We experianced our first small earthquake yesterday. It was very weird situation. 4 people in our room, everyone busy doing different things. All of a sudden the earth began to move. It felt like sitting on a boat. The movements were smooth and slight but for our perception very noticeable. It took us some time to realize that it is an earthquake. Not knowing what to do, expect and how to react we ran to the TV lobby of our dorm. There we met some Taiwanese students, being relaxed as of there was nothing. "Pretty scary an earthquake..." One of the guys told us, smiling at us, while we were staring at him.
Being relieved that the movements had stopped and there seemed to be no need to take further measure we returned to the room and had experianced our first earthquake in Taiwan.
13 Oct 2006
Three bad events - one week (English)
The last week was very hard for me. Although I had a great time travelling around with nice people, seeing new places and trying mysterious things, there were three crucial negative events. I will not write any details, as I believe it is better to not to. I will only give some brief information.
On sunday october 7th, when I was with my new friends from Gaoxiong (高雄) travelling in Hualian (花蓮) and celebrating the Moonfestival (中秋節) together a bad accident happened on the way back.
When we stopped for a break at a rock beach, one of the girls from our group got caught by a so called "wolve wave" and was pulled into the sea. It took some minutes to realize what happened and even more minutes to save her from the sea.
As of I am informed until now, she is in a stable state but has not recovered yet.
The news of two other unbelievable hard and harsh events reached me, when I was travelling with the group of RTI:
The hostfather of one of my classmates here at Shida (師大) in Taipeih died this week, after having suffered from a disease. May he rest in peace.
My university classmate and exchange student colleague Wing Lam was found dead on the bottom of the seaside in Kending (墾丁). There are few words to describe the emotions which have aroused within our group of fellow students.
We can only all wish the best to his family and friends and say that we are there for them, if they need us. May Wing Lam rest in peace.
Here is a link to an online condoleance book, opened by the faculty of Sinology of the University of Leiden in rememberance of our classmate.
On sunday october 7th, when I was with my new friends from Gaoxiong (高雄) travelling in Hualian (花蓮) and celebrating the Moonfestival (中秋節) together a bad accident happened on the way back.
When we stopped for a break at a rock beach, one of the girls from our group got caught by a so called "wolve wave" and was pulled into the sea. It took some minutes to realize what happened and even more minutes to save her from the sea.
As of I am informed until now, she is in a stable state but has not recovered yet.
The news of two other unbelievable hard and harsh events reached me, when I was travelling with the group of RTI:
The hostfather of one of my classmates here at Shida (師大) in Taipeih died this week, after having suffered from a disease. May he rest in peace.
My university classmate and exchange student colleague Wing Lam was found dead on the bottom of the seaside in Kending (墾丁). There are few words to describe the emotions which have aroused within our group of fellow students.
We can only all wish the best to his family and friends and say that we are there for them, if they need us. May Wing Lam rest in peace.
Here is a link to an online condoleance book, opened by the faculty of Sinology of the University of Leiden in rememberance of our classmate.
12 Oct 2006
Pictures for the moment... (English)
Some pictures from my trips last week.
Hualian
Celebrating the Moonfestival on the street of Hualian with some strangers who invited us to join them and with my new friend Tiger (not on the picture)
View from the pagodo to the tallest Buddha statue in Taiwan. Located in the Tarako gorge
Closer view of the statue
The Hualian area is known for its beautiful nature with great vagitation
A little temple in the Tarako Gorge
RTI-Trip
This old person is a Master in the creation and painting of Chinese dragon lampions
The group of listeners and staff of RTI - Radio Taiwan International at a Relais Station in Southern Taiwan.
Two little boys, who were attending and performing the German departement`s 2oth birthday
One native welcoming us at the station
Blue sky, palm trees...Taiwan
Hualian
Celebrating the Moonfestival on the street of Hualian with some strangers who invited us to join them and with my new friend Tiger (not on the picture)
View from the pagodo to the tallest Buddha statue in Taiwan. Located in the Tarako gorge
Closer view of the statue
The Hualian area is known for its beautiful nature with great vagitation
A little temple in the Tarako Gorge
RTI-Trip
This old person is a Master in the creation and painting of Chinese dragon lampions
The group of listeners and staff of RTI - Radio Taiwan International at a Relais Station in Southern Taiwan.
Two little boys, who were attending and performing the German departement`s 2oth birthday
One native welcoming us at the station
Blue sky, palm trees...Taiwan
6 Oct 2006
中秋節 - Moonfestival - Mondfest (English, Deutsch)
Today is a special day for all Chinese people, wherever they are living right now. It is the day of the Moonfestival. This festival is one of the grand festivals in this region besides the 春節 (Springfestival). Below you can find the information written about the 中秋節 (Moonfestival) as it can be found in Wikipedia.
But anyway:
Wikipedia über das Mondfest auf Deutsch
Wikipedia on the Mid-Autumn Festival in English
But anyway:
我祝我的朋友們中秋節快樂,希望你們過假期很愉快!!!!!!!!!
