Weekly Mandarin: 37

37th edition: Chuan

This word was actually in my textbook this week! I had a legitimate application for a vocabulary word, unlike the Chinese characters for "Germany."

Though, honestly, the word "boat" isn't usually a critical vocabulary word.

But this weekend, I went rafting with my "haircut family" and some of the other Fulbrighters. We went down to the area near Taroko Gorge, and paddled on a river that was mostly flatwater, but had some exciting rapids too!

Unfortunately, we didn't bring cameras because they would've gotten soaked. But the attire was pretty entertaining: The helmets weren't really going to save us because they were basically seizure helmets (think Natalie Portman in Garden State). But the life jackets were pretty serious.... They even had those awkward straps between your legs to help lift you out of the water if you fall in. I affectionately call them the "safety wedgie" and was therefore able to teach a 5th grader the term "wedgie."

In Taiwan, you don't sit all the way in the raft most of the time. Maybe because it gives you a better center, or maybe because really the aim of the trip seemed to be to get soaked, you straddle the side of the boat and dangle one foot in the water. And paddle from there. It was pretty funny.

And one final note: Our boat kicked BUTT. We totally raced past all the other boats with our mix of brute strength, communication, and cunning wit. We almost even made it to the Pacific.