Chinese New Year's Eve

What started out as just another day turned into a pretty fun night for us. First, I tried out riding a scooter for the first time. We borrowed Monica's keys for the week while they were away so I could practice and it went really well! It is only a 50cc (so it is a smaller scooter) but I had fun. I feel like I was building it up so big in my head and then when I actually tried it out, it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought. It also helped that as I was leaving the parking lot where I practiced, an old Taiwanese man shot his fist in the air with a big smile on his face.

After that, Rick decided to head out on his own on Sam's scooter to perfect his skills. He had already tried out different scooters a few times and wanted to ride a little bit more on his own before he tried with me on the back of the scooter. He had an amazing time and he loved how free he felt to be on a scooter. It really does open up so much more of Taiwan. He checked out Tiger Head Mountain on his own and loved every minute of it.

At night, we decided to take it easy and play our new Drinking Jenga that we had just bought the other day. Darren was playing with us when we started to hear fireworks, more and more frequently. We decided it'd be a great idea to go on the roof to watch them only to find that Gloria had locked the doors on the roof for the holiday. To the streets we went. 

We walked down to the park and ended up in the middle of a firework war zone. It was so surreal and unlike back home. There were different groups of people setting off their own personal fireworks and these fireworks were similar but also so much better than the kind of fireworks we can buy back home. It reminded me of when I was a kid back home and my dad would light fireworks in our backyard. The only difference was that my dad would light the firework and run away quickly to ensure he wasn't going to get hit. While the Taiwanese like to light the firework and either casually stand beside the display or walk away at a snail's pace. They seem to not be concerned whatsoever with getting hit by a firework. We hung out in the park for over an hour. As some families would run out of their firework displays, more would arrive and start their own. 

P.S. A big thank you to Monica and Sam for letting us borrow their scooters while they are away!

Until next time!