Tuesday
On Tuesday we had a regular class scheduled day and then I had my own plans that evening to meet up with some friends from Pitt State, Jenny and Laura. Laura was the first close Taiwanese friend that I had and she was even there the first time I met Josh! I left with some friends who were on their way to see the top of Taipei and Laura met me on the train, surprised me actually. When we got to Taipei Laura and I waited for Jenny to meet us in Taipei Main Station for dinner. Jenny arrived a few minutes later and she was very cute in her work clothes. We ate dinner and chatted for a while about the wedding, work and if Josh and I will have babies soon (the answer is maybe in a few years). We had a lot of fun just talking and catching up. Jenny kept saying "wow" because she couldn't believe Josh and I are getting married so soon!
I love these girls so much! So glad I got to meet up with them in Taiwan! :)
Monday After a busy and tiring weekend, I knew I wasn't going to get to relax on this Monday like I was the Monday before! We had a field trip planned that caused us to leave earlier in the morning than usual and of course that day was the day I woke up late! I was sleepy the whole day and we had quite a bit planned for our field trip. We headed to Hsinchu Science Park to learn about the hi-tech products and scientific research happening in Taiwan.
We saw some products that have not been commercialized yet and some products that have which was cool because we got to see where they came from! We also went to the Industrial Technology Research Insitute and got to look at products that will probably change many lives when they are produced for consumer use. Many of their discoveries have won awards domestically and internationally. This fun tree was in their lobby and I thought it was pretty!
After the science park, we went to Beipu Old Town and shopped for a little while! It was a cute little area where we could look at cute souvenirs and an old temple to walk through.
Sunday
When I started the day on Sunday I knew it was going to be a really wonderful day because I was going to get to see my friend Bruce. Bruce was Josh's roommate last semester and I saw him almost every day! I had tried to connect with Bruce the weekend before when we traveled to Taichung because that's where he lives but he missed my calls and finally got in touch with me as I was leaving on the bus! But we made plans to meet the next weekend, to hopefully go to church with each other and then find something to do for the day.
On Sunday, Bruce drove himself and his girlfriend, Julieann for two hours just to come see me! We were supposed to meet at church but Bruce got lost and didn't make it until the last few minutes, in his defense I wasn't sure where to tell him to go and the church didn't have an address online so he was kind of left to just find his own way! After church we went to lunch with my friend Alice and she took us to a restaurant she knew nearby. Then we met up with my friend from business camp, Raquel, and Bruce drove us (Raquel, me, Alice, himself, and Julieann) all the way to Taipei so that we could save time by not riding the train or the MRT once we were in the city.
So after church I had run back to the dorm really fast to change out my dress, I wasn't sure what we were going to do that day but an intelligent person probably would not have worn FLIP FLOPS! That day we climbed a mountain. And no joke, I did it in flip flops. Now to be fair hiking on this mountain was not like what hiking is like in the US, at least on this mountain it wasn't a rocky path forged in the trees but instead 40 flights of stairs...it was nuts and I definitely got my workout that day! The views from the top were beautiful though and I'm glad that I made it all the way!
The mountain we climbed was called Elephant or Xiangshan Mountain so of course I had to get a picture of the elephant details and in the background is the tallest building in Taiwan, Taipei 101. Here is a picture of me, Bruce, and Julieann!
After climbing the mountain we went to find some food to eat and Bruce and I talked a lot about Josh which mad us both miss him very much! I've told many of my Taiwanese friends this but I plan to return to Taiwan with my soon to be husband and take him all over the country and to meet the people I have met while here!
Saturday Saturday was another cultural trip and on this day we got to go to the ocean and I planned to swim for a bit, search for seashells, and play in the waves! We headed towards Yilan which is on the east side of the island. For those who don't know the east side of Taiwan is not as populated as the west side, however, many believe that the east side is more beautiful than the west side. Our first stop was a water park on a river called Dongshan. It was fun to play in a pool and get sprayed by water.
