The End

Daily Happenings

Monday January 13, 2014- Wake up, shower, Chinese class, ramen lunch, Chinese culture class, and an abundance of souvenir shopping. After a couple hours of shopping for trinkets and snacks my boyfriend and I got a quick Korean dinner. We hurried back to the dorm to drop off our loot, and met outside our dorm building to go to Peking Opera! I was feeling incredibly sick at the moment, but pushed through in order to attend the show. I'm very glad I pushed myself because I loved it. It was unlike the style of opera I saw in Beijing. In Beijing there was lot more "screechyness" for lack of a better term. This style featured more martial arts and percussion set to the story of "the Monkey Kings." The building in which we saw the opera was gorgeous. We could tell that many of the guests were incredibly wealthy. Women from Japan in full kimonos, high sandals, high hair, and sunglasses were everywhere. As I sat waiting for the performance I heard mostly Japanese and Korean around me. Very little Chinese to my dismay.
  After the performance I got a good night's sleep, even though I had a bit of a heavy heart. I remember one of my last thoughts before bed was, "Mondays in Taiwan aren't that bad."

Medallion on Stage Curtain

Stage

A sliver of the band

Actors lining up after the show

Tuesday January 14- Wake up, shower, chinese class, beef noodle soup, aaaaand too sick to function. My Chinese teacher even brought me hot tea and a strange packet of Chinese medicine because she felt so bad for me. After lunch I could barely stay awake. My cold had peaked so I couldn't bare the thought of staying awake during our afternoon culture class. In a voice deeper than my boyfriend's, I asked Dr. Liu if I could skip and rest. I think just the sound of my "breathing" was enough after I saw the look on her face. I hurried home in the rain and fell asleep as soon my body fell to the bed. A nice 2 hour rest while everyone was learning about Chinese knot tying was a much needed rest. After my nap I took a nice shower and did some studying.
  That night Dr. Liu's sister was kind enough to treat us to a well known vegetarian buffet. She is a practicing Buddhist who keeps to a vegetarian diet. The buffet was impressive to say the least. Atleast 20 cold dishes, 20 hot, a salad bar, soup bar, noodle soup station, dim sum, and the most beautiful desserts. All of the boys (men) in the group whined and complained about a vegetarian meal before, but were promptly defeated upon entrance. Everyone gorged on delicious combinations of who knows what. I think that dinner fulfilled my year's worth of vegetable servings. All meat and cheese from now on for me! My favorite dish was a warm mushroom salad. Despite my above average food knowledge, that's honestly the best I could do to describe it. It had mushrooms and was warm and delicious. The rest can only be explained by Buddha himself I suppose.
        After dinner, all of us students went to karaoke to surprise one of the students for her 20th birthday. This was my first karaoke experience, which I thought I'd hate. I was wrong. I had an amazing time. All of us enjoyed singing, snacking, and making fun of each other. I made to show off my chops when it came to a solo performance of "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. I'm proud to be born in 1994. I am the youngest student on this trip, and had to embrace to music of my time. On the way back, I shared a mango ice with Will to soothe my throat and slept peacefully.

Wednesday January 15- Disaster strikes!!! I've only had to use a squatter toilet three times this trip thankfully. However, that means I am not accustomed to the lowering of the pants maneuver that's required to use such a thing. This resulted in my brand new iPhone 5s that I got for Christmas tumbling in to the shallow pool of a squatter toilet. Thankfully, the battery had already died so it didn't short out. I've been too petrified to turn it on as I am waiting for it to dry. For this reason, I only have pictures from Monday to upload. Hopefully it's not fried so I can upload this weeks pictures later on.

   Wednesday was a pretty normal day until the afternoon. We went to the National Palace museum which houses the famous jade bok-choi and pork belly. It was a beautiful museum, but was incredibly crowded. The area surrounding the museum was also very beautiful. It was the first time this trip I've seen houses in Taipei City. It must have been a very wealthy area.  For dinner we went to the Raohe night market which had the best night market food thus far.  My favorite snack was called a black pepper pork bun. The inside was essentially a pork dumpling with extra black pepper, but the whole think was baked fresh against the walls of what appeared to be a tandoori oven. Divine. I had to buy my own SARS mask at the market too because people on the subways were giving me looks whenever I coughed. Now I look cute with a panda mask when I cough.

