Sunday, December 6, 2009
A Trip to the Mountains
I haven't been very many places in Taiwan so two of my colleagues, Eric who teaches with me and Constance who teaches in Kaohsiung, generously took me up into the mountains nearby today for lunch and some sightseeing. So it was a party of three English teachers and two French teachers - but there were only three people... that's your riddle for today!
The roads are very narrow and there is some footage of a car off the road, teetering on the brink of a deep canyon. Fortunately a truck arrived and pulled the car back to safety.
The village we were in was on a rail line of the old narrow gauge variety that has now been abandoned but the station remains as a focal point in this little town which is now a tourist stop. Eric and I were the only non-Chinese tourists in sight throughout this entire day and Constance kept us out of difficulty by asking all the directions and getting all the information!
A little further along, we saw a bridge that had been destroyed by an earthquake. You can see from the ruins of the bridge the horrible destructive powers of earthquakes... and through the ruins the jungle returns to once again take command.
And everywhere the scenery was beautiful.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
December Settles In...
The CWB (the official Taiwan weather office) describes our temperatures this week as ranging from "cold" to "cool"; i.e., 16C to 22C. While that doesn't sound cold to the average polar bear it is not at all comfortable, especially when the wind is blowing into the unheated buildings here in Taiwan. My students assure me that by the time we are all released for a winter vacation in late January it will be most miserable - I believe my students!
We have just finished an examination session and it was somewhat disappointing for the students. Because we're preparing them for the Taiwan language test and the TOEFL test our grades are similar to those the kids get on TOEFL; i.e., abysmally low. Still, they are making progress and this examination session has been something of a wake-up call for them.
I FOUND KIMCHI in the grocery store in a nearby town! Delicious and it isn't even very good kimchi... I miss Korea and the food and the people but it's the people I miss most. Everyone here has been very good to me but I know very few people. That's okay because it's still early days.
People ask me what I think about Taiwan and I have to say that I don't "think" anything. I'm learning, not making judgments. I spent 11 years in Korea and didn't make many if any judgments there... just never felt I'd been there long enough to really know. I'd rather spend my time learning than making judgments.
Motor scooters are ubiquitous here and accidents are frequent. I'm told that it's a point of honor among Taiwanese scooter riders to never look in their mirrors as they run red lights, take corners too fast and weave in and out of traffic. Last night, I saw a man being carried away on a stretcher from the remains of his scooter. He didn't look to be in very good condition.
Car drivers are not very predictable either (this is an observation, not a judgment). People have not been driving cars here for a hundred years as they have been in the west and the driving skills one sees demonstrated are not good. Korea has for many years held the unenviable rank of worst among O.E.C.D. countries - that's because Taiwan is not a member of that particular club. I'm very careful on the road and am quite glad that I have nearly 180 degree peripheral vision - I'm using every degree of it all the time!
Foreign teachers, like me, who come here usually acquire scooters because they're a dependable and inexpensive means of transportation. Among these foreign teachers there is a significant accident rate because they feel they have to test the limits and their limitations are usually greater than they think. So far, I'm still alive... I've had some interesting situations, though, when drivers have cut right across in front of me or made sudden turns that no one could anticipate. Fortunately, I don't feel obligated to prove that I'm an expert on two wheels and my speeds and road position are always quite conservative.
We have just finished an examination session and it was somewhat disappointing for the students. Because we're preparing them for the Taiwan language test and the TOEFL test our grades are similar to those the kids get on TOEFL; i.e., abysmally low. Still, they are making progress and this examination session has been something of a wake-up call for them.
I FOUND KIMCHI in the grocery store in a nearby town! Delicious and it isn't even very good kimchi... I miss Korea and the food and the people but it's the people I miss most. Everyone here has been very good to me but I know very few people. That's okay because it's still early days.
People ask me what I think about Taiwan and I have to say that I don't "think" anything. I'm learning, not making judgments. I spent 11 years in Korea and didn't make many if any judgments there... just never felt I'd been there long enough to really know. I'd rather spend my time learning than making judgments.
