Taiwan - Flash Video

Here's a quick little video clip just under 2 minutes to give you a little glimpse into Taiwan!

This video was recorded while I was driving home from my evening Chinese class about 25 minutes from my house and have sped the movie up X16 times the original speed to give you a "flash" into Taiwan.

Take in the traffic, the lights, and the ever present glowing signs as I drive from Hsinchu City to my small town of Xinfeng. Enjoy!

Dragon Boat Practice

Thursday, June 9th, is a national holiday here in Taiwan; Dragon Boat Festival {check back Tuesday for more information on this very new-to-me holiday!}

The main attraction of this holiday {besides the fact that we get a 4 day weekend!} is watching the dragon boat races. Upon hearing this I was quite intrigued and initially wanted to watch the races...that is until I was offered to be IN the races...umm yes please!

My school has helped me find a local team that began practice about a month and half ago {I started a little late with only 4 weeks of practice left} and Clement, my poor substitute military guy from school, was tasked with taking me to practice the first couple nights and translating from Chinese to English how to row these massive boats.

Starting last Sunday {a week ago now} we transitioned to the actual river where the competition will take place and likewise rowing real boats instead of sitting in a cement box in the ground!

Dragon Boat Logistics 

16 rowers per team/boat

1 drummer per team/boat

1 flag catcher per team/boat

1 man in charge of steering per team/boat

1 coach per team/boat

170 meters - length from starting point to the flag

Countless - tubes of Tiger Balm, rolls of sports tape, knee pads, & neon orange life vests per team

Our initial training location; a cement "boat" with small moats of water for rowing

One of our teams 2 men's groups at the training site.

During my first night of my one-on-one training with the coach

Actual dragon boats we are practicing in/will use for the competition

Dragon butts! ;)

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Cost of Living}

I wrote this post on money and Taiwan's currency several months ago for a previous Tuesday Taiwan-ism post, but wanted to touch a little more on it today.

I am asked quite often from people back home if I am getting paid to work in Taiwan {I mean I absolutely LOVE teaching, but sorry...I can't do it for a year for free!}, if I'm able to save money here, and how much things cost here. Cost of living withing different parts of the world {and let's be honest even within the same country} is always an interesting comparison topic as spending money and paying bills is something that we all do [side note: if you've managed to figure out how NOT to do this...please let me know asap!] So today I'll include a list of common things a person might buy or spend money on here in Taiwan and include the price both in NTD (New Taiwanese Dollar) and USD (United States Dollar).

**Remember, I am living in a semi-rural area about 20 minutes drive from a large city, yet still surrounded by rice fields! If I were to go more rural things would cheapen and if you went to Taipei your money wouldn't take you nearly as far, so these prices are approximates for where I live in Hsinchu**

Living Expenses

Rent (for a glorified dorm room) -- $5,000 -- $154.64

Water (monthly/varies) -- $260 -- $8.04

Electric (monthly/varies) -- $325 -- $10.05

Gas for a scooter driven moderately (monthly) -- $170 -- $5.26

Eating Expenses

Local dinner -- $40 -- $1.24

Western dinner -- $350 -- $10.82

Bubble Tea -- $35 -- $1.08

Bottle of water -- $20 -- $0.62

Liter of milk -- $90 -- $2.78

12 eggs -- $58 -- $1.79

McDonalds meal -- $100

Transportation Expenses

Train ride 20 minutes -- $18 -- $0.56

Bus ride 20 minutes -- $14 -- $0.43

Taxi ride 20 minutes -- $170 -- $5.26

What other costs of living are you interested in knowing about? Leave a comment and let me know!

Persimmons & Baseball & Dumplings, Oh My!

To say this past weekend was an eventful weekend is to say the least, but it was also a blast!!!

You may recall from this earlier post about my terrific ability to get lost...anywhere! {thanks mom!} and making it to the local persimmon festival was no different! Last weekend I tried to venture to Xinpu about 30 minutes away and found myself so terribly lost that I gave up for the time-being, but was determined that I would make it! One of the teachers I work with at school had told me about this festival {think about visiting an apple orchard in the fall....now change the apples to persimmons} and I was determined to check it out for myself!

