Made in Taiwan

Vaya Con Atos

2010-10-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of principles in life that tend to carry over to travel for Luke and me.

Principle #1: travel light. In life, this means to try and not acquire too many things and to try and stay unfettered and unburdened. In travel, this usually means backpacks. The dawning of the backpack began for us in Taiwan. We quickly found out that flying down the road on a scooter, desperately clinging to a wheelie suitcase or being thrown this way and that from the giant duffle bag thrown over your shoulders was just not the way to go. So, it was backpacks in Taiwan and backpacks in Vietnam and backpacks in Europe, and backpacks I suspect it will be until the end of time for us.

While, compact and easily transportable, backpacks do tend to lack a certain, well, how shall we say – style factor. With backpacks there is no checking. What you bring, you carry, and you carry it everywhere which tends to give you a kind of rustic, hardened look. And while that makes us feel cool and independent and all that, it also garners some strange looks from other travelers -- especially when Luke rocks the backpack and the frontpack. And especially when those other travelers aren’t as savvy as us with our sore shoulders and bulging packs.

Like the time we showed up for our 7-day Mediterranean cruise, backpacks aloft, having hiked across the miles-long pier in the hot Roman sun (Shuttles? Who needs shuttles?), red-faced and sweaty, sandwiched in an elevator with fellow pristine cruisers. At that moment, we weren’t too sure we were the cruising type. That is until we put our packs down in our beautiful, comfortable room and had our first set of drinks on the deck-side pool. We soon forgot that we must have been in a very select and elite group of cruise-goers who also happened to be backpackers. Which brings me to Principle #2.

Being the cheap, I mean, budget-conscious people that we are, Luke and I are always looking for deals. Maybe it’s my German, midwestern roots, maybe it’s Luke’s hippie upbringing, but we’re always on the lookout for a bargain. Which is pretty much why we ended up on a 7-day Mediterranean cruise in the middle of a backpacking trip anyways. This was very much the case for our recent trip to Mexico. When planning our next trip, we always start by checking out the package deals on Expedia, Travelocity and other sites. After some time I happened upon a package deal with a hotel a bit north of Cancun called La Amada.

All I had to do was click on the pictures and I was hooked. This place had everything – beach front palapas and beach beds, infinity pools, open air restaurants, Jacuzzi tubs in every room, and a 4.5 star rating. 4.5?! Well, if you remember anything from your grade school math lessons, 0 – 4 round down and 5 – 9 round up so that’s pretty much a 5 star, baby! I wasted no time booking the flights, hotel, and car for the entire week. It was a steal. The deal of a lifetime. A 5 star hotel for a fraction of the cost. Blame it on hurricane season, drug wars in Mexico, or fear-based media…this deal was made possible by all of it and we were more than happy to partake!

So, that was March. Fastforward seven arduous months of toil and pain (otherwise known as work) and you find us in October. It’s two days before the long-awaited Mexican vacation and you know that great deal we got because of the hurricane season or drug lords or whatever? Well, turns out hurricanes still regularly hit the Yucatan in October (pfssshhhh…) and we spent an anxious 36 hours before our flight wondering and waiting to see if this trip was going to happen at all. The news made it sound like it was the hurricane of the century (it “smashed” and “flooded”) but lo-and-behold the thing blew over and we were good to go! Backpacks secured squarely on our shoulders, early one morning we were on our way to our 5 star vacation!

Keeping principles 1 and 2 in mind, when you add 1 + 2 that equals 3. But this was a 5 star hotel. We arrived, looking like “3’s” in a “5” star situation. Thankfully we have had experience being outclassed and acted like our sweaty faces (not to mention white with fear from the drive), bulging packs, and stooped shoulders were appropriate to our surroundings. Doesn’t everyone do it like this? Would I like help with my pack? No thanks. Would I like my “car” (we’ll get to that later) valet parked? No, what’s that? Would you like a tour of the grounds? Um…do I have to tip you? You get the idea.

But in all seriousness, the staff was extremely gracious and not at all put-off by our scraggly appearance. They took us on a tour of the grounds (no tip required), everything dripping wet and having that fresh-washed scent from the recent storm. Once they opened the door to our room (although I feel "room" is kind of an inadequate term here - the place was waay bigger than our 1 bedroom apartment in Seattle), we knew this place was going to live up to our high expectations. Below are a few pictures of the grounds, our room, and the hotel bar/lounge area.

The next day was basically spent laying around and doing absolutely nothing. And it was everything we dreamed it would be. We soon felt ourselves unwinding from the craziness and stress of work and school back home.

After feeling sufficiently refreshed, we decided to venture out in our rental "car" the next day. I say "car" because, well, check out the pictures.

This thing was running on maybe 3 cylinders, had no power steering, no glove box, no acceleration, and no style. The only thing it did have (and arguably, the most important) was air conditioning. It was called an "Atos by Dodge" but had Hyundai emblems. As Luke so famously commented, "It's what happens when a Dodge and a Hyundai love each other very much."

Since it was our first adventure driving the wild highways and byways of Mexico, we decided to take it slow. We drove a few miles to a ferry dock where there was to be a boat to take us to the tiny island of Isla Mujeres, a few miles off the coast.

After the quick 20 minute ferry ride, we landed on a tiny island, surrounded on all sides by a wide swath of perfectly soft, white sand, a little town on one end, and one road running the length of it. We walked to the north end past a busier stretch of beach, rounded the end of the island and came across a protected lagoon full of the clearest water you've ever seen.

After spending a couple of hours swimming and basking in the warmth of the sun here, we made our way back towards the town in search of a place to sip on some beverages and perhaps some nachos.

We finished the day walking down the quaint and charming pedestrian-only street before taking some final pictures and jumping back on the ferry.

Feeling more comfortable driving around in the Atos, we decided to hit the road early the next day and head south to check out some of the Mayan ruins that seem to be just about everywhere on the Yucatan peninsula.

After a long 2 1/2 hour drive we made it to Coba, the largest area of ruins in on the Yucatan. We spent about half the day, wandering among the trees in the jungle setting with the highlight being climbing the 2nd tallest Mayan pyramid on the peninsula.

We had a couple of hours before we had to start heading back so we decided to check out Tulum, some ruins that were on the way, and the only ones that are actually perched on a bluff overlooking the Caribbean.

The next day, feeling pretty tired from all the driving of the previous day, we decided to check out a small fishing village called Puerto Morelos that we had read about. Not being sure exactly what to expect, except that there was a reef off shore which provided some great water for snorkeling and swimming, we parked, walked out to the beach and were not disappointed. Again, perfect wide, white sandy beach, turquoise water as far as the eye could see, and barely a soul in sight. Paradise. We spent the day, lazing about in the sand and water, feeling perfectly calm and at ease. This climate and surroundings feels like our natural state and we dreamed about buying a vacation place somewhere warm and tropical at some time in the future.

When we needed a break from the sun, we checked out an open-air market nearby and then feeling hungry, decided to search out some food. Now, Luke could eat Mexican food every day of his life. He has a true love for it and one of the things he really wanted to do on this trip was find some good stuff. We settled on a little cafe off the main square and again, were not disappointed (are you seeing a pattern here?). Best guacamole of my life and Luke fell in love with a little thing called "Sopes."

On our second-to-last day we drove down to the other major destination on the coast, Playa del Carmen. We spent a couple hours laying around on the perfect beach (are you seeing another pattern here?) and then walking down their long, pedestrian-only street. Playa del Carmen was a little more built-up and on-the-beaten track than we prefer but it was none-the-less gorgeous and charming and did I mention the perfect beach? Yeah, thought so.

On the way back, knowing we were risking not being back to the hotel by dark (driving is gnarly enough there in the day-time), we decided to stop at the place we ate at the day before for more sopes and guacamole. Might as well, right? Who knows when we would be back.

The drive back to the hotel turned out to be hairier than we were expecting as apparently a large storm dumped a ton of rain (we never felt a drop, even though we weren't that far south!), essentially flooding much of the road back. And when I say flooding, I mean flooding. As we were gingerly guiding our little Atos through rivers that were all but covering the tires, we wondered if we might actually float away or stall or not make it back. Add to this the fact that it was dark, our windows were fogging up, and the defroster wasn't working and it made for a bit of a tense drive home. Feeling very relieved, we pulled up to the hotel and settled in for the night.

The last day before we were set to return home was spent much like the first. Lounging around at the hotel beach, the pool, and just enjoying our relaxing surroundings.

The next day, we sadly said goodbye and made our way to the airport successfully dropping off our faithful little Atos and getting on our flight. This vacation was exactly what we had been needing - plenty of time for relaxing and lazing about with a little bit of adventure and sightseeing thrown in. All-in-all, it was a wonderful time and we're already planning our next trip.

Living the Life...in Poulsbo

2009-12-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

So, Luke and I have been back from our year-long overseas adventure for about two and a half months. After making one complete circle around the globe, we landed in one of the most improbable places -- Poulsbo, WA.

Poulsbo is a sweet little town and while just a short ferry ride away from the hustle and bustle of Seattle, it might as well be half a world away. And if Poulsbo feels like it's half a world away from Seattle then it might as well be on another planet in comparison to Taiwan.

While Taiwan was loud, busy, crazy and always an adventure, Poulsbo is quaint, quiet and tranquil. Whereas everyday in Taiwan was full of unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells, Poulsbo is comfortably routine. And while our Europe travels brought new and unexpected experiences everyday, in Poulsbo we have settled into a quiet, mostly predictable life. While we miss our overseas adventures we have also been thankful for the stability and proximity of family and friends in our new life here.

Maybe you are asking, "Why Poulsbo?"

Luke's grandma lives in Arizona but has a house in Poulsbo which she asked us if we would want to live in and take care of for her. A whole house, rent-free? Sure! Plus, as mentioned before, Poulsbo is close enough to Seattle that it's not too much of a struggle to get there if we want to see friends or have a day or evening in the city. And we have the added bonus of living closer to Luke's parents than we ever have before.

Not sure how we would adjust to our quieter life, we decided in the beginning that we would try to have friends over often for weekends and try and explore the Olympic Penninsula just as we had gone about exploring and seeing Taiwan.

The good thing about Poulsbo is that not only is the town itself charming and beautiful, but there are also tons of your typical Pacific Northwest scenery practically right in our backyard.

One of the first weekends we were there, we had some friends come over for Seattle and stay for the weekend. On the first day we decided to strike out and do some sight-seeing. It was October and the trees were changing into their vivid hues of red, orange and yellow. All of these trees were surrounded by the dark green of the pine trees with the mountains and water for a backdrop.

We decided to take a turn-off that wound up the side of a mountain. Lazily, we drove to the top (hey, the road just kept on going!) where we found two older women and a dog bragging shamelessly (kidding!) that they had walked up the trail on the other side.
After this, we continued our drive and took a walk next to a river.
And then we saw...elk!
A few weekends later, some more friends came for a weekend (with their puppy!) and we decided to head out to the beach at Point-No-Point (yes, that's the real name) in the sub-freezing degree weather. Suffice it to say, we didn't stay long but still managed to have a nice sunny walk with Albus, the super-Corgi in the arctic air.
And last of all, here are some pictures from Poulsbo. We see the mountains from our front yard and the harbor is always really pretty and full of boats. The downtown is a single Norwegian-themed (!) street, abounding with Viking paraphernalia!
We have also discovered Sluy's, a bakery famous for its giant cinnamon rolls overflowing with cream-cheesy goodness. We have made it a goal in life to try every one of the pastries there. A noble achievement, I think!

And last but not least...we have discovered Rock Band!! Here is a picture from our recent Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.
Other than all the things aforementioned, Luke has been finishing his masters and we have been applying for work. I recently accepted a position at the Bread of Life Mission, a nonprofit that works with Seattle's homeless population. So, while our schedules may be filling up soon and will leave less time for exploring and pastry-tasting, we are still focused on exploring and experiencing the world around us.

Oxford: City of Dreaming Spires

2009-10-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

With just a couple days left of our European adventure we decided to spend them close to London. For a long time we had both wanted to see Oxford and visit one of the oldest universities in the world.
Oxford began unofficially around the year 1100, making this university almost 1,000 years old. As you can guess, the city is dominated by gothic architecture and the skyline is punctuated by literally hundreds of spires, thus giving it its name. It is also ideally situated at the conjunction of two rivers, the Thames and the Cherwell.
We arrived in Oxford, eager to put down our bags and see this town that we had been wanting to see for so long. The first thing that we noticed was that it did, indeed, feel like a college town. Very similar, in fact, to San Luis Obispo where I went to college. The two towns could not be more opposite but the laid-back, fresh feeling was the same.
Apparently it was orientation weekend so we were often marveling at how young the college freshmen looked and how far beyond that point we felt. It also happened to be summer graduation so we had many sightings of newly graduated students looking very scholarly and accomplished in their stately, hooded black robes.
In addition to the robes and feel there was a sense of grandeur and history that I can only imagine is felt at some of the older ivy leagues in America.
The town is small and we were there for a couple of days so we really got a sense of what it is like to go to college at one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges in the world. The students looked like ordinary students, engaged in ordinary activities but the surroundings were not and I'm sure added a special touch that I would hope most students would not forget.
We, in turn, felt nostalgic about our own college experiences and felt that they had passed by much too quickly. Ahhh, to be a student where the biggest pressure is to do well on tests and papers and the sense of urgency that becomes so prevalent after you leave the safe confines of your college has yet to take hold of you. All this nostalgia made us think that maybe it would be nice to go back and further our studies sometime in a place such as Oxford.
So, we walked the town, went into the old cathedrals, admired the architecture, read and napped next to the Thames and just generally enjoyed our last couple of days in fresh and beautiful Oxford before it was time to begin the journey back to the states.