Also sometimes I forget that Taiwan is an island but at all times we are surrounded by water. Last summer I never made it to the ocean but this summer I knew that there would be a trip planned. Before we made it to the ocean we stopped the Lanyang Museum and got our first glimpse of Turtle Island. Lanyang Museum showed us a glimpse of the history of Yilan! The building has a really interesting design to it!
After we went to the museum we got to go to the beach! I did everything I wanted to do and even avoided getting stung by jellyfish and eaten by a shark. It was so fun to be in the ocean for the first time and to play in the waves. I got sand everywhere and I couldn't get the shower at the beach to work so I was really gross for a while. Not to mention it was very black sand not like the pretty white sand beaches we have in the US. The sun was very bright so my eyes are pretty squinty in this next picture!
Turtle Island is behind me in this picture but is much farther away from where I was than it looks!
After our beach adventure we went to a restaurant to have a very traditional meal where all the dishes are shared, kind of like Thanksgiving! The meal was very good and I ate some of the best fish I've ever had!
Friday On Friday, we had our first lecture with Dr. Chin, the professor from CYCU who organizes the business camp. The topic he covered was an introduction of Taiwan's history, trade, and relations with China.
There are so many great things about this program, one of which being that there are students here from China as well. If you don't know much about Taiwan you might not know that there are conflicting opinions regarding who should be in control of China: China or Taiwan. Taiwan's official name is The Republic of China, while China's official name is The People's Republic of China. These names are historically significant. This article I read sums up a lot of what we talked about in class: http://www.cfr.org/china/china-taiwan-relations/p9223, I thought it was pretty accurate to what we talked about in class!
It was a pretty heated discussion at times between the students from Taiwan and China but there were some enlightening comments made by some students that helped to calm the waters a bit. In my opinion, I think the US made a monetary choice when we chose to support the PRC. We chose to support a country that has become a force to be reckoned with, for us and the rest of the world. I love the Chinese people and it saddens me that my country chose to support a government that restricts its people the way that the PRC does. I wish that the leaders before my time had chosen differently, however, I do think that at the time we were looking at two evils; communism and a military government. We chose what we thought was best and now hindsight is 20/20.
After our class, we ate lunch and then met back at campus to go to our field trip. For this field trip, we went to visit a manufacturing plant that produces high-quality fiber textiles. The company is called Libolon and is one of the largest producers of synthetic textiles in the world. We got to tour the plant and see how a fully automatic production system works. Here is a video that will show you a little bit of what I saw while I was there!
After the factory tour we went to Yong-An Fish Harbor and I got my first view of the ocean from ground level!! There was a really cool bridge and I bought some ice cream because it was pretty hot outside! I love my friends here! Enjoy our pictures!
Thursday
Thursday marked one week in Taiwan and in terms of blogging I'm glad I have made it this far! Yes I know, I'm about 10 days behind but at least I'm doing it, right? So the day I'm going to write about was kind of a simple day, we had class in the morning, lunch, and then work time in the afternoon and then Dr. Jih threw a FRUIT PARTY.
Fruit in Taiwan is so so so delicious! I've probably mentioned that before but seriously, it's so good! So anyway, he threw us a fruit party in his apartment's lobby. We played Jenga and ate mango, pineapple, guava, and apples. There was also some watermelon on the table that I had to avoid (I'm allergic). And there was a fruit there that you might not know about called Dragon Fruit which is very yummy and something I have only seen in Taiwan! Do they sell it in the States? I was really happy about all of the delicious fruit and we had fun relaxing with our classmates and playing games. It was a short but relaxing day as we looked to a Friday field trip, and a weekend trip to the beach!
Alice was very focused on her Jenga moves, and when the tower finally fell we screamed really loud and Dr. Jih told us to be quiet... Woops...
