As I began my first day of work at the orphanage, I quickly began to realize that, unlike the orphanage I visited in Africa, Kids International was extremely well run. They had a huge inflow of volunteers and most of them are staying on a long term basis, ranging from a team that is here for 6 weeks to a few people who will be here for a year…it makes my one week seem pretty pathetic! They were well organized and had a the funds to do some pretty amazing things (see my previous blog post). My work was to be whatever I wanted to make of it and so I began.
On my first day, I went to the school and helped out with the kindergarten class. I did have some experience with this as I most of my classes in Taiwan were kids of this age. The major difference was that most of these kids spoke remarkable English and this time I was the co-teacher helping out the real teacher who was Pilipino. In the evening I went with a bunch of people to Faith Academy, an international school where many missionary’s children go, and watched a basketball game. Friday is the night off for most volunteers, lucky me, on my first day of work, I got some time off!
Saturday was exciting for me. An 18 year old girl had decided to have her birthday party with the kids at the children’s home rather than a typical 18th birthday. She brought food, cake, games and presents for all the kids. I got to partake and had tons of fun! The evening was full of more children’s time, including devotions with the kids and helping them get ready for bed.
The first two days were awesome, I don’t think I did a lot to help but I was able to develop a relationship with the kids nonetheless and I guess that’s never bad!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Arriving in Manila
I left my life in Taiwan and headed strait for Manila in the Philippines. From Kaohsiung, I took a bus to Taipei, then a taxi to the airport, then an airplane to Manila. Once in Manila, I realized that I forgot to write down the address I was to give the taxi to meet Jeff Long, the man who runs the orphanage called Kids International that I am working at. I also forgot to write down his cell phone number. So I had to go to the nearest place I could to access internet, which I was told was the Mall of Asia. I took a taxi there, found a Starbucks with internet access. (Side note: there are more Starbucks in Asia then almost anywhere in the world, and I think I would have been dead in the water without them and their wireless internet throughout this entire trip!) From there I called Jeff, got the address and, incidentally, headed to another Starbucks to meet two Americans who are full timers at the orphanage.
Once, I walked into the Starbucks I saw two American ladies, Kim and Daisy. Kim is the school master and Daisy is a volunteer that helps with the babies, she is planning on being for a full year. With Kim and Daisy where 5 month old, twin boys named Danny and Jacob. Their mother did not want them, she attempted to abort them a few times by poisoning herself, but was unable to. Then, Kids International came along and offered to take them. They were born premature but are healthy now and very cute.
As I sat in Starbucks with Kim, Daisy, Danny and Jacob – I was able to learn much about the orphanage that I was about to go and work at as we had to wait for another girl who arrived thru the domestic airport. I discovered that Kids International has two orphanages, one in the south and one here in Manila. The orphanage in Manila has 29 kids. 24 are school aged and there are 5 babies. The 24 school aged children go to the school that Kids International runs. In the school, along with the 24 kids from the home, they also provide free schooling to about 50 community kids. They chose the kids in the community who don’t have dads. In exchange, the single mothers come in about once every two weeks and make lunch for the kids and clean the school up.
The school was built last year and also serves as a community church on Sunday and a community center on most evenings. The top floor is one large open aired gym with basketball courts.
I am sure as I continue my work here I will find out more interesting things, and one thing is for sure, I will be keeping you posted!
Once, I walked into the Starbucks I saw two American ladies, Kim and Daisy. Kim is the school master and Daisy is a volunteer that helps with the babies, she is planning on being for a full year. With Kim and Daisy where 5 month old, twin boys named Danny and Jacob. Their mother did not want them, she attempted to abort them a few times by poisoning herself, but was unable to. Then, Kids International came along and offered to take them. They were born premature but are healthy now and very cute.
As I sat in Starbucks with Kim, Daisy, Danny and Jacob – I was able to learn much about the orphanage that I was about to go and work at as we had to wait for another girl who arrived thru the domestic airport. I discovered that Kids International has two orphanages, one in the south and one here in Manila. The orphanage in Manila has 29 kids. 24 are school aged and there are 5 babies. The 24 school aged children go to the school that Kids International runs. In the school, along with the 24 kids from the home, they also provide free schooling to about 50 community kids. They chose the kids in the community who don’t have dads. In exchange, the single mothers come in about once every two weeks and make lunch for the kids and clean the school up.
