Bubbles, Bicycles, Forts, and Fashion

Erin and I have been getting a lot of bicycle riding in lately. Two weekends ago we rented bikes and rode along the river. The city makes it fairly easy to rent bikes out of their numerous automated bike stands so we were able to get the bikes near where we live, ride downtown, and leave them at another stand there. While downtown we enjoyed a western-style dinner and walked around an artistic section of the city. It was a good evening to get Erin's mind off of the day-long parent teacher conference she had the day before.

This past weekend we went to Tainan for some more cycling. Tainan is the next largest city North of us about an hour train ride away. It used to be the seat of power when the Dutch ruled and still has many buildings from that era. We started with a walk around one of the old Dutch forts. Surprisingly, as we arrived we saw that they were holding a small fabric expo and were treated to the tail end of a fashion show.

After the fort we walked over to an old tree house which turned out to be an old salt warehouse that had been overgrown with banyan trees. The trees gave the place a relaxing feel. Their shade was a welcome relief from the surprisingly hot day.


As lunch time was soon approaching we rented some bicycles and rode out to where this quirky cafe was supposed to be. The crazy construction of driftwood and glass was there, but they were doing work on it and not serving food. Fortunately there was a cafe next door. Though it was serving typical Taiwanese food we found some palatable dishes before moving on. Across the street was another Dutch fort with an array of massive cannons.

Before long we were back on the bikes and heading back to where we rented them. Along the way though we spotted a massive amount of bubbles. There were people with huge saucers of soap and sticks with rings on the end. Joining the fun we got our own set. We would dip the rings into the soap and let the breeze blow huge bubbles and tubes. It really made our day after missing our expected lunch.

After returning the bikes we took a taxi back into the main part of town. There we tried to get a melon drink for Erin, but with no signs in English I fear we got something else because it just tasted like sugar water. We then went to the Confucius temple, but didn't see much as it had gotten dark at this time. We finished our trip with dinner at a Greek restaurant which also had good mango margaritas.


It was nice to get away for the day and see a different city. Looking through the guidebook it seems we've done just about all there is to do in southern Taiwan. It will be nice later this month to get away to Singapore for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving, Paper Umbrellas, and Rugby

One of the things I really enjoy about living abroad is the ability to experience multiple cultures, even those of countries we're not currently living in.  I've found that living as a foreigner in a different country often means that you get to know other foreigners more than the locals.  As English speakers we naturally tend to gravitate towards other English speakers.


So it was last Monday night, as the Republic of China (Taiwan) celebrated it's 100th anniversary, Erin and I could be found at a restaurant/bar enjoying Canadian Thanksgiving.  Similar to a Thanksgiving meal in America; we enjoyed turkey, stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, and finished off with some pumpkin pie.  We even had leftovers for lunch the next day.  Looking around at the Western decor and fellow Westerners enjoying the feast I could imagine being in North America.

On Saturday this past weekend we were back to local Taiwanese culture as our friend took us to Meinong, a town in the foothills not far from Kaohsiung.  We started with a delicious lunch at a place that served local, naturally-grown food.  The style was more typical of the indiginous tribes than the fried food we often see in the city.  After lunch we went to a shop where they hand-make and paint paper umbrellas.  There were many beautiful designs in various shapes.  To finish out our trip we visited a local potter.  We're hoping that the pottery and paper umbrellas will provide some character to whatever place we get back in Colorado.


For Sunday afternoon I was off to celebrate some more foreign culture as another bar had a satellite link to the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup.  My friend, Andrew, had invited me to watch his national, New Zealand team: the "All Blacks", versus the Australian "Wallabies".  It was the first time I had seen a full rugby game and I enjoyed how fast-paced it was.  It helped that the team we were cheering for ended up winning.


I suppose that we could have enjoyed Canadian Thanksgiving and the Rugby World Cup in the US, but I doubt we would have known about them.  Maybe now that we know about them we'll be on the lookout for opportunities to enjoy them back in the States.

10-10 in Taipei

Today is Double Ten Day in Taiwan which celebrates the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China.  We got a three day weekend and took the opportunity to go back up to Taipei.  We've found it very nice to be able to jump on the high speed train and be up there in about 90 minutes.




