Outing with Sophie

One of the things I do in addition to teaching at school is tutoring. By contract, we are allowed to work 4 additional hours tutoring outside of class. My first tutoring student was Sophie, and while I have since accumulated others, Sophie remains my favorite. Sophie lives in my same apartment building just across the courtyard, so every Thursday evening, I trot over to speak English with her for an hour.

Sophie is delightful. She is one of the sweetest people I know - always thoughtful, always adorable, always going out of her way to help others. She brings fruit or home-cooked meals to our apartment at least twice a week; invites me out to dinner with her family; always prepares a drink and fresh fruit for me during our lessons; and usually sends me home on Thursdays with multiple bags of everything from breads, to cakes, to books, to DVDs to English New York Times issues (how she procures these is beyond me). My roommates and I have decided that she has adopted me. Her husband commutes every day to his job in Kending (which is a two-hour drive one way), and she only has one son, who is currently in high school (which means he is constantly busy studying). We think that she must have always secretly wanted a daughter, and here I am, the perfect age. :) Not that I am complaining - I adore Sophie.

Three times a semester, junior high schools here have major exams. The exams last for 2-3 days, and since I do not need to administer the exams, this means that I get 2-3 days off school. for our most recent exam testing period, Sophie invited me out with her on a day-trip to Tainan. Tainan, half-an-hour north of Kaohsiung, is the fourth largest city in Taiwan, one of the oldest cities on the island and also the old capital before Taipei. It is also known for having the most number of temples anywhere in Taiwan, not hard to fathom after walking around the city and literally seeing one on every street corner.


While I had been to Tainan various times with my host family and friends, this time, Sophie wanted to take me to a famous restaurant there. It was started by a woman as a way to show off her artwork - displayed both in the architecture and in the sculptures. Sophie had been very moved by the woman's story when she first heard it years ago, and she still finds her life very inspiring. This woman grew up in the country with almost nothing, never finished school, was forced into marrying someone by her brother and did not manage to find herself until she reached middle-age. After she escaped her unhappy marriage, she began her artwork, creating statues solely using natural, recyclable materials. She built her first restaurant entirely by herself, with ocean driftwood and other damaged materials she found after a typhoon. She now has over half a dozen restaurants scattered around Taiwan, each unique with its own theme and specially designed environments and artwork. For example, the restaurant in Tainan, as you can tell by the pictures, has a forest feel to it, with trees growing up from amongst the tables
to the skylights in the ceiling. Her artwork focuses on women's empowerment and has a strangely Picasso feeling to it... The food was also superb, though as I understand, not inspired by the same artist, but by a chef who has paired up with her.












After the restaurant, we did a bit of sight-seeing, visiting the Eternal Golden Castle and the Chikkhan Towers. It was interesting seeing how much the land has changed over the last few hundred years, as both forts were originally built right on the water and are now several miles inland. The Eternal Golden Castle was built in 1874, by a Qing Dynasty official to help defend against the Japanese. Sadly, it proved mildly ineffective, as the Japanese would invade two decades later. The Chihkan Towers were constructed in 1653, during the Dutch colonization. However, they were later rebuilt, which is why the buildings today look Chinese, although their foundation is the original Dutch brickwork.











Above: at the Eternal Golden Castle
Below: (left) Chihkan Towers; (right) statue of Dutch surrendering to the Chinese










Below: (left) god of literature - the figure is holding a writing brush in one hand and an inkwell in the other, one foot on the head of a tortoise and the other kicking the stars, the symbolism of which means high academic success, so students often come here to pray before taking exams










Above: (right) classic Chinglish


On a sillier note, Sophie also insisted that I let someone at each site take my photograph. I could not figure out what was happening at first, but it turned out that she was signing me up for insurance cards. The city of Tainan has a free insurance program for tourists, covering all of its historic sites. Basically, if you give them your name and other identifiable information and let them take your picture, they print you a nifty little card and guarantee you free insurance for the duration of your stay in Tainan. Plus you end up with a cute little souvenir - a card with your picture in front of the historic site. Sophie got so excited by it, that she even ended up getting a card herself at the second site.