Thursday January 16- Today was another relatively simple day. For our afternoon class we painted Peking Opera masks. Afterwards, I studied Chinese and prepared for the closing ceremony tomorrow.   For dinner, a bunch of us went to a famous sushi chain here that presents the sushi on a conveyor belt. Every piece was only $1 each so we each got our fix. The fish was extremely fresh for the price because of the proximity to Japan. Now, I sleep.

              Cultural Comparison

People here, especially older adults, love to treat people with food. Almost everyday, my Chinese teacher brings in a snack for us. Today it was oranges and pea snacks. Yesterday, she bought us all bubble teas. Dr. Liu also treats us with fresh fruit and other snacks often too. I suppose people here don't mind spending money on food, especially if its to make another person feel welcome.  I have no idea how anyone could go hungry here between the abundance of food and the prices. Just the other day I mentioned to my teacher how I especially liked one of the snacks she gave us. She then went out of her way to buy me a whole package of them. Its that kind of a hospitality that really defines Taiwanese people to me.

Future Expectations

Tomorrow is our last day of Chinese class. I will be extremely sad to say goodbye to my Chinese teacher, Ms. Meng. I made sure to prepare her a nice gift bag. We also have a closing ceremony with Tamkang University. In the afternoon we will visit Dr. Liu's mother's house, then have a dinner with her brother's company. It will be a wonderful experience indeed. My flight is at 9am on Saturday. I will try my hardest to write a debrief entry on the flight back. 

I shall end with the words of every young child that's content with their location, "I don't wanna go." 

Last Full Weekend in Taiwan

Daily Happenings

Friday 1/10/2014- Friday was the day we travelled to the East Coast of Taiwan. The East coast is known for its mining and cement industries. It is also known for its relatively dense population of aboriginal people. After our morning Chinese classes, everyone grabbed a $3 lunch box from a "hole in the wall" (by American standards) duck restaurant. The boxes always include rice, roast duck and or pork, two types of greens, tofu, and an egg if you're lucky. A healthy dose of duck drippings are then poured over everything for additional flavor.

At 1 o'clock we boarded the same bus as the weekend prior to travel to the city of Yilan. The drive was only 1 hour luckily. Our first stop was at an orchid nursery. It was a gorgeous site, and I couldn't help to think about how much my gardener of a mother would love it. 

 After our quick visit, we drove out to where we were to stay for the night. We ventured out into the deep country. The country turned agricultural very quickly. In all honesty, I became quite nervous as we started up a windy dirt road in to the mountains to our "farm" where we'd stay the night. I had thoughts of a grimy wooden building where we'd have to build our own beds out of moss. The houses up the lane were littered with all sorts of trash, thrown out furniture, and mangy dogs. All of us students shot each other worried looks. Then suddenly, after a sharp turn the light appeared as this beautiful compound came into sight. It reminded me of the outdoors camps my school would send me to in middle school.

The scenery was absolutely surreal which can be seen in the photos. A very friendly guide gave us an expansive tour of the property. Site included a cocoon nursery, rice patties, pens for goats and pigs, chickens and ducks running everywhere, and an amazing kumquat orchard. We were given time to eat as many kumquats as our hearts desired. I easily ate $40 worth of kumquats, and stuffed my jacket pockets with whatever I couldn't fit in my mouth. They were leagues better than the ones I've had in America. Afterwards, we each got to design a shirt using painted leaves as stamps.

We had hot pot for dinner and then made paper lanterns to burn later that night. After completing our paper lanterns from following broken Chinese instructions, we were treated to a martial arts performance performed by local young boys. We sent off our lanterns and got a good night's sleep! Unfortunately the strong wind and rain caused our lantern to burn mid-flight. It was quite depressing considering we wrote our wishes for the New Year on the lantern… 2014 may be rough now. 

Saturday 1/11/2014-  7:30am wake up call! A quick shower and breakfast and we were out! I've gotten very good at packing quickly. I sometimes feel like a nomad here. We started the day off going to a museum that illustrated the history of the East Coast and explained the landscape a bit more. It was a beautiful museum, and I loved learned about the indigenous people.

I at first thought the museum had fallen on its side. This is the actual design!

After our museum visit we drove to a whiskey distillery. I had known very little about scotch or whiskey because my dad only drinks beer and the occasional gin and tonic. I was surprised to find out that the process was very similar to brewing beer, but involved more distilling. This was also the first time I've ever sampled hard alcohol before lunch. It was an interesting experience. For lunch we stopped at a local lazy susan style restaurant before our drive to Hualian. My favorite dishes were the whole baby squid, and a sea grape and tropical fruit salad topped with a creamy wasabi dressing. It was a deliciously light combination.

