James #2

It is Sunday afternoon, 3:15pm and I am sitting in our apartment enjoying the air conditioning.  We have a wall unit air conditioner that does a good job, but I think it uses a lot of electricity.  We have the luxury of seeing our electricity meter every time we go in or out of the building so we are always thinking about the electric bill.  We have tried to open the windows and use a fan, but its just not comfortable.  We haven't been cold in weeks!

Anyways, guess I can write about the last few days and what is coming ahead.  I think the last post got us to Wednesday while we were still in Kenting?  I will pick up from there.

We spent Wednesday afternoon at the prettiest beach we had found during our stay in Kenting.  We brought a few books and rented an umbrella & chairs from the beach vendor.  It was a very nice, relaxing way to spend our last afternoon in the southern tip of Taiwan.  We read, played in the water a bit, and took a few pictures.

Two women came and talked to us, asking where we were from, etc.  She was originally from Taiwan but now lives in Ohio.  Her English was perfect and she informed us that this particular beach was the location of the final scene in "Life of Pi" where the tiger walked from the boat in to the forest.  That explains why there was the "Life of Pi" boat/tiger replica up near the beachside bar.  Kinda cool.  We hung out till the sun began setting then drove (or scooted?) back to our hostel.

We, of course, went back to our favorite restaurant for dinner.  Our friend Darren (the fruit guy from Michigan) met us there and he came barring gifts.  He brought two Abiu for us to take home (weren't ripe yet) and - to my pleasant surprise - some Durian for us to try!  The durian season is just starting and this was the first one Darren saw in Taiwan.   Perfect timing!  It smelled like onions, kinda bad onions, but tasted amazing.  Sweet and creamy, just like a dessert, unlike any fruit I have had before.  Rachel didn't like it as much as I did, but she thinks it was o.k.  We bid farewell to our friend Darren and went back to our hostel for the evening.

Thursday morning we went for a run, ate a bunch of fruit, and took a cab back to Kaohsiung.  Kaohsiung was just so-so, we probably should have just gone all the way back to Hsinchu from Kenting, but we made the most of it.  We grabbed some lunch at a restaurant near the hotel then borrowed the free bikes from our hotel.  We rode to check out two different vegan restaurants we found online (planning ahead for dinner) and did more touring of the city.

After a few hours of riding we went back to the Buddhist vegan restaurant and created a commotion just trying to order food.  The wait staff eventually got an English speaking person on the phone to act as the interpreter for us.  Always creating a ruckus, Rachel and I...  The food was ok and the people were extremely accommodating.  Friday morning we did an easy workout in Central Park before catching the 11:00 train back to Hsinchu.  I love travelling by train!  So comfortable, so easy.

It has been nice being back in Hsinchu, it now feels like our Taiwan home.  Saturday was a big day: It was Rachels birthday (29 yrs old!), we had to be to Rachel's school to observe a lesson demonstration (basically a sales meeting for the students teachers), and had social plans for lunch afterwards.  We found a Facebook group "Hsinchu Foodies" where they discuss different restaurants, etc and meet up for meals every now and again.  We met at a pretty hip vegetarian restaurant and there were about 12-14 of us.  Was nice hanging out with a bunch of English speaking people and making new friends.  We got a lot of good information about living in Taiwan / Hsinchu that makes us confident things will be getting easier with time.  Back at our apartment I put together a BIG salad for Ray Rays birthday dinner.  I am probably the greatest husband ever.

That brings us to today.  We got up early, did separate workouts, then took a cab to a 9:30 English speaking church service.  We had high hopes to take a bus, but quickly realized we have no idea how the bus system works.  At all.  We will be going to the Foreigner Assistance Center first thing tomorrow morning to get the bus routes in English.  The church was nice and extremely welcoming.  There were about 75 people at the service comprised of about 50/50 Taiwanese / Caucasian.  We had so many people introducing themselves to us, giving us their contact information saying to call if we needed help with anything.   We stayed after and spoke to a few people more in-depth and exchanging contact info.  One girl we met has lived here 4 years and does a bunch of running and triathlon races around Taiwan.  I think we will be getting along just fine ;-)  It has been great meeting with other people and having the opportunity to make friendships here in Taiwan.

So this past week has been MUCH better than the week before.  I have been looking forward to getting in to a schedule, having commitments, and meeting other people.  Our schedules should be full from this point moving forward as we have a week of classroom observation at each of our schools, a week of training in Taipei the week after, and real work beginning the week after that.  We should have our ARC (Alien Residency Card) in the next few weeks too so will be able to purchase a scooter.  We are EXTREMELY (can't stress that enough) excited to get a scooter as that will open up the opportunity to explore more of the areas surrounding us.  We are like 5 miles from the coast and we haven't even seen it yet.  And all the people we keep meeting tell us about all these great spots around us, just too far to walk.  Learning the bus schedule will help but getting the scooter will be huge.

This is the type of scooter I have my eye on.  150cc, windshield, trunk
mounted box, and backrests on both seats.  Good for
Rock n Ray travellin!  

I think that is all I have to ramble about for now.  Hope everyone is doing great back home!!!