Presentations at the NCKU
Trip Start
Apr 26, 2008
1
17
20
Trip End
May 09, 2008
Tainan,
Tainan,
Taiwan
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Inside, we are shown to a theater style classroom with a large screen and a podium on one end. By the time Dr Wu gives his introductory talk, there are about 50 people seated in the room. I cursory look reveals more women in the audience this time, about 5 I think, but it appears that all but one are students.
Lunch was a "boxed lunch" in the style we had in Taipei. I didn't like the contents of this one as much as I liked the first one. I did enjoy our lunch company. We kept Dr Ting busy answering our questions all through the meal. I don't think the poor man ate very much of the contents of his lunch box.
The rest of our talks go well, and we actually finish on time. There were many fewer questions than we answered in Taipei, which certainly helped our time schedule. Nearly all the questions were from professors, and it appeared that the student were too shy to ask questions, or maybe thought they would embarrass themselves. Either way, I have no doubt that when questions were asked by the audience, Dr Wu put his own spin on our answers when translating back. After seeing our presentations for the second time and asking his fill of questions, he seems to be able to answer the questions without our input.
Dr Wu introduces us
I feel like I need one of those in your ear translation devices like they have at the UN.Since we finish on time and will have a about 1 1/2 hours to kill before our dinner, we ask Patrick if he can take us to the Jade market in downtown Tainan. It closes at 6pm, so we have about an hour to get there and do some last minute shopping. Alan and Patrick drive us there and accompany us into the market. Unfortunately, although it is only 5:20, the majority of the stalls at the market are nearly packed up. I would have liked to experience the full effect, but I'll take what I can get. There are several vendors still peddling their wares, so we did have a bit of a selection.
After shopping, we leave to attend our formal dinner with the NCKU Geology Department. The Geology Department is not only hosting us today, but also a group of minerologists from Taipei who have come to give talks as well. Both groups attended dinner together, though there wasn't much interaction.
Once again, dinner was an excessive amount of food. There were 12 courses including dessert. No big surprises this time, but I did get one food I hadn't seen: crab. It was very yummy, though I didn't get to eat as much of it as I would have liked because they don't supply crackers and I have not quite mastered the many uses of chop sticks. Also, I love to dip crab in melted butter, and there wasn't any served with dinner. As usual, everything was good.
We left the restaurant and Patrick drove us to our hotel. It's already 9pm and I am anxious to get out of my suit and into some comfortable clothes so I can veg out for a little before bed.
