In the Midst of Things

It has been two weeks since my last post - some of you may be wondering what have I been doing. Well, to sum it up, I've been in the midst of things.

Entering the third week of classes, my studies are steadily busy. I spend a great deal of time studying new characters and preparing for the next day's class. I still feel as though I am trying to find the most efficient way to study. Honestly, it can be frustrating, and at times "circuit overload." However, little by little I notice my Chinese improving, making all the hard work I do now all the more worthwhile.

I do want to share some of the highlights from the past two weeks.

Located just minutes a way from the school by taxi, the Ri-Xiang Farm is a popular place. Besides being an organic farm, Ri-Xiang is also a restaurant, crafts workshop, and garden. All the food prepared is organic, the vegetables and fruits are fresh, and they offer buffet lunches or ready to order entrees. Comparatively, a bit pricey, about $10 per person for the buffet, but worth the experience and taste.

The school took us there as a field trip, so we were given somewhat of a VIP experience. They let us dig for our own yams, which we could take back to cook. Gave us a tour of the gardens with information on each plant (took a while). Fed us, best part. And gave us a craft project of building a small sprouts garden box. It was a fun experience, except, digging in the heat was not fun. But, I found a yam. (This picture of me digging reminds me of Michelle Obama's gardening with the kids at the White House photo shoot. I am just posing with a shovel, with my man bag still over my shoulder.)

This last weekend I went to Costco and FangJia night market. Briefly, Costco in Taiwan is much like Costco in the US. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but I did manage to snap this shot of shoppers wheeling their carts down an escalator. Costco here was two stories, the bottom floor was food and car services, and the 2nd floor was shopping.

FangJia night market was much similar to my earlier post on Shilin night market. FangJia is Taichung's largest night market. The only really cool thing I wish I could have taken a picture of was a traditional Chinese clothing store. They wouldn't let me take pictures either. They had some very unique and beautiful clothing. Lee-Chew, one of the UPS students, bought a qi pao (traditional Chinese dress) - which cost her about $150 US.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Taiwan's 2008 estimate for average GDP per capita, based on Purchasing Power Parity, is $31,900 US. Compare this to China's 2008 estimate of $6,000 US. Without having to do much investigating, one could deduce the standard of living in Taiwan is a little higher, and so is the cost of living. Therefore, what I have found to be true is that expendable/disposable purchases are actually relatively more expensive than say food. Buying a shirt in Taiwan, depending on brand, can range anywhere from $2-3US to over $50. Not much different than the US, especially if we think about what plain T-shirt can run in the states. The best value in Taiwan is definitely food, excluding any imported goods. For example, I bought a large box of Nature Valley Trial Mix Bars that would sell for about $9.95 at Costco US, but I probably paid $12-13 for the box here in Taiwan. Evidently, Costco in Taiwan doesn't sell many Taiwanese breakfast/snack bars (don't know if a Taiwan company makes any?). Almost all snack foods were US made.

While on the subject of what things cost, I looked into tutoring English to earn some side money. After talking with US students who have done this, there is money to be made tutoring English. This is where having a higher GDP per capita pays off. One can earn about $400-$700NT per hour tutoring English, depending on education level. I have posted fliers around Tunghai University for tutoring English at $450 per hour (about $13.70 an hour). There is an added benefit to this. Not only can I earn money, but I can also discover a little bit more about the Taiwanese perspective on international issues, culture, etc.. Not to mention, meet new people.

Another bit of exciting news, while browsing the internet for what a road/triathlon bicycle would cost in Taiwan I came across some interesting information about the bicycle industry. Here is an interesting link on where bicycles come from, and what determines where a bike is truly from: http://allanti.com/page.cfm?PageID=328

In short, what I discovered is that most bicycle frames come from Asia, with the higher-end frames originating from Taiwan. That being said, I went online to find bicycle companies located in Taiwan. I just so happened to find this company: http://www.agogobike.com/en/company/?aid=1