The school was built last year and also serves as a community church on Sunday and a community center on most evenings. The top floor is one large open aired gym with basketball courts.
I am sure as I continue my work here I will find out more interesting things, and one thing is for sure, I will be keeping you posted!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
A Recap On My Taiwanese Adventure
Well, it is official; the little life I built for myself in Taiwan is over! I left on the luxury bus yesterday night and headed out to Taipei, once again. Only this time I left after having quit my job, leaving my apartment and saying good bye to the friends I had made in Kaohsiung. Not only was I leaving the city, I was leaving my new life. I headed to Taipei and hopped on a plane to the Philippines.
Perhaps this would be as good of a time as any to debrief my experiences in Taiwan. You have heard many of my adventures in previous posts but lets talk about the overall experience. I know, once I return I am going to get the age old vague questions – “how was Taiwan?” I will respond with an equally vague response – it was interesting!
There were many aspects of the experience that were disappointing, or rather, not what I expected. Teaching the children was a task that proved difficult. This had nothing to do with the children, but it was how I was expected to interact with them that proved problematic. I was to be stern, strict and regimented when all I wanted to do was hug them and have tons of fun! Also, the food was not so great. It appears that the Chinese people eat all the parts of the animals that the rest of the world simply does not want. Perhaps there was really good food there, but due to the language barrier I certainly could not find it!!
The one thing that I found wonderful about Taiwan was the people. They were incredibly friendly and, for the most part, always willing to help you out, even if they had a hard time due to the language barrier. The children were particularly cute. There was one little girl who totally stole my heart and I miss her a little. Her name is Kitty and she is 5 years old and the tiniest thing you have ever seen. Having 20 kids run up to you when you leave saying “good bye teacher Jordan,” “see you tomorrow,” “teacher Jordan good” or “teacher Jordan look” as they point to whatever random thing they think is interesting at the time (often a sock or their shirt!). There were the odd times where they would try their very best to hit you where it hurts because, apparently, a large white guy in excruciating pain is hilarious!! Despite these minor flaws, I will miss the little children very much.
I was able to see an island, experience a culture, and, most importantly, undergo some good old fashioned personal development in what I am going to describe as a great adventure. Though not everything went perfectly, it turned out for the best.
I missed Joelle a lot and it was very hard to be apart. However, we were able to get to know each other on an entirely new level and I would not trade our time apart for anything. It is going to make being together all the better when I get home.
I missed my family very much as well as the many comforts of home. But, being away from them makes me appreciate many of the things we take for granted everyday.
It was personally very hard at times, however, I am a stronger person for my experience. I learned a lot about myself and have much more confidence in my ability to cope with many things.
There were ups and downs, but it is through the fusion of these that I was able to have my true adventure. It was great and I am so glad I went on the trip. I am also going to be very glad to be home!
As I sit here in Manila, I am awaiting my brand new adventure to begin tomorrow in the Philippines. Stay tuned for more on that…
Perhaps this would be as good of a time as any to debrief my experiences in Taiwan. You have heard many of my adventures in previous posts but lets talk about the overall experience. I know, once I return I am going to get the age old vague questions – “how was Taiwan?” I will respond with an equally vague response – it was interesting!
There were many aspects of the experience that were disappointing, or rather, not what I expected. Teaching the children was a task that proved difficult. This had nothing to do with the children, but it was how I was expected to interact with them that proved problematic. I was to be stern, strict and regimented when all I wanted to do was hug them and have tons of fun! Also, the food was not so great. It appears that the Chinese people eat all the parts of the animals that the rest of the world simply does not want. Perhaps there was really good food there, but due to the language barrier I certainly could not find it!!