Ahhh, Paris

2009-09-29T17:42:00.001-07:00

How does one reflect on a recent trip to Paris? What does one say about a city that has been considered one of the most beautiful and talked about cities in the world for something like the last 2000 years? After all we had heard about Paris, we expected to be both wowed by its beauty and taken with its seeingly irresistable charm. After leaving our wonderful (but all too short) stay in the south of France, we hopped on the TGV and made our way to Paris.

Traveling through France has been an interesting collision of expectations and realities.

After a couple hours on the train, we arrived in Paris and made our way to our hotel. Here was the first of those interesting collisions. Expecting to be taken with the city of light/love, our first impression was rather: wow...this hotel room is maybe a little bigger than our closet was in Taiwan and we don't have any water. That's right, upon waking up our first morning, we discovered that our shower/water system was having some difficulties. For a while it wouldn't work at all...then after some waiting and fiddling with knobs, it wouldn't turn off. So there we were, our first morning in Paris watching the faucet spew out scalding hot water (or ice cold...but nothing in the middle) while we tried everything to get it to stop.

However, once this little obstacle was overcome (the hotel worker gave me a very disapproving frown after I told him about the water and told me, "Wait." He walked away and I never saw him again, but our water problem worked itself out sometime later...guess he was right!), we made our way into the city and we fell in love with it.

Paris is this beautiful and inspiring jewel of a city with open spaces, priceless art, winding alleys and people just walking around searching for the perfect picnic spot. It took only a few minutes of being in the city for our hotel experience to fade away and we were just overcome with gratitude that we were able to see a city like this.

As far as what we "did" in Paris: we walked around, ate croissants, baguettes and cheese, saw many of the sights, spent a day in Versailles wandering through the palace gardens, picnicing almost every night and just enjoying our surroundings.

Versailles!

Here is a typical Luke and Katie meal:
One highlight was spending an evening with a friend who lived in Paris and seeing the city from a Parisian point of view. Just like our experience in the south of France, we enjoyed time being with locals: seeing local places, eating at a local restaruant and enjoying time away from the tourists.

Too soon our time was up and we had to consider where we would be going next. But as we left Paris for the UK, we reflected on the importance of first impressions not being the final say, but rather just the beginning of the story. So in the end, we can really say: Ahhh, Paris!

Marathon Dinners in the South of France

2009-09-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

After a nice stop in Camogli and a failed visit to Monaco we pulled up at our friend's house in the south of France. Until this point, we had spent most of our nights in hotels and seeing the major tourist attractions. Their house felt nothing like a hotel and staying with our family friends, we felt far from the tourist crowds that had previously been so prevalent in our trip.

The house was built in the 1600's and they have spent the last five years or so lovingly restoring, updating, working on the grounds and creating a nice place for their children and grandchildren to spend time.

Staying in their house felt like a dream, not to mention their wonderful and welcoming hospitality. Here we got to experience a true French dinner. It started around 5 with tea in the greenhouse, then moved to an "aperitif" in front of the fire, then a starter, main course, vegetable course, cheese and dessert at the dining table all accompanied with three distinct types of wine. The whole dinner finished about midnight when we went to bed sleepy and satisfied with good food in our stomachs and conversations in our heads.

The next day we went with my parents in the car to visit some little villages in the area. Again, we were thankful and feeling a little spoiled to have a car for this part of our trip. No figuring out train tickets, no hopping on the wrong bus, no trekking with the backpacks...just dad to drive us around. ; )

Our first stop was a little village, part of it in ruins called Lacoste. We were told by our friends that the french fashion designer, Pierre Cardin, had actually bought the castle and was working to restore the whole village.

The castle at the top that he also restored:
The rest of the village:

The next stop was Bonnieux, a bit larger and in better shape than Lacoste.
The last stop was the village nearest to our friends house. Here are a few pictures:
Too soon it was time to leave and we somewhat reluctantly packed our bags, hoisted them on our backs and had one last easy car ride to the train station from my dad. We felt rested and relaxed after our wonderful time in the south of France, having felt that we had experienced what life was really like for the residents of this beautiful and peaceful area.

Road Trippin' With the Kluenkers

2009-09-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

Katie's parents rented a car and after some good days walking the streets of Rome, we were faced with the situation of driving out of the Eternal city. Our plan was simple, head north toward France for a few days with some friends of the family. An interesting note here is the significant difference between maps and reality. If one is to look at a map of Italy, they will notice there is a "ring road" circling the city, so it stands to simple reason that if you could drive in any one direction long enough, you could reach this "ring road" then find the correct freeway and so on. Well, driving in one constant direction in Rome is like trying to order a diet conscious meal at McDonald's--idealistic at best. However, with four sets of eyes looking and some back tracking we made it out of the city unscathed.

We decided to pass through Florence on the way for a few hours and after a mild but interesting parking search we managed to visit Florence's most well known sight: The Duomo. I don't think we were quite prepared for how beautiful it was:
The white and green marble exterior was a nice touch as well as the mosiac above the main entrance:
As was the famous gold door:
Next we walked on toward an open air market surrounding another cathedral.
After a brief gelato break we hopped in the car and made our way up the coast of Italy. A few hourse later we came to a stop for the night in the small town of Camogli. Since we went to Cinque Terre two weeks before, we were expecting something similar. To our suprise, what we found was a much sleepier, rustic, and quieter experience that we fell in love with almost as soon as we parked the car.
The next morning, we enjoyed our last cups of Italian coffee and made our way north into Southern France. We planned to spend an hour or two in Monaco's Monte Carlo, but due to rain and serious traffic, we saw it from the car.

Later that day we arrived at a family friend's house in southern France.

Roma

2009-09-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Visiting Rome straight off of the cruise was like being hit in the face with a 2000 year old marble column of awesomeness covered in exhaust and graffiti. When we left the city seven days before, our state of mind was such that we didn't feel the harder edges of the Eternal city. However, upon arriving after having every need met, Rome felt like a slight jolt to the system. But after only an hour or so our Taiwan instincts kicked in and we looked past the traffic and some of the grime to see the city for what it really is: timeless.

We were able to rent a small apartment with Katie's parents (whom would join us the next day) in the quaint neighborhood of Trastevere. This area was full of winding streets, outdoor cafes and open piazzas at almost every turn. Though quaintness of these quiet streets, collided with the larger, busy main roads Rome still had a pleasant feel that nothing was done in a hurry. People wander around here, they stop in the road to talk and they like to sit at the dinner table for hours. Whether in the grocery store, or at a side street cafe, people would just linger and chat reminding us, that for some reason we were the ones in an unnecessary hurry.

Perhaps that is because the "modern Rome" is actually using the same buildings, streets and piazzas of "old Rome." Of course we saw all the grandeous sights in the city: the Pantheon, St. Peter's Square and Cathedral, the Colloseum, the Forum, etc. But also we were able to see many of the literally countless cathedrals, churches and ruins throughout the city. It is not uncommon to see a car whirrling past a 2000 year old column, just standing there against the test of time.

The Pantheon...still has the architects guessing.

Its a great place for priceless art:
And a fitting setting for an evening dinner too:
The St. Peter's:

From the dome:
The Colosseum:
The Spanish Steps:

When standing on the Spanish steps or wandering through a catherdral we felt that this place has always been here, and it will most likely be here still for a very long time. For that reason, its good to just slow down and enjoy it.

We spent three full days in Rome with Katie's parents wandering to the various sights, admiring the unique archetecture and being amused by the service we recieved at the various restaruants we ate at. It became a game each night as to who would ask for olive oil for Katie's dad and wondering if and when the waiter would look us over and simply say, "No."

Walking through the city forced us to think about history and to appreciate how much the city has changed, and yet how in some ways in will never change.

St. Angelo's Castle:
Art!

European Cruise: Vol. 2

2009-09-21T13:42:00.001-07:00

One of the other reasons we decided to take a cruise in the middle of the trip was because we figured we could see more remote places that we wouldn't necessarily had been able to get to given our budget and time constraints. This proved to be true as we would have never been able to see a place like Ephesus otherwise. So, our list of stops included: Sicily, Athens, Ephesus (in Turkey) and the island of Crete.

Of course we decided that we would "go it alone" and not book any tours of which there were plenty. Too expensive and it's more fun to figure it out on your own, right? Well, most of the time...

The first stop was a city in Sicily called Messina. We had a half-day there and just stayed close around the town. Having visited at least a few cities in Italy by that time, it was interesting to see how the style of the churches changed from region to region. Being so far south, we definitely noticed a more African/Middle-eastern style to the buildings. We took it pretty easy here but saw some beautiful little churches, quaint piazzas and good views.
We sailed through the night and got to Athens early the next morning. If Messina was small and quaint Athens was the opposite. After walking a good ways out of the port we were finally able to find the metro and made our way to the famous Acropolis. When you see it for the first time, it's pretty dramatic, sitting on top of the hill as it has been for thousands of years. We paid our money and slowly made our way up the hill, walking through ruins of columns and buildings that had been there for millenia. Even with scaffolding and cranes (for restoration), the parthenon (the main building still standing) was stunning. There is a sense of awe when you realize that this was built thousands of years ago with no modern technology and it was designed in such a way as to be the most beautiful from every angle. And that holds true, even as it is in ruins. We spent most of the day wandering around the Acropolis and the Agora.
Hadrian was the man...
And, a clock tower from the 1st century.
After that, we made our way into the Plaka (the old town) where there was a huge marketplace selling everything from tools to rugs to clothes to antiques. We finished our day eating true-blue Greek pitas...one of the best things we had ever tasted.

Again, we sailed through the night and woke up in Turkey. Amazing how that happens! We came into the port city of Kusadasi on the western coast. Our plan was to get to the ancient city of Ephesus (yes, the one in the Bible!) since it was rumored to be a short drive from town. Upon disembarkation we inquired of a taxi service what the rate would be. 85 euros??!! Pfshhh...let's keep looking.

We had heard of minibuses you could take but the problem was finding where to take said minibus. After wandering around the town (which wasn't unpleasant as there was a huge bazaar to browse through), asking two or three different people and almost giving up we finally met a man who with one simple word, saved the day. "Across," he said. We looked across the street and there was a sign with a minibus next to it, advertising that it was going to Ephesus. Joyfully, we ran across the street and hopped on, thankful to find more brave tourists on their way to Ephesus. The bus took us as far as a nearby village and then we walked another kilometer through the Turkish countryside, surrounded by more and more ruins as we got closer.

Back in the day, Ephesus was a bustling city of 250,000 complete with library, public toilets, fountains and amphitheatres. The city is so well-preserved that you can walk down the main thoroughfares and get an idea of what it was like. We had a great time exploring, seeing where Paul preached to the Ephesians and were especially taken aback by the library of Celcus, one of the most beautiful things we had ever seen, even with it in ruins.
Public bathrooms!
Sorry, guy...
And, drinking Turkish coffee...

Looks good...
Tastes bad...
The next day we woke up and were in Crete. This was going to be our stop for sunning and beach-laying but unfortunately it ended up raining that day. Not to be put off, we decided on a change in our agenda and made our way to the ruins of the palace of Knossos. Having been built in 1900 B.C., this was by far the oldest thing that we had seen yet. The rain came down heavily and we were soaked but still managed to see the palace and snap some quick pictures. There are a few areas that are well-preserved and the rest was mostly foundations. After a while we decided to head back to the ship for a hot shower and a soak in the hot tub. Yes, a rough life, I know.
The king's throne room...
Too soon the cruise was over and it was on with the backpacks again. Not knowing what to expect, the cruise pretty much exceeded our expectations and we left feeling like we might do one again in the future.

European Cruise: Vol. 1

2009-09-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

Soon, the day for our cruise had arrived. When we had booked the cruise, months ago we had foreseen that we might need a break from all the backpacking...a place where we could put the bags down and forget about arranging a hotel and transportation for the next leg of our trip. We were right.

But, early one morning there we were with our packs again after taking a train to the port in Rome. Having never been on a cruise before we naturally were wondering how it was we would get to the ship. Our decision? Oh, just walk towards that really, really big ship. So, we began and quickly came across a group waiting for a free shuttle bus. Yes, that's right...free. But, being the intrepid backpackers that we were (and by intrepid, I mean stubborn), we decide that we don't want to wait for this FREE shuttle bus and just walk. It can't be that far...

So, there we were...walking through this enormous port, trying to get to Pier 25. Surrounded by container ships, industrial-looking equipment and the smell of old fish, the word "free" kept echoing through our minds. Well, no problem. We made it to check in after a good, long sweaty walk and were ready to start our cruise adventure.

