Gear Kaohsiung

... through small fires, a man who shook a very large branch around, and 2 men who were being beaten by two other men with a bamboo stick. It is very hard to explain, but basically it was to show that the Gods are all powerful and cannot be harmed by things that we can. After all this we were ridiculously tired but still decided to get hot pot. We sat down and pointed to various parts of the menu and did a lot of nodding and eventually we were given 4 huge bowls of vegetables ...

... Probably no one's taking vitamins nor drinking enough water. I just hope they don't go easy on us because they already cancelled vespers tonight and tomorrow all evening activities are cancelled. I love naps just as much as anyone else, but this program has been running for 8 years and has not had this many sick people before. This includes our 3rd partner, who has not come with us for any part of the personal project. She's ...

... br>Later, because of the rain all our midday activities were cancelled, so I went to see the so-called Buddha relic, which is supposed to be the historical Buddha's actual tooth. You can't just see it- you have to pray in its presence, so we sheepishly entered only to find that it was within a gold container, behind a bamboo curtain, behind a glass window... an we were doing prostrations so we couldn't really see anything.

... Hyvää ruokahalua, Bon Apetit! Olin ihan varma että henkiä meni kun ei mitään liikettä näkynyt, mutta onneksi kaikki saatiin maasta jotenkin heräteltyä ja paikkailtua takaisin pelikuntoon. Todella varovainen kannattaa täällä Taiwanissa olla kävellessäkin, koska liikenne on melko hullua, eikä suojatielläkään paljon kävelijöitä kunnioiteta! Tosi röyhkeästi vetää autot ja skootterit kylmästi punaisia päin. Tehtiin vielä iso lenkki satamassa ja kaupungilla ...

... look at boots for Irene. So we go to – shoe street – literally a street that sells nothing but shoes. Its cool! Shoes freaking everywhere. I know some friends of mine that would love this street. They aren’t priced that well though – so I am told. So we quickly leave. We go back to the coffee shop – kafe jojo is still there! – and have our cup of coffee. I get an espresso shot and they all look at me funny. Oh ...

... is so much higher than in the US. One of the sessions that covers both days is hydrogeology, and our talks are scheduled for this afternoon. Patrick brings us our badges, and we walk around a bit. Inside our badge packet are tickets for lunch on both days and a ticket for our conference gift. The gift turns out to be a cup with a lid and a briefcase. There are many fewer vendors displaying their technical equipment (I think I counted 2), but a much larger ...

... Melinda and me. Again the cost was $50NT, but instead of entering the fort through a moat, we walked up a long set of brick steps. This fort was built by the Dutch (who occupied Taiwan) in the 1600's using bricks that they imported from Java. It is the oldest fort in Taiwan and only part of one wall is original. In the late 1800, the Japanese who occupied Taiwan, leveled most of the original fort and constructed a 3-level platform (reminiscent of mezoamerican pyramids), upon ...

... und haupsaechlich um den vielfaeltigen Eistee in netten Tee-Bars zu trinken. In Lounge Bars und Talking Pubs, die relative westlich eingerichtet sind, mit einer umfangreichen Alkohol-Karte, trifft man dagegen sehr viele Auslaender. So gegen zehn werden dann aber auch hier die Buergersteige hochgeklappt und es wird schlagartig leerer und das ist auch meistens fuer mich die Zeit, mich auf meinen Roller zu schwingen und zurueckzu duesen.

... Die Taiwanesen haben fuer mein Verstaendnis ein ausgesprochen gutes Gruppen- und Mitgefuehl. Sie geniessen es, das zu teilen, was sie haben, denn sie sind auch stolz darauf. Dadurch sind sie auch sehr hilfsbereit, manchmal schon fast aufdringlich, aber alles in allem doch sehr zuvorkommend und ich hoffe, dass ich von dieser Tugend auch etwas mitnehmen konnte. Auf jeden Fall, denke ich, ist jeder hier herzlich willkommen!

"Und jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zaub** inne" Mit diesen Worten hat H**mann Hesse genau das beschrieben was wir die letzten zwei Wochen waehrend des "Language Camp" **fahren habe. "Wir" sind Joachim, Krisitan, Patrick,Yunus und ich, alle fuenfe irgendwo aus Deutschland und alle voll** Enthusiasmus und Spannung fu** ein Jahr hi** zu sein. Von uns**en taiwanesischen Team**n, wurden wir gleich aufs h**zlichste empfangen und die ganze Zeit ueb** h**rschte ...