So I've just returned from my week's long vacation in the south of Taiwan. Although the weather here is nice its even hotter and better when you travel 3 hours south. To put things in perspective its almost like travelling from Miami to the Dominican. Anyways the vast majority of my vacation was spent on the beautiful beaches of a small beach/surf town known as Kenting. Kenting is truely an amazing place filled with mountains, beautiful scenery, secluded beaches, and of course Snoopy Land, a popular arcade. During Chinese New Year, people flock to Kenting turning it into a bustling town lined with food vendors, carnival games, and of course fireworks going off everywhere. I had an amazing time and will attempt to recap the highlights of the trip day by day.
Sunday- The plan was to meet up with friends who were coming down from Taipei (the capital of Taiwan) in a city in the south called Kaoshung, and to all stay at friends house we had met during training over night. Unfortuneately my bus got into town 3 hours before the train from Taipei was due to arrive so i had some time to kill. To make matters slightly worse the bus dropped me off on the side of the road leaving me no idea where I was. I decided to explore and came across a small videopoker/arcade spot called Happy Land (not to be confused with Snoopy Land). Taiwan has many such seedy places desguised with cute English names. With some time to kill and no idea where I was, I decided happy land it would have to be.
I ended up playing video poker. I got bored quickly and tried to cash out my 3 dollars only to discover that i was only allowed to use the tokens i had bought in with to redeem prizes ala Chuckie Cheese. I opted for some toothpaste and facewash. Finally the Taipei crew arrived ad we all met up with our friends who we were staying with.
Monday- Our vacation begins! The distance between Kaoshung and Kenting is really only about a 1.5 hour drive but with the traffic would probably take about 5. Rather then wasting time rotting on a bus we decided to rent scooters and drive there. Much of Taiwan is made of concrete, but this trip allowed us to see its beauty. To the left of me were green mountains, and to the right of me was the blue ocean. Also the air was crisp and clean. It was truely a fabulous drive. We ended up doing it in about 4 hours total with stops at 7/11. We arrived in Kenting and found our campsite where we would be spending the first couple days dirt cheap. We set up tents, ate some dinner, and checked out the town which was booming with maddness. We ended up staying on the beach enjoying some beers while watching the firecrackers and setting off some of our own.
Tuesday- Our first full day in Kenting. We are awakened by the sun blaring on our tents around 8am. No biggie, we'll just sleep on the beach. We get to the beach by midmorning, and spend the whole morning lying around and swimming in the Taiwan straight. One of our friends was possibly stung by a jelly fish. This caused some concern but we get managed to get over it quickly. We enjoyed some drinks by the bar, and are at some mexican restuarant. In the afternoon we took another beautiful drive to a beach a couple towns over. This beach had some decent waves and was probably the best spot to go surfing. Unfortuneately it was almost dark at this point so we vowed to return another day. At night, most people were exhausted so me and Avi ventured off on our own, cruising up and down the strip stopping at 7/11 for drinks while setting off some fireworks. Eventually, we got tired, found a chicken wing vendor and headed back to the campsite for bed.
Wednesday- I wake up. My tent is hotter than Bagdad. It must be morning. Yep, its 8 am, the sun is scorching, time to start my day. This morning my skin hurts. Good old sunburn. One of the more interesting ones ive ever had. Sunburn splotches in random places, including my arm pits, due to my failure to apply the sunscrean thoroughly. Oh well not gonna let that ruin my vacation. We got dan-bing for breakfast for the third day in a row which literraly translated means egg biscuit. Best Chinese breakfast ever. I buy probably the greatest towel ever in an attempt to better enjoy the beach. It is meant for 12 year old girls and is amazing. Never have i seen something so fob-ish. It was an instantanious hit. It has about three different shades of pink on it, aswell as an anime girl on it named love-teen. We spend all day and afternoon on the beach, tanning, swimming and sipping on pina coladas. By the way, watching Chinese people attempt to play volleyball is probably the funniest thing I have ever seen. I wish i had a camera. I swear this would have been a you-tube hit. They couldnt get the ball over the net and everyone would get so excited when there was almost a ralley. There was also an overweight guy who was a very enthusiastic scorekeeper. Outrageous unintended comedy. The night was spend once more walking up and down the strip, stopping at 7/11s for cheap beers. Somehow the nightlife in this city wasnt overly great, but the days more than made up for it.
