Blogs from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Asia - page 3

The weeks fly by, up early, exercise, breakfast, school, homework, and with Maurice helping, the routine is becoming easier. Now that we are into November, a few more teachers are calling in sick, or are attending various workshops, and so the school has called Maurice to sub a few times. The first was to cover Linda's class for the afternoon while she attended an at school in-service. This is a whole new experience for Maurice, and he quickly realized how you must have structured activities for these Grade 4's, or they quickly become rambunctious. Things went well, despite a last minute scheduling change which created an extra half hour of class time that Maurice had to fill. We were pleased to have him sub, as now we know he has a work visa and health coverage ... read more

We're kinda missing the family so we make weekly calls home via Skype or our Magic Jack phone. The family is large and there is a lot to say and hear. It helps make living in another country manageable. Here are some of the unique things about living in Taiwan. NO TIPPING! They do not understand the concept, so it is impossible to leave a tip even if we would like to. They will chase us down the sidewalk to give us our dime in change. Because of all the scooters, the streets are very clean. They wash the wheels on large trucks before they leave a construction site. Otherwise, we would be sandblasted by the dirt on the roads. Scooter engine oil and gear oil change on Linda's new scooter......$10.25 for the best quality oil, ... read more

October 6th, 2013 We are now well settled, and know our way about somewhat. Days start here very early, as this culture gets up very early. By 5:30AM everyday the park across the street is lined with scooters driven by people who are already walking, stretching and exercising. We have established a routine, up at 5:45, Linda does a mini workout and gets ready for school. Maurice makes breakfast, and an hour later, Linda drives her NEW scooter to school. It is now October, and it is still hot and muggy. We must use the AC, otherwise it is unbearable. It is still 30-32C during the day, humidity around 60%, and at night 27-28C, 80%+ humidity. Let's backtrack a bit. At the end of August, we were hit by Typhoon Kang Rui which caused the school ... read more

Another travelling day today, from Kaohsiung to Chiayi. Before leaving there was time to go back to the Pier-2 Art District. The area consists of 15 or so warehouses that have been converted into galleries, as well as a lot of outdoor installations along the Love River cycle path, which I had already seen from a bicycle. One of the largest outdoor artworks is made of recycled shipping containers - an example from the annual Container Art Festival hosted in Kaohsiung, where art incorporating shipping containers is displayed. The art on display is generally edgy: the most "traditional" exhibition I saw was of a series of photographs of the Taiwanese travelling community, who travel with lorries that open up into garish stages (similar both technically and in style to fairground lorries) on which they perform (usually ... read more

One of Kaohsiung's biggest tourist attractions is Lotus Pond, a large man-made lake surrounded by a variety of temples and stautues of Buddhas and gods. Getting to the lake by bicycle is part of the experience - one long gentle cycle path from the harbour along Lover River leading all the way to the lake, crossing roads, the railway and going through the city's Hakka district and modern art district. Most of the cycle path is built through tress and parks, so although the temperature is approaching forty degrees, the ride is shady and cool. The main tourist draw are the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. At the entrance of the first pagoda is a huge tiger and the other a dragon. You are supposed to walk thorugh the mouth of the tiger and out of the ... read more