My friend Angie got the back of her foot stuck in the spokes of a bike’s wheel and had to go the emergency room last night. Don’t worry though, she’s OK now. I’d like to think that it’s partially because of my help. She now calls me “Natalie Yi Sheng” or in English, “Dr. Natalie”.

So it all started last night when Willy, Angie and I were biking to dinner. I was riding my own bike and Willy was riding his while Angie sat on the back. In Taiwan, it’s very common for people to either attach pegs on each side of their back wheel so they can give a friend a lift, or to attach a small cushion seat right on top of the back wheel, also to give a friend a lift. These are typically the two ways people can give a friend a ride when they’re biking around. Over a month ago, this accident happened to another girl in my program. Her roommate was biking while she was standing on pegs in the back. She was wearing flip-flops and her toes and the front part of her foot got stuck in the spokes. She ended up having to get over 10 stitches and had to use crutches for the next two weeks. I never expected this to happen again, especially to my Angie!

We got to the middle of campus when all of I sudden, I hear flapping coming from Willy’s bike and I hear Angie screaming, “Ow!” As she limped off the bike in pain, we saw blood all over the back of her foot and on her shoes (she was wearing flats). Since this exact situation happened to another girl before, we knew to call the ambulance. A NTU student then stopped and helped us call. I didn’t want to look at the wound because I was scared it was really serious. It seemed like we were waiting forever but Angie remained very composed and the ambulance came in about 10 minutes. The EMTs cleaned her wound and let her know immediately that she’d need stitches. At first, we couldn’t understand because he was speaking in Chinese but we figured it out since the literal meaning of “stitches” in Chinese is “sew”. Willy, Angie, the EMTs and I all got on the ambulance and headed for the closest hospital. This was the first time the three of us were ever in an ambulance with the siren on. Angie was admitted into the hospital and had to wait about an hour for her stitches. Willy and I were allowed to stay with her even when she was getting her stitches. We were probably in the hospital for about 5 hours until Angie was released with a brand new cast. Now we’re back in the dorms and she has a lot of people taking great care of her. What an adventure.

It’s scary how one minute, I was having a good time with my friends getting ready for dinner and the next minute, I’m in an ambulance feeling helpless and watching my friend in pain. But I’m just happy to know what she’s a-ok now and that sometimes, accidents just happen. Just a warning to people who take friends around on their bikes - it’s really dangerous but if you really have to, then make sure the person in the back is wearing real shoes.

Feel better Angie. I <3 you

Posted by Natalie at 12:59 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I had the best time in Kending! I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s the same as Hawaii (I love Hawaii by the way), but it’s more like a miniature version of it. I have some sad news. Sorry to disappoint everyone, but I was not able to ride a Moped. SO SAD! It turns out that you do have to have your license although some places rent them out illegally. But of course, I would never do anything illegal. Plus the fact that it was obvious I’ve never driven one before and would pretty much be risking my life, I decided to not even try. Nevertheless, I still had a GREAT time.

We took a 6 hour bus ride to Kaohsiung and from there took another 2 hour bus to Kending. After arriving, there were employees standing outside hotels along the strip trying to convince us to stay at their hotel. Since it wasn’t a busy weekend, a lot of the hotels were vacant. We had reservations at Hotel California which was a really cute hotel located on top of a surf shop. I think Kending is as close to America as it gets in Taiwan. We had omelets for brunch the next day and I felt like I was back home! I’ve heard that a lot of Americans actually live and vacation in Kending which is why everything is so Americanized. The restaurants, hotels, and stores all remind me of California!

We spent all afternoon playing in the water! We paid 500NT which is about $15 to go snorkeling, jet skiing, motorboating and banana boating. However, it was a little….uhh…let’s say it’s very different from how people would normally go about doing these activities in Hawaii. First, a van picked us up from the hotel to get to the site where we change into our wet suits. After we got changed, another van took us to the snorkeling site. Now this was an interesting experience. The van (which didn’t have seats or seatbelts) opened from the back and we all hopped in thinking that the driver would close the door. Nope. He just walked over to the driver seat and started driving….with the door wide open! It turns out that the door doesn’t close. The road he was driving on wasn’t even a real road, it was a dirt path with rocks and bumps and I was terrified of falling off. So that was an experience in itself. We got to the snorkeling site, swam around, saw some fish and got on the jet ski! The instructor that drove the jet ski was crazy! He was going so fast I couldn’t even open my eyes! He made a lot of sharp turns and made me feel like I’d go flying off….it was so much fun! We then went for a ride on the motorboat and then got on the banana boat. I’ve actually never heard of a banana boat in America but it’s pretty much a long inflatable boat with about 8 seats. It’s connected to a motorboat which drags the banana boat across the water; we’d go really fast and all of a sudden, the driver would stop and we’d all fall into the water. We did this for about 3 times and finally the driver said, “Do you guys want real excitement?” Of course we do! Why is he asking? He then warns us that on the way back there’s a part of the ocean that had really rough waves. He also said that riding across those waves on a banana boat is harder than riding a bull. I was scared but super excited! The banana boat went flying and so did I! I was bouncing up and down and left and right; it was so hard to just stay on but towards the end, we all went flying off. Since Willy was behind me on the banana boat, his whole body went flying across my face when we got thrown in so I ended up breathing in a lot of water. But it was worth it! I don’t think I’ve ever had that much fun in my life!

We then headed back to the hotel to rest and shower and went for dinner. We ate at a Thai restaurant and as we were leaving, we met a group of local Taiwanese guys that were also in Kending for the weekend. We decided to meet up after we went shopping at the night market. Later that night, we all met up in their hotel room and started playing drinking games. It was really fun, they taught us a whole bunch of Chinese drinking games that I’ve never even heard of. Taiwan locals are always fun. We headed back to Taipei on Sunday and even though the bus ride back and forth to Kending was long, it was SO worth it! I had an incredible time.

As for the toilet situation, since I’m sure all of you are dying to know…the normal toilet is fixed! There’s still no toilet paper but I’m not complaining. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living in Taiwan for the past few months is definitely to appreciate my nice, clean bathroom at home.

Posted by Natalie at 09:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)