We have arrived: living the adventure of the Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel

The first week we arrived in Kaohsiung, we were taken to the Dream Mall, the largest shopping mall in the city. On top of this mall, rests the second-largest Hello Kitty ferris wheel in the world. Awesome. I love how that sounds: Kaohsiung has the second-largest Hello Kitty ferris wheel in the world. Which means, there are "at least" two Hello Kitty ferris wheels in the world - perhaps more! In case you have never been to Asia, Hello Kitty is beloved and adored by all age groups and all genders. Her iconic little face gets put on everything, rivaled only by Sponge Bob (Hai Mian Bao Bao!).
For the first couple of months, Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel was a thing to laugh at and mock. Slowly, I began to secretly want to ride it. When I heard that each car has a Hello Kitty cushion inside, I began to earnestly desire a picture of myself with that cushion on the ferris wheel. Yes, it is true - I am developing certain Asian tendencies, such as the overpowering yearning to take pictures with ridiculous "cutesy" things. Each time I had family come to visit me, I would mention the ferris wheel off-hand, demeaning it as childish and eccentrically Asian, secretly hoping someone would see the joke in it all and also want to ride it with me. Alas, no.









Well, this week, Kristin's friend Maddalena is visiting from the States, so we have been entertaining her with wild and crazy adventures. On the list, I suggested Hello Kitty. It was epic. We went late at night, when you can see all the lights from around the city. Maddalena had the great idea to bring Mr. Donut with us for our mid-air snack. Living the dream - Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel - do not miss it on your next vacation to Taiwan.

Taiqi

As I have mentioned before, I practice taiqi three mornings a week with a lovely little group of Taiwanese people, all over the age of 50. I like to think of myself, the tall blond 30 years their junior, as their mascot - I show up to things, make a solid effort, usually get my butt whipped by all of the 70-year-olds, understand about 30 per cent of what is said around me and have an overall grand time. Everyone else in my group works at the Kaohsiung City Tax Office, just a block past my apartment building next to the Cultural Center. There are a couple of other people who come regularly, who clearly know everyone, but who always walk off in a different direction. Maybe they are retired now? One of these is my coach, a little old guy, completely adorable. He is always walking over and correcting my body posture - I do not know where he finds the patience. :) Then there is also the main teacher. He only comes some of the time, which confuses me. I did not ever work with him until back in January when I finally became good enough to join the entire group. Even so, he often comes and just observes from the back the whole time. Every once in a while, he will get on a microphone and demonstrate things for us.

Back when my family visited in March and came to watch me practicing taiqi in the Cultural Center, my group asked if I wanted to join them in a performance come May. I readily agreed, of course!

The performance turned out to be an exhibition of nearly all of the certified taiqi groups in southern Taiwan performing for the Kaohsiung mayor. There were over a thousand people, coming from Tainan, Pingtung etc. Kaitlyn came with me to watch and take pictures. As we were driving up to the stadium, she started to point out someone wearing the same uniform as me, to ask if they were from my group. She was shocked to discover that all 1000 of us were wearing the exact same clothes. Looking for me in all of the pictures and videos she took is a little like "Where's Waldo" Grace-style.



While we had to be at the stadium at 8am, nothing really happened until after 10am when the mayor finally arrived. We spent the several hours getting marshaled around the field, arranged into lines, marching out, marching back again. We even did a practice run of the whole thing with music and girls (dressed like majorettes) holding signs. Once the mayor did finally show up, we had to stand, in the by-now oppressive heat, listening to nearly an hour of speechifying and acknowledgments for every single person of the several dozen sitting on stage. If this sounds boring/tortuous, now imagine listening to all of the speechifying in Chinese. Haha I really wanted to strip off all my clothes and then pass out in the middle of the field. In the end, I decided that might not be kosher... After all, I was already the only non-Asian on the field, so I had a reputation to uphold as the sole westerner. :)