 What followed next was the highlight of the weekend for me. It was a 3 hour drive that carved the jagged mountains of Taiwan. The whole drive was spent with marble and granite mountains immediately on one side of the bus, and the Pacific Ocean on the other. It was easily the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. HOWEVER! The whole bus ride raised my blood pressure to crazy levels. We were in a huge coach bus going easily 45 mph at times around tights turns with just inches and no guard rail separate us from a deadly tumble into the ocean. We made it luckily..

We also stopped at a beach to check out the Pacific ocean. The beach essentially consisted of no sand. Only a combination of granite, jade, marble, and limestone rocks. It may sound mystical, but it's the truth. I made sure to pick up a rock or two for those in my life who enjoy rocks. 

The evening died down with a show put on by descendants of aboriginals, more hot pot for dinner, a sweet tofu dessert from across the street of our hotel, and sleep.

Sunday January 12- 6:30 wake up!!! Absolutely unbearable. I feel like I haven't slept a full 8 hours here yet. After breakfast in the hotel we hopped on the bus for more driving! We stopped buy a Buddhist compound that was a lot more simple than the one we visited the weekend prior. This area had a University, a Temple, and a hospital. This branch of Buddhism is called Tzu Chi. It is run by a woman and has a much more humble approach. As we saw, its main concerns are education, health, and worship. I loved the ideas projected from this branch of Buddhism. 

 The rest of the day was a tad bit of a disappointment to be honest. We were going to walk through trails in the mountain, but couldn't because of rock slides. We did manage to eat a delicious seafood lunch that featured crabs, squid, fish, sea cucumber, abalone clam, pork, and shrimp. We then drove several more hours north of Taipei to learn about the mining industry. We stopped by a mountain town that was flooded with tourists from Japan. It was also heavily raining. To my disappointment we didn't go to a mine or really learn anything about the industry. Most of the day was just sight seeing from the bus.


Cultural Comparison- Driving here is scary. I have witnessed two accidents here, both involving mopeds. However this weekend really scared me. There are very little guard rails, people don't really follow a speed limit, passing is common, and you rarely ever see traffic police. I believe this is because there is a strong emphasis here on personal responsibility. You clean up your own trash, you don't rely on government built trash cans. You carry your trash, and throw it away at home. Here if you drive like a maniac, falling off a cliff with be your punishment and it won't always be the government's fault if you do. America is so petrified of liability so we rely on the government to provide as much cushion against it. Here if you mess up, you face the consequences instead of seeking compensation. I can almost draw a comparison to the mindset of Buddhism. In Buddhism, one finds inspiration to be moral within themselves. They want to better for their own good instead of pleasing God. I find this sort of self responsibility refreshing here. After all, a lawsuit can only satisfy one so much.


A true gentleman makes demands upon himself but not upon others.
Confucius

Future Expectations- Tomorrow we are going to a Chinese Opera! I can't wait to see it. I saw a performance in China, and am looking forward to observing any differences. I also hope to get all of my souvenir shopping out of the way!

(1/7)-(1/9)

Daily Happenings

Tuesday- On Tuesday I started the day off with my typical 7 Eleven breakfast and Chinese class until 11:30. All of us went out for Japanese ramen for lunch which was delicious. There is a lot of authentic Japanese cuisine here because of the Japanese occupation in the past. I had a delicious pork based broth which was perfect considering the temperature was starting to drop. After lunch we headed to Longshan Temple "龍山寺." The temple itself is a hodgepodge of Buddhist and Taoist worshipping places. The temple was initially Buddhist, but as Taoist temples were shut down their statues and relics were moved to the back of Longshan. Parts of the temple were rebuilt after it was bombed in World War II by the allied forces who sought to defeat Japan. An interesting fact we learned was that one of the only things that survived the bombing was a statue of the extremely popular Chinese goddess, Mazu. The statue had survived the fire due to the fact it was made of porcelain. The old styled temple that was a beautiful juxtaposition against the modern city, it was a true oasis. A lot of older Taiwanese people "hang out" here during the day because of the nearby throw back attractions including free opera in the park. At night however, the area surrounding Longshan temple is a hotspot for the homeless and prostitutes oddly enough. 

