There are many reasons why I chose to come live in Asia. Some more logical and weighty than others. But there is one small reason that I think subconsciously pushed me to come to Asia.
When I was in elementary school, I was in the library researching information for some assignment I had to do. While looking in the stacks for the book I needed, I came across the section on travel. There was this huge photo book all about Bali that i picked up and started to peruse. One photo really jumped out at me. It was of a naked lady standing in front of a waterfall that fell into a small lagoon. Seeing that I was in elementary school, I don't think it was necessarily the naked Balinese lady that struck me, as much as it was that the overall scene just seemed so serene.
That feeling of serenity has stuck with me all these years, so much so that one of the first things I wanted to see in Taiwan was waterfalls. There are quite a few in Taiwan, some better than others. One that stands out is the one near the copper mine which looks like a golden waterfall because of the copper stained water. However none are as majestic as the one in the picture of Bali.
That doesn't really matter though. The one in this picture might not be very spectacular, and I don't really know if you could even call it a waterfall. It's off to the side of a popular trail. However you need to climb over some somewhat dangerous rocks to get there, so it is a pretty peaceful site as not many people are brave enough to go over there. But the truly magical thing is whenever I am looking at a waterfall, no matter how big or small it is, I always feel the same serenity I felt when looking at that picture oh so many years ago.
As for today's title. Because of my admiration for waterfalls, one of the first words that i learned in Chinese was "waterfall." It's always amusing to me how over my time here I have learned some very advanced and/or very specific words which aren't used very often, but there are many useful words which I have yet to learn. My main examples are usually that I don't know how to say "pink" or "purple." Well just yesterday I learned how to say "pink," so now i just have to learn "purple." Perhaps in another eight years...
