Kenting Dream Hotel Pingtung

... br> -lunch
-meditation instruction, how to prostrate
-walking/standing meditation around shrine- hot as a sauna!
-10 min break, shower
-temple tour, led by a monk who talked like Arnold Schwarzenegar
-dinner, called medicine meal- the Venerable Master was present, and so the place was in a frenzy

[I know this seems unclear, but I hope that later posts help fill in the gaps.]

... lärvi. Paikalliseen hintatasoon nähden varmaan hirmu kallista, mutta verrattuna Japanin hintoihin, niin todella halpaa. Sen takia vertaan Japaniin, koska nämä junat on aivan samoja kuin Japanissa ja perustuen samaan Shinkansen teknologiaan. Palvelu ei kylläkään ole samaa ja mitään konduktöörien kumarteluja on ihan turha odottaa. Matka-aika Taipeista Kaohsiungiin, muutaman pysädyksen kera oli noin 90 minuuttia (kilometrejä 335) ja kovaa kyytiä mentiin ...

... because I felt that I looked horrendous! Oh well. Before leaving our company to head back to his home in Taipei for Chinese New Year, Mr Lei gave us some pointers on what we should do for the night in Kaosiung. Afterwards, I was the first one to say XieXie (Thank you) and he looked at me and shook my hand saying "Ohh, finally I hear you speak!" everyone laughed, and I have to admit I felt a bit embarrassed-as I really am one of ...

... technology centers and farming communities from the rail is cool. We arrive in Kaoshiung in 90 minutes. Exactly on time. We take the metro to Irene's family's building. Everyone lives in high rise buildings or store houses for the most part. The lobby to the building is really nice! We take the elevator to the 22nd floor and enter. Of course, we have to take our shoes off outside. There are house shoes and ...

... Und auch fuer die Lehrerinnen war es immer interessant, etwas neues zu sehen und zu erfahren und sie haben mich immer ganz grossartig darin unterstuetzt, meine Ideen umzusetzen. Zum Weltfriedenstag und zu Ostern ist dann sogar die Presse angerueckt und wir hatten prompt Artikel mit Photo in drei taiwanesischen Tageszeitungen. Es war also wirklich fuer alle ausgesprochen nett, dass hier ein deutscher Freiwilliger sein Unwesen im Kindergarten treibt.

... built by the Japanese in the 1920s, to provide irrigation for sugar cane in the dry season. When it was constructed, it was covered by 4 to 5 meters of river gravel, but recent gravel mining has exposed the concrete top of the weir. There is a second weir that parallels the right river bank but it collects ground water that would be discharging into the river. Underground, the ground water weir T's into the river weir and the waters combine into one subsurface tunnel that ...

... of the fort. At 10am, there was a demonstration with 3 men in costume describing the use of the fort, and reenacting what was done when there was an invasion. Of course, I don't speak Chinese so I'm not entirely clear what was being said, but when it came time to fire the cannon it shot out fireworks over the fort wall. Quite a neat effect. After departing the Eternal Fortress we drove the the old fort at Anping. We parked about 2 blocks away because the area was packed. Evidently ...

... austauschen, etc. Wenn es dann spaet wird und Zeit fuer seinen Nacht-Snack, den er so liebt, gehts noch los um Nudeln mit Sesampaste zu essen. Hier in Taiwan steht auch ab und zu der Nachtmarkt auf dem Programm, eine Zeitlang habe ich mich oefters zum Tandem-Sprachasutausch getroffen, einmal in der Woche bin ich bei Joachims Gasteltern im Restaurant eingeladen. Auch sonst gibt es gar nicht selten besondere Anlaesse, dass ich mit ...

... fuer mich abgeklappert haben und spaeter beim Kaufvertrag uebersetzt haben - einfach so und dabei haben sie mir viel Muehe und Zeit erspart und selbst investiert, vielen Dank! Auch sonst ist es mir schon passiert, dass mich eine aelter Dame beim Reisen zur Bushaltestelle gefuehrt hat, die ich sonst kaum gefunden haette, mich ausserdem zum Mittagessen eingeladen hat und ihren Regenschirm hergeschenkt hat, weil ich keinen ...

... has to be my own home. I'm really thankful though that Sara let me stay that long anyways and I really hope that everything is fine now. 30.7.07 My last two days in Kaohsiung I spent with Boyd, who let me borrow his scooter for the past week. It's really a lot of fun driving around on a scooter. It feels like being part of a massive city gang. He showed me around town and we had some really good and deep conversations, thanks for that and for everything else.