So I guess we also had some bananas and oranges as well which are way better in Taiwan! The pink fruit is Dragon Fruit and sometimes it is also white!
This was another game we played where we took turns to see how fast we could move marbles in a cup of water to a plate only using chopsticks! I didn't even try because I knew it would probably take me 12 hours...lol! I think the shortest time was just over 20 seconds!
Wednesday
Wednesday we had our third lecture with Dr. Jih so we were busy in the morning from 9 am to noon. Everyday our Taiwanese classmates take us out to lunch and help us translate the menus to english and order for us! They show all of us so much patience and I can't thank all of them enough for all of the help they have given us. I hope I can meet them all again the next time I come to Taiwan!
After lunch if we don't have a field trip to go on we will go back to class to work on our blogs and around 4:30 most of us will head back to the dorm to rest and make dinner plans for around 7 pm! On Wednesday, I had my own plans to meet my friends Mini (my Pitt Pal from last semester) and Rebecca. They met me at the 7-11 near my dorm and we walked to a Japanese restaurant where I ate the best food of the whole trip. I had beef with rice, egg, and sauteed vegetables. It was so yummy I finished the entire bowl; which I'm finding is quite hard to do in Taiwan because the food is always hot, like it is outside, and the portions are large.
When we were finished with dinner we walked back to Rebecca's house which is close to CYCU and I got to meet her parents and hang out in her room. The three of us had a great time and enjoyed catching up and talking about Taiwan and how crazy it was that I was there sitting in Rebecca's room with them. Soon it was time to go and Rebecca's family invited me to come over soon for dinner. It was then that I began to realize that I am the international student in Taiwan!
Mini is so cute on her scooter, she kind of made me want one! We also found out that Rebecca doesn't know how to take a selfie so Mini had to show her how! :P
Thank you for spending time with me in Taiwan, girls, it was so good to see you! :)
Tuesday If I had to pick a favorite field trip this on would be it! We started the day out with a bus ride to Taipei and while on the bus I got to watch a bit of the Royals game!
I heard that this turned into a pretty awesome game. Unfortunately, the only parts I saw of the game they were losing. But I'm really glad they won! I was a little too exuberant on the bus saying, "That's my home! That's where I live!"
When we arrived in Taipei we went to the Taipei Main Station, the hub of all transit in Taipei. It was amazing what we were about to experience. We were given a private tour of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation which is not something many people get to experience. This corporation is also known as the MRT and is the subway that runs through Taipei. The subway system is government built and operated by the corporation. The MRT offices are in a secure area of Taipei Main Station and we were honored to take the tour and learn more about the subway system in Taipei. We got to see the control room where many people monitor the five metro lines that run throughout the city. It is so fun to ride the train after seeing all that goes on behind the scenes, I feel a little safer knowing that there are men and women who watch the transit 24/7 to make sure it operates correctly. In my opinion, I think this is not an opportunity I would have in the United States, I probably couldn't take a tour of the subway in New York or the "L" in Chicago. But I get to experience this in Taiwan and that is awesome!
This summer I will have been on three vacations by the time I go back to school. In May I went to Washington DC for the first time with Josh and Jake, right now I am in Taiwan, and in August I get to go to Myrtle Beach with my soon to be husband (#lowesinlove). I will have experienced two places with large scale public transportation. In Washington DC the public transportation was very expensive and in Taiwan, it is very cheap. But I have found it interesting that both places have the same kinds of transportation; public buses, subway systems, and rental bikes. Maybe to some, this isn't fascinating but to a girl who grew up in the suburbs of a car-heavy city and who goes to college in a small town; riding the subway, renting a bike and riding on the bus is actually kind of fun! I love getting on the train to go to Taipei from CYCU and I love taking the MRT all around Taipei. I haven't experienced renting a bike here yet because I'm terrified of what it would be like to ride a bicycle on the streets here because of things like this...