After the temple we visited an old educational museum that recreated an old part of Taipei. It reminded me of a museum I go to Connecticut where one tries to place themselves in a 19th century whaling town. However this was a late 18th/early 19th century recreation of Taipei. It included stations on children's games, local medicine, and schools. After our touring, our chaperone (who is originally from Taiwan) graciously treated us to a snack of either shaved ice or peanut porridge from a snack shop she at one point frequented in the past.

  A smaller group of us then headed out to Shilin Night Market for dinner and some exploring. I ate my fair share of oddities as per usual including a pork sausage that was stuffed inside a split rice sausage. Kind of like a Taiwanese hot dog. We came back home, relaxed, and went to sleep!

Wednesday- Wednesday started with 7Eleven and class. We got let out early at 10:30 for our trip to Tamsui to visit Tamkang University's main campus. The campus we attend is a one building branch in Taipei. The campus was set right against the Taiwan strait, with the mountains as a back drop. It was an absolutely perfect location. We enjoyed our time walking around despite the rain. We even got to have lunch with the dean of International Affairs! After our tour of the campus we visited an Old Dutch fort by the name of Santo Domingo. We then grabbed a quick fish ball soup snack and headed home. The MRT trip took over 45 minutes! It was nice to see the outskirts of Taipei passing by in the window. We were all absolutely exhausted by the time we got back. I took an amazing nap with my sliding door open so I could hear the rain. For dinner, I went to an okonomiyaki restaurant. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese pancake concoction with noodles, cabbage, seafood, pork, a thin crepe like pancake, and egg. It's delicious and suited the cold and wet night well. With that much food in my belly, I fell asleep very quickly. 

Thursday- Today was the lightest day we've had so far, which was a nice break. I woke up with a cold, so I needed as much rest as possible. I think the cooler temperatures (50's… boohoo. not quite the "polar vortex" back at home) played a role in that… I made sure to drink lots of hot tea for breakfast and during class to quell my suffering. For lunch a group of us headed to our favorite beef noodle soup place for lunch. 4 dollars buys you a huge bowl a handmade noodles, stewed beef, and broth. I LOVE it. I made sure to add extra chili oil today to scorch my cold. 

After lunch we had a quick Chinese sachet lesson. Afterwards I slept for who knows how long, and then got Korean food with some friends. After so much spice and hot tea, my cold is slowly getting better. I'll make sure to get a good night's sleep tonight.

Cultural Comparison- People here are crazy about their dogs! In a good way of course. In the states, I  call myself a dog person, but that is nothing compared to Taiwan. People here dress and groom their dogs in all sorts of funky ways. The other night I saw several dogs in raincoats! Dog groomers are on every street corner. There is an insane loyalty between a dog and its owner. Owners don't even use leashes, even in the most hectic and busy night markets. Dogs just trot along side their owners without a thought of running away. I suppose this is because so many live alone in small apartments, and need companionship. Many people don't get married here because it's so expensive to buy larger real estate. 

Future Expectations- Tomorrow we are driving out to the East coast for the weekend! I am looking forward to seeing a totally different part of the country. We've been warned it'll be a lot colder however :'(. Yilan is known for its orchids, so I'll try to sneak a bulb or two past customs for my mom!