We were finally allowed to start, and for the next seven minutes, the whole experience was very fascinating to be a part of and to watch. All 1000 of us were in lines, doing the same routine, moving in "perfect" uniformity to the music (It was actually far from perfect, thanks to the grass making it very difficult to turn properly. The best part was these two guys right in front of me - not from my group! - who obviously had no idea what they were doing. It was hilarious, and made me feel much better about myself). It was cool to watch all of the lines move as one, almost like waves of the sea. At the front of the lines, were nine taiqi masters, wearing silken pajamas. I did not realize until later when Kaitlyn showed me pictures, but one of these was my group's instructor. If you look in the videos, he is the one closest to the camera (or on the far right if you were facing the field).











After baking in the sun for a few hours, the entire field retired to another in-door stadium across the street where certain taiqi groups entered into a competition. My group did not take part in the competitions, for they told me they did not have enough people. This surprised me, because there are usually over 20 people at practice on a given day. Anyways, after about 30 minutes of watching more of the same routine performed again and again, Kaitlyn and I were utterly bored and left. The morning was a very fun experience, though, and I am glad I was able to participate.

Bike Riding in Meinong

Bekah and I had both been to Meinong with our respective families, but we thought it would be fun to take a scooter rode trip out by ourselves. One of the things Meinong is famous for is bike riding, so we decided to rent bikes for the day and go exploring. Meinong roads used to be covered in color-coded bike paths, but the old markings were either so old and faded or else paved over that they sadly did not exist anymore. Luckily, the town itself is very small and the surrounding countryside is fairly logical, so we never got too lost. There was one moment, though, where we almost started biking straight up a mountainside, but a local saw us trying to make out a sign, and kindly pointed us in the proper direction (our bikes were far from mountain bikes).












Since living in Kaohsiung, I have done surprisingly little bike riding, considering the amount of bicycles in the country and my love for cycling. This is due to three factors: my scooter is faster and more fun, the heat/humidity makes cycling an unpractical mode of transportation for anyone hoping to arrive at work with dry clothing, and the bikes here are not built for my body type. Back in October, Minghua's PTA council gifted me with a bicycle (which was so sweet of them!). It is foldable, making it great for taking on the MRT. This same feature, though, means that the wheels are about one foot in diameter and the frame is very unstable. I am always afraid I will break it when I ride it! Anyways, the bikes we rented in Meinong were more sturdy, but still built all wrong for me. Even with raising the seat and handle bars, things were still out of proportion. Maybe my torso is too long? We had meant to stay out most of the day, but after less than two hours, my body was ready to quit. Bekah was done too, as the heat was terrible. One thing I am looking forward to this summer is taking my American bike out for long cycling adventures through Illinois cornfields haha.


After buying fresh pineapple from a fruit stand along the road (while I will be upgrading my bicycle, I will sorely miss Taiwan's fruit this summer - nothing compares to it), we set out riding amidst banana and beetlenut trees, through quaint villages and along the mountain ridge. Once we had given up on the bikes, we took a walk around a pretty little lake and even got to listen to some traditional aboriginal music. It was painful. One could hear it from a mile away, and of course, Bekah needed to get up close so as to better savor the experience. I have included a recording of it so that you call all witness the discordance.

Maolin

Bekah and I have been wanting to take a road trip all year - we do, after all, have our own scooter gang lol. We finally decided on road-tripping it up to Maolin, one of Taiwan's national scenic areas, about 2 hours northeast of Kaohsiung (closer to one hour by highway with a car). The park area, according to Lonely Planet, has "pristine mountain landscapes, vertiginously high suspension bridges, waterfalls, natural swimming pools and even free outdoor hot springs." Maolin is also world-famous for its Purple Butterfly Valley, the second most important butterfly migratory resting grounds in the world after Mexico City's Monarch Butterfly Valley.


