Part of the reason that I chose to come to Taiwan was an interesting sounding volunteer opportunity helping to rebuild a hostel in the city of Hualien. Hualien is known among Taiwanese as one of their most beautiful cities. It is right on the water and also has one of the highest percentages of indigenous peoples, meaning there are some interesting things here that you won’t find elsewhere in Taiwan.

The help exchange wasn’t quite what I expected, mostly due to the fact that the hostel is already almost complete. They were hoping I was an artist and could paint a mural on the wall, which I considered for about a second, seeing what an Austrian volunteer named Nils was working on already

So my first 3-4 days I woke up around 6:30/7 (I said the hostel was “almost” complete-no curtains yet!), joined a Korean volunteer for breakfast down the street, and then hung out until 11 or 12 when we would spend an hour cleaning the hostel and changing the sheets. Once I figured out that “work tomorrow” would not start until that late I started going on walks in the morning. I walked to the Martyr’s Shrine one day, which was big and beautiful but pretty much abandoned with plants growing in the eves and the doors locked up tight.

Another day I borrowed a bike and rode the bike path along the river to the coast. Parts of the path were very nice, but the further out of town I went the more parts were blocked off and under construction. So it was a bit weird but most roads have a designated “bicycle and scooter” lane so it wasn’t a problem.

I ended up at the city port, which is being developed for tourist traffic. A lot of visually interesting things there:

They gave me a day off in the middle which I used to go see Taroko Gorge. I was hoping to do some aggressive hiking but due to recent storms and earthquakes many of the trails were closed. I met a German woman on the shuttle bus and we had a nice day together, ending up at the night market for some good street food!

There is also a monastery up there with a five story pagoda and a Buddhisatva with ten faces looking in ten directions.

I stayed in Hualien a total of six days, just about when you start to know your way around a place and get used to the people. My last day we all stayed in a second hostel which they will start doing heavy renovation on (I did help them rip out the drop ceiling), and had pizza, barbecue and beer as a Fairwell party. We woke up to see the sunrise, which was unfortunately covered by clouds. However we did get to watch the fishermen bring in their morning catch and followed them to the market:

On my third night there, I was out having a hot pot dinner with two other volunteers when the ground started shaking. As soon as I realized we were having an earthquake I literally jumped up! My mind was racing: “What am I supposed to do? Go outside, right?! But the doors are made of glass! Stand in a doorway? But thats the kitchen!” At which point my thoughts were cut short by the waitress walking by who laughed and told me to sit down. I looked around and ALL of the other customers were still sitting, eating, whatever. The lamps here swinging wildly and the glass storefront was threatening to break (or so it looked to me) but no one else was excited about it! I guess they get earthquakes a lot here! About 5 minutes later the tv started broadcasting news about the quake and reported it was a 6.5, which is pretty big to me! The whole experience was funny in hindsight. I’m just glad there was no tidal wave.

While I was bored for much of my time in Hualien, it was a valuable experience. I was originally planning to do a lot of volunteering on this trip and now I’m glad I haven’t. While it was very good for my budget (I averaged $18 since housing was free), as a volunteer you really are subjected to whatever work ethic your host has. I like to be productive and busy, and it was difficult for me to watch people sleep in until noon every day. However it was nice to be able to get to know a few people and places better. We did have fun together:

Now it’s back to Taipei for two days before Thailand!