Before I leave I will take a video of the road I walk on every day and hopefully, that will convince you that riding a bike in Taiwan would be terrifying! I call this "moped madness". I'm also not the best at riding a bike so there's that too...
On Tuesday we also got to visit the Taipei City Traffic Control Center where they monitor traffic throughout the city, control parking garages, determine bus schedules and manage the city's rental bikes. Here is the video we watched when we took the tour, I thought it would be informational for you to watch!
Our third stop was a visit to the National Development Council where we heard about how the Taiwanese government is promoting more education about technology among people of all ages. We also heard more about how their government works. In Taiwan, the people are provided an opportunity to participate in their government through a program called E-Participation which is a lot like We the People in the US. Both are petition programs where citizens of each country can post petitions to their government and get signatures of support in hopes that the government will respond to their requests. In the US we must get 100,000 signatures in 30 days for our petition to be discussed and reviewed and a response given. In Taiwan, the people must have 3,000 signatures in 60 days (as of this year because Taiwanese citizens believed 5,000 signatures in 30 days was too difficult). Now before you get ramped up like I did the population of the United States is 318.9 million people and the population of Taiwan is 23.51 million. In a month, to make the deadline, US citizens will need .0003 percent of the population to sign their petition and Taiwanese citizens will need .006 percent of the population to sign their petition. I think this is an interesting way to give the people a voice by using technology! However, I'm not sure it is always successful in the US because many people petition the President about things that are outside the scope of the We the People program. You can find more information and sign live petitions at petitions.whitehouse.gov
Finally, we went to visit the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. This was my second time visiting the memorial and I actually got go inside this time because I didn't have to wait for Amy Li to stop taking pictures. ;)
The above is from last summer, below is from this summer!
Since we were in Taipei we decided to head to Miramar where there is a large mall and a giant Ferris wheel!
We walked around the mall for a while and then we went to dinner at TGIFriday's, we were craving American food! We had a pretty good time but the food was very expensive compared to the three dollar meals we've been having every day. Then we rode the Ferris wheel. It had rained that day so the car had water drops all over it and my pictures didn't turn out very well! The view was beautiful though and we really enjoyed the night. It was a late night once again but we had a lot of fun that day!
Monday
After our first weekend in Taiwan a lot of us Americans were ready for a taste of home and some relaxation time! On Monday we had our first full day of class, a lecture from 9 am to noon and then a chance to work on our presentations and blogs from 2 pm to 5 pm. At 5 my roommates, Alina (from PSU) and Mary Elizabeth (from Mississippi College), and I decided we would head back to our room and rest until around 7 pm. Some of our Taiwanese friends said they would meet us and take us to get PIZZA!!! We were pretty excited about it and I could taste the cheese pizza already. Unfortunately when we got to the restaurant I had forgotten that pizza in Taiwan is a lot different than pizza in the United States. I should have ordered the American style spaghetti but instead I ordered Honey Bacon pizza which had weird cheese on it. Some had duck pizza and our Taiwanese friends had VERY Asian pasta. I hope they come to the US someday so that we can show them what American pizza is like.
I told you it would be very short, Monday was a rest day, I don't even have pictures from that day! Haha! My next post will be about my favorite day so far in Taiwan so stay tuned! :)
After visiting The Carpenter's Caring House I was really pumped that I had already seen a way God was working in Taoyuan. Last summer I was in Taiwan for a mission trip so the focus was largely on telling others about Jesus. This summer that aspect of being in Taiwan isn't as clear and I have to look for opportunities to have fruitful conversations, to be open with others about my faith, and to look for ways to serve. In my first few hours of being here this summer one of my Pitt State Taiwanese friends pointed out a church on this Christian campus and asked if I would go there on Sunday. She reminded me without realizing that my goal here was to live life as a Christian in a different culture and to be intentional with the short time that I have here. Idols are still prevalent in Taiwan and will probably remain until Jesus returns, therefore the mission remains each time I am here. Our job as Christians is to live out the gospel wherever we go, so this isn't simply a study abroad trip focused on business but it is also a chance to encourage believers in Taiwan and to tell non-Christians in Taiwan about the God who loves them. Please continue to pray for Taiwan, that God would send more Christians to preach the truth, that Taiwanese Christians would continue to pursue their own people and that more Taiwanese would acknowledge Jesus as Lord.
