NOT the last supper

Packing began in earnest today, but I won't bore you with accounts of buying a box and bubble wrap. The real highlight of my day came tonight, when my host family picked me up for dinner. Please note the very deliberate avoidance of the phrase "last dinner," because it absolutely CAN NOT BE. I'm not ready for that.

But, they did bring me some wonderful little going-away presents, all Taiwan themed, including gorgeous earrings, a fun bottle opener shaped like a face, and several nice bookmarks. They're absolutely lovely.

And so was dinner! We went to the Howard Plaza Hotel restaurant, which served up a buffet-style meal with Western options like roast beef (insert happy Bekah), and salad with more than one kind of lettuce (insert VERY happy Bekah), and even blocks of a variety of fancy cheeses, amongst many, many other delicious foodstuffs that put my recent munching habits to shame.

Describing all the deliciousness on this (admittedly not that great-looking picture of a) plate would just make me hungry. But look, pesto-tomato-mozarella salad!!!

Non-iceberg salad!

And of course the best part of all, as always, was the conversation. By the time we left, we'd been at the restaurant for over two hours; all the servers were cleaning up, the food was all put away, and only one group remained seated elsewhere. Lovely. I love these people!