I wanted to send a quick update - i am at the taipei airport getting ready to board. Don't stop reading just yet though. As soon as I can I will add info about my last day; final impressions; and many more pictures. .. [View Full Entry]

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Today our group flew half-way across Taiwan to spend the day at Taroko National Park near Hualien. I don’t know enough superlatives to describe the place’s beauty and appeal. Very simply, though, the National Park was a great break from the bustle and humidity of the city of Taipei. At a higher altitude and different climate, the park was comfortable and refreshing. The primary attraction to the park is Taroko Gorge. Adding to the beauty of the deep canyons is the material from which they are composed: marble. We drove up to the visitor center of the park and met [View Full Entry]

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Shopping in Taiwan has been an experience I won’t forget. I may have mentioned a tailor across the street from the hotel in an earlier post. I ordered a custom-made shirt from him the first day we were here for $25US. I got it last night and it fits quite well. Now that he has my measurements, I can order custom-made shirts from him and have them shipped, still for less than many dress-shirts I would buy in the U.S off-the-rack. One or two of the guys got suits made and all of us got shirts. One of the ladies on [View Full Entry]

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Marsha asked what my Chinese name is and I keep forgetting to post my picture of one of my nameplates. Can't find these characters on my keyboard... [View Full Entry]

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Today we had five meetings. Five meetings does not sound that daunting, but the formal meetings with the other activities including meals add up to days that are so exhausting that I can recall few days during the legislative session when I was as completely worn down as right now. I'll feel better when I sleep and a lot of it is the humidity that this desert boy will never get used to - even as humid as it is in Central Texas in the summer. I don't feel sick, but no one else in the group is sweating like [View Full Entry]

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We threw everything we had at them. Doctor choice, patient privacy, prescription formularies... The Taiwan National Health Insurance plan is something for Americans to envy. Our group's combination of public policy experience, professional expertise, and business experience provided a steady barrage of questions for the officials of the Taiwan Health System. The system is a model for universal health care coverage. The cost of the system is covered by a 4.55% payroll tax and covers the 22.7 million citizens of Taiwan and foreigners with resident permits. Of the 18,000 medical facil [View Full Entry]

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I really, really am going to bed after this - it's about 1:30 now and I can't believe I'm still awake. But I keep forgetting to mention the food. I brought large enough luggage that I could bring some additional things back home, I am not sure I brought large enough clothes to fit me back home. We have been eating amazingly well - from the restaurants in the hotel to street vendors, it has been non-stop eating. Nearly every meeting we attend they give us food. While food from street vendors has certainly been an adventure, it was a meal [View Full Entry]

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(I have posted a couple more entries below this one and have added a number of pictures to the old posts...) Today after we visited the American Institute in Taiwan, we had four other meetings with: The Bureau of National Health Insurance (very impressive), the Taipei County Governor, the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, and the Director of the Department of Overseas Affairs for the KMT political party. All of the meeting were very informative, but I look forward most to telling you about the meeting at the Health Insurance Bureau. That will have to [View Full Entry]

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It has been a very long day. I can't say that I have fully adjusted to the time change - it is after midnight here and I need to go to bed soon, but I want to talk about some of the things we did today. I'll finish covering today tomorrow. I am torn. Our first meeting of the day was with the American would-be ambassador to Taiwan if we officially recognized Taiwan as a country. Since we don't he is called the "Director of the American Institute in Taiwan." The Director (~ambassador) Stephen Young left me unsettled and at a [View Full Entry]

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As I was looking through some of the pictures I have taken I realized that I needed to write a posting about some of the things we've been seeing around Taipei - some very foreign, some familiar. One immediately and obviously different experience is the traffic. It is chaotic and complex, but somehow flows amazingly efficiently. The largest difference from traffic in U.S. cities is the use of the scooter. I have been trying and trying to capture a picture of the number of scooters on the street, but have had a tough time getting a representative example. There is [View Full Entry]

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