The Splendor Kaohsiung

... with my clothes on. Once we reached the top (yes, this was up a giant hill), we switched chanting to "Shi jia Ru Lai," a personal fav or mine, meaning "Sakyamuni Tathagata," or Sakyamuni the thus-come one. From there, we were given candles, placed them in front of our make-shift shrine, and sat and meditated. I walked all the way down and back to gte my camera... couldn't waste such a photogenic evening.

The pilgrimage may sound a little... intense, and it was, but ...

... I find it hard to believe they couldn't find a job more in need of doing than weeding. It was a cool garden, though, looked like teletubbies or the shire, quite hilly. After 1.5 hours, we walked up another hill to a small shrine. Inside, a monk made an impromptu Chinese-style painting- quite amazing to watch, he did it so fast. I took the opportunity to take pictures, but my memory card was full (don't fear, have two more).

Finally back to shower ...

... our room to put away our belongings and turn in for the night, though at 9pm, we're well ahead of our 10pm curfew. It's 4 to a room here, and so far only one of my roommates has arrived. The beds are my preference- firm as they come, and we have two tall dressers, two desks, and two bathroom- and airconditioning (!). Looking at the itinerary, I know I have a challenging few weeks ahead of me, but I hope I will be better for it. I'm tired! 5:30am wake up call!

... 8211; we taste some wine – which is good. In Taiwan – wine is really expensive – $40-$50 US for a regular bottle. We don’t buy any. Apparently Irene is really hungry because she is not only eating the snack – dried fish - from another store but also all of the samples in the store. ALL OF THEM… There were at least 12 types of tofu for tasting – she tried them all and other stuff. This is perfectly ...

... like rubber stamps! The women look really young and are smoking hot. They give the Italians a run for their money. The people are industrious - trying very hard. Taiwanese are also very, very friendly and welcoming. They set out fruit, vegetables, and cookies for their guests when they arrive. The younger men have hair like the Cure from the 80s. The women dress very well in Taipei. The women are far better looking.

... drei Bereiche: - der Kindergarten, bzw. Kindertagesstaette. Die Kinder sind dort zwischen 3 und 6 Jahre alt und unteteilt in 2 Kleinkinderklassen, 2 Klein-Klassen, 3 Mittel-Klassen und 3 Grossklassen (jeweils mit 30 Kindern, also insgesamt rund 270 Kinder), die jeweils von 2 Lehrerinnen betreut werden. Das besondere daran ist, dass in jeder Klasse ein Kind mit Verhaltensstoerungen ist, das jedoch in die Klassengemeinschaft ...

... than yesterday so we were able to see more of what surrounded us. Lots of fish ponds and way off in the distance, the outline of the city of Tainan. About 9 am, we were shown to our "Guest Office" and advised that Dr Wu would be in shortly to discuss his Piedmont project. Left to our own devices, we all pulled out our laptops and tried to get on the internet. We quickly discovered this wasn't possible. Patrick was able to get Melinda logged on, but the ...

... ab** ich finde es zweifellos sehr gut. Die Lehr**innen haben jede ihren eigenen Stil, die eine streng**, die and**e macht mehr Spiele, etc. ab** sie machen ihre Arbeit alle sehr g**ne und da m**kt man auch wirklich. Ich selbst habe jeden Tag drei Klassen (16.00-16.20, 17.00-17.30, 17.30-18.00) und bin damit jede Woche etwa 2 mal in jed** Klasse. Es ging relative schnell, dass ich mit den Lehr**innen gut zusammen unt**richten konnte und ...

... war dann nochmal Diskussion angesagt, wobei wir festgestellt haben, dass wir uns alle noch ein bisschen mehr ranhalten wollen, um Chinesisch zu l**nen und noch ein bisschen mehr rumreisen wollen. Abends hat sichs dann zugezogen und wurde kuehl**, ab** bei n** Runde Karten und mit "taiwanesischem Vodka" (GaoLiang), den "kleine Ziege" noch aus seinem Rucksack zaub**te war's ne lustige Runde und wir konnten danach wund**bar schlafen ...

... 35 "You don't need fear to avoid unnecessary danger, just a minimum of intelligence and common sense." "The ego is very vulnerable and insecure, .. this [..]is the case even if the ego is outwardly very confident." 36 "Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. True power is within." 37 "People will [seek for] things to identify with in order to fill this hole they feel within. So they strive after possessions, money, success, power, recognition or a special ...