Thursday- We somehoe manage to sleep until 9. The schedule is getting draining, but what can i expect for 5 bucks canadian for 3 nights of camping? We got our morning dan-bing, then Avi Brian Callie and Dave and I decide were ready for a hotel. We check into a decent one and relax the morning away. In the afternoon, Me and Avi head to the surf beach to give surfing a try. We rented boards and headed into the ocean, without a clue as to what we were doing. Being an avid snowboarder, Avi actually managed to stand up on his first try. I guess the two sports are very similar. Although i didnt share his success I did manage to stand up twice in the afternoon which was an absolutely amazing feeling. In my opionion there is almost nothing better than being in the ocean, this coming from a guy who can barely swim, and took 10 years to get his marroon swimming badge. Surfing is infact both tranquil and exciting. You spend a good amount of the time sitting on your board enjoying the calmness of the ocean and then, when you are ready, you can catch a powerful wave that can take you all the way back to shore. Truely amazing. I can not think of a better way to spend a day. I am already planning more surfing trips for weekends for the rest of the year.
The night time was spent travelling up and down the strip again, except this time our final destination would be Snoopy Land, a vidoe arcade dedicated to... well Snoopy . For some reason, Snoopy Is still a legend here, people just cant seem to get enough of him. Other notable characters who havent lost poplarity here: Astroboy, Felix the cat, and Doremon.
We challenged each other to various competitions of strength and skill such as a machine that measured how strong you could punch and basketball, only to be outdone by Taiwanese people who seemed to have spent alot of their time in Snoopy Land mastering the games we were trying out. Watching these guys play these games coulda been a you tube video aswell. We returned to our hotel and actually slept until midmorning which seemed like the longest sleep of my life compared to the camping world.
Friday- Avi, Brian, Callie and David were leaving today so i decided to spend the day with my roommates from Taichung. We went to some hot springs which were alright. One of the pools was so hot that after i got out i felt dizzy, i presume my body being in a state of shock due to the quick vast temperature change . Not to worry mom I am fine. After the hot springs we went to an aquaruim which had some cool stuff in it like exotic colourful fish, a sunken ship, and huge sharks.
For night time we paid a cover and went to the one spot that was supposed to be best in Kenting. It wasnt. In fact it may have been a gay bar...Im still not entirely sure. I also got to hear the pussycat dolls for about the 50th time this trip. Man they are blowing up here. We still ended up staying until they kicked us out. That night I stayed at Polina's (from collage) hotel and the next day we all bussed it back home.
All and all a great trip, and great Chinese New Year
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Shay Mein Qui Le
For those of you who may be a little weak in Mandarin, the title of this post is simly happy new year! Tonight is Chinese New Years Eve which kicks off a week long celebration of holiday and festitivities. To put this in a North American perspective, now is the time when you would recieve those calenders when you dine out at Mandarin or your local chinese buffet. This year is the year of the pig which is actually the same year I was born (1983). This is the greatest time of celebration for the Chinese as they go shopping, travel to be with their families, clean their houses (interestingly i found out last week that if you dont recycle in Taiwan you can get fined fairly severly by the government.....not a bad idea), and exchange red envelopes. This practice of exchanging red envelopes is an interesting one.
The envelopes are always red, as the chinese beleive this is a lucky colour. Ive heard that some people make a point to wear as much red as they can, including underware, if they are going to gamble. The red envelopes always contain a certain amount of money. Being a Confuciest and Taoist society, there is an interesting way in which gifts are given. Confuciest and Taoist society place great emphasis on respecting elders. Everything is the same as back home until children begin to work.
