Graduating University

September marks the beginning of a new academic semester in Taiwan, what better way to celebrate it than to look back and reminisce about my graduation?

I graduated from university in June. The graduation season had filled my social calendar with more events than I have ever had in a entire year, even though I'm usually not one for such events, I still managed to participate as much as I could, since it could very well be the last time I'll get to see my classmates again.

Kicking off the graduation season was the Teacher Appreciation Banquet (謝師宴). The original function of these events was for students to show appreciation for their teachers by treating them to a nice meal, but over the years it had evolved into something not unlike proms in western culture, where students get the rare opportunity to dress up and wine and dine in fine hotels. Guys who live in t-shirts and shorts their entire college life showed up in spanking new suits, and girls who never wore makeup were all dolled up with fluttery lashes and pouty lips. Some girls will go all out by showing off various body parts, which I'm glad I didn't see because how is it ever appropriate to show your underboobs to your professors? (Though one may argue it's a way of showing appreciation?)

Clearly I'm not the outrageous type.

Men in suits. Who are they?!

 The Teacher Appreciation Banquet was certainly not the only photo opportunity. In my school, we were able to borrow the academic dresses free of charge for a period of time, and  keep them longer for a small fee. I'm not the most creative when it comes to photos since I rarely take photos, but I did snap a few with friends and teachers.

It's just impossible to look good in something with a non-existent waistline...but look there is a fancy backdrop that the school spent tons of money on!

Besides the more formal banquet, another high light of grad season was the graduation party, Held at a nightclub, the party had me really stressed out because I didn't want to overdress, but didn't want to overdress either. I ended up with the look below and was quite satisfied! Special thanks go to my friend Shaoyu for braiding my unruly hair! As it turned out, people's dressing styles were all over the place, ranging from "Imma kill this night" to "I have no idea what I'm doing" to "I don't give a fuck, only here to drink."

Me and my bae <3 (I feel so on trend using "bae")
I now understand the importance of piling on heaps of makeup for clubbing upon seeing this brow-less photo. My legs look awesome though!  

I somehow ended up on stage for the party girl contest. I clearly stood no chance, cleavage always wins. 

How I looked for three consecutive days. I spent most of my five college years looking like bottom left.

All the exciting activities built up to  the most important part of graduation season, the Graduation Ceremony. Participation was not mandatory and while most graduating students showed up, I did have classmates who weren't able to make it or simply did not want to come.

The people in the back are family members, here to witness the most important moment of their kids life. It's all downhills from here folks! (Joking, heh heh.)

Like all ceremonies, this one began with lots of long speeches by government and school officials. Most of them were bureaucratic and cliche, I even heard some boos from the audience, but I maintained polite and awake like I always do during speeches. If I looked any bit discontent, that's just my resting bitch face.

I wasn't sure if it was impolite to keep my hat on, but decided not to take it off since I meticulously pinned it to my hair and wasn't specifically instructed to take it off anyway.

Running errands for my class paid off and I was chosen as representative for the Turning of the Tassel (撥穗儀式), a rite of passage where the school president changes the position of the tassel on the mortarboard cap from one side to another.

I was also awarded the Excellence in Services (服務優良) certificate for my work in student clubs and public services.

Photobombed.

Besides certificates for the selected few, my school made sure that everyone went home with a gift bag to bid us farewell and good luck. My favourite item from the bag was the rice, which was practical and helped support Taiwan's agriculture scene.

Clockwise from top: a small pack of rice, a crystal stamp, a postcard with a maple leaf from campus, nougat, biscuit with school's motto, and a cute bag to hold it all.

All in all, I enjoyed my last days at school and thought the Graduation Student Committee did an excellent job planning all the events. Big thumbs up to you! Graduating from college certainly was a big moment in my life, and I was overcame by post-graduation anxiety, which was a part of the reasons why this post came on so late. I think I have my life somewhat figured out though, and I am planning on posting more, so stay tuned! 

[Photo Diary] 330 Sunflower Movement

I went to the 330 protest on 3/30, I don't have time to frame a proper article on such a serious subject, but here are some photos I took during that day. The dress code was black, and the main appeal of the protest was to protest against the government which had skipped all due process of law in the passing of the CSSTA, and which had used violent force on unarmed protesters.

The event invite and schedule of the protest on Facebook

I put on some fierce brows to fit the protest mood

All the major roads and intersections were blocked off, I didn't understand why they blocked off this road though, it was small and far from the protest site

suspicious looking pole.

That orange thing in the distance says that this bus stop is temporarily out of use.

Some distance behind this barricade is the Presidential Office.

It's very rare to see protests and so many police officers in Taiwan, so lots of people were taking photos, including me.

This is another intersection leading to the Presidential Office, hence the slew of policemen. I was wondering what the long sticks are for, but then I'm not sure if I want to find out.

The young lady in the center is handing out booklets to the older lady to the left. The young lady belongs to a religious group that pretends they are part of the protest and hands out religious booklets, I fell for it TWICE, thinking it was protest related material. How genius are they?!

The center gate was closed, forcing people to  use the smaller gates to the side, but eventually the police opened the center gate too.

I don't know why I'm always scratching in candid photos...

This guy took a picture with the policeman in the middle. A dozen more people soon followed suit. I felt so sorry for the policeman....

This sign says "welcome publishers from China to visit Taiwan", which is kind of ironic.

The trucks says "Taiwan Independence" on them.

People mountain people sea!

An estimate of 500,000 people were at the protest.

The white banners on the overpass are by anti-protest groups. The cardboard following it cleverly turns its saying into one that fits the protest.

I was standing around when the crowd suddenly started to chant slogans. If you look very closely you can see there are people across the street holding ROC flags, they are anti-protest protesters.

This was so ridiculously organized. The person with the speaker was showing the participants to their seats as if this was a fancy restaurant.

Boxes were lined up to keep the protest area neat and tidy, with sides of the road spared for emergency passing.

Volunteers were handing out sunflowers, donated by supporters. The elderly lady was asking for one, but he didn't give it to her, since she was not part of the protest.

Portable toilets were donated to fulfill people's needs.

free crackers for all!

Real protest related material!

One of the few media that has been putting out unbiased reports.

The sign says "Ketagalan Boulevard is full" Te original plan was to fill the boulevard with 100,000 people, but the protest ended up having more than 500,000. There was no room so I had to leave.

Big screens were set up for those who could not see the actual stage, meaning thousands of people.

Volunteers making temporary signs.

The signs are to redirect people to protest sites other than Ketagalan Boulevard.

My original plan was to go the Ketagalan Boulevard, all the roads were either blocked by the police or by the people, and I ended up walking around for 4 hours. I guess some of them felt tired like me.

I went home because I had a family dinner later, but as I left, people were still going to the protest.

[Dear Diary] An Order Obstructing Mob?

Ever since the Congress Occupied protest begin, I have been following the event closely.

[Dear Diary] Defending Democracy

I always thought of this blog as a happy place , a place free of any political issues that can lead to heated debates and separated friends, but today, I just have to get something off my chest.