Dana: What happens if I intentionally miss our flight

I'm just kidding. I would never actually do thet, but it seems a bit tempting. There is so much here that I still haven't experienced.

Today we went to the goodbye lunch. Before the lunch, we got to walk around the ranch type thing we were at. There was this pond with about a dozen rafts in it. Each rafty was made out of about 6 plugged up pcv piped hooked together. We were suppossed to steer it with a bamboo pole. It was harder than it looked, but still lots of fun. I got the hang of it, but lots of other people got their shoes wet. Ryan and Joeseph horseplayed a bit and were responsible for almost knocking most of us off our rafts, but it was all in good fun. We had a blast.

Then, Ryan noticed this over water obstacle course. And what are teenagers going to do when they see a slightly dangerous recreational activity? We did it. All of the girls were in dresses, but we had all worn shorts underneath. It was quite a spectacle seeing all of these girls in sun dresses climbing and jumping. The course was made up of a log we had to balance across, mopnkey bars, and a rope swing. All of this was susspended above water. PAge and I were the first girls to do it, and we felt quite accomplished. I, along with most of the other girls, crawled accross the monkey bars to be sure we didn't get wet. As Amanda was doing so, this crowd of about fifty people walked by and started taking pictures. We really hoped they realized that she had shorts under her dress. She was really freaked out by the rope swing and din't want to fall into the muddy pond below. Ethan promised if she didn't make it accross, he would grab the rope and pull her in before she fell. She didn't make it, and Ethan, keeping his promise, lunged into the muddy water to get her, soaking his shoes in the proccess. It was really sweet that he did that.

Afterward we ate a hot pot buffet, which was delicious. Then we did our dance for the last time. I thought that I would be much sadder than I was. I don't think the reality of leaving had hit me quite yet. I truly enjoy being here. I wich our trip was just a little longer.

After the lunch, my family took me to TaiPei to go to Costco. It was similar to Costco in the US, but it was still a unique experience. First off, it has to floors. Sencondly, it is much more crowded. When I think of Costco, I think of enough room to have shopping carty races. Not a chance here. It was as crowded as six flags during a summer Saturday. I bought all of my favorite asian snacks that cost more in the US. I should have checked my suitcase weight before I bought all of that. Who knew pocky was so heavy?

On the way home, the girls ran into the FE21 department store "real quick." They were there long enough for me to take a nap. They didn't tell me what they were buying and I had a sneeking suspision that I shouldn't ask. I was right. when we got home, they have me wrapped gifts for my family members. =) I'm not alloiwed to open them, so I have no idea what they are.

My mom cooked me dinner tonight. It was AMZING. I'm not a big fan of fish, but this fish was really good. I had not idea what it was, but I ate alot of it. I also found out that there are fruits in existance that I don't like. There is this fruit called a Durian. Its brown and prickly and the size of a small watermellion. Inside, it is yellow and soft. It has a farmiliar taste, but I can't quite place it. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't eat it if I didn't have to.

I did all of my packing tonight. It took six hours. I pity the poor security guy who elects to randomly search my bags. It will not be an easy task for them to put it all back in the bag. I often woinder as I am packing if the TSA workers have seen it all. I mean I have some pretty weird stuff in my luggage (like a life time supply of Asian snacks), I wonder if everyone has weird stuff in theirs. I really hope that I don't get stopped in security because on an x ray pocky sort of resembles dynamite and hi-chews might look like plastic explosives.

I am really meshing with my family and its a shame that I have to leave =(