Today was the first day where the students split into two groups.  Today, the students in groups 1 & 2 (Ms. Chu’s and Mr. Jefferson’s groups) participated in a wide range of activities that challenged their physical limits and teamwork skills.

After a hearty buffet breakfast, the students travelled by bus to pick up their bicycles for their big trek to Tamsui.  After a lengthy safety session which involved the students performing skits about a variety of important bike safety rules, we were on our way!  The bike paths were smooth and the views along the riverfront were magnificent.  The students enjoyed the variety of bird wildlife that could be seen and the friendliness of the locals.

After about 18km, we arrived at our destination for lunch.  We had all worked up quite an appetite by that point.  Thankfully, the restaurant didn’t disappoint – the variety of food on display for us was terrific.  From the fried tofu and beef to the garlic sweet potato leaves – no one left hungry!

After lunch, we travelled to our next location, Hobe Fort.  Here students were given a brief story of some famous individuals in Taiwanese history.  The interactive nature of the storytelling had the students enthralled.  Once the story was done, they were to explore the fort looking for 3 other famous individuals, interview them, and learn their stories.  Once found, the students were rewarded with a thorough retelling of their lives.  But that’s not all – now that they had this information they had to help teach their classmates about them.  The students broke off into small groups and performed creative skits to ensure that the legacies of these individuals lived on.

Now it was time for dinner!  Once we arrived at the night market, the small groups of students were given some money to buy meals for their group.  This was a truly international experience as the choices were quite varied.  Some of the highlights were the beef rice, quesadillas, Indian curry, stinky tofu and, of course, bubble tea!  After our meal, we had time to reflect on the activities that we participated in and give some shout outs to our peers.

It was a full-on day with so much to see, do and experience!  I imagine that there will be some sound sleepers tonight – which is good because it’s our turn to be creative tomorrow!