu Karate-do (首里少林流空手道);
• figure out a way to start learning Mandarin without impeding my progress in Japanese;
  
• participate in the Rickshaw Run Autumn 2012 (any takers?); then
• move to Taipei and begin the next adventure.