Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Farewell Taiwan
I'm typing from the lounge at Taipei's Chiang Hai-Shek airport, with about an hour to go before my 12h flight to Los Angeles to visit Phil, Alex and Elliott. I will cross the international date line so am confusingly scheduled to arrive 2.5h before I set off!
The past few days in Taipei since my last post have been nice. I met up with two friends I made in Taroko Gorge and we visited the Chiang Hai-Shek memorial hall. I've also attended the yearly Dragon Boat racing festival, catching a few races on the final. Just think of Hawaii-5-O with a ornately carved and painted boat and you're nearly there. Good fun, and compared to the UK's stuffy Oxbridge boat race each year, this is an invitational event so teams from all over get to compete in stages around the country then meet for the finals here in Taipei over a weekend in June. Final this year was between Japan and a Taipei University team! It would be great if the UK had a similar system, I'm sure my alma mater Loughborough University would give the old guard of Oxford & Cambridge a run for their money! As I walked along with an ice cream I was hollered at by some inebriated locals enjoying themselves and asked to join them. Turns out they were a team of aboriginal Taiwanese (from near Taroko Gorge!) who had been knocked out a day or two earlier but staying on to see the finals. With them were Clare, Greg and Anna, students from America, Canada and Germany respectively, on an exchange arranged with the Taiwan Rotary Club. Lots of fun but my dodgy stomach had to decline the Taiwan beer and tiny snails offered to me!
I also visited Longshan Temple and 'Snake Alley', where you can see snakes handled, annoyed and murdered (I didn't), and drink various fluids of snake origin. No thanks!
In 2001 when I finished my time working in Beijing I was really sad to leave, the first time a city had that effect on me. I would say leaving Taiwan is also a sad experience; my 10 days here have just flown by, even without any preplanned friends to meet up with here. As with all my stops in Asia, I have found the people incredibly friendly and welcoming, but I would rank Taiwan's people as the most friendly I have ever met. Even a few words of Chinese asking directions or checking underground train journey details often lead to a short conversation. My only frustration is that I'd say I'm getting very accomplished at the same conversation topics and am frequently floored when it comes to any on-the-spot situations! The words 'zhei ge' ['this'] and a pointing finger is good for a while but I need more vocabulary!
I think it's about time I devoted some sentences to the many friendly people I have met during my journey. This is not exhaustive (sorry if you read this and have been omitted!) but I hope it gives an indication of how many people are being put in my path to guide & help me, and give me companionship.
In Singapore, I met some really friendly people from Indonesia and an elderly Korean couple on Sentosa island. At the Raffles' "Long Bar", a handful of adjacent tables seated four people all from Lancashire, England (that's how I learned of Chelsea's defeat to Liverpool!). I was also lucky to meet Jeannette's brother Richard and his wife, along with a couple involved with the OMF charity in the region.
In Indonesia, aside from touching base with Michael's family I found a good friend in Simon, a teacher from Kent. We travelled to see Borobudur together.
In Beijing I was blessed with meeting not just Trevor, Farah and Michelle, but I managed to get in contact with my old friend Mr Ye and colleagues from my last trip to Beijing. Several other work colleagues also turned out to be over from England, it was great to be back at the Big Easy bar with them again 4 years down the line. Seeing JJ again was an unexpected surprise too!
In Shanghai I had a great afternoon exchanging English/Chinese lessons with 3 students in a KFC, and in the beautiful Yu Yuan gardens I met 4 lovely English tourists; I'd say my meeting Teresa must have been pre-ordained!
In Taiwan I made two friends in Keiichi and Sue, we somehow managed to communicate despite being English, Taiwanese & Japanese! The Hotel Les Suites in Da'an, Taipei was like a home away from home, I was made to feel very welcome indeed by all staff, and was deeply moved today when I received a signed "Farewell" card from all the staff and a gift of some Taiwanese tea. Even the night porter Stanley signed the card in mandarin! The other night I was helped in my efforts to have a haircut by a girl who (correctly!) translated my requirements for the barber, and as is often the case we exchanged help with languages. I also enjoyed teaching some English to the masseuse Sally and her colleague in Taipei after the great massage to recharge myself before Taroko Gorge.
Loreta, Victoria and Jason were very welcoming members of the Grace Road Baptist Church in Taipei, and Loreta even took me to see Danshui and the YWAM cafe there.
Two nights ago I ate at 'The Pepper House', a Japanese chain which serves the meat raw on a stupidly hot iron dish, whereupon you cook it yourself using chopsticks. I had lots of problems understanding this procedure - the menu showed raw meat which concerned me - until I saw the adjacent table's order arrive sizzling away on the dish! University friends will remember my love of peppered steak, and this was almost the perfect meal! Afterwards I offered to write the procedure in English ready for the next daft foreigner, and in return the manager Lynn gave a 20% discount! The food was so good I ate there again tonight before leaving Taipei!
