My Travel Adventures

I always thought reverse culture shock was a myth, or at the very most a phenomenon only experienced by people unused to travelling. Well, I must amend that statement now. Despite having spent my first week back in the Czech Republic holed up at home, I experienced culture shock not just once, but twice.

Because the pandemic drastically reduced the number of flights home, I had to stay in Taipei until Friday the 21 st . I left my student apartment (or rather, I was made to leave) on Sunday, and I relocated to a hotel near Zhongxiao Dunhua station on the blue metro line.

My last week at ICLP was quite enjoyable. Even taking the exit exam (which was exactly the same test as the entrance exam) was relatively fun, since I could finally decode the classical Chinese portion at the end. Over the course of that week, I had dinners with a few friends and we said our goodbyes.

This week was the penultimate week of ICLP classes. I spent much of it studying for exams and frantically searching for jobs both here and at home. During the weekend, however, I made sure to enjoy some quality time with the friends I have made here. On Friday, a few of us took part in a pub quiz and we ranked somewhere in the very respectable middle. It was the largest congregation of non-Taiwanese people I had seen in over half a year. On Saturday, Alison gave me and Lyn a tour of the National Taiwan Museum, where she volunteers as a guide. I learnt many interesting facts, for example:

My flatmate Nic and I made a trip to Sun Moon Lake this weekend. Admittedly, we began planning a little late, that is to say: a week and a half before our departure (a feat of brinksmanship whose success apparently surprised Nic’s teacher). Reserving accommodation did not pose a major problem, and there were many hotels to choose from. We chose the one closest to the bus stop. Booking train tickets, however, was an entirely different story. A week and a half before our departure date, almost all High Speed Railway trains to Taichung were fully booked, and the few that remained departed either early in the afternoon (before the end of my classes) or very late in the evening (with an arrival time too late to catch the shuttle to Sun Moon Lake). The Sunday return ticket situation looked even more dire: There were no free spots between noon and ten in the evening. 

V sobotu jsem se probudil ve čtyři hodiny ráno a dál už jsem nemohl spát. Částečně to byl neočekávaný následek mé páteční večeře (hranolků a palačinek), která ve mně k ránu probudila kromě silného sebe-odporu i neúprosnou touhu po poslední broskvi v lednici. Nicméně ještě tíže mi na srdci ležely myšlenky o domově. Nedávno jsem ve zprávách četl, že se u nás koronavirus šíří dvakrát rychleji než u všech našich sousedů. Bohužel mě to vůbec nepřekvapilo. Od totální celostátní karantény jsme během několika týdnů znovu otevřeli skoro úplně všechny podniky, ve valné většině případů bez jakéhokoli náznaku ani těch nejjednodušších opatření, vykašlali jsme se na roušky a v Praze jsme si dokonce usmysleli, že budeme na Karlově mostě provozovat hostiny. Už před několika týdny muselo být všem rozumným lidem jasné, že to nedopadne dobře.

ICLP organised a day trip for the Saturday of this week. With a record-setting attendance of no fewer than eight students, everyone had more than enough space in the minibus, which we rode for a little longer than an hour into the depths of Pingxi. Pingxi is a rural district of Taipei around thirty kilometres east of the city centre and, as we learned, a popular weekend destination for families. We did not hike for too long, but we took our time on the way back and waded through the river while our guide tried to persuade us to catch fish in little nets she had brought along. Since I was among the several students who neglected to bring waterproof shoes (or rather, in my case, to buy waterproof shoes specifically for the occasion), I tied my shoelaces to my camera bag and went barefoot.