Christmas on the Taoyuan International Airport (English)

The airport is the meltingpoint of international cultures, the gate to come and leave. It is of course necessary to create a certain Christmas mood there.

The Taoyuan International Airport (previously Interntational Chiang Kaishek Airport) is no exception on this one.

Picture number 5 is representing some airport Christmas mood:

Another bunny...(English)

...this time a christmas bunny! Sex sells in Western societies and it does here too.


A hot and nice looking lady wearing something like a Santa dress, doesn`t that make you wanna celebrate Christmas underneath a palm tree somewhere in the south with 30 degrees?

Enjoy the temptation of picture number

4

Rudolf the red nosed reindeer for dec 3rd (English)

Yeah, right I cannot fool you guys, you see it on the pic that this is not really Rudolf! But anyway another nice example of how people, businessmen and the government of Taiwan promote the Christmas feeling here.

Enjoy picture number

3

Some cute reindeers with a car full of gifts close to Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101

Schandaal om Rabobank! (Nederlands)

Hier gaat het om een interessante informatie voor alle uitwisselings studenten buiten het gebiet van de EU (Europeese Unie): Met ingang van 1 januari 2007 is het niet meer mogelijk om met je RABO pasje gratis andere valutas dan de Euro van je rekening te pinnen. Dat betekent dus, dat het voor mensen in Taiwan of der VR China (of ergens anders) veel minder makkelijk wordt om geld vanuit Europa naar hun tijdelijke heimat te sturen.
De Rabobank geeft aan, dat er te veel gebruik van de klanten van gemaakt werdt en dat de kosten voor de bank te hoog zijn. (ik dacht al dat de Leidse uitwisselingsmafia erachter staat, of de Rabo bank heeft het aantal nieuwe eerste jaar sinologie gezien en is nu al bang, dat in 2007 100 mensen een jaar lang iedere dag hun RABO pasje gaan gebruiken)
Nou, nu moeten ook de RABO klanten (net als klanten van andere banken) per transactie minstens 4,50 € betalen...Jammer, jammer, jammer! (bron: een brief van Rabobank aan hun klanten)

December 2 (English)

Even the Easter Bunny in Taibei loves Christmas. That is why the decoration in this shop`s window is making an interesting cross-over of typical elements of Easter and Christmas decoration.
Enjoy pictures number
2

My home is my castle! (English)

After three months living in the dorm with my two Dutch friends, I decided to look for my own room to experiance some other living quality.
My new room is looks like a luxurous prison cell. I share the flat on the fourth floor with two Japanese men and a Japanese woman.
The apartment is not very new and there is nothing special about it, but there is one great advantage: it takes only 2 minutes to walk to the Mandarin Training Centre. This will make life a lot easier for me...

Adventskalendar!!!! (English)

Dear Readers of this blog, (I know this is a big audience, I must be addressing a million people)
I had an idea recently, one of which I actually think , could be a nice one. Don`t we all love CHRISTMAS? You know, that thing where you wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS, FROHE WEIHNACHTEN, JOYEUX NOEL, 聖誕節快樂, or MERRY HOLIDAYSEASONALGREETINGS (for our American friends), the days where you get together with your beloved ones, eat a lot of food and get great gifts. YEAH, I knew, you know it!

Ok, now some German tradition: Everyone who loves WEIHNACHTEN, also has his or her own ADVENTSKALENDAR, this calendar has 24 little doors (you may only open one door a day, until december 24), and behind every door you usually find a nice picture or maybe chocolate, you also have custom made calendars, where parents might hide fancy cars, or other toys behind the doors.

So, I want to use this blog to offer you my special TAIWAN-ADVENTSKALENDAR, that means, I will put every day one picture showing TAIWAN in christmas mood.

Here is picture number

1
Santa is coming to town, even to Taibei.....

Pictures from holiday in Kending and Gaoxiong (English)

While most readers are probably wearing heavy clothing, such as hats, warm jackets and so on, I am freezing as well. The only difference is, that the actual temperature in Taibei is around 20 degrees Celcius right now. Hard to believe, but yeah, it makes me freeze. And certainly wear a jacket.

But let`s move on to more interesting things: after a while of, let`s name it a strike (by giving it that name, I feel some intellectual notion), I am back to put stuff on my beloved blog.

The first input are some pictures from my latest holiday destination, Kending. In the far south of the beautiful island. A really beautiful place, with temperatures around 30 degrees celcius, blue sky, sometimes white clouds, sometimes dark clouds, but no rain.
Riding around on a rented scooter, staying in nice hotels, having a great time with friends.