Motor scooters are ubiquitous here and accidents are frequent. I'm told that it's a point of honor among Taiwanese scooter riders to never look in their mirrors as they run red lights, take corners too fast and weave in and out of traffic. Last night, I saw a man being carried away on a stretcher from the remains of his scooter. He didn't look to be in very good condition.
Car drivers are not very predictable either (this is an observation, not a judgment). People have not been driving cars here for a hundred years as they have been in the west and the driving skills one sees demonstrated are not good. Korea has for many years held the unenviable rank of worst among O.E.C.D. countries - that's because Taiwan is not a member of that particular club. I'm very careful on the road and am quite glad that I have nearly 180 degree peripheral vision - I'm using every degree of it all the time!
Foreign teachers, like me, who come here usually acquire scooters because they're a dependable and inexpensive means of transportation. Among these foreign teachers there is a significant accident rate because they feel they have to test the limits and their limitations are usually greater than they think. So far, I'm still alive... I've had some interesting situations, though, when drivers have cut right across in front of me or made sudden turns that no one could anticipate. Fortunately, I don't feel obligated to prove that I'm an expert on two wheels and my speeds and road position are always quite conservative.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Not pleasant weather, at all...
The weather forecast keeps calling for temperatures in the mid to high 20sC each day but somehow it doesn't feel like we're getting them. The temperature at night is now in the teens, sometimes the low teens, and with the dampness and the wind it is chilling and unpleasant. Add to that the fact that buildings here are not heated and it means that the tropical paradise scenario is neither alive nor well here. I'm going to have to get an electric heater and some warmer clothes.
At this point, less than two months remain in the first half of the school year. There are few holidays - we'll get the day off on December 25 and that's it from September 1 to January 18. So, we're beginning to get tired now.
I bought my ticket for Seoul last night and intend to spend a week there in January. Now, Seoul in January is not exactly Paradise and in other years I'd have regarded such a decision as totally lunatic but there are many people in Korea that I'd like to visit. After 11 years there, I have people there who are near and dear to me.
This video is the Feng Shia Night Market in Taichung... a very pleasant place to go!
At this point, less than two months remain in the first half of the school year. There are few holidays - we'll get the day off on December 25 and that's it from September 1 to January 18. So, we're beginning to get tired now.
I bought my ticket for Seoul last night and intend to spend a week there in January. Now, Seoul in January is not exactly Paradise and in other years I'd have regarded such a decision as totally lunatic but there are many people in Korea that I'd like to visit. After 11 years there, I have people there who are near and dear to me.
This video is the Feng Shia Night Market in Taichung... a very pleasant place to go!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday November 5, 2009. 5:34 p.m. A "tremblor" (small earthquake) rocked the room. I had a mug of tea on my desk and it sloshed right onto the desktop. Funny feeling when the room begins to move from side to side... lasted about 40 seconds - just long enough for me to wonder if I should leave the building and take a walk. That's the second one in two months. This is earthquake territory.
When I first thought about it, I thought it was about five seconds in duration but when I got to school, people told me that the official record was forty seconds - my, how time flies when you're having fun... and I wasn't. I really did wonder whether everything was coming to an end within the next few seconds. It had a magnitude of 5.7 or close to that. Major quakes are more than 7. I'm told that the last major quake was about 7.3 and killed 2000 or so people - the upside is that the building I live in survived that quake just fine.lThursday, November 5, 2009
Earthquake today...
This has been the second earthquake day in two months for me here. Two "tremblors" today... the first at 5:34 pm and the second at 7:34 pm. I'll be lucky to have a good sleep tonight! The building was rocking, my tea spilled over onto my desk and my computer monitor jumped into the air right above the desktop surface. I really wondered if I should go outside and watch the action from a different perspective for a short time.
Here in Taiwan, we sit on the most dangerous level of earthquake zones, have major typhoon seasons and a six-month rainy season. What more could one ask for? If one thing doesn't get you, another one will.