The one thing that I found wonderful about Taiwan was the people. They were incredibly friendly and, for the most part, always willing to help you out, even if they had a hard time due to the language barrier. The children were particularly cute. There was one little girl who totally stole my heart and I miss her a little. Her name is Kitty and she is 5 years old and the tiniest thing you have ever seen. Having 20 kids run up to you when you leave saying “good bye teacher Jordan,” “see you tomorrow,” “teacher Jordan good” or “teacher Jordan look” as they point to whatever random thing they think is interesting at the time (often a sock or their shirt!). There were the odd times where they would try their very best to hit you where it hurts because, apparently, a large white guy in excruciating pain is hilarious!! Despite these minor flaws, I will miss the little children very much.
I was able to see an island, experience a culture, and, most importantly, undergo some good old fashioned personal development in what I am going to describe as a great adventure. Though not everything went perfectly, it turned out for the best.
I missed Joelle a lot and it was very hard to be apart. However, we were able to get to know each other on an entirely new level and I would not trade our time apart for anything. It is going to make being together all the better when I get home.
I missed my family very much as well as the many comforts of home. But, being away from them makes me appreciate many of the things we take for granted everyday.
It was personally very hard at times, however, I am a stronger person for my experience. I learned a lot about myself and have much more confidence in my ability to cope with many things.
There were ups and downs, but it is through the fusion of these that I was able to have my true adventure. It was great and I am so glad I went on the trip. I am also going to be very glad to be home!
As I sit here in Manila, I am awaiting my brand new adventure to begin tomorrow in the Philippines. Stay tuned for more on that…
Walking The Streets of Taipei
Last weekend I headed up to Taipei. Most people in Taiwan think thedistance to Taipei is insurmountable, especially on a weekend trip. Idid, however, overcome the obstacle of distance and make it there viathe overnight bus. The trip itself is about 500 kilometres or less andtook no more than five hours with the bus stopping about six times topick-up/drop-off passengers along the way. The bus can only bedescribed as luxurious. For about $20, you received a lazy-boy likeseat that seemed to recline endlessly and would massage you at will.You had your own personal TV complete with the ability to play videogames plus a bus attendant with a call button who would bring you acookie or tea at any time. I would say this bus ride was the bestbargain I have found in Taiwan to date.
Feeling a little homesick, I opted out of the traditional hostel routeand decided to splurge on my last trip on the island and get a nicehotel room. I found a five-star hotel with a sweet last-minute deal.It was heaven. I arrived and was greeted with warm, friendly,English-speaking individuals!! This was probably the single mostexciting part of being there – locals who spoke perfect English. I wasable to ask them how to get around, what the good places to see wereand even where to get good food. The other very exciting part of thishotel was the shower head was actually above my head. In my apartmentand at every other hostel I have stayed at since I began my trip toAsia, the shower heads have come no higher than my shoulders. This mayseem like a small thing, but given the amount of time I have spentducking in the showers of Asia, it was heaven. I stayed in the hotelfor one night and I had four showers. Perhaps that will give you anindication of how exciting it was for me!!
Moving beyond my hotel room, I did actually go out and see the city ofTaipei. I decided to travel the city the good old fashioned way – onfoot! In some cases, I did hop on the MRT (their subway system) to getto the places that were really far away. My immediate impressions ofTaipei were that the city itself was very similar to Kaohsiung, thecity where I have been living. They are both big cities with lots ofscooters and lots of people. Taipei does, of course, have some verycool attractions that Kaohsiung does not – foremost among them: Taipei101.
Taipei 101 is modeled after a bamboo tree and stands, yes, 101 storiestall. It is new, modern and currently the tallest building in theworld. The bottom six levels comprise a modern, high-end mall that mybrother Jason would love! The upper floors are office buildings withthe 89th floor reserved for tourists to see. I was a tourist, so Iwent up the fastest elevator on earth to the 89th floor. It was prettycool!
After that I walked to the world trade center and around the downtowncore for a while. The department stores were flush with Christmasdecorations in an attempt to boost December sales in a culture that,for the most part, does not celebrate Christmas.
After much walking, I became fatigued and was just ready to relax. Istumbled upon a Starbucks, sat down and read my book for about 45minutes. Feeling refreshed, I made my way over to the biggest nightmarket in Taiwan.