Tragically, much of Maolin was destroyed by Hurricane Morakot last August, and we were saddened to see, the area still lies mostly in ruins. We had heard about the damage last summer, but whether we forgot or just assumed that it would have been restored by now, we were both amazed at the amount of damage everywhere. When Fonda told us that much of Maolin no longer existed, we did not understand until we got there and saw it for ourselves. Whole mountainsides were washed away, etching ugly scars into the valley walls and leaving the riverbeds coated in mud and boulders. The river does not really exist anymore - instead, the riverbed is mile after mile of muddied wasteland. Roads and bridges were destroyed everywhere, and only now, do they appear to be beginning the rebuilding with makeshift bridges and a few construction zones to rebuild necessary parts of the road. There is only one main road through the park, so you can imagine what it must have been like for the people in villages deeper inside the gorge with no road to reach them and to connect them to the outside world. Everywhere you go, there are abandoned buildings, caved in or filled with mud and debris. Most of the hiking trails are completely gone, washed away with the sides of cliffs; and none of the hot springs exist anymore, or at least, they are buried deep underground once again.











Above: (left) trail washed away by landslide; (right) me bemoaning more trail ruins
Below: (left) makeshift road alongside concrete supports of the old bridge; (right) this trail we hiked supposedly once had five bridges crisscrossing the ravine, all of which are now in pieces as evidenced by the pile of bricks you see here











Bekah and I drove up on a Saturday evening, stayed the night at a lovely little hotel run by aboriginals, hiked/scootered around all day Sunday and then drove back that evening (there is no transportation inside of the park, which is one of the reasons why we took our own scooters - also, I would recommend to any future travelers to bring in all of your own food). We stayed at the De En Gorge Guesthouse, which is a bit outside of Maolin Village and nestled on the hillside overlooking the valley. I thought of doing taiqi when I woke up early in the morning, but then had more fun watching another Taiwanese lady doing her morning exercise routine. Taiwanese people are so cute when they exercise in the morning - I think that may have been the main reason why I started doing taiqi every day last fall. It is just so entertaining to watch them.


After being invited to morning tea with some other guests, Bekah and I set out on our scooters to find adventure. What we found were a lot of missing trails, broken bridges and ruined buildings. However, we still discovered some beautiful spots, and Bekah was even brave enough to go swimming in a waterfall pool. I thought about it, but decided I did not want to be wet the rest of the day - or at least, for the next hour or so. The pool she took a dip in, though, ate one of my socks, so I do not bear it much goodwill... There were also lots of beautiful dragonflies around the pool which kept me busy for a while.












Above: trail head for the first one we hiked / waterfall Bekah swam in
Below: Bekah swimming in said waterfall pool





















Above: fun wildlife on the trail



By early afternoon, we had reached the village of Dona, a cute little place inhabited by no more than 200 people. It did have an elementary school, though, so we joked that Fulbright could have placed one of us there for the year. Talk about remote. I am not sure I would have survived. On the other had, that is the kind of place where the people would probably benefit most from having a foreign teacher, since they have so little contact with people from beyond their valley, much less outside of Taiwan. We were happy to see that the village still maintained its Rukai aboriginal roots, with beautiful artwork and shale houses, and NO 7-Elevens. The people were very sweet, and we made friends with a couple of small children, before going in search of the hot springs which no longer exist.









Above: farming valley below Dona
Below: remains of two different hot springs, both nothing but rubble now












Other sites of Maolin which do still exist are the Dragon Head and Snake Head Mountains. They are both hills which pop up out of the middle of the riverbed, looking like - you guessed it - dragon and snake heads. We never made it down to the Snake Head, but we did hike all over the Dragon Head, and got several beautiful shots with it.











My favorite photo shoot, though, came at the end of the day as we were leaving the park. On the side of the road, we passed two very large statues of aboriginal men. Amazing. I claim the tall one as my aboriginal boyfriend now. If only real Taiwanese men came in that size... I would even settle for half that size! :)