The first thing we noticed was that there didn't seem to be a lot (or any) fellow backpackers on this cruise. No surprise there, really. Everybody else checked their bags but why would we when we could just carry them on our backs? So, after going through the process we proceeded to board the biggest ship we had ever seen. We made our way up to the 9th deck and opened the door to the nicest and most comfortable room we had stayed in until that point.

Having perused the information set out for us, we quickly realized that hadn't a thing to wear. Absolutely, no shorts or sandals in the dining rooms? We had forgotten to bring our tuxedoes and formal dresses on this backpacking adventure. Anxiety began to build...where would we eat if we couldn't go in the dining room? Would we starve? The answer was most certainly, no.

Mmmm...cookies...
Being unfamiliar with all things giant cruise ship related, we soon realized that there were many, many, many places to eat and the one thing they wanted to be sure of was that no person went hungry. We ate better and more than we had in our year in Taiwan. Not to mention that the place we most often ate on the ship was on the 11th deck and had a whole wall that was only windows looking out to sea. So, we often would eat, looking out at the sea, watching the sun drop below the horizon. And unforgettable experience.
In addition to the great eats, this ship also contained a huge pool/sun area, mini golf course, ice skating rink, a full-size theater, rock climbing wall, shopping "promenade", a casino, basketball court, library, not to mention countless bars and places to eat. Excessive much? We thought so, but loved indulging ourselves and feeling like we were living a life of luxury if only for a week.

A Tale of Five Villages...In One Day

2009-09-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

When most people talk about traveling through Italy, they will tell you that you can't leave without making a trip to Cinque Terre. I had been to Italy five years before this and missed taking that trip and Luke had heard many things about it from friends who had been so we were determined to make it out there while we were (relatively) close.

On our last day in Venice, we did a last minute hotel search, bought our train tickets and were on our way. We realized that we would be traveling from the east coast all the way across to the west coast so this would be no small train journey. Thankfully, Italy is not that big so six hours and three train changes later and we were at our destination.

We decided to stay in a town just on the outskirts of Cinque Terre for budget reasons. We weren't sure of what we would find but were pleasantly surprised to see that we would be staying in a "real" town. Going from tourist area to tourist area, you forget that there are towns and cities that aren't frequented by tourists and high prices and can be just as charming as the main thoroughfares.

La Spezia was built right into the hill going into the sea and had a market area with shops and cheap restaurants and all of the usual charming italian things.

After a good night's sleep we were on the local train to take us a quick 10 minutes to the first of the five villages of Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a series of five villages, perched on cliffs overlooking the sea and connected by a 9 km long hiking trail. Before roads connected these villages this trail was the only way of going back and forth between the villages. We started at the southern-most village of Riomaggiore and worked our way up. Here are some pictures of the cliffs as we got started.

After Riomaggiore, came Manarola which boasts some swimming coves that we were unable to partake of since the water was uncharacteristically rough that day. For most of the villages we started above them on the trail and descended into them, spent some time exploring them and then continued on. Next was Corniglia.
Vernazza came after Corniglia and this was our favorite. There was an ancient church and an old castle with a sweeping view of the sea and the cliffs.
The last village was Monterosso and it was pretty strenuous going. We hiked through olive groves and alongside terraced hilltops. Up rough stone stairs, down rough stone stairs, we navigated switchbacks all before we started our descent into the last town.
Our weary feet deposited us at a rocky beach where we jumped into the sea to wash the dust and grime from the last five hours. The water was refreshing until...we got pounded with some strong waves and rolled around until we had rocks in our suits and salt in our eyes. Laughing, we decided that was enough refreshment for one day, dried off and got on the train to take it back to our hotel.

Venice-aversary

2009-09-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

It isn't easy to write something "new" or "original" about a place that has been the center of discussions and marvelings for centuries. Venice has a sort of mythical quality that, frankly, our writing abilities and tendencies can't compete with. But no matter. The point of this particular entry is not to sell the winding canals, tiny foot paths and sacred tragedies of the sinking city to you. But instead to simply say we spent our 2nd anniversary in this magical place and we couldn't have asked for a better place.

It was beautiful and bore a feeling of long history in the air that carries a particular charm that, no doubt, is unique to Venice itself. Something that each person that visits it can experience in a different way. For us, the most moving experience was walking into the St. Mark's Basilica. Arguably Venice's most famous landmark (located in St. Mark's Square), it stands at the end of the square connected to the Doge's palace on one side and the river on the other. There are three large domes behind a front covered in white stone carving and mosiacs. The outside, howere, did not compare or prepare us for the inside.

We were not allowed to take pictures, and actually I am glad for that as I don't think we could capture the sense of awe and reverance we felt upon first seeing the high ceiling mosiacs, almost completely made of gold and the wrought-iron laterns bearing red votives suspended by long, heavy chains from the domed ceiling. Not to mention the dark grey and brown tinted marble pillars, walls and carvings throughout--all of these together with the light spraying in through the stained glass made the massive sanctuary one of the most beautiful things we have ever seen.

Later that day, we had our special anniversary dinner, ate some gelato and sat in the piazza listening to live music.

Here are some pictures from our wonderful two days in Venice:

Croatia: It's For the Looking

2009-09-02T00:38:00.000-07:00

We were up at 3:50 AM to catch a taxi for our flight to Croatia. Why Croatia you ask? Well, after some reading we found that Croatia is home to many untouched ancient ruins and some great beaches and swimming. In fact, it neighbors the infamous Adriatic sea, confirmed by NASA as the bluest water on Earth. So yes, we were up at 3:50 AM.

Our first stop was the city of Dubrovnik. Located at the southern tip of Croatia, Dubrovnik is famous for having a perfectly-preserved city wall around the old city (including a port), built around the 12th century. Pretty cool.

After our plane touched down, we caught a bus into town and consulted the map concerning our hotel: the Begovic Boarding House. Being on the cheap we decided to avoid public transportation and just walk. The climate of Croatia is not unlike southern California and other than the ancient ruins lining the mountain tops and the gorgeous blue/green water it looks almost the same. So we walked up hills and down hills. We dodged cars and scooters and as we neared our hotel we had the sudden realization that things in Croatia felt a bit like Taiwan. Scooters and cars driving on sidewalks, random inflatable bouncy toys strewn about and quite funny English signs every so often.

We arrived at the hotel and we were greeted by our host (actually, we accidentally walked into her house, but don't tell) and she abruptly told us to sit down and wait. After briefing some other guests, she brought out a map and informed us that "I am no internet. My son, yes internet. Dubrovnik have beach, is for the looking. Have old city, is yes for the looking. Lopud island for the beach and the looking." All in all, we found her descriptions correct: it was all for the looking.

We stayed in a very nice corner apartment, complete with a kitchen and refridgerator. We spent the rest of the day buying groceries and enjoying the Adriatic Sea. It was unlike any other body of water we had seen: deep clear blue/green water lined with jagged rocks and a barren landscape. The contrast of the white stones and the water was stunning.

Our picnic spot for the first afternoon.
Going for a swim after the picnic.
We spent the next few days enjoying the beach, walking around the walls of the old city and learning to take it all in. The city was by far the most unique place we have ever been. The walls looked like a fortress and felt very dramatic and huge when you were on them. When we wandered the city, we did feel like we were in a different time.
These are from the walk on the city walls.

After Dubrovnik we took a bus up to the city of Split where we spent two days. Split is famous for having been the ancient summer palace of the Caesar Diocletian. Split was a much larger city than Dubrovnik and we enjoyed lower prices and a less touristy feel.

The palace's substructure is one of the the best preserved of all Roman ruins in the world. Here are some pictures of the basement of the palace:

See a resemblance??

Apparently the Romans had their own sewage system. These are pipes from that system. In the Middle Ages, people just drilled holes in the floor and dumped their sewage down there. Go figure.
Here are some pictures of the old city built around the palace:

This church was on a hill overlooking the city and was built in 1219.
We spent most of the time resting and relaxing in Split as the major thing we wanted to see was very close to where we were staying. After two days of sun and ruins, we hopped on a "ferry boat" to Ancona Italy.

We were set to board two hours before sailing and found that our "overnight ferry" was much more a cruise ship than a ferry. The boat had several levels, including some restaurants, bars and even a casino. The outdoor decks were very nice and we even managed to get our own cabin!
Italy, here we come.

Prague Vol. 2: Tough Love

2009-09-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

So there was a very large man wielding a massive two - handed club made of bronze, with his right foot firmly planted on the back of another and the club frozen in place ready to come crashing down with unbridled fury. Though it was only a statue, the image was a little unsettling. On the other side of the gate was another man, this time wielding a knife, holding it high over his head in the moment just before plunging it down into the back of another lying prostrate. These are the statues at the entrance to Prague castle and along with dramatic poses of the figures along Charles Bridge, and the gargoyles on the outside of St. Vitus Cathedral we came to the conclusion that the builders of Prague didn't have much in the way of a subtlety.

To begin, all of the ornate and old cathedrals and towers we saw in Prague were made of this dark, smoke-colored stone. Along with this dramatic color were spikes and spires that jutted into the sky with barbed intensity that gave us a distinct feeling of awe, inspired not only by beauty (these things were truly beautiful), but more by the violent drama they seemed to represent. The best example is the massive St. Vitus Cathedral in the middle of Prague castle. It can be seen from many miles away from almost every point of the city (and even the suburbs), huge and glorious on top of the mountain. But as you come closer, you begin to see that the ornate edges from afar begin to separate revealing a jagged, spiny and almost machine-like exterior. Dangling from the edges of these spines and barbs are the open mouthed figures that I can only describe as gargoyles, that don't inspire one to necessarily draw near so much as to be wary.

Upon entering the cathedral we were struck with how bare it was (compared to others in the city and those we saw in Bruges). The message of salvation was portayed in the paintings, stained glass and mosaics on the walls. For me, it seemed to clash with the jagged and ostentatious exterior. But after some discussion we came to the conclusion that in Prague they didn't take religion lightly. Shape up, or we will shape you up. No warm fuzzies - a club, a knife and a church. It's called tough love.

Prague Vol. 1: It's Pretty Old

2009-09-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

It started with a train and then another train and then a bus and then a plane and then another bus and then another train.

After these few short steps we had successfully made our transfer to the next leg of our journey. We arrived at our hotel in Prague late at night after a quick trip on the metro. As soon as we exited the metro we were surrounded by charming old buildings and windy, cobblestone streets. We walked with anticipation in our hearts and map in hand. Would our accommodation be on one of these streets, in one of these buildings?

We arrived at said address and the answer was most clearly, no. A note on the door informed us that as reception was closed, our key was being held safely next door at Al Capone's Bar. Our building looked rather bleak and Soviet-era like in the midst of all of the antique, more charming buildings on the block. Well, for $40/night in the old town of Prague what can you expect?

Having retrieved the key from the bartender next door we proceeded to the oldest and most rickety elevator we had ever seen. Basically, just a box with a door that you opened, closed, then pressed a button and prayed that you would make it all the way up.

Having safely been deposited on the top floor we located our number and were informed that for the time being, we would be "the Huberts" as the sign on the door indicated. Upon opening the door and walking through the small apartment we were first pleased that we had a little kitchen complete with a two-burner hot plate (more than we had in Taiwan) and a fridge. Continuing through the kitchen and into the bedroom we were even more pleased when we were greeted with a perfect view of the Prague Castle through the large window. We started thinking that for $40/night this place really wasn't so bad. We were hungry so we walked down the street and got our first, of many, Czech beer and a snack and called it a day after a long day of traveling.

In spite of being a big city with a lot of tourists, Prague felt surprisingly relaxed. You could wander the cobblestone streets of the old town for hours (and we did), drink liters and liters of great beer for a fraction of what it would cost in the states (which we did...well, maybe not liters and liters), take in the stunning Gothic architecture as you sit in any of the countless squares and parks, see one of the oldest and largest castles in the world up close and from any point in the city, walk along the river or along any of the old bridges, and just generally feel like you were walking around in a dream, stuck in a time gone by.

Bruges City Planning: A Swell Idea

2009-08-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

(Scene: Flanders County Pub -- Belgium)

Bruges City Planner: How do you feel about bricks?
Some Guy: I feel good about them. Mostly.
Bruges City Planner: What about canals, lakes, that sort of thing?
Some Guy: Like Venice?
Bruges City Planner: Do you see me eating pizza? No. I'm drinking beer and this is Belgium.
Some Guy: I see...I think a canal or two would be nice.
Bruges City Planner: Good...good (thoughtfully). Ok, I have this idea.
Some Guy: Let's hear it.
Bruges City Planner: What if we built a city almost entirely of brick, with cobblestone streets, sort of windy-like, leading to a market square with some sort of cool statue in the middle being overlooked by this enormous clock tower and the city hall building, along with the windy roads there will be canals, lot's of them and we need to be sure they run under and around as many beautiful buildings as we can...but...wait...
Some Guy: What is it?
Bruges City Planner: Something is missing. I got it. We need to make a huge cathedral entirely of brick that houses something...you know...cool. Got it. Remember that weirdo with the marble block?
Some Guy: He was named after a ninja turtle right?
Bruges City Planner: Michelangelo! That's him. Anyways, he made this statue and we are gonna stick it in the cathedral. Did I mention that it will be huge? Like the biggest or second-biggest brick building ever? Yeah...that's the stuff... (Drinks beer thoughtfully)
Some Guy: Sounds like Italy.
Briuges City Planner: (Angrily) Enough about those noodle eaters! I mean...wait...yeah ok, what about this? What does Italy have in the realm of churchy stuff?
Some Guy: Um...the Pope? The shroud of Jesus and maybe a piece of the cross?
Bruges City Planner: Yeah...we can do better. I know this guy. He can get anything. Remember when my carriage broke and I needed a donkey by 5:30 the SAME day? Yeah he is that same guy. Anyways, I am pretty sure he can get a vial of the blood of Jesus. In fact he can get it by 3:00. When we get the blood, it would make sense to build a church around it.
Some Guy: Even IF you could get the blood...another church?
Bruges City Planner: This is beauty man...But We need to build this soon...some yahoo thinks he can sail to India (as if the world were round). We need to get cracking, so he doesn't fall off the edge of the earth and steal our thunder.

