Monday, October 20, 2008

One side to the other




I didn't realize how much ground I covered this weekend. After leaving Hualien, I returned to Taipei for a few hours. Just long enough to swap out some clothes and grab lunch. By three o'clock, I was back on the train headed to the other side of the country to visit my cousin in Hsinchu. Joseph works in the science park where many semiconductor companies have set up shop. The plan was to attend his companies family day where some of the employees gather to ride bikes and run a 10K. Joeseph was able to borrow a bike for me. It was a nice full suspension mountain bike in top condition. Great for bombing downhills, but terrible for climbing.
We left the house at 5 AM the next morning and before I knew it, I was starting a 2 K climb with 11% grade. C'mon Dude (I thought to myself)! My body can't take that sort of stress first thing in the morning. By the time we reached the park my lungs were about to burst. Joseph tried to get me to run the 10K (Really?! because I almost vomited a second ago). The ride back to the house was downhill, so not as bad. We ended up riding about 35 miles all together. It was really good to see Joseph again after so many years. He still has a faded picture of me, my brother, and himself when I was 5 years old. We look almost unrecognizable compared to how we look today.

I have two more weeks here before moving on. It is the beginning of the last week of language classes, then I see the rest of the family. I'm looking forward to moving on from here.

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