I took the MRT and once I got off, my personal space was immediatelyinvaded. The night market was about six blocks long and four blockswide. The entire expanse of the night market was littered with people.It took me an hour and a half to walk down one street and up the other– a total of 12 blocks. There were more people packed into this onenight market than I have ever seen in my life. Couple this with theweird smells and I was fully ready to go by the time I had walked my12 blocks.
I then made the journey home, stopped at Pizza Hut to get some pizzaand headed back to my hotel room. I had another shower and went tobed. I slept in, had another shower, ate my complimentary breakfastand walked around a little more. Shortly after my walk, I took anotherone of those fantastic buses back to my home in Kaohsiung. All inall, it was a very fun trip – perhaps the most fun was the bus ride and the hotel room!!!
Feeling a little homesick, I opted out of the traditional hostel routeand decided to splurge on my last trip on the island and get a nicehotel room. I found a five-star hotel with a sweet last-minute deal.It was heaven. I arrived and was greeted with warm, friendly,English-speaking individuals!! This was probably the single mostexciting part of being there – locals who spoke perfect English. I wasable to ask them how to get around, what the good places to see wereand even where to get good food. The other very exciting part of thishotel was the shower head was actually above my head. In my apartmentand at every other hostel I have stayed at since I began my trip toAsia, the shower heads have come no higher than my shoulders. This mayseem like a small thing, but given the amount of time I have spentducking in the showers of Asia, it was heaven. I stayed in the hotelfor one night and I had four showers. Perhaps that will give you anindication of how exciting it was for me!!
Moving beyond my hotel room, I did actually go out and see the city ofTaipei. I decided to travel the city the good old fashioned way – onfoot! In some cases, I did hop on the MRT (their subway system) to getto the places that were really far away. My immediate impressions ofTaipei were that the city itself was very similar to Kaohsiung, thecity where I have been living. They are both big cities with lots ofscooters and lots of people. Taipei does, of course, have some verycool attractions that Kaohsiung does not – foremost among them: Taipei101.
Taipei 101 is modeled after a bamboo tree and stands, yes, 101 storiestall. It is new, modern and currently the tallest building in theworld. The bottom six levels comprise a modern, high-end mall that mybrother Jason would love! The upper floors are office buildings withthe 89th floor reserved for tourists to see. I was a tourist, so Iwent up the fastest elevator on earth to the 89th floor. It was prettycool!
After that I walked to the world trade center and around the downtowncore for a while. The department stores were flush with Christmasdecorations in an attempt to boost December sales in a culture that,for the most part, does not celebrate Christmas.
After much walking, I became fatigued and was just ready to relax. Istumbled upon a Starbucks, sat down and read my book for about 45minutes. Feeling refreshed, I made my way over to the biggest nightmarket in Taiwan.
I took the MRT and once I got off, my personal space was immediatelyinvaded. The night market was about six blocks long and four blockswide. The entire expanse of the night market was littered with people.It took me an hour and a half to walk down one street and up the other– a total of 12 blocks. There were more people packed into this onenight market than I have ever seen in my life. Couple this with theweird smells and I was fully ready to go by the time I had walked my12 blocks.
I then made the journey home, stopped at Pizza Hut to get some pizzaand headed back to my hotel room. I had another shower and went tobed. I slept in, had another shower, ate my complimentary breakfastand walked around a little more. Shortly after my walk, I took anotherone of those fantastic buses back to my home in Kaohsiung. All inall, it was a very fun trip – perhaps the most fun was the bus ride and the hotel room!!!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Scooter All Gone!
On Thursday Afternoon, after a routine break between two of my classes where I ate lunch and talked to Joelle from my apartment, I went outside to get my scooter and ride on back to school. Only my scooter was not there. Unsure whether my scooter was stolen or towed away, I went to the security guard in my building to see if he knew what happened. He, of course, does not speak English. But, as luck should have it, a tenant of the building walked by who spoke some broken English and we were able to figure it out. Unknown to me, the security guard called the police. The problem is that I am technically driving my scooter illegally. Technically, everything I do here is illegal. All of a sudden, I was turned from victim to suspect!
