Hoya Resort Hotel Wuling Taichung

OK...so I am going to try this again!

I made it to Taichung early this morning. We came in around 1:00AM Taiwan time. The flight was long, about 24 hours of travel total. It was pretty uneventful which was wonderful. We had a 2 hour delay in MN where we had to wait in the plane, meaning that added 2 hours of plane time to the already 12 hour flight. Luckily we didn't miss our connecting flight in Japan ...

... easier for me.

Second Realization: The Language. Learning Chinese won't be a difficult feat. I had the best time practicing my limited and rather embarrassing Chinese with the vendors on the street markets yesterday. In two days I spoke a few phrases, people spoke back, and... I understood them!!! Mind you, it wasn't a long conversation about the politics of Taiwan or anything, only ...

... You also get to experience a natural phonomenon known as ascending air current. I guess its something that is appreciated in the flesh. We were both starting to fade as we had walked nearly 18km. Collectively we decided to make our way back to Bulouwan and catch the last bus back to Hualien. All that stood in our way was the swallow grotto, which nearly wiped us out the first time. Our motivation came from the promise of ice cream ...

Cornel provides teachers with many opportunities to make a little extra cash in their spare time. Whether it involves teaching a class in the evening hours, supervising an extra recess, storytelling at various locations within the community, or writing stories for our school magazine, there is definitely no shortage of opportunities to get out and make a little extra dough to spend on weekend trips. Jilda recently ...

... by six or seven ushers who escorted us up the stairs to the banquet hall. We first had to say hello to April's parents, where we were given small wedding pictures of the soon-to-be bride and groom (similar to a baseball card size senior picture). We also had to sign the guest book, which was actually a very fancy scroll. We found our seats and made our way into the back room where we all said hello to April and had our picture taken with her. She had on a very ...

... around the area to have a bowl full of this dessert. It consisted of shaved ice on the bottom of the bowl (or boiling water, depending on what you prefer), pineapple, lima beans, mango, some kind of brown mushy substance, sugar, and any other random item you could think of. It does sound rather unappetizing and I was pretty skeptical about ordering it. However, it was actually quite refreshing on a hot and humid day and was quite tasty

... photos in the photo album. Advise: For your own safety pleaseconsider to use - special shoes ( about 400 NTD, in fishing and some hiking shops ) - a must have - safety helmet - swimming vest - long rope comes in handy when crossing streams with strong currents Do not go in rainy weather as rivers swell almost instantly!

... in my direction to school joins me with a bunch of questions, which I am glad to answer, such as the routine one: ' Are you American?' Now I have two options, say " Yes " and have peace or say " No, I am from Germany " and have a lot more to explain as this place is not on their mental map. I forgot what I decided to say, there are too many times, but I suppose due to the early hour I lied - plase forgive my weakness. The kids turn ...

... road on the mountain side and pulling up earth and rock samples. Finally I ask a couple taking care of one bore hole what the purpose is. They explain that the tests are made as a basic geological study for the widening of the coastal road. It is getting pretty hot, no wind is going and no trees provide shadow as they did in the mountains. At 12:15pm I arrive in the larger village of Fongbin, where I take my lunch at a 7-11 ( lunch box, yogurt ). A ...

... projected onto a large screen via projector. So I finally see a movie I have intented to see for a long time - now I see it here in the middle of nowhere ( I am not exaggerating ): The movie " Bona Vista Social Club " about Kuban music with the famous and regretfully recently deceased Kuban singer Ferras. The music is in Spanish, which I have never studied but understand a bit, with Chinese subtitles which I can't read, but all that does not matter as it is all ...