So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

I'm fifteen minutes away from completing my internship - woohoo! It's hard to believe that I have less than 24 hours remaining of my two month stay here. I know it's cliche, but it really does feel like it was only yesterday that we were riding that first taxi from the airport into Taipei - laughing at Mariah Carey on the radio, mistaking the Grand Hotel for a temple, and spotting Taipei 101 for the first time. How time flies!

On Monday, I was finally rewarded for all of my hard efforts at Tatung. Craig, Song (a coworker) and I went to the working model factory, where we picked up a sample model of the box I designed. It was incredibly exciting to see the product, and to finally have something physical to show for my labors. For the past seven weeks, I had no physical signs of progress on my project. Now I was holding the final result, the first actual validation that everything I had done was correct. As lame as it may sound, that little box was my baby - I had designed every hole, peg, boss, rib, draft and chamfer on the computer. It was definitely the highlight of my internship.

Here's a couple pictures of my design on the computer, as compared to the final result:

In a weird way, it was strange to know that men much older than me had worked for several days to create the model to my specifications. I'll try to avoid ranting, but some reflection has really made me grateful for all the opportunities I've had. Here I was, a 21-year-old from an upper class family, who's had access to good schools his entire life, providing design instructions to middle aged, working class men. I doubt I would be in such a situation without having a good education and a supportive, fiscally-sound family. Likewise, I think these men probably came from much humbler backgrounds, without access to elite schools nor the money to afford them - their job is certainly not something that children fantasize about, and I doubt they enjoy it very much. Frankly, it was a bit uncomfortable, and I'm glad that they didn't know how old I am (people here tend to think we are older than we actually are).

Later that evening, Craig and I were taken out for dinner by our coworkers. We went to a traditional Chinese restaurant near work, where we ate dozens of dishes family style. My favorite was the mango juice, which was made only from mangoes - no water, no sugar, just the fruit. As one coworker put it, the juice was "very special and very delicious." Following the meal, our coworkers proved their generosity once again by absolutely refusing to allow Craig and I to pay, despite our insistence that USC filled our pockets with money to do just that.

The next day, several of us Fellows finally went to the top of Taipei 101, which is currently the world's tallest building. To get there, we took the world's fastest elevator from the 5th floor to the 89th in a mere 30 seconds, which subsequently caused my ears to pop about 20 times. Once we reached the top, it was immediately apparent that waiting till the last week was indeed a good decision - looking out across the lights of Taipei, we could spot the many locations we had traveled throughout the previous eight weeks. After snapping a few photos and taking in the grandeur of it all, we descended once again in the insanely fast elevator.

On Thursday, I continued doing things for the last time; chiefly, the last load of laundry and the last indulging in one of our favorite local restaurants. None of this know what this dish (see below) is actually called, but to us it was "the thing you get at the beef place."

Friday, my final day in Taiwan. Throughout the day at work, I received numerous gifts from my ludicrously kind coworkers: two coffee mugs, a scale model of Taipei 101, several heartfelt letters, a Tatung Boy (our company mascot) piggy bank, and a traditional Chinese fan with my name written on one side. Additionally, the office held a "graduation" ceremony for Craig and I, in which we were presented certificates that had been signed by all of our coworkers. It was impossible to say thank-you enough, both during our final day at work and throughout the trip as a whole. Taiwanese people are just incredibly, incredibly nice.

That evening, our USC Global Fellows group went out for dinner at a local brewery. We ate grilled sausage, drank Taiwan beer and laughed as the house band ran through American hits, including "Everybody was Kong-Fu Fighting." Yet, it was the utter randomness of the evening that made it such a perfect ending to our trip - the song selection, the terrible dancing by drunk locals, even the restaurants location in the middle of a brewery compound.

And with that final night, we concluded our travels in Taiwan.

Tomorrow I will be departing for Hong Kong with two other Global Fellows, where we will stay for three days before flying to Thailand. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to access the internet during my travels in the coming weeks, but I'll do my best to keep this blog as updated as possible.

Farewell, Taiwan! It's been a pleasure.