Sunday
On Sunday I decided that I would attend the church that my friend had pointed out to me. Two American students here and my professor, Dr. Jih, also came with me. The church is called Grace and Mercy Baptist Church. To be honest, I didn't even know there were baptists in Taiwan and before coming here I didn't know if I would have a church to go to on Sunday. But I am really happy that I do because going to church on Sundays always motivates me and encourages me throughout the week. Now, this church wasn't the same as my church at home. For one, the service was in Chinese and we needed our professor to translate the entire sermon for us. Two, the music was a little different and seemed more traditional than the contemporary style at home although the songs were in Chinese so who knows. But despite the cultural difference, the message was the same. Christians in Taiwan are being encouraged and admonished for the same things that Christians in America are being encouraged and admonished for. The Gospel is relevant to each culture and that is something to be excited about! We also met a girl who became a Christian in the US while studying abroad and she was so excited to Americans at her church, she was very sweet!
After church, some of our CYCU classmates decided to take us on an adventure. Our first stop was a gold museum that gave us a glimpse into the history of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. The views from the museum were beautiful!
The large statue in the distance is the top of a temple. We walked down this cute tree covered path to get to the temple!
The gold museum and the temple were close to a small old street called Jioufen which holds many stores and food vendors. This element of Taiwan is one of my favorite things because while Taiwan is full of large cities and tall buildings it also has old world charm.
Yes, that is my sweaty head!
After we did a little shopping in Jioufen we traveled to Pingxi by train to release a large lantern into the sky. When I pictured that moment in my head, I pictured something like this....
I learned quickly that the kind of lantern I was going to put in the air couldn't be set off with the tip of my finger, instead our whole group had to work to get it right side up and it was hot!!
Sunday was a really fun day and we raced back to the dorm to make it back by 11 pm! It was a fun and tiring first weekend in Taiwan and I was ready for a rest on Monday.
One of the best parts about this trip to Taiwan is the students from Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU). They are so sweet and are always taking us around and translating for us. I rarely translate for international students at Pittsburg State, mostly because my Chinese is not very good and because many of the students are very proficient in their English skills. It's a definite role reversal, though, usually I am the one picking up international students and taking them to Walmart or to get Lotus because they miss their home and that is the closest I can get them to the food they want. Right now I am the international student; I miss my home's food sometimes and I miss my family and Josh. I am in constant need of a local student to find transportation and get food. It just reminds me how human all people are, we need each other to navigate new cultures. In some ways I think I struggle with having American pride, believing I am more intelligent than people in other countries but living as an international student in Taiwan gives me a dose of humility. I think I'll return to school in the fall, rejuvenated to provide the international students at Pitt State with the same experience in America that the students here at CYCU have given me. Saturday On Saturday, the CYCU students planned a cultural trip for us at Sun Moon Lake, Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, and Fengjia Night Market. These three places were around three hours from Taoyuan and close to the city I spent a lot of time in last summer, Taichung! This created a lot of excitement for me because I knew I might be able to see a few friends from Taiwan! We left quite early in the morning and traveled south. Already there were many cultural differences on this road trip. I tend to only stop on a two or three-hour drive when I'm traveling with Josh because his bladder can only handle so much (sorry babe). But we stopped on this short drive at the biggest rest stop I have ever seen, yeah Dad, bigger than that one in Iowa. And there were so many tour buses and people arriving at the same time we were, it was a little crazy. I really should've taken a picture. The first destination on the list was the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, an amusement park with little elements of Taiwanese aboriginal history. When we first arrived we got to see an all-girl school's band perform in front of the entrance to the park. They played some classic band music that I even played when I was in the marching band!
