The_NOOBZ ♔ : OELP Day 5

WULAI

On Day 5, the first thing we had on our to-do list was to go to Wu Lai Aboriginal School. We were welcomed into the school by fellow smiling students and were led into the hall for a traditional African drum performance. The performance was utterly amazing with a catchy beat, however, to our surprise, one of the student performing started singing in the Atayal language. Her voice was astounding and beautiful to listen to even though we might not understand the meaning behind her words. Soon after, we were given a short introduction to the school and a very interesting Atayal language lesson. We were taught basic numbers, words like "Thank you" or "How are you?" in Atayal and also words that describe animals the Atayal people hunt in the forest of Wu Lai. To test our knowledge, we were sent off a scavenger hunt for pictures of these animals hidden around the school and present them to the teachers in the Atayal language. It was a really fun experience as we got to explore the school and got to bond with the local students. After the scavenger hunt, we got to taste the famous local food of Wu Lai: braised beef with rice (卤牛肉饭）and curry noodles cooked with vegetables and bamboo shoots (竹笋). We were all famishing after the scavenger hunt and dug into the food happily. After lunch, we got onto the arts and craft lesson which we learned made cards for our fellow buddies in Wu Lai and vice versa. We wrote down personal messages and our contact details before weaving colourful yarn thread into the holes made along side the card. We weaved the threads into a diamond design which symbolises good luck in the Atayal culture before decorating the card to our hearts' content. Lastly, we played against the friendly students of Wu Lai in a game of basketball and obviously we lost, despite the fact that we have numerous basketball players in our class. It was still a memorable experience though before we parted with the exchanging of our handmade cards. All in all, We had a really memorable and enriching time with Wu Lai students.

After the immersion program, we went to the Atayal aboriginal museum to learn more about their culture and traditions. We were introduced to their way of life and saw many artefacts that the Atayal people uses in their daily life such as spears, swords, bow and arrow, musical instruments(口簧琴）, cutlery, etc. They were decorated with traditional carvings or adorned with colourful woven cloth handmade out of nettle plants. We were also introduced to the different types of Atayal traditional costume worn by different Atayal tribes in different parts of Taiwan or for special occasions and events. The Atayal people can also be differentiated by their piercing and tattoos marking on their body that were made when one becomes of age or accomplish a task for one to be accepted into the tribe. We also learnt about the hunting methods or the Atayal people and the different building structure used for different buildings built on a specific type of land. After our tour in the museum, we were let to our own devices for an hour to explore the old streets of Wu Lai to purchase souvenir and popular snacks such as Japanese style Mochi (麻糬).

RAO HE NIGHT MARKET

After our trip to Wu Lai, we headed to the highly anticipated Rao He Night Market. Rao He Night Market was bustling with life by the time we arrived and we quickly broke up into separate groups to explore the 600m long street. There were food stalls everywhere of different cuisine: Japanese pancakes and omelettes, seafood barbecue, Thai banana pancake and milk tea and authentic Taiwan snacks. After drooling in queue for our food, we woofed .down our delicious meals and went off to explore the rest of the street. The street also had shops offering trendy clothes and accessories for youngsters at great discounts such as snapbacks, sneakers, printed shirts, pants, denim shorts, etc. Shopping till we drop, we headed back to our hotel hauling shopping bags in our hands.

Wu Lai