Day 6 - Farming and Travel

June 06, 2026

Day 6 - Travel, Travel, and More Travel

你们好! Jordan and Keira reporting for duty

Today, we woke up early and prepared for a long bus ride to Yilan. Everyone was very tired from the activities we had done the previous day and slowly got on the bus, unsure of what awaited them but still excited. Most people ended up sleeping after a few minutes on the ride, but some of the students who wanted to contact their parents were given the opportunity to sit in the front of the bus and make a short phone call. To pass some of the time, we talked about our highlights of the trip and played bonding games like Wavelength.

We took a rest stop where students used the bathroom and stocked up on snacks for the rest of the ride. It was pouring rain, and all of us sprinted back and forth from the store to the bus because many of us had forgotten our umbrellas. Afterwards, Zhong Lao Shi arranged our seating by drawing names. Each person drew whom they would sit with for the next hour of the ride, and William coincidentally drew me (Jordan!)—roommate and seat partner once again.

Some of us had check-ins with Zhong Lao Shi and Lu Lao Shi during the last stretch of the bus ride, where they basically asked us how we were feeling about the trip so far and what things we had learned or taken away from our group experiences. Finally, we arrived at lunch on the outskirts of Taipei, where we had a traditional Taiwanese meal consisting of stinky tofu, chicken, soup, and other interesting dishes. Zhong Lao Shi always asked us to switch up the seating arrangements to meet new people, so there was never a dull moment where you didn’t learn something new at the table. After lunch, we continued the drive and made a quick stop at McDonalds, which much to our dismay, was pretty similar to the one in the U.S. Then, we hopped on the bus and continued to our next ride.

Before we knew it, we turned the corner and saw a large sign reading “Toucheng Leisure Farm.” The fresh scent of nature was overwhelming as we stepped off the bus and helped Vincent unload the luggage for our home for the night. Everyone around us stared, smiled, waved, and asked where we were from. We met our tour guide and started walking the grounds soon after. Our guide was extremely passionate about the farm and demonstrated how people used to use nature for different purposes, including shooting leaves like bows and arrows and using plants to hold water. He even played a water game with us where we squirted water as far as we could to hit other people. We looked at the rice fields as well and took picturesque photos with each other. The scenery was extremely beautiful but also a little frightening, as we constantly encountered large spiders. Zhong Lao Shi repeatedly told us that they were harmless and peaceful, but the sight of them still frightened us. After the tour, we stopped to make jianbing, or a stuffed pancake. We all gathered to help cut ingredients like carrots, corn, mushrooms, and tuna, and we even gathered our own leaves from the farm.

Momo and William watched the demonstration and then came back to teach the rest of us how to make it. We pan-fried the vegetables, filled the dough with cheese and the cooked ingredients, and put it on the pan. Momo was really good at it—although he burned the second side. Mia made hers perfectly, while William flipped his onto the floor… (they got another one, don’t worry).

The pancakes tasted really good, and we enjoyed playing basketball and talking with some of the other people staying there to practice our Mandarin. Afterwards, we checked into our rooms and went to dinner. Dinner was a buffet with a variety of dishes, including rice, noodles, various stir-fried vegetables, meats, tofu, and even shark (which Kalyx and Kieran adventurously tried but did not love). We all had a great time, ironically talking about both middle school and our futures in college.

The night wasn’t over yet; after dinner, we had some free time to play basketball (Russell touched the rim!) and then participated in a DIY workshop to make mint ointment.

Even though we had a long day and were pretty tired, the energy was still high as we heated different oils and mixed them with Vaseline to make a cool, green, mint-smelling balm. Zhong Lao Shi and Lu Lao Shi talked with us the whole time, and it felt very familial. They told us how they see themselves as more like parents to us, and since this trip, they have really gotten to know all of us better.

It has not even officially been a week yet, but we have all truly grown so close and feel incredibly connected. We had a really good time. After we finished, we debriefed and went to our rooms to prepare for tomorrow. We all can’t wait!