Agogo Bike Company is located in Taichung, just minutes from the school. I sent them an email asking to visit their factory and learn a little bit about how bicycle frames are built and assembled, in addition, asking how the bicycle industry has transformed from once a hand crafted art to a factory produced product. I would really like to find out how bike companies from China and Taiwan compete and/or work together. Before coming to Taiwan, I applied for a research grant to study the "direct three links" between China and Taiwan. These links are direct air and sea travel, direct postal shipping (not having to go through Hong Kong), and standardized agricultural and food safety regulations. Still researching this topic, I could focus my attention on the bicycle industry between China and Taiwan. Both countries' bicycle industries have exploded and have continued to remain large producers of bicycles, once mainly for general transportation, now broadened for specialized sports, such as triathlons. Now that China and Taiwan have more cars of the road, and with the advent of more efficient public transportation, bicycles have dropped from being the number one way to get around the city. I rarely see people riding bikes for transportation here. People will either take the bus, drive a car, or usually they own a scooter.

Sorry for the lack of photos on this one. I'll post more as I continue to experience.


- Ryan

The Tea House

This weekend us Puget Sound students were taken on a field trip to downtown Taichung. First off, unlike Taipei, there is no MRT in Taichung. That leaves three options - walk, bus, or taxi. The MRT was very convenient for getting around Taipei - Taichung is not as big a city, so it really is not needed, although would be nice.

Getting to downtown Taichung, we took two different types of buses. I think the first one was a local bus mainly for students around the nearby campus area. The other, the brightly green colored "U-bus," seemed to be public transit managed by the city. We were able to use credit stored on our student cards (which can be recharged at the on campus 7-11 {side note* yes there is 7-11, and they are everywhere! no joke, the locals call it just "seven."} - go figure...) to pay for the first bus. But, the U-Bus did not take the student card, so each ride on the U-Bus was $20NT. I am not sure if that is a flat rate or not. Every bus ride I have taken so far has been $20NT, however when you board the bus they swipe a card, give it to you, and when you get off you swipe the card again - most likely to show the distance traveled. For longer distances the bus ride may cost more money. The buses in Taiwan don't automatically stop at every stop. If you're trying to get on the bus you need to hail the bus driver by waving your hands from the bus stop, usually, sometimes they will just stop. If you're on the bus there is a button on the wall to press indicating the driver to stop at the next stop to get off. If the light is lit-up on the button there is no need to press the button again.

For lunch we were taken to a Chinese tea house. The tea house served food as well as tea. When we arrived at the tea house there was a "geisha" being photographed - As you can see from the photos, the place was very beautiful. There were many individual rooms for larger parties to eat, smaller spots for couples, and some tables for a more casual sitting. In the center of the tea house was a large Coy pond. After you finish eating, they will give you fish food to feed to the Coy. The fish know when it is time to be fed, they scurry to the location of the food and battle for the small bits. There must have been at least 20-40 Coy in the pond.

Dinner is served hot - literally. A flame is lit under the cast iron bowl keeping the dish simmering as you transfer the food from the iron self-serving bowl to your rice bowl. After about 10-15 minutes the flame goes out, but the food is still smoking. Like everywhere I have been so far, the food is delicious. Food is cooked with a lot of seasonings and herbs. Each dish has its own unique blend of flavor. I would have to say the best part of traveling is tasting new foods. Unless you have food allergies, forget making sense of the Chinese menus and just pick one - they're all good, you will be pleasantly surprised. And for the times you're not... oh well, the food is cheap.

After dinner we were taught how to pour tea... which I doubt is my cup of tea. Here's a video of me serving and drinking my own tea, cheers.

We all took turns pouring tea, about an hour later drinking over 10 cups of Wu Long tea each. The Chinese tea ceremony is much different than Japan's Cha-No-Yu (literally, hot water over tea). Here, making tea was actually pretty simple, but still highly revered.

First, hot water is kept boiling in a pot over an indoor burner. In a second pot, individual tea leaves are kept waiting to be poured on by the water. Once the first bit of water is poured over the tea leaves, it is quickly poured into a third pot with a filter. I think this is to cleanse the tea leaves before letting the water sit to brew. After the water is poured into the third pot it is then poured into the tea cups. Then, the tea cups are emptied onto a bamboo tray with drainage holes. I think to purify the glasses. They are not drank. Then, each tea cup is set on a towel to wipe off any wetness on the bottom and reset back on the tray. Then, water is again poured over the tea leaves in the second pot, left to brew for about 5-10 minutes, and poured again into the third pot with the filter, to be finally poured into the tea cups. The server will pour each guest's cup first, then his/her own. Once everyone is served, they begin to drink. (we weren't that strict, we drank at our own leisure.)

