chinaadventure (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} chinaadventure) wrote,@ 2006-07-31 14:52:00 |
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Tainan - a trip north and a change of plans
After finals ended in June, some friends and I decided to take a trip to Hualien, Yilan and Taipei for a few days to visit classmates. In Hualien we were able to stay with my classmate Hanning Xu and her family, who treated us to an excellent home-cooked meal including breadfruit soup. On our first day in Hualien, Hanning and her younger sister Weining took us to Carp Lake, where we were able to ride a paddleboat out into the middle of the lake for a stunning view. However, they advised us not to try swimming in the lake, as the water is stagnant. Our attempt to get a better lakeside view by climbing an aboriginal watchtower was foiled by some construction workers who told us to get down, it was closed for renovation. We consoled ourselves with freshly made ice cream cones at the sugar factory before heading home for dinner.
On the second day, we woke up early and drove out to Taroko Gorge. Views of the steep forested walls of the gorge and the surging rapids at its base make Taroko Gorge a major tourist attraction in Taiwan. We stopped at several sites while driving through the gorge, including a shrine to honor the laborers who died building the road and a small grotto for swallows overlooking the rapids on the valley floor. Further up the road, we walked through at a tourist center and five-star hotel, where I enjoyed a lunch of sweet rice steamed in bamboo cooked by a Taroko aboriginal woman outside the hotel doorway. Hanning told us that the situation for native Taiwanese in this part of Taiwan has improved greatly over the last several years; twenty years ago, it was not unknown for impoverished native families to sell their daughters into prostitution.
The following day, we headed north by train to Yilan, where we visited the tourist center for the recently opened Taipei-Yilan expressway, which includes the longest tunnel in the world. My classmate Steven Lin said the new expressway shortens travel time between the two cities from over two hours to forty-five minutes. Our journey by car through the main tunnel alone took over twenty minutes. In Taipei we also hiked on Yangming Mountain, which is an active volcano famous for its hot springs. Steven mentioned it was possible to hike all the way up to the peak, but Taipei people prefer to "hike" by driving to the top, so that's what we did, though once at the top we did manage a short hike to see a waterfall. By the time we arrived at the bus station for the trip back to Tainan, I was tired but pleased to have seen a little more of Taiwan.
Back in Tainan, I thought over how much I enjoyed touring the country and how much of it I hadn't seen yet. I decided that July 10, my original departure date, was too soon and it would be much better to teach English in Taiwan for the summer. I was fortunate to find plenty of demand for this service. I now teach a variety of students from five to twenty-eight years old, including four teenagers. This has required me to adapt to the English level of my students; some days I will discuss advanced grammar and essay-writing with my classmates and two hours later teach a pair of five-year-olds, where a typical conversation begins, "It my turn!" "No, it not your turn! You a poo-poo head!" Despite the occasional frustrations of teaching, I am enjoying my last few weeks in Taiwan and will be sad to leave so soon.
Photos from Hualien and Taipei: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a
After finals ended in June, some friends and I decided to take a trip to Hualien, Yilan and Taipei for a few days to visit classmates. In Hualien we were able to stay with my classmate Hanning Xu and her family, who treated us to an excellent home-cooked meal including breadfruit soup. On our first day in Hualien, Hanning and her younger sister Weining took us to Carp Lake, where we were able to ride a paddleboat out into the middle of the lake for a stunning view. However, they advised us not to try swimming in the lake, as the water is stagnant. Our attempt to get a better lakeside view by climbing an aboriginal watchtower was foiled by some construction workers who told us to get down, it was closed for renovation. We consoled ourselves with freshly made ice cream cones at the sugar factory before heading home for dinner.
On the second day, we woke up early and drove out to Taroko Gorge. Views of the steep forested walls of the gorge and the surging rapids at its base make Taroko Gorge a major tourist attraction in Taiwan. We stopped at several sites while driving through the gorge, including a shrine to honor the laborers who died building the road and a small grotto for swallows overlooking the rapids on the valley floor. Further up the road, we walked through at a tourist center and five-star hotel, where I enjoyed a lunch of sweet rice steamed in bamboo cooked by a Taroko aboriginal woman outside the hotel doorway. Hanning told us that the situation for native Taiwanese in this part of Taiwan has improved greatly over the last several years; twenty years ago, it was not unknown for impoverished native families to sell their daughters into prostitution.
The following day, we headed north by train to Yilan, where we visited the tourist center for the recently opened Taipei-Yilan expressway, which includes the longest tunnel in the world. My classmate Steven Lin said the new expressway shortens travel time between the two cities from over two hours to forty-five minutes. Our journey by car through the main tunnel alone took over twenty minutes. In Taipei we also hiked on Yangming Mountain, which is an active volcano famous for its hot springs. Steven mentioned it was possible to hike all the way up to the peak, but Taipei people prefer to "hike" by driving to the top, so that's what we did, though once at the top we did manage a short hike to see a waterfall. By the time we arrived at the bus station for the trip back to Tainan, I was tired but pleased to have seen a little more of Taiwan.
Back in Tainan, I thought over how much I enjoyed touring the country and how much of it I hadn't seen yet. I decided that July 10, my original departure date, was too soon and it would be much better to teach English in Taiwan for the summer. I was fortunate to find plenty of demand for this service. I now teach a variety of students from five to twenty-eight years old, including four teenagers. This has required me to adapt to the English level of my students; some days I will discuss advanced grammar and essay-writing with my classmates and two hours later teach a pair of five-year-olds, where a typical conversation begins, "It my turn!" "No, it not your turn! You a poo-poo head!" Despite the occasional frustrations of teaching, I am enjoying my last few weeks in Taiwan and will be sad to leave so soon.
Photos from Hualien and Taipei: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a