All at once I have a police officer asking me for my motorcycle license and my working permit. First, I don’t have a motorcycle license. Second, I don’t yet have my working permit. I am starting to get nervous. I had earlier tried to call the principle at my school to inform her of my situation and ask for her help, but she was in a meeting. I tried to inform the police that it was not my scooter and that they would have to contact the owner – that is the person who I rented it from. They didn’t seem to understand and then a police cruiser pulled up and they asked me to get in so I could go to the police station with them. Just a little word of travel advice, don’t get into a police car when you don’t know why they want you to get in and dont understand what they are saying. SO, heeding my own advice I didn’t. Then, the principle from my school called me back and was able to talk to the police for me. She told them what I was telling them and the police left.
I went back up to my house, still a little worried about the entire situation. Then, I got a knock on the door of my apartment a few hours later. It was two armed police officers. They asked me again if MY scooter was stolen. I told them that it was not my scooter, but rather, the lady who I rented it from. They asked for her number and called her in front of me. I am not sure what exactly they came for? Was it just for the number, or for me? Whatever the reason, they talked to her on the phone and then left. About 3 hours later, my heart began to slow down again. This probably would not have been a big deal, maybe a fine. But, worst case scenario – I am held in jail and then deported. Not fun. That night, the lady who I rented the scooter from brought me slightly older and slightly crappier scooter. All was fine. However, my feeling of security and being at ease had eroded. I feel a little different now being here and am looking more forward to being home.
After this experience, only one question still looms….who in their right mind would steal my crappy scooter?????
All at once I have a police officer asking me for my motorcycle license and my working permit. First, I don’t have a motorcycle license. Second, I don’t yet have my working permit. I am starting to get nervous. I had earlier tried to call the principle at my school to inform her of my situation and ask for her help, but she was in a meeting. I tried to inform the police that it was not my scooter and that they would have to contact the owner – that is the person who I rented it from. They didn’t seem to understand and then a police cruiser pulled up and they asked me to get in so I could go to the police station with them. Just a little word of travel advice, don’t get into a police car when you don’t know why they want you to get in and dont understand what they are saying. SO, heeding my own advice I didn’t. Then, the principle from my school called me back and was able to talk to the police for me. She told them what I was telling them and the police left.
I went back up to my house, still a little worried about the entire situation. Then, I got a knock on the door of my apartment a few hours later. It was two armed police officers. They asked me again if MY scooter was stolen. I told them that it was not my scooter, but rather, the lady who I rented it from. They asked for her number and called her in front of me. I am not sure what exactly they came for? Was it just for the number, or for me? Whatever the reason, they talked to her on the phone and then left. About 3 hours later, my heart began to slow down again. This probably would not have been a big deal, maybe a fine. But, worst case scenario – I am held in jail and then deported. Not fun. That night, the lady who I rented the scooter from brought me slightly older and slightly crappier scooter. All was fine. However, my feeling of security and being at ease had eroded. I feel a little different now being here and am looking more forward to being home.
After this experience, only one question still looms….who in their right mind would steal my crappy scooter?????
Saturday, November 24, 2007
A Day in Tainan
The weekend after my adventure in Kenting, Gabe and I decided to take a trip to Tainan. Tainan is the former capital of Taiwan and is considered the cultural capital. Tainan, I was told by two of my adult students, is too far away to drive. According to the locals here, everywhere in Taiwan is too far away. In actuality, Tainan is 40 kms away from where I live in Kaohsiung.
On board our 50 cc scooters, Gabe and I made the journey in about an hour. We stopped first at a Buddhist temple. It was massive, old and really cool. We then went to about 3 more temples – all were very well manicured. Some had really interesting statues and some really incredible gardens, but after a while, they all started looking the same. So, we went to the Museum of Taiwanese Literature. It would have been really interesting, I am sure, had we been able to understand any of the exhibits. However, we got to look at some old books and that was pretty cool! I did, however, find that Taiwan, like Canada, is a relatively young culture. It is trying to invent itself after a colonial power. So there is a very conscious effort from the Taiwanese to create a sort of new national identity that fuses their Chinese heritage, Japanese colonization, a post colonial quasi dictatorial rule, and the more recent bout with democracy and creates a distinct Taiwanese identity.
