Taichung Part 1 - Saturday day

Last weekend I took a trip to Taichung. Taichung is a city in central Taiwan (it's name literally means Taiwan Central, in Chinese). With a population of a little over 1 million, Taichung is the third biggest city in Taiwan. It also has the best weather on the island. Just as hot as anywhere, but not nearly as humid, it was a welcome respite from the stifling humidity of Taipei. We left Taipei on a bus and arrived in Taichung at around 3:00 PM. First priority was to find a hotel. Luckily, the area around the train station has plenty of hotels, and cheap ones too. We ended up at the "Formosa Hotel" in the same buildings as the David's English branch in Taichung.

After settling in, we went to get some food. Our goal was to walk towards a big park at the end of a stream running through the city. Unfortunately, the map was much easier to follow than the actual city roads. Next thing we know, we're at the opposite end of the park, and we hadn't even eaten! We decided to head through the park, creatively named Taichung Park. It was an interesting park, as you can see in the pictures. Peaceful, green, and quiet; all things you don't usually see in Taiwanese cities. My favorite part was this tower we found. Pretty interesting.









After exiting the park, under the watchful eye of the giant goat, we were almost immediately in the middle of a big market, excellent news because at this point, I was famished. We first got some sandwich things that were amazingly delicious. The market was packed and it was slow going but I managed to get some of my favorite quail eggs on a stick, as well as a wrap type thing that was delicious, although Tyler did not like his at all. The market was fun, and when we were finished we headed back to the hotel to relax for a few hours and then to hit the town.



The Saturday evening review will be coming shortly. If you want to see all of my pictures, just click here.

They're just pictures!

I'm pretty sure it was a rock hard commitment, given by then candidate Obama, to release all information, including pictures, of any detainee abuse. Now, I'm a Republican, so I don't like playing gotcha politics, but this is ridiculous. I agree 100% with President Obama's decision, but why is this a reversal? Why would he ever have made this commitment? Is it possible he flat out lied to his supporters, and they bought it hook, line, and sinker. Or did he truly believe that he could follow through?

Me and Barack

I met Barack Obama this weekend. I didn't expect to meet him in Taiwan, but he was out greeting people, welcoming us to a restaurant called Miami Heat. The food was ok, but hey, how often do you get to meet the President.

Mother's Day in Taiwan

In Taiwan, and Korea as well, most English schools can be found within a five minute walking distance of the big public schools. My school is no different. We are located about 100 meters from the main entrance to Bie Hu Elementary School. Most of our students come from Bie Hu. As soon as the public school finishes, they walk right on over to Auntie Ma School for English and Math classes.

Sunday is also Mother's Day in Taiwan. So today, Saturday, Bie Hu school had a Mother's Day celebration. My boss thought it would be a good idea to hand out fliers to all the parents who attended the festival. Oh ya, did I forget to mention that my friend Erik Miller, the guy I graduated with and went to Korea with is in Taipei for a visit. Erik still lives in Korea. So, needless to say, last night we were out and about until about 6:00 AM, and I had to wake up at about 7:30 to head to work. As I'm writing this, I am feeling pretty tired...and hungry.

So anyway, the festival was pretty interesting. The layout of the school is different than most schools in the states. As you can see, it has a central courtyard where the sports "fields" are, surrounded by the school itself. The tents had assorted snacks and games to play, mostly made by the kids so the quality wasn't exactly top notch. My favorite part of the day was the water balloons. Basically, you buy some pre filled water balloons, and throw them at the students, who more or less line up along a wall. Two of my students were participating in this, so I spent about $10 for at least 100 balloons. By the time I was finished they were pretty wet. As usual, I hav eposted some pictures here, but if you want to see more, just click here