A Little of This, a Little of That!

Betty has tennis elbow (too much blogging and playing bridge and Scrabble online), so you are stuck with me. For all of you snow bound friends, I've decided to rub it in on how tough we have it here. The first picture, a little hard to make out, is a map of the campus we are at: National Sun Yat-Sen University, named after a founder of the Republic of China in 1911 who hoped to modernize mainland China under democratic principles and before the communist party took over after WWII.


As you probably cannot see, the University is right on the ocean (Taiwan Strait). I teach in the large group of buildings just off the beach. Our villa is up the hill on the left overlooking the ocean and just beyond the road you see surrounding the main academic buildings. On the right in the triangle with green in it are the athletic facilities. To the right of the fields is the entrance to Kaoshiung Harbor.

Thus, as we did today, Betty and I can walk on the beach in our 80 degree weather with a cooling breeze coming off the ocean. Being winter (!) here too, with spring just around the corner, the locals think it is not good enough weather to go swimming yet, but being raised in San Diego I can't wait until the no swimming restriction gets lifted April 1st. Maybe I'll try the campus windsurfers that are available. As my two brother-in-law sailors know from a previous experience where they had to rescue me, my surfing background allows me to get up on the board and head off confidently in one direction and my non-existent sailing experience doesn't allow me to turn around.
So wish me luck to not ending up on mainland China. For those of you who plan to visit us (we still have room), this restaurant on the beach awaits you.


Our major adventure today (Friday here) had us journeying to almost the end of the red subway line to a sugar cane refinery village. Traveling by either one of the two subway lines in Kaohsiung is a pleasure. Being relatively new, they have learned how to avoid many of the mistakes made by other countries. Among the many amenities are clean, free bathrooms that you feel perfectly safe using, escalators and/or elevators that work, plasma TV screens that tell you how long before the next train, maps and signs that are color coded in both Chinese and English, subway stops that are both named and numbered, announcements in both languages that are audible informing you of each stop, and automated ATM like machines where you can purchase your subway card that allows you to pay automatically the variable fees charged depending on the distance you travel. Making it all run smoothly are a staff of orange vested security and cleaning personnel who are polite and efficient.




Topping it all off are art works, such as the Dome of Light stained glass ceiling located at the stations where the red and orange lines meet.




The trip to the Ciaotou Sugar Cane Village proved once again the friendliness of the people of Taiwan. Just before we got off at the appropriate subway stop, a total stranger saw Betty and me looking at our trusty subway map to make sure we weren't lost. When she heard of our destination, she said she was going there too and would we like to accompany her. A little hesitantly we said yes, which proved to be a wise decision, as most of the signs have not yet been translated to English. In 1998 this Village was declared a National Heritage treasure not only because it depicts the history of the sugar cane industry in Taiwan over the 300 years of Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese rule, but also showcases the simple horizontal lines of Dutch and Japanese architecture. There are neat things there for kids, like a train ride ala the Boothbay Railroad Museum, a sugar cane labyrinth maze, and famous ice cream, all of which we plan to share with our granddaughter Maya when she and her parents come to visit April 2nd. Some of the ice cream was more traditional like Betty's peach; others flavors were more native liked the one I tried which included red beans as a topping. "It is better to have tried and lost than never to have tried at all."


The last story I want to share with you happened on the way to the subway today. As we were walking down The Steps we were suddenly bombarded (not really) by the monkeys hurling down at us something that looked like a small avocado. Needless to say, we hightailed it out of there. Monkeys one, Repas zero!