Once kids start to work (so pretty much everyone our age back home) they will no longer recieve gifts from their parents but are instead required to start paying back their parents out of gratitude for everything they have done to bring them up. So pretty much red envelope giving only goes one way. Children (if they are working) give money to their parents. If not parents give money to their kids. Grandparents receive money from parents and give it to grandkids. Interestingly enough, for relatives who have passed away, family members make firepits on the side of the road and burn fake money in a belief that this wll help them be looked after in the after world.
When i first heard about this practice I thought about it for some time. I started thinking about how different people/religions treat death and rememberance of their loved ones. I think it is interesting that the Chinese primary concern seems to be that their deseaced relatives will have enough money in the afterlife. Compare this to Judiasm where our primary concern is simply to make sure our deceased relatives are remembered once a year on the anniversery of their death. One could argue that the Chinese are remembering their relatives through the money burning, but I like how the Jewish one cuts out the materialism. Just an interesting thought.
Tonight, My roomamte Keith and I have been invited to one of our co-workers houses to partake in a true chinese new year's eve feast with her family. I am very excited to get a real life taste of what goes on during this time of year. Apperently her cousins are fluent so hopefully the language barrier wont be too bad with her parents. Then tommorow i am boarding a bus to the south of Taiwan to the tropical area known as Kenting. Its about a three hour drive (might be longer depending on the traffic) so i made sure to get a seat on one of those luxury buses. Kenting is supposed to be a great place with a beach where you can surf, mountains to hike on, and hot springs to relax in. The weatherman has predicted temperatures could reach 30 degrees celcius. There should be about 15 of us down there so it should be an amazing time. It will be nice to take a break from teaching and the politics of this company i work for. I keep meaning to put some pictures up, but unfortuneately i dont have time to figure out how to do it right now, seeing as i have to get ready to go to my chinese new year celebration.
So on that note a Shay Mein Qui Le to all. Im outta here
The envelopes are always red, as the chinese beleive this is a lucky colour. Ive heard that some people make a point to wear as much red as they can, including underware, if they are going to gamble. The red envelopes always contain a certain amount of money. Being a Confuciest and Taoist society, there is an interesting way in which gifts are given. Confuciest and Taoist society place great emphasis on respecting elders. Everything is the same as back home until children begin to work.
Once kids start to work (so pretty much everyone our age back home) they will no longer recieve gifts from their parents but are instead required to start paying back their parents out of gratitude for everything they have done to bring them up. So pretty much red envelope giving only goes one way. Children (if they are working) give money to their parents. If not parents give money to their kids. Grandparents receive money from parents and give it to grandkids. Interestingly enough, for relatives who have passed away, family members make firepits on the side of the road and burn fake money in a belief that this wll help them be looked after in the after world.
When i first heard about this practice I thought about it for some time. I started thinking about how different people/religions treat death and rememberance of their loved ones. I think it is interesting that the Chinese primary concern seems to be that their deseaced relatives will have enough money in the afterlife. Compare this to Judiasm where our primary concern is simply to make sure our deceased relatives are remembered once a year on the anniversery of their death. One could argue that the Chinese are remembering their relatives through the money burning, but I like how the Jewish one cuts out the materialism. Just an interesting thought.
Tonight, My roomamte Keith and I have been invited to one of our co-workers houses to partake in a true chinese new year's eve feast with her family. I am very excited to get a real life taste of what goes on during this time of year. Apperently her cousins are fluent so hopefully the language barrier wont be too bad with her parents. Then tommorow i am boarding a bus to the south of Taiwan to the tropical area known as Kenting. Its about a three hour drive (might be longer depending on the traffic) so i made sure to get a seat on one of those luxury buses. Kenting is supposed to be a great place with a beach where you can surf, mountains to hike on, and hot springs to relax in. The weatherman has predicted temperatures could reach 30 degrees celcius. There should be about 15 of us down there so it should be an amazing time. It will be nice to take a break from teaching and the politics of this company i work for. I keep meaning to put some pictures up, but unfortuneately i dont have time to figure out how to do it right now, seeing as i have to get ready to go to my chinese new year celebration.