Wikipedia über das Mondfest auf Deutsch
Wikipedia on the Mid-Autumn Festival in English
2 Oct 2006
Advertisement, billboards, promotion (English)
Taiwanese love shopping, consuming, browsing through overcrowded places to find the best products.
Therefore it is very hard for companies to stick out of the crowd and catch potential customers' attention.
Here are some examples how to get this attention, or how some parts of society charicize that:
Therefore it is very hard for companies to stick out of the crowd and catch potential customers' attention.
Here are some examples how to get this attention, or how some parts of society charicize that:
Only 30 metres to "The curry of world", or maybe "The world of curry"? Who knows, what they want to emphazise on this bord, hold by a person in the middle of the pedestrian area.
Our good friend Ronald McDonald, "lovin' it to kill you", oh, oh, let's think about it before we go to McDonald's the next time. And any other restaurant as well, he!
"Close" is this an order to guests of this restaurant? Or does it just mean that the owner is in the middle of holding a break, as you may interpret it by looking at the Chinese characters.
Yes, I'm lovin' it! McDonalds promotion campaigns are the best. Cute French fries running around, "badabada ba girlies" with cowboy hats. Let's forget about Ronald above and just get a big, fat and greasy BigMäc! ;-)
Another way to get your records sold: Just get a group of teenagers to hold up billboards with your face on them and make them be very enthousiastic about your music... I wanna have a CD of that singer!!!!!
To prevent your "high-quality promotion ice-cream bun" from smelting, just use delicious paper to make a exclusive copy of your great product!
1 Oct 2006
Buddhist festival (English)
A few days ago I heard some enthousiastic music while I was sitting in my room doing probably nothing very important. First I thought someone living on our floor was listening to music, and did not really pay any attention.
It took a few minutes for me to realize that the sound was coming from the outside and I decided to take a look out of the window. There I saw some people marching in what seemed to be Buddhist costumes. Mark and I decided to go downstairs and have a look:
Buddhism must be fun, as this attractive young lady was part of the ceremony, singing Chinese songs
Although it was a very spiritual happening, the state had to be present to regulate the heavy traffic passing by the ceremony, here the police...
...and here the traffic
chewing betel nuts, is also a good way to get to different spheres
the march as seen from my room...
...and from a perspective a little closer
don't be scared, this is... actually I don't know, who knows it???? Leave a comment?
What is Mark taking pictures of? Maybe a beautiful singer...???
30 Sept 2006
Confucius' Birthday (English)
September 28th is a special day in Taiwan: It is the birtdahy of the great teacher Confucius.
To honor the master there are ceremonies all over the island in various temples which are used to carry forth the tradition of Confucius and his teachings.
Being a good student requires you to get up early, that is why the ceremony starts at 6 AM. Therefore I got up at 4.30 AM that day...a lot of fun, he!?!
I was not the only one having some problems with this early time of the day, but I got up and was there on time.
Early morning in the taxi
To be able to participate we had to sign up and pay $100. We arrived around 5.30 AM, but, speaking about good students, there were a lot more enthousiastic ones around. This means that the temple was already pretty much filled. But we were lucky to find a good spot to observe the ceremony. Some disturbing ordors shall be ignored here.
The ceremony is as, to be expected, very tightly organised and consists of 30 something small parts.
In the centre of the scene are about 40 young boys, dressed in yellow silk robes, holding very long feathers in their hands. On both sides of them stands the orchestra, also only consisting of young people. I believe that there were some girls participating, but the long red silk robe made them all pretty much look a like. The orchestra was only palying wistle instruments, some special kind of flute. Looking at the main building of the temple, there is the main drum located, played by a juveline as well. The drum is the heartbeat of the ceremony, and sets the pace during the orchestral parts, as well when participants of the ceremony have to move.
Participants are welcomed and allowed to enter the scene according to their status. That means that the master of ceremony enters as the very last. This master of ceremony made the biggest impression of me. He was only supervising the ceremony, without any visual emotion or movement. He was litterally not moving during the about 2 hours lasting ceremony, except for entering and leaving.
The master of ceremony is moving towards his place
Parts of the ceremony were for example burying the blood and hair of a sacred bull and sheep, which were slaughterd before the ceremony.
It was a great scene to observe the sincerety of the participants and their strong discipline, very much in the sense of a Confucian sholar.
The public on the other hand, was a typical touristic one. Everyone taking pictures, chatting, making noises and so forth. Nor concentrating, nor participating on the ceremony. Only the symbolic bow to honor Confucius caught everyones attention. You have to bow three times in a row to show your respect.
Besides teachers, good students were also thanked for their effort towards education. The supposingly best students of the best school in Taipei were handed over gifts by the mayer, students of the universities were also praised.
Oooops, putting back the gift for Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九)
The medial coverage was very wide, a lot of photographers, camera teams, TV reporters and radio reporters were spreading the word of the ceremony to their audiences.
As we were standing in line to wait for our "wisdom cake", we were just standing at the bottom of the stairs to the stage, when Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九) wanted to leave the same. Seeing us, he stopped for a second and asked Boukje, were she was from. I then decided quickly to ask him for a picture. Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九) is supposed to be the next president of Taiwan, after the new election round has been held, as of signals can be interpreted by now.