After discovering all this, I became hungry. Gabe and I decided to find a bite to eat. Unfortunately, we could not find anything. So we wondered up to a street vendor. This is the type of restaurant where they have a “kitchen” on the side walk and set up two tables and a few plastic chairs and call themselves a legitimate restaurant! I went and asked for chicken, they said no. I then asked for a couple more things and they continued to say no. Then, they told me what I was going to eat – fish and rice. I sat down, and out comes a small bowl of rice with little chunks of what I thought were fish. I started to eat, but they felt really, really tender. Something did not seem right about this fish, but I decided to take a few more bites to see if it was one of those acquired tastes you hear so much about. Just as I had decided that this taste was most likely one that I was unlikely to acquire anytime soon, my fish came out in another bowl. So what was this strange substance in my rice if wasn’t my fish? I discovered that it was little chunks of fat. Yes, strait fat – yummy. They actually love fat here in Taiwan, I still don’t love it!
My fish, was an actual fish that had been gutted and boiled then served to me. What I received was a fish with fins, gills and bones in a bowl of hot water...another acquired taste I presume, but one that I have yet to personally acquire.
After our meal, Gabe and I went to the 7-11 and bought ourselves a snickers bar. The snickers bar has been my saving grace. Whenever I am starving and in serious need of food but cannot find anything to eat due to the language barrier, I can always grab a snickers bar at any of the many 7-11s to sustain me.
We drove home that night. Tainan was a great place with some great temples and some not so great food (according to me)!
On board our 50 cc scooters, Gabe and I made the journey in about an hour. We stopped first at a Buddhist temple. It was massive, old and really cool. We then went to about 3 more temples – all were very well manicured. Some had really interesting statues and some really incredible gardens, but after a while, they all started looking the same. So, we went to the Museum of Taiwanese Literature. It would have been really interesting, I am sure, had we been able to understand any of the exhibits. However, we got to look at some old books and that was pretty cool! I did, however, find that Taiwan, like Canada, is a relatively young culture. It is trying to invent itself after a colonial power. So there is a very conscious effort from the Taiwanese to create a sort of new national identity that fuses their Chinese heritage, Japanese colonization, a post colonial quasi dictatorial rule, and the more recent bout with democracy and creates a distinct Taiwanese identity.
After discovering all this, I became hungry. Gabe and I decided to find a bite to eat. Unfortunately, we could not find anything. So we wondered up to a street vendor. This is the type of restaurant where they have a “kitchen” on the side walk and set up two tables and a few plastic chairs and call themselves a legitimate restaurant! I went and asked for chicken, they said no. I then asked for a couple more things and they continued to say no. Then, they told me what I was going to eat – fish and rice. I sat down, and out comes a small bowl of rice with little chunks of what I thought were fish. I started to eat, but they felt really, really tender. Something did not seem right about this fish, but I decided to take a few more bites to see if it was one of those acquired tastes you hear so much about. Just as I had decided that this taste was most likely one that I was unlikely to acquire anytime soon, my fish came out in another bowl. So what was this strange substance in my rice if wasn’t my fish? I discovered that it was little chunks of fat. Yes, strait fat – yummy. They actually love fat here in Taiwan, I still don’t love it!
My fish, was an actual fish that had been gutted and boiled then served to me. What I received was a fish with fins, gills and bones in a bowl of hot water...another acquired taste I presume, but one that I have yet to personally acquire.
After our meal, Gabe and I went to the 7-11 and bought ourselves a snickers bar. The snickers bar has been my saving grace. Whenever I am starving and in serious need of food but cannot find anything to eat due to the language barrier, I can always grab a snickers bar at any of the many 7-11s to sustain me.
We drove home that night. Tainan was a great place with some great temples and some not so great food (according to me)!