So on that note a Shay Mein Qui Le to all. Im outta here
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Freedom
I am sitting in my living room taking giant swigs of H2O brand water. It wont be long before i finish the entire one and a half litres. My voice is gone, my stomach feels like its corroding, the room feels slightly different this morning, probably because its spinning. Its 2 o clock, and I just woke up. Although that isnt unusual the fact that i feel unrested is. I drink more water and hate myself a little more after every sip. Its Sunday - my only real full day off - half of it is already gone, and it will be a couple more hours until i feel good enough to leave my house. I curse the morning and ask myself if it was realy worth it then i remember it was. The venue is called freedom and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite places of all time passing the likes of the linebacker, cafe campus, zolies, any fredonia bar, and arguably even biftek. More alarming is that it is finding a place in my regular weekly routine. I have tried going to other places the past two weekends for variety's sake but they dont even come close to Freedom. For 500 NT (New Taiwanese Dollars) divide by 30 to get canadian dollars, its all you can drink. Beer. Mixed drinks. Shots. As good as a deal as that is, they also have a free bbq on Saturdays, which consists of chicken, corn, tofu, peppers, and pork. This place closes when you leave and the bbq tends to fizzle around 5am. I dont know what time i stopped drinking and left but the sun was defineately up. Throw in some free foozeball, and you have the disney land of bars. This place obviously turns into a shit show, and its not unusual to find yourself, or your boss, dancing shirtless or pantsless on a bench getting spanked with a fly swatter by some tiny sexy Taiwanese girl. Its also a great opportunity to learn chinese when playing drinking games with the locals who love getting shitfaced with you. I think im gonna try to arrange a century club there for my best friensd birthday. Im sure theyd be happy to cater to that. Man this place is great. So great it deserves its own post. I think im one episode of 24 away from starting my day. Heres to freedom
My Fairy Godmother
Well friends, it's February 10th which means summer is here...well by north american standards anyway. I think it was about 25 or 26 degrees a couple days this week. Yep after two long months it looks like the shorts are just about ready to come out of retirement. Gotta love it. On to an update...
This week i picked up my first private student. Private students are the sweetest deals a foreign English teacher can find. This is because the going rate for one-on-one tutoring is about 30 bucks canadian an hour. In Taiwan this is an outrageous amount of money to spend in an hour. Seriously i feel kinda like a prostitute working for this kind of money except... well I teach English. Turns out her name is Fairy (Hence the title of this post). Now might be a good time to mention that girls here have English names that you'd normally only find at the Brass Rail, Supersex, or your local gentleman's club back home. I teach many young female scholars with names such as: Candy, Angel, Cherry, Chocolate, and CoCo. Oh and I teach a guy named wood. Anyways Fairy is a middle-aged-mom who runs a business out of her home and can afford the luxury of private tutoring up to 5 days a week for an hour and a half at a time. Clearly i am VERY happy about this. As for the actual tutoring session well its pretty great. I show up and she has a magazine article ready to go. I read through it with her a couple of times, helping her with her pronounciation. I explain to her the subtle differences pronounciation can have on a word's meaning. She now understands the difference between celery and salary. I have done a good job. Then we drink tea and talk freely. When she uses bad grammar I write down her sentence and show her how to correct it. She tells me I am a great teacher and I agree. She might even tell her friends about me. I hope this can continue for as long as possible.