Here we are: Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九), Florian and Mod
The picture was a nice end of a great ceremony and a morning worth getting up at a time, when I am usually in the middle of my REM fase (RapidEyeMovement)...
To honor the master there are ceremonies all over the island in various temples which are used to carry forth the tradition of Confucius and his teachings.
Being a good student requires you to get up early, that is why the ceremony starts at 6 AM. Therefore I got up at 4.30 AM that day...a lot of fun, he!?!
I was not the only one having some problems with this early time of the day, but I got up and was there on time.
Early morning in the taxi
To be able to participate we had to sign up and pay $100. We arrived around 5.30 AM, but, speaking about good students, there were a lot more enthousiastic ones around. This means that the temple was already pretty much filled. But we were lucky to find a good spot to observe the ceremony. Some disturbing ordors shall be ignored here.
The ceremony is as, to be expected, very tightly organised and consists of 30 something small parts.
In the centre of the scene are about 40 young boys, dressed in yellow silk robes, holding very long feathers in their hands. On both sides of them stands the orchestra, also only consisting of young people. I believe that there were some girls participating, but the long red silk robe made them all pretty much look a like. The orchestra was only palying wistle instruments, some special kind of flute. Looking at the main building of the temple, there is the main drum located, played by a juveline as well. The drum is the heartbeat of the ceremony, and sets the pace during the orchestral parts, as well when participants of the ceremony have to move.
Participants are welcomed and allowed to enter the scene according to their status. That means that the master of ceremony enters as the very last. This master of ceremony made the biggest impression of me. He was only supervising the ceremony, without any visual emotion or movement. He was litterally not moving during the about 2 hours lasting ceremony, except for entering and leaving.
The master of ceremony is moving towards his place
Parts of the ceremony were for example burying the blood and hair of a sacred bull and sheep, which were slaughterd before the ceremony.
It was a great scene to observe the sincerety of the participants and their strong discipline, very much in the sense of a Confucian sholar.
The public on the other hand, was a typical touristic one. Everyone taking pictures, chatting, making noises and so forth. Nor concentrating, nor participating on the ceremony. Only the symbolic bow to honor Confucius caught everyones attention. You have to bow three times in a row to show your respect.
After the ceremony, teachers were asked to enter the stage and gifts between the mayor of Taipei Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九) and them were exchanged. Meanwhile people were lining up to receive the "wisdom cake" handed in in the mainbuilding of the temple, located directly behind the stage.
Enough wisdom cake for everyone
Besides teachers, good students were also thanked for their effort towards education. The supposingly best students of the best school in Taipei were handed over gifts by the mayer, students of the universities were also praised.
Oooops, putting back the gift for Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九)
The medial coverage was very wide, a lot of photographers, camera teams, TV reporters and radio reporters were spreading the word of the ceremony to their audiences.
As we were standing in line to wait for our "wisdom cake", we were just standing at the bottom of the stairs to the stage, when Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九) wanted to leave the same. Seeing us, he stopped for a second and asked Boukje, were she was from. I then decided quickly to ask him for a picture. Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九) is supposed to be the next president of Taiwan, after the new election round has been held, as of signals can be interpreted by now.
Here we are: Mr. Ma Yingjiu (馬英九), Florian and Mod
23 Sept 2006
Zooworld (English)
Very close to our dorm is an animal store located. I have been there a few times by myself and with Ingo, yesterday Ashwin, Harm and Mark came along.
As expected they also enjoyed the animal variety at the Zooworld and became close friends with the little pig:
(click on the picture to see the videos)
Pigstory I
Pigstory II
Pigstory III
Pigstory IV
As expected they also enjoyed the animal variety at the Zooworld and became close friends with the little pig:
(click on the picture to see the videos)
Pigstory I
Pigstory II
Pigstory III
Pigstory IV
Being a student... (English)
... is so much fun, really! You can see a lot of things, you can try and error and no one will be mad at you (at least during class) and you can say what you think during class discussions, without anyone thinking you are weird. Haha, not always, but we can enjoy our situation here very much.
Just have a look at the pictures which I took before and during class, as well as during an examination:
我可愛的高老師和我.
從日本來的同學夏子
從加拿大來的同學成風有一個問題,高老市幫助他了解繁體字.在門的後面有從日本來的鬼子,他叫阿研.
我同學們在考試的時候,由於高老師特別相信我因而我們考試的時候他會在老師室等我們考完.
這是成風他又高又帥,這是女孩子們的印象.他的個子也不錯.
現在阿研也不太清楚,讓高老師幫助他跟成風曉今天的課的題目
Just have a look at the pictures which I took before and during class, as well as during an examination:
我可愛的高老師和我.
從日本來的同學夏子
從加拿大來的同學成風有一個問題,高老市幫助他了解繁體字.在門的後面有從日本來的鬼子,他叫阿研.
我同學們在考試的時候,由於高老師特別相信我因而我們考試的時候他會在老師室等我們考完.
這是成風他又高又帥,這是女孩子們的印象.他的個子也不錯.
現在阿研也不太清楚,讓高老師幫助他跟成風曉今天的課的題目
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