101

On Wednesday night, we did a sweet aboriginal workshop where we made floral headdresses and learned a traditional dance chant thang. We were the only ones in the class and it was really funny. Afterwards some of us headed back to the Shilin night market which was reallllllly different from the markets in Hong Kong because it had lots of shops and stuff instead of stalls and less fake stuff and wayy more clothes. We also got massage things from people where they essentially whacked you with a stick. It was fabulous. The next morning we did the aboriginal thing AGAIN lawl for dance Flavours so we were basically practiced experts. Then some people went to a king fu master class and others chillaxed. Apparently the master class was really fun nut it was outside so a few people died. Practically at least. Then we had CMPs (blargh) and then we went downtown to TAIPEI 101!!!!! It's like one of the tallest towers in the world and it's structurally designed to be eArthquake-proof which was so so sick. Also it has the fastest elector in the world which I practically barfed on. It was a little foggy but the view from the top was still fantastic; Taipei is an amazing city :D then we BOOKED IT to an international professional show in the city (high stress holyyyy). We all loved it, it was amazing contemporary danceeeee. We took the shuttle bus back to the campus and there were about 500 people on it, which was a fun situation to be in for like an hour. This morning we had an Australian warrior-style dance Flavours (idk why Flavours is always capitalized lol sorry dumb iPad) and then some people did a contemporary master class while others did a traditional Chinese dance class. Then we had our last CMP and had a showing to show the other classes what we had been working on, an let me tell you those were not our best performances to date. Afterwards we went to the closing ceremonies where we listened to some randoooo speeches and did a flash mob we had learned and did our aboriginal chanting. Then Ali and elyse and I gave our Dutch friends hair wraps which they loved lol and then there was a giant dance which was sweeeeeet and Alyssa was the star of the show, doing gymnastic flips and shtuff all over the place and everyone loved her and we all had a blast. Finally we went to the German restaurant again, because we figured e last thing we should do in Asia was eat at the German restaurant. It was delicious as always and a party for all ages!!! Tomorrow we're going to a final reunion with our Dutch buddies at the OK shop (really it's the O.K. Mart but we all call it the okshop now) and then off to the airport! We're all ready and excited to come home :)



Nbd view from campus



Crystalle and Kalene rockin the headdresses



Gettin her massage on



Rolandah and Laura enjoying their massages



Cuties in the park!



Tiny tower ;)



Omg Alyssa



In the 101 mall hehe



Chloe being a supertourist



In the elevator!



Sweet cam jams for sale



At the top



View from the top + tower shadow



On the craycray bus

Golden Towns

Today we had our cultural tour, called Golden Towns. First we went to a "golden waterfall" near an old industrial plant where the metals from the plant polluted the water and turned it red and yellow and got some sweeeer scenery pics. Then we went to an abandoned industrial and mining community that were restored and toured around. The main product had been gold, so we all sifted for gold sand (or so they tell us) which resulted in a little vial of rocks essentially. It was hilarious. After, we got on the bus and drove to an intricate market community tucked away in the middle of nowhere where we had a really good lunch at a tearoom. After lunch we had a tea ceremony where we learned the correct way to make Chinese tea and we had this old guy that didn't speak English that taught us and it was soo sick. We also ate some weird bean cookies.... Not sure about those. After walking around the market for a bit we went into an old theatre and our tour guide Pete (aka Andrew) explained the old equipment used at the theatre. We just got back from the tour and after napping we're all going to some workshop where we make dance clothes or something (lol) and then some of us are going to another night market.



Elyse's hair after the show.... She went a little hairspray happy



At the golden waterfall



The girls in front of the mini waterfall!



Hahahaha so we went into an old mine and they made you wear safety helmets in there and these are the helmet covers we had to wear underneath...



Helmeted up and ready to go



Sifting away



The result... Some nice rocks



After a hard day of sifting (Liv's really feeling it)



Desiree being all zen at the top of the mountain looool



Tea demo!



He was concentrating so hard <3



After the tour with our karaoke bus (they're all karaoke busses here) and our tour guide Pete

I think your arteries are showing...

Our shows went well :) the blue lipstick looked amazing, as did the drawn-on veins. After the show, we went back to the dorms and all of a sudden everyone came flooding in along with our conference buddy (he like runs it or something) named Allan. He doesn't speak much English. Then I saw THE BOX in his hands. You see, I left the poster painting thing that I got at a market on the plane that we took to Taipei and thought that I'd never see it again :( but then Allan CALLED THE AIRLINE AND GOT IT SHIPPED TO THE DORM!! I literally cried with joy and others will deny this but I'm pretty sure Allan got a little teary as well. Also he seemed a little confused. So that was a fun time for me. The next morning we had our first Dance Flavours class which was a traditional Taiwanese dance and it was hilarious because we all looked ridiculous but our instructors were awesome. After that the older girls headed to a tai chi master class. It was very different and actually very challenging. The younger girls went to a youth forum and discussed how dance changed their lives (...). Then we went to our first Cultural Meeting Points sessions. CMP groups are big groups that are mixed between all different countries and groups and you do lots of improv and creativey things like that. We do that for 3 hours each day. At night we went to the professional dance shows that feature Taiwanese dance companies and the contemporary was AMAZING. a group then went to Shilin night market for a little bit, which was soo different from the night markets in Hong Kong. This morning we went to a contemporary duo master class, where we did a bunch of lifts with guys from an australian dance company. Then we went to our CMPs and afterward we got ice cream from an AMAZING ice cream truck that was soo delicious. It was sort of like shaved ice. We had our last showing of Vessel ( :( )at the sharing night where we got to see all the other groups' dances. There are a tonnnnnn of groups from FInland, Australia and Canada. We're so tired now!