Monday, November 19, 2007
A Trip To Paradise
A few weekends ago ( I know I have been bad at keeping this thing up to date!) I went to Kenting. Kenting is on the southern point of Taiwan and is the major tourist attraction here. It possesses a wonderful beach, many resorts and a strip that has restaurants, night clubs, arcades (this is Asia after all) and many random shops on the street. The weird thing is that when you hear tourist, you almost automatically think white people. When you are in Mexico and hear of a tourist spot, it usually means that it is the spot where the gringos hang out, and it is the same for many other places. However, in this tourist Mecca of Taiwan, Gabe and I were the only white people there.
Kenting is about 100km away from the city I am living in. 100km is nothing by Canadian standards, but for the Taiwanese, 100km is a formidable distance. When you consider the entire island is only 500km long, this short journey for a north American is seemingly endless one for the Taiwanese. Nonetheless, I decided to make the journey.
When I decided to go to Kenting I was originally going to go alone, however, another English teacher from Wisconson decided to join me. His name is Gabe. He had lived in Japan for two years with his Girlfriend – they went together. Then when they returned to rural Wisconson, he just couldn’t stand it – so he decided to come here. His girlfriend didn’t….so we were both in Taiwan alone and both had girlfriends back home. It turns out we had much more in common and have since become good friends.
We decided to take our scooters to Kenting. We both had 50cc scooters, as I have mentioned in a previous blog, but decided to drive there anyway. Many people told us this was a very bad idea. Both the locals and the foreigners here told us that a) your scooters will probably blow up or b) if they don’t blow up, it will take you forever to get there. Gabe and I, being the crazy adventurers that we are, opted to take our scooters anyway. We reseaned that within the city our scooters could comfortably reach 50km/hr. Given that it was a 100km journey – we could make it there in 2 hours driving time. Factor in periodic stops so that our scooters would not blow up, and we figure about 3 hours drive would get us to our destination. I thought to myself, I could, in the same amount of time get to paradise as it would take me to drive to Calgary…..it was a no brainer.
Well, as usually calculations aren’t always accurate. It took us closer to 4.4 hours to get there, however, we got totally lost leaving the city. Our drive home would prove our time calculations correct.
The drive there was exciting, despite that fact that my rear end was starting to get sore! As we left the core of Kaohsiung, we began to see the industrial sector. Just like a science fiction movie, there was an entirely different city connected to ours. Instead of delapitaded buildings mixed with new ones, it had old, run down manufacturing plants fused with the new and the modern plant. “Made in Taiwan,” this is where it all came from. We also saw some agriculture, which is basically really small little plots of land spread throughout factories and buildings. It was a very fin drive!
Once we arrived we checked into the Catholic Youth Hostel. It was very cheap - $350 NT, which is about $11 Canadian. The room is nice, but I would later find an ant infestation that haunted me in the night. By haunted me, I mean they would all climb on my bed and try to strike up a friendship. I subsequently killed them, but they just kept coming back for more – perhaps they didn’t get the memo – “huge white guy does not want to cuddle.”
After we got settled in we went to the beach. You will have to see pictures. Nice white sand, hammocks and bamboo umbrellas. It was really paradise. We stayed on the beach for the better part of the day.
After the beach we went for lunch. There was a restaurant offering a meal and free internet access for $90 NT. We couldn’t refuse. The meal was basically microwavable fish sticks and rice, but it was a good internet connection!
After dinner we walked around, checked out the street stalls then proceeded to 7-11 to buy a beverage. We then took those beverages to the beach and had a romantic moon lit beach date where both Gabe and I evoked our feelings of how much better this moment would be if we were with our girlfriends and not with each other. Neither of took offense to the others feelings!
I went to bed, had my run in with the ants. Then we woke up early and headed to the southern most tip of Taiwan. It was a beautiful. I officially stood on a the pointy ocean rock that was as far as I could go in Taiwan without going swimming and having the waves violently push me into said pointy rock!
After that we drove through the mountains. We went to a look out point where you could see both sides of the island – both the Taiwan straight and the Pacific Ocean. I kept on pointing towards the pacific and saying “this way to Canada” – Gabe told me to stop as apparently is wasn’t as funny as I thought.
