Kaohsiung

Yesterday I went to Kaohsiung, South of Taiwan. I rode the bullet train with the top brass of Davids. They were checking the progress of the construction of another Davids English Center. The progress seemed to be going well. I noticed that in Taiwan and Japan the construction is noticeably sturdy. For instance when you walk up a flight of stairs, it's perfectly solid. Zero creaking and when you step down its a thud, like your stepping on a boulder. The ceilings commonly have hidden light effects. Sometimes you see lights hidden under the table tops, shining down. And the front desks themselves are beautiful. The feel of the interior spaces are tastefully brought together.

 

The new school will be officially open after the first of Chinese New Year although there are already a few students that are taking lessons now. The demand for English instruction is like wild fire. If anyone is seriously thinking about teaching English please contact me. I promise you won't be sorry. You'll have an attractive standard of living and easily pay your student loans off.

 

Anyway the climate in Kaohsiung is super sweet, at least in the winter. They say all of Taiwan is sizzling hot in the summer. Kaohsiung is south of the tropic of Cancer, which basically means coconut trees grow there. We hung out at the beach and the sea breeze was sweet tasting, you know that balmy, salty, tropical sweet taste of the ocean air. Very refreshing and healthful. I liked the city as well, the roads were roomy so traffic flowed smoothly. I think I even saw sidewalks along the roads, it's been a long, long time since I've seen a sidewalk.

 

I haven't spent very much time in Taipei so it's hard to compare the two cities. Taipei in the north, is the largest. Kaohsiung is second largest, about 215 miles South. It took 90 minutes by high speed train, and we made at least 6 stops along the way. Having a system like that really simplifies things, I really hope that America is bold enough to build something like that so people aren't forced to drive all the time. I returned to Jhong Li late at night, just as the Drunk Driving checkpoints were in full swing. The police stopped the taxi I was in and asked to see my Passport which I didn't have. I wanted to ask the cop if I was being detained and for what purpose. But I just kept quiet and they let me go after about 2 minutes. No big deal, besides the cops here all know Kung Fu.

 

We had our School Anniversary on Saturday. All the teachers and staff got together and ate fancy Chinese food. Terrific seafood, there was roast fish, lobster and sea slugs. I ate my share of sea slug. I'd never heard of sea slugs before. They looked like a sausage or kielbasa and the texture is very soft like jello jigglers. Not bad. It's the weirdest thing I've had…so far. 

The next day we wend to a Meow Ling in the mountains to pick strawberries. The weather finally behaved for a change. The whole town is a monument for strawberries. We picked a box of ripe, juicy strawberries each. The farmers were definitely proud of their crops too because not only did I have to pick them, but they charged me about $12 U.S. for my box full. It was fun and pleasurable to do that. We went in the town later and I got the point pretty soon. Strawberry sausage, strawberry cookies, strawberry egg rolls, strawberry tea, strawberry shaped balloons and hats and toilet paper. I looked for the hot girl strawberry wrestling pit but couldn't find that. I bought 6 little bottles of strawberry wine for special occasions.

 

Last Wed. I went to Taipei for a few hours to visit one of the administrators. I wound up at a foot massage place with her and I received one of the most relaxing treatments ever. First, they asked me to put my feet in this tub of "hot" water. It was more simmering then hot, like they were preparing my feet for dinner. I had to go to a safe place within my mind and concentrate on a peaceful floral meadow landscape because my feet were in wretched torment. "Is that too hot" they asked…."no, it's fine – thanks" I said. A foot massage in Taiwan apparently includes your shoulders, neck, and head. I'm not going to tell them what the English word "foot" means because then a foot massage would just be too expensive. Overall it was blissful. Funny enough, a violent Harrison Ford movie that was silently playing on the enormous flat screen T.V. People were getting tossed off buildings and beat up in the movie. All this playing in a feng shui like atmosphere with running water and incense while people are lounging in robes getting professional massages.