  This past weekend we took a 4 hour bus ride to the southern cities of
Tainan and Kaoshiung. We left at 1 o’clock after Chinese class and
lunch. Our group stopped at our favorite beef noodle soup place for
lunch. Everyone got the tomato broth base with thick knife shaved
noodles. This huge lunch only costs 4 dollars. Of course, we had to
get bubble tea afterward. We hopped on a luxurious coach bus with
curtains, “wood” paneling, and flat screen tvs. The seats were
comparable to a Lazy Boy recliner, which made the trip very
comfortable. Once we arrived in Tainan we stopped by a local night
market for dinner. There was a larger emphasis on seafood at this
market compared to those in Taipei. There were grilled oysters, squid,
and cuttlefish all over the market. On Saturday we visited a variety
of museums in the Tainan area. It was extremely hot and humid. It was
in the mid 80’s while it was snowing heavily in Maryland. My family
was very jealous. We visited the Proventia fort that was initially
built by the Dutch and then knocked down by the Chinese who then built
a Chinese style compound. The site was in the middle of a modern city
which made for a very beautiful contrast in scenery. We then drove to
a battleground site where the Chinese fought the Japanese and the
French, and walked around the Tainan area. We had a lunch of local
delicacies, which didn’t appeal to me that much because of my lack of
interest in fish. We ended the day with another visit to a Dutch fort
which offered lovely views of the city. For dinner we stopped by a
different night market in Kaoshiung which was delicious.  I loved the
tiny crabs that were deep fried with garlic and basil leaves that
could be eaten whole.  We all had a great night’s sleep in a local
hotel which was a nice change from our dorm rooms in Taipei.
        On Sunday we spent the day in Kaoshiung which is south of Tainan. We
drove to a huge Buddhist temple in the morning, which was absolutely
beautiful. My writing can not do it justice, so I have attached
several pictures for anyone’s viewing pleasure. The insides of the
buildings were a bit bizarre to me however. They were extremely
elaborate and seemingly against the simplistic teachings of Buddhism.
There were colorful 3d wall displays, robotics, and sound effects. The
feeling reminded me of waiting in line for Disney World rides. We had
a delicious lazy-susan style lunch at a restaurant next door, then
drove to a nearby University on the harbor which was absolutely
beautiful. The sea breeze felt fantastic and it was lovely watching
all the local fishermen cast out against the sunset. Afterwards we
drove into Kaoshiung to briefly attend Dr. Liu’s nephew’s wedding. It
was so interesting to see how Westernized Taiwanese weddings are.
White dress, bossy wedding coordinator, and proud parents.
        Today, (1/6) was a pretty simple day. We went to class, made
dumplings, then relaxed at “home.” After a quick rest, Will and I
walked all the way to Taipei 101 on a whim. It was a very refreshing
walk that ended the night nicely.
        Cultural Observation: On the way south I noticed a similar green,
blue, and red neon sign that was outside many store entrances. I
decided to research this upon our arrival in Tainan. I discovered that
it’s a commonly used sign for “beetlenut” or binglang stores. A
binglang is a nut filled with an amphetamine paste that is chewed for
a heavy buzz. It destroys your teeth very quickly, and creates a blood
like spit. I found this similar to the use of tobacco in the American
south. I suppose as one heads south towards a more agrarian culture,
the use of such things is more acceptable. Whereas in New York City
you will not find people spitting out their chewing tobacco “juice” on
to the street. The same applies to Taipei as a metropolitan area.  I
suppose people do this for relaxation, and its something that could be
passed down through generations. A father chews binglang, so his son
does as well.

Future expectations: Tomorrow we have class and will go to a Confucian
temple. I am very excited to learn more about the teachings of
Confucius. I am also looking forward to travelling to the famous Raohe
night market sometime this week, which is known as the best night
market for food.

On a side note, the internet has been too weak lately to upload pictures on to blogger. I am looking into a photo sharing website so I can upload dozens of pictures at a time in albums instead of 3 or 4 on here. I'll post the link as soon as I get set up!

Days 3,4, and 5 (12/31-1/2)

Daily Happenings

Day 3 (Tuesday, December 31): What a busy New Years Eve in Taipei! Just thinking about Tuesday even though it's Thursday, is making me tired. I started the day off with a riceball and tea breakfast from 7 Eleven. My riceball was filled with salmon which allowed for the perfect amount of savoriness. The walk to class including a breakfast stop is only 10 minutes. I feel very lucky because most people here have to travel by bus or MRT (subway) to get to work/school.  I was placed in to an advanced intermediate class. My class' material picks up just where I left off at UMD, which is great! My class consists of two Indonesian boys, 2 girls and 1 boy from Japan, 1 girl from Vietnam, and a boy from Korea. I am the youngest in the class, the oldest being 25. During class we learned a new set of vocabulary that described a situation in which someone's car is stolen. What a light and happy lesson to start with! Classes start at 8:40am and end at 11:30am. Luckily, we are given two 10 minute breaks. My teacher, 孟老師，is extremely nice. Although our class consists of many different native languages, she is able to explain concepts in Chinese extremely well. She went to Peking University, which is a very prestigious university in China. I suppose this explains her tremendous teaching ability!

     After class, a small group of us searched out a cheap place for lunch.  We were in the mood for meat after a carb heavy diet so far so we stopped by a small restaurant with ducks hanging at the entrance. For only $3 or 90 yuan, we got a lunch box filled with freshly carved duck, pork, greens, rice, and tofu! We enjoyed our lunch in a nearby park. 

Duck with marinated tofu, rice, and two types of greens. 真麼好吃！

Ducks guarding the entrance. Quack.

After lunch, we attended a calligraphy class. Getting the strokes down was extremely difficult for me. Despite the fact I have studied guitar for nearly 3/4 of my life, my hand coordination with the brush is off to say the least. I still found the class incredibly enjoyable however.

