First Days in JuBei

If you’re ever in Taiwan, you must must go to KTV. What does KTV stand for, you ask? KTV. Or, maybe Karaoke TV? Who knows…either way, it’s awesome. The Taiwanese have a thing for performing and there is no better example than KTV. Well, isn’t it just like karaoke? No, the difference is that you get your very own sound-proofed (hopefully) room with a huge screen behind you showing images that are in no way related to the song. Example: “Born to Be Wild” with a girl walking on a beach.

On our last night in Taipei our entire training group decided to sample this revered Taiwanese tradition. With Luke performing a heart-wrenching rendition of “Highway to the Danger Zone,” the party was started. It quickly dissolved from individual performances to the entire group singing and dancing. And some of our trainers showed up, too! There’s Gavin rockin the mike…

And here’s me, doing the traditional photo pose…

Much too soon our time was up. The next day we said goodbye to our friends from training and boarded a bus to Hsinchu. After about an hour we started seeing signs and knew we were getting closer. We were more than a little bit apprehensive as all we were seeing were big ugly buildings and sprawling industrial areas. The bus dropped us off at the school we would be working at and we were pleased to see that it was on a wide street with modern-looking buildings. Our school is actually in Ju Bei which is a suburb of Hsinchu. Ju Bei is much smaller and more laid-back than Taipei and we’re both thinking that it will feel more like home.

The first couple of days were spent finding an apartment and getting settled in. But once we were done with that, the boredom started to set in. Ju Bei is small and relaxed, but the downside of that is that you can’t really get anywhere unless you take a taxi or have a scooter. And as we are cheap and weren’t able to get a scooter yet we were forced to wander haplessly around Ju Bei in the 100 degree heat and sweltering humidity looking for something to do.

Thankfully, two teachers at our school invited us to go up in to the mountains the next day to a waterfall and swimming hole they knew about. So, we hopped on the backs of their scooters and within an hour we were up in the mountains that surround Hsinchu.

After all the heat and humidity of the past couple of days that water was looking really good. It was refreshing, albeit a bone-numbing refreshing.

After a while we heard thunder and within minutes were in the middle of a torrential downpour. Riding on the back of a scooter, of course you get completely pelted and soaked with rain. But, the rain was warm and I really didn’t mind as I felt I was having a pretty authentic Taiwan experience. Especially when cars were backed up for miles on the mountain and we just zipped around them and were back in to town in no time. Yup, even though I was soaked I was feeling pretty smug weaving around all those cars.