Goodbye Taipei, Hello Taichung

I, along with three other UPS students, left the World Scholar House hostel in Taipei and headed down the western Taiwan coast to Taichung city last Sunday.

Staying at the hostel was a good experience. I met people from all around the globe. Here are a few of the people I met there.


Getting to Taichung was relatively fast. From the hostel we piled in a taxi, with all our luggage barely fitting. The taxi ride was short to the high speed rail (HSR) station and inexpensive, especially since there were four of us to split the bill.

The day before we left we reserved tickets for the HSR, simply called Gao Tie (High Rail) in Taiwan. The tickets were $430NT about $13US. Many people take the HSR as opposed to taking a bus north or south. For one, it is quicker, but it is also less of a hassle if you have luggage. Everyone is given an assigned seat, so if you're with a group and want to sit together, purchase the tickets all together and split the cost. Same thing if you go to a movie, seats are assigned. I saw transformers in the theater while in Taipei. It was actually a cool experience to sit among Taiwanese and listen to their reaction to the movie. They didn't get the whole moving into college freshman year part - probably because they didn't understand that American university dorm rooms don't have computer labs in them...

The HSR travels at speeds close to 186 MPH, however the ride is smooth and feels more like 40 MPH. We sat in the first car, at the front of the train. Inside, the cars are very clean and the seats are comfortable with lots of leg room.

Peering out from the window, the western lowlands whip by, filling the windows with agricultural crops instead of buildings. The change from dense city to rural town was dramatic. It seemed within seconds we were far removed from the hussle and bussle of the city and transplanted to a place where the clouds move faster than we do. Well, Taichung isn't quiet such a utopia. Scooters still line the streets, the horns still honk, and the people still have places to go.

Taichung, from my experience, is a city occupied by college students. It has a younger, warmer feel. The people are more friendly than Taipei it seems. Three universities are located in Taichung. I am attending Tunghai (pronounced with a D - as in Donghai) Da Xue (sounds like shway). DaXue means university, or literally, "big school."

The campus is very nice. The pathways around campus are lined with trees. Students chat all around campus. Even in summer, students can be seen walking from class to class. The swimming pool is nice, although not free, but definitely worth $40NT during the hot days. The gym is also $40NT to use. It has basic weight and aerobic machines and free weights - all one really needs.

I have four classes in the Chinese Language Center (CLC). From 8am to 12pm I attend class, then from 2pm to 4pm I attend study hours. For two classes Max, another UPS student, and I are the only students in the class. We are very lucky to have such a small class. For us, the pace of the class is perfect. Because there are only two of us, we really need to prepare and know the lesson before class. It forces us to be on top of our studies. Although I have taken three years of Chinese in the States, it is not the same. I feel like I have learned more in the week and three days of being here than I have in the months time in the States. Mainly because when you finish class for the day you return to speaking English. Here, after class you go to lunch and order in Chinese, you go to the store and ask questions in Chinese. It truly is the way to learn a language. If I were to figure how many hours I expect to spend a week on studying Chinese I would ball park the number around 100 hours a week. 20 hours of class, 10 hours of study sessions, 20-30 hours of homework, and 40-50 hours of speaking Chinese. Today I probably spoke English for 5 hours if I add it all up. One of my goals is to reduce the amount I speak English less and less each week. The bulk of speaking English is with my two American roommates and the other UPS students. As we continue our studies I assume we will rely less and less on English.

My dorm room here is actually bigger than what I had at UPS my freshman year. The dorms at UPS are considered to be very big compared to many other universities. Although, I only had one roommate then. Now, I have three roommates. Max, Cole (a high school student from San Francisco taking classes for a month), and George (his American name - but nonetheless a Taiwanese student). George is a great resource. He doesn't speak much English, which is great. He has already been a great help to getting Max and I situated.

My desk is a good spot to study - perfect lighting, enough desk space, enough drawers and bookshelves. However, I could go for a better bed... I am about an inch padding from the wooden board below. Its a pretty stiff bed. Bedding does not come with the room. You have to buy it yourself. The school helped us purchase bedding, but I found where they sell the bedding for cheaper than what I paid - and they have bedding that is much thicker. I am sure I will probably upgrade to a thicker pad before my back has had enough.