Ohja, I almost forgot: Before we went to Kending we first stopped by in Gaoxiong (the second largest city of Taiwan, with a large harbour and a lot of industry) for a night. Gaoxiong, though the second largest city of Taiwan, is still a lot smaller than myTaibei. They don`t even have a metro system yet, but are very busy to build it. But the nice climate gives Gaoxiong some advantages you cannot find in Taibei, anyway, here the pics:

The frog mountain, viewed from the Tower in the Kending National Park (墾丁國家公園)

Kending National Park (墾丁國家公園)

Soji and Justin taking a rest, while hiking in the Kending National Park (墾丁國家公園)

The White Sand Beach (白沙灣), close to Kending (墾丁)

The blue sky, with white clouds

Mark (何睦), climbing up a tree in Kending National Park (墾丁國家公園)

Nice picture, right?

Ever seen a dog (on the left) being able to do that move? I was impressed!!!!!

Sunset in Gaoxiong (高雄)

Some Taiwanese youngsters waiting for the bus in Gaoxiong (高雄)

Yeah, after 5,5 h in the train, we reached Gaoxiong (高雄), Nicole, Justin and Harm

I love cows, but I also like pigs, like this one in Gaoxiong (高雄)

Einige Fotos von der Taiwan Rundreise mit RTI (Deutsch)

Heute gibt es noch eine Ladung Fotos von der Rundreise mit RTI:

Die Chefin der Deutschabteilung bei RTI, Bihui, mit dem Laternenmeister in Langang (蘭港)

Auch nicht schlecht, staunt RTI-Reporter Fabian, als der Vasenverkäufer kurzerhand einen Kreisel auf seine Hand wirft.

Aufgepasst! Hochspannung, in einer der besuchten Sendeanlagen.


Wir verstehen uns, wie alte Freunde sehen wir auf diesem Foto aus, oder? Hier ist der Meister der Lampions in seinem, mit deutschen Reisenden überfüllten Lädchen.


Richtig, und immer hintereinander. So arbeitet es sich am besten und mal lenkt sich nicht gegenseitig ab. Was in der Schule nicht geschadet hat, erweist sich auch in der Sendelage aus erfolgreiches Konzept.



Hörer Bernhard und Bihui wollen es genau wissen, wie die Sendeanlage funktioniert, die Mitarbeiter hatten alle Mühe die viele Fragen zu beantworten.

Auch Gerd staunt nicht schlecht, wie viele Knöpfe man umlegen bis, bis eine Sendung auf der heimischen Kurzwellenanlage zu empfangen ist.


Gute Freunde. Dieser Taiwanese war ebenfalls in unserem Country und Golfhotel in der Nähe von Tainan zu Gast. Neben dem symbolischen Händedruck haben wir auch Geschichten aus dem Leben ausgetauscht.


Tja, man darf doch noch träumen. Fabian hätte gerne mal ein Golfwägelchen gefahren. Aber dazu fehlten Geld und Zeit.


Mundschutz und UV-Regenschirm, ein typischer Anblick im heißen Tainan (台南)


Der Leiter der Sendeanlage bei Tainan (台南) (ganz rechts) hat uns im Hotel seines Bruders untergebracht. Auf dem Foto ist außerdem noch die Frau des Leiters der Sendeanlage zu sehen.

Uuuups, die Ausländer sehen aus der Nähe doch recht groß aus, lieber wieder zurück zu Mama. Zwei kleine Jungs beim Laufen in Tainan (台南).



Ein älterer Herr vor dem ältesten Tempel von Tainan (台南).


Ebenfalls vor einem Tempel, liegt diese Dame ein Mittagsschläfchen zu halten.


Bei der Hitze ist mehr an Kledij kaum nötig, aufgenommen in Tainan (台南).


Hörer Joachim ist ganz stolz auf seine selbstgrpflückte Blume, ob sie es bis nach Karlsruhe zurück schaffen wird?


Was ein Auftritt, Fabian "reitet" auf einer niederländischen Kanone bei Fort Zeelandia.


Und da war es vorbei mit der Besetzung Taiwans. Koxia vertrieb die Niederländischen Kolonialisten im 17. Jhd. Damals wurde Taiwan zum ersten mal Chinesisch.


Dick und Doof? Nein!!!! Klaus und Frank, zwei Hörer die sich äußerlich sehr voneinander unterscheiden, aber doch beide ein Kurzwellenherz im Brustkorb tragen.


Ja, Kultur lohnt sich. Nicht immer nur in intellektueller Hinsicht.


Auch Essen kann Spaß machen, nicht nicht des Essens wegen (extra im schönen Genetiv ausgeschrieben, also nicht: "wegen dem Essen", wie der Dumme Florian das sagen würde)


In dieser Straße wurde ein Attentation in Tainan (台南) auf den Präsidenten Taiwans, Chen Shuibian (陳水扁) durchgeführt. Der Präsident lebt noch, vom Täter fehlt jede Spur.

Small earthquake (English)

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.

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.

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