After a brief three hour train ride from London, we found ourselves in Bruges. The town truly is amazing and that city planner knew what he was doing. Here are some pictures:

Pip, Pip. Cheerio, London!

2009-08-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

After our 13 hour flight from Hong Kong to London, most of our first day was spent in a jet-lag induced fog. We arrived at five in the morning London time and after a speedy immigration and customs process we were off to our first adventure on the “tube,” London’s underground subway system. This proved to be quite simple (albeit more expensive than we’ve been used to) and we took our early-morning ride with all of our things.

It first dawned on us that we were in England when looking out of the window we saw our first house in a year. I know this might sound strange, but in Taiwan everyone lives in buildings. Even “houses” will take up 2-3 floors of a much larger apartment building. So, not only did we see our first western-style house in over a year, but it was the type you see in movies…tall, thin, brick and in a row of ones all similar to it with multiple chimneys on a charmingly curving street.

We were able to find our hotel with no problems, check in early (thankfully) and decided that we wanted to get to it so we wouldn’t fall asleep. If you know us, you know we tend to be stubborn and cheap and on trips like this that translates to us traversing long distances on foot. Thankfully, we also enjoy walking so this way of seeing a place has always agreed with us.

The first thing we noticed was how grand and how classic all of the buildings and architecture were. In terms of history, Taiwan and England are probably about as opposite as you can be. Taiwan is a young country (technically, it’s not even a country) and just went through their industrial revolution 10-15 years ago whereas England has been industrialized for more than 100 years now. All of the classical architecture in London seems to have a sense of permanence. It’s been here for at least 100 years and it’s going to be here for centuries more. Seeing buildings and the architectural details that go along with them was very pleasing to our eyes as there is not much to compare to it in America or in Taiwan.

We saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the parliament buildings, the River Thames, the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Here are some pictures:

After this, our feet thoroughly exhausted, we hopped on the train and went back to our hotel for a little break. As we had started so early it was only about two in the afternoon. Later we bought a picnic dinner from the supermarket down the street and walked to Regent’s Park which was nearby our hotel.

The other thing that has been really lovely about London is its’ parks. In Regent’s Park, we were amazed by how much space there was, how closely manicured the grass was and just how peaceful and quiet everything was. For a city of ten million people we spent much of the day wondering where all of them were. Or maybe it’s just perspective…after Taiwan it doesn’t feel crowded or busy. We had our dinner, looking out at a lake, enjoying the beautiful sunshine, clean air and scenery then called it an early day and went to bed for some much-welcomed sleep.

Goodbye, Taiwan : (

2009-08-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

As we sit here in the Hong Kong airport, awaiting our flight to London, Luke and I are thinking through and contemplating what it means for us to leave

Taiwan

after making it our home for the past year.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of dinners, packing and goodbyes that have all been much more difficult than we were expecting. Finally, we have a chance to sit and think about how we feel about our crazy, year-long adventure abroad.

Looking back to a year and a couple months ago, we have realized we had no idea what we were getting into. When it came to teaching Taiwanese kindergartners the farthest along our thought process got was, “Huh…that could be funny.” How right and how wrong we were. I have to say and I think Luke would too, that I have never smiled and laughed and had a job as entertaining as this one. The kids are ready for you, every day, whether you’re ready for them and most of the time, hilariousness will ensue.

But, on the flip side, I also have to say I have never worked harder or felt more frustrated at times as I have at this job. We thought teaching English to kindergartners would consist of showing them a few flashcards, singing the ABC song and calling it a day. How wrong we were…but also how unsatisfied would we have been if this had actually been the case? We can both say that we taught kids how to read in a second language and connected with and loved these kids more than we ever thought possible. Much of our sadness upon leaving is leaving these kids that we have grown so close to and felt so much responsibility for over the past year. We will miss them dearly.

Now, rewind to our first day in Taiwan. We landed in Taipei in the middle of the summer. One-hundred degrees and one-hundred percent humidity makes Luke and Katie very dull indeed. Add to that a never-ending hunt through an underground mall for food and you had our first day. Thankfully, things improved, we went through our training, got settled in to our apartment and started work.

Soon after that, we got our dear and faithful Duke (our scooter) and were off to the mountains to explore. This is where we discovered and fell in love with Taiwan’s real and rugged beauty. As soon as you’re out of the cities, there are mountains and beaches and coastlines and beautiful things abound.

We spend almost every weekend in Taiwan exploring the country and seeing how far we could get. With everything being so close and convenient with the train system we found that we could do a lot and can honestly say that we have seen just about all of Taiwan. This is another thing that we will miss…how convenient and how cheap it is to go anywhere in Taiwan.

Another pastime that will be missed will be just walking around and spending time in the cities. Walking around any city provided endless hours of entertainment. Whether we were shopping for funny t-shirts, checking out a temple or just people watching there was always something new/funny/interesting going on.

Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games. We had many moments where we definitely felt like we were ready to go. Maybe it was a difficult class after a particularly sleepless night on our rock-hard bed (yup, not gonna miss that thing). Or maybe it was feeling hungry and just not in the mood to hunt for something new but not wanting to eat the same old thing. Or maybe it was the noise, the crowds, the smells, the stares that all just seemed too much to handle sometimes.

But, as we’ve been saying goodbye these past few days these negative things haven’t taken up too much time in our reminiscing. We have been thinking about the kids, the Chinese staff, our friends, our fulfilling work, the uniqueness of and ease about so many things in Taiwan and how much we have learned and grown since we’ve been here.

All of these things have made this goodbye very bittersweet indeed. Sitting here in the airport, looking around and seeing so many white faces I feel strangely uncomfortable. Like I’m suddenly in a new environment and don’t know quite what to do. I’m sure this feeling will fade quickly as we venture forth into our Europe travels.

But there are a few things from this year that I always want to carry with me:

1) Always be positive, no matter how much fun it is to be negative and complain.

2) Be gracious to everyone, even if you don’t understand what is happening. Kindness goes a long way.

3) Try new things even if they are scary or uncomfortable.

4) Don’t settle for what is easy especially if it isn't fulfilling.

5) Don't get stuck somewhere or in something if you don’t want to be, work can be fun and live your life the way you want to.

Those are a list of ideas that Luke and I have been talking through these past few hours and we are hoping to hang on to them so they won't fade with the change of scenery.

We are comforted to know that where ever we go, Hello Kitty will be there to welcome us with open arms.

Out With the Old, in With the New...

2009-08-06T02:02:00.000-07:00

For me, kindergarten is a vague memory involving finger painting, naps, a nice teacher and those really fat pencils that you can hold in your fist. As you saw in our post about the performance, quite a bit more goes on during kindergarten here. Besides the performance, for many children at our school, they have been going to "kindergarten" for three to four years. So are they ten years old when they finish? No, they just start going when they are three.

So for three years (with one week long break each year...summer vacation? What's that?) the students in Elephant class climbed their first scholastic mountain and on August 1 they completed that journey with a graduation ceremony. Naturally this involved a series of long and complex practices, loud speakers, dancing and lots of singing. Why? You might be wondering. I was wondering the same thing, so during one of the planning meetings I was bold and asked. The response was very simple: "During the ceremony, we want to make the students' parents cry. We want them to cry so much, because they are so happy." Got it.

The final day in kindergarten began on July 31 with the students arriving in the morning loaded with sleeping bags, swim suits (complete with matching swim caps and goggles), squirt guns, two changes of clothes, a blow dryer (yes each kid had their own), towel, toiletries (including hair products), two sets of pajamas, two pairs of shoes, a set of dress clothes, a pillow and a night light. That's right folks, we are having a sleep over.

After a full day in class, the students enjoyed a special fried rice meal (including fish bait, clams and sea cucumbers) then changed their clothes into their gear for the impending water fight. This chaotic event was held on the small lawn in front of the school (the very same lawn that all the parents would sit on during the ceremony on the following day). It was fun, friendships grew closer and new ones formed. Teachers dumped buckets of water on their "favorite" students and a good time was had by all. Like all events of this kind, the clean up took 4x longer than the fight itself.

Each student bathed, then had their hair blow dried (with their personal dryer), then various skin creams were applied and the pajamas were put on. For 45 6 year olds, this took about two hours. At this point it was almost 10 pm (yes all the teachers all still there) and it was decided that the students should participate in a rousing pillow fight. But didn't we just shower and its like 100 degrees in this room? Too late. This lasted all of one minute, the strong preyed on the weak and many cowered in fear. In hindsight, this was not a good idea. Thankfully it wasn't mine.

I left around 10:30pm, went to bed and went back to school at 8 to help get the kids up and dressed for the graduation ceremony at 10. After applying all the makeup (even the boys) and various hair products, each student got in their new clothes (purchased just for this event), then put on their graduation cap and gown. I can't tell you how hot it was in that room. The kids were nervous, the boys were fighting and water poured out of them all faster than we could get it into their bodies again.

Once the parents arrived, we went for a tearful "walk of memories" around the school and to my suprise (I am pretty cynical I suppose), many of the students began to cry when they realized this was the last time they would walk these halls. One of my students had been at this school everyday for the last 4 1/2 years.

Next we proceeded onto the outdoor stage (sitting in the soaked and muddy water fight battlefield) for the presentation of the certificates. This involved each student climbing onto the jungle gym then going down the slide, running through the mud then bowing at the reception of the gift. Once each class finished this, the teachers had "ceremonial tea" with the students as a sign of mutual respect. Next two students were chosen from each class (yes that is the valdivictorian and the salutitorian), and they presented a gift to the students in the younger classes.

Once this finished all the "graduates" gathered on the stage to sing an English song to their parents, followed by a Chinese song. During the Chinese song, space was made for each teacher to give a speech to the kids and parents. These speeches were fairly emotional, particularly for some of the Chinese teachers as they have been with the same class for 3-4 years. I was moved by this (I am such a softy), when I realized just how capable and smart these kids really are. It is difficult not brag about them, but I will simple say that there were some of the most intelligent people I have ever met in that group of 6-7 year olds.

Once this finished, the English teachers stood in front of the kids and led them in one final "excercise time." Of course it was so ridiculously hot (as it was almost noon), that several of the kids felt sick and many of the parents rushed inside to bring water out for their singing and dancing kids. More gifts were given and more speeches were made. Then, suddenly it was over.

At 12:15 the ceremony was over. At 12:45 the new "Big Classes" were set up in the now vacant rooms. The shelves that were emptied with the students leaving, were then filled again with the necessities of the other students. As each "graduate" left they were also given their new books and materials that they would need for class. Afterall, school starts on Monday.

So after all that, here are the graduation pictures of Elephant class (yes these are the "official" school pictures and yes those are guns):

Thank you Elephant class for teaching me so much.

You Don't Know What You Have...

2009-07-31T04:16:00.000-07:00

Lately, as we have been dusting off our feet and getting ready to head back in the direction of America, we have been getting pretty anxious to move on and see what's next. This has left us wondering about what kinds of things we will miss from this year in Taiwan once we're back home. This will probably include things we take for granted now like how cheap eating out is, how easy it is to travel around and just how entertaining life is in general over here.

These wonderings bring to mind the old and often-true saying that you don't know what you have until it's gone. On our recent trip to Singapore we experienced this saying...but in a bit of a reverse. As you've heard us say time and time again in this blog, Taiwan has some really great things about it and some less-than-stellar things as well. These less-than-stellar things, you quickly learn to grin and bear and they no longer become (too much) of what you notice or think about.

On landing in Singapore and walking around the first day the very first things that we were aware of were how quiet, how clean and how orderly it was. It certainly didn't feel like we were in Asia, at least the Asia we knew! We had ceased to notice the lack of quiet, cleanliness and orderliness in Taiwan but we were suddenly blindingly aware of how nice having these things is as the prevalence of them in Singapore caused them to take center-stage in our minds. The whole time we were there, we were continually amazed at how bright, shiny and calm everything was.

This seemed mainly due to the abundance of laws and fines imposed. There were signs everywhere informing citizens and visitors of what to do and what not to do and how much you would have to pay if you did. Living in Taiwan, most of the time you actually expect people not to follow the laws (especially when it comes to driving), but here laws were in place and abided by and added a nice, orderly feeling to the place that we had been missing (in spite of all the adventures we've had in Taiwan).

