Welcome to 2008!

2008. In equivalent terms, Class of 2012. Congratulations to all of you that pressed the submit button yesterday and others that have already received the invitation to join us here at Cambridge next fall. Regardless of whether you applied early, most of you should be finished with the vast majority of your college applications within the next couple of days, and it's time to take a break.

As you wrap up your remaining applications and send in those missing pieces of paperwork, start taking the time to enjoy your last semester in high school. I don't know about you, but I remembered the first half of my senior year flew by in no time - consumed by drafting my college application essays and turning in a pile of transcript/recommendation request forms to the Counseling Center. Before I knew it, my last semester in high school had begun.

Take the time in the last months of your high school life to appreciate the people around you. Thank the teachers that had helped you get so far (and perhaps who you harangued for your recommendations), and let your friends and classmates know your appreciation of their support and love throughout the years. For me, that's what made my last semester of high school so memorable - it was a time of reminiscing, a time of thanksgiving. When you walk down the red carpet on your graduation day, have no regrets - you have made your mark in high school, and it's time to move on.

Alright, so that's my little "sermon" to you =p.

Now, for some more-amusing matters.

I think it's about time that I introduced Taiwan, my home, to you all. I took advantage of this winter break to hopefully capture some of the essence of Taiwan (one thing I regret not taking pictures of is the New Year's fireworks in Taipei 101 - currently still the world's tallest building! - because I wasn't in Taipei. But you can look at it on Youtube here!).

I'll let the pictures take it from here. :)

On the MIT side of things...

Before we all parted our separate ways during break, Steven Mo '10, organized a little Taiwanese gathering.

(there are four '11s in the picture. Can you guess who? =D Hint: girls + white. haha)

I just got to Boston three hours ago, and I will be heading off to Madrid for the next month (basically all of IAP) tomorrow night. I won't be back on campus until spring term starts in February, but this January should be an excellent experience in living in a foreign country and experiencing another culture. So hasta luego my friends, I'll try to blog in Spain! :)

ps. This has got to be the most interesting blog that I ever composed. I started the entry in Taiwan, edited most of the pictures during my layovers in Tokyo and Chicago, and posted the entry in Boston. Truly an "international" blog. Ha.

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

awesome pics! i went to taiwan this past april (kaoshiung, taipei, and kenting) and saw many of the places you mentioned. ding tai fung is indeed one of the best dumpling places i've ever been to

so did they lose any of your luggage during all those layovers?

Posted by: christine on January 4, 2008

Thankfully, no! I always get freaked out about having a lot of layovers because there's generally a tendency to lose luggage. I was fortunate enough to not lose any luggages this time (although I panicked a little in Chicago, because there were only like 10 people left around the carousel when my luggage finally came out).

Posted by: Oasis on January 4, 2008

thanks for the blog! very informative have fun in spain!

Posted by: 0 on January 4, 2008

i'm curious because i'm in hong kong and interested in the airline industry: was it cheaper to do all those stopovers? my trip to boston years ago was similar in time, but i only had one stopover in SF. two stopovers seem weird..

Posted by: Reg on January 4, 2008

Ahh, I miss Taiwan so much! Thank you for this entry =)

(I hope that I will have the opportunity to be a part of your Taiwanese gathering next year!)

Posted by: Doris on January 4, 2008

nice!

i love the pictures!

have a great IAP

oh and what you said about last semester of high school. i agree. i've been doing just that. thanking people and whatnot and as much as i'm looking forward to college (andidesperatelyhopeitwillbeMIT ) i'm really going to miss school...

i wish i could take a break now that the whole application doodah is over...but no. i have exams. and i'll probably get the decisions during the exams in march. :/

Posted by: Aditi on January 4, 2008

Ahhh! Taiwan! Yay!

Brings back so many memories about my GAP YEAR (ahem, freshmen)

Posted by: Karen on January 4, 2008

*prefrosh, not freshmen

Posted by: Karen on January 4, 2008

Wow! Taiwan sure looks beautiful Chris! Hope you have a great holiday ahead! ...Goodness knows you deserve it after experiencing the firehose

Good Luck for IAP!

p.s. Which photo-editing software have you used for these pics?..Just curious..

Do keep us blog addicts posted on how you find Madrid!
Cheerio..

Posted by: Nihar on January 4, 2008

I LOVE TAIWAN!!

Posted by: 0 on January 4, 2008

Wow, Taiwan is really gorgeous. And O'Hare always makes me nervous with the luggage, we've lost things more than once but they're generally pretty decent.

I'm really excited to hear about your month in Spain! I'm definitely most looking forward to all of the opportunities for MIT students if I'm admitted.

And, on a final note... SENIORS '08!!!!

Posted by: Karen on January 4, 2008

Taiwan seems like a very nice country. If I ever make my theoretical planned trip to Asia, I will definitely try to visit the island.

Enjoy Spain!
~Donald

Posted by: donaldGuy '12 on January 4, 2008

Great entry, Chris! My sis is doing some traveling this summer on her way home from Kyrgyzstan - I'll tell her to stop by Taiwan. =)

Posted by: Hawkins on January 4, 2008

@Chris: How fascinating your life is in Taiwan ! I wish I could be there to enjoy all the scenes, food and the Taiwanese culture.

@donaldGuy'12: Taiwan is not a country.

Posted by: HappilyNerdy88 on January 5, 2008

@donaldguy: brush up on chinese current affairs or w/e

Posted by: 0 on January 5, 2008

I'm in one of the pics!!
haha but very unclear

Posted by: Kenny on January 5, 2008

But Taiwan is a country!

How can it not be? The elections are this March, and it's going to be quite exciting!

Posted by: David on January 5, 2008

Taiwan is cute. If I get accepted for MIT, I'd have a longer flight home, I live all the way over in Malaysia

Posted by: Muz on January 5, 2008

@HappilyNerdy88 and Anon

Though it may be the official position of numerous governments and the UN that Taiwan isn't a country, I don't think it's a very nice thing to say when Chris is from Taiwan and probably ... (hopefully ) loves his country as much as any one of us.

Just saying.

Posted by: Hyun Jin on January 5, 2008

Hey, whether or not it's a country, it's still a place, a very important state with a sweet economy at the very least.

Posted by: Muz on January 5, 2008

Yeah, Taiwan = Stationary capital of the world

Posted by: Hyun Jin on January 5, 2008

yeahhh TAIWAN!! I love the pics. I love the food.

Posted by: allen on January 6, 2008

Hey! I think I see the Organic Chemistry teacher from Splash in the last pic! ^^

Posted by: Erin K on January 6, 2008

OMG....so lovely!!!!!! As a proud Taiwanese descendant (a.k.a. ABT), I am glad that MIT rocks at this Taiwanese culture and pride I'm so wanting to get into MIT now...thank you, Chris!!!!

Posted by: MIT Hopeful on January 6, 2008

wow it's like you color-coordinated, except grace didn't get the memo to wear white!

Posted by: Grace '11 on January 7, 2008

Ahh I am in Spain now and look at all the comments since I have been gone!

Nihar - I use Adobe Photoshop.

Kenny - I realized I never took a picture with you...

And for everyone else - I leave you to your own opinions on whether Taiwan is a country or not. I definitely have my own

Posted by: Oasis on January 9, 2008

No I wasn' being sarcastic lol

I was refering to the picture u took from my back when I was buying bubble tea haha.

Posted by: kenny on January 27, 2008

I miss Taiwan so much, even though it's been only six months ago.
I think I see Grace in there.
Looks like you guys are having fun!

Posted by: wendysung626 on January 31, 2008

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