After class we then walked back to our dorm to rest up before heading out to Ximen （西門). The weather on Tuesday was absolutely gorgeous. This sky opened up after calligraphy class to reveal blue skies and the sun for the first time this trip. Taiwan in the winter is notoriously rainy and overcast with temperates hovering around 50 degrees fahrenheit. On Tuesday, it was bright and sunny with highs around 70. It was absolutely perfect. 

We took the MRT subway to Ximen which is an area that attracts many young people. The atmosphere reminds me of what I imagine Tokyo, Japan to be like. Many trendy clothing stores, cutesy trinkets everywhere, arcades, and anime everywhere. We walked around for two hours soaking up as much overstimulation as we could from lights, music, and crowds. 

After touring, we were thrilled to get hot pot for dinner! Hot pot has a concept similar to fondue, but replace cheese with flavored broth. The restaurant also offered all you can eat ice cream, toast (why not?), and drinks. There was also a self serve sauce bar where you could create your own dipping sauce from dozens of different bases and dry seasonings.

And finally, to the main event! After dinner, we took the MRT to Taipei 101 where the New Years celebrations were to occur. We were able to find a large standing space around 10pm which I'm sure is very unlike Times Square New York. We sat around and chatted to kill time. The crowds began to roll in closer to 11. Unfortunately, an American man insisted on pushing through the crowd and yelling at us for sitting on the ground. It was very embarrassing, and we had to apologize to the people sitting near us for his behavior. The fireworks display itself was very beautiful. I feel very fortunate to experience something like that at such a young age. After the display, we rode the subway home after a lot of waiting in crowds, and fell asleep around 3am!

Day 4 (Wednesday, January 1 !2014!): Before Wednesday, I had been falling asleep around 10pm and waking up at 7:30 am. I believe the last time I had this sort of sleeping schedule was when I was in elementary school. However, I had the luxury of sleeping in until 10:45 on Wednesday after a late night. The rest was much needed to say the least. We had no school in the morning, so we could relax a little in the morning before afternoon activities. The weather on Wednesday was PERFECT. Mid 70's, warm breeze, and baby blue skies. It reminded me of the weather I was used to on family vacations in Jamaica. 

 Breakfast was skipped because of time, so I had a delicious lunch of steamed dumplings from a nearby dumpling stall. I ate them too quickly before I could take a picture...whoops. At 1:20 we met up with local guides to travel to the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial park. It was the most beautiful sightseeing thus far in Taiwan. We had the privilege of having a Taiwanese woman who could speak English give us a tour of the museum's interior.

 After the tour we stopped by another art museum, and then had dinner at the legendary Din Tai Feng soup dumpling (小笼包） restaurant.

Day 5 (Thursday January 2nd, 2014): Today was a relatively uneventful day in comparison. Woke up, 7 Eleven breakfast, class, beef noodles for lunch, nap, dinner, relax. For dinner we went to Shida Night Market which is only a 5 minute walk from our dormitory. I enjoyed squid and octopus dishes from vendors which was a nice change from the carb heavy meals of prior days. 

Taiwanese Staple 1: Bubble Tea

Taiwanese Staple 2: Beef Noodle Soup 牛肉麵

Cultural Comparison: Today after lunch, I had to go to a local pharmacy to get cold medicine with my boyfriend. He's had a bad cold for a couple days and needed something besides Mucinex. Our chaperone, Dr. Liu, spoke with the pharmacist at the counter in order to get him the proper treatment. In America, you'd simply go to the cold aisle, grab a pill bottle of Dayquil or Sudafed, and go home. However, in Taiwan the treatment is completely personalized. As Dr. Liu would rattle of Will's symptoms, the pharmacist would quickly retrieve pill bottles from behind the counter. He then assembled individualized packs of pills to be taken 3 times a day for 3 days. Dr. Liu explained to us that these pills would not suppress the symptoms, but address the root of the problem. This approach to medicine is very different than Western medicine. The treatment is longer, but is also better for the body in the long run. Perhaps this stems from the fact that Americans enjoy immediate results even if quality is compromised. Whereas Easterners place much value in the balance and overall health of the body and its functions even if that requires more time.

 Future plans: Tomorrow we drive 4 hours south the Tainan! We will be seeings areas where the Dutch occupied and will visit a Taiwanese wedding ceremony. The weather will be much warmer which I will greatly appreciate. Dry heat is my favorite kind of weather. I am looking forward to the fresh seafood the most!