Tuesday saw us getting our final paperwork completed without much hassle so we’re now officially ready to come home – at least according to the US Government. Soon enough we’ll be on a plane.

We wanted to see some of the island in the time we have left, so we went to Keelung – a smaller city – to see some of the island’s culture and history. Taiwan has a unique geography, a long history of being fought over and occupied, and a rich Buddhist tradition which all have their effects on the country.

First we went to the sea coast near Keelung. Taiwan is very mountainous and seeing mountains running right down to the sea was beautiful. Keelung Island is just off the coast and is beautiful as well.

The children enjoyed getting out in the sunshine and running around. They tried the binoculars to look out at the boats and generally did all the great things kids do on summer vacation. They seemed to enjoy their Nintendo DS Lite games for the majority of the trip, but eagerly dropped them as we got to each stop.

The city of Keelung was the next stop – and we took the rest of the day exploring the area. As we came into the city we could look out over the harbor and see the “Hollywood” sign – or at least the Keelung version. We went through the city with our friend Nick pointing out special buildings and interesting things. We headed out to “The Queen’s Head” which is a place where wind and water have eroded rocks in interesting patterns – one which looks like a Queen’s Head.

When we got there, it was as hot as the surface of the sun, only more humid. We walked out to see the rock shaped roughly like a head and were warned that future generations may not get to see it since the “neck” is wearing thin. It’s probably because the queen is sweating so much.

We drove into town for a quick lunch at a place that had no forks or knives to eat with. Taiwan is so westernized that it was great to eat authentic local food served in an authentic way. We had beef noodle and vegetable noodle – and Daddy and Joshua also had some pig ear.

Next (as we drove we talked about the fact that only the high mountains in Taiwan ever get any snow) we stopped by a temple that is the center of the annual ghost festival. The local people prepare foods that are very artistic – rice and vegetables that are formed into miniature animal sculptures. These are to get the ghosts to come out. The temple senior people also can do incantations to keep ghosts away from a place. We enjoyed looking around – and finding a nice place in the shade to sit and relax. The beliefs of the local people were interesting as well, and Nick did his best to translate exactly what the belief and practice are.

Further up the mountain – at the top in fact – we came to a large Buddhist temple. You can actually climb up in side the Buddha – at least when it is open – and see the countryside. There is a huge bell there as well and Sarah, Joshua and Jordan took turns ringing it using the huge log striker. They needed a little help to get it going sometimes.

After walking around the temple, we went down to visit a military park and looked at the encampments that have helped defend northern Taiwan for hundreds of years. There are still cannons there and the local people know that this is still an important place to defend their homeland. For our part, the boys seemed to enjoy running up and down the steps and playing war. Sarah seemed to be running out of steam so Daddy carried her up the last steps and hills back to the car. By my count there were about 11,000 steps.

Finally, on the way back to the hotel, we stopped by a local coffee shop. Like the name says, it was very Nice Coffee. In Taiwan in the summer (did I mention it is hot here?) they drink a lot of iced coffee and iced tea. Everyone had a nice cold drink except Mommy who only likes coffee hot.

We’ve had our share of problems here, sadness at all the changes, but we’re holding together pretty well. We can’t wait to get home!