SOooo, this Saturday I woke up early and determined and set out on my scooter with high hopes of finding this place. Let me tell you after 30 minutes of driving the excitement I felt when I began to notice signs in the shape of persimmons pointing in the direction of the farm! I finally made it!!! And, oh my goodness, I am so glad I did, it was so pretty!!!  (be prepared for picture overload!)

 This is a persimmon, Hsinchu (where I live) is known for their persimmons and their bountiful harvests each fall and then their gorgeous displays such as these at the persimmon farms (I'm not really sure what they are called!)

 Down to the nitty gritty...what in the world is a persimmon festival?? First it's not technically a festival! This is more their processing area that just happens to be beautiful so they open it up to the public! Here's a little snapshot of the process starting top left 1. Fresh persimmons are picked they can be red, yellow, or orange/soft or hard/round or pointy  2. Persimmons are put through this apple peeling-like machine to take off their skins  3. They are then put on these round well ventilated racks on bamboo poles up high to "bake" in the sun  3. The dried persimmons (also known as persimmon cakes) are sold to visitors to enjoy!

Rice Fields & Mangroves!

So it's not exageration to say that for the last 2 {almost 3...eeek!} months that I have lived here I have said more times than I can count that I want to go check out the rice fields. Weird sounding...maybe...but let me tell you, they are soo beautiful you would understand if you could see them yourself!

Now if you know me well, you may think I am sick in the head for writing this (if not a gentle disclaimer, I hate car rides, I don't like driving, I don't like having to be the passenger, planes, and trains, and everything else were made for a good reason!). Last weekend, I, Tracy, went for a joy-ride...JUST FOR THE HECK OF IT {clearly this whole scooter deal has affected me more than what I would have thought haha} and of course I had to stop and take some pictures once I felt that I was sufficiently "in the middle of nowhere!"

Ummmm, so pretty gorgeous, these pictures don't even begin to do it justice!

A little panoramic action so you can get a feel of where I was at!

Close up of the rice growing {if anyone would like to explain harvesting this to me, I'm all ears!}

Taiwan Night Market

Taiwan is FAMOUS for their night markets! If you read my post from when I went to Taipei you may remember several pictures from the Shilin Night market there, it's huge! Each town has their own night markets; larger towns nightly, and smaller towns maybe weekly, but they are there rest-assured!

Although my town of Xinfeng is not that small I live outside of the city limits in the township, and it is small! My town only has it's night markets on Friday nights, so I went last Friday and my hopes were crushed...there were only 4 vendors...BUT...it was ghost festival, so I thought maybe, maybe, there will be more people next week. Man was I  glad I gave it another chance!  I love it! They literally have just about anything and everything there! I walked up and down the isles for well over an hour taking in the sights, the sounds, and the SMELLS (ok I can't lie, I also had some treats...and made a mental list of what I will be coming back for next time!)

Like I said anything and everything you may want...sunglasses, phone cases, clothes, phone cases, shoes, phone cases {seriously, they have a fetish here or something!}

Meat?!?! After some prior experiences here...I was a little hesitant to try random meat for the time being!

Balloon pop for the kids...

...and ring toss for mom & dad!

Taiwanese candy GALORE!

And my dinner! Taiwanese taco anyone?! The "tortilla" was sticky-ish, and it had chicken, TONS of onion, red cabbage, some corn, a sticky soy sauce, and a jelly like hot sauce...not too shabby!

Taiwan Apartment Tour!!!

Here it is, in all it's glory! May I introduce you to my new "apartment"! 

Although this is by no means a "standard American apartment" (or anything close to  my 2 story 2 bedroom townhouse from Ohio :(  ) this is pretty typical (if not considered large) for a Taiwanese apartment. I am living on the 3rd floor of a couples home and enter and exit through their front entry way to get to my apartment. It is located in the small farming community of Xinfeng within Hsinchu County. I am only about 2 miles from my town's center (though I am by no means in the town!) and 6 miles from Hsinchu City, but they take about 9 minutes and 30 minutes respectively to get to each by bus and/or train.

I can't say my little room feels like home yet, but I'm sure it will come! (I can't lie I've already scoped out several stores sell paint and various art supplies...so these walls won't be bare and lonely much longer!)