Here in Taiwan, we sit on the most dangerous level of earthquake zones, have major typhoon seasons and a six-month rainy season. What more could one ask for? If one thing doesn't get you, another one will.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Sunday November 1, 2009.
There's a tropical storm that's just passed through the Philippines south of here and it's brought us a couple of days of heavy wind, gusts of 40-50 mph, and this will likely be followed by a cool day tomorrow. It was cool today and people were wearing jackets and sweaters - temperatures in the low twenties seem frosty here in Taiwan. Extremes of temperature are unexpected. Extremes of everything else seem quite ordinary. Six months of the year spent in the rainy season seems normal. A month or so of typhoons in storm season seems normal. Earthquakes are just things that happen... normal. But temperatures of 22C bring out the autumn clothes.
The wind outside is howling...
I rode into Taichung today or at least to the outskirts where I strolled along "Art Street" as it's called by my friends. Lots of little shops with some very nice stuff. A friend of mine bought a handcrafted cigar box made of nice wood for about $8 (US). Now he's wondering about how he's going to fill it - the likelihood is that he won't. Then we ate in a family-run Vietnamese restaurant that wouldn't win any awards for decor but produced a wonderful meal. And, surprise, there wasn't a single noodle in the bowl!
The ride was a little dicey at times because of the wind. A couple of times I felt myself being pushed sideways by gusts of wind... not a pleasant feeling when one is riding an underpowered motor scooter in the company of what seems like thousands of others who are all jostling for position.
The scooter looks as if it might be one of the best purchases I ever made. School is just too far to walk and public transportation there is non-existent, so I broke my vow to never again have a motor vehicle and purchased an old Yamaha 90cc scooter that must be more than ten years old for about $150 (US). It has run perfectly for more than two months now and shows signs of continuing to do so. I initially didn't much like the look of it and christened it "The Pig" but have in time revisited that and now think of it more as "Miss Piggy". And if it continues to perform as it has I'll try to propose it for the New Year's Honours List and perhaps begin to refer to it as "Dame Piggy". My weekly transportation costs amount to approximately $5 (US) and I can never remember paying that little.
Monday (tomorrow) afternoon, I have my Basic French class and they are scheduled for a test. So, a large part of Saturday was spent on that. These tests will become easier when I have my format more established and I intend to keep repeating questions since the questions mirror the class work. The week went quickly and the weekend even more quickly.
The wind outside is howling...
I rode into Taichung today or at least to the outskirts where I strolled along "Art Street" as it's called by my friends. Lots of little shops with some very nice stuff. A friend of mine bought a handcrafted cigar box made of nice wood for about $8 (US). Now he's wondering about how he's going to fill it - the likelihood is that he won't. Then we ate in a family-run Vietnamese restaurant that wouldn't win any awards for decor but produced a wonderful meal. And, surprise, there wasn't a single noodle in the bowl!
The ride was a little dicey at times because of the wind. A couple of times I felt myself being pushed sideways by gusts of wind... not a pleasant feeling when one is riding an underpowered motor scooter in the company of what seems like thousands of others who are all jostling for position.
The scooter looks as if it might be one of the best purchases I ever made. School is just too far to walk and public transportation there is non-existent, so I broke my vow to never again have a motor vehicle and purchased an old Yamaha 90cc scooter that must be more than ten years old for about $150 (US). It has run perfectly for more than two months now and shows signs of continuing to do so. I initially didn't much like the look of it and christened it "The Pig" but have in time revisited that and now think of it more as "Miss Piggy". And if it continues to perform as it has I'll try to propose it for the New Year's Honours List and perhaps begin to refer to it as "Dame Piggy". My weekly transportation costs amount to approximately $5 (US) and I can never remember paying that little.
Monday (tomorrow) afternoon, I have my Basic French class and they are scheduled for a test. So, a large part of Saturday was spent on that. These tests will become easier when I have my format more established and I intend to keep repeating questions since the questions mirror the class work. The week went quickly and the weekend even more quickly.
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