The amusement park is connected to Sun Moon Lake by cable car which was so so fun to ride! It was suggested that we go to the lake first because in the mountains thunderstorms usually happen in the afternoon and the cable car will shut down and then we would be stuck at the lake. So we headed to the cable car first. I had never been on a cable car so at first it was a little scary because I don't really know how they work but we made it out alive. Here are some of the views:
When we made it to Sun Moon Lake we looked at the lake for a while and took some pictures, this was the best one of me, haha! This is my friend Janet, she's pretty funny! :)
Located around Sun Moon Lake there are some small shops that sell some aboriginal souvenirs and foods. We stopped at a tea shop for a while and got to participate in a tea ceremony which was very interesting and she even gave us some tea samples for free and tea bags to take home.
After we walked around a bit we headed back to the amusement park on the cable car to look at some aboriginal history, get some food and ride some rides! A lot of the aboriginal decor reminded me of Native American history and decor.
Finally, we were headed to Taichung and I was very excited to see some friends and spend time in an area I am familiar with! I had plans to meet friends at Fengjia Night Market and I knew where to get the good food! First I had some really delicious pineapple and some fried sweet potato balls. I love the fruit in Taiwan because it is so sweet and fresh. Island life is good! Then I waited for my friend Lili to arrive at the night market, it was so fun when she finally found me. She had cut her hair since I last saw her and she brought her boyfriend, James, to meet me! She wanted to hear about the wedding plans and she took me all around the night market and bought her favorite foods for me to try.
Thank you Lili and James for taking me around your night market and giving me a good time!
Before I forget I also got to meet up with some of my friends from last summer, but only for a short time! It was really great to see you Vincent and Wendy, I hope to see you again soon!
I will keep updating the blog and try to catch up this weekend on all of my posts! :) I've been so busy!
I haven't been keeping up with this blog very well, so I will be making a late post about each day, hopefully I'll catch up eventually! :D There are just too many fun things to do here, computer time is limited!
Friday
After I made my last post, we traveled to another district in Taoyuan and visited a Suzuki motorcycle plant. The man who gave us the tour showed us some of their commercials and a short drama about a girl who's motorcycle helped her overcome heartbreak. I found it so funny that a commercial here would be so long and entertaining. We all yelled when the girl in the story almost got back with the guy who broke her heart. I'm learning that all people share similar themes, including love and heartbreak; these are experiences that all people are familiar with. After he showed us their promotional information we took a short tour of their plant and actually got to see how the motorcycles are fashioned together.
After the Suzuki tour we headed a little closer to our school and went to a place called The Carpenter's Caring house. It is a non-profit consignment shop that sells free coffee in order to get customers in the door. This business wiggled its way into my heart because it was started by an American pastor who wanted to offer a safe place for Taiwanese youth to spend time in. He believed too many of them were spending time drinking, smoking and gambling. The pastor and his wife also thought offering free coffee would provide an awesome opportunity to tell Taiwanese people about Jesus. What was also special about their business was their employment practices. They offer jobs to the less fortunate, disabled and elderly people in their community. One employee is blind but has learned how to fix machines without needing his eye sight. Because of the job he has since become a Christian and uses his life to fix broken machines and make them new again. To me this is amazing imagery of what happened when Christ claimed this man's life; He fixed his brokenness and made him new. Another man who works for them is paralyzed from the waist down, he used to work in construction but he is now a carpenter there and he makes all these beautiful furniture pieces for The Carpenter's House to sell!
All in all, on Friday I was very happy to be back in Taiwan! I missed this beautiful country and its people!
Today was the first day of class and we are required to make this blog! I'm actually pretty excited about it because I've been wanting to start a travel blog and actually keep it going. Hopefully this will be a helpful way to keep my friends and family in the United States updated on my time in Taiwan!
