The Best Weekend Ever

After settling in to our apartments, we all hung out Saturday night after the Foundation bought us pizza for dinner. On our way to take the left over pizza from the boys’ apartment to our apartment, we stumbled upon a musical performance in the courtyard of our apartment complex. Earlier in the day when we were moving in, we all noticed a small music school right next to a “cram school” (basically an intensive tutoring school used as supplement to public education). As we walked passed that night, the owner of the music school motioned us to come and sit down. We all sat down out of curiosity and kindness. At first we assumed students were performing, but as soon as they began to play we quickly realized that they were advanced musicians. After the first song, I believe, the owner/director introduced the players. Many were laoshi (teacher), one was ta baba (his father), and another was ta erzi (son). They all played traditional Chinese instruments, including the Er Hu and the Pi Pa (I believe that is how it is spelled).





Then on Sunday, we decided to roam around our new city to see what we could discover. We met up around 10 am and worked our way down the street. First we ran into a shop that made dan bing, a breakfast delight that resembles an egg “burrito.” Following breakfast, we continued down the same street and discovered the Music House. From the street it looked like a traditional Japanese style home. When we walked upon it, the sign read “Music House” in English. As we worked our way inside the quaint house, a sweet woman greeted us warmly and motioned us to come in to the house. With the help of the translation of one of our fellow ETAs, Mandy, the lady explained to us that the house was an old government education building and that the interior wood was authentic. Along with explaining the history of the house, she also explained all of the many instruments within the house. After our tour, she invited us to come back to listen to a performance around 2:30 pm.
Following along our same trail, we continued walking down the same street and followed along as it curved to the left. Soon we discovered a distillery and noticed many people coming in and out of the gate. We all decided to walk in, and to our left we read a sign that said “If you haven’t drunk our wine, you can’t say you’ve been to Yilan.”

That is when we all came to the conclusion that having some of their wine would be really important in our tour of Yilan! We walk around the distillery and tasted the different foods and wine. After having our tasted of the distillery, we continued on our journey. We walked through a small market, played a little in Du Du Dong Park, and looked around the tourist info center across the park. By the time we finished, it was time to return to the Music House for the performance. Going back to the Music House was great! The house gave us a place to relax, listen to beautiful music, and cool down. The man who played the traditional instruments was amazing and he even offered us tickets for his concert in Taipei.





Our day was going fantastic. Following the music house we rested for a little while and then went to this delicious veggie restaurant that the previous ETAs called “Mama’s Kitchen.” As soon as we entered, they quickly greeted us, sat us down, and handed us a picture menu that the previous ETAs created for us. The whole time we were there and every time since, an old lady (who we think is mama) attentively but casually takes care of us as if we were all her family. Upon leaving “mama’s,” we all went for dessert at this place that serves this treat that seems like a cross between ice cream and shaved ice. Whatever it is, the treat is amazing and it looks like shavings. The flavors included milk, peanut, green tea, coffee, blueberry, mango, and sesame seed. Dinner and dessert definite was the cherry on top of a fantastic weekend!