Lan Yu Island

Last weekend I went on a trip to LanYu, a small island off the south-east coast of Taiwan. It was stunningly beautiful and clean. It felt like Hawaii but smaller and not so touristy. There isn't even a supermarket on the whole island! There is only a 農會, or farmer's cooperative.

It was a great trip with awesome snorkeling, clean and clear water, and great people. I met a group of 4th and 5th graders who were also enjoying the water, and they were so curious about me. The native people look a lot like Maori or Samoans, dark skin and hair and athletic. Actually, LanYu was off-limits to the public until 1967, when learning Mandarin became compulsory. As a result, the culture is the best preserved of all aboriginals in Taiwan.

Enough talk! More pictures!A small village on the coast (1 of 4 on the whole island).

Pretty view from the road

Sunset

Cool rock formation

Can I teach here??!!

Some locals show me where to go rinse off after swimming in the ocean.

Travel buddies getting ready to go out scuba diving

Nice view from the hotel, huh?

Lan Yu Island from the sky.

The plane's on fire!! Oh... just mist? How strange, I've never been in a plane where this has happened before...

Only 11 days left till I'm back in Cali! Woo!

Students!

In between class periods, some students come upstairs to the 4th floor to do some sweeping: here are some pics!
Leo and Jason - both very bright 3rd graders!Michael, Joe 2, and Tony.
Joe 2 is one of my favorite 6th graders. Great attitude and a real stand-up guy with all his classmates. (the "2" is added because there are 2 Joes in their class. The one who sits in the front is "Joe 1".)

Trip to Kenting! (but no pics, sorry)

Due to corrupted data on my SD card, I lost all my cool pictures of Kenting this weekend! ARRGH!
Oh well, I had a blast, lots of snorkeling and scootering around, hiking in the National Forest, etc.
It has a cool night market too, lots of delicious things to eat. I tried a pineapple-cheese stuffed potato for the first time in my life :D It was better than it sounds. haha!

It was pretty touristy, but the water was clear and warm, and most people don't actually swim in the water, they splash on the shore. Especially in the morning, I had the whole cove to myself even at a crowded spot.

Well, now I have the itch to go back to the east coast for my 4-day weekend coming up... the question is: where? So many choices. Taidong? Hualian? Yi Lan? Lan Yu? Hopefully, wherever I end up going, my pictures aren't erased this time...

Pros and Cons

I guess I'm not cut out for "blogging". Sorry folks.

But I have been doing some reflecting on Taiwan, what I like, what I will miss, and what I won't. Here's the preliminary result:

I will miss:
the food. oooo sooooo delicious. :P*
the people. I've been treated really really kindly by everyone I've met. seriously the most hospitable people I've encountered.
the weather. i love the heat. everyday is warm, i can ride my scooter wearing a t-shirt at any time of day or night. only during the summer months do I feel it is TOO hot. it is sooo comfortable.

I won't miss:
driving in Taiwan. my life flashes before my eyes at every intersection. seriously.
being a pedestrian in Taiwan. because 1. sidewalks are spotty at best and 2. lack of sidewalks puts you right next to those insanely dangerous drivers mentioned above.
pollution. don't like that part at all.

OK, that's all I've got for now. I'll write more as it comes to me.

Lighter topic today!

Today I was perusing "engrish.com" site and found some funny ones... unfortunately I haven't found anything as amusing to share, so for now these will have to do!Only made with cute hamsters?

This is a special kind of fish that needs to be raised "private free".A Kevorkian original!

I'm a slacker!

Sorry, sorry...
Haven't updated the blog in a while... thank you to my friends who have reminded me of that fact ;)

So, a month ago or so, the English teachers of Taichung City took a trip to an "English Village" in Gaoxiong (高雄) and we did many cool things along the way! One of which is stopping at a cool museum.
As you can see, there were many fine works of art; paintings, artifacts, and statues, like the one I am indicating behind me in the picture above.

:) :)

Seriously... how does this happen???

I know it's a bit vulgar... but I couldn't resist. How does this happen? Ok, here's my theory.

"乾貨" is pronounced "gan huo" and it means "dry goods". Now let's look at the word:
"幹" --looks very similar to first word right? It has same pronunciation (gan) but is spoken with a different tone (and in some cases, does mean the "f" word). However, in Mainland China they use a simplified form of writing, and I'm assuming that the way to write "幹" and "乾" is the same (干). The translator translated the wrong "gan", thus creating the wrong translation.

Was that at all interesting to anybody?

Granted, the Chinese word does have that meaning in some situations, but I hardly think the "F" word would appear in any dictionaries! Right? I think the person hired to do the translation was having a bit of fun, thinking no English speaker would ever lay eyes on the signs. Haha!

I did not take these pictures, they come from somewhere in Mainland China (I repeat- NOT TAIWAN) -- quite funny nonetheless. 我覺得很有性趣! 哈哈 ;)

Helmetless kids in Taichung City

Everyday I am shocked at the number of kids being driven around on scooters by their parents! I've even seen moms driving with one hand and holding newborns in the other-- in the streets of Taichung City no less! Maybe out in the countryside, around the farm, quite streets is ok, but I've seen some really stupid driving moves here in the city. With the amount of crazy drivers here, I'm afraid this really gets to me. This afternoon I was out walking and I snapped a couple pictures of the ones that held still long enough for me to whip out the camera!


This is a typical scene- when they're big enough to stand, they take the front area of the scooter. Often there will be older kids sitting behind the driver as well.
If you look closely at the front of the scooter, you will see their helmets have been carefully placed in a basket for safekeeping during the trip. hm.

Happy New Years!

Cool sleepy Buddhas at Jin Se Si in Hualian
Big Daoist temple in Hualian. There are smaller versions of this that pop up everywhere.
Day 1- at the trailhead.
There are suspension bridges all along the trail, they give very beautiful views of the mountains!




They have pretty nice cabins set up out in the mountains.

Here are some pics from my little trip to Hualian...


He Nan Si, where I stayed the first few days