Dreaming of Taiwan

We went to visit the Toyota company (Kuozui), which was a manufacturing plant so we got to watch how cars are made there.  It was basically an assembly line, but even though I don't know very much about cars in specific or what goes into them, it made me really appreciate how much of a group effort putting together a car really is.  The process is like an assembly line, with each person being responsible for putting together his part.  Since it was something I didn't know very much about, I was very glad to have the opportunity to see first-hand how it is done.

We visited Grape King (no real meaning to the name, as we learned during the presentation), a company that used to make pharmaceuticals but transitioned to energy drinks and supplements and is now primarily focused on supplying things like fermented mushrooms and lactic acid bacteria to other companies.  They also gave us a tour of their facilities, which while fascinating, was difficult to get through because of the smell combined with how hot it was.  I was impressed by the work they do and was also reminded of my chem lab last semester.

After we finished exploring Grape King, we visited Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Park, where the first president of Taiwan is buried.  We walked through the mausoleum which was pretty cool, but also sobering just because you could tell from the Taiwanese people who were there just how important he is to them.  After that, we walked around the park itself some, which was really pretty.  There were hundreds of statues of him.

On the way back to school, we stopped at an old street where we walked around for a bit.  There were a few different stores, and although I didn't buy anything, I did try some hot tofu which was really good and an ice cream sandwich which was also delicious.  I feel like in Taiwan I've had a yearning for ice cream a lot, which isn't surprising I guess because it's so hot!

Took my time getting to Taipei on Sunday, and didn't have many plans other than exploring the MRT and visiting a few different stores.  Riding the bus was actually really easy.  It cost 18NT, and the driver was pretty helpful, although he didn't seem to know English (I asked and pointed to the map we have in the back of our student handbooks that shows the way to the train station).  Turns out that we have to get off at the bus station itself, the absolute last stop.  There was a Taiwanese couple who were extremely helpful because they walked us to the train station even though the tour bus they were getting on was waiting for them pretty much right where the city bus stopped.  It made me realize just how nice everyone here really is, something I've been very grateful for, more than once.

Getting a train ticket was simple (and only cost 58NT to go to Taipei), and I think if I use it again, I will have no problem just using the automatic machine on my own rather than needing help from the attendant in the Taipei station (haha).  It was kind of confusing at first because there were a billion (exagg) stops in Taipei, but we figured we would get to the main station at some point, and we did!  After that, getting onto the MRT was pretty straight-forward.  When we visited the MRT station and traffic control center on the first Wednesday (13th), I hadn't really been able to appreciate the work that has gone into the planning of the city's transportation, but once I started using it, I realized just how nice it is.  I've never used the NYC subways or anything like that (even when I was in Chicago, we took taxis, so I really didn't know anything about public transportation there, either), so it has all been a new experience to me.

Rebekka was on a hunt for Japanese books (to help study) so we visited Eslite, the big store near the city hall.  We also bought some Taiwanese pop music.  I bought a Jay Chou CD, but there were so many different artists and it was difficult to tell what to get.  If I get the chance, I want to go to another music store to get some more music before we leave, since I love listening to all different types and languages in music.

After that, we had dinner in the Eslite building, which had different types of stores to choose from in a style similar to the MRT dining area and like we have in malls in the USA.  I don't know what kind of food we got, but it looked and tasted good, and that's enough for me. :)  We didn't have much time to do anything else, so we just walked around the underground mall for a bit and then took the train home.  We ran into Alison, Jumanah, and Michael on the platform, crazily enough!  So we all rode home together.  Although we took the bus to the train station when we were leaving school, we decided to just take a taxi back.  Made me realize that having the school planner with us was a good idea after all because I sucked at pronouncing the school name and the driver couldn't understand me at all.  He was really nice, though, and kept saying "USA! USA!" after asking us where we were from.  It only cost 100NT, which definitely isn't bad by US standards, but the bus is by far cheaper, even if you have to walk a little longer to get there.

Today started bright and early at 6 to meet the bus at 7:30 and left at about 8:30. Once we were finally loaded into the bus and ready to go, we had the wonderful two and a half hour drive to get to Changhua, which wasn't really as bad as it could have been if the bus were less accommodating. But with reclining chairs that were comfortable enough to get a little sleep in, it wasn't too bad. Probably better than most of the cars I've ridden in, unless I had the entire back seat to myself...

The mountains were really pretty as we drove past them, something I have to note because I love mountains, haha. It reminds me of home, because I link visiting the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee with my family. When we finally got to the first temple in our list to visit, I was definitely ready for the opportunity to stretch my legs a bit. There were people playing instruments as we walked up to the temple, and it sounded really nice, really authentic. The feeling I had was that it was something completely unlike anything I was likely to experience in the United States. Then we went into a room filled with incense, which smelled really good but left my eyes feeling a little dry (probably had something to do with the fact that I was wearing contacts, haha). Anyway, it was really cool because they let us make a wish. I'm not saying what mine was, but here's to hoping it comes true!

After we were finished there, we walked outside behind the temple to see even more. There was some water with tons of fish, cute turtles, and some sort of duck (maybe?). Anyway, there was this statue I really liked of a guy riding a fish (how much more awesome transportation can you get, anyway?), which I of course took a picture of. Although none of my pictures came out good, so I am going to use one that Rebekka took instead.



The second temple we visited looked a lot more traditional, and a lot older, but that's part of what made it really cool. There were these awesome trees in the middle of the temple. There wasn't any kind of pond or anything like that in this temple, but I thought it was nice because it was Buddhist, unlike the first, so we got to visit two different types of religions' temples.

The third temple we visited was actually right by the old street we visited. It was exponentially more crowded than the other two, which I had already thought were kind of crowded, but it wasn't surprising, with all the vendors and everything around. I am glad I was able to visit these three different temples so that I could learn more about Taiwanese culture and history.

After that, we walked through the old street and looked at some of the wares the vendors were selling. I bought a couple of different souvenirs and some snacks, and then we left to go to a museum. The building itself was really beautiful and looked really expensive.

The last thing we did before heading home was painting a mask. I got half-way (or so) done, but I intend on working on it more in the future, when I can find some more watercolor to paint with.

For now, that's all! Bye! Zai jian!

My journey to Taiwan started at the Nashville Airport, which took me on a flight half-way around the world with stops at Detroit and Tokyo before finally arriving in Taipei. We didn't get to the dorm until around 10:30 Sunday night.

So far I have liked all of the food I tried, the breakfast sandwiches, beef noodles, and lunch-box type meal we had yesterday (Thursday).  I also liked the bubble milk tea, and the vegetarian lemon drink I tried was really delicious.

I really liked going to Taipei, and thought that the company visit was pretty cool.  Learning how the transit system in Taipei works was cool, since I have always lived in smaller cities, I didn't really know much about the efforts that go into maintaining complex transportation systems and controlling traffic. I liked hearing about Asus and what they are doing, in terms of their innovation and also their attempts to be a green company.  I was really impressed by the facilities they provide to their employees.  Although the amount of time employees spend at the company is crazy!  In America, even if we work more than 40 hours a week, usually we take the extra work home to do, not do it at the company.