Journey to Taiwan: My Perspective, Part 3

Sunday, February 8, was the one day I did not take any pictures, even though I had my camera with me all day.  The day started really early, as Kristina wanted to take me to the church in the city of Taichung (“ch” is pronounced like “j”) that she attended last year school year; it is about 4 ½ hours away from the school, including waiting time at bus stops and getting breakfast.  Before we left, though, we had a quick Skype call with the family back in the U.S. and I took a shower, trying not to get water all over Kristina's bathroom (I'll explain more about the showers later).  I didn't succeed very well, but did do better the following days.

We left the school campus around 6:00 a.m. to catch the local bus to Chaiyi City.  Once we arrived there we crossed the street to the bus station, grabbed a snack from one of the shops at the station, and then boarded our bus to Taichung.  This was a longer bus ride, allowing time for me to catch a nap.  An hour or so later we arrived at a bus station in Taichung.  We ate breakfast at the nearby McDonalds on the third floor - a first for me.  A lot of buildings in Taiwan are tall and narrow.   

After breakfast, we had a few minutes until it was time to catch our next bus, so Kristina told me a little about the Filipino and Indonesian population in the city (and that more of the Filipino's know English than the Taiwanese).  

After leaving McDonalds we caught our last bus, got off a few blocks away from the church, and walked the remaining distance.  Even though the church is pastored by an American, the services are in Chinese, so Kristina thought she would have to translate everything for me.  It just so happened that a guest speaker was there that morning, so the sermon was in English, and then translated to Chinese.  Since I was not the only one who could not speak Chinese, the pastor translated the hymn names/numbers into English (they did use Chinese/English hymnals so I was able to sing in English); Kristina also filled in a few things, like the end of prayers or the invitation.  We ate lunch at church, after the morning service, but before Sunday School.  

Pretty much all the Taiwanese at the church spoke a little bit of English.  A couple were fluent in English, and others had a good grasp, so I was able to talk to people.  After lunch we divided for Sunday School; the pastor's wife taught the lesson in a combination of English and Chinese since I was there.  When we left that afternoon, one of the ladies in the church drove us to a bus station, so we were able to cut one bus ride out of our return trip.  Since we were not tired (like on our early morning bus rides) Kristina and I had a good chance to just talk as we sat in the high seats in the very back of the bus on our hour ride back to Chaiyi City.  

That afternoon/evening we met Fae and Mr. Owens in Chaiyi City, where we went to the 85 Coffee Shop, which serves tea and cake (of which I purchased both).  As Mr. Owens was looking for parking alongside the street, he imparted the interesting fact that you cannot park anywhere in Taiwan that has a red line painted on the side of the road; you can only park there if the line is white.  Parking in the city is really tight and hard to find.  We thought the place we had parked was okay, but we stayed in 85 just a few minutes too long, and Mr. Owens ended up with a parking ticket (we saw the policeman sticking tickets on cars parked just a few ahead of us when we made it back to the car).  

After that we went to the night market, where I bought my first non-food items of the trip (excluding transportation tickets).  After our visit at the night market (where Kristina demonstrated her skills shooting balloons with an air soft gun) we went to Carrefour, which is kind of like a Taiwanese version of Wal-mart (except it has two floors), to pick up groceries.  With our groceries and night market purchases loaded into the trunk of Mr. Owens car, we headed back to the CEI Campus, a trip made much simpler and quicker thanks to Mr. Owens acting as chauffeur (instead of us catching another bus).

Journey to Taiwan: My Persepective, Part 2

On Saturday morning I slept as long as I could, but since my body had not adjusted to the thirteen hour time difference between Georgia and Taiwan I did not sleep in very late (despite waking up a couple of times during the night, or maybe in spite of). After Kristina and I got up we went downstairs for breakfast.  We were on the 5th floor, and while breakfast was on the third floor, it was only one floor down.  In Mandarin Chinese the word "four" sounds like the word "death," so a lot of hotels will skip from three to five (just like many tall hotels or buildings do not have a thirteenth floor in the U.S.)  Since all my meals the day before were airplane meals, breakfast was my first real Taiwanese meal, which included vegetables on the menu.  But hey, I like vegetables, and the way they cook them in Taiwan generally makes them taste really good.  I also got to try a couple of different breads, including a steamed bun.  

After breakfast we had some time before the taxi arrived to take us to the high speed rail (HSR).  I repacked my bags and Kristina watched some Taiwanese singers on the TV, telling me which ones were singing in Taiwanese and which ones were singing in Mandarin (I probably still could not tell you the difference between the two, unless I heard someone saying "thank you" - I do remember the word for that in both languages!)  

Did I mention the bathtub?  This hotel room had a bathtub/shower with legs on the bottom.  Quite different from what I've always used - but not as different as what I would soon be using!  My hotel shower was my most luxurious shower on the whole trip.

Our taxi ride from the hotel to the HSR station was short, but it gave me a good first glimpse of the country in the daylight.  At the HSR station we got our tickets, and before long were speeding down the tracks for the 1 - 1.5 hour trip to Chaiyi.  The train car was full, so Kristina and I did not have seats by each other, nor was their room for my suitcase in the luggage rack.  Fortunately, the seats have plenty of leg room.  Since I was stuck in a middle seat I did not have the best view out the window, so settled down with my Kindle to read Oliver Twist (my trip book, which I read from start to finish before my return flight).  

Bike Trail

Once we made it Chaiyi, we got some lunch from one of the famous Seven Elevens (the reason they're famous is because they are everywhere in Taiwan, and nowhere in Georgia).  Next we took a Taxi to the Character and English Institute (CEI) facility.  It is located next to an old sugar factory, which is a tourist attraction.  Nearby a museum is also being built, but it is over 1,000 days late in being finished. 

            Upon our arrival at the school campus, I met Fae (the Chaiyi team leader), who was busily working on laundry and deep cleaning.  We dumped my junk in the office, since Kristina's room was still getting cleaned, and then biked to a nearby grocery store so that Kristina could pick up snacks for the Bible club later in the afternoon.  This bike ride included going over the "scary bridge." (A suspension bridge that looks sort of like a miniature Golden Gate Bridge; when you are on it you can see through the bottom to the ground and river below).

One of Kristina's methods of transportation

Suspension Bridge

             After we got back to the school campus Kristina showed me around some of the surrounding area, and then we were picked up by Mr. Owens to go help with kids club.  The most I did to help was play Uno with some of the kids (because you don't really have to speak the same language to play it).  Afterwards we went to Pick Burger for supper (a guitar themed restaurant) and then headed back.  As soon as we arrived back at the CEI, jet lag hit, and after sending an update to my family I went to bed.

Asian kids are so cute!

Jill teaching about Moses

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