I aquired this private through a friend of mine named Joey. She teaches adults and one of her students just happend to be Fairy. Joey is a lady i met who does far more for me then she should. Some western guys ive met have confirmed that Taiwanese women will practically bend over backwards for a man. If a guy calls a girl and tells her to meet him somewhere 90% chance the girl will drop whatever it is she's doing and show up. I have even seen an ugly occurance while shrimp fishing, where a guy got really angry at his girlfriend, threw a tantrum and broke a chair against the wall. He stormed off and like a dog the girl went chasing after him. Shit like that is just fucked up. I think that may be one of the reasons why the locals are so attracted to western guys. We just expect less. We dont expect them to drop everything for us. Someone I met dated a Taiwnaese guy who was always overly concerned about her being on her own. Just an interesting cultural difference i thought I'd point out. I guess I should do something nice for Joey since she has hooked me up huge with this private tutoring gig.
Next week is Chinese New Year which means a 9 day vacation. One of my chinese co teachers has graciously invited me to her house to partake in the festivities. I am very excited about that. The next day, Ill be headed down to the south of Taiwan to a tropical resort called Kenting (providing i can still get a bus.train ticket). There is a beach where i am hoping to learn how to surf a bit. There are also some gorgeous montains and hot springs. There are at least 13 of us going down so it should be a great time. I am very excited about the whole thing. Life is good, and it only gets better by the day
This week i picked up my first private student. Private students are the sweetest deals a foreign English teacher can find. This is because the going rate for one-on-one tutoring is about 30 bucks canadian an hour. In Taiwan this is an outrageous amount of money to spend in an hour. Seriously i feel kinda like a prostitute working for this kind of money except... well I teach English. Turns out her name is Fairy (Hence the title of this post). Now might be a good time to mention that girls here have English names that you'd normally only find at the Brass Rail, Supersex, or your local gentleman's club back home. I teach many young female scholars with names such as: Candy, Angel, Cherry, Chocolate, and CoCo. Oh and I teach a guy named wood. Anyways Fairy is a middle-aged-mom who runs a business out of her home and can afford the luxury of private tutoring up to 5 days a week for an hour and a half at a time. Clearly i am VERY happy about this. As for the actual tutoring session well its pretty great. I show up and she has a magazine article ready to go. I read through it with her a couple of times, helping her with her pronounciation. I explain to her the subtle differences pronounciation can have on a word's meaning. She now understands the difference between celery and salary. I have done a good job. Then we drink tea and talk freely. When she uses bad grammar I write down her sentence and show her how to correct it. She tells me I am a great teacher and I agree. She might even tell her friends about me. I hope this can continue for as long as possible.
I aquired this private through a friend of mine named Joey. She teaches adults and one of her students just happend to be Fairy. Joey is a lady i met who does far more for me then she should. Some western guys ive met have confirmed that Taiwanese women will practically bend over backwards for a man. If a guy calls a girl and tells her to meet him somewhere 90% chance the girl will drop whatever it is she's doing and show up. I have even seen an ugly occurance while shrimp fishing, where a guy got really angry at his girlfriend, threw a tantrum and broke a chair against the wall. He stormed off and like a dog the girl went chasing after him. Shit like that is just fucked up. I think that may be one of the reasons why the locals are so attracted to western guys. We just expect less. We dont expect them to drop everything for us. Someone I met dated a Taiwnaese guy who was always overly concerned about her being on her own. Just an interesting cultural difference i thought I'd point out. I guess I should do something nice for Joey since she has hooked me up huge with this private tutoring gig.
Next week is Chinese New Year which means a 9 day vacation. One of my chinese co teachers has graciously invited me to her house to partake in the festivities. I am very excited about that. The next day, Ill be headed down to the south of Taiwan to a tropical resort called Kenting (providing i can still get a bus.train ticket). There is a beach where i am hoping to learn how to surf a bit. There are also some gorgeous montains and hot springs. There are at least 13 of us going down so it should be a great time. I am very excited about the whole thing. Life is good, and it only gets better by the day
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