As soon as we arrived and were in our taxi to our hotel we saw wave after wave of aircraft fly over.  It was exciting to see the different helicopters, planes, and jets.  We checked in at the Tokyo International Hotel with a very friendly staff but we only stayed long enough to drop off our bags.  We were soon off for lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant we had enjoyed in the past.  We thought we might be late, but they sat us anyways and served a good meal.


After lunch we took the train out to the hills around Taipei for a ride up the gondola.  It was very nice to walk around the terraced fields and tea houses while the sun set.  By the time we started back towards the gondola it was already getting dark which made navigating some of the trails difficult, but it was an exciting adventure.  Down at the base of the gondola we stopped to view a water show (with lights, music, and jets of water).  Though we had to wait 30 minutes for the show to start we were treated to a random fireworks display nearby as soon as we sat down.


Back in the city we went to dinner at Gordon Biersch for some western-style food.  As we waited for a table we were able to stroll around a mall featuring a person dressed like a large cat and a group of dogs trained to lie down next to each other for a very long time.  Dinner was good with a delicious desert.

The next day we got up late and went to brunch at a place called "Grandma Nitti's".  The decor was nice, but the food was a little off.  We got on the train and went out north of the city to a place called "Danshuei" where the Taipei rivers drain into the sea.  Though it was raining a little we went ahead with our plans to take a ferry across the river and ride bikes around. It turned out to be a nice ride even though there were a lot of people.


Our day got more exciting as we took the ferry back across the river and somehow got stuck.  We couldn't tell what was going on, but the engines were running and we weren't moving.  The captain seemed to try a variety of maneuvers to get unstuck and there was even another ferry that came and gave us a bump.  When the crew had many of us move to the front of the small ferry some people seemed to get worried and had put on life jackets.  But the captain managed to get unstuck somehow and get us to our destination.


To relax from the excitement of the day we found a wonderful little hot chocolate place.  The hot chocolate was delicious and the atmosphere was cozy.  Back out on the streets the crowds were starting to grow thick.  There were some people in pirate costumes doing a dance with a float behind them, but most people were milling around the shops. 


We got back on the train and came back home Sunday night.  It was fun to get out of Kaohsiung for a while and see many things that we don't have here.  It was a little exhausting though and I'm glad we have today to catch our breath before going back to work tomorrow.

Typhoon and Taipei

I've had a hard time writing lately as there doesn't seem like much has happened over the past few weeks to write about.  The stifling heat and humidity has kept Erin and I indoors for much of our days.  We're also trying to eat healthier which means more cooking at home instead of going out for dinner.  We have had a chance to go out with our friends from school on several occasions though and there has been some interesting weekends.


Two weeks ago we were preparing for Typhoon Namadol which was heading our way.  It had been strong enough to call off school on Monday, but by the time it reached us it had weakened to a tropical storm.  Neither one of us were complaining about not having to go in to school that day though.

This past weekend was Moon Festival and so we again have Monday off.  We took advantage of this by going up to Taipei on Saturday.  Our friends from school had introduced us to a TEDx talk happening up there.  It was an interesting afternoon session which included presentations by six speakers discussing the theme of "A road less traveled".  There was a chef that treated cooking like art, an artist who drew the backs of people's heads, a writer who placed bronze plaques about his parallel world at different sites around the real world, a rice farmer who had gone to school to be a lawyer, a disaster architect who nonetheless disliked that title, and a musician that organized concerts for his friend that was murdered in Pakistan.  There were many times when I was confused because four of the six spoke Chinese which was translated.  Still I'm glad we went as it was a change from our daily routine.  That night we went out to Gordon Biersch for some good American food and then stayed the night in Taipei. 


The next morning we relaxed in the hotel room before going out for Mexican food for lunch.  That afternoon we ended up going to a concert organized by the musician we had heard speak the day before.  The music was good, but I think I enjoyed more the people watching.  With the Taipei expat community on full display there was far more diversity than we usually see in Kaohsiung.  Before long though we were heading back South on the train.  Back to the routine.

Back to Work

Erin and I have now been back to work for two weeks.  The first week was for staff orientation/preparation and the second week was the actual first week of school with students.


It has been very busy for me as I've worked with the school technician to get the technology at the school ready for classes.  The school has a lot of new technology this year including an upgraded student information system, a new Apple server, a 1:1 laptop initiative for students in the 6th grade, and an upgraded wireless network throughout school.  This has meant more things for me to prepare and more training for the teachers.  All of the teachers have worked to adapt to all this new technology and I'm happy that they've been able to do so.


