Cheers for a great semester!

Tuesday all final papers were turned in, and I began grading 9 major papers, 5 from the undergraduate class and 4 from the MBA class. It was also the day we said some raucous "good byes" and "until we meet agains," and took many, many pictures. One team of women from the MBA class gave me a wonderful going away card with their personal messages written on it (you'll see them and the card in the pictures). I'll treasure the card and their friendship no matter where out paths will take us. The last packing is done...and are those bags ever heavy! I'm ready to check out of the dormitory tomorrow, and will head for Tian Mu one last time...this time in a car instead of the slow train and MRT, thanks to the Taiwan Fulbright office. It's been a great adventure, and now I'm ready to start the next adventure...safe travels everyone!

My wonderful RA, Tinsley Lin

My Research Assistant was Tinsley Lin. I met him through a happy accident when I first came to the university and he showed me my dorm room. Tinsley was there to help when my daughter-in-law and I moved my belongings into the dormitory. He was then assigned to me for the rest of the semester. I always had so many questions…principally due to my lack of Mandarin skills…that I became an annoyance to those in the IB office and the HR Department. They were especially upset when I came to the offices during lunch hour. I clearly am not used to such a sacred hour, as my university always has someone on duty to answer questions and address concerns. We believe in offering services at the convenience of our “customers.” I often wondered why services stopped for one hour every day. I don’t think it is a good example for businesses to follow! Tinsley became my go-between so that I would no longer annoy and upset so many people. I would write down my list of questions, and he would return, most times, with the answers. He is the person who pursued the reasons why I was not paid on time. He found me a safe office chair after I fell to the floor not once but twice on the old chair that was in my office. Office personnel thought I was asking them to buy me a new chair! I was NOT. He was able to borrow one from his TA Professor. Tinsley is the one who got me copies of my tax payments so that I could get the Tax Certification paper required to complete my US income taxes. Tinsley accompanied me to the nearest location of the Far East Bank so that I could complete a wire transfer. He is convinced that our good relationship helped him improve his English scores from the mid-400s to the 700.s He is now determined to go to the U.S. to study, and I am clearly supportive of his goals. I was VERY dependent upon his good nature and good will for the necessary help when no one else was able to assist me. And I thank him publicly again...

Farewell Luncheon

The IB group hosted a farewell luncheon for me this week.My wonderful Chair, Jane Lai, guided the discussion of my teaching experience at YZU, but I surely did most of the talking. And I finally learned I am not supposed to post grades! I am supposed to post only percentages the students earned over the course of the semester. Let's just say we both are still learning how to solve some of those TMs. I greatly appreciated all of their courtesies and kindnesses to me.

Last minute tour stops

I spent last week going to neglected Taiwan highlights...unfortunately in the rain. The Sun Yat Sen Memorial is very inspiring as he is considered the founder of the republic. He focused on "Sunology," advocating education and culture for the Chinese people. Notice the roof is made of "sun" yellow tile. The grounds and surrounding area are really quite beautiful. People were practicing Tai Chi, and a Falun Dafu (Falun Gong) group was meditating. I was lucky enough to see the ending of the changing of the guard...very impressive. The final pictures show the Taipei Zoo train. I went up the hill on the train, walked to see the penguins, walked back down to the train station in the pouring rain...and left. Even the animals weren't out on such a wet day!

I'm a Day Tripper!

Yesterday I decided I was going to take a day trip to Kaohsiung and finally ride the high speed rail (HSR). Making reservations and paying for the ticket on line was a snap. The hardest part of the entire trip was having the dormitory guard call a taxi and telling them where I wanted to go. I should always add extra time for getting to the station, even though the guard is very, very friendly and laughs at my attempts to communicate! The Taoyuan HSR station is out in the middle of nowhere...halfway between Taoyuan City and the Taoyuan International Airport (formerly known as the CKS International Airport). It is a gorgeous building, and there are excellent bus connections to the city and the airport, but the taxi cabs are faster....even though they always tend to take the long way when my round eyes and "blonde" hair are in the back seat. The trip to Kaohsiung took only about 1 1/2 hours. The train is really very nice, and the signs and announcements are always done in English. I felt like I should buckle up when I found my reserved seat. The ride is fast, and surprisingly smooth as the train only makes very limited stops between Taipei and Kaohsiung. The high speed train runs like clock-work, something the airlines cannot do. I stopped at the information desk in Zuoying to ask them to write Museum of Fine Arts in Mandarin for the trip into town, and Zuoying HSR Station for the return trip, something I have learned to do for the cab drivers. I thought Kaohsiung was a very lovely city. I did not expect it to be so, based on the industrial complex and port work housed there. The museum is a beautiful new building in a city park, and I enjoyed all the special exhibits (although I would have liked to have seen more of their permanent collection). One especially good one featured Josef Albers from the Brauhaus group in Germany who ended up at Yale and Harvard. The museum advertised a restaurant on its website and in its printed literature...alas, another TM, as the restaurant had disappeared long ago. I walked through the park to the snack shop at the side of the lake located in the park. I had a mango frappe and homemade sweet potato chips while I people- and animal-watched, then headed back to the HSR station. I was home by 5...just a day tripper who had a great time looking out the window all the way down and back. South central Taiwan had a lot of farming going on...tree farms (of all kinds), vegetables and fruits, and, of course, lots of rice fields in all stages of growth. This afternoon the farmers were burning off their fields. At first, I thought they were burning offerings, but the burn came from many different stages of rice growing fields. The atmosphere looked as if the ghosts of the ancestors were lingering over the fields and valleys of the farming areas. I was surprised that much air pollution was allowed. I observed temples of all sizes and shapes, some magnificently painted and cared for, others that were small sites in the fields. There were also burial plots nestled into the hills where the ancestors could enjoy a beautiful and peaceful view in their afterlife. I have to say the typical house that I saw was all solid concrete "blocks" layered one on top of the other...3-4 floors with nondescript windows. I could only assume the lack of architectural variety was due to the constant threat of monsoons and earthquakes. Every now and then, you would see beautiful homes or new high rises that seemed to incorporate new and colorful designs. Most homes reminded me of old Singapore block homes..not many changes since back in the day. My pictures are REALLY bad, but I was a very happy day tripper...

Sichuan Hot Pot Dinner

The pictures show us all having a grand time at the restaurant! The restaurant was very popular, and I could certainly see why. You can see it is very pretty, and every table was full. People were still arriving to eat at 9 PM when we were leaving. One half of the hot pot was Sichuan-style soup, the other half was a mild broth. Guess which side Sandy ate from?! We started the dinner with a green-bean noodle dish that was very spicy...I just needed a straw to eat the sauce, it was so good! You can see Carol and Candy adding food to the hot pot...tofu, meat, fish, dumplings, cabbage, lettuce, pieces of Chinese "doughnuts," mushrooms...even squid paste dropped in balls in the liquid by the waitress. We ate for a solid two hours, and I enjoyed every single bite, but those tiny girls could eat me under the table! I even said hello to Maple's mom while they were talking on the phone. We finished with shave ice desserts. Some had condensed milk poured on the ice before the fruit juice topping. I had passion fruit topping only, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven it was so good! We took pictures both before we started to eat and after we had finished (and please see Maple in tennis shoes like Emma's). We even took a "bunny ear" picture! How could I possible thank these women for such a wonderful night? They have been effusive in their praise of the class, but I appreciated their can-do attitude and their hard work. I truly hope they will stay in touch, and that I will get to see them again. They are a big reason it is hard to leave Taiwan.