In my mind (and in part due to social media), I had romanticized my year abroad and failed to consider many of the day-to-day challenges that I would face. For example, navigating communication with loved ones due to the time difference and life becoming busy for all of us, or fulfilling basic needs like finding groceries or a doctor’s office that may be harder in a country with a different social system. It was during our longer lunch break when we sat down to rest and during our night stay in the lodge that reminded me of the mid-year break and Fulbright experiences. I had underestimated the long hours and semester timeline of Taiwanese schools, and in February, I remember feeling very grateful to have an extended break to travel and rest. I was also so grateful for the opportunities to travel around to different places in Taiwan like Kaohsiung, Hualien or Matsu with friends. It was during those moments that I remembered my unique position of both being somewhat local in a foreign place and also my responsibility as an explorer or individual wanting to understand the place I lived in.
On Sunday, we woke up at 2:00 a.m. for an extremely early breakfast. Along the way, we bonded with two Taiwanese college students who were also hiking Yushan for the first time. We decided to attempt to reach the peak together before sunrise at 6:00 a.m. Due to the high altitude, we were warned it would be very cold at the peak, especially before the sun rose, therefore we donned our warm clothing, headlights and hiking sticks and went out into the pitch-black night. We carefully navigated the jagged and steep inclines that were quite dangerous due to being unable to see beyond our headlights and the path for the most part being cliffside.