We went back to the beach and I slept on a hammock on the beach – the sun kissed my face while the ocean breezed gently rocked me about in my hammock. It was heaven.
We drove home and made it a much faster trip – although we did get lost coming back into the city. Overall, it was awesome and one of the highlights of my trip to date!
Kenting is about 100km away from the city I am living in. 100km is nothing by Canadian standards, but for the Taiwanese, 100km is a formidable distance. When you consider the entire island is only 500km long, this short journey for a north American is seemingly endless one for the Taiwanese. Nonetheless, I decided to make the journey.
When I decided to go to Kenting I was originally going to go alone, however, another English teacher from Wisconson decided to join me. His name is Gabe. He had lived in Japan for two years with his Girlfriend – they went together. Then when they returned to rural Wisconson, he just couldn’t stand it – so he decided to come here. His girlfriend didn’t….so we were both in Taiwan alone and both had girlfriends back home. It turns out we had much more in common and have since become good friends.
We decided to take our scooters to Kenting. We both had 50cc scooters, as I have mentioned in a previous blog, but decided to drive there anyway. Many people told us this was a very bad idea. Both the locals and the foreigners here told us that a) your scooters will probably blow up or b) if they don’t blow up, it will take you forever to get there. Gabe and I, being the crazy adventurers that we are, opted to take our scooters anyway. We reseaned that within the city our scooters could comfortably reach 50km/hr. Given that it was a 100km journey – we could make it there in 2 hours driving time. Factor in periodic stops so that our scooters would not blow up, and we figure about 3 hours drive would get us to our destination. I thought to myself, I could, in the same amount of time get to paradise as it would take me to drive to Calgary…..it was a no brainer.
Well, as usually calculations aren’t always accurate. It took us closer to 4.4 hours to get there, however, we got totally lost leaving the city. Our drive home would prove our time calculations correct.
The drive there was exciting, despite that fact that my rear end was starting to get sore! As we left the core of Kaohsiung, we began to see the industrial sector. Just like a science fiction movie, there was an entirely different city connected to ours. Instead of delapitaded buildings mixed with new ones, it had old, run down manufacturing plants fused with the new and the modern plant. “Made in Taiwan,” this is where it all came from. We also saw some agriculture, which is basically really small little plots of land spread throughout factories and buildings. It was a very fin drive!
Once we arrived we checked into the Catholic Youth Hostel. It was very cheap - $350 NT, which is about $11 Canadian. The room is nice, but I would later find an ant infestation that haunted me in the night. By haunted me, I mean they would all climb on my bed and try to strike up a friendship. I subsequently killed them, but they just kept coming back for more – perhaps they didn’t get the memo – “huge white guy does not want to cuddle.”
After we got settled in we went to the beach. You will have to see pictures. Nice white sand, hammocks and bamboo umbrellas. It was really paradise. We stayed on the beach for the better part of the day.
After the beach we went for lunch. There was a restaurant offering a meal and free internet access for $90 NT. We couldn’t refuse. The meal was basically microwavable fish sticks and rice, but it was a good internet connection!
After dinner we walked around, checked out the street stalls then proceeded to 7-11 to buy a beverage. We then took those beverages to the beach and had a romantic moon lit beach date where both Gabe and I evoked our feelings of how much better this moment would be if we were with our girlfriends and not with each other. Neither of took offense to the others feelings!
I went to bed, had my run in with the ants. Then we woke up early and headed to the southern most tip of Taiwan. It was a beautiful. I officially stood on a the pointy ocean rock that was as far as I could go in Taiwan without going swimming and having the waves violently push me into said pointy rock!
After that we drove through the mountains. We went to a look out point where you could see both sides of the island – both the Taiwan straight and the Pacific Ocean. I kept on pointing towards the pacific and saying “this way to Canada” – Gabe told me to stop as apparently is wasn’t as funny as I thought.
We went back to the beach and I slept on a hammock on the beach – the sun kissed my face while the ocean breezed gently rocked me about in my hammock. It was heaven.
We drove home and made it a much faster trip – although we did get lost coming back into the city. Overall, it was awesome and one of the highlights of my trip to date!
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