Erin's back to grading now as we've started to get back into a rhythm again after the summer.  In some ways it's nice to be working again and helping people out, but I often miss being up in the cool mountains on the motorcycle.

Green Island

With the start of classes just a week away Erin and I decided to spend this past weekend out at Green Island. This relatively small island to the east of Taiwan had been on our list of places to go all last year, but we were often thwarted in our attempts to go. Getting there is a bit of a trek.


On Friday we took the subway to the train station to catch our train out to the east side of Taiwan.  We had learned from previous attempts to purchase our tickets early in order to get a seat during this popular season. After the 2 1/2 hour train ride we made it to Taitung where we tried to figure out the bus schedule to the harbor. After being told we would need to wait 40 minutes we decided to just take a taxi. The taxi driver hurried us to the harbor so that we could book tickets on the ferry that happened to be leaving mere minutes after we arrived.  Fortunately we had taken our motion sickness pills an hour before, but we still grew rather nauseous on the 50 minute boat ride.


Upon arriving on the island we were met by several people renting scooters and we were soon riding around the island.  Being a somewhat small island it didn't take us long to get to our hotel and check in.  After dropping off our bags we were back on the scooter and cruising around the island.  About 30 minutes later we had circumnavigated Green Island and were back in our air conditioned room relaxing.  Well, all the travel must have worn us out because we soon went to take a nap and didn't get up again until the next morning.


Saturday morning we tried to go out for some snorkeling, but soon found difficulties.  The day before we had seen large groups of snorkelers in wet suits and life jackets being led out past the small waves holding on to life preservers. We just wanted to rent a mask and some fins to see the reefs that Green Island is locally known for.  However, we tried four different places and none of them would just rent us the gear (or they didn't understand what we were asking). We finally ended up just going to the beach and wading in the cool water.

Later that day it was Erin's turn to ride the scooter as I sat on the back. We stopped several times to take pictures of the beautiful coastlines and rock formations.  The formations in the picture above are called Pekingese and Sleeping Beauty for their resemblance to a dog and a woman laying down. Throughout the day we would take time out of the heat back at our air conditioned room to relax and read before heading out again.  That night we even decided to get adventurous and had dinner at a cook-it-yourself BBQ place where we were given a table with a small fire pit in it, an aluminum foil wrapped grill, and directions to a large fridge with tubs of raw meat and vegetables. While we were able to cook a couple of things the experience left something to be desired and the heat of our little fire was more than we could stand for very long.


On Sunday we were up early again as a result of lingering jet lag so we made our way to the island's hot springs. Said to be one of only three salt-water hot springs in the world we were glad to get there before it got to packed.  Unfortunately the pools closest to the ocean were closed for repairs, but it was still a nice outdoor hot spring.  Before too long it was time to make the trek back home.  After scooter, boat, car, train, and subway we were exhausted. I'm glad we got a chance to see Green Island, but I feel like we can cross it off our list of places to go in the future.

Return to Taiwan

Our summer of fun is coming to an end as we got on a plane and returned to Taiwan. We left Denver at 9AM Friday morning and arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan around 9PM Saturday. Of course part of that long time was just crossing the International Date Line and losing a day, but the 13 hour flight from Dallas to Tokyo added to it as well. At least there were plenty of movies to watch.

On Sunday we met our friends Pete and Leah who were spending their honeymoon in Asia. It was fun to get a rental car and take them to some places in the area that we hadn't seen before. We started out in a small town called Sandimen where the native people carry on the tradition of making glass beads. Erin and Leah enjoyed making their own beads with the help of the women there. After a slow lunch we went to the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Culture Park nearby. We were excited to learn about the many different tribes of indigenous people in Taiwan, but the heat and humidity soon got to us and we went back into Kaohsiung to get ready for dinner.

The next day we drove down to the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium south of Kaohsiung. While Erin and I had been before it was nice to stroll through the air conditioned rooms and see the variety of sea life including penguins, seals, beluga whales, and a whale shark. We then took Leah and Pete to Lotus Lake near our school before taking them to the train station to continue on their trip. It was very nice to see them and share part of Taiwan with them on their honeymoon.


These next two weeks will be spent getting ready for the new school year, settling back in to Kaohsiung, and enjoying the last remnants of summer vacation.