Winter Vaca and First Week of School

I haven't posted in forever, partially because I was out of Taiwan for 11 days and on vacation for almost a month. After school finished, I really relaxed in my empty apartment and just pondered life in between physical therapy sessions.
At the beginning of February I went to Japan to visit one of my best friends, Mariko, who studied with me at SOAS in London. She and her father met me at the Tokyo Narita airport and took me to their cozy home in the suburbs for a delicious hot pot meal, cooked by her darling mother. I immediately began to learn Japanese and fell in love with Japan. Maybe that will be the next stop on my world tour?
We spent a couple days in Mariko's hometown of Tsukuba, visiting her grandmother's traditional style home, her church and university, and quickly touring Tokyo in a day. Then Mariko and I flew off to Nagasaki...a place neither of us had visited before and that was of great interest to us both. Internationally known for being atomically bombed by my country, Nagasaki is also the first Japanese city to trade with foreign nations during Japan's 250 year period of isolation and was the entry point of Christianity into Japan.
On our first day, Mariko and I explored the former European and American consulates, a local women's college founded by missionaries, one of the first Catholic churches in Japan, and the historic area zoned off for foreign merchants. The next day we went to a memorial for local priests who were crucified during the early persecution of Christians in Japan, the atomic bomb museum, and the Peace Park.
Out of the whole intellectually and emotionally stimulating trip, the most ground-breaking moment for me was meeting a man who survived the bomb despite being within 1.1 kilometers of the epicenter. Thanks to Mariko's translation, he shared his story with us, showed us a painting someone drew from his memories, and shook my hand saying that he was so touched that I, a young American, came to Nagasaki to remember and learn about what happened. I wished I had the words to apologize.
After such a phenomenal trip, things only became more interesting when my parents met up with me in Tokyo. It was surreal to have them in this part of the world with me, finally! Unfortunately, the weather was cold and foggy in every city we visited!!! We did a bus tour of Tokyo, pushing through their jet lag, then flew off to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year celebrations.
Despite the weather, we saw a lot of the main attractions. My favorite part was meeting up with friends and staying at the hotel on my former campus, Hong Kong Baptist University. We had lunch with and were really taken care of by my great, and newly married, friends Brittney and Ellison. We even sang KTV with my Fulbright colleagues from Kaohsiung and their loved ones. I saw Hong Kong with new eyes and contemplated working there someday, but was so excited to head back to Taiwan.
In Kaohsiung my parents met my co-teacher Winnie and her family, my host family, and all of the Fulbright friends that make my life so fantastic. It is a wonder my parents survived the amount of walking, bus riding, and randomness I packed into their short stay. But their visit was just the little bit of home I needed to refresh me for the next six months.
The day after they left I began teaching at my new school, Xin Zhuang elementary. As anticipated, Winnie and I are as strong a pair in the classroom as we are out of it. I introduced myself to my 5th graders this week with music, comedy, photos and video. Despite having a 45 minute commute one way, two thirds of which involves me walking and sweating profusely, I am already really enjoying this semester. I'm still deliriously in love with Kaohsiung and the wonderful people that live here.
My main concerns at the moment are to spend more time studying Chinese, going to the gym, and tying up the loose ends of my plans for next year. And instead of doing any of those right now, I'm going to clean.