Above the school there is a night market (Ye4 Shi4 - 夜市) - everything you need is there, somewhere... just have to look, sometimes really hard. The food is both delicious and cheap. I bought dinner the other night, paid $30NT for a full meal, which is under $1US. Things like food and clothing sell for much less than the States. Electronics are also a little cheaper, but for brand name electronics like Apple its the same. Although, you can find ripoff ipods and other electronics all over.

Upon coming to Tunghai DaXue, we were shown around campus by a group of students and a teacher assistant, Yenshin Liu. They were very warm, helping us speak Chinese and taking us to buy shaved ice and play billiards.

The next day Yenshin, we call him Liu Laoshi (teacher), and Huang Laoshi (another teacher assistant) took us to Xi-Tou up in the mountains. I have to say, Xi-Tou was one of the most beautiful places I have been.
First, we went to taste tea at a tea garden and learn about how the tea is picked, prepared, and packaged. We tried the local wu-long tea. It was very fresh, and delicious.

After drinking tea, we were invited for a traditional dinner. The food was prepared in bamboo trays and we ate out of bamboo bowls. All kinds of foods were prepared for us, too much to eat. I honestly can't remember all the different foods we ate, but some of it was rice (of course), yam and pig feet, pumpkin and pork, and I think radish and fish. The bamboo trays, filled with food, are placed in a flame oven that looks like this:

Next, we traveled up the mountain and went on a nature walk. It was a little eerie, many bugs, saw a couple snakes, GIGANTIC spiders - gave us all an itchy feeling, but it was incredibly beautiful. Remember watching those kung fu movies filmed in densely filled bamboo forests? This was like that. Here I am off the beaten path - I didn't stay out there long, haha - these spiders were lurking nearby. Just to give you an idea of the size, this spider is about the size of my fist. Although not poisonous, it was still very creepy. I am sure you'll agree.

After our nature walk we visited a tea factory. We watched the process as whole tea leaves were finely broken down to small pieces and then densely bundled - then the process repeated with the same leaves over and over again. In this picture to the right, they are packing the leaves in this clothe, which will then be wrapped, packing the leaves tightly. After the leaves are packed, they are spun in a machine and then unwrapped and then re-spun loosely in another machine. Then, the process is repeated, until finally the leaves are fine enough for their liking. Here is a video of the wrapping process.

After visiting the tea factory, we took some of the freshly ground tea and went to a local's house to drink and taste it. Two things about that was cool. First, the tea was excellent. We must have sat there for about 2 hours drinking tea. The second was the listening to the daughter play some sort of string instrument. The sound was incredible, she was very good. She must practice every day for hours.

That evening we stayed in Xi Tou national forest in a very nice hotel room. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant. I tried fish eye, pork feet, pork bone marrow - as well as the other foods. Surprisingly, the fish eye was not bad. After dinner we played card games in Chinese. A good way to learn a language is to play a game, words are repeated over and over and you think about their meaning continually.

The next morning we went on a hike in the national forest. This was a very beautiful place. The weather was perfect. Little humidity, shade, and rivers to cool the head. Here I am testing the water - it was fresh, cool, refreshing. I know what you're probably thinking - bacteria, parasites, germs - why am I drinking this water? Well, I can't really give a solid reason other than I was thirsty - and the water looked clear and clean. After trying the fish eye and pork feet, this water couldn't be much worse. Walking on we came to a waterfall pooling area, another place to wash the hands and face.

After hiking for about two hours it was lunch time. Again, we were treated to an amazing meal. Some traditional plates were served along with some new plates. Once more they served us way too much food - I am not complaining though. The food was excellent.

After lunch we walked down the street to another tea garden. Looking out the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. After gazing at the horizon for a while we headed back to campus and called it a day.

The next, it was Wednesday, day we briefly met our professors and had another campus tour. Classes didn't start until Thursday for us, so we had a free day to roam around. I decided to take the opportunity and buy toiletries and such. I was able to buy hangers, an electric shaver, electric beard trimmer, laundry detergent, a towel, a clothes basket, 10 pairs of athletic socks, an internet cable (hence I am typing this blog!), hand soap, and a drying rack for all under $30US - Incredible. The beard trimmer alone would have been $19.95US back in the States... Now, when I said you can find nearly anything at the night market, I meant it. Looking for a giant hanger? It's there.

