Life at the University 03/11/09

Not Much, but A Little More of What Do We Know?

Since our last blog on Sunday, the emphasis has been, as it is at the first half of each week, on Ted's work. The first picture depicts classical problems of language deficiencies on our part. As you can see, on the door of Ted's office, there is a sign under his name of Chinese characters that we have shown you before. We assumed that the seven characters stood for the days of the week, and that we should move the little marker above each character to correspond with the appropriate day of the week, so students would know when we were in. We have been merrily doing that for three weeks. Today, we decided to ask which day of the week was indicated first: Sat, Sun or Monday. Well, our trusty translator started laughing and very politely interpreted! One sign says, "Out of town ," another, "I'm busy; do not disturb!", a third, "At a meeting," etc!! The last one ,which we thought was Sat, and NEVER put the marker over that one, says,"Welcome; come in!" Who knows how many students we have insulted!!

The next "What do we know?" relates to that ever-present nemesis: food! On the way home from a museum trip, we saw that the traditional market nearest us was still open, even though it was shortly after noon, when they typically close up for the day. We needed vegetables. I saw a cart with tomatoes and corn on the cob and bought two of each. We get home, and I start my one-pot dinner. When I began the corn shucking, I was startled. Ted says I let out a small shriek. (I deny that!) The corn was purple. We don't know about you folks, but we have never seen corn for eating that color!, only the decorative type you hang on your front door around Thanksgiving time. Oh,well, I boiled it because we wanted a veggie for dinner. It tasted disgusting,just like, I would guess, the kind you DO hang on your door!!! I ate only one rubberized bite, but the garbage can kid finished his, just as his Mom taught him to do. (But he did not like it!!)

But we did get to buy from our favorite lady who sells the most delicious pineapples ever! She now knows us by sight and starts selecting a really good pineapple and slicing it for us almost before we have to ask! When I ask, as I always do, if I may take a person's picture, like hers, the Taiwanese seem genuinely delighted.

One of the wonders, to me, of the campus, and Taiwan in general, is how efficiently they use space. The picture here shows what we see each time we climb THOSE STEPS en route to the villa. It shows the clever use of terracing for all sorts of garden vegetables and flowers. How anyone reaches the lettuce,etc, however, is still a mystery!! When we stopped to ask a native speaker, he was as puzzled as we! Maybe , they ask the monkeys to get the stuff!!!

Lastly, we love how the campus is so often made lively by either planned or impromptu music playing in the lunch area courtyard. Today, there was some sort of festivity (and it is only Wed!). It was designed to encourage students to have lunch together and not eat alone. Nice idea! Along with free food, the music was American familiar; songs like American Pie and Raindrops are Falling...made our outdoor lunch very enjoyable, even though the nice guy at the lunch snack stand convinced me to have a potato salad sandwich. But what did I know?



We head tomorrow for Taipei, via a High Speed Rail, sans computer,for a long weekend, until Monday. So we won't be blogging for awhile . For you blogging addicts, including US, de-toxing is always good, right? See you all next week!!