The other thing we noticed and loved about Singapore is that it was truly a multi-cultural place. In one block of walking down the street, you would see at least five to ten different ethnicities and all manner of skin colors ranging from the whitest of white to the most beautiful dark chocolate shade of brown. In Taiwan we're used to feeling like a minority and get our fair share of stares and here it was nice to blend into a crowd where nobody blended in at all.

After a busy couple of months at work we vowed that we would spend the whole first day resting and lounging around the pool, but alas our curiosity took over and we spent the whole afternoon exporing the central part of the city on foot...a very easy thing to do since there is an abundance of wide sidewalks! In spite of being 85 miles from the equator, it felt surprisingly pleasant. Here are a few pictures from that first day.

This is the Arab District, which actually turned out to be our favorite place. It had a big mosque, lots of beautiful fabric for sale and sidewalk shopping to do and outdoor cafes to eat at.
The next thing we stumbled upon on our walk was the Fountain of Wealth, apparently the biggest fountain in the world.
After that we walked to the marina and got a different view of the skyline as well as some other pictures of that area.
Also, here is Singapore's famous "Merlion." Not quite sure what its significance is but it did take me until the last day to put two and two together and realize that it was a lion and a mermaid combined. Go figure. ; )
Our hotel was in a pretty great location, right on the river and across the bridge from the center of eating and nightlife in the city. The eating we were into of course, and the nightlife not as much.
We had read that Singapore had a Chinatown so that night we decided to head over there and try and find some dinner. Once there, it all started to feel a bit too familiar and we left, scratching our heads as to why we had come to this area in the first place when we were so relieved upon entering Singapore of all that was trying about Taiwan. We shrugged our shoulders and laughed, feeling like the "food hunt" was calling and we just had to embark on it because that's what we do. Never-the-less, Chinatown, like the Arab District, had some great old architecture that they had taken the pains to preserve. Go, Singapore!
The next day was our beach day. So, we headed over to the island of Sentosa, connected to the main island by a monorail. Here was the point of contintental Asia closest to the equator.
And, one of us...
But, please, beware of....PEACOCK ATTACKS!!!
The next day we ventured into Little India and came across this Hindu temple.
Once you stepped out of the MRT station in Little India, you were instantly enveloped in the heavy scent of incense mixed with flowers and curry. There were big garlands of flowers hanging everywhere and sidewalk markets selling every size and color of sparkly bangles. Unfortunately we don't have too many pictures as we didn't spend too much time here and preferred the wide open sidewalks of the rest of the city. This probably only being because we were enjoying a break from the always-congested sidewalks of Taiwan.

Our last night we decided to check out the Singapore Flyer. In addition to boasting the largest fountain in the world, Singapore can also claim the largest giant observation wheel in the world. For the price of what it costs to go up in the Space Needle in Seattle you get a 3o minute ride in a large capsule with floor to ceiling windows that is placed on the outside of a giant ferris wheel.
Singapore was a great place with tons of great food, variety of things to do as well as being very reasonable and easy to get around. We couldn't help thinking that it could be a good place to go if we were in need of another international adventure at some point.

The next morning we packed up our things and hopped on a plane back to Taiwan. Instantly, we were greeted with the familiar sights and smells of this place that has become our home over the past year. While anxious to go and explore more places, we will still miss many things about this place and may even mourn for some of those things once we're gone. So, as always, we are trying to focus on the present and not get too ahead of ourselves and into the next thing before one is finished. : )

Dance, Monkey, DANCE!

2009-07-13T05:39:00.000-07:00

There are certain defining moments in our lives. These moments are often at the apex or climax of some sort of series of difficult, yet possible to overcome obstacles. Hollywood has taught us to embrace these moments with the realization that the reward awaiting us is well worth the toil. When I was a child, one of those rewards was summer vacation. No matter how tedious or boring school was, I knew that if I could just persevere I would find myself on the other side with the sun on my face and seemingly endless days ahead to run and play.

In a rather dramatic sense that has been a picture of our Taiwan experience, and in another way that is how we have begun to see our recent endeavor: The Jubei Branch 2 Kindergarten Performance.

To begin I must be clear on my terms. Namely the word performance. What does performance mean in a discussion about 3- 6 year olds? Well here in Jubei it means an English play(complete with full costumes, memorized lines, dance routines, props, sets and in some cases sound-effects and a soundtrack), a separate musical show with its own costumes and dance numbers as well as instruments, and a climatic finish with the entire school dancing to a song lead by the Japanese teacher. That's right folks, 3 hours straight of entertainment and an insistence upon no dead air or dead time. But more on that later.

The entire process of why and how this show came to be is beyond the scope of this simple retelling, but I will say that the scope of the project seemed to grow larger and larger the more we got into it.

As we began writing our plays we realized that simple costumes would not be seen as enough. We needed to have props and backgrounds for the kids to interact with or our the show just wouldn't look up to snuff. So the task of building began. This mainly consisted of many hours spent cutting, taping and arranging various cardboard boxes and heavy paper into the appropriate shape. At one point Katie had considering making 406 individual apples for her students to stack on their heads, but thankfully she found another way.

Here are some of the props lined up in the proposed order during a rehearsal:
We spent most of our lunch breaks and a few Saturday mornings working on our props and as they came together so did the plays the children were learning. It was at this juncture that we saw how much these children could do and that, at home, children were not being asked to do enough. These kids were memorizing a 10 -15 minute show all in a second language that was memorized! Do I know a 3 - 6 year old at home that could do that? I don't know, no body ever asked them to.

As the day neared, rehearsals began to take over entire English classes and eventually we were marching out to various venues to practice. These practices involved all of the children (around 120 kids altogether) sitting around for 3-4 hours waiting to practice one of their 3 different shows. The highlights of these practices are as follows:

1. One of the younger kids fell asleep on stage during the music show performed by the small classes (3-4 year olds).

2. One of the kids began to throw up because it was too hot, he was given a plastic bag and asked to keep on going.

3. One of the staff at our branch was less than gentle with many of our props and some (like Katie's surfboards) were all but completely destroyed, erasing many hours of work.

4. At one of the venues (an outdoor stage), the director began to yell at our manager demanding that we pay her for the time we spent there. We paid nothing, but we did not go back.

5. The confidence of many kids in our classes began to shine and many had little trouble reacting to the large stage and learning to use the props.

6. One of the music teachers in a less than kind voice, demanded that the children smile more and try to act cute. That is: more cute...we need more cute!

7. We got to see the kids on the actual stage and were amazed at how large the production was and yet how they seemed to manage it just fine.

All in all, after many sweaty hours the dress rehearsal arrived. Here are some shots from that day:

On Sunday, July 5 we woke up early and made our way to the stage. It had been almost 2 months since we had done anything else other than think about all things performance and now the day was at hand. I am happy to tell you that, we weren't nervous...in fact we were ready. 500 people would be in attendence and we were confident that they would not be disappointed.

Here are some shots of the children in their costumes. They were given full make up as well as the costumes specially bought or made for the occasion.
This is Brian. He just informed me that this traumatic and stressful experience has turned him into a dinosaur...or "Teaher Luke...me...is dinosaur!"

The show went off with out a hitch. For me a highlight was at the beginning of my Elephant class' rendition of "The 3 Little Pigs" one of the narrrators forgot the opening lines of the play. He squinted through the many layers of hot stage lights and when his eyes met mine he began to shake and cry. Yeah kid...that is a lot people. Thankfully his co-narrator said his lines for him, squeezed his hand and the show began and went just fine.
All in all the show went very well and it was well recieved by the parents as well as the staff we worked with. In fact, it felt almost anti-climatic considering how much work and worry we had put into it. All the hours of trying to figure out dances and how to make the blocking on the stage work were just eclipsed by the kids doing their thing and then almost as soon as it was over, we tore down everything and left since the stage was being used by another school a short time after ours was finished.
So what was the defining moment for us? I'm not sure, I just thought it was a good intro and since your reading this far it worked.

So long for now...

Goodbye, Sun Moon Lake

2009-06-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

With the weekend approaching and another busy week coming to a close, you can guess what Luke and I were thinking about...where to go this weekend, of course!

Recently, we have been reflecting back on our time here in Taiwan as it will be coming to a close shortly and have realized that Taiwan has really taught us how to live in a place. That is, to make the most of it, get out and see as much as we can. Too often, we have lived in places or we see people living in places and not taking advantage of all the options and things to do around them.

With that in mind, we decided that we had had a few too many weekends in a row (that would be, like, 2) without going anywhere. At first, we were thinking about Alishan, a famous national park in the mountains of Taiwan, but decided on an easier trip to Sun Moon Lake. Although the news was forecasting a tropical storm, possibly developing into a typhoon, we decided to go for it anyways just to get out and have a relaxing weekend, even if it was spent in the rain.

Pretty much our very first trip within Taiwan was to Sun Moon Lake waaay back in September. We had a nice time, but were both still adjusting to life in Taiwan, teaching and everything else. Consequently, we were feeling very sick and tired. While we enjoyed that trip, after acclimating and feeling settled and comfortable, this trip was much more relaxing. Plus, the scenery was so much better this time around...you'll see what I mean.

We've said this before, but once you get out of the cities, Taiwan has some stunningly beautiful scenery and Sun Moon Lake is no exception. Here is a picture from the first time we went:
Pretty, no doubt. But, we had no idea what the place actually looked like until we came back this time. Here is a picture, taken from almost exactly the same spot:
Barring a couple of heavy downpours, the tropical storm mostly neglected to make its appearance and we had a great time, relaxing and taking in the beautiful scenery. Here are a few more pictures from our exploring around the lake.
It was a nice getaway for us and driving away, we couldn't help but feel a little bit sad as we realized that this was probably the last time we would be seeing Sun Moon Lake. We realized that we will be saying goodbye to a lot of unique and beautiful places in the next couple of months as we get ready to close the book on this year in Taiwan. Sigh...time to start processing our time and experience here. Soon, it will be on to the next big thing, whatever that may be!

So, here is something to leave you with, something from Taiwan for us to process as well...

Taiwan Tour Guides, At Your Service

2009-06-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

As usual, Luke and I were eagerly looking forward to our next string of days off. End-of-the-year performances were now in full swing and every lunch time and some Saturdays were devoted to building props, finalizing scripts, choreographing dances (what?! me?) and just generally stressing out. So, all this to say, we were looking forward to the Dragon Boat Festival four-day weekend with anticipation and even more so because our good friends, Ben and Leigh, would be visiting from Seattle.

They arrived the Wednesday evening before after a rainy trip to Hong Kong, ready to see and experience all that Taiwan has to offer. Honestly, we didn't have much of a plan but had decided to head out for the long weekend and see where it took us.

The first day, we decided to do some more local things. Thankfully, some friends of ours let us borrow a scooter for the weekend so the morning was devoted to Leigh being very entertained by a trip to the Carrefore and Luke educating Ben in all things scooter.

Mmmm...Almond Fish! A product of California? I doubt it...
Tea eggs!! Yes, I had to eat one of these once. Blech.
We're pretty sure that's Luke. How he got there, no one knows.
Ahhh...the "Insides" section at Carrefore.
After this, we headed out to Neiwan to show Ben and Leigh the market and also take them to a hot springs spot we had discovered the weekend before. The drive to the hot springs area is beautiful -- you are surrounded by mountains and jungle and it's easy to forget that you are in a country with the second highest population density in the world. The hot springs were peaceful and very well-done. There were multiple pools, with differing temperatures, all set into the side of a canyon, overlooking a river. We were really happy to find this place, so close to home. We spent almost four hours here, just relaxing and taking in the misty mountain surroundings.
Of course, what market would be complete without robots climbing a utility pole and Been's!
On the drive to the hot springs...
Here is one from the hot springs place. We will be going back there and will post more later.
The next day we decided to strike out for Juifen, a town in the north that we had been to a couple of times. This plan was quickly discarded when we saw the line for the taxi. Thus begins the Taiwan holiday travel experience for Ben and Leigh.
Holiday train travel in Taiwan = Fun, fun, fun!
Luckily, we were able to get seats on a train south to a hot springs town called Jiosi that we had been to a few weeks before.

Ben and Leigh loved the hot springs in Neiwan so we decided to try another brand in Jiosi -- the resort-hotel brand. After we paid our money and put on our suits, we stepped out into the facilities and were greeted by multiple pools of varying colors and scents. There was a suspiciously-colored mountain dew pool, a creamy white pool, a purple pool smelling of lavendar and a green herby-smelling pool just to name a few. Ahhh...Taiwan. All cheesiness aside though, it was really awesome to experience. Ben and Luke tested their toughness (or stupidity, depending on who you ask) by alternating between the 9 degree (Celcius) pool and the 44 degree pool. There were also jets that would give you a pretty hefty back-beating and leave you with red marks (although none of the asians seemed to have this problem...our lily white skin is just too sensitive). In case this wasn't enough, we also got our feet nibbled on by fish. Apparently, it's a trendy new beauty treatment...no joke!
We stayed the night in town and the next day rented scooters and decided to drive up the coast. Along the way, we stopped at various places: an abandoned campground, a black sand beach complete with construction equipment, some cool rock formations, a fish market, a temple and finally another beach town. Here are some pictures from that drive.