With our friends from the Netherlands at the show



Allan and I and my poster <3



Caught in a giant rainstorm.... Hugest downpour I've ever witnessed!



A the profesh dance night



Sweet sandals at the market (this store Also sold pets...)



All of us squished in a cab on the way back from the market (richelle on the floor)



VOGUE



She struggles with the lipstick

GOODNIGHT

Canada Day in Taiwan

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, we have to walk to access internet and I'm lazy. Yesterday morning we had an orientation where they explained the extremely confusing schedule and afterwards we had a big break, so one group went swimming and the other stayed back at the residence and chillaxeddddd. Apparently swimming was fun, but they had to wear strangeeeee swimming caps which looked really funny. We made bracelets in the room and got mango smoothies. When the other group got bAck, we cut off our Canada sweatpants into shorts because it's 100 degrees and folded our DRAGON LANTERNS. We got these really cool paper lanterns that had a million pieces and were impossible to make so Emilie and Chloe made them all. They're practically origami masters or something. Then we got ready for the opening ceremony and parade. We were suuuuuper decked out in Canada gear and looked awesome, then went down to the field and realized that almost every other team was just wearing like matching tshirts and that's it.... Awkwarddddd. But now they know that the Canada team is awesome ;) there are actually a lot of Canada teams here, but the others were soo unspirited. We also met some nice Australian boys. And everyone wanted their pictures taken with us. The ceremony itself was super festive, there were a few different cultural dances and the first lady of Taiwan was there! We all turned on our lanterns at the end, but unfortunately it wasn't dark so we couldn't see the lights too well. We ate at a good cafe on campus and one group stayed behind and chatted with a group from the Netherlands while the rest of us headed back to residence. Then Audrey and Dana and Amanda and Alyssa came into our room and we made up a Carousel song to the tune of a Baby/Call Me Maybe mashup. It was so sick when we performed it like you don't even know. This morning we had a NARSTY breakfast (we're not ordering conference food anymore...) then we went to a ballet master class, but all of them were so full so we couldn't do them. Then we heard about some weird one called "let your spines move freely!" that wasn't full so we went there.. It actually turned out to be really good and it was like a giant physiotherapy sesh that was aimed toward dancers so it worked out well. The rest of the day we had rehearsals, and then we had our first show which went really well :) the Vessel piece got a good reaction and apparently the regs of the show was great too. Soon we're going up to perform in the next show! So excited!




Dragon lanterns :) Big Rhonda is on the left and Paul on the right (elyse and Ali)



Swag to da max



Paradinnnn



Dragon dancers at the opening ceremony



Champs



Vessel girls



Another bug friend



In the theatre after rehearsal

Karaoke Bus, the Hotdog Bug, and Ice Packs

Today was another craaaaaaazy day. First we tried to find somewhere to eat breakfast, but for some reason none of the restaurants on campus were open lol so we ate at the OK which is essentially a convenience store And we ate really sketchy disgusting stuff like apple flavored bread with peanut butter even though I don't like peanut butter. Then we arranged for a coach bus to pick us up and bring us to the Yehliu Geopark because we figured considering our issues with public transport it'd be dangerous to attempt that in a country where no one speaks English. The Geopark was really really cool. It was similar to the Bay of Fundy but GIANTER. We went on an awesome hike there and got awesome pictures and sweated awesomelyyyy. I tripped over multiple craters in the earth and Alyssa slipped and fell but it was still great. We went to the 7/11 there a bunch of times and drank a tonnnn of water. On the way back, we realized that our bus was a KARAOKE BUS. Most of the songs were in Mandarin but we chose a few from the English sections and basically sang them over and over. It was so so hilarious. Many good videos of that to come. Also, all of the songs were like fake illegal versions and has extremely sketchy Asian people music videos in the background. For example imagine by John Lennon had all these Asian people in relationships, etc. It was toooooo funny. Then when we got back we went out for dinner at a German restaurant that was practically like being in Munich except everyone was Asian. It was very delicious. Then on the way out I fell and hurt my foot and cried like a baby but I'm sure itllbe fine and unswollen by tomorrow. But it was so so funny because we went hopping back into the restaurant as CELEBRITIES. everyone was taking my picture and coming over and posing with me and a man asked to hold my ice pack. Kalene said she guessed i was the first white person to hurt herself at an Asian-German restaurant.



Seaweed Cheetos



Geopark mascot. Her hair is a geological rock formation Afro.



A rock



Sweet flower



A crab hiding in the cave :3



Cave bugz



Dancey rocks



Heheheheh



Hahahahha do re mi on karaoke with an Asian guy slappin da bass



The hot dog bug haaha



Me and the waitress



Taipei okoberfesttttt



Hahahahah my fans notice the man holding the ice



Ew



My butler and medic