中山女中 and 立法院

During the past few weeks I have done a couple things that really couldn't make up a whole blog post so this will have a couple updates that don't really follow the order of the blog.

All the girls

On Friday May 4th I went with my buddy to an all girls school in Taiwan (中山女中). I was invited to this school to give my perception on something dealing with American Culture. This probably was the hardest thing I have had to do in Taiwan because I have trouble describing America to other people because I have many perceptions of it, not to mention that I had to make it interesting for seventy-seventeen year old-Taiwanese girls. My buddy told me that they like Lady Gaga, a lot. So I decided to cater my speech to Lady Gaga while spinning it in an American Culture way. Lady Gaga works hard to speak out for those who do not have a voice and creating the American dream though equal rights; this is something that many do not know about her outside of America. The speech went for 45 minutes and then had a question and answer for any other questions. Taiwanese girls are very pensive, especially in a high school English class where they might not feel confident talking in front of their peers in English. The question and answer went well and I was given a great welcoming afterwards with a picture taken with all the girls. After I was done some of the girls came up to learn more about me and where I come from without their peers watching. This was nice because I knew that they were actually interested in me and I felt like I accomplished what I had come for. Eventually we had to leave and we got our overly-generous payment (1000NTD) and we went out to a great, and expensive, dumpling restaurant in Zhongxia Fuxing Station (忠孝復興站).

Giving the speech

Few of the girls who came to talk afterwards

Mario, Gilberto and Emma making
their famous burritos

The next update is something that went on this week that happens every year at NCCU (國立政治大學), the World Festival. I didn't see much of it because my Chinese class conflicts with most of the events but I did participate in two. The first was a photo competition that was held for all exchange students to tell what they feel about Taiwan through a short paragraph and a picture. Sadly I did not win but a lot of people did say they really enjoyed my pictures that I posted. The second was really fun to walk through, even though I had a short time to do so. This was the food festival where all the countries have food from their countries and share the tastes of their countries with everyone else. I had to go for the French crepes and the Mexican burritos. Everything was so interesting and fun to see, if I had more time I could have easily eaten at every place.

So many people and so much food

The last small update happened today. This morning I headed to the Legislative Yuan (立法院) with my class I have on Tuesday's: Democracy and Democratization in Taiwan. The Legislative Yuan is the law making body of Taiwan and is very interesting to me since I am a political science major. The trip began early in the morning, well 9 am (early for me). We all met up and went into the Legislative Yuan. The trip began kind of unfortunate. In the beginning we were brought into the chamber and listened to some talks by the KMT (ruling party) talk about US beef but then we were promptly kicked out because a vote was about to begin. They kick everyone out just so there is no worry of lobbyists attempting to lobby in the chamber. Then we met with our professors uncle, who has worked in the Yuan for over twenty years. He showed us a film about the Yuan and the process of law making in Taiwan. The system is very similar to the US but just unicameral. When we finished the film we were brought to the cafe inside and were given tea and then brought to a small museum where we saw some old documents regarding the Yuan and even saw a chest that held the documents when the KMT brought them from China in 1949. The next stop was our professor's uncle's office where we sat for a little bit and learned more about the Yuan and then his uncle gave each of us a little parting gift, a mug stamped with a picture of the Yuan.

Kaohsiung weekend trip (週末到高雄)

Life has been a series of ups and downs lately. There are things that are starting to get to me when living abroad, mainly missing family and friends. When I speak to friends on Facebook or Skype I just remember how much fun I had at home, but this does not mean I am not having fun here, I am. It is a normal feeling but just one that bugs me from time to time, I wish I could just live in two places at one time.

Kaohsiung, Taiwan: South-West Taiwan

Other than that I have been very busy. I am studying like crazy still but did have a chance to run away last weekend for a trip down south to Kaohsiung (高雄). This was a great trip, weather in the low to mid 30's, but very exhausting. I took the high-speed rail down, my first ever trip on a high-speed train. It is a little expensive to go this way but was something I had to do. The train was a smooth ride and much more accurate in relation to departure and arrival. In total I was down in two hours, compared to five on a bus. 

When I arrived I met up with my friend who recently moved down there, Dana, we both decided it would be good to get a late dinner so we headed to the 'Canada Town' of Kaohsiung to a bar. We had some 

delicious fish and chips with a couple beers. The night ended late since we were up late talking. 

Needless to say I didn't think I would clear it

The next morning we were up very early to head to a coffee house to pick up a bike they allowed me to use for the weekend. This is a great part of Kaohsiung, you can bike anywhere in the whole city and easily bike across the city in a short time. Dana introduced me to some of her friends at the coffee house, I got along with all of them very easily but Na was the easiest, she is my age and we were able to talk a bit, but only a little since she speaks very little English and my Chinese is below par. 

When we were done there we set off on our bike tour. We headed up the Love River (爱河) which runs right through the whole city. My goal this weekend was to see monkeys, which are known to hide in this city. Our bike trip was very long and arduous since there are many mountains and hills to ride up and without a bike with gears you are kind of out of luck and have to walk some of the way. We made our way to the coast and worked up the biggest mountain I have ever biked. Up the west coast has a few secrets around it. One secret is all the military that is around there. Kaohsiung is the biggest port so there are many military barracks around to keep it safe. The second thing is the monkeys. After biking for about three hours we made it to the top by a military barracks and ran into our first monkey! While we sat there taking pictures there was a couple more that came and eventually there were three adults and two babies. This was the highlight of the hardest bike ride I have ever done. The monkeys were very protective of one another but in all didn't bother us and allowed us to take pictures of them. 

A view in Kaohsiung

Found one!

After seeing the monkeys we headed down the mountain a bit and tried to find the third secret in the area. This is the secret beach which we were told about the night before. After looking for about an hour we were about to give up when we came upon a place that looked like it might be the place we were told about, turns out it was and we were able to have a piece of a beach to ourselves and get away from the tourist beach. Once we finished cooling off we headed back and went to the night market. Since we were on a bike for nine hours I was extremely hungry so got some good food and we had some more drinks back at Dana's. We talked again into the early morning and then put our heads on a pillow and passed out. 

First scooter ride! (A nervous smile)

The next morning we headed back to the cafe to drop off their bike and get some more tea. We sat and talked for an hour or so and met up with Na who decided to join me in helping Dana tutor a student English. Since Na didn't know much English it was a lesson for her too. So Na took me on my first scooter ride in Taiwan. This was a blast because the laws in Kaohsiung are non-existent so it was kind of a crazy ride. We safely made it back to Dana's and started our lesson with the student. We played a game for the whole hour on punctuation and what each one does and means. We actually all had fun even though 3/4 of us were over the age of seven. 

Night market time!

When the lesson was done Dana and I had to run to meet up with some friends of hers at a hostel for a night market trip. This is the thing I love about Taiwan, which has been talked about before but can be put into words easier now. I love night markets. Going to a night market can easily bring anyone who doesn't know each other to great friends. Food brings everyone closer together, and that is a fact. Joanna was the hostel owner who is one of the sweetest women, the others that came with were a man named Jimmy who has a very similar name and seems like a very similar personality and a couple more of his friends. We had some interesting foods that are home to Kaohsiung, like a soup and rice that is a little thicker than normal, and some food that is home to Taiwan, stinky tofu (臭豆腐). Stinky tofu isn't the greatest thing but is okay, I am not a huge tofu eater but I'll try anything once. When we were done here it was time for my quick trip to end and I 

boarded a night bus back to Taipei, five long hours of snoring Taiwanese (no fun). 

A (secret) spot in Kaohsiung