Hmmm...good to know. Thanks!
Originally, we had thought that we would head back home that night, but were having such a good time that we decided to stay another night and head back in the morning. We woke up and, alas, there were no trains. So, instead we took a taxi back to Taipei. Can you guess how much it cost for an hour plus ride? Oh, just about $30 total. That's one of the things we love about Taiwan...so cheap and easy to travel around.

We made it back to Taipei and caught a train back home. That afternoon and evening we took Ben and Leigh to a traditional tea house and also to our very own Jubei night market.
The next day it was back to work for us and Ben and Leigh relaxed and were on a plane back home the next day. As always, it was great to see people from home and bittersweet to see them go, knowing we will be back in just a couple short months!

Also, thanks to Ben and Leigh for all of the pictures on this blog!

Taian: Are You Lost?

2009-05-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

So on May 18, I turned 29. The days preceding this particular event were a blur of teaching, making props for our kindergarten performances and transitioning through the middle portion of our semester here. That being said, we have been busy and we were looking for a break. So my birthday weekend was a great excuse to cut out of town for a bit to try to unwind.

Our recent trip to Jiashi opened our eyes up to the relieving and restoring properties of the Taiwanese hot spring. Not wanting to ride the train this time we found a place on the map not too far away known for its exceptional hot spring water: Taian. According to our guidebook, the area was almost completely unspoiled and a kind of haven deep in the mountains. Sounds good.

So we got up early on Saturday, hopped on the scooter and made the two hour drive southeast to the "area along highway 62" in search of a hot spring hotel and a comfy bed.

The drive was pleasant, the weather was nice and before we knew it we were heading up the windy road into the mountains.
We followed the road all the way to the end then climbed off the scooter to have a look around. Besides a few hotels along the way and some very old, faded signs there was not a lot in the way of people. It was nice. We made our way back down the road and after a fairly extensive search (that is to say we went into several hotels, had a look around, saw the room then left to compare with the other places), we settled on the: Sunrise Hot Spring Hotel--your home away from home, as it informed us. Dennis, the manager of the hotel restaurant and for some reason, charged with helping us (his English was very good), proptly asked us, "How did you find this hotel? Are you lost?" To his suprise we actually were in the right place.

The hotel was beautiful, set in a picturesque spot beside a mountain and a river.

Here is the view from a balcony.
As we went to enter the hot spring area, one of the ladies at the hotel stopped us and asked if we had our "Li-mau" (pronounced lee mow). Naturally I thought, "Of course...I always bring my..." then she pointed at the words "shower cap" and I realized we foolishly left those in the shower. After we grabbed our one shower cap and took the liberty of borrowing one from the abandoned desk at the spa we made our way to the springs.

Now it is customary in Taiwan to wear a swim cap at these kinds of places so once we saw everyone else we relized the importance of the shower cap. However, as if we didn't stand out enough, we were the only ones wearing actual shower caps and not swim caps.

Here is the picture I will send to the company as my modeling audition:
Yes, you guessed it...I am still an English teacher.

The springs at the hotel were wonderful. They were set up on multiple levels offering different views of the surrounding mountains as well as different temperatures in case you couldn't handle the really hot stuff.

Here are some shots from the day and evening spent out there:
After a very relaxing day and a great sleep we were out the next day to explore the area. We took two hikes: one up into the mountains and one along the river. Here are some shots from those walks:
It started to rain in the early afternoon so we made our way back home. As we drove near a town called Beipu, we noticed the rice paddies and realized that we had never taken pictures of them. So here are some shots of them from beside the road:
All in all it was a great weekend and yet another reminder that there are still so many places to see in Taiwan.

J is for Jiaoshi (or Ch, Depending on Your Romanization Scheme)

2009-05-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

So it was May 2nd and it was time to break out of Jubei. April was a month of new challenges and the prelude to a few more stress-filled months of teaching in Taiwan. After some deliberation during the week, Katie and I decided to pull out the old tour book in order to find a place we wanted to go that we had not been. To be honest, we have begun to feel that after being here for eight months and doing our best to travel over the island during that time, that there were few places in Taiwan left that we really had the urge to visit.

A friend at school told us about a beach on the north coast in a small town called Toucheng. It had no mention almost everywhere we looked, but she assured us that it was a beautiful black sand beach just waiting for our discovery. In fact on Friday (May 1st) she was planning a trip for herself and her husband for later on that month. So we thought, there has to be something up there...

We caught an early train out of Hsinchu on Saturday morning and almost four hours later we stepped off in the tiny Toucheng station. There wasn't much at the station (which was promising) and we saw the beach from the train as we pulled to a stop. So we crossed the street and began to make our way toward the water. After crossing a few streets, walking down some alleys we marched down a road with rice patties on either side. At the end of the road was a very small and newly built park showcasing this statue:
Yeah I don't know either.

But it definitely looks better with Katie next to it.
Moving on, we found our way to the beach. Now I am not sure if it was the weather (which had turned from sunny to very, very gray), or the construction (on most corners of town as well as most of the beach), or the wave-breakers/cement ugly things, or the garbage (which is an unfortunate fact in Taiwan beaches in general as well as other Asian countries--but it was particularly landfill-ish at this one), or if it was a sign of our overall disposition, but we were disappointed with what we found

Here is the best picture we took:
Now despite the statements above it wasn't that bad. But it was the coming to a head of several different factors at the same time. Basically, we were looking for something here that we didn't find: a new place. A place that we could explore and a place that we could relax.

We sat on the cement benches for a few minutes feeling like we had seen all the places that we had wanted to see and now we were just disappointed. Thankfully this feeling didn't linger long and we decided not to give up. We still had the whole weekend ahead of us and we weren't going to whine anymore (ironically, we discovered the next day that we had actually gone to the wrong beach and the one we wanted was one stop earlier...all well, save it for another day!).

We hopped on the next local train and took it down to the next town: Jiaoshi.

We had never heard of the place, but while eavesdropping earlier in the week about Toucheng we heard that Jiaoshi was known for its hot springs. We did some reading in our tour book (which was sparse at best) and discovered that there was quite the waterfall not far from town.

Without exagerating we were completely suprised.

As soon as we stepped out of the train station we saw a small communal hot spring pool for dipping your feet and streets of small shops, restaurants and hot spring hotels.

We made our way up the road and after looking into several different hotels we found one off the main strip and dropped our things off in the room (which had hot spring water piped directly into it).

After wandering back and forth on the same street trying to understand the map we walked up the road toward the waterfall. It was only 3.5 km from town and after a short while we came to the end of the road and followed a wooden path to Wufengchi Falls.

This is the first of several on the hike:
This is the second tier. Unfortunately (but not that unfortunate actually because we were pretty tired), the trail to the top of the falls was closed so this was the highest part we were able to get close to:

We found another path leading in a different direction so we followed it (hoping to find food) and wound up at a Chinese Catholic Church at the top of a mountain. It was one of the most picturesque places I have seen in Taiwan with views of the top of the waterfall from a distance and of Jiaoshi all the way to the cost:
After taking some pictures (but finding no food) we made the walk back into town. We explored a little on the way back to the hotel and after dinner we set out again to visit the hot spring park in the middle of town.

I want to preface this with saying that this was one of the places in Taiwan where we can genuinely say they really did a great job. The park was a great place to walk with open paths, vendors selling food and several covered outdoor cafes. All of these were built around a variety (varying both in size, style and set up) of public hot springs. These are pools of soothing mineral-filled water surrounded by benches for people to just hangout around and talk. It was a really cool, laid-back place. Naturally being the only white faces around we drew some attention, but after mustering up some courage we squeezed in with a group and sat with our aching feet soaking in the hot water.
We appreciated the communal feel of the place. Everyone just gathered around these various pools and talked. After sitting with this group for a while, we called it a night and made our way back to the hotel.

Here is Katie at the place we sat the longest:
Our hotel room was very nice and after a great rest we set off the next morning to try another coastal town: Fulong.

Here is the hot spring area at the train station. We sat here while we waited for our train to leave:
We knew very little about Fulong (including how to say the name as no one seemed to know what we were talking about), except that it had a beach and apparently it was a nice place to hang out. Admittedly we were skeptical and once again we were so happily suprised.

Fulong is a very small town right on the coast connected to several other towns via very well made and kept up bike paths. We walked down to the beach first since...well...that's what we do.

Here are a few pictures of the beach:
Next we rented bikes and made our way down the coast to see what we could find along the bike trail. The path went along the beach for a ways then over a suspension bridge:
Here is an old bunker built by the Taiwanese to watch for a Chinese invasion:
Here is a view from inside the bunker:
The trail ended at an Anti-Japanese Memorial. Random? Well, the Japanese occupied Taiwan for many years and they weren't very nice to the people here. Here is the memorial:
We wandered around the area and discovered they had a free "swimming pool" area next to the beach:
We made our way back to Fulong beach, took a few more pictures then jumped back on the train to head home:
A few hours later we made it back safe and completely refreshed. This trip was wonderful as it reminded us not to give up, but rather to keep heading out to find those nooks and crannies that really do make Taiwan a great place.

A Breath of Fresh Air....

2009-04-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

As April quickly approached, Luke and I (but especially me) were eagerly looking forward to my college roommate's upcoming visit to Taiwan. We felt pretty honored that Rebecca would choose Taiwan for her Spring Break '09 (she's a teacher in the states). Knowing that she was coming a long way, we wanted to show her a good time so we spent a good amount of time planning and plotting her trip.

Here's the hero of this blog, getting ready to set out with her "Royalty." Trust me, I became well- aquainted and an accomplice to many of The Royalty's antics on this trip.
Finally, the days counted down to zero and she landed safe and sound in Taipei at 6 AM after a 14 hour flight and experiencing her first Taiwanese meal on the flight...rice soup. Mmmmm...welcome to Taiwan, there will definitely be more of that! Rebecca, brave and adventurous soul that she is, made her way from the airport to the High Speed Rail and then to the Hsinchu station where her first scooter ride of many awaited her.

That day, Rebes spent the time walking around Jubei while we were at work and later that night was introduced to her first love here in Taiwan...milk tea.
Luke and I decided to take the following Monday and Tuesday off so that we would have four days to go on a trip and show Rebecca some of the island.

The next morning, we headed out to the southern city of Kaohsiung where our gracious friends, Nate and Khyra, offered to let us crash at their place that night. Our first stop was Lotus Lake. Luke and I had been there before but it's one of the best places to see temples (which are a must-see in Taiwan). Here are a few pictures from there.
Later that night, we decided to venture over to Chijhen Island where we had never been before. The ferry ride across the harbor was a pretty steep $15 NT. Chijhen was cool, with a night market and a beach. Rebecca and I bought some earrings and Rebes got a good survey of the food choices at said markets. After that, we met up with Nate and Khyra, had some Mexican food (mmmmm....) and called it a night.

We had planned on heading down to Kenting (the beach at the southern tip of the island) the next morning but learned that the biggest music festival of the year in Taiwan was still going on and it would just be absolutely crazy. We decided to stay in Kaohsiung one more day. We had a leisurely day, tripling on the scooter, shopping and seeing more of the sights, including the Love River, the harbor and downtown.
A quick side note...Luke lived in Kaohsiung fourteen years ago and at that time you were not allowed to smoke near the Love River because it would light on fire if any sparks came near it. These pictures are a great example of the strides that Taiwan is making. The river is now beautiful and a lovely place to hang out. Go Taiwan!!

The next morning we caught a taxi for the ride down to Kenting as we figured it would be mostly cleared out by then. This taxi ride turned out to be one of the most treacherous of all our lifetimes. 160 km/h in a 40 km/h? Almost hitting a motorcyclist? Driving on the shoulder? Driving on the wrong side of the road? Who does that? Insane taxi drivers in Taiwan...that's who. Here is The Royalty as they are praying for their lives.
All that to say, we made it to Kenting in record time, found a hotel and were on the beach in no time.
It was beautiful....for about 3 hours. Then, the wind and the rain came. Unfortunately, it was like this for the rest of the day. We woke up the next morning, hoping it would be better but sadly, it was not. So, we decided that 3 hours on the beach was better than none (especially with Rebes getting pretty sunburned...it's that tropical sun) and headed back up to Jubei/Hsinchu.

We suited up for the drive to Hsinchu as it was raining up north as well. Here is Rebes, looking very Taiwanese. Our apartment guard just happened to come around the corner and got caught in the picture, like a deer in headlights.
We wanted to take Rebecca on one of our favorite past times in Hsinchu...shopping! We introduced Rebes to Hi-Mart, Rainbow and all that is in and around "the circle." Here are some pictures. One of the most entertaining things about shopping here, is indeed the shirts. Rebecca took some pictures of some real gems which is probably what we should have been doing in all our time here.
Yes, those are couple shirts and people definitely wear them here. Luke and are so getting some before we head back to the states.
Just in case you're wondering if you read that right...It says, "Hopes and Fears, Merry Christmas from John and Yoko."P.S. This is a guy's shirt and it says, "World looks crazy because of because of because of FASHION."

Here's a picture of one of our favorite signs in the Hi-Mart.The next day, it was time for Luke and me to return to work so we sent Rebecca on a day trip to Yingge, the pottery town where she did some shopping and picked up some gifts for back home.

