Blogs from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Asia - page 2

On our return from our 19 day holiday trip to China and Northern Thailand, Linda's first day of school was in the new building. How exciting! They didn't get much work done as the students and faculty settled into their new surroundings. On Tuesday, April 21st, Linda's daughter Kristen and her boyfriend Brett arrived. Brett was to spend 2 weeks, and Kristen was doing a shortened international teaching internship at KAS. She had finished her Education classes and internship by mid April, and took time and opportunity to join Linda at her school for a month before returning to Saskatoon to convocate. Maurice, Kristen and Brett did some sightseeing in Kaohsiung and visited Linda at school a few times. Then on the weekend, we were off to Hualien, taking a late afternoon train. We went to ... read more

This afternoon I met my best friend, who is Finnish, at the subway station called "World Games". This is where Kaoshuing's largest sporting arena is located. Looks like it could seat ten of thousands of people. More significantly, there is an extremely gorgeous, peaceful, natural area, just right outside the gaming area. So when there are no events going on, you can experience blessed quietness and beauty so little felt in the bustling city scene. At the outset of this exploration, my friend (Kiya) and I had no clue how to get to this place. It wasn't far from the subway station, but there were blockades everywhere because there were so many private facilities nearby. And then--we saw it~ just across the fence! But how to cross it? At long last, Kiya asked an older lady--how ... read more

We had lovely flights for our return trip to Kaohsiung. The trip went according to plan, and we arrived in Kaohsiung late Monday evening. We were pleasantly surprised at how clean and fresh our apartment was despite the heat and humidity that is so oppressive here. After a short, sleepless night, Linda was off to school the very next morning. She had Tuesday to Friday without students, and there were meetings, class to set up and a million things to prepare. Maurice would usually spend a few hours every day helping out where he could, and that was a huge help. He became quite popular with the other teachers and known for his help and subbing capabilities. Monday the 11th of August, Linda's new class of 17 grade 4's showed up all bright eyed and bushy-tailed. ... read more

Wow, it's the end of September, and we haven't blogged since returning from Thailand and Cambodia at the beginning of April! Where does the time go? On April 6th,2014 we arrived back to our apartment in Kaohsiung on a Sunday evening and quickly settled back into our routines. Joanne, Linda's cousin had met us in Bangkok and journeyed with us through Cambodia. While we returned to Kaohsiung, she took an extra week and traveled to the Cambodian coast along with Rene, our Canadian friend that we met in Mexico, who is now from Switzerland. Joanne made her way to the Cambodian-Thailand border, and then on to Bangkok. The next day, she caught a flight to Kaohsiung to spend the next 10 days with us. Saturday, we took in a professional baseball league game here in Kaohsiung; ... read more

I really liked this city, Kaohsiung. The night market I went to (Rueifang) was amazing. And I managed to identify the food I bought :) so I got chicken heart on a stick, egg+sausage+cheese encased in some sort of dough and roasted squid and also green tea. I didn't see a single western face while I was there (and I went around a few time before I could decide what to eat). I definitively recommend that night market. The second evening I somehow ended in the fashion district of Kaohsiung. It's Shinkugan shopping district (east of Central Park). The lanes are filled with shops selling fashionable clothes and the young crowd that goes with it. It is kind of a tame version of Takeshita-dori in Harajuku (Tokyo). I felt a little bit out of place with ... read more