Blogs from Hualien, Taiwan, Asia - page 8

Our only real regret, apart from (but I guess connected to) distances from family and friends is the fact that we have not had any company from Canada—except my friend Peter and since we lived in the Submarine at the time he had to get a hotel room. How’s that for a run-on sentence? (And I’m supposed to be an English teacher!) We have become friends with our newest colleague Betty, who is from Saskatchewan but who now lives in Fongbin. Now there’s a transition! There’s not a grain elevator to be seen, and you can only watch your dog run away for two minutes instead of three days. She stayed overnight with us last Saturday. We went straight to “Carrefour” the French department store called “Jia le fu’ by the locals and “jelly fool” by ... read more

In Hualien I rented a motor scooter and set off into the Taroka Gorge National Park. I spent most of my day winding up and down the narrow serpentine highway 8. The making of the highway was a perilous endeavor as more than 400 workers lost their lives. There is a shrine in their honor not too far from the park entrance. I was so glad to be in the scenic gorge and its surrounding mountains after spending three nights in Taipei. I stayed the night in the small mountain oasis of Tiensang. There were two choices for budget hostels and I chose the shabbier of the two. The price, however, wasn’t too shabby, and I pretty much had the whole place to myself. There were two other guests that I met. One was an American ... read more

Even though this is my Chapter 11, I'm not going to talk about bankruptcy. Life is quite financially gentle in Taiwan. The weather is another story. We certainly had our “Krosa” to bear his weekend! Typhoon. Super Typhoon. Krosa. Here is the story in the Taipei Times, one of a handful of English newspapers over here. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/10/06/2003381904 You will have to copy/paste the link. When you get to the article, click on the photo to make it bigger. I jotted down some ideas yesterday, as the situation worsened. The wind backed this morning, an ominous sign. According to the Central Weather Bureau’s plot of the typhoon’s path, we are well within the projected 120 km radius of the maximum wind velocity. The situation has worsened in the last 30 minutes. The wind has gone from interesting ... read more

Commuting by train certainly has its advantages—in terms of lower cost and less aggravation. It takes me ten minutes to get to the station on my motorbike (because I take the not-so-scenic “Colwood Strip” route), but twenty to get home because I take Jung Shan Lu down to the waterfront and take Hai An Lu (Peaceful Ocean St) home. It is getting dark by the time I get to the waterfront, but the palm trees are illuminated and the ride is very pleasant. When I get to the train station in the morning, the sun is just coming up—at this time of year anyway. The mountains are a lovely purple colour, and the city is just coming to life. It’s a good start to the day. Coming home is not so much fun. The train is ... read more

From time to time, I will feature in “Lives in the Lotus Blossom” people who live in the Lotus Blossom—Hualien. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? There are so many people around here who have captured my esteem and respect that there will be no shortage of material. I’ll start with my newest colleague Lo Wen-chun (Ashley Lo). She has been away from Guangfu JHS, working on her masters degree in English Literature. Ashley started being interesting as soon as she was born, by the very choice of her name. I expressed astonishment when she told me that it was not her parents who chose the name Wen-chun. Instead, they consulted a fortune-teller. Evidently, this a common practice for many important occasions and decisions—including the selection of an auspicious name for a child. Her name (not translated exactly) ... read more