All of a sudden, it was time for Rebes to head back safe and sound to the states. Her week here flew by. It was great having her here because it reminded Luke and me that we still have a lot of Taiwan to see and we need to take advantage of the time we have left here. The winter has been pretty long and dreary and we haven't wanted to go out and have been in a bit of a rut as far as getting out and experiencing things. Rebes' visit inspired us to get out the guide book and keep going, every weekend if possible. The spring and summer are looking bright!!!

And....just to end this post with some culture....Here are Luke, Rebecca and I engaging in a very Taiwanese past-time...Print Club.

From Foreign to More Foreign...

2009-03-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

If there is one point we have come to understand living in Taiwan (and we hope you have come to see too), is that we live in a "foreign" country. That being said, Katie and I have adapted fairly well to life here and needless to say, most of the time, it does not feel so foreign to us.

Enter our decision to go to Vietnam for a week.

Many English teachers in Taiwan choose to go to Thailand for their primary vacation. It is sort of the place to go for a cheap, sun, sand and adventure-filled vacation. It was almost for that reason alone that we chose to go to Vietnam. We wanted to see something off the beaten path. We had seen Vietnam on many different lists of "up and coming destinations" so we decided we wanted to go somewhere that was relatively unspoiled. I am not sure what we thought that meant at the time we bought our tickets, but I know that our expectations were inaccurate.

We flew to Ho Chi Minh City on March 7th. (Ho Chi Minh was formally known as Saigon, but its name was changed after the North Vietnamese defeated the South and the Americans.) This is a city of nine million, so we were expecting the usual sprawling, maze-like airport that one finds in such large cities. This was our first indicator that we were definitely moving into foreign territory. Not only were there very few people in the international airport, but it was also really small. We got our visas, went through immigration, got our bag and went through customs in less than half an hour. It would take you that long to find your baggage claim at the Seattle airport...

We walked across the street to the domestic airport, which only had 10 gates, and caught our flight to the island of Phu Quoc. After an hour flight we found ourselves standing in a very small cement building next to the airstrip looking for a taxi to get to our hotel. So like I said, we wanted to go somewhere off the beaten path...a little out there. We realized after five minutes in the taxi that we had arrived. There are very few paved roads on Phu Quoc. In fact the major road with all the hotels and resort-like places was not paved. Also, driving here was something more bizarre than what we had seen in Taiwan. In Vietnam, you always drive with one hand on the wheel and one on the horn. By "on the horn" I mean, that you have your hand pressing the horn almost constantly so you can be as loud as you can.

Our taxi stopped after crossing a small bridge and a huge dirt pile. I noticed a sign on A4 paper that said, "Beach Club"-- our hotel. We made a three point turn to get onto the narrow, dirt bike path/road and stopped when we could go no further.

We had arrived. This is pretty much the entire hotel, plus an open-air restaurant.
All we wanted to do was lay on the beach for the first few days. This place couldn't have been better. Not only was our room 20 feet from the beach...but there was nothing around us in any direction. We were far enough from the road that there was no sound except for the water. For the first time in months it was quiet. I can't tell you how bizarre that was.

Here is the hotel restaurant.
Here is a picture from our room.
We spent three nights in Phu Quoc, resting, relaxing and nursing our various illness carried with us from Taiwan. Here are some pictures from that time.

Yeah we drove this thing, but quickly abandoned that idea after being crashed into the shore by oncoming waves while desperately trying to pedal out of their path.
On the third day we sat on a beach and talked about what we wanted to see in Vietnam. We had the option of staying on the island for the rest of our time or we could jump on a plane and just try to see as much as we can. After some discussion we chose the latter...after all this is why we came to South East Asia: to see it.

So we walked to a Vietnam Airlines office and bought a ticket to Hanoi (about as far north as you could fly from where we were). The next day we were off.

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and it is considered to be Vietnam's "first city." To be honest, upon our arrival, seeing the city at first was like a firm exhaust-and-noise-filled punch in the face. After the near silence of Phu Quoc, Hanoi's noise and traffic was tough to handle. But once we found our hotel and settled in, we saw that this city was unlike anywhere we had been before.

At one point, Vietnam had been occupied by the French for a couple of hundred years. The result of this is lots of French archetectual influence and even a "French Quarter" in Hanoi. We were used to the tall, narrow boxes of Taiwanese cities...not this:

But the French influence didn't end with just administrative buildings and the opera house. They built a series of cathedrals. Here is one that was just down the street from where we stayed:

Here are some other pictures from our time in Hanoi:
One thing we learned very quickly in Vietnam is that everyone wants to barter. There are no set prices and as soon as a foreigner comes by all the prices jump up considerably. This lady conned us into buying some very expensive pineapple...we are still bitter about that one.
The next day we managed to book a trip to one of Vietnam's most famous spots: Ha Long Bay. Apparently it is listed as one of the "Seven Natural Wonders" of the world. The bay is known for thousands of limestone islands that jut straight out of the ocean forming very dramatic cliffs and walls. It was very misty and a bit rainy this day, making it difficult to see all the bay had to offer, but also adding some unique picture opportunities.

This was one of the several major cave systems within the various islands;
After our time in Ha Long Bay we decided to try to move on to the next city. We both were very curious about taking the train (since that is our major method of transportation around the island in Taiwan). We managed to book an overnight train to the city of Hue in central Vietnam. We were really excited about having a "sleeper car' on the train as well as going to this very small city that boasts Vietnam's very own forbidden city. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a way out of Hue back to Ho Chi Minh City (where our flight back to Taiwan left from). We walked into many different tour offices and airline offices hoping to find two seats that may have been purchased in order to sell again later. But sadly after so much searching we had to change our plans.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We were able to trade in our train tickets and we bought plane tickets to Nha Trang. It was a place we looked past at first because we had heard it was overrun with tourists and that was the one thing we were trying to avoid. However, after the bustle and noise of the city, we were looking forward to lying on a beach for one more day...even if there we lots of tourists there.

Honestly, it could not have been better. It was a great lesson that every description is relative to the place being described. That is to say "crowded and touristy" will mean one thing in Taiwan, but something else in Vietnam. I imagine there are times when Nha Trang is busy, but it was a perfect conclusion for our trip.

This is the first picture we took from our hotel:
Here are some others from our day and a half in Nha Trang:

We spent the day laying on the beach, basking in the sun before we had to go back to the cold and rain of Taiwan.

One thing I failed to mention at this point was Vietnamese coffee. They serve it short, strong, with a little bit of condensed milk and often to you on the side of the road. Here I am drinking a cup on a blue stool next to the road.
I love coffee and I suppose I can be quite the coffee snob. Honestly, I have never had coffee so good in my life. Whatever we used to drink in Seattle doesn't even compare to Vietnamese coffee. We have tried to duplicate it here in Taiwan...but I am afraid it will be something we will only have to remember and perhaps experience again when we return to Vietnam.

We flew back to Ho Chi Minh Saturday morning then back to Taiwan. It was an odd sensation sitting on the airplane, flying back to Taiwan and feeling strangely comfortable among the Chinese speakers again. We were going back to civilization that we knew. Back from a very foreign place to a more familiar foreign place.

A Day in the Life...

2009-03-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

Katie and I realized that we have been busy writing posts about all our various adventures but we have yet to explain exactly what it is we do here. I guess in a way, this is sort of a confessional...so hear it is: No, everyday is not a zany trip into the mountains or out into some old Chinese Temple. That is what we do when we aren't working...and work is something we do a lot of. So all that aside...here is an average day for me, Luke Birge: English Teacher.

Up at 7:15. Yes, its Monday and I am tired. The weekend feels strangely distant and once again I find myself standing on the starting block of a race that won't stop until sometime after 7 pm on Friday night.

Katie and I have breakfast at our favorite spot called "Country Side." At some point during our breakfast the conversation usually centers upon one burning question: So...what are you doing for Fun Time?

What is Fun Time you ask? Well...we'll get there.

8:30: We arrive at work and begin the scramble for materials for the upcoming lesson and, yes, the Fun Time. Now I say scramble for two reasons. First, one must dive into the materials room to see if you have what you need (or something vaguely close to it: ie. this is a paper cup...well I need a plastic bowl...close enough...now do we have 30 of them?). Gathering materials is a complicated process, hinging upon the success of your ability to accurately plan and then request them the week before. The key here is communication...how do I explain "bow tie" pin to somebody who doesn't speak English as a first language? I am honestly asking because after 6 months we have never received one. Anyway, the second reason is often the morning scramble leads one to deal with the "technology" of the school. Without too many details, many mornings, the internet, the printer and the computer tend to conspire against you. That is to say, you need to print something from the internet but you can't and the error message is in Chinese. If you successfully out wit these machines, you must then deal with the copy machine. At this point your skill is no longer a factor and it just comes down to luck.

9:00 AM: Ready or not it's go time. Maybe your Fun Time is ready and maybe not, but the kids have been calling your name everytime they think they see you and they are getting ansy. Katie and I head to the second floor to find 6 classes of Kindergarners (ages 2-6) are sitting with their Chinese teachers waiting for us to lead them in 15-20 minutes of "excercise." There is no way to really describe this in a fashion that would do this justice. Basically what happens is, Katie and I make up dance routines to songs and lead the kids in dancing with us for 15 minutes. This is usually where we forget the frustrations of the morning and just watch the kids and laugh as they dance to "Surfing USA" or "Gold Lion" and sing along.

9:20- 9:30ish: Sharing Time. At this point I head into the "Kangaroo Class" to begin English class. After Exercise time, they are often very hot and tired so they must sit at their table and drink hot water.

This is Joan after drinking a nice cup of refreshing hot water...Sharing time consists of the children getting English in their heads. Many of them don't hear English at any other time except during this class...so this time helps them "remember".

9:30-10:00 AM Snack Time. The children eat and I make sure my Fun Time is ready then I sit with the ones who finish and look at books.

10:00 AM-10:45 English Time. This is the bulk of the lesson. Flash cards, games, ABC's...the whole deal. We have set curriculum to go through, but in the end every class is different and very quickly it becomes your own. My Kangaroo class was a brand new class...that is to say, they knew zero English before coming to this class. For the first month we focused on learning things like "stand up", "sit down", "cup", "chair"...etc. It was slow going but now after only 6 months some of my students can read basic English books...and they are only 4 or 5 years old. Man I am awesome! (actually they are incredibly smart)

10:45- 11:30 Fun Time! So what is Fun Time? What is all this about? It's a craft project. Something fun for the kids to do after the lesson. Why is that such a big deal? Why all the trouble? We have taught over 200 classes now and almost each one has had a different Fun Time game or project...but here are some shining examples:

Yes...Santa beards...
We made bridges....

Now we test them!

All in all Fun Time is great and the only difficulty is coming up with something new each day.

Our next class begins at 1:30 and we do the same thing over again with a new class. Katie and I each teach 2 kindergarten classes and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we teach a two hour class for older kids.

I can honestly tell you that I have never been so tired after work as I have been doing this. The kindy kids are there everyday with tons of energy and a need for attention. Teaching is one thing, but attending to each child, learning about them and loving them is another thing entirely. The older kids are this way as well, but in their own special way. It has been an enormous challenge, but we are so thankful for it. Here are more pictures of my kids...

This is CoCo and she is adorable.
This is LuLu...she wouldn't talk when I first got there. Now she reads!
Paper/ Scissors/ Stone solves all classroom disputes...
This is Kai...offical expert on all things animal related. He can tell you all the most dangerous snakes in the world (a good list of about 25 snakes).
This is Christine reading a story to the class for the "I Love Reading" competition. She just turned 5 and is reading in her second language...
This is Henry...and yes that is a foam guitar strapped to his back.
At the zoo...
This is NiNi.
The boys...
...and their fearless leader.

Well that's all for now...more blog updates to come!

Brother's Taiwan Pictures

2009-02-14T16:52:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, my brother is a pretty wicked-awesome photographer. He made a webshots album of his pictures so if you'd like to see some more of Taiwan, here's the link:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/570092973jUvRKC

Enjoy! : )

Welcome, Family!

2009-02-13T01:40:00.000-08:00

Looking back now that we have been in Taiwan for 6 months and are feeling stable and if not at home, at least very comfortable, I've realized that there was a huge learning curve that had to be embarked upon before we got to where we are now. It's satisfying to think about those first few months and think about the many things that we had to experience and learn from to get us where we're at. Yes, there were many things to learn in those first few months, but the most important one ended up being ceasing to ask "why." Those questions that once seemed so pressing and vital have now been replaced with blind submission. Questions like...

"Why are all the buildings only made of cement?"
"Why is that person coming straight at me, driving on the wrong side of the road?"
"Why do I see at least ten (not an exaggeration) people run a red light on any given day?"
"Why is it so stinking hard to find a public trash can?"
"Why are pig intestines and chicken feet considered edible?"
"Why are all the sidewalks blocked by scooters/businesses/big hunks of concrete, thus making them virtually unwalkable?"
"Why are there so many, um, potent smells?"
"Why buy a car when you can fit five people (once again, no exaggeration) on a scooter?"

The list could go on and on and there could be another why list, full of positive questions, but for the purpose of this post we'll keep things negative (for now). : )

It was with these questions in our minds, that we eagerly awaited the arrival of my parents and my brother, Jeff. Jeff would visit for two weeks and my parents for one during the week that we had off for Chinese New Year. We were anxious, wondering how my family would react to the treacherous life we lead in Taiwan.