So all in all, I have really been blessed with many great conversations with people of all nationalities. I'd like to say thanks to all those who have helped or provided great company during my journey so far and those who will do so in the US in coming weeks.
God bless.
Martin
The past few days in Taipei since my last post have been nice. I met up with two friends I made in Taroko Gorge and we visited the Chiang Hai-Shek memorial hall. I've also attended the yearly Dragon Boat racing festival, catching a few races on the final. Just think of Hawaii-5-O with a ornately carved and painted boat and you're nearly there. Good fun, and compared to the UK's stuffy Oxbridge boat race each year, this is an invitational event so teams from all over get to compete in stages around the country then meet for the finals here in Taipei over a weekend in June. Final this year was between Japan and a Taipei University team! It would be great if the UK had a similar system, I'm sure my alma mater Loughborough University would give the old guard of Oxford & Cambridge a run for their money! As I walked along with an ice cream I was hollered at by some inebriated locals enjoying themselves and asked to join them. Turns out they were a team of aboriginal Taiwanese (from near Taroko Gorge!) who had been knocked out a day or two earlier but staying on to see the finals. With them were Clare, Greg and Anna, students from America, Canada and Germany respectively, on an exchange arranged with the Taiwan Rotary Club. Lots of fun but my dodgy stomach had to decline the Taiwan beer and tiny snails offered to me!
I also visited Longshan Temple and 'Snake Alley', where you can see snakes handled, annoyed and murdered (I didn't), and drink various fluids of snake origin. No thanks!
In 2001 when I finished my time working in Beijing I was really sad to leave, the first time a city had that effect on me. I would say leaving Taiwan is also a sad experience; my 10 days here have just flown by, even without any preplanned friends to meet up with here. As with all my stops in Asia, I have found the people incredibly friendly and welcoming, but I would rank Taiwan's people as the most friendly I have ever met. Even a few words of Chinese asking directions or checking underground train journey details often lead to a short conversation. My only frustration is that I'd say I'm getting very accomplished at the same conversation topics and am frequently floored when it comes to any on-the-spot situations! The words 'zhei ge' ['this'] and a pointing finger is good for a while but I need more vocabulary!
I think it's about time I devoted some sentences to the many friendly people I have met during my journey. This is not exhaustive (sorry if you read this and have been omitted!) but I hope it gives an indication of how many people are being put in my path to guide & help me, and give me companionship.
In Singapore, I met some really friendly people from Indonesia and an elderly Korean couple on Sentosa island. At the Raffles' "Long Bar", a handful of adjacent tables seated four people all from Lancashire, England (that's how I learned of Chelsea's defeat to Liverpool!). I was also lucky to meet Jeannette's brother Richard and his wife, along with a couple involved with the OMF charity in the region.
In Indonesia, aside from touching base with Michael's family I found a good friend in Simon, a teacher from Kent. We travelled to see Borobudur together.
In Beijing I was blessed with meeting not just Trevor, Farah and Michelle, but I managed to get in contact with my old friend Mr Ye and colleagues from my last trip to Beijing. Several other work colleagues also turned out to be over from England, it was great to be back at the Big Easy bar with them again 4 years down the line. Seeing JJ again was an unexpected surprise too!
In Shanghai I had a great afternoon exchanging English/Chinese lessons with 3 students in a KFC, and in the beautiful Yu Yuan gardens I met 4 lovely English tourists; I'd say my meeting Teresa must have been pre-ordained!
In Taiwan I made two friends in Keiichi and Sue, we somehow managed to communicate despite being English, Taiwanese & Japanese! The Hotel Les Suites in Da'an, Taipei was like a home away from home, I was made to feel very welcome indeed by all staff, and was deeply moved today when I received a signed "Farewell" card from all the staff and a gift of some Taiwanese tea. Even the night porter Stanley signed the card in mandarin! The other night I was helped in my efforts to have a haircut by a girl who (correctly!) translated my requirements for the barber, and as is often the case we exchanged help with languages. I also enjoyed teaching some English to the masseuse Sally and her colleague in Taipei after the great massage to recharge myself before Taroko Gorge.
Loreta, Victoria and Jason were very welcoming members of the Grace Road Baptist Church in Taipei, and Loreta even took me to see Danshui and the YWAM cafe there.
Two nights ago I ate at 'The Pepper House', a Japanese chain which serves the meat raw on a stupidly hot iron dish, whereupon you cook it yourself using chopsticks. I had lots of problems understanding this procedure - the menu showed raw meat which concerned me - until I saw the adjacent table's order arrive sizzling away on the dish! University friends will remember my love of peppered steak, and this was almost the perfect meal! Afterwards I offered to write the procedure in English ready for the next daft foreigner, and in return the manager Lynn gave a 20% discount! The food was so good I ate there again tonight before leaving Taipei!
So all in all, I have really been blessed with many great conversations with people of all nationalities. I'd like to say thanks to all those who have helped or provided great company during my journey so far and those who will do so in the US in coming weeks.
God bless.
Martin
