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Published: September 9th 2007
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Magnificent Taroko
The grandeur of the place is incredible. How do you top a wonderful weekend in Hualien City? It seems that the answer is simple, “wait until the next weekend, and have another one”.
Friday night was a run-of-the-mill blast—beer with my pals from the August orientation at a bang-up waterfront place in Hualien Port, followed by a gourmet Thai meal. Everyone was very anxious to meet Lao-puo.
The only anecdote worth mentioning is that on the way into town a yahoo in a red sports car whipped up too close to Esmerelda and cut us off, so close that Lao-puo had to lift her leg out of the road. I caught up to the guy at the next red light and (uncharacteristically for me) gave him an earful of Anglo-Saxon scatological epithets, for the betterment of his intellect and for the amelioration of his driving habits.
We went to bed early, because Saturday was going to be a big day. And so it was. First thing in the morning we fired up Esmerelda and whipped down to Hualien “Ho Che” Station (ho che = fire car = train). We met up with some of the staff and students from Suzanne’s university, and off we went
Our Gaggle Listening to the Chamber Music
The setting was grand, as so was the music. I used to hate chamber music when I was a kid. We used to call it chamber pot music. to the Taroko Gorge Music Festival.
The train fare was less than a dollar each, the shuttle bus to the festival was free, and there was no admission fee.
The first part of the festival was a string ensemble in a location that was on a par with Yosemite. Sort of. The cliffs in Yosemite are granite, but they are marble in Taroko.
The second part was in an outdoor amphitheatre near the park headquarters, and consisted of aboriginal dancing and then a symphony orchestra.
I would say that the whole thing compared favourably with Victoria’s Symphony Splash in terms of (not just the setting) but the quality and type of music. The morning string group did a lot of Mozart and the Can-Can, and the symphony orchestra did Dvorak’s New World Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture--among other selections.
It has often been said that I am a “you can dress him up but you can’t take him out” kind of guy. During the afternoon, we were seated on low bamboo benches that could have been used during the Inquisition to motivate guys to recant their heresies. After an hour I thought to myself “If
Aboriginal Dancing is Colourful and Exciting...
..even though the themes are mostly about day-to-day activities (harvest, fishing, etc). I sit here much longer, I’ll end up in traction. I’ve got to get up and stretch”.
At an appropriate time (so I thought--between selections and while a blowhard was making a speech) I stood up. Mercifully, we had Chinese companions who noticed people looking at me. Whitney vigourously waved me to my seat, because the speaker was at that moment introducing some bigwigs who stood in turn to be acknowledged. I would have looked like a fool, waving and smiling to everyone.
The people at Agape House (the alcohol and drug place where Lao-puo will be volunteering) are putting on a Christmas party for children whose parents are in prison. Annie (the minister’s wife) has Santa and Mrs. Claus costumes for Lao-puo and me to play the roles. It will be fun, and I am even growing my beard back for the occasion.
Now another weekend has come and gone. We had Friday night dinner in Guangfu with Amber and Erin (two of my colleagues), and ended up with a Chinese feast because they can read. Dinner was traditional home-cooked Taiwanese dishings-up of which we are particularly fond.
Saturday morning I took Lao-puo through the
mountains and down to Fongbin, then north along the coast into the city. We stopped frequently in the mountains and along the beach to look at the flowers and the crashing surf.
To my utter astonishment, Lao-puo loves being on the motorbike. She has had a few minor spills on her own machine, but has only been hurt slightly from the third fall. All were from a stopped position and involved not using the throttle enough before lifting her feet. Guangfu, and the country roads around here, are great for practice—neither of us wants her riding in the city until her skills are up to snuff. Having a motorbike is a lot more useful than having a car—parking and crowding are nightmares around here. Lao-puo has been finding that even though she is a good car-driver and bicycle-rider, motorbike skills include a few different twists.
We usually have Saturday lunch at the Sushi Express in Carrefour—a French department store in Hualien (stores throughout the county)—it’s only about $9 for all the sushi two of us can eat—no tax and no tip.
We stayed at Agape House overnight on Saturday—a nice dry Saturday night for the first
The Government Seems to go to Go to Great Lengths...
...to preserve aboriginal language, history, and culture. time in a few weeks—and had a smashing morning walk before church and then a great Thai lunch with the preacher and his wife afterwards. The surrounding area is quite stunningly beautiful. It was a warm morning (high twenties) and we enjoyed the flowers and the mountains. I brought Lao-puo home on Hwy 193 through the hills, and she was so relaxed that she nearly fell asleep behind me. Neither of us had slept well the night before, because of the piercing sound of the bell from the level railway crossing 100 m or so away from where we were zizzing down—or at least trying to.
Now it is Sunday night. I have one Grade nine class tomorrow morning, and my drama class in the afternoon. Tuesday and Wednesday I have no classes at all, because there are mid-term exams going on.
It’s hard to believe that I have been away nearly four months. The time is just flying by, and Lao-puo has been here going on four weeks. I feel a very satisfying sense of professional accomplishment already.
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