I think that we've tried to show you some of the more beautiful things that Taiwan has to offer through this blog, but it has to be said that on a day-to-day, living-life basis, Taiwan has some major and minor obstacles to deal with. We had happily dealt with most of them, put them behind us but now would be entertaining family from the outside. We had sent out the emails detailing all the funny/strange/annoying things they were apt to encounter in Taiwan. So, the crash course was given, the luggage packed, the acidophilus taken and there was nothing left but to pick them up at the airport.

Jeff arrived first and my parents a couple of days after. Some friends of ours graciously offered their apartment to my parents as they would be gone over the holiday. This was quite a nice thing as 5 people in our tiny apartment was just not going to happen...and if it had, it wouldn't have been good.

We were still working that week which allowed them time to get acclimated and for my brother to develop the flu. Come Saturday, we were done with work and my brother was feeling a bit better so it was time to head out! We had planned a long weekend in Hualien as we wanted to show them Taroko Gorge which we had been to recently. Since we already have posts on most of the places we went, I won't add too many more pictures to this post.

Here we are at the High Speed Rail, awaiting the arrival of our train to take us north. I have to say that my dad with an enormous backpack over a suit (he had managed to arrange a work meeting in Taipei) was quite the funny sight.
Once we arrived in Taipei, my dad set out for his meeting and Luke, my mom, Jeff and I hopped on the MRT (Taipei's subway) and headed for Taipei 101.

Here's Jeff, pretending to be a tour guide and Luke and me with our friend, the Damper Baby.
Next, we checked out Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. He was one of the founding fathers of Taiwan and they had some pretty lanterns displayed for Chinese New Year and also some kids practicing a dance routine.
That night we caught an evening train to Hualien, settled in to our hotel and my parents and brother encountered their very first Hunt for Food in Taiwan Experience. The place we had picked out to go that we had been to before was no longer open, so it was to the streets we went, walking up and down, dodging smells, cars, noises, people and after considerable searching happened upon a sit-down restaurant (I think my parents were very relieved) with food that was good enough and music that was good if not a bit on the loud side. Hey, we'll take what we can get and not complain. : )

After dinner we took a more leisurely walk back to our hotel and called it a day. The next day we had plans to rent a car and check out Taroko Gorge. We had just been there about a month before but still, it was breathtaking. I hoped that my parents and brother would be impressed. We had a great time going through the gorge, taking pictures and just enjoying the general splendor of the place.

This first picture is one that my brother took. It's actually three pictures, spliced together. Note the tiny people in red, standing by the guardrail near the middle on the left-hand side. The cliffs continue for about another 1,000 feet past the top of the picture. Crazy, eh?
Here's one of my mom and dad...precious.
And, here is my brother, taking a picture withe some Taiwanese people. They asked him to be in the picture with him. This actually happens a lot here...more than you would think. You kind of feel like a rock star sometimes, I'm not gonna lie. ; )
Here is another of my parents in front of a waterfall that we hiked to.
Here is the view from that bridge.
Just to get some sense of scale...
The view in the other direction....
Here is one of my mom and me. Do you think we look alike, because pretty much everybody does.
After we got back from the gorge, we decided to drive north on the highway to some cliffs that overlooked the ocean. We didn't know what we would see, but certainly not this. That's the thing about Taiwan...it can be insanely ugly one minute and stunningly beautiful the next. We didn't retouch the color one iota...this really was the color of the water. It was awesome!
Back in town, the hunt for food commenced once again. This time, we settled on good 'ol McDonald's. Sounds like a cop-out, right? Trust me...it's not. My parents and brother can attest to this. ; )

The next morning was gorgeous. Here is a picture from the roof of our hotel, looking out over Hualien towards the mountains.
After breakfast, we were off to nearby Liyu Lake, our last stop in Hualien before it was time to head back.
After Liyu Lake, we hopped on the train and started the journey back home. Before getting back to Jubei, we decided to stop in Taipei and show my family Guandu Temple. If you remember, we did a post on this a while back. It was the first official day of Chinese New Year and when we got there the temple complex was packed with people, lit up by spotlights and wrapped in the smoke of thousands of incense sticks burning. It seriously looked like something from a movie. While it was a bit overwhelming, it was totally worth it. My mom loved all the intricate detailing and artwork. She was amazed that all of it had been made and survived since the 17th century. The first picture, I can't take credit for. My brother took it. Nice one!

After Guandu, we made it on to the train and back to Jubei safe and sound. We spent the next couple of days scootering around Jubei and Hsinchu, actually looking quite Taiwanese with three to a scooter (Luke, myself and my mom).
My dad was especially proud that he was able to navigate the narrow roads, pedestrians and crazy traffic.

They left after a week with feelings all around that their visit went by a bit too quick. I think they were sad to leave us, but probably happy to get back to familiar and uncomplicated surroundings.

Jeff was to stay another week, so we took him on some day trips, putting three to the scooter yet again. The most notable of these trips was up to Neiwan, a town on the river about 40 minutes east of Jubei. We had a great time exploring the roads and river around there.

Here's one of the boys....
And of course, no blog would be complete without at least one picture of shoes.
We were so happy to discover Neiwan as it's close and a great place that we can come back to in the summer and swim and hang out by the river on weekends when we want to get out of town.

For the last picture....yay, pretty cherry blossoms! Spring is coming!
Jeff left a couple days after this and all of a sudden, our place felt big and a bit empty. Getting to spend so much time with family did indeed make us a bit homesick and anxious to get back.

After they had returned to the states, I asked my family for some thoughts/reflections on their trip that I could include in this blog:

My dad enjoyed learning how to get around in a different country and getting used to the different culture. He also enjoyed the friendly people of Taiwan and the scenery. Also, being a "kinesthetic" type, he enjoyed getting around on the rail system, driving the rental car and scooter in Taiwan traffic and the early morning bike rides that he would take around Hualien.

My mom said that she was amazed by all the artwork and intricate detailing in the temples. It is everywhere and to think that some of it was made and has survived from as far back as the 17th century, boggles the mind.

Jeff was amazed at how despite the noise and frantic pace of life there, people are genuinely nice and will take their time to help you. He discovered this when he ventured out one day on his own up to Jiufen while we were working. He was also interested by the contrasts. As one example, the ugliness of the buildings and trash vs. the beautiful scenery.

I am happy that my parents and brother were able to experience much of Taiwan in such a short period of time. This reminds us that we still have so much to experience and have been really happy and thankful that we have been able to soak up so much in such a short time. We are eagerly looking forward to see what the next 6 months will bring!

New Years, Mud Volcanoes and Temples, Oh my!

2009-01-08T04:51:00.000-08:00

Well, with another short 3-day week behind us we were ready to set out and celebrate New Years, Taiwan Style (whatever that might mean).

New Years Eve found us in Hsinchu in a crowd of hundreds of Taiwanese people anxiously awaiting the New Years. We weren't in the crowd long before a friend of ours who lived nearby suggested we go up to the roof of their apartment building to watch the chaos - ah-hem, I mean festivities. So, there we were, the only ones on the roof - everybody else in Hsinchu was in the crowd - wondering why isn't anybody else up here? Of course, Taiwanese love to be where the people are whereas our natural inclination is to get away from the crowd.

So, there we were, making sure we knew how to count backwards from 10 in Chinese, when all of a sudden the countdown was upon us. Zero came, there was a dull cheer from the crowd below and a louder one from us on the roof and then the fireworks started. I think that different places in the city must compete for the best fireworks show because we literally had about fifteen different ones going off all around us that we had a perfect view of from our spot on the roof. A pretty memorable new years, actually. Sadly, we have no pictures as we both forgot our cameras. : (

We had much debated about what to do with the following days off and had settled on a scooter trip down to some hot springs. But, with the onset of freezing temperatures and wind, we decided on a change of plans. We hopped on the HSR (High Speed Rail) and within an hour and a half were in the southern city of Kaohsiung where we met up with some friends who live there. We also had some friends come down from Taipei so there were six of us total.

That night found us wandering around the city and playing some good 'ol Guitar Hero and Wii Sports. Here is Luke and me duking it out on Wii Boxing.
And, here is Luke on the guitar. What can I say...the man takes his Guitar Hero seriously. ; )
The next day we headed north to the city of Tainan. It is a former capital and has a wealth of temples and history. Here are a few pictures:
Also, we stopped in at a coffee shop called "The Narrow Door." See why?
After a leisurely morning the next day, we were back at it again with a trip to the mud volcanoes. What is a mud volcano, you ask? Pretty much one of the weirdest things you've ever seen.
Yup, that's it. A volcano formed from mud bubbling out of it. Surprisingly amusing, but you wouldn't know it from looking at the picture. This shoe lost its person. Mine almost met the same muddy fate.
And, here are the boys of our group, tempting the mud gods by throwing stuff in the volcano. Boys will be boys...
Here is a video, though it may be boring. There's my disclaimer, so don't go accusing me of uploading lame videos. ; )

Next up was Foguanshan...the mecca for Buddhism in southern Taiwan. But, oops...along the way we got distracted. Here is another fountain/temple/shrine thingy we found.
Dudesy was hard at work....I don't think he so much as stirred the whole time we were there.
So, with that detour completed, on to Foguanshan!

There was a 50 meter high buddha surrounded by 480 smaller buddhas...
So pretty!The entire complex was enormous, but we only had time to see the big buddha and the main shrine. Here is the main shrine...
It was breathtaking...
There must have been 10,000 of these in every space, on every wall.
So, that about concludes our New Years trip to Kaohsiung. But, just for good measure....here are the boys of what was our little scooter gang that weekend...

A Taroko Christmas

2009-01-06T04:24:00.000-08:00

As you have seen, Christmas has been a unique experience for us here. We spent the week of Christmas teaching our kindergartners about the finer points of the holiday (A fat bearded guy that breaks into your house at night, flying animals, and cookies). On Christmas Eve we put on an event for the kids that was quite a bit more stressful than we were ready for. The main cause of the stress was the decision to have each class make a batch of Christmas cookies. Sounds awesome right?!

Well people in Taiwan don't bake. By "don't bake" I mean they don't own ovens. That's right, the kitchen for the kindergarten does not include an oven --or cookie sheets for that matter. All of this was known about to a certain extent, but the reality really hit home when we were sitting, huddled around a large toaster oven in the music room praying that our cookies would somehow cook evenly and not stick to the pans...pans that some of the teachers even lined with drawing paper...

Needless to say, my younger class had never even seen cookie dough before so the experience was extremely meaningful to them. So meaningful in fact that when I told them the cookies were broken due to sticking many of them (12 out of 18) started to cry. Yeah...merry Christmas. The catastrophe was averted however when I let them taste the crumbs of the destroyed cookies and those frowns were turned upside down.

So after a very long day (2 kindergarten Christmas events and an evening class) Katie and I were off on the scooter racing to catch an English candle light Christmas service at a local church. A long story short, we drove through Hsinchu managed to find the church but didn't manage to see any kind of service involving candles or English. We were a little bummed, but that is the way it goes here sometimes. Somethings go off without a hitch and other times you find yourself out in the cold in a part of town you have never seen before.

We got home a bit late but we were still SO excited for Christmas. We managed to get Christmas day and the day after off giving us a four-day weekend.

We woke up Christmas morning to some wonderful presents and a nice gourmet french toast breakfast. Thank you to everyone who sent us gifts...you have no idea how much they meant to us.

After a nice peaceful morning we packed our backpack and made our way toward the one of the most famous sites in all of Taiwan: Taroko Gorge.

We arrived Thursday night at our hotel and were so pleased with how kind the staff was and how non-boardlike the bed felt (our bed at home is like sleeping on an IKEA kitchen table).

The next day we hopped on a rented scooter and into the gorge. Lots has been written on the gorge, most things describe its unique geological blah, blah and simply how beautiful it is. All of that is true. I don't have much to say about it other than we stopped very often with our cameras out and our jaws dropping. It is something to see if you ever have the chance...here are a few pictures that don't really do the place justice.

Here is one of the more well-known sites: The Eternal Spring Shrine

And here is the two thousand foot cliff above it...

Here is a close up of the Shrine:
Here are a few of various cliffs throughout:
So I think the red flags mean, "Stay off the bridge!"
Probably because it is really...really...really high...oh yeah and old and rickety (No worries mom and dad...we had an engineer come to check the structural integrity of the bridge...)
(wait...I'm not an engineer...)
Anyway, at the end of the gorge was this small town with a shrine built into the mountainside.
Here is a nice picture that Katie took:
One of the finer notes on traversing through the gorge is the narrow roads and the ever-present Taiwanese tour bus. This is why we recommend taking a scooter rather than a car...just in case there is a huge tour bus charging through a very narrow tunnel and it manages to stop all the traffic coming from the other direction. Then, each car must try to maneuver around and by the bus--which can take a very, very long time. We just drove around and through all this.
Note the car trying to get by the bus...haha.

Building the road through the gorge was quite an engineering feat. It was really something driving over the bridges and through all the tunnels trying to imagine how long it must have taken and how much dynamite it took.
...and when the dust settles at the end of the day, all that's left is the exhaust in the air, the love in your heart, and a man with his scooter.