Well, I have reached the end of the picture limit for this post. Now that I have internet I will continue my writing on a more regular basis.


- Ryan

Taipei 101

A must visit if you come to Taipei.

Standing at from "Ground to highest architectural structure (spire): 509.2 metres (1,670.60 ft)," Taipei 101 is still currently the world's tallest building, at least until September 2009 when the Burj Dubai is expected to reach completion.

Getting to Taipei 101 from the MRT station is fairly easy. A free bus runs directly between the MRT station and the tower.

Taipei 101 is a strong symbol for many Taiwanese. It is a symbol of technological achievements (named one of the seven wonders of engineering by Discovery Channel), financial security (as it houses many financial institutions, including the Taiwan Stock Exchange), and world presence (it was named one of the new seven wonders of the world by Newsweek Magazine).

Taipei 101 is named for its 101 floors (although tourists can only reach the 91st floor), and its international mailing code, 101. There are 8 sections of what looks like Chinese take-out boxes. 8 is a superstitious number bringing prosperity and good luck in the Chinese culture. You may remember the Beijing Olympics started on 8/8/08.

The tower is very popular, many Taiwanese and foreigners travel from all over to visit. We visited the tower in the morning and had no wait. We came down in the afternoon to see lines were backed up to ride the elevator to the observatory level on the 89th floor. The free bus was also very crowded, but there is a ride every 20 minutes.

At the base of the tower is a upper scale-only mall. Every store in the mall is a designer brand. The mall was not very crowded, maybe because everything in the mall was too expensive. The real attraction was riding the elevator to the top. To do so costs about $450NT, about $15US.

The elevator is the world's fastest, Climbing 89 floors to the observatory level in under 40 seconds. The elevator is specially designed to reduce wind drag.

Once the elevator reaches the 89th floor, the view stepping out from the elevator immediately opens to see the entire horizon of Taipei. Looking out, you can see as far as your eye can see. Air planes take off, climb slowly, and then meet your eye line. Objects below are like a miniature scale of Taipei. Building in all directions are dwarfed.

Being on the observatory deck reminded me of the story of Icarus. Imagine yourself high above the world below, outside looking up - the sky is in arms grasp. Now, of course, Taipei 101 is not the highest point on this planet. But, it is the tallest stationary man-made point. Getting back to the story, I am not saying Taipei 101 will melt and fall to the ground, like Icarus. Simply, human ambition and ingenuity has brought us to staggering new heights, and we're bound to see more.

- Ryan

Shilin Night Market

I spent the day browsing around the shopping districts of Taipei.

Luckily, a local Taiwanese woman, Liu, is staying at the hostel and offered to come with us. She provided great insight about where to shop and how to bargain. According to Liu, as a rule of thumb, westerners will almost always pay higher prices, so negotiate and shop around! Become friendly with the sentence "tai gui le" (too expensive).

I was in search of an electronic translator. After about an hour of searching in the electronic district we found one. But we did not buy it. Liu took us to three other shops before we came back, negotiated the price, and bought it.

After playing with my new translator for about 3 hours (it did not come with an english manual... I tought about translating the manual with the translator), we met up with some other expats and headed to the night market in Shilin.

Wow. What a place. I have never experienced anything quite like the night market. The streets are crowded with thousands of people, smells (some good, others bad - stinky toufu) permeate into your nostrils, and any of the regular goods you can imagine buying are probably within walking distance, but for a fraction of the price. But, so what? By those standards, many places would resemble Shilin's night market. Probably some do. But, to me, what really made Shilin stand out were the people.


Scott, one of the other students studying here in Taipei, and I were discussing how trendy the younger people were. We usually think of New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, as fashion capitals. But, when most of the goods, that is the goods that normal everyday people wear, come from Taiwan and Mainland China, these places, like Taipei, become fashion hubs.

I will probably go back to the night market for food or when I need to buy anything. Prices were very competitive and it was fun to explore the side streets and underground store fronts. Some shop owners did not allow us to take pictures, perhaps because some of their items were illegal.

Truly the night market is worth experiencing. It is definitely a tourist destination, so like I said earlier, always use "tai gui le."